News for TV Majors
Keeping TV Studies students informed of news, views, and reviews about television
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
FNC News
Brian Lowry reports that Fox News is going on the political offensive again, and the channel is being sued for airing a suicide live by the involved family.
Labels:
bias,
controversy,
fox news,
law,
politics,
roger ailes
MTV Targeting Younger
Amy Chozik looks at MTV's attempts to appeal to teenagers.
Labels:
channel branding,
demographics,
mtv,
teens
Summer Vacation Streaming
Laura Hazard Owen notes that Netflix and Amazon are battling for kids' attention over summer. Netflix is leaning on children's movies, says Dan Mitchell.
State of Al Jazeera
Shibley Telhami delves into the current state of Al Jazeera and its future prospects.
Labels:
al jazeera,
international,
middle east,
news,
politics
Parks Merch
NBCU is unveiling new Parks and Recreation merchandise.
Labels:
merchandise,
nbcu,
parks and recreation
Monday, June 17, 2013
Viacom Upfronts Done
Sam Thielman reports on Viacom's upfronts deals.
Labels:
2013-14 season,
ad rates,
upfronts,
viacom
Daytime Emmys
Daytime Emmys have been handed out.
Labels:
awards,
daytime,
emmys,
game shows,
soap opera,
talk
Netflix Gets DreamWorks Originals
DreamWorks will produce original programming for Netflix, in Netflix's biggest-ever originals deal. Sam Thielman has analysis.
GoT Fanfic
Molly Templeton checks out Game of Thrones fan fiction.
Labels:
fandom,
game of thrones,
narrative,
paratexts
New In Media Res
Theme: Beyond the Brand
- Monday, June 17, 2013 - Melissa Aronczyk (Rutgers University) and Devon Powers (Drexel University) present: Beyond the Brand
- Tuesday, June 18, 2013 - Nora Draper (Annenberg School for Communication) presents: Brands, Knowledge and Surveillance
- Wednesday, June 19, 2013 - Cesar Jimenez-Martinez (London School of Economics and Political Science) presents: The Brands Are Out Tonight
- Thursday, June 20, 2013 - Katie McCollough (Rutgers University) presents: Industrial and Institutional Change in Brand Environments
- Friday, June 21, 2013 - Jonathan M. Bullinger (Rutgers University) presents: The Lack of Specificity in Regards to Branding
Labels:
advertising,
industry,
marketing,
privacy
Sunday, June 16, 2013
AD Bingeing
Mark Harris says Arrested Development has raised the problems of binge viewing.
Labels:
arrested development,
narrative,
netflix,
spectatorship,
streaming
Orphan Black's Storytelling
Ryan McGee praises Orphan Black for its compelling storytelling.
Labels:
characters,
narrative,
orphan black
The Fall & Feminism
Joe Winkler says The Fall is uniquely feminist even as it depicts familiar subject matter of violence against women.
Labels:
characters,
gender,
narrative,
representation,
the fall,
violence
Doctor Who Problems
The Idiot Box details problems with Stephen Moffat's Doctor Who.
Labels:
characters,
doctor who,
drama,
gender,
narrative
French Resistance
James Kanter says France is resisting trade talks with the US related to film and TV, which could impact Netflix there, as well as in other resistant European countries.
Labels:
distribution,
europe,
france,
imports,
industry,
international,
movies,
netflix,
politics
Canada's US Import Spending
Etan Vlessing analyzes a report on how much Canadian broadcasters are spending on American imports at the expense of home-grown fare.
Labels:
budgets,
canada,
imports,
international,
local,
production,
programming
Factual TV Debate
Two British critics debate the state of factual programming in Britain.
Labels:
bbc,
britain,
channel 4,
criticism,
documentary,
education,
international,
reality tv
Unpaid Internship Prospects
Susan Adams considers the implications of a court ruling on unpaid film industry internships, as does Rebecca Greenfield.
Intel Challenge
Vikas Bajaj looks at Intel's over-the-top challenge to the cable business model.
Labels:
bundling/a la carte,
cable operators,
intel,
over-the-top,
streaming
Live Viewing Prediction
A Twitter exec predicts the social media service will help reduce time-shifted viewing.
Labels:
live,
predictions,
social media,
spectatorship,
time shifting,
twitter
Moonves Won't Be Deposed
Eriq Gardner notes the latest in the Aereo trial, as a judge denied a request to depose Les Moonves.
Labels:
aereo,
broadcasting,
cbs,
law,
les moonves,
retransmission
Social TV in Sweden
Natan Edelsburg talks to a digital exec about social TV in Sweden.
Labels:
europe,
international,
screens,
social media,
spectatorship,
sweden
Univision Upfronts
Brian Steinberg reports that Univision will close upfronts with price increases.
Labels:
2013-14 season,
ad rates,
advertising,
univision,
upfronts
DirecTV Wins Hulu
Reports say that DirecTV has won the Hulu bidding war.
Labels:
conglomeration,
directv,
hulu
Subversive Genre Fare
Maureen Ryan is pleased by the rise of what she terms B-movie TV: "These shows often originate abroad, quite a few of them feature complex female protagonists, and they smartly use the tropes of horror, mystery, soap operas, science fiction and thrillers to sketch diverting narratives on the cheap."
Labels:
call the midwife,
characters,
drama,
enlightened,
gender,
genre,
narrative,
orphan black,
quality tv,
rectify,
the fall,
top of the lake
Auteur Debate
Craig Fehrman questions the critical over-valuation of the showrunner as auteur and expands with more examples on his blog. Responses are provided by June Thomas and Sam Adams. And Jason Mittell offers his manuscript chapter on authorship as a sort of pre-rebuttal. Myles McNutt chimes in.
Labels:
authorship,
mad men criticism,
production,
showrunners,
writing
Thursday, June 13, 2013
TV Strategies Assessed
Josef Adalian highlights the best and worst strategies across a rocky TV season.
Labels:
2012-13 season,
abc,
miniseries,
nbc,
netflix,
networks,
programming,
scheduling,
shonda rhimes,
sitcoms,
the voice
Game of Thrones & Race
A post from Aamer Rahman highlights Game of Thrones' racial representation problems.
Labels:
characters,
game of thrones,
race/ethnicity,
representation
Tennis Channel Rant
Tennis Channel's CEO has lashed out in response to losing a court case against Comcast.
Labels:
carriage,
comcast,
law,
tennis,
tiering/neighborhooding
Ends of Serial Criticism
Jason Mittell shares an address on the ends of serial criticism.
Labels:
academia,
breaking bad,
criticism,
finales,
homeland,
lost,
narrative,
representation,
serial,
spectatorship,
the wire
Press Your Luck Legend
TV Club writers address the famed episode of Press Your Luck when a contestant took the game down.
Labels:
game shows,
history
McCarthy Profile
Dave Itzkoff profiles comedian Melissa McCarthy.
Labels:
acting,
comedy,
gender,
mike and molly,
movies
Pay TV Projection
One study foresees one billion pay TV households across the globe by 2018.
Labels:
households,
international,
pay tv
Barb to Measure Online
The UK ratings body Barb will measure viewership via online catchup services starting in August.
Labels:
barb,
britain,
international,
iplayer,
online ratings,
ratings,
streaming
Winfrey Gift
Oprah Winfrey will give $12 million to the Smithsonian to help build a museum for black history and culture.
Labels:
african-americans,
archives,
history,
oprah winfrey,
race/ethnicity
Talent Shows Boost the Arts
A UK survey bolsters claims that talent reality shows help bring interest to the performing arts.
Labels:
art,
education,
reality tv,
spectatorship
Minority Expectations
Bim Adewunmi admits that expectations for representations fall harder on minority producers than white men, even though it's not fair.
Boxee's Status
Janko Roettgers reports that Boxee is looking to raise more money or possibly go on the block.
Labels:
boxee,
over-the-top,
set-top boxes
Depictions of the Cultural Past
Randee Dawn delves into how period dramas deal with depicting culturally insensitive standards of earlier eras.
Labels:
boardwalk empire,
downton abbey,
drama,
history,
mad men,
representation,
vikings
Walking Dead Credit Card
You can now get a Walking Dead Visa debit card.
Labels:
merchandise,
the walking dead
Cowell & Idol
Brian Lowry says Simon Cowell helped to undermine American Idol.
Labels:
american idol,
fox,
reality tv,
simon cowell,
the x factor
Bundling Challenges
Natan Edelsburg looks at how pay TV bundling is under attack. It's also being hashed out in congressional hearings right now.
Labels:
bundling/a la carte,
carriage,
directv,
disney,
online tv,
pay tv,
spectatorship,
tv everywhere,
video-on-demand
Gannett Buying Belo
The number one newspaper company, Gannett, is buying a broadcasting group, Belo, thereby doubling Gannett's TV holdings.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
History Conspiracies
Alex Seitz-Wald laments that History Channel seems to be embracing conspiracy theory programming.
Labels:
channel branding,
ethics,
history channel,
programming,
reality tv
TV Death Reactions
Angela Wattercutter looks at charts of online conversation following TV character deaths and finds Game of Thrones' Red Wedding reaction the strongest. (In a handy feature, spoilers are blacked out but can be uncovered at your choosing.)
Internship Ruling
A federal judge has ruled that unpaid production internships violate minimum wage laws.
Labels:
labor,
movies,
production
Social Media Reality Show
Ben Fritz describes a new reality show about teenagers going off to college that will play out across social media platforms.
Labels:
instagram,
narrative,
online video,
peter chernin,
reality tv,
social media,
tumblr,
twitter
International Importance
Dade Hayes reports on cable exec arguments that overseas investment is crucial.
Labels:
cable,
discovery,
distribution,
industry,
international,
viacom
Buyer Leverage
John Consoli says this year's upfronts have media buyers with the leverage because there are no must-buy shows.
Labels:
2013-14 season,
ad rates,
advertising,
networks,
upfronts
Viewing Preferences
A new study looks at TV viewing preferences of millennials and finds much interest in broadband options, while another finds pay TV customers liking TV Everywhere options, though TV Everywhere still has obstacles facing it.
Best Episodes
Matt Zoller Seitz picks the best five episodes from the last year.
Labels:
30 rock,
best lists+rankings,
downton abbey,
game of thrones,
girls,
the americans
Fringe Transmedia
Mélanie Bourdaa analyzes the production and reception of Fringe's transmedia content.
Labels:
characters,
comics,
fringe,
narrative,
production,
serial,
spectatorship,
transmedia
Exclusive Battles
Andy Fixmer and Alex Sherman look at how pay TV operators like Time Warner Cable are trying to block internet operators like Intel and Apple from getting access to good content by offering incentives to media companies to withhold content. Janko Roettgers also reports.
ESPN 3D Done
Andrew Dodson reports that ESPN will shut down its 3D channel at the end of the year. Clearly, 3D is having problems.
Broadcasters v. Aereo
Tim Molloy says broadcasters can help networks battle Aereo by turning to livestreaming.
Labels:
aereo,
broadcasting,
live,
networks,
retransmission,
streaming
Good Days for Writers
Brian Lowry says TV writers have a lot to be happy about today.
Labels:
authorship,
showrunners,
writing
Shaped Reality
AJ Marechal looks at the popularity of reality TV shows like Duck Dynasty, which are heavily produced rather than unscripted.
Labels:
characters,
duck dynasty,
ethics,
production,
reality tv,
storage wars,
writing
New Comcast Tech
Comcast is touting a new set-top box and DVR, which will include voice control; Peter Kafka has video of a preview.
Labels:
comcast,
dvr,
remote controls,
set-top boxes,
technology
Maslany Emmy Campaign
Myles McNutt analyzes BBC America's Emmy campaign for Tatiana Maslany. Jace Lacob agrees that she deserves the nomination. Jaime Weinman also considers her chances.
Labels:
acting,
awards,
bbc america,
emmys,
marketing,
orphan black,
science fiction/fantasy
Mad Men Style
Tom and Lorenzo break down "Favors."
Labels:
aesthetics,
characters,
costumes,
lgbtq,
mad men,
set design
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