Infinity and Beyond

Apple announced that it will start selling HBO shows via their iTunes store. While this news isn’t all that drastic the variable pricing they have set up is. NBC initially walked away from a deal with Apple after they denied them the variable pricing package. NBC was not satisfied to stay with the $1.99 for every show format that Apple has set forth.

With this new announcement HBO is doing what NBC couldn’t. Possibly because HBO is a pay-cable network whereas NBC is one of the basic networks along with ABC and Fox who both offer clips and full episodes of their programming.

No word yet on whether or not any other shows will be changing their price anytime soon.

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Variety reports that Apple joined the likes of Ford, AT&T, and Coke to become a sponsor of the hit TV show American Idol.  The iPod will be the show’s official digital music player (and mine too!…??), and the iPhone will be the official handset.  I wish all of my, er, favorite shows would have official media players and phones so that I could make more informed buying decisions, but alas I’ll just have to leave it up to Fox to tell me what to think…er do…or buy.Already hugely successful and garnishing massive fees for advertising spots on the show, iTunes will provide yet another venue for fans to get their Idol fix.  Idol performances will be available for download through the iTunes music store–99 cents for performances from the top-24, and then $1.99 for those from the final 12 performers.  There will even be a pre-order option to have Idol performances automatically downloaded the day after they air.  Think automatic revenue stream!  It will be interesting to see what, if any, numbers they report as to how many downloads they sell this season.  

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After 100 days the Writers Guild strike is over! 92.5% of the ballots cast were in favor of ending the strike and 283 votes of the 3,775 were in favor of continuing to picket and hold out for more.

The informal negotiations that finally broke the impasse is largely creditedto News Corp.’s Peter Chernin and Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger who stepped in only a month ago when the talks had come to a stand still. While their end goal was the same both companies had different reasons for reaching them. Disney owned ABC struggles without new content and Fox relies heavily on its motion picture group to succeed.

It looks like new episodes will start to come back in late March early April and the shows will be able to go on as scheduled, just shy of a full season (roughly 24 episodes). Already Disney has renewed nine shows for next year and no word as of now whether or not the regular season might head into the early summer months.

So, welcome back writers, and everyone else who has been displaced by the strike. Let’s get countless movies and TV shows up and running again and hopefully take away some of the reality programming that has been crowding the program schedules for the last few weeks.

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Here’s an article from the AP about Reality TV growing up.  Many reality shows were dusted off during the midst of the writers strike.  Despite their potential return, the reality shows are still going to stick around.

Survivor started it’s sweet 16 last week.  Big Brother returns this week.  The Mole and Paradise Hotel are being brought back.  Ohh boy, get out your Tivo remotes and start programming!

Perhaps when the writers come back they’ll write something good enough to put the reality shows back on the shelf.  But I doubt it.

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All you need to know about yesterday’s Super Bowl. 

“ Nielsen estimates that an average aud of 97.5 million viewers watched on Fox as the Giants defeated the Patriots 17-14. Contest, which aired from 6:31 to 10:12 p.m. ET, was close throughout, with tune-in peaking at about 107 million near 10 o’clock ET, when Eli Manning connected with Plaxico Burress on the go-ahead touchdown.Game eclipsed the previous record for a Super Bowl, which was the 94.08 million for the Dallas-Pittsburgh contest on NBC in January 1996, and among all programs trails only the 105.97 million for the series finale of “MASH” on CBS in 1983.” -Variety. 

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