Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reaper, Reality-Free, Gossip Girl

That’s the rumor about Reaper that’s swirling around the industry. And it might be true, because although it does better in the ratings overall than Gossip Girl, the latter show has already been renewed.

That’s because Gossip Girl has several things going for it that Reaper doesn’t: buzz, sex, controversy, and higher ratings in the younger 18 to 34 demographic that networks and advertisers love.

Continue reading Reaper might be canceled (but Gossip Girl is safe)

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Industry, WGA Strike, Reality-Free

It’s been over two months since the WGA Strike officially ended. While most people probably assume that everything is back to normal, especially since most shows have returned with new episodes over the past few weeks, there’s an interesting article over at the LA Times explaining why things aren’t so great in Hollywood. Especially for Television crew members.

While the country itself seems to be spinning into a recession as necessities such as gas, milk, and eggs jump in price, many below-the-line TV crew workers (propmasters, make-up artists, electricians, and set carpenters, etc.) are experiencing their own economic crisis.

Continue reading Television crews still hurting from WGA strike

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Industry, Programming, Ratings, Reaper, Reality-Free, Gossip Girl

That’s the rumor about Reaper that’s swirling around the industry. And it might be true, because even though it does superior in the ratings overall than Gossip Girl, the latter show has already been renewed.

That’s because Gossip Girl has several things going for it that Reaper doesn’t: buzz, sex, controversy, and higher ratings in the younger 18 to 34 demographic that networks and advertisers love.

Continue reading Reaper might be canceled (but Gossip Girl is safe)

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Industry, WGA Strike, Reality-Free

It’s been over two months since the WGA Strike officially ended. While most people probably assume that everything is back to normal, especially since most shows have returned with new episodes over the past few weeks, there’s an interesting article over at the LA Times explaining why things aren’t so great in Hollywood. Especially for Television crew members.

While the country itself seems to be spinning into a recession as necessities such as gas, milk, and eggs jump in price, many below-the-line Television crew workers (propmasters, make-up artists, electricians, and set carpenters, etc.) are experiencing their own economic crisis.

Continue reading Television crews still hurting from WGA strike

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Industry, Scrubs, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free

James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting article about the low-key exit of Scrubs from NBC after seven seasons, and the show’s even lower-key deal with ABC for an eighth season. Even the least-plugged-in fans of the show know by now that the show is crossing networks, and according to Hibberd, eighth season episodes are currently being produced under very hush-hush conditions (which is true; even the show’s PR rep won’t tell us exactly what’s going on).

So… why all the secrecy, even though everyone seems to know what’s what? It seems like there’s a little cross-network courtesy going on. While ABC is waiting for its upfront presentation to officially announce that it’s picked up the show, they’re also waiting for the end of the show’s run on NBC, which is either May 8 or 15, depending on your source (my guess is the 18th, considering only nine of the twelve produced episodes have aired). According to Hibberd, ABC is playing nice after ticking off NBC when the initial news about the show’s move came out.

Continue reading Scrubs to ABC: The worst-kept secret in Hollywood

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Deals, Management, Raising money, Investments

Vinum Capital Management has announced the launch of a $250 million fund targeting the California and west coast wine industry, Vinum Capital Partners I, LP. The fund will focus on mid-size premium and super-premium wine properties that produce 20,000 to 150,000 cases per year.

The California-based company plans to acquire wine companies, grow and expand them, and ultimately sell the assets in this industry that receives relatively little attention from equity investors. Vinum put together a solid team with significant experience in the wine industry, totaling $1 billion in winery-related transactions.

I”ll say one thing after reading this new — each worker in private equity probably wants to get hired by this fund.

Investment partners for the fund include Justin Faggioli, former COO of Ravenswood, Scott Setrakian, former Director of Golden Say Vineyards and an M&A and financing expert, G. Craig Vachon.

The portfolio management team for the fund lists Bill Foster from Beringer, Jonathan Pey from Robert Mondavi and Fosters Wine Estates, Doug Rogers from Gallo, Southcorp, and Brown-Forman Wines, and Bob Steinhauer from Beringer.

If you’ve kept up with the wine, beer, and spirits industry, you’ll get the significance of this as both Beringer and Mondavi are formerly public companies. Fosters acquired Beringer earlier this decade. Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) also acquired Robert Mondavi.

Jon Ogg produces and edits the Special Situation Investing Newsletter for 247WallSt.com.

Share This

Share This

Data

Commerce Bank | Serving Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and …

STAR Financial Bank

Citizens Bank | Citizens Bank Home

FRB: Federal Reserve Districts and Banks

The Palmetto Bank

Bank of the West |

Atlanta Community Food Bank

TD Banknorth, N.A. - On the web Banking, Home Equity Loans, Investment …

Bank run - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

America's Job Bank Transition - Job Bank Information

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Industry, Commercials, Retro Squad, Reality-Free

TV ads aren’t fun anymore. There’s a sameness to them: the fast edits, the young bodies, the deep-voiced announcers who all sound alike. And, with the advent of TiVo and the DVR, most of them are just a blur to us as we fast-forward from the end of one scene to the beginning of another. You would have to go all the way back to the days just around the advent of the personal VCR to find pleasing commercials that featured characters and slogans that would stick in your brain.

Rebeeca Brown just went back to the ’70s. By culling the parents’ garage known as the Internet, Brown was able to put together 10 memorable ads from the decade of Watergate, leisure suits and the 8-track cassette. If you were around during that decade you’ll remember most, if not all, of the ads that Brown picked.

Continue reading Ten memorable ads of the ’70s

Share This

Share This