Discovery: Hey, we're
launching a 3D net too
Other shorts: Kirkus may be booking a new owner
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Jan 6, 2010
Discovery: Hey, we're launching a 3D net too
Just hours after ESPN announced its intention to launch the first 3D television network, Discovery Communications said it will launch the second. Discovery, in partnership with Sony and IMAX, is aiming to launch its network in 2011, focusing on space, natural history, adventure and exploration. ESPN's network will launch this summer, coinciding with the World Cup. Though 3D seems to be the hot new thing, with three-dimensional movies beginning to gain traction last year, there are still a lot of technological hurdles to the form's adoption. Three-D television sets are not widely available, and analysts say that even five years from now only 20 percent of U.S. households will have them. Still, the 3D bandwagon keeps growing. DirecTV is expected to announce today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas that it will launch two 3D channels and a 3D video on demand service, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Kirkus may be booking a new owner
There may yet be another chapter for the Kirkus Review. A potential buyer has stepped forward for the 76-year-old book industry trade publication, which Nielsen had planned to shut down last month, along with newspaper trade Editor & Publisher. There's no word on who that buyer is, but until the deal is closed, Kirkus is resuming publishing under Nielsen. The decision to close E&P and Kirkus came last month, when Nielsen sold off several other business publications but could not unload the two print-focused titles. There has been a huge to-do over E&P's closure at the end of last month, and its staff has launched a so-called exile blog (http://eandpinexile.blogspot.com/) as they await a potential buyer as well. Kirkus expects to remain with Nielsen for two or three weeks as the deal is hammered out.
Ratings roundup: Hogan's heroics buoy 'TNA'
Hulk Hogan may be aging, but he can still deliver wrestling viewers. The Hulkster made his first appearance on Spike TV’s “TNA iMPACT” on Monday night, and the three-hour episode averaged 2.2 million total viewers, a series record and up about 13 percent from its previous high of 1.97 million viewers. Versus the same time period a year ago, the telecast was up 338 percent among males 18-34, 241 percent among males 18-49 and 84 percent among total viewers. Meanwhile, in other ratings, the season two second-half premiere of ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” on Monday averaged 4.5 million total viewers, making it the second-most-watched episode ever. The episode averaged 3.0 million viewers 12-34, an all-time network high, and it also set network records among females 12-34, teens and female teens. The 8 p.m. premiere of “Teenager” helped lead-out “Make It or Break It” average 2.7 million viewers in the 9 p.m. hour, a series best. Elsewhere, “Super Chef Battle: An Iron Chef America Event” and “Worst Cooks in America” combined to average 3.7 million total viewers on Food Network Sunday night, making it the most-watched night in the network’s history.
Pew: Three quarters of U.S. adults use the web
Call the 2000s the decade of internet growth. About 74 percent of American adults now use the internet, according to a December survey by the Pew Research Center, which is up from just under 50 percent in March 2000. The latest data found that 60 percent of U.S. adults use broadband internet connections at home, while 55 percent connect to the internet wirelessly, whether it’s through laptops or handheld devices. In terms of demographics, 74 percent of U.S. men go online, as do 74 percent of U.S. women. Not surprisingly, younger age groups use the internet more than their older counterparts. Pew’s survey found that 93 percent of those age 18-29 use the internet, compared to 81 percent of 30-49s, 70 percent of 50-64s and 38 percent of those 65-plus.
Out of Touch: Celeb mag editor Spencer scoots
In Touch magazine seemed to have scored a real coup last week with what it billed as Brittany Murphy's final interview. Sure, it was little more than an inconsequential red carpet exchange with the 32-year-old actress, who died unexpectedly last month, but it was a smartly packaged cover story and boosted the magazine to strong sales. Yet the Bauer publication barely had time to bask in that accomplishment. Two days ago, In Touch's editor in chief, Richard Spencer, walked off the job in the midst of the magazine's weekly deadline, a move rumored to be sparked by a demand for more money, reports the New York Post's Keith Kelly. Spencer had been with Bauer for 15 years. It's unclear whether Spencer had another job offer or whether he simply left. In Touch has the second-lowest circulation of the major celeb titles, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, at just over 800,000. Its newsstand sales were off 17.7 percent during the first half of 2009, the second-biggest decline of the eight major titles. There's no word yet on who might replace Spencer.
|
|
|
