Video Age International articles from May 2001

Video Age International archives from May 2001

Navigate the Format Maze: Different ways to License.(broadcasting licenses)(Panel Discussion)
May 1, 2001... Life used to be simple, then the Internet arrived making it more complex. To make matters more stressful, the format business was created and with it, 14 ways to license it. Years ago business transactions between sellers and buyers were...

What the Buyers Want and What They'll Get.(annual Los Angeles Screenings)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... o what do buyers really want? This question echoes in the minds of distributors each year as they trek across the world to California for the annual Los Angeles Screenings. With so much product out there, it is hard to imagine how distributors...

NAB Goes to the Xstream.(National Association of Broadcasters 2001 conference, Las Vegas)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... After returning to their hotel rooms following the first day of conferences at the recently concluded NAB, many people must have immediately turned on their TV sets to see if traditional broadcasting was still there. At the 55th annual...

Pilots That Don't Fly -- What Happens to the Shows?(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... Remember the live-action pilot for The Tick produced by Barry Sonnenfeld, based on the animated character? How about the Ben Stiller-produced Heat Vision & Jack, a terminally hip action parody? And, what about David Lynch's Mulholland Drive,...

My Two Cents.(politics in television broadcasting)(Brief Article)(Column)
May 1, 2001... n the '50s, during the era of America's Ed Murrow, the media reported the message. In 1967, Canada's Marshall McLuhan claimed that the medium was the message. Subsequently, the media developed the message and now, according to Italian writer...

No Deal on Canadian Digital Launch.(debate over launch of digital channels)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... Despite a significant period of prep time, Canadian television distributors and programmers have failed to reach an agreement on how to launch new digital channels this fall. In November, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications...

Brazilian Tech Wars.(digital television technology debate)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... The debate over the type of digital TV technology Brazil will adopt once it abandons analog is starting to simmer. A number of broadcasters, researchers and manufacturers has already begun lobbying for access to the market, which is expected to...

Is Rewritable Better?(digital videodisc recorders)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... Reminiscent of the epic struggle between VHS and Beta, consumers are once again being asked to choose between incompatible technologies -- this time for rewritable DVDs. But unlike the previous conflict that threatened to rip apart the...

Berretta Gets Degree, Takes Eutelsat Public.(Giuliano Berretta, president of Eutelsat)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... During the "Three Days of Eutelsat" in Bologna, Italy, Giuliano Berretta, president of Eutelsat (the European satellite consortium) received an Ad Honorem degree in managerial engineering from the University of Bologna, one of the oldest...

TGRT Hung Out in Turkish Economy.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... TGRT, the largest commercial TV network in Turkey, has been affected in many ways by the country's recent economic crisis. Ihlas Finans, the financial house that owns TGRT, recently collapsed when its stock plummeted on the Istanbul Stock...

RecordTV.com Settles MPAA Suit.(federal lawsuit with the Motion Picture Association of America )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... RecordTV.com, a pioneer in Internet-based VCR services, announced that it has settled its U.S. federal lawsuit with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its members. The MPAA sued RecordTV.com in July 2000 for copyright...

A French-U.S. Merge for Italy's Pay-TV.(Tele+ and Stream)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... The deal is closed. Well, almost closed. After all, it is a French-Italian-American-Australian deal. Italy's two pay-tv services, Tele+ and Stream, have a "gentlemen's agreement" to merge. All they need now is the green-light from the Italian...

A Brief Look at TV's Hitmakers.(Review)
May 1, 2001... One's initial reaction to James L. Longworth's TV Creators: Conversa-tions with America's Top Producers of Television Drama (Syracuse University Press, pp. 230) is sheer wonder at how the author managed to cram so many egos into one little...

MIP Had Int'l TV "Rocking" & "Rolling" on the Croisette.(review of international television industry trade fair in France)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... The digital revolution, channel and window proliferation, and industry consolidation, which continue to perpetuate an increasingly competitive television market, were mirrored at the international trade fair's 38th incarnation of MIP-TV in...

Plays Can Pay, TV Banks on It.(television adaptations of works for the theater)
May 1, 2001... There is a good amount of cross-pollination going on between theater and TV these days. The stage has become a fertile farming ground for some of the small screen's biggest spec tacles. There are a number of ways to accomplish the transition...

Morphing Best-Sellers Into Oscars.(film adaptations)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... Since the beginning of filmmaking, books have been an auspicious source for scripts. From classics like Mildred Pierce to the Mafia God father series to the very-English Bridget Jones's Diary, literary adaptations have imported literacy to...

Europe Gets New Currency, the World Gets Relief.(the Euro)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... The little euro sign ([epsilon]) that we saw on the restaurant checks at MIP-TV in Cannes, or MIFED in Milan, will soon come alive. No more pockets loaded with various coins that cannot be used in both Cannes and Milan. No more wads of...