Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes: TV And Movie Industries Need To Fix On Demand

The Time Warner chief delivered an unusually impassioned address today imploring investors to pressure everyone from pay TV distributors to Hollywood studios to deploy on-demand streaming initiatives including TV Everywhere and UltraViolet home video. “Not enough consumers are aware of these powerful enhancements and not enough consumers have them at their fingertips,” Bewkes told the Deutsche Bank Media & Telecom Conference. “We have to move much faster…You should absolutely demand that the companies in which you invest get serious and invest in this opportunity.” He’s most interested in television, the business that accounts for about 80% of Time Warner’s profits — and especially TV Everywhere,which gives pay TV subscribers the ability to watch shows on mobile devices on demand.”The user experience today is really spotty.Some distributors make it easy and others don’t. You know who they are and so do they.”Specifically, Bewkes wants programmers to make more content available to TV Everywhere. He wantsprograms to be available on TV sets as well as tablets. He wants Nielsen tofigure out how to measure the number of viewers on alldigital platforms. And he wants distributors to make it easy to find and access programming. “You shouldn’t need to be knocked upside the head by an iPad to realize that consumers are demanding rich, flexible, intuitive user interfaces,” he says. Consumers “think they deserve it, and they do. And they’re voting with their finger tips everyday.” He also wants the movie industry to expand its online presence. Although home video revenues are declining, Bewkes says that “the encouraging news is we don’t have a demand issue.” The problem for the studios is that people are buying less and renting more, especially from low-cost providers led by Redbox and Netflix. He says that Hollywood shares some of the blame. “It has not been easy to buy a movie digitally to manage your digital collection and to watch it on the device of your choosing, particularly the television,” he says. As a result, “the industry has come to a crossroads. We know consumers want to buy today, but they can’t do it with the ease and functionality that they have come to expect. We need to fix that and we should fix it quickly. If we don’t, we run the real risk of habituating consumers to rental when in fact they may prefer to own and build collections of movies.” That’s also why he wants to accelerate the rollout of the industry’s UltraViolet initiative, which makes it possible for people who buy DVD and Blu-ray discs to also stream the films. Although some of the early releases have been hard to access, “we don’t have the luxury of waiting for the perfect solution.” He says that consumers are used to seeing products improve over time. “We need to start this and get everybody including retailers involved in this effort.”

Chris Brown and Beyonce Reunite For just about any Song Collaboration

Cougartown Is anybody in Cougar Town?The comedy hit new series lows within the second week back round the air, posting 4.5 million audiences together with single.7 rating inside the grownups 18-to-49 demo Tuesday. People figures are simply lower 8 and six percent in the earlier week, nevertheless the show still dropped while its lead-in Last Guy Standing ongoing to become flat (7.5 million, 2.2).What's next for Glee?CBS won the evening, of course, with NCIS in the lead (19.5 million, 3.8). NCIS: La (15.9 million, 2.9) and Memorable (10.6 000 0000, 1.9), however, hit season and series lows, correspondingly, inside the demo.Meanwhile, Glee's shocking winter finale came 7.4 million together with a couple.9, climbing from last week's 6.9 million together with a couple.8.8 p.m.CBS: NCIS 19.5 million audiences (3.8 demo rating)ABC: Last Guy Standing 7.5 million (2.2) Cougar Town 4.5 million (1.7)Fox: Glee 7.4 million (2.9)NBC: The Finest Loser 6.4 million (2.2) [8-10 p.m.]CW: Hart of Dixie (R) 1.06 million (.4)9 p.m.CBS: NCIS: La 15.9 million (2.9)ABC: The Forest 4.78 million (1.7) Fox: New Girl 6.25 million (3.) Raising Hope 4.8 million (2.2)CW: Ringer 1.41 million (.5)10 p.m.CBS: Memorable 10.5 million (1.9)ABC: Body of Proof 6.54 million (1.4)NBC: Motherhood 4.9 million (1.7)

Harvey Weinstein To Battle Doc Bully's R-Rating For the Children

Says storied MPAA-fighter Harvey: "I have been compelled by the filmmakers and the children to fight for an exception so we can change this R rating brought on by some bad language. As a father of four, I worry every day about bullying; its a serious and ever-present concern for me and my family. I want every child, parent, and educator in America to see Bully, so it is imperative for us to gain a PG-13 rating. Its better that children see bad language than bad behavior, so my wish is that the MPAA considers the importance of this matter as we make this appeal. [Press release via IndieWire]

Keeping score for 'Simpsons'

Simpsons veteran Alf Clausen has composed most likely probably the most original scores for just about any primetime series, with 483. "The Simpsons" hits a milestone Sunday having its 500th episode, nevertheless it has furthermore quietly handled to destroy another record in route: most likely probably the most original musical scores ever composed for just about any primetime series."Gunsmoke" went 635 episodes, but under another of those were acquired with original music "Law & Order," like "Gunsmoke," also went for twenty five years, but that relate ended after 456 episodes.Alf Clausen has written 483 of people 500 scores, beginning while using show's first Halloween episode in October 1990. He's won two Emmys and received another 21 nominations for his "Simpsons" tunes and scores. "It is actually challenging. Sometimes difficult to not repeat myself," Clausen mentioned.The overall "Simpsons" statistics, as totalled by music editor Chris Ledesma (that's been in "The Simpsons" right from the start), are equally impressive: nearly 15,000 individual items of music and many 28,000 "takes" or tracks inside the show's 23 seasons.And every episode, unlike most series nowadays, has featured an orchestra around 35 players. Vince Trombetta, leader of Local 47 in the American Federation of Artists, came by Clausen's recording session Feb. 3 in Glendale to supply him getting a plaque for his "exceptional work within the last 22 years."Clausen credited "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening for insisting on real artists, not synthesized scores, immediately. Clausen, whose other credits include "Moonlighting" as well as the sitcom "Alf" ("no relation," he quips), mentioned he'll stick to "The Simpsons" towards the finish."I have made a decision to ride this stage to the sunset," he mentioned. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Black Wings For Hiddleston And Paquin

Joining Elijah Wood in new noirTom Hiddleston's dance card is well and truly marked soon, with Thor 2 and Jim Jarmusch's "crypto-vampire love story" Only Fanatics Left Alive. But he's just added another jig: Hiddleston will probably be joining tabs on Anna Paquin for your noirish Black Wings Has My Angel.With various slice of 19 fifties pulp fiction by Elliott Chaze, the story involves a hard guy getting a shady past mooching within the pre-freeway American landscape getting an attractive ex-hooker ("She'd the facial skin from the madonna, together with a heart produced from dollar bills," runs the blurb). The pair perform daring armoured-vehicle robbery, however love/hate relationship starts to hazardously solve a direct consequence.Chaze never quite increased to become family group title like James M. Cain or Jim Thompson, but is respected in in-the-know circles, and could boast a follower in Ernest Hemingway.Hiddleston may have anti-hero ex-disadvantage Tim Sunblade, with Paquin as his dangerous squeeze Virginia. The film remains developing progressively for quite a while, combined with Elijah Wood installed on play Sunblade last year. Reviews today appear to indicate that Wood remains aboard, however when Hiddleston is certainly Sunblade, the role restricted to Wood is presently unclear.Mexican director Alfonso Pineda Ulloa could make his Hollywood debut while using film. He's also among three credited screenwriters: another two are Christopher Peditto as well as the David Lynch-approved Craig Gifford (Wild In Your Mind, Lost Highway).Shooting starts in September. Too for more Hiddleston, have a look at our recent webchat.

CNN's Roland Martin Suspended Over Tweets Seen as Homophobic

Roland Martin CNN has suspended commentator Roland Martin after numerous tweets considered anti-gay throughout Sunday's Super Bowl."Roland Martin's tweets were unlucky and offensive," the network mentioned in the statement Wednesday. "Language that demeans is sporadic while using values and culture within our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving consideration with this matter, and Roland will not be turning up on our air for now.InchSearch the comfort of current day newsIn his tweets, Martin advised fans to result in violence upon males who fitted in pink or got searching toward h&M commercial featuring David Beckham within the under clothes."In case your dude in the Super Bowl party has ended-blown about David Beckham's H&M under clothes ad, smack the ant [sic] from him!" he written. He later tweeted, "Who the hell was that Colonial Patriot they just shown in the mind to feet pink suit? Oh, he takes a visit from #teamwhipdatass."Ratings: Super Bowl draws 111.3 million viewersShortly after, GLAAD responded, "Advocates of gay bashing haven't any place at @CNN #SuperBowl #LGBT."On Monday, in the blog publish titled "Final Applying For Grants Super Bowl-Twitter Debate," Martin declined that his tweets were designed to incite violence in the LGBT community. "That's farthest within the truth, which i sincerely regret any offense my words have triggered."Responding for the news of his suspension, GLAAD released a disagreement on its website adoring CNN for doing it. "CNN today needed a effective stand against anti-LGBT violence and language that demeans any community," mentioned Wealthy Ferraro, GLAAD representative. "Yesterday, Martin also spoke out against anti-LGBT violence. We anticipate speaking with CNN and Roland Martin to talk about the way you could work together as allies and obtain our common goal of reducing anti-LGBT violence together with the word what that contributes in it.In .