Video Age International articles from January 2001

Video Age International archives from January 2001

Is There Room for a 5th Hispanic TV Net?(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... The quest to build a fourth and possibly a fifth Spanish-language (Hispanic) TV network in the U.S. to compete with Univision, Telemundo and HTVN is well underway. It is expected that a fourth Hispanic TV network will be created soon, based on...

If the Emmy Wins an Award, Who Gets It?(history)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Since the late 1950s, many have wondered why there are two television academies instead of just one -- the original being the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS). The question has finally been answered: Everyone wants to be the boss...

Silicon Valley Meets Silicone Valley.(digital television via the Internet)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The transport and access people of Silicon Valley have no choice but to go south and deal with the content MBAs of Hollywood -- otherwise known as Silicone Valley. As the entertainment delivery system goes increasingly digital, content...

My Two Cents.(Italian media mogul wants to be prime minister)(Brief Article)(Column)
January 1, 2001... The Financial Times has joined The Economist and pockets of the Italian press to denounce the blatant conflict of interest between Silvio Berlusconi's media ownership and his political ambition to become Italy's next prime minister. What the FT...

Canada Cable Needs Government.(cable industry expansion contingent upon relaxed regulations, financing)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The Canadian cable industry wants to build six multimedia conglomerates, but the only way this can be accomplished is with the assistance of the government. With interactive TV and high-speed digital services so prominent in the technological...

CBA Elects Canadian Prez.(Commonwealth Broadcasting Association )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) held its 23rd annual conference in Cape Town, South Africa on October 11-14, 2000. Hosted by SABC, the event reached maximum capacity with more than 200 people in attendance. Robert Emmett...

Switzer Gets Top Post At CHUM.(Jay Switzer)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Jay Switzer has been promoted to president of CHUM Television. Switzer will oversee CHUM's seven local television stations and 10 specialty channels, in addition to the new media division, ChumCity Interactive, and the company's distribution...

CFA Fights FCC'S DTV Mandate.(Consumer Federation of America, mandate that television sets be digital)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Mark Cooper, the director of research for the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), delivered a letter to William Kennard, chairman of the FCC, urging him to rethink the FCC'S proposal that every analog TV set over 13 inches must have DTV...

Livegoal.net Kicks Off with Soccer.(SPI International markets net service)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... SPI International is hawking a new service to TV stations called Livegoal.net, which presents the latest soccer news and scores from around the world. The basic package from SPI offers exclusive rights for a country to be featured on...

Locomotion.com Animates Fans.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Kids' primetime cabler Locomotion, serving animation fans throughout Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, has launched Locomotion.com, an online animation community. The website, in English, Spanish and Portuguese, features original,...

TV in Brittany Speaks Celtic.(bilingual TV station )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... The Celts (or rather their progeny in France called Bretons) have their own TV. Recently in Lorient, on the Brittany coast, the first bilingual TV station was introduced. TV Breizh boasts two channels, one in Breton and one in French, with the...

Mouse House II: Smelling a Rat.(Review)
January 1, 2001... Greed, Corruption, and Children at Risk This is the second installment of a Disney book series which began with Video Age's October review of Kim Masters' "The Keys to the Kingdom: How Michael Eisner Lost His Grip." Masters focused on the...

RecordTV.com: Looking to Work with the Industry.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... When RecordTV.com was launched in March of 2000, no one had any idea there would be such a huge controversy. RecordTV.com is essentially a virtual VCR. The user visits the website, logs in and selects a TV show to be recorded. The user returns...

Digital Future Rough on Consumers.(TiVo (Model PTV 100) and the Replay (Model PV-HS2000) )(Evaluation)
January 1, 2001... Rumors of the demise of analog TV due to the advent of personal video recorders (PVRs) such as TiVo and Replay have been greatly exaggerated. Reportedly, these digital devices have motivated some of the BBC's new reforms. The New York Times...

Phone Lines as TV Pipes: Too Premature?(Digital Subscriber Line )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Programmers looking to break into new broadcast markets are finding the going a little rough. The distribution channels supplying reach and quality -- satellite and cable -- are cost-prohibitive. A relative newcomer to the broadcast...

Satellite's Four IP-TV Solutions.
January 1, 2001... The penetration of personal PCs and Internet connections is much higher among cable and satellite homes than in others, and this is true of all countries. [In Europe, there are] 67 million [homes subscribing to] cable and 45 million [to]...

Sport & Internet With Enthusiasm, Pragmatism.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Last November, Sportel forced its participants to take into serious consideration the impact that the Internet will have on sports rights, and the way in which consumers will use the Internet to enhance TV sports viewing. These were...

Karl Kraus Summoned for MIFED & Promax Latin.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Reading trade press reports, one may agree with the late Austrian satirist Karl Kraus when he said that it isn't enough to think. It is also necessary to be able to express the absence of thought." According to London-based Screen...

TV Ad Execs Flock to Vegas.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... As Bruce Johansen, president of NATPE, announced that a record 800 advertising executives would be attending the conference in Las Vegas, John Yang of station representative Petry Television said he believed that "more advertisers are going to...

U.S. Ad Spending Reports.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Zenith Media's recently released biannual report, Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, predicts soft growth for the advertising industry. U.S. ad spending growth peaked in 1999 at 8.9 percent, while dotcom momentum kept growth up to 8.1 percent...

Televisionaries Confront the Cyberspaced at U.N. TV Forum.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Even though the official title was "TV@Globe: Adding Values in the Digital Era," the main theme at the fifth annual United Nations World Television Forum became the "Digital Divide." In fact, the Digital Divide wasn't even on the agenda. It was...

Forum Highlights.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The opening session of the U.N. World TV Forum, "Digital Divide Challenge," encompassed speakers and representatives from the U.N., Forum organizers PAI and Mediaset, the EBU, Microsoft, BBC and others. Harri Holkeri, president of the U.N.'s...

Report Explores the Future of Hellenic TV.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Athens-based JTTV Films' John Triantafyllis recently released a 25-page study of Greece's media landscape. The report revealed a plethora of changes throughout the industry, from programming to management to law, and offered predictions and a...

Canada Makes Serious Money on Distribution.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... According to the latest reports, the film, TV and video distribution market is booming in Canada. Combining the domestic and foreign markets, the Canadian distribution business is at an all time high, with revenues reaching C$2.1 billion...

U.S. Distributors' Role in the Third Phase of Int'l TV. Few Influence World TV Industry.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... One can only grasp the extent to which U.S. distributors influence global television by studying the figures provided below. Most striking is the fact that 11 U.S. companies (appioximately 15 top-level executives) control most of the...

El Uso Justo: Un Debate.
January 1, 2001... Se ha contado un tanto, faltan cientos. Tal parece ser el grito de batalla de los autodesignados protectores de los derechos de autor. Cuando han clamado un exito por haber conseguido cerrar la empresa icCraveTV (del Canada), aparece otra...

El Uso Justo: Un Debate.
January 1, 2001... A las, el editorial de Dom Serafini sufre de la falta de entendimiento de la provision de la Ley de los Derechos de Autor. Fair Use no es un derecho a ejercetse por los usuarios del material que registra los derechos del autor. Mas bien, es una...

El Poder de Latinoamerica.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... El diario italiano Il Corriere della Sera informo sobre un debate que esta inflamando a los intelectuales franceses, titulado "El Riesgo de la Colonizacion Cultural Americana". Similarmente, el Wall Street Journal escribio diciendo que "Los...

Redefiniendo "Temporada Intermedia".
January 1, 2001... [Upside down question mark]Que significa exactamente "temporada intermedia"? He aqufuna respuesta corta: Es en general el espacio de tiempo, comprendido entre los meses de enero y abril shows - dentro del cual las empresas intercambian ciertos...

Media Digital del Siglo "C".
January 1, 2001... En estos dias, de acuerdo con lo indicado por el grupo de Werner Lauff, de Bertelsmann Broadband, en la historia de la portada de la revista Video Age del mes de mayo, referente a que tenemos la tendencia de pensar en nuestra industria en...

NATPE Trends: New Media, Reality TV Redux.(National Association of Television Program Executives)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... When programmers, affiliate reps and syndicators converge in Las Vegas for their yearly dance at NATPE, a distinctly continental flavor will season the mix. The annual conference, now in its 38th year, is beginning to look a lot like a mini...

Brit TV Triumphs (Again) at Int'l Emmys.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The 28th annual International Emmy Awards on November 20 had a veddy British flavor as the U.K. swept four out of seven categories -- Performing Arts, Popular Arts, Children and Young People and News. The remaining three awards were divided...