by Radar Staff

Oprah Winfrey is not familiar with failure, and the talk show queen is chopping off heads at her newly-launched network, OWN.

Christina Norman was dismissed as head of the Oprah Winfrey Network on Friday after just four months on the job. She was immediately replaced by Peter Liguori, COO of the company that owns the Discovery channel.

PHOTOS: Oprah: Through The Years

The management shuffle came after OWN, which is jointly-owned by Discovery and Winfrey, only attracted a dismal average of 148,000 viewers at any given time.

In a memo to staff, Winfrey lauded Norman’s “hard work, passion and leadership were instrumental in getting OWN on the air,” but added, “Given all that we have to do, the OWN Board felt it was necessary that we have a different kind of leadership in place for the next phase of OWN’s growth.”

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The Oprah Winfrey Network announced Friday that Discovery executive Peter Liguori will replace Christina Norman as CEO.

News of Norman's ousting arrives less than five months after OWN's debut. The channel since then has averaged a small 283,000 viewers in prime time, and in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, posted shortly after the news broke, Winfrey admitted that the network was "not...

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Christina Norman told the audience at our Innovation Uncensored event last week how she was visibly unsure about joining OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network as its CEO. Even a star-powered, deeply funded network is a lot like a small startup, full of twists and turns. In the latest twist a week later, Norman herself has been let go.

Photo: Brigitte Sire

Now that Oprah Winfrey herself has announced she'll be turning her full attentions to her OWN network and plans to bring along her new show, Oprah's Next Chapter, in Jan 2012, she's overseen the network's first big staff move, too: dismissing CEO Christina Norman. The dismissal comes after the network has failed to outperform the channel it replaced, Discovery Health, Brian Stetler reports today on the New York Times' Media Decoder blog. Peter Liguori, chief operating officer for Discovery Communications, takes over immediately--at least through the rest of 2011.

Norman just told us last week about how her first big visit with Oprah was a flop. Oprah had to cancel--her dog died. In case that wasn't a bad enough omen, a second meeting went horribly, Norman said, adding that she was visibly ambivalent about the opportunity.

[video_twistage 1]

Norman was so bad in the interview, she said she remembered Oprah saying, "I thought you needed hormones or something." Norman also admitted: "This is not the kind of job, the kind of person you half-ass it for." She let the bad interview pass but later came to her senses. "I called everybody I knew to get back in it," Norman told her panel's moderator Linda Tischler. But months later, she heard Oprah was still on the hunt for a CEO. So she threw her hat back in the ring. She landed the position.

Until today. Norman never seemed to be kidding herself about the challenges she faced at the network. It is very much a startup, Norman told Fast Company last week, after, it's now being reported, the OWN board had already made the decision to dismiss her--but before the news was announced. "Is it going to work, is it going to fail?" Norman asked about the network. "It's going to be a roller coaster, and how do you sort of lead and navigate through that?"

[video_twistage 2]Video editing by Adam Barenblat

The terror of the ancient catastrophe is being brought into our homes in a visually spectacular co-production between the BBC, the Discovery Channel and German and French TV.

Dentre as diversas projeções que recentemente publicamos por aqui, finalmente um bom exemplo no Brasil.

É do Discovery Channel para promover o lançamento da série “Planeta Humano”. A ação aconteceu na fachada do MASP, em São Paulo.

A criação é do estúdio BijaRi.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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The Oprah Winfrey Network has replaced CEO Christina Norman just four months after the joint venture cable channel with Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications Inc. was launched. Discovery Chief Operating Officer Peter Ligouri will serve as OWN chief executive until a permanent replacement is found, Discovery and Winfrey said in a statement. “With the final taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show just a few weeks away, I will soon be able to devote my full energies to OWN [and] this is a natural point of transition, and I am confident that Peter, as an integral part of the launch of OWN, will be a terrific partner for me going forward,” said Winfrey in a...

Less than six months after its debut, Christina Norman is out as president of OWN, the cable channel co-owned by Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications. Norman, a former president of MTV, had been head of OWN for about two years....

Oprah Winfrey's OWN has a new CEO.  Get the deets on the employment shakeups on the struggling network inside.....

It was recently announced that OWN's CEO Christina Norman will soon depart the network after 2 years on the job, and will be replaced by Discovery Communications COO Peter Liguori.  Also interesting to note, The OWN channel is who replaced the Discovery Health channel in the first place. 

The employment shakeup comes as sources report that OWN continues to struggle with its ratings and is burning through piles of money.  

In a statement, OWN described Peter's appointment as "a transition from a launch phase to a more long-term focus on business and creative strategy, development and execution." The statement went on to point out that Christina did lead a "successful launch of the multi-platform joint venture."

Oprah released a statement about the move saying:

"I want to thank Christina for her important accomplishments, incredible passion and many sacrifices in helping to launch the network.  With the final taping of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" only a few weeks away, I will soon be able to devote my full energies to OWN.

This is a natural point of transition, and I am confident that Peter, as an integral part of the launch of OWN, will be a terrific partner for me going forward. He is one of the smartest, most creative executives in media, and I look forward to his leadership as we build our development slate and work toward the launch of 'Oprah's Next Chapter.' Over the remainder of the year, Peter and I will work together to recruit a permanent CEO for OWN's next phase of growth."

 

Christina, who spent 17 years as the President of MTV Networks before moving to the OWN Network, had this to say:

"Joining OWN was a great opportunity, and launching it successfully and drawing more than 67 million viewers is one of my proudest achievements.

My thanks to Oprah and David for entrusting me with this brand and giving me the opportunity to launch OWN. As I move on to my next challenge, I am confident the strong foundation we have built will position the network to achieve great things.

OWN will soon add talk show host Rosie O'Donnell to the lineup hoping this will stir up some interest.  Do you have a favorite show on the channel yet?  I'm personally loving the "Season 25: Behind The Scenes" episodes.  I've learned that Lady O is just as much of a lush as me.  Love that!

*In the wake of initial disappointing ratings for OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, its head, Christina Norman, has abruptly left the 4-month-old channel, reports the AP. The network announced today that Peter Liguori, the chief operating officer for Discovery Communications, will take over on an interim basis. His appointment is effective immediately. Winfrey said she [...]

Discovery Communications and Oprah Winfrey Friday pushed out Christina Norman as chief executive of OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, after a tough start for the five-month old cable network.

MythBusters is an excellent TV show on Discovery Channel, in which Adam, Jamie, Kari, Tory, and Grant test popular myths. That show, like so many other shows, is designed for a TV time-slot. It has to be a certain length. There has to be a certain number of breaks, at certain times etc.

But most people probably do not realize just the tactics that go into making an episode. So just for fun, let us dissect a show, and see what we can learn from it.

One hour time-slot, once per week

First, let us look at how much time MythBusters spend on the actual show itself vs. all the other things. By timing each individual thing, we get this neat graph.

They spend 4% of the time talking about what is "coming up next," 2% of time showing the MythBuster logo, and 6% repeating something they have already said - e.g. when returning from a commercial break.

All of that is just filler content. It doesn't actually provide you with any value.

Then they spend 33% of the time talking about the first myth, 17% on second myth, and only 11% on the third myth (only 6 and a half minute).

But then comes the real shocker. 27% of the time is spent watching advertising. Everyone hates advertising online, but the time your spend looking at ads on a website is tiny in comparison to the massive amount of advertising you are exposed to on TV.

For every single hour, you spend 16 minutes watching advertising.

Putting it all together

Even more interesting is how they then put it all together. How do you get people to watch 16 minutes of advertising, every hour?

It is all about tactics.

The very first step is to take your most valuable and interesting part of your show, cut it into five smaller pieces, and spread it evenly over the full hour. This is exactly what MythBuster is doing. They take their primary myth, split it up into 5 pieces, and distribute it over the full hour.

Not only that, but they start with the primary myth, and end with the primary myth. This way, once you start watching, there is really no turning back. You will never reach a point in which you say, "oh, I have seen enough now."

---

If that doesn't get you hooked to, MythBusters also start off the second myth - giving you two reasons to stay on the channel. By this point, you have invested 12 minutes of your time. There is no chance the you are going to turn away now.

---

Now that you are hooked, it is time to bring in the commercial break. But again, here we see even more tactics.

They bring as many ads as they can. But, just short of you being annoyed by them, they return you to the show for another 2 minutes of the first myth, only to immediately having another commercial break.

This period of commercial breaks is actually 10 minutes long.

---

At this point, you are very close to being really fed up by all the ads. And MythBusters knows it. So, they return you to the show, and give you another long uninterrupted period of entertainment.

Followed by another commercial break.

---

Now it is time to start the third myth. Which is a short 5 minute piece, interrupted by another commercial break.

---

Then to return the continuation of the first myth - and another commercial break. At this point, the interruptions don't really matter anymore. You have already invested most of the hour getting this far.

---

And then we reach the end of the show, where we finally learn the results of the first myth.

There you have it. The tactics involved in creating one hour of MythBusters.

Also, because they have to fit the show into a one-hour time slot, there are a lot really interesting content they had to cut out. This content is instead published on the website for fans to "snack on."

There is actually a lot of it. For the first myth of this episode, Mythbusters have uploaded more content to the website than what they could fit into the show itself.

The real question now is. What do you do when the TV world turn digital, and you no longer have to fit everything into a time slot because everything is on-demand? But, that is a topic for another article.

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NEW YORK — In the wake of initial disappointing ratings for OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, its head, Christina Norman, has abruptly left the 4-month-old channel.

The network announced Friday that Peter Liguori, the chief operating officer for Discovery Communications, will take over on an interim basis. His appointment is effective immediately.

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More on Oprah

Filed under: TV Previews

Here's tonight's lineup of new shows and events (all times Eastern). Check your local TV listings for additional information.

* = Series/Season Premiere
** = Series/Season Finale
# = New Day/Time

7:00 to 8:00
ESPN: 'NBA Playoffs' -- Game 3 between the Bulls and the Hawks
VERSUS: 'NHL Playoffs' -- Game 4 between the Sharks and Red Wings

8:00 to 9:00
ABC: 'Shark Tank'
CBS: 'Flashpoint'*
CW: 'Smallville'
FOX: 'Kitchen Nightmares'
NBC: 'Friday Night Lights'
PBS: 'Washington Week With Gwen Ifill' and 'Need to Know'
CMT: 'Singing Bee'
Discovery: 'Dual Survival'
Disney Channel: 'The Suite Life on Deck'** and 'A.N.T. Farm' -- Special preview of 'A.N.T. Farm' airs at 8:40
DIY: 'Man Caves'
ID: 'Main Street Mysteries'** -- 8:30 start
SyFy: 'WWE Friday Night Smackdown' -- (120 minutes)

The rest of the schedule and the late night talk shows after the jump.

 

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Christina Norman is out as CEO of OWN (NSDQ: DISCA), the Oprah Winfrey Network, the victim of dissatisfaction over poor ratings for one of the most hyped launches in cable history. Peter Liguori, the COO of joint venture partner Discovery Networks, is taking the helm on an interim basis. The network, which launched Jan. 1, is a joint venture of Discovery Communications and Winfrey’s Harpo Productions. Discovery has at least $215 million in investment riding on the new channel, with plans to invest more. [Release below.]

The move is being spun as a switch from launch to execution, with an effort not to make it look like the highly regarded Norman is being replaced by Liguori. Norman was recommended by Tom Freston, her former boss at Viacom (NYSE: VIA), who has been an adviser on the new network. She came on
in early 2009, joining a project that already had seen some turnover and that encounter more. Last month, distribution head Alan Singer left to head programming for Charter (NSDQ: CHTR) Communications.

Former Fox exec Liguori came in late in the process, joining Discovery at the end of 2009, nearly a year after Norman. His involvement with OWN was expected, particularly given his strengths in growing new channels with FX as the prime example. The company says his immediate takeover of the network reflects a “more long-term focus on business and creative strategy, development and execution.”

Does it also reflect a power shift? Winfrey remains chairman but where Norman reported to her and the OWN board, Liguori keeps his day job as COO of Discovery Networks.

More to come.
————————————————

PETER LIGUORI NAMED INTERIM CEO OF OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK

Discovery Communications’ Chief Operating Officer adds OWN Leadership Responsibilities Following Departure of Christina Norman

Los Angeles, CA and Silver Spring, MD – Peter Liguori has been named Interim Chief Executive Officer of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, it was announced today by Oprah Winfrey, Chairman of OWN, and David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications.  The appointment reflects a transition from a launch phase to a more long-term focus on business and creative strategy, development and execution following the network’s debut on January 1, 2011.

Effective immediately, Liguori steps into the role held by Christina Norman, who led the successful launch of the multi-platform joint venture.  In addition to his Chief Operating Officer (COO) responsibilities for Discovery Communications, Liguori will oversee the network as it continues building a slate of new and original content, including the October debut of Rosie O’Donnell’s new talk show ROSIE and the launch of OPRAH’S NEXT CHAPTER in early 2012.

“I want to thank Christina for her important accomplishments, incredible passion and many sacrifices in helping to launch the network,” said Winfrey.  “With the final taping of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” only a few weeks away, I will soon be able to devote my full energies to OWN.  This is a natural point of transition, and I am confident that Peter, as an integral part of the launch of OWN, will be a terrific partner for me going forward.  He is one of the smartest, most creative executives in media, and I look forward to his leadership as we build our development slate and work toward the launch of OPRAH’S NEXT CHAPTER.  Over the remainder of the year, Peter and I will work together to recruit a permanent CEO for OWN’s next phase of growth.”

“Joining OWN was a great opportunity, and launching it successfully and drawing more than 67 million viewers is one of my proudest achievements,” said Norman.  “My thanks to Oprah and David for entrusting me with this brand and giving me the opportunity to launch OWN.  As I move on to my next challenge, I am confident the strong foundation we have built will position the network to achieve great things.”

“Peter is Discovery’s creative leader, and highly qualified to assume the leadership at OWN for the next phase of growth,” said Zaslav.  “Christina did a great job launching OWN with long-term support from both advertising and affiliate partners.  Peter will now ensure that OWN reaches its full creative potential with great programming that delivers on Oprah’s vision, mission and brand.”

OWN debuted on January 1, 2011, and delivered double digit primetime increases across all key demos vs. Discovery Health a year ago for 1Q.  Strong performing series include SEASON 25: OPRAH BEHIND THE SCENES, OUR AMERICA WITH LISA LING and THE JUDDS.  Key upcoming series debuts include WHY NOT? WITH SHANIA TWAIN and FINDING SARAH, with the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson.
Among his primary responsibilities as Discovery’s COO, Liguori oversees Discovery’s interests in its joint venture channels, The Hub, 3net and OWN, as well as providing leadership for the company’s operational organizations, including Marketing, Discovery Studios, Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs, Business Affairs, Research, Digital Media and Commerce, and Media Technology, Production and Operations.  In addition to his operational role, he also oversees Discovery’s cross-company global Creative Council with a focus on maximizing the value of the company’s content, marketing resources and overall corporate assets.

Before joining Discovery in 2009, Liguori most recently served as president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company, where he was responsible for all Fox program development and marketing.  Prior to assuming that position in 2005, Liguori was president and CEO of News Corp.‘s FX Networks since 1998, overseeing business and programming operations for FX and Fox Movie Channel.  Under his leadership, over a five-year period, FX grew from an emerging network reaching 39 million homes to a top-five basic cable network reaching more than 84 million homes and recording all-time highs in ratings and revenue.

Liguori joined Fox/Liberty Networks in 1996 as Senior Vice President, Marketing for a new joint venture, which now includes Fox Sports Net, FX, Fox Sports World, SPEED and National Geographic Channel.  Prior to joining Fox, Liguori was Vice President, Consumer Marketing at HBO.  He also held several positions in HBO’s Home Video Division, including Vice President, Marketing and Senior Vice President, Marketing, where his duties included the creation and implementation of marketing programs for all HBO Home Video product expansion and the development of its programming line-up.

Liguori also has experience as a producer of the widely acclaimed independent feature film, “Big Night.” Prior to HBO, he worked in advertising at Ogilvy & Mather and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Related

• SEC Watch: Discovery Boosts Funding For Oprah Winfrey Network
• Industry Moves: Former MTV Exec Christina Norman Joins Oprah-Discovery JV OWN As CEO
• Oprah OWNs Prime Flipboard Real Estate In First-Of-A-Kind Deal For iPad Mag
• Redesigned CNN.com: More Opinion, Entertainment, Integrated iReport And Oprah
• SEC Watch: New Discovery COO Liguori Gets $200,000 Signing Bonus
• Ex-Fox Entertainment Head Ligouri Joins Discovery As COO

Welcome to our weekly series detailing the best lyrical tributes to individual states in America. We're running through all 50 states in alphabetical order (check out our first entry here), but if you're new to things then here's the deal: we're trying to identify the one song that can serve to mentally transport you to the state it exalts. A loving tribute is one thing, but the song has to unequivocally represent its namesake, to the point where merely hearing it not only brings you joy but serves as a roadmap for everything you'd ever need to know about the songwriter's home.

With that rather lengthy explanation out of the way, let's get to this week's entry:

The State: Alaska

The Song: "North to Alaska" by Johnny Horton

 

I could probably find an excuse to do a Johnny Horton tune for every state, but if there's one place that just cries out for it, it's Alaska. And not just because of the cheesy John Wayne western that unleashed this song on the nation, either. At first a country western song might seem out of place for a frigid, rugged landscape, but old westerns were all about survival in the untamed frontier. If there's any quick way to describe Alaska, it's untamed frontier.

Sure it's an ode to fictional characters, but the Nome gold rush was very real and its spirit has forever shaped the image of Alaska in our heads. Even today the state evokes images of heading out to the edge of the world in pursuit of some sort of treasure, be it fish, crab, oil, timber, mineral deposits, or just a fresh start in a place where no one knows you for your past screw-ups.

 

As soon as that chorus kicks in you can almost see yourself aboard some old steam engine, black coal smoke puffing in time with the beat, chugging along a pine-covered mountainside towards whatever fortune fate will bestow upon you in the great white North. Sure it's a bit anachronistic, but that's part of Alaska's charm anyway. It's still relatively untouched by modern convenience, aside from airplanes, oil rigs, and the majestic herds of Discovery Channel camera crews filming literally everything they stumble across to put on television.

A great state deserves a great song and sure, I'm biased, but I think this one nails it. So far we've had two states and two country-tinged songs, which I assure you is just a result of choosing BSA (best song available) and not any bias on my part. I think twangy ballads tend to lend themselves to odes to statehood. Will the trend continue? Find out next week, when we visit Arizona!

Runner Up: "Alaska and Me" by John Denver
Most Laughable Suggestion: "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi


Got a better song in mind for Alaska? Want to start suggestions for your state before I get there? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

Flickr photo Alaskan Wilderness by David Weekly used under a Creative Commons License.

The canonization of film is a strange, sometimes dubious affair. Among the various groups who do so in one way or another – AFI and the Criterion Collection spring to mind – Turner Classic Movies seems to me the least inhibited. Where others are list- and catalogue-restrained by design, TCM need only broadcast a movie on television to deem it worthy. Still, the channel is not without biases of its own: most, though certainly not all, of the films seen on TCM were produced by a small handful of studios between the ’30s and ’60s. (As I write, hours after the festival’s end, an exception to both rules is playing: Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage.) Its library nonetheless includes several thousand titles spanning any number of genres, directors, and stars, and it’s this inclusivity, this celebratory spirit of all things cinematic, that grants the network such wide appeal.

In what is very much a fan-oriented affair, TCM transposed this televised celebration of film onto the silver screens of Hollywood for the second time from April 28 to May 1 of this year. The main appeal of a festival composed almost entirely of films readily available for home viewing is, naturally, to see such classics and rarities as The Godfather and The Devil is a Woman on the big screen. And though not necessarily geared toward older audiences – I’d like to think that cinephilia is ageless – the festival certainly ended up serving a predominantly middle-aged-and-older crowd; my frequent screening partner (Not Coming’s own Glenn Heath, Jr.) and I were the youngest attendees at several of the films we saw together. Fittingly, the inherent nostalgia of a film festival whose newest movie was released in 1981 lent the proceedings a decidedly youthful, even wistful air. There’s something refreshing about a cinematic event whose most anticipated guests (both on the red carpet and as presenters) include the likes of Kirk Douglas and Angela Lansbury.

I was further struck by the ways in which the intent of TCM (and, by extension, this year’s incarnation of the festival) aligns with that of this website. This, from an interview with host Robert Osborne from 2008:

We hope that someone who never saw our channel will watch Lord of the Rings and come back and discover John Garfield. I was at an event the other night and Lauren Bacall was talking and she said, ‘If you’ve never seen Topaze starring John Barrymore from 1933, then to you that’s not an old film—it’s a new film.’

In a manner befitting this championing of cinematic discovery, the TCM Classic Film Festival (said out loud, the full title – Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival – is unforgivably redundant) programmed a ‘Discoveries’ sidebar devoted entirely to hard-to-find or otherwise-obscure movies. It was here in particular that I felt as though TCM were doing something important – as well as living up to its name – and several of the reviews to follow are of films from this category.

Foreign Parts has the aura of a Discovery Channel special: the audience’s job is to watch and learn. The tone and pace of the film make it feel like an introduction to another world: a schleppy, quirky, charming world. And unless you knew it was there, hidden behind the Mets stadium, you might think Willets [...]

photobomb that guy - Like They Do On the Discovery Channel

An N-type Calcium Channel Blocker for Chronic Pain Drug Discovery & Development 4 Preclinical studies demonstrated that CNV2197944 could have analgesic potential for a broad range of chronic pain conditions. In behavioral models, CNV2197944 was effective in acute mechanical nociception, established inflammatory hyperalgesia, ...

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and Judy McGrath are announcing this morning that the longtime head of MTV Networks has resigned. The decision is McGrath’s—and, after making it through some very tough sledding, she leaves MTVN at the top of its game. McGrath, with MTV almost since the beginning, will not be replaced.

The move has been in the works for months. One variation I’d been told was that McGrath might stay on in in a different capacity but either way Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman was ready to run MTVN directly. I asked Viacom about it weeks ago but at the time the response was status quo. Still, company sources insist this was McGrath’s decision.

Effective immediately, Doug Herzog, president, MTVN Entertainment Group; Van Toffler, president, MTVN Music & Logo Group; and Cyma Zarghami, president, Nickelodeon & MTVN Kids & Family Group will report to Dauman.  Rich Eigendorff, COO of MTVN, will report to Viacom COO Tom Dooley.

Other changes are detailed in the memo but the effort here is to show a cable group operating as usual—with the exception that its almost iconic chairman has left.

More to come.

Memo from Philippe Dauman:

Dear Colleagues:

The words creativity, passion and integrity are thrown around a lot in business.  But when used to describe our friend and colleague Judy McGrath, these words take on special relevance and meaning.  Throughout her career, Judy has embodied the spirit of discovery and reinvention that has defined and fueled a great deal of our creative and business success.  Today, in the attached press release, we announced that after three decades of extraordinary accomplishment, Judy has decided to leave MTV Networks and begin a new chapter in her career.

What a remarkable career it has been.  After a brief flirtation with the magazine industry, she arrived at MTV moments after its birth in 1981 as a copywriter.  Soon, her creative work was helping to define MTV’s maverick attitude and unique audience connection with on-air promos and contests like “Devo Goes Hawaiian” and “One Night Stand with Journey.”  From the beginning, she energetically channeled her life-long passion for music into everything she did.  Judy thrived and so did MTV.  She subsequently moved up the ranks and became Editorial Director, Executive Vice President and Creative Director, and then, President of MTV.  Under her direction as President, MTV grew from a cable channel about music into the global brand it is today by constantly reinventing and reflecting the always-changing youth culture.

As Chairman and CEO of MTV Networks, her inclusive leadership helped shape our media networks into the most successful and powerful television brands in the world today.  Judy and her team guided the growth of the industry’s largest collection of multiplatform networks, including MTV, MTV2, mtvU, Tr3s, VH1, VH1 Classic, CMT, Logo, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV Land and Spike, to name just a few.  Through Nickelodeon, she also oversaw the growth and expansion of one of the largest consumer products businesses in the world.

The list of entertaining, culturally significant and generationally relevant programming produced during her tenure is as large and varied as the audiences she continually studied and sought.  She was in the room when The Real World was conceived and reality television was born.  She led the team that created cultural beacons like the MTV Video Music Awards, Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards, the MTV Movie Awards and Total Request Live.  She Punk’d a generation, introduced us to the bleepin’ Osbournes, and took MTV’s largest audience ever on a trip to the Jersey Shore.  Under her watch, generations of kids were introduced to Nick’s megahits SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly and Dora the Explorer, the LGBT (NYSE: BT) audience got their first and only television network in LOGO, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report became important voices in the national dialogue, and we got an unblinking look at teenage pregnancy and motherhood on 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom.

As we all know, Judy’s enthusiasm is infectious and her commitment is boundless.  Consistently recognized as an inspiring and creative leader, she has been a model for many young women seeking successful careers in the entertainment industry.  She has led the drive for diversity and community service throughout our organization and always maintained a passionate commitment to developing pro-social initiatives that raise the consciousness of viewers and empower audience involvement.  “Darfur is Dying,” the Peabody Award-winning “Choose or Lose” campaign, the Emmy award-winning “Fight For Your Rights” series, Nick’s “Let’s Just Play,” and the “Hope For Haiti” telethon are only a few of the many dozens of important pro-social campaigns she has championed across the entire portfolio of MTVN brands.

While doing all this, she also made time to personally give back, serving on the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross, the Board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, and the Advisory Board of the United Nation Foundation’s Girl Up campaign.  Most important, she built a great life with her husband Mike and daughter Anna.

Perhaps her most enduring legacy is the talented team she assembled up and down the ranks of MTV Networks.  With Judy’s departure, we have the opportunity to tap into and elevate an extraordinary group of experienced executives.

Effective immediately, Doug Herzog, President, MTVN Entertainment Group; Van Toffler, President, MTVN Music & Logo Group; and Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon & MTVN Kids & Family Group – each of whom have successfully led their teams for many years and all of whom have moved their organizations forward creatively and operationally – will report directly to me.

I am very pleased to be able to recognize the efforts of these outstanding executives who have all been instrumental in achieving new levels of success for many of our most prominent media properties.  I am looking forward to working more closely with them and with their talented teams.

Additionally, we are more closely aligning important staff functions.  Rich Eigendorff, COO of MTVN, who has also been with the Viacom family for more than 25 years and contributed enormously to our success, will now report to Viacom’s COO, Tom Dooley.  Rich will continue to oversee MTVN’s ad sales efforts as well as the content, distribution and marketing operations.  Also reporting to Rich will be Carole Robinson, who will continue in her current responsibilities.  MTVN’s CFO, Jacques Tortoroli, will now report to Viacom’s CFO, Jimmy Barge; MTVN Co-General Counsel, Andra Shapiro and George Cheeks, will report to Viacom’s General Counsel, Mike Fricklas; and Catherine Houser, EVP, MTVN Human Resources, will report directly to Viacom’s EVP of Human Resources, Denise White – giving us the opportunity to bring greater coordination to these important functions.  Marva Smalls will continue to report to Cyma as EVP, Public Affairs and Chief of Staff, Nickelodeon & MTVN Kids and Family Group.  In her broader duties as EVP of Global Inclusion, which will be expanded to include the entire company, Marva will advise me and report to Denise White as part of our Viacom-wide diversity initiatives.

I know you join me in a heartfelt farewell to Judy, an admired and valued colleague whose accomplishments at MTV Networks and in our industry will never be diminished or forgotten.  There is no doubt that filling Judy’s Chuck Taylors will be a big task, but I am confident that working together with the talented team she leaves behind, we will get it done – with a lot of hard work and enthusiasm and a generous measure of grace and style.  Just the way Judy always did it.

Warm regards,

Philippe

Related

• Paley Center: MTVN's McGrath: Younger Viewers Are Still Watching TV
• Viacom-Google Unsealed: Take Two: Viacom Exec: 'YouTube Mostly Behaves'
• @ Music & Money: MTVN's Van Toffler: Music Videos Still Have Value
• MTVN's McGrath: No Major Digital Acquisitions This Year; Hirschhorn Can Redirect MySpace
• McGrath's Memo: What Cuts Mean For MTVN -- Without The Specifics

By Cliff Renfrew
Radar Staff Reporter

Motorcycle mogul Jesse James’ porn star ex-wife is penning her own explosive book about her life and battles with James, whose auto-biography came out this week.

James is on a national publicity tour to hawk American Outlaw, which delves into his breakup with his other ex-wife, Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock.

PHOTOS: Sandra Bullock and Son, Louis Bullock out and about in New York

But 42-year-old Janine Lindemulder, who’s been embroiled in a messy custody battle with James over 7-year-old daughter Sunny, is determined get her own story across.

“I have no intention (to read American Outlaw),”she said, “because I’m sure it is just one big ‘pity party’ for Jesse. The man lacks accountability and is known to talk only in half-truths. But it’s time he stops treating friends, workers, former business partners and especially women badly. He has a warped and disrespectful attitude towards women and people need to know the truth about that.”

Tatted out Lindemulder was married to James for two stormy years that included allegations of domestic violence from both sides. The marriage was the topic of a Discovery Channel series, Motorcycle Mania 3.

PHOTOS: Bikinis! Sexy Stars Involved In Cheating Scandals

So, what does the star of such porn hits as Extreme Sex 3 want to tell us that we don’t know?

“I want to educate people about Parental Alienation Syndrome because that is what he has put me and my daughter through over the past few years,” she said. “In many ways, it’s worse than physical abuse because it never stops and really affects the way a child views the world. I will not stop with my campaign until the day I die.”

James, 42, has sole custody of Sunny, but Lindemulder is battling for more access.

PHOTOS: Jesse James and Kat Von D Spend Weekend Together

Among the juicy tidbits, says Lindemuler, is the fact James was calling her soon after he married Bullock in 2005.

“He was a player from day one,” she said. “He was calling me after he married Sandra Bullock but I explain more about that in my book.

“[It] has to stop.”

 

RELATED STORIES:

VIDEO: Jesse James: 'I Can't Worry About Sandra Anymore'

How Jesse James Told Sandra Bullock About His Infidelity

Jesse James: ‘Sandra Bullock Has Cut Off Contact With My Daughter’

 

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Top stories on MediaGuardian.co.uk

News Corp finds Avatar hard act to follow as third quarter profits slump
Rupert Murdoch's company reports 24% drop in third quarter profits, though Fox News had highest ever operating profit

BA to launch first 2012 Olympic ads
Airline's London Games campaign will shun TV and use national print media and online advertising instead

'Chinese Facebook' raises $743m with flotation
Shares soar as company becomes one of first social networks to go public in US

This week's featured media jobs

British Film Institute - Deputy Chief Executive
London/permanent/full time

Quarto Publishing - Editor
London/permanent/full time

Resources Group - Senior Digital Communications Manager
London/permanent/full time

For more jobs, career advice and workplace news visit guardianjobs.co.uk

Today's headlines

The Guardian

Huffington Post boosts AOL ad revenue. P27
Facebook rival Renren raises $743m in New York flotation. P30

The Independent

Jude Law and Ashley Cole launch legal action against News of the World. P11
Max Mosley to underwrite some phone hacking victims' cases against NotW. P11
Denis O'Brien's Newstalk radio pays out £400,000 in libel case. P26
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution moved to "graveyard" slot in US. P27
Renren surges on market debut. P36

Daily Telegraph

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution moved to "graveyard" slot in US. P3
BBC pay still too high, says new chairman Chris Patten. P14
Amazon prepares competitor to the iPad. P14
Murdoch F1 bid not driven by TV rights. Business, P4

The Times

Sunday Times Rich List has female musicians galore. P4
News Corporation records 24% drop in third quarter profits. P46, 50
Renren soars on New York debut. P53
AOL shows signs of recovery as display ad revenue rises for first time in three years. P52

Financial Times

New laws urged on Sony data breach. P21
Sports viewing lifts CBS, Comcast and Time Warner. P22
Renren shares soar 30% on market debut. P32

Wall Street Journal Europe

Sony security breach. P19, 20
China creates internet regulatory agency. P19

Daily Mail

Sunday Times Rich List has Simon Cowell sixth in music rich list. P37

Daily Express

Sunday Times Rich List has Simon Cowell sixth in music rich list. P23

The Sun

Sunday Times Rich List has Simon Cowell sixth in music rich list. P9
BBC pay still too high, says new chairman Chris Patten. P16
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution moved to "graveyard" slot in US. TVbiz, P1

Daily Mirror

X Factor finals to head for Wembley. P10

Daily Star

Sunday Times Rich List has Simon Cowell sixth in music rich list. P11

And finally ...

Blue Peter is going through dark times. Viewers were told yesterday that Mabel, the second-longest serving Blue Peter dog on the show, died after 14 years on TV. The death of Mabel, a border
collie cross, comes within a month of golden retriever Lucy dying after 12 years service. Daily Mirror, P15

Also on MediaGuardian.co.uk today

Patten: BBC executives still paid too much
New BBC Trust chairman says number of highly paid executives at the corporation is to be cut back

AOL's HuffPo takeover lifts display ad revenue
Struggling tech giant says acquisitions have helped create growth, but pre-tax losses hit $11.2m in first quarter

Warner Bros buys Flixster
Hollywood studio says it intends to expand movie discovery service into 'digital content ownership'

Already beyond Sky - James Murdoch's F1 thinking
Dan Sabbagh: News Corporation is already thinking past the Sky bid (that's a £9bn done deal) - will it ever stop expanding?

Bradley Manning's jail conditions improve dramatically after protest campaign
Switch of WikiLeaks whistleblower suspect from maximum security jail means more rights and liberties in runup to trial

Denis O'Brien in €450,000 libel payout
Telecoms billionaire settles with former health minister Mary Harney after gaffe at radio station Newstalk

Channel 4 hopes Four Rooms will reinvent antiques shows
New primetime programme will feature four antiques dealers pitted against each other

Teachers TV relaunches as SchoolsWorld
Education channel reaches deal with government to continue as free online service despite loss of public funding

Bing to become default search option for BlackBerrys
Research In Motion turns to Microsoft to attempt to make an impact on the mobile maps and search business

Reader's Digest relaunches with new columnists
Magazine unveils new look and recruits writers including Martha Lane Fox, Donal MacIntyre and Conor McNicholas

Webby awards: Zach Galifianakis and FunnyOrDie lead winners
US site scoops nine awards including four for comedian's interview series, as Guardian wins two for online video

Julian Bellamy takes on newly created international role overseeing production and development of new TV commissions

Discovery Networks has appointed Julian Bellamy, the former head of Channel 4, to a newly created international role overseeing production and development of new TV commissions.

Bellamy, who left Channel 4 last year after the role of chief creative officer was given to BBC1 controller Jay Hunt, will take the title of creative director and head of production and development for Discovery Networks International.

He takes up the London-based role on 1 June and will report to Luis Silberwasser, executive vice-president and chief content officer of the division.

He will be responsible for overseeing the executive production and development of all local and international commissions across DNI's portfolio of more than 100 networks.

Discovery has upped its total global programming spend from about $650m to $1bn under the reign of chief executive David Zaslav, although it is not clear how much of this is spent outside the US market.

Bellamy will lead commissioning teams in London as well as the production and development for all original programming in DNI's four regions: western Europe; central Europe, eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Asia-Pacific; and Latin America.

He will have development executives working for him in London Miami, New York, Milan, Munich, Sao Paolo and Singapore.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook

Verizon FiOS: Making Life So Much Easier!

Last summer I switched from cable to Verizon FiOS due to a really great promotion they were running.  I was fed up with the poor service,frequent outages, and outdated technology from my local cable company. I figured I had nothing to lose.

For my family, there is no going back!  I was recently challenged to come up with five ways that Verizon FiOS makes me life easier:

(1) I love the fact that you can access all sorts of cool widgets from the TV menu!  Especially for my teenage daughter, who just can't live without Facebook.  Even when she is away from home, as long as the person has Verizon FiOS, she can keep updated on all the Facebook info that she craves!

(2) The on-demand feature is a lifesaver when you hear the inevitable " I am soooo bored and there is nothing to watch despite having hundreds of channels" cry!  Even better is my discovery that much of the content is FREE!  A few clicks and major broadcast as well as niche channel content are available when you want it!

(3) So many of the speciality channels that come bundled with my particular package appeal to different members of my family.  My daughter really loves her anime and teen programming while my husband enjoys Discovery and DIY programming.  And when your child and husband are entertained, you are free to do your own thing..like write posts for your blog!

(4) I was surprised to find that Verizon actually has a channel to teach you to use your remote!  This actually impressed me as so many features that come with your TV service is normally discovered through trial and error.

(5) The whole notion of losing your TV or Internet service during storms no longer applies since Verizon FiOS is not usually affected by severe weather.  When I need information the most, it is there to inform me and let me get the alerts I need to ensure that my family and home remain safe.

With packages that suit any budget and the ability to upgrade and downgrade without penalties as needed for our family there is no other choice but Verizon.

You can check here to see if it is available where you live.


Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Verizon FiOS blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here

KEY TO CHANNELS: DRT - Discovery Real Time  SHED – Discovery Shed DSC - Discovery Channel  DHD - Discovery Channel HD EXS - Extreme Sports Channel EUR1 (2, HD) - Eurosport 1 (2, HD) MOT - Motors TV   SS1 (2, 3 or X) - Sky Sports...

So will the inevitable 'Death of Bin Laden' film be a gritty indie or big studio effort? As soon as President Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden had been killed, you know that studio execs started calling each other to figure out what properties were already in development that could be reworked as a movie about the killing of Bin Laden. It was only an hour after the first announcement that the Al Qaeda leader was dead that Deadline [1] ran a piece about two Bin Laden films that are close to a starting point. One is a Paramount film based on the book Jawbreaker, written by CIA operative Gary Bernsten, which is about the first attempt to kill Bin Laden in the initial invasion of Afghanistan that took place right after 9/11. The other film is Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's movie Kill Bin Laden -- that's the small 'black ops thriller' that the two have been prepping parallel to Triple Frontier. We heard months ago that the film might be about the hunt for Bin Laden [2], and while that news was denied at the time, turns out it was quite correct. And now it looks like Kathryn Bigelow will be the one to bring a Bin Laden movie to the screen first. Turns out that Kill Bin Laden was written about the exact special ops unit that did kill him, says Variety [3], although the original script was about a failed mission. So it is rewrite time, and the trade says the film is set to go into production this summer. Now the film will probably climax with the firefight that actually killed Bin Laden, and the film will have a new happy ending (things being relative, of course) that reflects the actual events of this past weekend. (Mark Boal, who was a reporter before being a screenwriter and producer, has extensive intelligence contacts, which have been part of the source of his material for both The Hurt Locker and now Kill Bin Laden.) And Joel Edgerton is said to be the likely lead at this point, per THR [4]. There could be no small irony if that does work out, given that he lost the lead in the new Bourne film to Jeremy Renner, whose profile was significantly elevated by The Hurt Locker. The question now will be whether Kathryn Bigelow can get her movie under way first while facing down studio competition to fast-track films like the one based on Jawbreaker. Kill Bin Laden was already steadily moving forward, but there is still work to do, and the Bigelow/Boal team seems to be cautious and methodical about constructing films; they're not likely to rush something into production just to do it. Meanwhile, the first documentary about the death of Bin Laden will likely be Killing Bin Laden, which the Discovery Channel announced as an "insta-mentary" (huh?) that will debut on Sunday, May 15. And them, almost as an absurdist comic coda to this whole story, there is Operation Belvis Bash. What the hell is that? Why, Cory Feldman's latest movie! It premiered in Houston on Sunday night, and evidently features its own 'killing of Osama Bin Laden' scene. Read all about that at Movieline [5] if you wish, and know before hitting that link that the film also features The Iron Sheik and Frank Stallone. Try to keep your pants on while reading the info there, please. I know it will be difficult. [1] http://www.deadline.com/2011/05/pair-of-hunt-for-bin-laden-projects-could-be-timeliest-movies-now/ [2] http://www.slashfilm.com/kathryn-bigelows-untitled-blackops-thriller-hunt-osama-bin-laden/ [3] http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118036263?categoryid=4076&cs=1&cmpid=RSS|News|LatestNews [4] http://www.slashfilm.com http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/how-will-osama-bin-laden-183979 [5] http://www.movieline.com/2011/05/today-in-wtf-corey-feldmans-new-comedy-is-about-assassinating-osama-bin-laden.php

Our weekly event planner gives you the heads-up on what’s coming around the corner. If we’ve missed something, don’t hesitate to add your event to the calendar. (You can see all events here.)

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Project CineMaas presents an exclusive interview with Paris-based Scott
Hillier, an Academy Award winning Australian filmmaker who founded ECU The European Independent Film Festival.
Read on as he clarifies a wide array of issues, from the film
festival’s evolution and his definition of independent European cinema
to the judging process and his visions for the future.

 

The sixth ECU The European Independent Film Festival took place this year in Paris, France on April 1st to 3rd.

The author has taken the liberty to edit the interview for brevity and clarity.

How did ECU The European Independent Film Festival start?

It is quite simple. After I came back from New York and having had
films play at Sundance, we were investigating and asking the students I
teach at a film school here what they were doing with their films. They
said they are going to send one to here, one to there….and figured out
that there is nothing quite like a European Sundance. So I said, “Well, I
am going to start it.” I thought about it late one night and the next
day, on a train to Switzerland to do a shoot, I had my assistant sit
down there with Dreamweaver, created a website, and we put it online
that night.

What role has the web and online social media played in your festival?

It is an interesting part of revolution. I remember sitting there the
first year, just scrolling, trawling through the internet trying to
find independent filmmakers and literally writing to them, asking “Hey,
what are you doing with your films? Have you thought about us?” Social
media is the way to go for us.

Having experienced the film festival this year, I have
observed it to be small and intimate, a big contrast to the bigger
festivals out there. Is it your intention to keep it low key instead of
presenting a big spectacle?

It is a small festival, it is a filmmakers’ festival. We do not have
the red carpet and the limousines but we work very hard in making
everybody that comes, to be part of it. We would like to think that you
are going to stay with the community as the filmmakers and our audience.
It is a fun community to be in. However, I think it is going to evolve
organically. Financially, it is a burden and we need money. That is
always the pay off.  Will we ever get as big? We would like to hope so.
But I think just because you get big, you do not need to lose the
personal feeling. Also, it honestly really is about the people working
with you on it. If people are just there for a job and are there for the
weekend, then that is not fun at all. You actually have people invest
time in it. It is never my festival. They are all a little bit pregnant
and I would like to think that is their festival, everybody who works on
it through the year. I honestly believe that you can run a big company
and run a big film festival as long as you infuse people with that, the
investment they put in is worth it, it makes everybody’s experience
really good.

We do not have the red carpet and the limousines but we work very hard in making everybody that comes, to be part of it.

Six years on, how much has the festival changed through the years?

It has become a name now. It is getting known better in the circuit. I
would like to think that the change in fact is that it is better
organized these days. We have the systems in place and processes to
follow. In the end, I do not think the ethos has changed. You had a
great time and we actually enjoyed having you and the other people, and
that is the aspect. The spirit has not changed. We might be in different
cinemas and different places, but the festival as such has not changed.
I would actually be disappointed if some of these have changed because
we do try to keep the “ECU family” type of thing.

Do you collaborate with other film festivals?

We do actually. Just because we are better known now, people are
happier to partner with us. At the beginning when I first started
suggesting partnerships, I cannot even tell you how much push back I
have had, how many people said that is a stupid idea. Everyone said,
“They are our films and they are playing in our festival, why would we
share them with you?” It is insane because as a filmmaker, you want to
show your work in as many places as you can. So why would you not
partner up?  Do not keep it all to yourself. It helps us and it helps
other festivals. We had a festival just the other day that said, “We
played all of your winners form last year we want to do the same this
year.” This in the States and they said it went over very, very well.
That is good and I am probably going to seven or eight festivals before
next year and present some of ours and pick out films that I really
think are going to work well for our audiences next year.

How do you define independent European cinema?

It is the same as Hong Kong independent cinema. It is the idea that
people go make a film because they want to tell a story. Europe is a big
place with a lot of different people and a lot of different views that
makes it really exciting. You have Greek, Orto, Basque, Bulgarian…which
are more or less under one banner of Europe. It is a mixed bag of fish
and I think that is the interesting thing. Independent cinema in Europe
is sort of new, no doubt about it. In the States, everybody is making
films, while here, everybody is very much: “Let us wait for subsidies
then let us do this and let us do that”. People are learning now that it
is not that hard, just pick up the camera and tell a good story and you
can do it. Independence is the fact that you know you are just going to
do it. You do not need to be breastfed and all these…just go and bloody
do it.

People are learning now that it is not that hard, just
pick up the camera and tell a good story and you can do it. Independence
is the fact that you know you are just going to do it. You do not need
to be breastfed and all these…just go and bloody do it.

For the festival awards, do you have any established criteria for judging? How do you and the jury determine the winners?

The criterion is very simple: a good story. Tell us a good story and
tell it well. You can tell that with a hundred euros, you can tell that
with a million euros. It has to be a good story, well told. Then the
nature of the thing is we vote out of twenty (jury members). We have
specialists. We have the guy that shot the Besson film, The Big Blue, so
he is obviously the lead in cinematography. We have a girl who produces
documentary for National Geographic and Discovery Channel, and she is
the lead in documentaries. The cool thing about the judging room is that
is the heart and soul of the festival because you get all these people
who screened and won at ECU over the years and they come back in. We
have got the ones that have been with me from the start, that keep it
right and true. And you have got these new people that come in, who, not
only I, but the other judges, respect immensely as filmmakers, just
sitting there saying, “whoa, this, this and this.” It is so much fun, it
is ridiculous. I work really hard on trying to pick the people that I
respect that I think are going be good faces of the festival. They
establish who is going to be representing the festival in the next year.
It is flexible and free but it is also tough in there, it is tough in
the judging room because people are saying this and that but there is no
criteria, the film just has to really touch everybody.

In terms of the official film selections, looking at the
European categories in particular, what parameters do you use in
identifying a film as European?

It is based on the director and the crew. For example, we have a film
shot in Bangladesh this year, which was done by a guy in London.
Everything is done in Bangladesh but it is an English film. Basically,
it is the director, the funding and not the places where the majority of
the scenes were shot at all.

What is the role of Paris in the film festival and why did you choose the city as a host?

I live here and it is also because it is the capital of cinema. There
are statistics that show how many films are played here every year and
how many people go there, it is truly astonishing. One of the cinemas we
were at, the little Action Christine Cinema, you can go there seven
days a week and they will play all black and white films. I went and saw
Cary Grant the other day and they had a whole thing on Hitchcock. On a
Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock, the place is full and you just got to
love that. Try and do that in America, you never could do it, in
Australia, no chance. Here are these little cinemas that just keep on
turning things. It is really part of the city.

Based on the films that were screened, is there any specific recurring theme or topic?

There seems to be lots of sex and violence (laughs). No, I do not
think there is. That is because of the whole crazy fruitcake of what
Europe is. There are too many different things. What is more interesting
for me is which countries stand out more? On year two, we had so many
Greek films that had these amazing, free, wonderful stories, but the
year after, we had nobody. Spain is always really strong. Year four, we
had two Italian films that were really, really amazing and one of them
won Film of the Festival actually. This year, the Italian film just did
not rise to the top at all.  It is really much more the countries and
the economics of the countries.

…so which countries dominated this year?

UK, Spain, Germany and crazily enough, Israel (non-European), which
was quite strong. France had a lot more this year than we have had the
past year. I am careful about that by the way because the festival is in
France. We have never played more than 10%, maybe not even 5% of films
from France. This year, the level was better because the French are
starting to realize that they should start making films and not wait for
the subsidies anymore so you have young people going out and just doing
it. The Film of the Festival 2011 (27m2) took five years to make.

What are your visions for ECU The European Independent Film Festival? What can we expect in the years to come?

I figured that I would have more gray hairs (laughs). It is all about
offering filmmakers a chance to tell their stories. What are the
visions? Bigger, better. I want do things, I want to create a channel
dedicated to the films because the most asked question after the
festival for me is “How do I see this films again and how can I share
them to my friends?” While it is nice to have a weekend for the festival
it would actually be nice to share these stories all the time. We need
more sponsors, and money behind us. In years to come, I want to travel
the festival. I want to have a version in Barcelona, one in Rome, one in
Moscow, one in London.

Interview conducted by Clarence Ceniza, photograph by G-Technology

Fast Food Baby; Archer; True Stories: Catfish; The King's Speech: Revealed; The Quite Remarkable David Coleman; Misfits

Fast Food Baby
9pm, BBC3

Documentary following three (inevitably low-income) families as they try to wean their young children off a diet of burgers, chips and cola. Experts Jane, Haley and Cath support the families as they try a variety of ways to extract all the lard from their unsuspecting toddlers' diets. And it's obviously very hard. The programme tries not to blame the kids or indeed the kids who are their parents. But it looks for solutions and finds the only real answer is to go cold turkey, which isn't pretty at all. Julia Raeside

Archer
10pm, 5*

These are tough times for the International Secret Intelligence Service, so Malory takes the gang to Gstaad to babysit the daughter of a billionaire she's hoping will finance their spy organisation. While there are kidnappers and killers after the 16-year-old rich girl, it's Archer's irresistibility to women that proves the biggest problem as he's continually caught in compromising situations with the young lady. With plenty of nicely tasteless gags, Archer, as a cartoon, just about gets away with it. Phelim O'Neill

True Stories: Catfish
10pm, More4

This much-discussed 2010 doc concerns a young photographer who innocently befriends an eight-year-old girl with a precocious art talent on Facebook. However, when he begins to suspect there is something fishy about her – and her family – his two film-maker colleagues decide to make a film about his investigations. Suspicions have been raised about the possible inauthenticity of this film, with its supposed cautionary tale about social networking sites. But if they did fabricate the whole thing, you'd think they might have come up with a much more dramatic story with a less foreseeable outcome. Not a patch on the jaw-dropping Talhotblond. David Stubbs

The King's Speech: Revealed
8pm, Channel 5

After a deluge of interest inspired by the success of Oscar-winning British film The King's Speech, this documentary sends speech therapist Lionel Logue's grandson Mark on a Who Do You Think You Are-style journey of discovery. With access to his grandfather's letters, documents, former pupils and even actor Geoffrey Rush, Logue forms a personal connection with his grandfather as he discovers the man behind the myth-making. A fascinating insight into the landmarks of Logue's life, as well as his continuing friendship with King George IV into their old age. Lucy Thackray

The Quite Remarkable David Coleman
9pm, BBC2

Known for years as sports commentary's Mr Affable and crowned by Private Eye as king of the on-air gaffe, Coleman, now 85, was in reality neither of those things – rather, he was chillingly professional and legendarily tough on his work colleagues. However, it's the Coleman we think we know and love who's being celebrated here, the man who unleashed his hysterically lachrymose tones on the public consciousness for many decades, taking in both A Question Of Sport and the 1972 Munich Olympic tragedy. DS

Misfits
11.05pm, Channel 4

A terrestrial showing for the second series of the E4 hit. Our gang of asbo superheroes are still on community service, though their habit of disposing of probation officers is starting to get out of hand – and there's the pesky problem of Nathan's immortality to deal with. Full of killer lines and gruesome scenes that wouldn't look out of place in a Hollywood horror, it really is in a class of its own. Rebecca Nicholson

Discovery works fast!

The New York Times' Brian Stelter says that Keith Urbahn, chief of staff for former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is "credited by many on the Web" with breaking the news of Osama bin Laden's death last night via Twitter. Urbahn's source? "A connected network TV news producer," he wrote on Twitter this morning. "Stories about 'the death of MSM' because of my 'first' tweet are greatly exaggerated."

On the flipside, of course, is that another Twitter user involved in the news last night was an IT consultant living within earshot of the raid that led to bin Laden's death. He and others in his network figured out over the course of the evening that what they were living was connected to President Barack Obama's statement about the mission in which bin Laden was killed.

The ongoing "defining moment for Twitter" narrative about all this, though, demonstrates a pretty short memory. NBC's Lauren Rae Bertolini has already explained why:

I would totally understand the headline “Twitter Breaks The Big One” or “Twitter Steals Obama’s Thunder,” etc. etc. But let’s not forget about the plane crash into the Hudson, the Discovery Channel gunman, the discovery of ice on Mars, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. I think it’s fair to say Twitter had its “CNN Moment” a long time ago.

read more

In Righthaven LLC v. Jama and Center for Intercultural Organizing, 2011 WL 1541613 (D. Nev. April 22, 2011), on a summary judgment motion, the court found use of an entire news article to be fair use.  Righthaven is a notorious copyright troll.   II. Legal Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate when, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Bagdadi v. Nazar, 84 F.3d 1194, 1197 (9th Cir.1996); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The moving party bears the burden of presenting authenticated evidence to demonstrate the absence of any genuine issue of material fact for trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986); see Orr v. Bank of America, 285 F.3d 764 (9th Cir.2002) (articulating the standard for authentication of evidence on a motion for summary judgment).
The court may “[a]fter giving notice and a reasonable time to respond ... (1) grant summary judgment for a nonmovant; (2) grant the motion on grounds not raised by a party; or (3) consider summary judgment on its own after identifying for the parties material facts that may not genuinely be in dispute.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(f). Here, the court has invoked subdivision (f) and given the parties a reasonable time to respond to the order to show cause. Although the plaintiff has requested discovery, noting that the party against whom summary judgment is granted must be “on notice that she had to come forward with all of her evidence,” Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 326, the court finds that further discovery is unnecessary, as the court already possesses enough information to rule as a matter of law on the issue of fair use.
III. Fair Use Analysis
A plaintiff must satisfy two requirements to present a prima facie case of copyright infringement: (1) ownership of the allegedly infringed material, and (2) that the alleged infringers violated at least one exclusive right granted to copyright holders. 17 U.S.C. §§ 106, 501(a). However, even where a plaintiff has alleged a prima facie case of copyright infringement, the defendant may refute the claim if the defendant has engaged in a fair use of the material.
The fair use doctrine is an affirmative defense to a claim of infringement, which protects certain uses of a copyright. The court considers four factors to determine whether the use of a copyrighted work is fair: “(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.” 17 U.S.C. § 107. The four factors should be considered in light of the purposes of copyright to promote the progress of science and useful arts and to serve the welfare of the public. Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 508 F.3d 1146, 1163 (9th Cir.2007) (internal citations omitted).
“Fair use is a mixed question of law and fact. If there are no genuine issues of material fact, or if, even after resolving all issues in favor of the opposing party, a reasonable trier of fact can reach only one conclusion, a court may conclude as a matter of law whether the challenged use qualifies as a fair use of the copyrighted work.” Los Angeles News Serv. v. KCAL–TV Channel 9, 108 F.3d 1119, 1120 (9th Cir.1997) (citing Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Moral Majority, Inc., 796 F.2d 1148, 1150 (9th Cir.1986) (quoting Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises, 471 U.S. 539, 559 (1985))). Here, weighing each of the four use factors and resolving all issues in favor of plaintiff Righthaven, the court finds that a reasonable trier of fact could only reach one conclusion—that the alleged infringement qualifies as fair use.
Righthaven, LCC v. Jama L 1541613, 1 -2 (D.Nev.,2011)

In analyzing the first prong, the court compared the original use:  news reporting with the allegedly infringing use: education, and found the use to be transformative based on these different purposes.   The court found the use to be non-commercial.

Second, the court found the nature of the copyrighted work to be an "informational work" entitled to a lower level of copyright protection, a factor weighing heavily in favor of fair use.

Third, the work was used in its entirety, but the defendant did not delete plaintiff's copyright information.  The court found this to favor neither party.

Fourth, the court found it to be a non-commercial use, and that the plaintiff thus had the burden of affirmatively showing a likelihood of market harm.   Plaintiff failed to allege that a market exists.

Coloring the court's analysis is Righthaven's position as a licensee hired just for the purposes of suing.  Although this decision does not spell it out, Righthaven is not a traditional newspaper.   Thus the court drew a distinction in the fourth prong that might have turned out differently had the newspaper brought the suit.

Righthaven has attracted a lot of attention as a copyright troll.   An informational site on Righthaven here.

Wikipedia on Righthaven here.

A site for Righthaven victims here.

EFF's activities to protect troll victims here.

Mike Masnick at  Techdirt has the best ongoing coverage of everything Righthaven, some links below.

Righthaven Demands Servers Of Website Sued, Even After Court Rejects Demands For Domain


Another Judge Slams Righthaven For Chilling Effects That Do Nothing To Advance Copyright Act's Purpose

Another Loss For Righthaven: Court Explains That Its Demand For Domain Names Is Silly

Righthaven Tells Judge Handling All Its Colorado Cases That He's Wrong

Unsealed Document Reveals 'Sham' Copyright Assignments To Righthaven



http://www.dunnington.com/rdowd_bio.html
 Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook 2010 by Raymond J. Dowd from West here  

 With the recent release of the iPad2 in India, there is a new rising middle class that's waiting to their hands on it.

42 of the apps for my iPad &/or iPhone were updated in the past week. Apps that do not have comments in the list below indicates that the update is simply a bug fix release or an Apple iOS 4.x compatibility update with, perhaps, some bug fixes. Apps with an asterisk (*) preceding the app name indicates an app on my iPad.

* ABC Player 1.3.0003

* Amazon Mobile 1.4.1

* Crackle – Movies & TV 1.28 20 more TV series added. Fixed GPS issue.

* Dropbox 1.4.1

Discover Mobile 2.0 Money Messenger lets yo usend cash to anyone with a Discover card

* Discovery Channel HD 1.2.1

Epocrates 3.17

Genius Scan 2.1.1

Google Latitude 2.1.2 Fixed location reporting bug that caused poor battery performance.

Graphing Calculator 1.3.0 Graph inequalities. Conditional statements. nroot(), logbase(), atan2(x,y) added.

Hulu Plus 2.3

* iThoughtsHD (mindmapping) 2.0 Image topics, new notes view, hyperlinking topics. Text attributes.

* i.TV 3.0

* Magic Piano HD 1.1.2

* Marvel Comics 1.2 Fixed several crash issues. Multitasking/quick app switching supported.

Microsoft OnteNote 1.1 Simplified sign-in screen. Email notes. Easier to delete notes. Home button to return to notebooks view. Faster syncing.

MSNBC.com 2.5

NASA App 1.38

NASA App HD 1.14

* News360 for iPad 1.3 Added video support.

* PhatPad 1.3 Clipart library with 1200 unique images. iPad 2 camera support. Send document (as PDF) to Google Docs.

Point Inside Maps for Airports & Malls 2.6.1 New graphics

PressReader 2.3.1 Right-to-left page flipping supported. Automatic zoom when flipping pages feature restored.

* Qwiki 1.0.4

RedLaser 2.9.4 Generate QR codes from contacts, URLs, text.

* Shoyou 1.12 Ability to sign in as guest. Connect with YouTube, Vimeo, Tumblr.

SplashID Safe for iPad 6.0 Sync with SplashID Safe 6 for Windows and Mac.

Starbucks Card Mobile 1.6 Check stars without login.

TeamViewer HD 6.0.9233

The Daily 1.0.6

* Trade Nations 3.0.1

* Uber Racer 3D – Sandstorm 1.2.1

* Uzu 2.0 Rotational symmetry. 3 new animation modes.

Vimeo 1.0.3

We Rule Quests for iPad 1.41

Weatherbug 1.6.1

WHERE 4.1.4

* WIRED Magazine 1.8

* WolframAlpha 1.2.5

Yahoo! 1.1.3

* Yammer 4.0.0.141

* Zite Personalized Magazine 1.1 In-app browser. Copy URL of current article to clipboard.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Firefighters in Prince George's County pulled a man's body out of Swan Creek Channel late Sunday afternoon.

The discovery of the body was near Swan Creek Road in Fort Washington.

Officials say the person might have lived on a boat anchored in the creek and had fallen overboard.

No foul play is suspected. The man's identity has not been released.

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Skip to info about: Conduit: Customized components | Alcatel-Lucent: Application developer platform | Medill School of Journalism: Digital journalism programs | Meshin: Understands and sorts critical messages in your inbox | Skytap: Cloud solutions for enterprises and ISVs | MIX11: The Future of the Web is at MIX11, April 12-14 | Twiends: A community service for growing your social network | BTBuckets: Free personalization and on-site behavioral targeting tool | Mashery: API management services | SemTech 2011: Semantic Technology Conference | SciVerse Applications: A marketplace for applications that customize the search and discovery of scientific information | StrataScale: Server and cloud hosting solutions | Clickatell: SMS provider | Toopia: Our iPhone app developer

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Conduit

Conduit is the fastest-growing network of web and mobile app publishers with over 260,000 members and their 230 million end-users. The Conduit Network empowers publishers - from global brands to independent developers - to create, exchange and distribute apps, and to collaborate through business partnerships.

Conduit enables publishers to seamlessly encapsulate content and deploy it everywhere from web browsers and Community Toolbars to mobile devices across all platforms. Publishers can distribute and exchange their apps directly, or through the Conduit App Marketplace. Conduit-powered apps enhance engagement, retention and monetization beyond the boundaries of the publisher's website.

With Conduit, global brands including Major League Baseball, Time Warner Cable, Univision, the Chelsea Football Club, Fox News, iVillage, Groupon, Travelocity, and TechCrunch are marketing themselves online - along with hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized organizations in more than 120 countries around the world. Join the Conduit Network at www.conduit.com.

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Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry, is turning the network into a powerful platform for developers.

With the launch of the Alcatel-Lucent Developer Platform, the company provides service providers and enterprises with tools that enable third-party developers to build, test, manage and distribute applications across networks, including television, broadband Internet and mobile. Alcatel-Lucent's introduction of a radical new business model combines network APIs with other third-party APIs, and opens revenue sharing opportunities to support developers in their pre-revenue wallets and provides an additional revenue channel for service providers.

The developer platform is part of a larger push by the company to combine the trusted capabilities of service providers with the speed and innovation of the Web.

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Medill School of Journalism

The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University offers programs that combine the enduring skills and values of journalism with new techniques and knowledge that are essential to thrive in a digital world. You might have a passion for creating finely crafted prose, or for telling stories using visual tools. Maybe you are invigorated by the possibilities of interactive publishing, or by videography for the small screen. Maybe you are an experienced professional looking to renew and retool your multimedia skills. You can find your niche in Medill's graduate journalism program.

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Meshin

Todays' worker craves context and focus from their blizzard of information. Meshin understands and sorts critical messages in your inbox to help you easily find task-critical information on demand. Check out our new MeshinFocus to see your most important messages, in real time and in one place.

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Skytap

Skytap provides cloud automation solutions for enterprises and software vendors to develop, test, migrate, evaluate, demo, and train on new and existing applications in the cloud. Skytap Cloud is ideal for distributed Dev/Test, Training and Sales Demo teams. Teams are empowered to:

• Create multiple cloud environments in seconds
• Run existing applications without any code changes
• Deploy virtual data centers, take snapshots and collaborate
• Accelerate bug resolution cycles by 75%
• Reduce operating costs by 70% annually

Customers of all sizes can deploy Skytap in a day. Try Skytap for free.

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MIX11

Watch the MIX 11 Keynotes Live from Las Vegas - April 12 & 13, 9am PDT. Tune-in to find out what's next for the future of web technologies, including announcements by Internet Explorer, Windows Phone and Silverlight. Keynote streaming is free, and no registration is required to participate. Don't worry if you miss the live stream - all keynote and session content will be available online for on-demand viewing or download approximately 24 hours after recording. Visit live.visitmix.com to learn more about the MIX conference, and to learn from more than 150 top industry speakers.

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Twiends

Twiends is a community service for growing your social network. The site boasts a membership already a few hundred thousand strong, all of whom are growing their twitter, facebook and youtube communities every day. Twiends has a strong focus on ethics and actively observes the rules of the social platforms it supports. From A-list celebrities, to the tweep next-door, so many people are getting excited about twiends. So, whether you're a social media professional, or just someone with an audience, twiends is a service you should be using...!

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BTBuckets

BTBuckets is a free personalization and on-site behavioral targeting tool that allows websites to increase engagement and ultimately maximize conversion rate optimization (CRO) by clustering and targeting specific user groups. With a simple installation process (a single tag implemented on your site's webpages just like Google Analytics), BTBuckets can update and adapt your website in real-time to create the best experience for that specific user segment without the need to change any HTML code on your website.

BTBuckets segmentation capabilities include behavioral, demographic, customer life-cycle, technographic and firmograhic. Install the BTBuckets browser extension to create segments from within the Google Analytics interface and target these users immediately.

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Mashery

Mashery is a platform for Web services, allowing companies to manage their APIs using Mashery's expertise. At the "Business of APIs" conference, Mashery CEO Oren Michels explained to the audience that while APIs are a technology, their use is a business decision. He went on to say that Mashery has helped customers such as WhitePages.com, Thumbplay, Compete.com, and Calais. Check out the white paper "Five steps to scaling your business development using Web services" to discover how you can use APIs for your business.

You can find out more about APIs and their business use at www.mashery.com.

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SemTech 2011: Semantic Technology Conference

SemTech 2011 is the world's largest educational conference for the community of executives, technologists, researchers, investors and customers involved with semantic technologies. Featuring five days of presentations, panels, tutorials, announcements, new company/product launches, and conversations, SemTech is a place for new learning, professional networking, and business development. Hot topics for 2011 include the future of media, linked data, open data - government and enterprise, data curation, business intelligence, real-time and continuous semantics, and much more. Sign up today to join more than 1,000 forward-thinking technology and business leaders from around the world representing the entire marketplace. Use code STRWW and save 15%!

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SciVerse Applications

SciVerse Applications is a marketplace where researchers, librarians and information specialists can find applications that customize the search and discovery of scientific information. These applications access content on SciVerse (ScienceDirect, Scopus and Hub) containing over 10 million scientific articles and more than 42 million abstract and citation records from Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of scientific and medical information.

Through the Developer Network, developers can collaborate with researchers and librarians to create applications accessing the content via RESTful APIs based on OpenSocial specifications. These applications can be fee-based or free, focus solely on SciVerse content or integrate external content, and will be available to more than 10,000 research institutions and 15 million platform users worldwide.

Visit us at: http://developer.sciverse.com
Email us at: developer@elsevier.com
Follow us at: http://twitter.com/sciversedev

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StrataScale

StrataScale offers innovative server and cloud hosting solutions to meet the IT infrastructure needs of today's growing and established businesses. Now IT professionals can obtain affordable hosting solutions that control costs, provide agility, and supply peace of mind. Whether your hosting needs are cloud, dedicated server, or a hybrid of the two, the StrataScale complete package of on-demand solutions is easy to buy, build, manage, and scale -- all within minutes via our web portal. Every hosting environment is backed by guaranteed uptime, financial-grade security, and 24x7 engineering support.

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Clickatell

Clickatell has over 22,000 customers utilizing our service from small mom & pop outfits to large Fortune 500 companies including Avaya, Oracle, Shell, Barclays, BP, CNN, BBC and more. Here's why you should trust us to mobilize your business: Our SMS gateway offers you wider coverage than any other SMS provider delivering messages to 600 network operators in 200 countries. Our gateway is not limited to SMS text messaging. You can also send a number of other message types including Ringtones, VCards, Binary, EMS, Unicode, Flash SMS, WAP Push, and more.

Clickatell offers you direct connectivity to its core SMS gateway platform via a number of APIs (application programming interfaces) including; HTTP (internet post), SMPP, FTP, XML, SMTP (email to SMS), SOAP and COM Object. Each API has full documentation with sample code where applicable. Learn more about Clickatell here.

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Toopia

Nicolas Koenig is the developer who made our beautiful iPhone app a reality. He runs an iPhone development shop from the Netherlands called Toopia. Toopia also created the Thermometer iPhone app, which enables your iPhone or iPod touch to get the current temperature based on your location. The RWW app lets you read us on the go, follow us on Twitter, share stories on Facebook and Twitter, and browse at your leasure using Read it Later and Instapaper. Download the ReadWriteWeb iPhone application here.

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Welcome to the Saturday edition of Channel Guide in which Merrill Barr takes a look at an episode from that past week in the world of television that really stood out above the rest. If there isn’t a good episode, well there’s always plenty of back logged TV to be brought into the spotlight for you to check out. There are very few television shows that actually improve over time. Usually nothing ever comes close to matching the magical discovery of who a show’s characters are, and how they interact than what takes place in that first season. The season where everyone is fresh faced and bright eyed before their lives take a one eighty with either tragedy, comedy, action or all of the above. One could probably count on two hands the shows that really surpassed their first season. Well now we can add another show to that list: Parenthood. And there is no greater proof of that than in the season 2 finale “Hard Times Come Again No More.” Regardless of the fact that the episode begins with a cliche scene in a hospital following a near fatal car crash suffered by Amber in the previous episode, it was still powerful. Powerful because the scene grabs hold of exactly what family is all about. Everyone has differences and disagreements, but when you need them most, your family will always be there no matter what. It was nice to see that Producer Jason Katims didn’t sugar coat the scene [...]

Ape? Human? Hoax? Or Something Else? BIGFOOT: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE Premieres May 15 on Discovery Channel Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 06:06 PM There have been thousands of sightings of Bigfoot-type creatures around the world, from the jungles of Brazil to the Australian bush; high in the Himalayas; across China, Eurasia, into North America ...

Ape? Human? Hoax? Or Something Else? BIGFOOT: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE Premieres May 15 on Discovery Channel There have been thousands of sightings of Bigfoot-type creatures around the world, from the jungles of Brazil to the Australian bush; high in the Himalayas; across China, Eurasia, into North America - and even in our own backyard, in the British ...

Discovery Channel has picked SNL veteran Andy Samberg to host their Shark Week… and already the ocean’s death machines are looking a whole lot funnier.

Samberg will also receive the title Chief Shark Officer for the event. It will be Discovery’s 24th Shark Week and its first with Andy Samberg. Last year’s event was watched by 31 million viewers, a high for the cable channel.

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Read More | Huffington Post

By: Nsenga Burton

Documentary-style television programming has been around for decades -- like PBS's '70s-era An American Family -- but many refer to MTV's The Real World as the show that created the model for contemporary reality shows. What started out as a good idea -- an inside look at the complicated lives of a diverse group of ambitious 20-year-olds all living under one roof -- morphed into something else completely.

The success of The Real World proved to television executives that interesting programming could be cheaply produced, tell good stories and attract audiences -- not to mention advertisers. Some of the shows -- The Amazing Race, Survivor -- made for compelling TV.

Unfortunately, the success of the genre also spawned many horrible shows, like Big Brother, The Bad Girls Club and the infamous Flavor of Love. Talk about a good moneymaking idea gone bad. Complex ideas and story lines were replaced with plotting, scheming and mean-spirited "cast members" more interested in fighting, screwing and humiliating one another for the pleasure of audiences and advertisers. Personally, when it comes to reality TV, we love The Biggest Loser for all the right reasons (inspiring, uplifting) and The Real Housewives of Atlanta for all of the wrong reasons (um, far from uplifting).

With that in mind, this month's TV roundup takes a look at the glut of reality television: the good, the bad and the why-bother.

The Family Crews

The Family Crews is our new favorite reality show. In its second season, the show follows the lives of actor Terry Crews and his wife and five children. It shows the complexities that arise when you're trying to hold a family together while chasing Hollywood stardom. Terry's wife, Rebecca, is itching to get back to her singing career after putting it on the back burner to take care of their expanding family, which included the birth of Terry and Rebecca's first grandchild to their eldest daughter, Naomi Burton.

Azriel, Tera, Wynfrey and Isaiah Crews make up the assorted bunch, each with strong personalities and individual identities. Did we mention the grandparents -- Big Terry and Patricia? In the tradition of Run's House, it's a family affair at the Crews' house with lots of love, fun and compromise. The show airs on Sundays on BET at 8 p.m. EST.

Wreck Chasers

While channel surfing, we came across Wreck Chasers, a reality show about the race by tow truck operators to get to the scene of an accident in order to make money. The show takes place in Philly and features African-American and Latino business partners, who own and operate the 1 Unit Tow Team.

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P.J. Augustine started the tow truck business, literally eating and sleeping in his truck to support his family. He now has a fleet of 22 trucks, which he runs with his wife, "Tow Diva" Pam, and sons, Jamal and Phil. They work hard to keep the business afloat, scrambling to be first on the scene, even competing against P.J.'s business partner, Mickey Caban. Mickey is a veteran wreck chaser like P.J. and also owns a tow yard. Like P.J., family comes first for Mickey, who works hard to keep his wife, Lynette, a nurse, and their two children, Mickey Jr. and 8-year-old Siana, happy.

What's interesting about the show is how competitive P.J. and Mickey are with each other, yet they are still able to manage a growing tow truck company. "First on the scene" has new meaning with this show. Pam is a "ride or die" chick for sure, working side by side with her husband to make it happen. It's cool to see black and brown folks bootstrapping it and achieving the American dream -- one smashed car at a time. Wreck Chasers airs on the Discovery Channel. Check your local listings.

Dancing With the Stars

Dancing With the Stars is an audience favorite, which we fought watching until learning of this season's cast, which includes Sugar Ray Leonard, Hines Ward, Romeo and the infamous Wendy Williams. A boxing legend, a Super Bowl MVP, a rapper and a trash-talking talk-show host? We had to watch.

We were not disappointed -- Ralph Macchio and Kirstie Alley have been turning it out week after week. Who says big girls can't dance? Kirstie Alley did not get that memo. The only thing good about Wendy Williams' performance is that she has single-handedly done away with the stereotype that all black people can dance. Her "dancing" was hard to watch, and it was not surprising when she was voted off.

On the other hand, it was hard to watch Sugar Ray Leonard get voted off, especially when he had seemed to just hit his stride. He dances a mean Viennese waltz. Now we're left with Romeo and Hines Ward, both of whom can cut a rug.

Dancing With the Stars is as cheesy as the costumes, but what's fun about it is rooting for your favorite dancers, whether or not they're good, and awaiting the results in that 1980s, Star Search kind of way. Mondays on ABC at 8 p.m. EST.

Love & Hip Hop

It's official. We've had our fill of angry, bitchy, shallow black women trying to land a man or hold on to one. Love & Hip Hop is a sad show about the sad lives of four women who lament living life in the world of hip-hop. The show features Chrissy, the girlfriend of rapper Jim Jones. Chrissy's claim to fame is … being the girlfriend of rapper Jim Jones, although she insists she's his stylist. He's a bad advertisement because he always seems to be wearing the same thing. While Chrissy grandstands and talks smack about everyone, you're left wondering when she's going to get her own life.

Rapper Olivia is supposed to be a rapper -- the first lady of G Unit, if you will -- but has decided to carve out a new path in R&B. She gets busted by Emily for lying about dating an NFL player. Which is interesting because Emily is scared to confront rapper Fabolous, the father of her child, over his rude and disrespectful behavior toward her, yet she manages to confront Olivia over lying about dating this NFL player, for whom Emily works as a stylist.

Rounding out this motley crew is Somaya, a female rapper who is trying to make it happen in the rap game. The problem is, she seems to lack talent and looks like she's about 20 years too late to pursue a career in a youth-oriented industry. Mashonda, who is known more for being famously dumped by super producer Swizz Beats than for her singing career, also appears on the show. Love & Hip Hop has very little love in it and even less hip-hop. Mondays on VH1 at 8 p.m. EST.

The Celebrity Apprentice

Although we thought about pulling this post on The Celebrity Apprentice because of Donald Trump's recent ramblings about the citizenship status of the POTUS, we decided not to let politics get in the way of business -- unlike the cast members of this season's The Celebrity Apprentice.

Season 11 of the franchise is pretty weak and full of black-on-black crime. Who knew that the elegant Dionne Warwick was a thug, backed up by big-mouthed bully NeNe Leakes and wannabe diva Star Jones? Who knew that Latoya, the eighth-string Jackson, would be competent and engaging and hold her own in this competition? Jackson is the quintessential anti-bitch, whose mere presence highlights the ferociousness and gutter behavior of Leakes, who appears to get off on kicking people while they're down. Then there's Lil Jon, the first and only rapper on the show, who proves that his "Whaaaat!!" persona does not reflect his considerable business acumen, which is on point.

The Celebrity Apprentice is watchable in the sense that it's a bunch of train wrecks happening simultaneously, even though you try to convince yourself that it's worthwhile because charities are benefiting from this mess. The reality is, Apprentice is indeed a train wreck. Sundays on NBC at 9 p.m. EST.

Nsenga Burton is The Root's editor-at-large.

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Discovery Channel broke with tradition last year, naming its first non-Discovery-star to host Shark Week : CBS late-night personality Craig Ferguson. Shark Week last year was sampled by the largest audience ever: Nearly 31 million people checked it out for at least six minutes and some, of course, watched much longer.

The sound you just heard was the internet exploding in joy. Two of its comedic treasures are set to come together in an epic, water wedding.

Discovery Channel announced on Wednesday that "Saturday Night Live" star Andy Samberg will host their annual "Shark Week" this summer. Samberg takes over for last year's host, Craig Ferguson, who helped the network bring in 31 million viewers; he'll also serve as the network's first Chief Shark Office.

“I’m overjoyed about being appointed CSO. Everyone loves Shark Week. It’s the Bill Cosby of week-long television blocks dedicated to sea animals," Samberg said in a statement.

Read More...
More on Andy Samberg

Alaskan fishing captains Andy Hillstrand, Johnathan Hillstrand (his brother) and Sig Hansen were in New York to promote their reality series Deadliest Catch at the Discovery Channel upfront presentation, along with the closing-bell ceremony at NASDAQ. Like some fellow grizzly Alaskans, they are bearish: "I'm in the market, and I have gold and silver. I'm diversified," said Andy Hillstrand.

The trio seemed confident they could run businesses better than "experts"--they'd been successful fishermen long...

Also: Barack Obama will be a fan of the Washington Post Company product, according to a begging-to-be-viral promotional video.

The Washington Post Company gets with the times in a big way today, with Trove, a personalized news aggregation site. Trove personalizes news in a couple of ways--it uses Facebook Connect to cull information about your interests, and it offers pairs of articles for you to choose from, Hot-or-Not style. While its algorithms get to know you better, that doesn't mean the site's on auto-pilot; an editorial team is also curating all the while.

The Washington Post newspaper has always lagged a tad, it seems, in the digital age. Its website is not nearly as pleasing to the eye (or successful) as that of the New York Times. The Washington Post Company as a whole is, of course, more Internet-savvy--it owns Slate, for instance. But Trove is something else entirely: a Washington Post Company product that goes to great lengths for a viral, social, meme-y reach. Its promotional video was made by Next Media Animation! ("It makes a great inbox stuffer!" Trove writes of the video, in what seems like copy straight out of Groupon's Elements of Goofiness stylebook.)

[youtube 5qdnelwIBBE]

Donald Graham, chairman and CEO of the Washington Post Company, took a moment on Facebook to welcome users to the service and call attention to its social aspects. "Trove is, by its nature, a social experience: you can share your channels with your friends, engage with fellow site users using the conversation boards featured on every channel, and interact with Trove on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr," wrote the totally-down-with-tech Graham (or perhaps his 22-year-old assistant). He also announced that Trove would "evolve rapidly" and that they were experimenting with "advertising concepts;" for now, Ford has sponsored the launch.

In addition to desktop versions, Trove, a product of WaPo Labs that has been in private beta for two months, is now ready on Android and Blackberry. And iPhone and iPad apps are on the way. Some have speculated that Trove runs partly on tech picked up in WaPo's acquisition of iCurrent, an aggregating tool, nearly a year ago.

And speaking of iPads, news aggregation, social news, major publishers, and speculation, Trove isn't the only one making headlines today. Bit.ly's social news iPad app, News.me, which had been expected months ago, might finally have an imminent launch date. This is speculation via All Things Digital, whose Peter Kafka observes that a new website for News.me gives some new details about the app, in an FAQ. A weekly subscription is $0.99 a week, $34.99 a year. Its discovery engine for you is powered by your Twitter account (or, more properly, those of the people you follow). News.me will offer a nice, clean, ad-free, Instapaper-style reading environment. And so on.

The New York Times, the AP, Forbes, and AOL are all on board to collaborate with Trove. (So's Fast Company, for that matter--a more complete list is here.) What's in it for publishers like us? News.me promises access to new audiences, and offers revenue share based on the popularity of content.

Follow Fast Company on Twitter. Email David Zax, the author of this post, or follow him on Twitter.

KEY TO CHANNELS: DRT - Discovery Real Time  SHED – Discovery Shed DSC - Discovery Channel  DHD - Discovery Channel HD EXS - Extreme Sports Channel EUR1 (2, HD) - Eurosport 1 (2, HD) MOT - Motors TV   SS1 (2, 3 or X) - Sky Sports...

<p>Today is 4/20. If you are not hip to the jive all the turkeys are gobblin' about, <em>420</em> is Marijana Appresh Day. That means that today, in dorm rooms and basements across the country, people are sparkin up fatties and not having their mellows harshed.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/1/4/0/7/8/1/3/1/orig-14078131.jpg" /></p> <p>For the majority of us, <em>420</em> means absolutely nothing. For some, however, it is a special day. It's kind of like Christmas, except you give <strong>yourself</strong> a gift. You are wrapping up your own smokeable present and giving your mind the magic of wasted brain cells and memories that will soon be beyond your recollection.</p> <p>Please forgive my gross generalizations about stoners. I'm pretty sure we all know one high functioning cannibis lover that can solve a Rubix Cube while saying the alphabet backwards. Well you know what? That skill isn't going to do anything for you if you just pass out five minutes later instead of going to look for a job. I'm just mad because I have to pay taxes.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/1/4/0/7/8/1/1/1/orig-14078111.jpg" /></p> <p>Anyway, I'd rather not have you leave your house after you've taken a few gnarly bong rips. You need to stay indoors and keep your Maui Wowie weed scent to yourself. I'd hate for you to be going excessively slow in the fast lane or have you not move the millisecond a traffic light turns green because you got distracted by something shiny. That happens to me too, but I'm usually sober when it does.</p> <p>To help you become a recluse like me, I have come up with a list of activities that you can do indoors should you decide to celebrate 420. Let's get ready to rumble.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/1/4/0/7/7/8/0/1/orig-14077801.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Le Wake &amp; Bake</p> <p style="text-align: left;">This doesn't really count. I mean, you can't bake a cake without crackin' a few eggs, right? The purpose of this day is to do NOTHING but be stoned and shun everything. Also, you will need to re-pack your party time every now and then, so do this at your own pace or in between activities.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_le9w7k67sp1qdaaw6o1_500.gif" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Eat a big ass bowl of cereal!</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Nothing is better than being totally blazed and going to the kitchen to grab something to eat (or so I've heard). Since you just did some wakey bakey, it is best to keep with your natural eating cycle. You are probably going to be thirsty as you start to get the munchies. Cereal is key to solving this double dilema: you get both food and something to quench your thirst ALL AT ONCE. Just make sure it is a giant ass bowl. You don't want to be playin around with some little ass bowl that takes a minute to eat. Also, make sure you have more milk (or whatever you brand x teet juice you put in there) than actual cereal. Just not too much though because you don't want to have le soggy flakes. The milk has to cover the top of the cereal by only a little bit. Then, it's time to sit down and watch some TV.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljreuqDNN91qbdfguo1_500.gif" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Party with Adventure Time!</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Behold, my latest infatuation. Yes, it is a cartoon. IDGAF. It's kind of amazing. Watching TV while on the weed is a time honored tradition. It's a rite of passage. Thank goodness for shows like Adventure Time that occupy your time as you chow on your giant ass bowl of cereal with half closed eyes.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">One time, I was drawing some AT doodles and this dude came up to me and asked if I watched AT. Before I blew up at him because ITS KIND OF OBVS THAT I DO, I was keen to notice his SEQUINS MARIJUANA EMBOSSED POT LEAF HAT. I told him that yes, yes I did watch AT and that it was basically the Second Coming to me. He then inquired if I watched Adventure Time while stoned. I frowned at this sophomoric question and told him no. His response:</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"Well then you aren't REALLY watching Adventure Times." </strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: left;">And then he walked away. I srsly couldn't make that shit up. It totally sounds like a stoner story.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Speaking of stoner stories (or things that you couldn't make up unless you were on the dope)..</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljbexkKOkh1qbce2uo1_500.gif" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljbdwgbgVG1qbce2uo1_500.gif" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lj73w20jNI1qcqbe4o1_500.gif" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Watch Fantastic Planet!</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Yep. I'm sure those eyes won't do anything to my paranoia. This movie is so weird. I think if I ever were to watch this movie while <em>you know</em>, my head would explode. I was going to say, "watch The Matrix" but that movie just hurts after a while. This movie is a classic and the music sounds like porn music.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Speaking of music..</p> <p style="text-align: left;"> <object width="640" height="385" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dQEmaj9C6ko?fs=1" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dQEmaj9C6ko?fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="385"></embed> </object> </p> <p style="text-align: center;">Listen to it!</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Everything sounds better when you can hear the colors. Oops. Wrong drug. Rather than listen to Electric Wizard, Kyuss, or some other smoke two joints kinda music, you should listen to something new, a le Boards of Canada (even though they are an old band). This video is weird. It's kind of like a calm version of my nightmares. I've totally had dreams of weird, monkey faced, curly tailed childrens riding bikes coming after me. Except in my dream, I don't have pants on. Wait. What?</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Boards of Canada is the official band of <a href="http://chillsville.tumblr.com/">Chillsville</a>. It's space music for those of us that don't have all the money to blast off into the ether to have a play date with The Little Prince on his rocky planet.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Speaking of playing..</p> <p style="text-align: left;"> <object width="640" height="385" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BsLHvg93bX4?fs=1" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BsLHvg93bX4?fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="385"></embed> </object> </p> <p style="text-align: center;">Play Video Games!</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Get lost in the endless pleasure that is ruining someone else's life other than your own. Video games are a fun way to accomplish something during the day except not really because your life doesn't have a leader board. If you don't have a video game system, you can always try some....</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/1/4/0/7/8/2/7/1/orig-14078271.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Coloring!</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Let out your creative side (and the side you can't show anyone because it just hurts too much). Crafts are a great way to vent and sometimes your best work bubbles forth while your mind is most hazy.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">I'm pretty sure that <em>The Creative Smoker</em> is a person we all know. I'm also pretty sure it is one of the types of smokers in the most epic of movies <em>Half Baked</em>. I wanted to link you to a list but you don't really want to be taken to an off-Buzznet marijuana message board, do you?</p> <p style="text-align: left;">After a full day of smoking the stuff I need for my glaucoma, a strange thing happens. It's time to get META....</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Being massively ripped all day triggers something deep inside you. Suddenly, you know everything. You are one with the space time continuum and you want everyone to know it. Inner monologue be damned! Your mind is now ripe to....</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/1/4/0/7/8/3/8/1/orig-14078381.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Ponder the universe!</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Yes! You've basically reached the stoned version of the <em><a href="http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_Avatar_State">Avatar State</a></em> except you're not that rad or productive. You are basically trying to babble everything you've ever watched on the Discovery Channel in your entire lifetime into the 30 minutes you have left before you feel like knocking out. You are rehashing things you heard from that one dude on the bus who was talking about aliens and it's all like a <em>half remembered dream. </em></p> <p style="text-align: left;">Some of the best converstaions ever about the meaning of life have happened at this level of high and you will not break that tradition.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">If used correctly, this list will act as a guideline to help you enjoy your 420 celebration with ease. If all goes according to plan, it will also keep you indoors. Hopefully, I won't get stuck standing in behind you in the checkout line at Ralph's. You totally know if I do that&nbsp; you will need to run and get ANOTHER bag of Cheetos because my orange shirt reminded you of their cheesy goodness. You will then become LOST as you run around the store in a more hilarious, for reals version of Supermarket Sweep. In that checkout line I will stay because damnit, I'm next and I know that the second I move to another line, you'll be back and I'll be behind the person that wants to pay for all 20 of their on sale Whiskas cat treats with EXACT CHANGE and COUPONS.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Anyway, have a Happy &amp; Safe 420! Oh and don't go outside today. No, really.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p>

by Rita Sherrow. This is reality TV. The struggle of human life. Fragile but tenacious. Dogged in the face of hunger or seemingly insurmountable odds. Touching in its familial love. It is, in short, the story of the extraordinary and the brave told in “Human Planet,” the newest in a series of stunning documentaries from [...]

When I was little, I had a strange obsession with the environment. I collected animal stickers, watched endless documentaries on the Discovery Channel and stayed up late at night worrying about the rain forest. It was a strange concern, one that made my parents and schoolteachers call me “mature for my years.” But my concern, as [...]

Yesterday I posted a video showing a cluster of sunspots forming on the Sun’s surface. As it happens, a new video was released last night from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite showing this same sunspot group, but this time, along with the visible light images, we also get X-ray images. X-rays are emitted by plasma trapped in magnetic fields, so in a sense you can actually see the magnetism of the sunspots as they evolve. Watch!

How awesome is that? The full disk picture on the left combines visible and X-ray light, the lower right shows the spots in just visible light, and the upper right is just X-rays. You can see the magnetic field lines looping from one part of the sunspot cluster to another as the plasma follows them. If you look carefully, you’ll see flashes of brightness, too: those are solar flares!

The magnetic field stores energy. If the loops get tangled together, they can snap and release their energy in one sudden burst (like a box full of mousetraps, if you happened to see my episode of "Bad Universe" on Discovery Channel yesterday). What’s interesting about this video is that it ...