Box Office Weekly #107 (MP3 - 15 MB - 22 min)
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In today’s show, weekend box office figures, TV ratings and these stories: The best awards show this weekend took place in a magic shop in Santa Monica… A British theatre chain is cruel to an old, old man… and in this week’s commentary Skot [...]

Adding to Skot’s AA experiences:
There is a British pub in Woodland Hills called The White Harte, and Sunday night they held an Academy Awards viewing party. I wouldn’t normally plug a local place like that but they presented me with a faux Oscar for correctly predicting the best picture award. When pressed for a speech [...]

Sat through the Oscars last night. Taking it in glances:
• There was a general tone of weariness about the whole affair. After the long, drawn-out , contentious WGA strike, there is probably a need in The Industry for something light, traditional, conciliatory and uncontroversial. I know the feeling: After a protracted squabble or grinding contretemps [...]

Hollywood is holding its breath, waiting for a soggy climax to a difficult year to take place tomorrow evening. Yes, the Oscars are coming. But the anti-Oscars (no, I’m not talking about “real life”) have already been given out, over an hour ago, at a magic shop in Santa Monica.
The Golden Raspberry Awards celebrated its [...]

Box Office Weekly #106 (MP3 - 15 MB - 22 min)
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In today’s show, weekend box office figures, TV ratings and these stories: Coming up, the most thrown-together Oscar ceremony ever… Betamax, no, Memory Stick, no - Blu-Ray, you betcha!… and in this week’s commentary I ease the transition to digital television. All this and [...]

We have implemented a policy change at work.
As noted previously on this site, Digital Television is set to kick off in about a year. One of the profound changes this represents is to the very delivery form of television: It’s aspect ratio. SD (Standard Definition, Analog TV) is 4:3– and DTV is 16:9.
It’s as simple [...]

Within the space of a year, the FCC has mandated that all television signals be broadcast in the new ATSC digital format, forever putting a lid on the beloved NTSC that has served us since before Milton Berle put on his first dress. And you know the nightmare scenario that’s going through your head: you’ll [...]

Box Office Weekly #105 (MP3 - 15 MB - 22 min)
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In today’s show, weekend box office figures, TV ratings and these stories: showbiz picks itself off, dusts itself and starts all over again… the networks decide who lives and who dies… and in this week’s commentary I look at the last two years, the [...]

Look what happens while I’m recording the show:
The membership of the WGA West and WGA East voted overwhelmingly to end their 100-day walkout. Guild officials said 3,775 writers turned out in Los Angeles and New York to cast ballots or fax in proxies, with 92.5% voting in favor of ending the work stoppage.

Look for 7.5% [...]

This week’s episode of Box Office Weekly marks, yes, the beginning of year three. I like to think that we had something to do with settling the writer’s strike. You’re right of course, I can’t support that assertion. But isn’t it possible that someone in power was listening to this show and thought - oh [...]