Springsteen Signs On for Super Bowl Halftime Show
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have signed on for what has to be one of the worst gigs possible, the Super Bowl halftime show. NBC and the NFL announced the booking for Super Bowl XLIII over the weekend. The Super Bowl will be on February 1st in Tampa this season.
Springsteen is a safe bet for the show, with aging fans still packing his concerts. Plus, the election will be over so NBC won’t have to worry about any political statements… unless maybe Bruce doesn’t like who wins.
More Info:
Read the Variety story here
NBC Say Oops to Stopping DVR’s from Recording
DVR blogs like The Green Button were all abuzz about a possible power play by NBC and Microsoft to block viewers from recording NBC shows. Screen shots popped-up EngadgetHD and other sites with the prompt people got when they tried to record “American Gladiators” and “Medium” recently on their Vista Media Centers.
The background is that broadcasters can send a “flag” in the stream of information that is a digital television program that indicates whether or not the program can be recorded. In tracking down the cause of the block there’s some explaining that has to be done because the flags shouldn’t be there.
Microsoft acknowledged that Windows Media Centers will block users from recording TV shows at the request of a broadcaster The problem is that in 2005 the Electronic Frontier Foundation fought successfully in court (ALA v. FCC) to stop the use of these broadcast flags. Microsoft seems to put the broadcaster above the courts and the consumer.
Yesterday NBC Universal admitted that it “inadvertently” blocked some viewers from recording the shows. In an interview with CNet News.com, a NBC spokesperson said: “We made an inadvertent mistake. We’re not aware of any other complaints, and we believe we have addressed the problem.”
Although no other DVR manufacturer reported this same problem, the “mistake” shows us that the networks along with Microsoft or any other electronic manufacturers can flex if they want to. If they want you to not record a program or even not skip the commercials on your DVR, they can.
In an example of another power play, recently DirecTV announced that its subscribers would only have 24 hours to watch pay-per-view movies that they had recorded to their DVR’s. What they are saying is that the content, whether it on the DVR, cable box or anywhere else, isn’t yours. Choose your partners wisely.
Read the CNet story here & here.
Read the EFF story here.
Two Approaches to Comedy on the Web
If you spend time on any of the comedy web sites like The Onion, JibJab, Comedy Central or Funny or Die, there is a basic idea that things need to be fresh and things need to happen fast. Sure you can have a culling of what’s the most popular, but the best sites are going to have new material.
The old media networks seem to be having the hardest time with the web. Some have gone back and forth with the idea of whether clips of their shows should be on YouTube, some have tried to start their own video web sites and others aren’t sure what to do at all.
Case in point, look at two press releases/stories about comedy on the web that have come out in the last week and you may get an idea of who understands what it takes.
The first comes from The Second City troupe announcing that they have teamed up with an LA media company and by the end of the year will launch “The Second City’s Quarantine.” The site will “feature original performances from The Second City’s current roster of talent, as well as members of its extensive alumni network.”
Sounds great. I can’t wait t see what they turn out especially having seen their live performances and their recent YouTube spoof of John McCain.
Now here’s the other Press Release about another new comedy site. Broadcasting Cable is reporting that Saturday Night Live has “launched a web site dedicated to politics.” It then goes on to say its “new,” well that it’s sort of new. It calls it “the souped-up subsection of SNL’s main site, serves as something of a storehouse for SNL’s political satire.” Wow, that makes me want to run away from it.
It goes on to say the site has a bracket like tournament where you can vote for your favorite impersonators and has ecards, games and a political message board. Oh Joy! But what, no social network? The Blog on the site does let you know how you are supposed to phrase things about candidates you don’t like. So get it right or you won’t be allowed to play there.
The idea that we are this far into the primaries and SNL just decides to break off some pages for politics tells me that the networks just aren’t cut out to be on the web.
Read the Second City Press Release here.
Read the Chicago Tribune Article here.
Read the Broadcast Cable article here.
Fallon Reported to be New Host of NBC’s “Late Night”
The Associated Press is reporting that today NBC will announce Jimmy Fallon will be the new host of “Late Night” when Conan O’Brien leaves.
O’Brien is scheduled to take over for Jay Leno in 2009 leaving a clear path for the former “Saturday Night Live” star to try his hosting talent.
Read the AP story here.
