DirecTV Suing Dish for Ads Saying It’s Cheaper
By Deborah Yao, Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – Satellite TV provider DirecTV is suing its rival, Dish Network, for running an advertisement claiming that Dish delivers the same programs for less money.
The TV commercial shows three TV sets broadcasting the same programs, with Dish costing $39.99 a month, DirecTV costing $63.99 and cable TV at $63.83.
DirecTV’s lawsuit accuses Dish of “blatantly false and misleading advertising.” DirecTV says the subscription plan used in the commercial offers more than 140 channels while Dish Network’s cheaper plan has fewer than 100 channels.
Dish says it stands by its claim. Dish launched its “Why Pay More” ad campaign last summer and since has been reversing a decline in subscribers.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in New York.
Swiss Won’t Extradite Polanski Til US Case Done
By Bradley S. Klapper
GENEVA (AP) – Swiss authorities won’t extradite Roman Polanski to the United States until courts in Los Angeles rule definitively that the director must face further sentencing in person in a 32-year-old sex case, a senior official said Friday.
In a new twist in Polanski’s long legal saga, the Swiss Justice Ministry’s deputy director said it would make “no sense” to remove him from house arrest at his Alpine chalet while he seeks to resolve his U.S. case in absentia for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.
Polanski’s lawyers insist that the 76-year-old filmmaker served his full sentence in 1978 when he underwent a diagnostic study at a California prison for 42 days. Los Angeles courts have disagreed and Polanski’s lawyers have promised to appeal.
“When the question is still open, why should he be extradited?” Rudolf Wyss told The Associated Press. “As long as the question is still open, our decision depends on that.”
Wyss spoke the same day that Polanski’s latest film, “The Ghost Writer,” was to debut at the annual Berlin film festival. The director won’t be on hand for the premiere, or a press conference featuring the thriller’s stars Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, because he is under house arrest at his chalet in the luxury Swiss resort of Gstaad.
Polanski lost a bid last month to be sentenced in Los Angeles without returning when a judge ruled that he must be present in court if he wanted to resolve the case. Referring to Polanski as a fugitive from justice, Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza said he was acting to protect “the dignity of the court.”
Polanski was initially accused of raping the girl after plying her with champagne and a Quaalude pill during a 1977 modeling shoot. He was indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molestation and sodomy, but he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.
In exchange, the judge agreed to drop the remaining charges and sent him to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. The evaluator released Polanski after 42 days, but the judge said he was going to send him back to serve out the remaining time.
The Oscar-winning director of “Rosemary’s Baby,” ”Chinatown” and “The Pianist” fled the U.S. on Feb. 1, 1978, the day he was to be formally sentenced.
The Swiss jailed Polanski for more than two months, then put him under house arrest after he posted $4.5 million in bail and agreed to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet around his ankle.
Still, Polanski’s prospects have improved. He can avoid being returned to Los Ange les if a court there rules that he doesn’t have to face further punishment, or if the amount of additional time he is sentenced to is less than six months.
Los Angeles prosecutors say Polanski is subject to a sentence of two years. The defense countered that he already served a sentence handed down by the original judge in the case plus over four months spent in Swiss jail and house arrest.
Next ‘Spider-Man’ Movie to Be in 3-D
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The new “Spider-Man” plans to swing closer to movie theater audiences.
The next Spidey movie will be filmed in 3-D and is scheduled for release July 3, 2012, Sony Pictures announced Wednesday. The fourth installment is being directed by “(500) Days of Summer” filmmaker Marc Webb following the departure of Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire, the director and star who worked on the previous three “Spider-Man” films.
Production on the next film, which will focus on a younger version of the superhero, will begin later this year.
Fan Campaign Urges ‘SNL’ To Make Betty White Host
NEW YORK (AP) – More than 188,000 people on Facebook are urging “Saturday Night Live” to make Betty White a host.
The campaign has been gaining followers and attention, just as the 88-year-old actress has become more ubiquitous. She was given a lifetime achievement award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Snickers that has ranked as one of the game’s most popular.
The Facebook page, which isn’t affiliated with White, says she would be a “fantastic” host and that it would be a terrific way to honor her.
Representatives for White said she had no comment. NBC is also not commenting.
Uzbek Filmmaker Convicted for Slander
MOSCOW (AP) – An Uzbek film director says she has been convicted of slander for making a documentary on wedding rituals in the authoritarian ex-Soviet state.
Umida Akhmedova said Wednesday that the court in the capital, Tashkent, found her guilty of slander and “offense through mass media” but released her on amnesty. Uzbek officials could not be reached for comment.
Akhmedova’s film, “The Burden of Virginity,” describes hardships young women face in the mostly Muslim nation during and after the traditional nuptial ceremonies.
The film has never been shown in Uzbekistan.
Akhmedova’s trial followed a campaign in Uzbek media lambasting the director’s films and photographs.
President Islam Karimov’s government censors media and the Internet and silences critics.
HK Studio Behind ‘TMNT,’ ‘Astro Boy’ Shuts Down
By Min Lee, Entertainment Writer
HONG KONG (AP) – The Hong Kong studio behind “TMNT” and “Astro Boy” has shut down as its parent company tries to recover from losses.
Imagi International Holdings Ltd. said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it stopped funding its computer animation studio on Feb. 5 “to further preserve its limited liquidity and shareholder value.” The studio will ask a Hong Kong court to name liquidators, the statement issued Monday said.
But Imagi said it will continue to develop movie ideas and outsource the actual animation work to mainland China and other countries, where costs are lower.
Starting out as a Christmas tree manufacturer, the Hong Kong company went into computer animation in 2000 and was touted as a successful transition to a high-tech economy. In 2007, Imagi released its first feature movie, “TMNT.” The English-language production based on the characters from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoon series in the 1980s earn ed a solid $95.6 million worldwide, according to the box office tracking Web site Box Office Mojo.
But Imagi’s second release, “Astro Boy,” fared poorly last year. Despite hiring an all-star cast including Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson to voice the characters from the Japanese comic book series by the same name, the film only made $23 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
In its latest financial results, Imagi said it recorded a net loss of 726 million Hong Kong dollars ($93.4 million) for the six months that ended on Sept. 30, 2009 – just before “Astro Boy” was released in October.
Imagi also owes some HK$36 million ($4.6 million) in back pay to the 350 employees it laid off, Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing labor organizers working with the former employees.
A woman handling press calls for Imagi said the company had no comment pending a further statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. She declined to g ive her name.
TV Show Fined in Australia for Killing, Eating RatBy Tanalee Smith
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) – A British broadcaster has been convicted of animal cruelty after two reality show contestants skinned, cooked and ate a rat during filming in Australia.
ITV Studios, producer of “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here,” was fined 3,000 Australian dollars ($2,615) after pleading guilty Monday, the Australian RSPCA said Tuesday.
The RSPCA filed a complaint in December against show participants chef Gino D’Acampo and actor Stuart Manning who prepared the risotto-and-rat meal on the wilderness show late last year.
Animal activists said the rat squealed in apparent pain and took more than 90 seconds to die.
After ITV’s guilty plea, the RSPCA decided to drop its complaints against D’Acampo and Manning, according to a statement from David O’Shannessy, chief inspector for the New South Wales state RSPCA. If convicted, the men could have faced up to three years in prison.
The conviction confirms that killing and preparing an animal for human consumption should not involve unnecessary pain, distress or suffering of the animal, O’Shannessy said.
ITV previously said producers had sought health and safety advice about eating the rat but failed to check whether killing it was legal.
“I’m a Celebrity” strands C-list celebrities in the Australian wilderness, subjects them to trials involving spiders and snakes, and allows the public to vote them off the show one by one.
MySpace Music Experiments with Audio AdsRyan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Hoping to boost revenue, MySpace Music has begun experimenting with audio advertisements that users must hear if they want to listen to music for free online.
The 30-second ads began appearing last week when users listen to songs on artist profiles, album pages, playlists and pop-out players. They expand on a trial that began in December.
The ads are impossible to avoid, unlike the visual, banner ads that can be put out of sight in background windows as users listen along while doing other Web surfing or computer work. But the audio ads are timed so that a user can listen to up to 100 songs on a playlist or to a full album with just a single interruption after the first song.
The oral pitches make online listening more like over-the-air radio, although online listeners can choose which songs they hear.
MySpace Music, a joint venture between major recording companies and News Corp., wants to boost the frequency of suc h ads this month before settling on how often they’ll be running. Other online music sites such as Pandora and Yahoo Music already run similar audio ads.
“We’re testing some new ad products and the response from our users has been positive,” MySpace Music said in a statement. “As always, we are interested in hearing feedback from our users and advertising community as we run these tests.”
Some early advertisers include TurboTax and Office Depot. The ads are sold by online audio ad company TargetSpot Inc.
MySpace is being overhauled by Owen Van Natta, a former Facebook executive who joined the company last April as its CEO. Once a leading social-networking site, MySpace has lost market share to Facebook and others. Last year, MySpace cut about 720 jobs, reducing its work force by about 40 percent.
