Look out, it’s a plug!
The host of Box Office Weekly, anxious to make up for lost time over the past few podcastless weeks, will be appearing as a guest on Priscilla Leona’s radio show this Sunday from 5:00-6:00pm, PST. No matter where in the world you are you can hear it here. I know the [...]

Amy Winehouse is all over the usual news outlets. She blew off her American tour because of exhaustion. She collapsed following three days of hard partying. She was recently photographed with her husband of three months covered with blood and scratches. She either did time or is doing time in rehab.
Much gossip, much chatter, much [...]

Attention US Readers! I don’t do a lot of activism here (aside from complaining about things) but this matters to you. Today your favorite internet radio stations are participating in a “day of silence” to call attention to a new copyright law going into effect on July 15th. It will raise royalty payments that internet [...]

Yesterday was a big day for either freedom of speech or the right to offend, depending on how you look at it.
Here in America the 2nd Circuit court (there are two circuits, in case one blows) ruled that a new Federal Communications Commission policy penalizing accidentally aired expletives was invalid, saying it was “arbitrary and [...]

XM Satellite radio has decided to suspend inexplicably popular morning show hosts Opie and Anthony, for airing crude remarks they elicited from a homeless man. This kind of thing happens in morning radio, but that would be COMMERCIAL OVER-THE-AIR morning radio, which is regulated by FCC decency standards. If you’re listening to some now, you [...]

I’m singling out JackFM for gag purposes - I mean ALL radio.
The FCC has reached an agreement with the big Radio owners (Clear Channel, Entercom, CBS and Citadel) to force them to give more airtime to independent labels, and less to Sony, UMG, and their monolithic ilk. At issue, of course, was Payola, the practice [...]

The New York Post is reporting today that a merger is imminent between XM and Sirius, the two big Satellite radio providers. Okay, the only satellite radio providers. Now instead of competing with each other, they can concentrate on losing the fight against real radio and iPods.
Combining Sirius and XM would result in a single [...]

Showbiz is a tremendous gamble, and the big studios are specialists at bet-hedging. From an emphasis on proven names, sequels and remakes to diversification into other businesses, the media giants do what they can to keep the bottom line from sinking below your view.
And sometimes, that same strategy guarantees it won’t soar either:
Just when Sony [...]

You know what real journalists do when they don’t have time to write? They quote press releases verbatim! (Hey give me a break - it’s the holidays and have to prepare for a big Vegas trip that we’re making to avoid them.)
New York, NY, December 20, 2006 – Several Nielsen media tracking businesses today released [...]

The long tail is getting longer.

eMarketer, a market-research firm specializing in “e”, says that US Internet advertising spending is expected to reach $16.4 billion in 2006, a 30.8% gain over last year’s $12.5 billion figure. The bad news is overall ad spending is expected to remain relatively flat.
“At the rate Internet ad spending is growing, [...]