Todays links of interest:

• Reality Bites Back: Some at ESPN Assail Bonds Show
  Who knew that Barry was a divider, not an uniter?
• What iHate About iTunes
  Television spoilers, laughable censorship, and addiction to .99 cent songs
• Courtney & Nirvana: Smells Like a Sellout
  Courtney Love sells off part of her stake in the Nirvana catalog. "We’re going to remain very tasteful, and we’re going to [retain] the spirit of Nirvana and take Nirvana places it’s never been before," Love told the magazine.
• Al Franken . . . in Fresno?!?!!! (flash)
  Al Franken did one of his live broadcasts from one of the most conservative places in the entire country. Jim’s Mom was there, and she was stoked!! We wonder: is it safe for all of Fresno’s progressives to be in the same place at the same time?
• The Media’s War on the "War on Christians" Conference
  Hey!! You two guys over there!! Stop persecuting the other ten of us!! Or we’re gonna tell Jesus!!
• Stan Lee And Sci Fi Channel Want To Find a Superhero
  This . . . looks . . . like . . . a . . . job . . . for . . . Lopy!!!
• Finally, A Reason to Watch Spike TV! Wait…
  New logo. Yep, that’s the ticket. ‘Cause men really notice stuff like, uh, logos (note to male ‘lopers: the logo is often the thing in the lower corner reminding you what channel you’re watching. It has no bearing on the outcome of the programming).
• Smithsonian-Showtime TV Deal Raises Concerns
  In which the museum sees the future while possibly alienating documentary filmmakers. Right of first refusal goes to Smithsonian-Showtime. And forget it if you’re talking about a subject that they might be covering. Someday. Maybe.
• The Sound of A Newspaper: Post Radio Hits the Air
  WaPo radio - like NPR only AM.
• U.S. Demands Files From ISPs, Tech Firms
  And the beat goes on — still, nobody knows what these subpoenas hope to accomplish. Or, rather, what the government hopes to accomplish.
• E3 Through the Eyes of a Booth Babe
  Turns out there are four types of Booth Babes. Why this is important will become more clear as we reveal more about the upcoming Medialoper Fantasy League.
• Redstone Sees A Window Of Opportunity Closing For Hollywood
  Not Sumner, but Shari, Vice Chairman of Viacom who sez: "We need to protect our windows and bring back the ‘wow’ of going to the movies." Right, because nothing says "wow" like that Larry The Cable Guy movie.
• TV downloads break new barrier with "Scrubs" deal
  It’s the first time that two rival networks — ABC produces the show and NBC broadcasts it — have teamed up to make a show available for downloading on iTunes. And it’s "Scrubs," which rules anyway.

The RIAA tells us that piracy hurts artists, so we all try to be good little consumers who acquire music legally whenever possible. Who wants to hurt an artist? It’s like hurting a kitten.

Fortunately, in the 21st century there are quite a few ways to acquire music legally. Thanks to iTunes it’s possible to build your music collection while draining your bank account in 99 cent increments.

If you’re “of a certain age”, you probably still buy quite a few CD’s to round out your music collection. And, if you are a serious music collector, you probably buy a fair number of used CD’s. Serious music collectors have to buy used CD’s because new CD’s are priced for people who like to acquire music in small doses.

Now I’m going to tell you something you probably don’t want to hear: Buying used CD’s hurts artists.

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The thought process, in 4 easy steps:

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OMG, OMG, OMG! I so wasn’t going to finish the week with another article on the shrinking windows issue, but I just can’t help myself. How can I, in good conscience, let this reasoning for theater owners freezing out Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble pass?

We want to put up on the large screen a product made with that format in mind. Bubble, and some of these other direct-to-video titles, are simply not. We want to serve steak, not hamburger.

Now setting aside the satisfaction that comes with a good hamburger, hello? Has this guy (Peter Brown, CEO of AMC Entertainment) watched any of the crap that masquerades as a “feature” film? We’re not talking hamburger. Think dog meat. He’s clearly forgotten that DVD is where the money is printed with black instead of red ink. Of course, every film is made with the DVD format in mind — one way or another.

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Time-Warner Cable has initiated talks with the big 4 TV networks about a on-demand TV service — but only for the top-rated shows.

It’s an interesting twist: while previous on-demand concepts have concentrated on categories of shows(sports, porn) or specific shows themselves (like HBO’s or Showtime’s on-demand services) — this is the first one with a capability of on a regular basis, based upon what what Neilsen has decided that various pluralities of the American Public deem worth watching.

Call it The Watercooler Shows On-Demand service.

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Todays links of interest:

• DRM and the myth of the ‘analog hole’
  Hollywood and Washington don’t seem to understand how piracy works. The result of their ignorance? DRM schemes that punish consumers while piracy continues to proliferate.
• FCC Cancels Some Indecency Fines
  How can you trust an agency that can’t tell time? Turns out some of the broadcasts were indecent, but protected. Or something like that.
• Lift music is not elevating
  Lift = British for elevator. Elevator music is, apparently, brainwashing us. Remember that the next time you find yourself humming "Run, Joey, Run" in a meeting.
• Agent Rod Brickman: Copy Protection
  I’m afraid THIS is the future of DRM
• LAT edict: shorter stories
  Sometimes commenting is too easy — suffice to say, we’ll refrain except to note that blaming the writer is like totally forgetting the magic that is the inverted pyramid. Cut, editors, cut. That’s what the delete key is there for!

There is something sad about an entire news story devoted to the return of a television show that was yanked for low ratings. Apparently Commander in Chief, a show I’ve never watched (no fault of the show, just one of those things) is returning to television.

What I find sad is the fact that the Washington Post covered this story straight. As in a factual recitation of the facts surrounding the event. No discussion about the ratings process — heck, I’ve been in the industry forever and, frankly, can’t decipher the minutiae of the Nielsen ratings. And if the show wasn’t pulling the right numbers since just after its debut, what makes ABC think it stands a better chance now? Especially since the series is going up against an ostensibly more popular show?

Why is the show returning now? Is the network playing out the final episodes they produced in anticipation of a quiet death? Do they expect to renew the series (have they renewed the series?). Will the programming be available on iTunes as well? The answer to this final question is, yes, as a matter of fact, ABC slipped the series into the iTunes mix with little fanfare.

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Todays links of interest:

• YouTube Imposes 10 Minute Limit On New Clips
  In an effort to avoid future copyright fights YouTube is limiting the length of new uploads. Guess we’ll have to view those rare pilots in three ten minute parts.
• Film projection
  Patrick Goldstein spreads the religion: today’s kids don’t care about the sensitive souls who run movie studios. It’s time for the majors to stop panicking and learn to love the technology.
• When computers do the news, hoaxes slip in
  Noted without comment.
• Sirius Fear Factor
  You know the old saying about spending money to make money? Turns out spending lots of money is really scary.
• Hurwitz takes a hike
  This should end the petitions, the vigils, the desperate pleas that someone — anyone — pick up "Arrested Development" for another season. Now, we can all get on with our lives and watch "Scrubs."
• Can In2TV "broadband television" fuel new growth for AOL?
  Possibly, though they are going to have to offer shows that you can’t get as regular reruns, as well as ensure that the shows are watchable across a wider spectrum of computers than just the latest Windows machine.
• The next picture show
  A very thorough deconstruction of where we are in the HD DVD/Blu-ray format wars.

Apple Computers and Apple Corp are returning to court today, as The Beatles (or as the MSNBC headline currently has it, “The Beattles”) are accusing Apple Computer of trademark infringement. Again.

Like everything else on the planet, this is centered around iTunes and the iPod, as they represent Apple Comp’s movement into the music space, which Apple Corp says violates the agreement they brokered last time they were in court, 15 years ago.

To Apple Corp, Apple Comp going into music infringes on the value of the Apple record label, which to me, brings up an interesting side point: in the day and age of downloading, what is the value of a record label to a consumer?

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The Wall Street Journal dissects Time Inc’s attempts to stake out territory on the vast Internet. After more false steps and mistakes (Pathfinder, anyone?), the WSJ believes Time is now ready to get it right.

Or, if you will, the time has come for Time to change the way magazines work in the print world to accommodate the web world. Let us, for the moment, skip the irony of the WSJ writing about keeping content under lock and key — much better to focus on the fact that Time realizes that the web isn’t competition; it’s simply another distribution channel. One, if managed right, can be broader and less expensive, simultaneously. Win, win.

As a media critic, I find myself amused that it took until the year 2006 for Time to do stuff like demand “… that writers produce more copy for its Web sites.” Maybe it’s because I’ve been hearing those words every day for ten years. Now, I’m not saying anything, but I do hope Time’s strategy is more than Ana Marie Cox and Andrew Sullivan. Both are fine writers, but Time’s strength, indeed its potential for web domination, will come from innovation and long tail content, in addition to unique voices and attitude.

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