The Morning Fix: New Sony CEO! NFL cashes in on media.
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After the coffee. Before writing the rent check.
The Skinny: We’ve got a busy day ahead, so no time for clever cracks about my cats, neighbors or food consumption. Wednesday’s headlines include Sony’s new chief executive, ‘American Idol’s’ ratings drop, Disney’s investment in India, the latest from the Golden Globes trial and how the NFL figured out a way to make money off of reporters.
The Daily Dose: Time Warner Cable will be alongside the car manufacturers and beer companies on Super Bowl Sunday with an ad starring Ricky Gervais. The minute-long special effects-filled spot promotes the cable company’s various offerings, even some that one might think of as competition. ‘We make Netflix more powerful,’ the ad touts. While the commercial is not national, it will run in key Time Warner Cable markets including New York and Los Angeles.
Meet the new boss. Sony Corp. has named Kazuo Hirai as its new chief executive officer, succeeding Howard Stringer, who will remain as chairman. The consumer electronics and entertainment giant has struggled over the last few years as sales of its televisions have slipped. Hirai, a Sony insider, has been running the company’s video game unit and previously spent years climbing the ranks of its music unit. More on the hire and Sony’s woes from Bloomberg.
Disney goes Bollywood. Walt Disney Co. has bought a controlling stake in Indian media giant UTV Software Communications Ltd., which makes television sets and movies. India has been a hot market for U.S. media giants for the last several years. Both Time Warner and Viacom have programming operations there. More on the deal from the Wall Street Journal.
Did the media get a cut? Tuesday was media day at the Super Bowl, an annual ritual in which reporters from around the globe get to ask players questions. It is not considered the most sophisticated forum, as many of the questions come from reporters who don’t cover the sport on a full-time basis. But the NFL figured maybe it could finally make some money of media day and charged fans $25 to come watch, and it sold out. Hey, maybe the TV networks can do the same during the Television Critics Assn. Press Tour. More on how the NFL made annoying reporters pay off from the New York Times.
We love L.A. Not only is ‘The Artist’ the only silent in the running for an Oscar for Best Picture, it’s also the only Oscar-nominated movie shot completely in Los Angeles. At a time when more and more movies and television shows are shot outside California, that’s a big deal. The Los Angeles Times on the second most unusual thing about ‘The Artist.’
The X Factor firings: Day Two. Now that the dust has cleared a little on the housecleaning done on Fox’s singing competition show ‘The X Factor,’ analysis over what went wrong and where the show should go is on the menu. Coverage from Variety and Vulture.
Staying power. Fox News has now marked 10 years as the top-rated cable news network. Love them or hate them, Roger Ailes & Co. have certainly stayed around on top a lot longer than folks thought when the network first grabbed the top spot in 2002. More from the Washington Post.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Scott Collins on the ratings drop for Fox’s ‘American Idol.’ The latest from the Golden Globes trial. A look at the paperwork for the SAG-AFTRA merger.
-- Joe Flint
Follow me on Twitter. There is no substitute. Twitter.com/JBFlint
