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Abe Rosenthal has found a new home--at the New York Daily News. A 56-year veteran of the New York Times, Rosenthal was ousted last year by publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzburger Jr. In his years at the Times he had been a metro reporter, a Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent, an executive editor and an op-ed columnist. Towards the end of his tenure, he entered into a war of words with former editor Max Frankel over disparaging remarks Frankel made about Rosenthal in his autobiography. Rosenthal then fired back, slamming Frankel in interviews with Vanity Fair and the Jerusalem Post, both of which were published after Rosenthal left the paper. When he departed, Rosenthal said he wished to continue writing and he had no intention of retiring. The 77-year-old writer’s op-ed column will run on Fridays.
Fox launches free Simpsons web service
With no fanfare--without even a press release--the Fox Network has launched a free internet access and email service featuring the Simpsons brand name. The service comes from the increasingly omnipresent 1stup.com, the CMGI-owned internet service provider that is also behind the free internet access offered by Alta Vista and Excite@Home. Fans can sign up directly on the popular cartoon's web site. Fox is reportedly thinking about developing branded free access for some of the network's other shows. The X-Files would be a good choice: are you really getting the internet for free? Or is it a conspiracy to make you think it doesn't cost anything?
More than one billion (pages) served!
There are now more than one billion web pages, according to a new report from Inktomi, an internet search engine firm, and the NEC Research Institute. More interesting than the total number--which is unfathomable enough to be nearly irrelevant--is the fact that the Inktomi survey found that more than 86 percent of web pages are in English. World-wide web indeed. And the web site found with the most links to it? Yahoo, with 751,974.
'Millionaire' turns in more hot numbers
The recent seven night streak of "Who Wants to
Be a Millionaire?" has scored ABC its largest weeklong average audience, 17.6
million, in four years. The show also helped ABC clinch a 6.5 rating in the adults 18-49
age group, up 41 percent from this time last year. The Saturday night airing of
"Millionaire," at 8 o'clock, scored ABC its highest ratings for that time slot
in fifteen years. "Millionaire" also won 4 of the top 5 Nielsen spots for the
week, along with "ER."
Nod to Michael J. Fox on quitting
'Spin'
It's now
common knowledge--TVs were blurting the news all day yesterday--but he's worth an
additional nod in these pages too. A year after revealing he has Parkinson’s
disease, ABC’s Spin City star Michael J. Fox has announced that this season of the
show will be his last. "After long and careful consideration, I have decided that
following the completion of Spin City’s fourth season, and the filming of our 100th
episode, I will not be returning for a fifth year," Fox said. "I feel that right
now my time and energy would be better spent with my family and working toward a cure for
Parkinson's disease. This does not mean I am retiring from acting, producing or directing,
only that I want to relieve the strain of producing and performing a weekly network
series." The possibility of a "Spin" spin-off, starring this season’s
newcomer, Heather Locklear, has been rumored.
FCC's Kennard hails open access pledge
Top FCC watchdog William Kennard has expressed his approval of the merged AOL-Time
Warner’s announced intention to offer open access to internet service providers. When
the two companies announced their marriage last week, there was speculation as to whether
America Online would have exclusive rights to Time Warner’s extensive cable network.
Kennard, chief of the Federal Communications Commission, cautiously praised the decision
to grant open access, but warned, "The devil is in the details." AOL-Time
Warner’s announcement seems to be a vindication of Kennard’s wait-and-see policy
on regulating broadband access. Under him, the FCC has assumed a largely passive role in
the process, stepping in only to referee as needed.