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child porn
Why Verizon, Sprint And Time Warner Shouldn't Block Child Porn
The New York attorney general's office ran a "sting" in which agents posed as customers and complained to the companies that they could see child porn. When the service providers ignored them, the agency threatened the companies with fraud. Now, according to the Times, the ISPs are paying over a million dollars to Andrew Cuomo's office and promising to block child porn sites as identified by the office — to all their subscribers across the U.S. As despicable and exploitative as child porn is, blocking it this way is a terrible move. More »
Content Is King Again At Time-Warner
"Time Warner Inc. is expected Wednesday to unveil details of how it will carve off its Time Warner Cable arm, a step that will transform the media conglomerate into one more focused on movies, TV programming and magazines." [WSJ]
"Time Warner Inc. is expected Wednesday to unveil details of how it will carve off its Time Warner Cable arm, a step that will transform the media conglomerate into one more focused on movies, TV programming and magazines." [WSJ]
tv
Gossip Girl's Network Being Killed By YOU
The CW network, home to teen drama Gossip Girl, may be closed next year thanks to you, a Web-surfing pop culture consumer, possibly between the ages of 18 and 34. If you actually sat and watched network television at the appointed time instead of flitting around the mediascape like a monkey, streaming things here and TiVOing things there, maybe the network could actually get some Nielsen ratings for its shows. Instead, ratings are down 28 percent among 18 to 34 year olds so far this year. Other networks' ratings are down in the wake of the writers' strike, but apparently things are worse at CW, because according to the Wall Street Journal, "the network's hopes of surviving are looking increasingly bleak," and at least one of the CW's owners, CBS and Time Warner, may abandon the network next year if ratings don't improve. And it's hard to see how they will: More »
Yes.
"Is Faster Access to the Internet Needed?" Time Warner and AT&T say normal people don't need the Internet any faster than it is now, while Verizon and Comcast say "Um, OMG yes they do." Of course they do! Faster Internet means normal people will watch TV online, for one. But I'm abnormal; I spend over 12 hours a day online. I'm sure you have other examples. [Wall Street Journal]
"Is Faster Access to the Internet Needed?" Time Warner and AT&T say normal people don't need the Internet any faster than it is now, while Verizon and Comcast say "Um, OMG yes they do." Of course they do! Faster Internet means normal people will watch TV online, for one. But I'm abnormal; I spend over 12 hours a day online. I'm sure you have other examples. [Wall Street Journal]
boycott!
Time Warner Workers Unite For Cafe Fairness!
Break out the picket signs, the corporate scabs, and the Woody Guthrie songs, because it's time for all the proletarians in the Time Warner building to unite for a good old-fashioned boycott! Of the exclusive, employee-only Park Cafe! According to a righteously angry email being passed among CNN employees on the 7th floor, "on April 1 (Next Tuesday) prices are going up, frequent diner cards are being eliminated and the place will now close an hour earlier at 2:30p every day. If ever a situation called for a BOYCOTT... THIS IS IT!" By god, I can almost hear Samuel Gompers and Big Bill Haywood clawing their way out of their graves to rush to these employees' assistance! So what are the workers fighting to protect? An inside tipster describes the Park Cafe's democratic atmosphere: More »
That Time Warner Breakup
So, Time Warner, which owns the HBO cable network, Warner Studios, Time Inc. magazines and a slew of other properties, was supposed to be breaking itself up under ruthless new boss, Jeff Bewkes. So, what assets will the giant Manhattan media conglomerate shed? It may possibly reduce cable holdings; split up AOL, as long-rumored; and review strategic options for the resulting internet businesses. And 100 corporate jobs are to go. Radical!
So, Time Warner, which owns the HBO cable network, Warner Studios, Time Inc. magazines and a slew of other properties, was supposed to be breaking itself up under ruthless new boss, Jeff Bewkes. So, what assets will the giant Manhattan media conglomerate shed? It may possibly reduce cable holdings; split up AOL, as long-rumored; and review strategic options for the resulting internet businesses. And 100 corporate jobs are to go. Radical!
oped
Why Microsoft-Yahoo Would Be Bad News For Media
In internet land, everybody's very excited about the Redmond software giant's bid for Jerry Yang's languishing internet directory. Where would a combination leave AOL? (Answer: without an obvious acquirer or partner.) What about the challenge to Google? (Finally, a competitor, financed by Microsoft's profits from its bloated operating system and office applications.) Most of the commentary is overblown. Fusing two mediocre internet units, Microsoft's MSN and Yahoo, will not magically produce a dynamic challenger to Google; merely, if business precedent is any guide, mediocrity on a greater scale. Unfortunately, the petrified traditional media companies don't know that. (They don't know anything really.) And that's why the creation of another internet behemoth would be so pernicious. More »
stone cold crazy
Jonathan Lee Riches Will Sue You For Calling Him Crazy
Earlier this month, a $150 million lawsuit was filed against Time Warner and AOL, with some stunning charges: Credit card fraud, civil rights violations, and discrimination towards people with "bowel problems." Why haven't you heard of this scandal? Probably the same reason you haven't heard of the other recent lawsuits against Martha Stewart, Brad Pitt, Jake Gyllenhaal, George Clooney, Padma Lakshmi, Anderson Cooper, Oprah Winfrey, Slobodan Milosevic, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Lemony Snicket, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and Mack's Famous Boardwalk Pizza: They were all filed by Jonathan Lee Riches, the most suing-est federal prisoner you ever could hope to meet! Just this month, Riches has filed hundreds of suits against the most famous people, places, and things in the world. And he has some VERY serious complaints. More »
the chart
Google Is Not A Threat
Is Google a threat to traditional media? That notion is "naive and simplistic," executive David Eun tells I Want Media. "Journalists, news bureaus, that's not what we do." Smart! Which helps explain this chart: the search engine, at $171bn even after the stockmarket tumble, is worth more than the next three media conglomerates put together.
proxy wars
'Cloverfield' Monster Wreaks Havoc On Corporate Competitor
Jeff Bercovici went to an advance screening of the upcoming viral-marketed New York-destroying moster film Cloverfield. The still-unnamed monster of the film apparently causes a bit of destruction to the hideous Columbus Circle Time Warner buildings. "But bear in mind that Cloverfield was produced by Paramount, which is owned by Viacom. Coincidence," Becovici asks, "or corporate wish fulfillment?" We're guessing filmmaking. Viacom's building does not look like it'd be awesome to knock over. [Portfolio]
media
Time Warner's New CEO Won't Be Shaking Your Hand
Jeff Bewkes ("pronounced byu-kiss"), Time Warner's new CEO, is nuts: ''A former colleague describes Bewkes, 55, as a quasi hypochondriac who fastidiously washes up after shaking hands ('If you've got a cold,' says the colleague, 'Jeff won't come anywhere near you') and can expound learnedly on the relative merits of various antibiotics.'' Who else is weird like this? Howard Hughes was an obsessive-compulsive, and Donald Trump famously won't shake hands either. Haven't they heard? It's the money that's dirty! [NY Mag]
the new model
Court TV Lays Off Half Its "Online Group"
We always hear about layoffs in production departments, or foreign bureaus, or "a little bit of everywhere," in the case of MTV—but it's rare these days that you get to see an outfit chop up its web staff. But that's what Court TV is doing right this second—with fellow Time Warner company CNN.com going big on plans for CNN.com/crime, Court TV (soon to be called truTV) no longer needs 16 of the staffers at their website. 15 will remain. More »
tabloid media
TMZ + O.J.
We love a conspiracy theory, so we're enjoying Tabloid Baby's musings about TMZ and O.J. Simpson. They seem to think that O.J. Simpson and TMZ, the only Time Warner journalism product that pays sources for material, are collaborating—or at least have reached a state of advanced symbiosis—with O.J.'s recent arrest and the audiotapes TMZ has published of O.J. making threats. They note that in 1994, KCBS TV aired now-TMZ head Harvey Levin's tape of prosecutor Marcia Clark searching Simpson's home without a search warrant—a story that he retracted later. We don't quite see how this all pans out or fits together—but we wouldn't put anything past anyone at this point.
here comes the flood
Bad Weather Destroys New York City
As of 6:30 this morning, the 4/5/6 line was running at "slower speeds" because of "water on the tracks." Congratulations, New York, we're finally a third world country! If we were terrorists we'd just sit back and let the weather take care of things. Anyway, we weren't the only one with problems. Big trouble up at the Time Warner Center, the Mordor that marks the northern border of Midtown. More »
He'll hand over the reins to Jeff Bewkes sometime in 2008, which should leave plenty of time for, oh, say, running for mayor. [MediaPost]
