The Morning Fix: NBC and Comcast dance a little closer. The Salahis say they didn’t crash White House. `The Blind Side’ plays big in flyover country.
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After the coffee. Before figuring out what’s left to say about Comcast and NBC.
One step closer. General Electric Co. and Vivendi have agreed on a value of just under $6 billion for the French media giant’s 20% stake in NBC Universal. With that touchy negotiation on the verge of being resolved, the path is cleared for cable company Comcast to do its deal to take control of NBC Universal. So sure is everyone that the deal will be done in days, the stories today focused on what this all means for the entertainment industry. Details, analysis and overkill from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
From YouTube to PayTube. YouTube, Google’s video site, is talking with TV networks about offering individual episodes of TV shows for a fee on its site, per WSJ’s All Things Digital. The move would not be surprising given that TV shows are already for sale on iTunes and that Hulu is also likely moving to at least a partial pay model. With YouTube, episodes would be streamed instead of downloaded as is the case with iTunes, but then again, when you pay to see a movie in a theater, you don’t also walk home with a copy.
Sticking to their story. Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the couple accused of crashing the state dinner at the White House and hopeful participants in Bravo’s upcoming D.C. version of ‘The Real Housewives’ went on NBC’s ‘Today’ this morning and said they had been invited to the dinner. The White House begs to differ. Bravo, which is owned by NBC (we’re sure it’s just a coincidence that the Salahi’s scrapped an appearance on CNN’s ‘Larry King Live’ in favor of ‘Today’) is still not saying if the couple will be on the show or not. Details on the early morning appearance from the Los Angeles Times.
This tweet brought to you by... The Federal Trade Commission’s new disclosure rules for bloggers who get free stuff go into effect today. Apparently even 140-character tweets must follow the rules (that will eat up those letters). How it all will work and the reaction from the Boston Globe.
Hope she gets a car service. Nicole Richie has signed a deal to develop a sitcom for ABC about a woman with ‘complicated family relationships,’ according to Variety. Well, at least we’ll see her in a different light.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: The surprise success of ‘The Blind Side’ is being driven by big audiences in the South and Midwest, two regions of the country that Hollywood often overlooks when making movies. Former William Morris agent John Ferriter, who voted against his agency’s merger with Endeavor, has filed a suit against WME2 for wrongful termination. Filmmaker Oren Peli, whose $15,000 movie ‘Paranormal Activity’ grossed over $100 million, will stick with Paramount for his next movie, ‘Area 51.’
-- Joe Flint
