Zero Dark Dirty Business Information

     Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Baol firmly stated in an interview, that is to air tonight on ABC’s Nightline, that no classified documents were used in the making of Zero Dark Thirty. These fimmakers deny claims that the White House provided classified info. This film details the Navy SEAL mission that killed Osama bin Laden so it is no surprise that this is a hot topic. This film discusses something that our country had to do, and telling the story in film is a way to express this 'success' and whatnot. 

    The pair mentioned that claims they received top-secret help from the Obama administration on the details of the raid came down to partisan politics. “I certainly did a lot of homework, but I never asked for classified materials; to my knowledge, I never received any”, Boal said. “And I think as far as the controversy goes, you know, how can I put this — it was an election year. It was surreal and bizarre to have … I mean there were major players in the Republican Party characterizing the script and the movie before I had written a word, and I found that just really baffling”.

What Really is the Future of Cable?

     "Are Big Media Companies Needlessly Frightened About Pay TV Cord Cutting?" is the big question that everyone is asking this week. Well, not big but rather a substantial one that deserves an answer. Lazard Capital Markets' Barton Crockett seems to think so about companies, that they are needlessly scared. He regarded in one of his analyst essays that this cord cutting could be good for the "content-owning conglomerates" if the consumers begin using the internet to subscribe to the channels they want. Although Crockett takes a step back and states that the current system of pay TV bundling is not going away soon anyway and thus the companies are being excessive in their worries.
     Crockett challenges the "conventional wisdom that media giants would find themselves on a ride to financial ruin if consumers escaped from a system that requires them to pay for channels they don't want." These are based on two assumptions: Consumers would continue to spend $78B a year on pay TV. And, in a post-bundle world, content creators could collect all of that instead of settling for the $32B in program fees that they currently receive from distributors. 

CBS Adds onto Hulu Plus

     Adds. Addition... the plus in Hulu Plus. Get it? No? Well... okay then... >.< Now onto the news. CBS Inks Library Deal For Hulu Plus. CBS, the lone major network that doesn't own a piece of Hulu, is finally going to stream shows. Sort of. Even though CBS has worked with Hulu back in Japan... CBS seems tentative over the streaming thing even though CW (half owned by CBS) has a deal with the service.
     CBS isn't showing its latest hits, they are going to offer some other shows such as "Medium and CSI: Miami and golden oldies such as Star Trek, I Love Lucy and The Twilight Zone." It won't be their latest shows the day after it airs. Also, this is only being made available to those who are subscribed to Hulu Plus. 
     This is quite interesting because it seems like everyone has already jumped onto the internet bandwagon. Seeing CBS barely doing this, this late in the game, makes me think about how old the internet really is. The internet is not that old but it has already had an impact on the industry in terms of pirating, streaming, and whatnot. 
     This seems like a good move for CBS, so hopefully they aren't moving one step forward and two steps back. Expanding a network's services never seem bad to me. With the internet, I wonder how CBS is going to deal with attempting to expand their audience. 

Hey Weather Channel, How Are You?

     This week, everyone seems to be talking about Hurricane Sandy, whether they are making Spongebob jokes about it or placing serious concern on it. Throughout this whole shebang, the Weather Channel's ratings have gone up.  The article states, "The Weather Channel’s coverage of Hurricane Sandy beat all the cable news networks in primetime among adults 25-54 and in overall day viewership." 
     I thought this article was interesting mainly because it is the perfect example of how society dictates what to watch and when. The ratings of the Weather Channel seem to only boost when there are people who are concerned about these events. They seemed focused on others' safety and the news report in general about this natural disaster.