Saving Private Ryan appears in high definition
Paramount Home Entertainment and Dreamworks Home Entertainment this morning also officially announced the Blu-Ray release of Saving Private Ryan, scheduling the title for May.
Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and GIs in a landing craft making the June 6, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American soldiers is depicted in a compelling, unforgettable 24-minute sequence. Miller's men slowly move forward to finally take a concrete pillbox. On the beach littered with bodies is one with the name "Ryan" stenciled on his backpack. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell), learning that three Ryan brothers from the same family have all been killed in a single week, requests that the surviving brother, Pvt. James Ryan (Matt Damon), be located and brought back to the United States. Capt. Miller gets the assignment, and he chooses a translator, Cpl. Upham (Jeremy Davis), skilled in language but not in combat, to join his squad of right-hand man Sgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore), plus privates Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), cynical Reiben (Edward Burns) from Brooklyn, Italian-American Caparzo (Vin Diesel), and religious Southerner Jackson (Barry Pepper), an ace sharpshooter who calls on the Lord while taking aim. Having previously experienced action in Italy and North Africa, the close-knit squad sets out through areas still thick with Nazis. After they lose one man in a skirmish at a bombed village, some in the group begin to question the logic of losing more lives to save a single soldier. The film's historical consultant is Stephen E. Ambrose, and the incident is based on a true occurance in Ambrose's 1994 bestseller D-Day: June 6, 1944.
“Saving Private Ryan” will boast a 1080p high definition transfer with lossless high definition audio. As extras you will find the Featurettes ”Shooting War” and the making-of ”Saving Private Ryan” on the release. Additional bonus materials may yet be announced.
The Blu-Ray version will be in stores on May 4 for $39.99.
Super Bowl is most watched TV show ever
NEW YORK – The New Orleans Saints' victory over Indianapolis in the Super Bowl was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of "M-A-S-H" to become the most-watched program in U.S. television history, the Nielsen Co. said Monday.
Compelling story lines involving the city of New Orleans and its ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the attempt at a second Super Bowl ring for Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning propelled the viewership. Football ratings have been strong all season.
"It was one of those magical moments that you don't often see in sports," said Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports.
Nielsen estimated Monday that 106.5 million people watched Sunday's Super Bowl. The "M-A-S-H" record was 105.97 million.
The viewership estimate obliterated the previous record viewership for a Super Bowl — last year's game between Arizona and Pittsburgh. That game was seen by 98.7 million people, Nielsen said.
The "M-A-S-H" record has proven as durable and meaningful in television as Babe Ruth's record of 714 home runs was in baseball until topped by Hank Aaron. Ultimately, it may be hard to tell which program was really watched by more people. There's a margin for error in such numbers, and Nielsen's Monday estimate was preliminary, and could change with a more thorough look at data due Tuesday.
"It's significant for all of the members of the broadcasting community," said Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp. CEO. "For anyone who wants to write that broadcasting is dead, 106 million people watched this program. You can't find that anywhere else."
Moonves predicted CBS will earn more in advertising revenue than in any other Super Bowl. The good ratings for the game and football in general also set CBS and other football broadcasters up well when selling advertising for next season, he said.
The Nielsen estimate also drew some congratulations from Alan Alda, the star of "M-A-S-H," and the slugger whose record was beaten.
"If the `M-A-S-H' audience was eclipsed, it was probably due in large part to the fact that the whole country is rooting for New Orleans to triumph in every way possible," Alda said. "I am, too, and I couldn't be happier for them. I love that city."
There are more American homes with television sets now (114.9 million) than there were in 1983 (83.3 million). An estimated 77 percent of homes with TVs on were watching "M-A-S-H" in 1983, compared with the audience share of 68 for the Super Bowl.
Nielsen also measures only the United States, and it's possible some World Cup soccer games were seen more worldwide. Accurate measurement of television audiences outside the United States is spotty at best.
Alda also wondered whether the numbers were too close to declare a new champion. He thinks Nielsen didn't take into account large numbers of people watching "M-A-S-H" communally, which is often the case for football games, too.
"Not to say I'm competitive, but in part we are talking about sports," he said. "And I actually AM competitive."
McManus didn't want to jinx it, but the abnormally strong viewership for football this year left him hoping for a record. The NFC and AFC championship games both had their biggest audiences since the 1980s. The growth of high-definition television and its appeal to sports fans has also helped.
A competitive game until the final minutes sealed it. McManus acknowledged some nervousness when Indianapolis jumped out to a 10-0 lead — a Super Bowl rout often makes people turn away from the game — but New Orleans roared back.
The Mid-Atlantic blizzard also helped CBS. After New Orleans, the highest-rated market was snowbound Washington, Nielsen said. More people watched the game from their homes in that area instead of going to parties or bars, and Nielsen does a much better job counting viewers in homes than outside of them.
"Bad weather in the Northeast and good weather in Florida was a good combination for us," McManus said.
The Super Bowl also proved a strong launching pad for the new CBS series "Undercover Boss" that premiered after the game. An estimated 38.6 million people watched the first edition of a series about corporate honchos working secretly as low-level employees in their own companies, Nielsen said. That's third only to a 1996 "Friends" and 2001 "Survivor" as the most-watched program after the Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, Dorito's was a big winner in a measurement of interest in the commercials played during the Super Bowl. TiVo Inc. said the snack company's ad featuring a boy telling a man to keep his hands off his chips and his mom was stopped and played back in 15 percent of homes with the digital video recorder.
The secretly filmed CBS promo with David Letterman, Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey came in second, followed by the Snicker's ad with Betty White and Abe Vigoda flattened in a football game.
In general, however, TiVo found less interest in the commercials than it has in previous years, judged by how many people paused live action to see them, said Todd Juenger, general manager of TiVo's research department.
CBC's Galloway to replace Barrie on Metro Morning
A familiar voice will greet listeners of CBC Radio One's Metro Morning in Toronto starting in March, when afternoon show host Matt Galloway takes over the mic of his long-standing a.m. colleague, Andy Barrie.
Galloway will step into the role permanently beginning March 1, the CBC announced Monday morning.
Since 2004, the 39-year-old Galloway has hosted Here and Now, CBC Radio One's Toronto afternoon drive show. More recently, he added a regular stint as the main back-up host of the top-rated Metro Morning.
"Matt is, in many ways, already a member of the Metro Morning team," Susan Marjetti, managing director of CBC Toronto, said in a statement.
"He's been filling in for the past year when Andy is away and has helped the show maintain its number 1 standing in the community. We're delighted he's decided to make the leap to morning radio full-time."
Prolific CBC credits
A familiar voice on CBC Radio for the past 10 years, Galloway has worked on a range of programs, including The Current, Sounds Like Canada, Global Village and Q.
The passionate soccer fan also had an early CBC gig as a roving reporter for Metro Morning during the 1998 World Cup, anchored the public broadcaster's coverage of the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup of Soccer and was a part of the team reporting live from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Previously, Galloway was a music writer for the Toronto alternative weekly NOW and hosted radio shows, including for the campus station of York University, his alma mater. After having grown up listening to CBC shows like Brave New Waves, his first connection with the CBC was as an occasional freelance producer for the acclaimed, now-defunct alternative and indie music and culture show.
Raised in Kimberley, about 27 kilometres from the resort community of Collingwood, Ont., Galloway lives in Toronto's west end with his partner and two daughters.
Barrie, who revealed he had Parkinson's disease in 2007, informed listeners of his impending retirement on Feb. 1, near the end of that day's show.
"All I know was [my] body was getting a very loud wake-up call of its own, and the call said: 'Fifteen years is more than anybody's held this job. A guy's got just so much stamina. You have been there and done that, and it's time to do something new,'" he said.
The CBC said Barrie would continue to be involved with the public broadcaster in a different capacity, but wasn't releasing details yet.
Neil Gaiman 'has written Doctor Who episode'
Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman has said he is to write a forthcoming episode of Doctor Who.
Gaiman, the author of Stardust and Coraline which were both adapted for the big screen, revealed the news at a sci-fi convention in Sussex.
The episode, with the working title of The House of Nothing, will air in 2011, the writer said.
Gaiman previously wrote the fantasy TV series Neverwhere which aired on BBC Two in 1996.
During his acceptance speech for best comic at the SFX Awards, Gaiman said: "As anyone who's read my blog knows, I'm a big fan of a certain long-running British TV series. One that I started watching - from behind the sofa - when I was three.
"And while I know it's cruel to make you wait for things, in about 14 months from now - which is to say, not in the upcoming season but early in the one after that - it's quite possible that I might have written an episode.
"And if I had, it would originally have been called 'The House of Nothing'. But it definitely isn't called that any more."
A spokesman for Doctor Who would not confirm Gaiman's announcement.
The next series of the show, starring Matt Smith as the 11th Time Lord, is due to air in the spring.
Pete Townshend: Nice to be part of spectacle
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Pete Townshend is used to playing in front of stadiums filled with rabid fans who know every note of The Who's songs. He didn't get that at the band's Super Bowl halftime performance, but he's OK with that too.
Townshend and bandmate Roger Daltrey performed a medley of some of their most famous songs on entertainment's biggest stage Sunday, including "Won't Get Fooled Again" during a 12-minute set that included a laser-lit stage and plenty of fireworks.
While the crowd was involved, and some held up their cell phones to illuminate the night as instructed by the stadium announcers, they were somewhat subdued, and was clear it was not a Who event.
Backstage after their show, Townshend laughed and said: "You know, you could kind of tell from the stage the crowd is really here for the game."
"It was nice for that reason. It was nice to feel a part of something and not having it all to be about us," he added. When it was mentioned that most rock stars want everything to revolve around them, he joked and said: "We're too far gone to care I think."
It was the first football game Townshend and Daltrey, both Brits, ever saw (Daltrey went after his performance to watch the game, which the New Orleans Saints won over the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17). Townshend said he was awed by the spectacle, and the sheer work of putting together the event.
"It's extraordinary," said Townshend. "You forget how big sport is and how every week it happens ... I'm not trying to be humble but we felt like a very small piece of a huge team."
The Super Bowl also saw the debut of a new remix of "My Generation" by will.i.am and Slash. It is available for sale on Amazon.com, will.i.am's dipdive.com and the Who's Web site, and proceeds will go to aid Haiti after the earthquake there.
Townshend said he was impressed with the remix: "It's actually very elegant, it's not gangsta," he said of will.i.am's rap on the song.
Townshend called his entire Super Bowl experience a success, despite protests by some children's rights advocates about his presence in the Super Bowl.
Townshend was arrested in 2003 in Britain as part of a child pornography sting but later cleared. He accessed a Web site containing child pornography but said it was for research for his own campaign against child porn. He was required to register as a sex offender, despite being cleared. Townshend said he has been a children's advocate for years and was abused himself as a child.
He had to address the controversy at the Who's Super Bowl news conference, and though he feels like the protests were "a bit of a cheap shot," he said it was "dealt with fairly elegantly in the press conference."
"I think if people don't believe, they fall on that side of the line, there's little I can do, but most people have been very kind, very understanding, and I know I did nothing wrong," he said.