Sirius Canada announces 100-channel lineup
Sirius Canada, one of the two groups proposing new Canadian satellite pay-radio networks, has unveiled the channel lineup for its upcoming launch.
The company, a joint venture between Sirius Satellite Radio from the U.S. and Canadian partners CBC/Radio-Canada and Standard Broadcasting, says it is set to launch 100 radio channels – 60 dedicated solely to music and 10 specifically Canadian channels.
"Canadians will be able to experience Sirius in time for the holidays," company president and CEO Mark Redmond said in a statement.
Six of the 10 Canadian channels will be provided by the CBC and Radio-Canada:
- CBC Radio One: English-language news, current affairs and documentaries.
- Première Plus: French-language news and current affairs.
- Infoplus: French-language news from Radio-Canada and public broadcasters worldwide.
- RCI Plus: Radio-Canada International programming in eight languages, including English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin.
- CBC Radio 3: English-language independent music and culture.
- bandeapart: Francophone music.
The remaining four will be provided by Standard, Astral and Score Media:
- Hardcore Sports Radio: Canadian sports news and talk.
- Iceberg Radio: Commercial-free rock music.
- Rock Velours: French-language channel dedicated to soft rock.
- Energie: French-language station playing French and English pop, rock and urban music.
Music channels on Sirius Canada's lineup will include U.K. music from BBC Radio 1, Stephen Van Zandt's Underground Garage, Jimmy Buffet's Radio Margaritaville and Eminem's Shade 45.
Sports channels will include three dedicated play-by-play stations for NHL, NBA and NFL games as well as ESPN News.
News services include National Public Radio Now, Bloomberg Radio, CNN and BBC World News.
Martha Stewart Living Radio, Laugh Break, Maxim Radio and E! Entertainment Radio are among the other offerings.
The network will offer "a new platform that'll cover every corner of the country – on the road, a boat, at home, etc. – and vastly enhanced reach for our radio services, which so many listeners at home and abroad have already come to know, trust and love," read a message from Radio de Radio-Canada vice president Sylvain Lafrance, CBC Radio vice president Jane Chalmers and Michel Tremblay, vice president of CBC strategy and business development.
In June, the CRTC granted satellite radio licences to two groups – Sirius Canada Inc. and Canadian Satellite Radio Inc. (CSR), which is partnered with U.S. satellite radio company XM.
Following the broadcast regulator's decision, several groups – including some Liberal MPs and a number of cultural groups – pushed for these licences to be overturned or sent back because they felt the Canadian content regulations were too low in the initial proposals.
However, both CSR and Sirius eventually revised their proposals to offer more Canadian channels and, in September, the federal government upheld the CRTC's decision to issue the licences.
November sweeps: Day by day
Prepare to be swept away. Starting today, we'll be engulfed by the November sweeps, one of those quarterly ratings periods that the networks stuff with specials, stunts and guest-star stints.
We help you plan your sweeps time (all times ET/PT):
Thursday, Nov. 3
Smallville (WB, 8 p.m.)
Taking that Good Old Boys theme song to heart, Tom Wopat joins John Schneider for a mini-Dukes reunion. With Catherine Bach missing, one of them will have to wear the shorts.
Sunday, Nov. 6
The Simpsons (Fox, 8 p.m.)
The annual "Treehouse of Horror" faces West Wing's live debate (NBC, 8 p.m. ). But the real terror is CBS' two-part Category 7: The End of the World (9 p.m.). Think of it as last season's Category 6 storm with delusions of grandeur.
Monday, Nov. 7-Thursday, Nov. 11
Here's a pretty picture: It's Next Top Model week on UPN, with contestants from the first five editions on every show except Everybody Hates Chris.
Monday, Nov. 7
CSI: Miami (CBS, 10 p.m.)
What would sweeps be without a goofy crossover? For November, Miami folks trade places with CSI: NY (Wednesday, 10 p.m.). For Miami, that's slumming.
Wednesday, Nov. 9
Lost (ABC, 9 p.m.)
TV's best series returns from a brief break with an episode that reshapes the fate of one of the castaways. That's all I'm saying.
Saturday, Nov. 12
MADtv (Fox, 11 p.m.)
And they said it wouldn't last. The late-night comedy celebrates its 250th episode with host Pamela Anderson.
Sunday, Nov. 13
SNL in the '80s: Lost and Found (NBC, 9 p.m.)
A day after Mad's celebration, its older Saturday rival gets a special of its own. The same writer/director did last season's Live from New York, one of the year's best specials.
Tuesday, Nov. 15
Vibe Awards (UPN, 8 p.m.)
Choose your music: The hip-hop awards air opposite CBS' Country Music Association Awards (8 p.m.). Or wait till Wednesday for CBS' I Walk the Line: A Night for Johnny Cash (8 p.m.).
Wednesday, Nov. 16
That '70s Show (Fox, 8 p.m.)
In probably the biggest guest-star get of the sweeps, '70s teams Ashton Kutcher with Bruce Willis for reasons that are obvious to anyone who has ever seen a celebrity column.
Sunday, Nov. 20
The Poseidon Adventure (NBC, 8 p.m.)
Is it possible to remake without Shelley Winters? Maybe, but can those new Poseidonites survive a far graver threat than a flipped ship: a wedding on ABC's Desperate Housewives (9 p.m.)?
Monday, Nov. 21
Medium (NBC, 10 p.m.)
What's the goofiest stunt of the sweeps? A 3-D episode of a show that's usually lucky to achieve 2-D.
Tuesday, Nov. 22
The American Music Awards (ABC, 8 p.m.)
Cedric the Entertainer hosts one of the season's more reliably popular specials. Boomers take note: The Stones will perform live.
Sunday, Nov. 27
Silver Bells (CBS, 9 p.m.)
What would November be without at least one sappy CBS movie? This year, it's a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie for Anne Heche and Tate Donovan.
Monday, Nov. 28
Prison Break (Fox, 9 p.m.)
Don't miss the "fall finale," after which Break takes a break until May. Which is an odd way to treat folks who love you.
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Felicity/American Girl Adventure (WB, 8 p.m.)
It's valley of the dolls time on WB. Meanwhile, the new commander at Commander in Chief (ABC, 9), Steven Bochco, brings NYPD Blue's Mark-Paul Gosselaar aboard.
FAN PARTICIPATION
ThinkFilm acquiring worldwide rights to Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That, a Beastie Boys documentary shot mainly by fans at Madison Square Garden using handheld cameras, per the Hollywood Reporter.
D'oh! "The Simpsons" Got Game
America's favorite four-fingered family is coming to a videogame console near you.
Twentieth Century Fox Television and Gracie Films have sealed a long-term licensing agreement with Electronics Arts that will give the world's biggest videogame maker exclusive rights to develop multiple games based on The Simpsons.
Financial details of the pact were not disclosed. But it calls for EA to closely collaborate with show producers and writers for original content featuring Bart and the gang. The games will also feature vocal contributions from The Simpsons cast.
"This is a great opportunity for our talented development team to collaborate with the brilliant minds of The Simpsons to bring original Simpsons material to videogame fans," Nick Earl, vice president and general manager of EA's Redwood Shores Studio, said in a statement. "This is something EA's been interested in for years and now game development and technology is at a place where The Simpsons characters and world will really come alive in these games."
Simpsons' executive producer James L. Brooks had more pressing reasons for going forward with the arrangement.
"I think this is a great opportunity for us, primarily because it brings with it the possibility of free EA games," he said, tongue firmly in cheek.
The joint venture is the first between Fox and EA. Simpsons videogame rights were previously held by Vivendi Universal which scored a couple of commercial hits with such titles as The Simpsons: Hit & Run and The Simpsons: Road Rage.
It's expected that EA will bring the same eye-popping CGI-wizardry to Springfield as it's currently doing with titles inspired by other popular entertainment properties, including: the just-released James Bond game From Russia with Love; The Lord of the Rings: Tactics, hitting stores Nov. 8; The Godather, due out in the first quarter of 2006; and longtime favorites like Tiger Woods PGA Tour '06 and The Sims.
The company also recently announced it is joining forces with Steven Spielberg to develop three original games the Oscar-winning filmmaker may eventually turn into movies.
As for The Simpsons, the Fox staple is now in the middle of its 17th season and continues to post solid ratings, consistently ranking number one in its Sunday time slot for the adverister-coveted 18-49 demo.
The show has also become the longest running comedy in TV history and an economic juggernaut for the studio, earning more than $1 billion in licensing and merchandising-related deals. Production is now underway on The Simpsons' 18th season and the long-awaited movie version.
Top-flight titles target post-holiday DVD rush
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Although the jury is still out on the ultimate strength or weakness of the fourth quarter, studio DVD marketers are charging ahead with plans for next year.
Already, three big theatrical features -- one a certifiable blockbuster -- have been slotted for January release. "The Wedding Crashers" (New Line) will arrive in stores January 3 with a $207.8 million theatrical pedigree. A week later comes "Red Eye" and "Transporter 2."
Other likely January titles include "Flightplan" and "The Constant Gardener," which is generating a lot of buzz in awards circles.
Contenders for February DVD releases include " Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," "Just Like Heaven" and "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," and "A History of Violence"
"It's a fantastic time for home video," Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders said of the January-February time period. "That's why New Line has 'Wedding Crashers' and we had 'Troy' in that same slot last year. We were very pleased with the results."
Sanders credited the booming gift-card market, which according to Deloitte & Touche USA Llp. grew 20% last year and boosted retail sales by an estimated $18 billion.
"As gift cards become bigger and bigger retail items, we have a greater opportunity to sell DVDs after the holiday period," Sanders said.
It's not just new releases, either. Dozens of classics have been slotted for January and February release, including Warner's "Oscar Classics Collection," consisting of seven Academy Award-winning films that never before have been available on disc. Arriving in stores January 31: best picture winner "Cimarron" (1931), "The Champ" (1931), "Captains Courageous" (1937), "The Good Earth" (1937), "Kitty Foyle" (1940), "Johnny Belinda" (1948) and 1956's "Lust for Life."
The Couch Potato Report - November 2nd, 2005
This week The Couch Potato Report features a classic end to a classic saga and three leftovers.
It is amazing what memories we keep with us from our childhood.
For some, there are the memories of lying under a tree on a summer day, looking up at the clouds.
Others have memories of trips to the city to go shopping with siblings and mom and dad.
I have those memories, and many more as well from my childhood. Many of them remain vivid to this day.
One more very vivid memory that I have kept from my childhood is the way I felt back in 1977 when I first saw a movie called STAR WARS.
I was simply overwhelmed!
The intervening years have seen that film changed, "updated", and renamed STAR WARS - A NEW HOPE, but every time I see the film, or think of that summer 28 years ago when I first saw it, I feel like a kid again and I remain overwhelmed.
The release of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK in 1980 and THE RETURN OF THE JEDI in 1983 only cemented my passion.
When prequels to those films came out in the late nineties, my passion remained.
There were many people who's passion for STAR WARS diminished after the release of STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE in 1999 and STAR WARS: EPISODE II - ATTACK OF THE CLONES in 2002, but I wasn't one of them.
With every STAR WARS film, I felt like a kid again.
A kid sitting in a darkened movie theatre with a drink and some Maltesers getting ready to be taken to a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
Now, with this week's release of STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH on DVD the saga is complete.
It is the sixth and final film in the series and Lucas has said that he will do no more movies. Yes, he will tinker with the six he has already created, but he won't be making any new ones.
But if it had to end, I am glad it ended with REVENGE OF THE SITH, because tis is one superb film.
A film that gives us the final piece of the puzzle in the story of the rise, fall, and redemption of Darth Vader.
There are terrific battle scenes, inside jokes and treats for longtime fans, and a well written dramatic arc...
Umm,...okay, that last part isn't true.
Lucas has never been known for his writing skills, and REVENGE OF THE SITH does suffer from his penchant for bad dialogue from time to time.
Nevertheless, even if it is poorly written in places, the reality is that Lucas is still a great overall storyteller.
Now, the tale of a galaxy long ago and far away is complete.
And I, for one, am glad I was able to see how it played out.
Should you be asking if you will like this film if you haven't seen any of the others, well, here's the answer.
Take the time and watch them all! You won't even have to wait for 28 years to see how it ended, like I did!
STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH is now on my shelf beside the other films. It will stay there forever.
THE INTERPRETER is also sitting on my shelf, but it will not be there forever.
In the film Nicole Kidman plays an interpreter for the United Nations who overhears a possible assassination plot one night as she returns to collect her things.
Sean Penn is the Secret Service agent who believes her at times, and doesn't at others.
Come to think of it, that is the overlying theme of the whole movie.
Sometimes you will believe THE INTERPRETER is a great film, other times you won't.
The first hour is almost all believable, but after that director Sydney Pollack doesn't let his film have very much focus.
Should we believe Kidman's character? Should we not?
The film never shows us what she is thinking or feeling, so it is hard. Penn is his usual reliable self, but THE INTERPRETER is a leftover this week that is best looked over as you walk by it on the shelf.
At best, I would call it a mediocre thriller.
At its best SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was one of the funniest shows on TV.
Many consider its best to have been during the show's first five years.
Should you count yourself one of those people, or you are curious to see how great the show used to be, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner and al of the Not Ready For Prime Time Players all star is SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: LIVE FROM NEW YORK - THE FIRST FIVE YEARS.
Just don't expect full skits as this is not a best of DVD.
This is a documentary that features many of the cast and crew who worked on the show during those first five years.
Even if you don't think the show's best years were from 1975 to 1980, this is still a fascinating documentary on what it took to get the show on the air in the first place.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: LIVE FROM NEW YORK - THE FIRST FIVE YEARS is a 154 minute look back at how some of the comedy we enjoy today was created, and I completely enjoyed it.
I also enjoyed ALF, the TV show about the alien life form from the planet Melmac who crashed landed on earth and lived with a human family.
In fact, it is something else I have fond memories of from my childhood.
Our final leftover this week is ALF - SEASON TWO.
Originally released on August 23rd, this four disc set includes a wide array of laughs, plus cameos by the cast of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, plus Alf hosts the David Letterman show.
I don't know if the fact that I enjoyed watching the whole second season means that I am living in the past, or that the show is still funny.
Who knows, maybe it means both.
Either way, ALF - SEASON TWO is available now at a store near you, along with SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: LIVE FROM NEW YORK - THE FIRST FIVE YEARS, THE INTERPRETER and STAR WARS: EPISODE III - Revenge Of The Sith.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
Johnny Depp takes over as Willy Wonka in director Tim Burton's 2005 version of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
In 1987 TV's Denise Huxtable left THE COSBY SHOW for A DIFFERENT WORLD, and now SEASON ONE of that show is available on DVD.
On July 2nd some of the biggest names in the music industry took part in a series of concerts around the world. Now there is a 4-DVD LIVE 8
BOX SET.
Our "Leftovers" next week are the superb 2001 TV show UNDECLARED and the movie version of Douglas Adams' classic book THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE
TO THE GALAXY.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in
seven days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next week on The Couch!
Grandpa Is Sued Over Grandson's Downloads
MILWAUKEE - A 67-year-old man who says he doesn't even like watching movies has been sued by the film industry for copyright infringement after a grandson of his downloaded four movies on their home computer.
The Motion Picture Association of America filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Fred Lawrence of Racine, seeking as much as $600,000 in damages for downloading four movies over the Internet file-sharing service iMesh.
The suit was filed after Lawrence refused a March offer to settle the matter by paying $4,000.
"First of all, like I say, I guess I'd have to plead being naive about the whole thing," he said.
"I personally didn't do it, and I wouldn't do it. But I don't think it was anything but an innocent mistake my grandson made."
Lawrence said his grandson, who was then 12, downloaded "The Incredibles," "I, Robot," "The Grudge," and "The Forgotten" in December, without knowing it was illegal to do so.
The Racine man said his grandson downloaded the movies out of curiosity, and deleted the computer files immediately. The family already owned three of the four titles on DVD, he said.
"I can see where they wouldn't want this to happen, but when you get up around $4,000 ... I don't have that kind of money," Lawrence said. "I never was and never will be a wealthy person."
Kori Bernards, vice president of corporate communications for MPAA, said the movie industry wants people to understand the consequences of Internet piracy. She said the problem is the movies that were downloaded were then available to thousands of other users on the iMesh network.
"Basically what you are doing when you use peer-to-peer software is you are offering someone else's product that they own to thousands of other people for free, and it's not fair," Bernards said.
Illegal downloading costs the movie industry an estimated $5.4 billion a year, she said.