For those of you who like red-carpet, star-studded affairs, the news is bad. Sponsors of the Golden Globes have canceled the telecast because of worries that presenters and nominees would refuse to cross picket lines by striking Hollywood writers. So this year the Golden Globes, sponsored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, will amount to just an hour-long “press conference” carried live on NBC.
What’s next? The Oscars?
Perhaps. The nine-week-old strike by about 10,500 Writers Guild of America members against the major film and TV studios seems far from over. There aren’t even any talks scheduled at the moment and the Oscars are due to take place on Feb 24 on ABC.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is keeping its fingers crossed that the WGA will agree to a special deal and not to picket the event. But talks between the union and Golden Globe sponsors about a similar deal failed to lead to an agreement.
Cancellation of the Oscars would be a real blow to advertisers, ABC and the nominees. In recent years, the Oscars has become a kind of second Super Bowl for marketers, who increasingly favor “live event” broadcasts because they are less likely to be recorded by viewers and watched later without the commercials.
And what about the audience? After all, who doesn’t like to watch George Clooney or Keira Knightley stroll down the red carpet?
Keep an eye on:
Microsoft has offered to buy Norwegian Internet-search software firm Fast Search & Transfer in a deal that values the company at about $1.2 billion. (Reuters)
Apple is set to announce steps to resolve European Commission charges that its iTunes stores broke EU rules by setting prices country by country in Europe, according to sources (Reuters)
Economic worries are changing the tone of the annual Consumer Electronics show. Questions about the combination of the rising jobless rate, high oil prices, and the housing crisis are taking some of the shine off the latest and greatest gadgets. (Reuters)
Comcast Corp is offering up to 1,000 HD movies and programs for downloads, while its latest, superfast Internet speeds will allow soon subscribers to download an entire HD film in just four minutes (Reuters)
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