Sen. John McCain wants to "let" cable customers buy channels individually, by forcing cable companies to offer them the option. Rest assured that the mandate, if implemented, will have the opposite of its intended effect and end up raising prices and reducing access to TV programming.
As reported here a few weeks ago, Netflix is making a strong commitment to original programming, as an online challenge to cable giants such as HBO and Showtime. The money Netflix is spending is even more than many analysts expected, according to Variety: CAA TV literary agent Peter Micelli was forthcoming about how Netflix — and other digital media upstarts — do business with Hollywood during a panel discussion Friday at the UCLA Entertainment Symposium. He went so far as to specify how much was spent…
The NCAA has long been a farce of a governing body, more hypocritical and corrupt than the old Soviet Politburo — but with “death penalties” that are only metaphorical, and with fewer pairs of contraband blue jeans smuggled to favored apparatchiks. It is long past time for the commissioners of the Division I-A football conferences (I refuse to use the Newspeak version: “FBS Division”) to convene the football equivalent of a “Continental Congress” and sign a Declaration of Independence from the NCAA. With apologies to…
Creeping back from the abyss, Netflix appears to be taking the smart road after its highly publicized missteps of the past couple of years: innovation and risk-taking. With several high-profile programming moves, Netflix appears to be staking out territory as the Internet alternative to cable TV subscription channels such as HBO and Showtime. Netflix has an impressive slate of original programming from some of the industry's most successful creative people—but opportunities remain for Netflix or another savvy company to profit from a huge market segment…
Speaking at his organization's 10th Annual Access to Capital and Telecommunications Policy conference as reported at RBR.com, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council President David Honig called for a new Telecom Act that would give even more power to the Federal Communications Commission, and called for the commission to hasten the sale of unused spectrum for broadband suppliers. Honig's call for some deregulation is welcome, by contrast, but why stop there? S. T. Karnick asks.
The Dark Knight Rises is simply superb. Although it is subject to the limitations of the fantasy action-adventure genre, The Dark Knight Rises is top-quality in every way: cinematography, characterizations, intellectual inquisitiveness, political/cultural implications, visuals, sound, music, performances, etc. In addition, the various story lines of the trilogy are tied up very satisfyingly, while the writers leave some interesting avenues for further exploration in a new series of Batman films should there be any desire on their part to pursue them.
The two most successful films at the U.S. box office last weekend were targeted toward fairly specific audiences. Smart move.
Yes, printed newspapers are struggling these days, but it's their own fault: they're lousy.
"What matters far more is that Sunstein and Co. believe the thoroughly anti-libertarian and indeed anti-American notion that government is the source of law and rights, not their administrator and protector, respectively." — Tibor Machan
"The only reason it appears that we can’t do without an income tax is that Congress has an insatiable desire to spend money."
"Congressional committees overseeing industries succumb to the allure of campaign contributions, the solicitations of industry lobbyists, and the siren song of experts whose livelihood is beholden to the industry. The interests of industry and government become intertwined and it is regulation that binds those interests together. Business succeeds by getting along with politicians and regulators. And vice-versa through the revolving door. We call that system not the free-market, but crony capitalism. It owes more to Benito Mussolini than to Adam Smith." — Gerald P. O'Driscoll,…
“While we were working to improve the efficiency of cars and light-duty trucks, something interesting happened." — President Obama
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