latimes.com - Entertainment business

'New Moon' gross is rising

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Summit Entertainment underestimated the film's worldwide ticket sales by $16.1 million. The latest opening-weekend total is $274.9 million, but overseas box office figures are still trickling in.

Summit Entertainment's estimates of how many filmgoers outside North America saw "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" was low. Way low.

National Geographic Channel has a curious brand of grammar

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

As Miss Teen South Carolina reminded us so memorably in 2007, "Some people in our nation don't have maps. . . ." So true. But you can't blame the National Geographic Society. For more than a century, the House That Grosvenor Built has been one of the world's most ambitious educational and scientific organizations. These are the people who brought us unforgettable documentary films about Jacques Cousteau and Robert Ballard, Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey. The society's flagship publication, National Geographic magazine, remains the platinum standard of glossy-book journalism: lucidly written, beautifully photographed and humanely informed, a study in elegance.

Disney Studios drama might alter the industry

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Chairman Rich Ross has begun restructuring operations and set in motion a plan that could pit the film unit against business partners.

If you thought President Obama moved quickly, that's nothing compared with the first 50 days of the Ross administration.

'New Moon' poised for biggest box office day ever

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:55:19 -0800

SAG's Pamm Fair resigning

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:11:06 -0800

'New Moon' may shine bright at box office

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The 'Twilight' sequel's opening-weekend gross is expected to be about $90 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Edward and Bella are set to take the second-biggest bite of the year out of the box office.

The Oprah effect: Winners and losers

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:41:38 -0800

Oprah to end her show in 2011

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

She's expected to deliver a new program to a cable outlet she's starting. Her exit is a blow to two networks.

In another blow to the struggling business of network television, Oprah Winfrey is expected to announce on her program today that she will step down from her syndicated afternoon talk show, which over the last two decades has transformed her into one of the richest and most influential forces in popular culture.

Shareholders approve DirecTV spinoff

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Some of Liberty Media's entertainment businesses will combine with the satellite TV provider.

Shareholders approved the formation of a new company out of DirecTV Group Inc. and some of Liberty Media Corp.'s entertainment businesses, as the chairman of both firms dampened speculation about a sale to a big phone company.

AOL plans to cut a third of workforce through buyouts

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Internet firm, which is being spun off by Time Warner, hopes 2,500 workers sign up for a 'voluntary layoff' program in early December. That would leave a staff of 4,400.

AOL said Thursday that it planned to reduce its workforce by a third over the next several months.