Video Age International articles from March 2003

Video Age International archives from March 2003

DVD piracy in the U.S. becomes an industry.
March 1, 2003... Audiovisual piracy is a rich but dangerous business in the U.S. Last November, two armed would-be robbers broke into a small illegal CD and DVD manufacturer in Manhattan and one of them was killed. Similarly, a few months earlier, in July, also...

Sumner's clever U.K. adventure.(speculation concerning Viacom Inc. and its interest in ITV)
March 1, 2003... The U.K. government's publication last summer of the draft Communications Bill met with a great deal of local press speculation as to which American company would bid for which British broadcast asset and what, precisely, Rupert Murdoch would...

U.S. action hours seeing less action; int'l mart blamed.
March 1, 2003... Are action hours becoming broadcast dinosaurs? In the U.S. market, "Dramatic action-adventure programming has all but disappeared from primetime," observed Don Bellisario, creator and executive producer of JAG, and syndicated television is...

Product placement: creative, yet discreet.
March 1, 2003... The actress who plays Leonardo DiCaprio's mother serves Sara Lee cake to detectives in DreamWorks' Catch Me if You Can. Sam Rockwell is punched our in a bar beneath a Miller's beer sign in Chuck Barris' Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Denzel...

My two cents.(analysis of United States copyright law)(Column)
March 1, 2003... It is obvious that U.S. copyright laws aren't serving the needs of the companies they intended to protect, or those of consumers. A new thinking is clearly overdue, one that satisfies both the public and copyright holders. The needs of these...

Showtime Arabic Channel launched. (World).(all over the Middle East)
March 1, 2003... "The soft launch of Showtime Arab Movie Channel, Al SHASHA, all over the Middle East on January 21, and its encryption last February, covers the whole spectrum of Arab films from classic to most recent," said Khalid Nour, Showtime Middle East...

The place for African films. (World).(the National Film & Video Foundation hosts a South Africa exhibit at FESPACO)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The National Film & Video Foundation hosted a South Africa exhibit at the 18th edition of FESPACO, Africa's largest film festival, held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa, February 22-March 1. This year's festival screened a record...

European fiction: expensive reality. (World).(TV fiction produced in Europe's five main producing countries is estimated at Euro2.9 billion)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... TV fiction produced in Europe's five main producing countries -- Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the U.K. -- is estimated at 2.9 billion euro according to the 2nd annual Eurofiction Economy Study conducted by the Institut national de...

DT sells cable out. (World).(Deutsche Telekom sells its remaining cable television business to a consortium)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Deutsche Telekom, the troubled former German state telephone monopoly, recently sold its remaining cable television business to a consortium led by investment bank Goldman Sachs for a measly 1.7 billion euro. After running up debts...

Canadian cable woes. (World).(the Canadian Cable Television Association wants more help in stopping the theft of satellite-TV signals)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Canadian cable companies, who have lost more than 200,000 subscribers to satellite providers in the past year, are trying to convince the government and the courts that not enough is being done to curb the theft of satellite-TV signals. In late...

Agency rescues Japanese films. (World).(Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs seeks film prints for movies produced and released domestically)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Frearing the disintegration and loss of many of Japan's most celebrated films, the country's Agency for Cultural Affairs is expected to order movie companies to donate original negatives or prints of films produced and released domestically to...

Outing: They Want the World to Know. (Book Review).(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... At the risk of perpetuating a stereotypical "gay" word, nothing short of "fabulous" seems befitting to describe Stephen Tropiano's The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, pp. 332), a rather...

New, improved AFM mixed biz, booze & buzz. (Film Mart).(a discussion of the American Film Market)
March 1, 2003... To some of the exhibitors, buyers were definitely buzzing around the American Film Market, but where.., exactly, was harder for them to determine. Officially, 6,827 people were in attendance, of which 19 percent were said to be buyers, which,...

Fox to derail new U.S. season with experiment. (L.A. Screenings).(Fox is leading the push to starting the television season earlier)
March 1, 2003... The 2003-2004 U.S. television season will be getting off to an especially early start this year. In fact, if the Fox network has anything to do with it, the entire notion of a "new fall season" may be on the expressway to the "reformatory;"...

Animation grows up and targets adults. (Hid-TV Matures).(Cartoon Network and TNN are focusing on the trend of targeting some animation at adults)
March 1, 2003... Although animation geared toward adults has long enjoyed strong traditions in Europe and Asia, where animated dramas and soap operas are common, it's a relatively recent phenomenon in the U.S. While mainstream primetime shows such as The...

Tough times giving way to new opportunities. (Trends in Children's TV).
March 1, 2003... Despite lingering concerns about the economy and an oversaturation of programming, the children's market still offers opportunities for independent producers willing to invest the time to develop quality shows. Vanessa Chapman of Create TV...

Let's do lunch.(directory of television industry meetings)(Brief Article)(Directory)
March 1, 2003... MIPDOC March 22-23 Cannes, France TEL: (212) 370-7470 FAX: (212) 370-7471 www.miptv.com MIP-TV March 24-28 Cannes, France TEL: (212) 370-7470 FAX: (212) 370-7471 www.miptv.com PROMAX &...

Signs of vitality without respirator. (NATPE 2003).(a discussion of developments at this year's NATPE convention in New Orleans)
March 1, 2003... Critics were quick to point out that this year's NATPE, held from January 20-23 in New Orleans, had fewer extravagant parties and a noticeable lack of leading luminaries and flashy floor displays. And where at one time NATPE required as many as...

The greatest bazaar in TV land gets five rings. (MIP-TV Preview).(a discussion of the 40th annual MIP-TV event)
March 1, 2003... MIP-TV is getting underway rather early this year -- March 24-28 -- and, for several days, this 40th annual event is going to be like the greatest bazaar in television land, akin to a five-ring circus, with the anniversary celebration, MILIA,...

Monte-Carlo TV Fest: defining global trends.(a discussion of the upcoming 43rd annual Monte-Carlo Television Festival)
March 1, 2003... The 43rd annual Monte-Carlo Television Festival, a seven-day TV festival dedicated to celebrating the creative arts, featuring a three-day cycle of conferences, will take place in Monaco's Grimaldi Forum from June 30 to July 5, 2003. The...

Cashing in on new opportunities. (Multiplatform).(Telepictures is among the firms focusing on multiplatform opportunities)
March 1, 2003... A new business model is emerging for syndicated players in the U.S. TV market. Recent success stories such as Slamball on TNN and Spend It Fast on women-targeted WE-TV network have proven that there's lucrative life beyond traditional...

Success brings rewards, and complications.(for creators of television formats)
March 1, 2003... The underlying reality of the format business is, unsurprisingly, becoming more complicated by the week, in line with the astonishing success of the genre. Alongside being the year that the format became irrefutably established as a...

The future for formats: hybridization.(a discussion of how to capitalize on television formats)
March 1, 2003... What kinds of formats are finding fortune, and how can they be built to last? The recent stunning success of Fox's reality series Joe Millionaire has prompted a few questions among formats execs: how long will reality reign, is dating the...

Formats: many ways to skin a cat.(a discussion of licensing formats of popular programs overseas)(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2003... It's been five years since Canada's Distraction Formats was born, and some of Holland-based Endemol's formats have been riding high for a solid decade now. In the last few years, the list of companies involved in the business and the formats...

DISCOP-Formats an Interactive show.(the second DIS COP Format Markets Europe conference is held)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Deals were sealed and contacts were made at the second annual DIS COP Format Markets Europe, a festival designed to bring together the bigwigs behind Europe's recent TV format explosion. The event, which brought together producers,...