After the coffee. Before hoping the Hollywood riot has been cleaned up so I can get to my gym.

The Skinny: It's almost August! Where is this summer going? In the news, Sundance is going to stream movies from its festival. The Venice Film Festival has unveiled its lineup. There was a little riot in Hollywood at the premiere of "Electric Daisy Carnival Experience." Crazy kids! 

Streaming Sundance. Directors who blew big wads of cash trying to get into Sundance and only ended up with a T-shirt and no deal can now have their movies streamed by the festival on various platforms including Hulu and Netflix. Filmmakers will get a piece of any ad revenue or rental fees. Details from the Los Angeles Times.

But we already put in the new carpeting! Although Comcast Corp. is already running NBCUniversal, a federal judge has issues with the consent decree the Justice Department issued in its approval of the merger last January. Approval is ususally a slam dunk but the judge apparently is troubled by arbitration methods Comcast has agreed to for resolving disputes over online distribution. It would be highly unlikely for the judge not to ultimately approve the consent decree, but never say never. More from the Wall Street Journal.

Does anyone go for the movies? The Venice Film Festival announced its lineup. I'm happy to see that Whit Stillman ("Metropolitan," "Barcelona") finally has a new movie -- "Damsels in Distress" -- which will close the festival. I know I don't seem like the type who would appreciate Stillman's witty and urbane preppy upper-crust characters, but there is something sweet, sincere and real about his movies. More on the festival from Variety.

Quid Pro Quo? The New York Times makes the observation that MSNBC's newest television personality -- rabble-rouser the Rev. Al Sharpton -- also lent his name to new MSNBC owner Comcast Corp.'s lobbying effort to get government approval of its merger with NBCUniversal. Sharpton, who is filling in as a guest host in the 6 p.m. hour, has been on MSNBC lots of times over the years. Both MSNBC and Comcast say there is no connection between his lobbying and his new prominence on the channel. In fairness to MSNBC, Sharpton has lent himself out to corporate media before. Fox recruited him when it was waging a nasty war against Nielsen over new meters the ratings company was introducing.

The man who knows all. The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., has turned up its coverage of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal after initially only going through the motions of reporting on the debacle. In Thursday's WSJ, a profile of Tom Crone, the former legal eagle of News of the World, who knows where all the bodies are buried and has offered up information that contradicts what Murdoch's son James, who heads the company's European operations, has told Parliament.

Nothing a little makeover can't fix. The Hollywood Reporter chats up CBS News bosses Jeff Fager and David Rhodes about their plans to revitalize the struggling organization, post-Katie Couric, and their thoughts about checkbook journalism.

Put a sweater on that! The Parents Television Council is lobbying NBC affiliates to refuse to air the network's new drama "The Playboy Club," which will premiere next month. The PTC said the show, set in 1960s Chicago, is putting the "veneer of sophistication" on the porn industry, according to a copy of a letter it sent to NBC stations obtained by Broadcasting & Cable. In an unrelated note, I missed a chance to go to the Playboy Mansion last night, but a friend of mine who has been there said the fantasy is better than the reality. The event was for the television critics tour. I'm guessing those were some sad-looking bunnies when they found out who was coming over to party.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: A mini-riot broke out at the Hollywood premiere of "Electric Daisy Carnival Experience." Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling make for an odd couple in "Crazy, Stupid, Love."

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. You don't know what your missing. Twitter.com/JBFlint

 
THQ Inc.'s shares plummeted after the Agoura Hills game publisher reported disappointing first-quarter financial results due in part to poor sales of Red Faction: Armageddon, a science fiction shooter on which the company had pinned high hopes.

Shares in THQ, which closed unchanged at $3.20 during the regular session, fell 60 cents, or 19%, to $2.60 in after-hours trading. It had not traded that low since early 2009, when the stock fell as low as $2.24 in February 2009.  

For its first quarter ended June 30, THQ posted reported a net loss of $38.4 million, or 56 cents a share, on sales of $195.2 million in the quarter ended June 30. It had lost $30.1 million, or 44 cents a share, on $149.4 million in revenue a year earlier.

“We are disappointed in our first-quarter financial performance,” said THQ’s chief executive, Brian Farrell. “Sales of Red Faction: Armageddon and our licensed kids titles were below our expectations.”

Released June 7, Red Faction: Armageddon, the fourth game in the THQ franchise, sold just 100,000 copies last month. Farrell said in a conference call with analysts that the company would no longer continue the franchise.

-- Alex Pham

http://twitter.com/AlexPham

Photo: Screen shot of Red Faction: Armageddon courtesy of THQ.

Comcast Corp. has fired back at Bloomberg, the business media conglomerate that last month asked the Federal Communications Commission to determine whether the cable giant has violating the conditions the federal government put on it in return for approving its takeover of NBCUniversal.

At issue is where Bloomberg's financial news channel Bloomberg TV is placed on Comcast cable systems. Bloomberg has argued that per the FCC's order signing off on the deal its channel needs to be near its rival CNBC, which Comcast acquired when it took control NBC Universal.

Bloomberg has accused Comcast of thumbing its nose at the FCC order.

Comcast said that is not the case and on Wednesday responded to Bloomberg's FCC complaint with its own filing at the regulatory agency.

“The complaint represents Bloomberg’s second attempt to extract preferential channel placement on Comcast’s cable systems through regulatory gamesmanship," Comcast said in its filing.

The two sides are debating in part over the definition of a neighborhood, which is when similar channels are placed next to each on a cable system. Bloomberg's complaint, Comcast claimed, is "based on an arbitrary and baseless definition of a news neighborhood as ‘four news channels within five positions.’ But that definition was neither supplied nor endorsed by the Commission. Instead, it is entirely Bloomberg’s invention."

In the FCC's January order approving the sale, the agency said: "Specifically, we require that if Comcast now or in the future carries news and/or business news channels in a neighborhood, defined as placing a significant number or percentage of news and/or business news channels substantially adjacent to one another in a system’s channel lineup, Comcast must carry all independent news and business news channels in that neighborhood."

However, a footnote in the same order added: "Our condition, however, would only take effect if Comcast-NBCU undertook to neighborhood its news or business news channels, which therefore would indicate that there was some value to neighborhooding despite additional search capabilities."

"The Commission adopted a 'narrowly tailored' condition" that does not apply to this case, Comcast asserted.

Comcast went on to note that moving Bloomberg closer to CNBC would lead to viewer confusion -- because other channels would have to be moved as well -- and create havoc on its current channel lineup and be very costly. “This could very well be an ongoing source of incessant and increasing disruption," Comcast noted.

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 -- Joe Flint

 This post was updated to clarify what Comcast meant by viewer confusion.

Fox Broadcasting has made great headway in getting pay-TV distributors such as Time Warner Cable to cough up so-called retransmission consent fees in return for carrying its programming.

Now it's payback time.

The announcement from Fox on Tuesday that it would require consumers to prove they have a subscription with a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) -- what we used to call cable operators -- is being done primarily to appease the folks who own the wires that pipe programming into homes. The first big MVPD to sign on with Fox is Dish Network, the satellite broadcaster with 14.2 million subscribers.

In years past, broadcasters such as Fox were not able to get cold, hard cash from distributors. Instead, they launched new cable channels and got paid for them instead. Now with Fox, CBS, ABC and NBC desperate for new revenue streams and a glut of cable channels making the need for new ones nonexistent, the broadcast networks are finally getting compensated for their content.

If the MVPDs are paying broadcasters, then it is only natural that they won't want those same broadcasters to then put that content on the Web for free. In the case of Fox's new approach, content will stay behind a pay wall for eight days after it airs on the network. After that, it will be available to all. Don't be surprised if ultimately that eight-day window goes away too.

This approach is not very different from the one distributors take with cable networks such as USA or FX, and if broadcasters want to start getting paid the same way cable networks do, then they will have to play by the same rules.

Much has been made about what Fox's strategy says about the future of Hulu, the online video site launched by Fox parent News Corp. along with Walt Disney Co. and NBCUniversal. Hulu used to give everything away for free and now is moving toward a pay model.

Hulu was developed not only to give the entertainment industry an online platform; it was also built to reduce piracy even if it meant giving it away for free.

Like Woody Allen's character in his old movie "Take the Money and Run" who keeps getting his glasses broken by bullies until he finally starts breaking them himself when confronted, the entertainment companies figured if they were going to be pirated anyway, they might as well do it themselves.

It is likely that the other broadcast networks will adopt a similar approach to what Fox is doing. Otherwise, they will have a hard time getting those big retransmission consent fees from distributors.

There is, of course, concern about content that was once free online now being available only to those who pay.

"This development is very unfortunate for consumers and ultimately will be self-destructive for the TV industry," said Gigi Sohn, president of media advocacy group Public Knowledge, who added that the move will invite "consumers to go back to stealing content."

However, there is no law that says content that is paid for on one platform must be free on another.

On top of that, Fox and the other broadcast networks are still available free to consumers who don't subscribe to an MVPD. Just make sure to watch when it is on or you will have to wait a week or so to watch it online. There are worse things in life.

RELATED:

What's next for Hulu?

Fox to launch online authentication

Hulu said to hire investment bankers to explore possible sale

-- Joe Flint

Beginning in September, Netflix customers in Canada will be able to stream episodes of several CBS owned television shows including "Numb3rs," "Twin Peaks" and episodes of past seasons of "Dexter."

The two-year, nonexclusive international licensing deal -- announced Wednesday -- expands a partnership between the two companies, which was signed earlier this year. The initial agreement covered TV show streaming by Netflix users in the U.S.

Financial terms of the international deal were not disclosed.

Netflix has been bolstering its offerings to compete with rival services. On Wednesday, episodes of the critically acclaimed AMC series "Mad Men" become available to Netflix's U.S. subscribers as part of a syndication deal that the Los Gatos-based company structured with studio Lionsgate.

Netflix primarily has access to older programming that CBS owns, including the original "Star Trek" series. The television company tightly guards online views of episodes of its current network hits, including "NCIS" and "Hawaii Five-0."  It does not make the latest episodes of shows available to Netflix, Hulu or Amazon.com.

CBS' strategy is designed to protect its TV ratings and the advertising revenue it receives when viewers watch programming on TV.  But CBS has been eager to structure deals to give companies access to its older titles that no longer air on television.

Later this year, users in Latin America also should be able to watch "Dexter" and other CBS titles online.

Earlier this month, Netflix said it would be launching movie and TV show streaming services in 43 countries in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Netflix's arrangement with CBS represents it first international deal with a major content supplier.

Netflix said that CBS-owned  programming including past seasons of "Medium," "90210," or the Showtime programs "Nurse Jackie" and "Dexter" will be included in Netflix's $7.99 a month streaming plan.   

CBS Corp. owns the premium Showtime cable channel. 

"We are pleased to be partners with Netflix as they roll out their superb service to new markets," said Armando Nunez, president of CBS Studios International. "This new arrangement -- which does not compete with U.S. ratings or Showtime's domestic subscriber base -- underscores the popularity of CBS content around the world, and illustrates yet another meaningful way for us to realize incremental value from our vast library of content."

-- Meg James

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Amazon.com reaches deal to stream CBS-owned TV shows

Netflix raises prices by as much as 60%

Netflix to lose some Showtime content from its streaming service

Netflix's days without competition may be numbered 

Photo: Michael C. Hall in a scene from "Dexter." Credit: Randy Tepper / Showtime

After the coffee. Before hoping 'The Walking Dead' will still be good in Season 2.

The Skinny: So it looks like anyone who got nailed by one of those traffic cameras may be off the hook if they didn't pay. But if they did, then that's another story. I smell class-action suit! In our little world, the headlines include Fox's plan to require viewers to verify they are cable or satellite TV subscribers before being allowed to watch the network's shows online. Also, a big day for James Murdoch on Thursday.

Trust but verify. In a move no doubt to appease cable and satellite operators, Fox said it would start requiring viewers to verify that they are subscribers to a pay-TV distributor before they can watch any of the network's shows online after they've aired on the network. Fox, which is squeezing pay TV distributors for big bucks in return for carrying its TV stations, recognizes it can't have its cake and eat it too. Distributors aren't going to pay if the stuff goes online free right after it's on the network. Fear not, consumers, if you can wait eight whole days you will be able to watch shows online without having to prove you are a cable subscribers. Details from the Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal.

D-Day for James. On Thursday, the board of British Sky Broadcasting, whose chairman is James Murdoch, will have its first board meeting since the News of the World phone hacking-scandal that led News Corp., the media giant that owns 39% of the powerful broadcaster, to drop plans to acquire the rest. There is speculation that the board may ask Murdoch, who is also deputy chief operating officer of News Corp. and is being probed about what he did and didn't know about the hacking, to step back. Of course, there are plenty of News Corp. execs and cronies on the board so he won't go without a fight. Coverage from the New York Times and the Guardian. 

Help wanted. Frank Darabont, the executive producer/showrunner of AMC's hit "The Walking Dead," has given his walking papers. There have been mumblings that such a move was possible for several months, but it still is something of a shock given the success of the zombie drama. Details from Deadline Hollywood.

Got your tickets? The Toronto Film Festival unveiled its lineup, which includes Madonna's "W.E." Brad Pitt's "Moneyball" and George Clooney's "The Ides of March." Details on the prestigious festival from Entertainment Weekly.

Enjoy the moment. Emma Stone is this summer's It Girl. Her breakout role in the upcoming "Crazy, Stupid, Love" has put her on magazine covers everywhere. It's a long way away from VH1's attempt to remake "The Partridge Family," which was one of her early gigs. A profile from USA Today.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Myspace gets ready for yet another makeover. DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has a lot to say about "Kung Fu Panda 2" but not much on his company's future. Inside an ugly fight between two local broadcasters.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter because Wednesday is anything-can-happen day. Twitter.com/JBFlint

Local production around the Los Angeles area in film, commercials and television increased 25% last week compared with the same period a year ago, according to the latest numbers from FilmL.A., Inc. Production was also up 15% last week from the previous week (ending July 17).

Television production alone generated 330 production days (one production day is defined as a single crew's permission to film at a single location in a 24-hour period), the most television production recorded days in a week since May. Network television shows typically ratchet up production this time of year as the fall season approaches.

"Generally, network episodic television wraps in late February to late March," according to FilmL.A., Inc. spokesman Todd Lindgren.  "Pilot production is heaviest in March and April. A hiatus usually takes place from late April through the first week of July.” Principal photography for network shows usually begins “within a couple of weeks.”

The number of production days for feature films was also up, 183 days last week compared with 165 a year ago, an 11% increase. Included in that figure is the feature film "Savages," directed by Oliver Stone, which began shooting in the Los Angeles area last week. The crime thriller about two Laguna Beach marijuana growers who run afoul of a Mexican drug cartel stars Aaron Johnson, "Gossip Girl's" Blake Lively and Taylor Kitsch of "Friday Night Lights" as well as Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek and John Travolta.

Production days for commercials also increased, up 21% last week compared with the same period last year, to 104 production days. 

For more on what's filming this week, see the map below.

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-- Thomas Suh Lauder

Fox has become the first broadcast network to require people who want to watch its programs, such as "House" or "Glee," online immediately after they're broadcast to prove they pay for a cable or satellite service.

And for the moment, it had better be Dish Network

The network announced late Tuesday that beginning Aug. 15, users will need a login and password proving they have a paid television subscription in order to watch its programs on Hulu, Fox.com, or the cable and satellite company's own websites. Those who don't pay to watch TV will need to wait eight days in order to watch episodes online for free.

The first paid TV service to sign onto Fox's new arrangement is Dish Network, which has 14.2 million subscribers. No other cable or satellite company is part of the offering so far.

Previously, most shows from Fox and other networks were available to watch online the day after they aired for free, with commercials.

The strategy, called "authentication" in the television industry, has been under discussion since at least last month. It's part of the television industry's attempt to preserve its lucrative cable business model, through which they receive revenue from user subscriptions and advertisements, and discourage consumers from "cutting the cord" and only watching TV shows online.

That Fox has become the first network to do so is ironic because its parent company, News Corp., was, along with NBC Universal, one of the two media conglomerates to launch Hulu in 2008 as a defensive move against Internet piracy. Its success is now seen by many as undermining billions of dollars in cable revenues.

[Update, 5:20 p.m.: Subscribers to Hulu Plus, Hulu's paid subscription offering, will also have access to new Fox programs the day after they air.]

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What's next for Hulu?

Hulu said to hire investment bankers to explore possible sale

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-- Ben Fritz

Photo: Actor Hugh Laurie in the Fox TV series "House." Credit: Adam Taylor / Fox.

Jeffrey Katzenberg punted questions about DreamWorks Animation's uncertain future with distributor Paramount Pictures and pending deal with Netflix, focusing instead on the soft domestic performance of "Kung Fu Panda 2" and the future of 3-D.

"A terrible, terrible calamity," is how Katenzberg described the domestic performance of "Kung Fu Panda 2."

The comments from the Glendale studio's chief executive came on a conference call with analysts Tuesday after the release of financial results that pleased Wall Street. DreamWorks' revenue of $218.3 million in the quarter ended June 30 was well above most analysts' estimates, sending the company's stock up 4%.

However, those looking for information regarding several looming questions about the company's future were left disappointed. This month, Viacom's Paramount Pictures announced it will produce its own animated movies beginning in 2014 and confirmed it will only continue to release DreamWorks Animation pictures at that point for a higher cut of revenue.

That probably won't be acceptable to Katzenberg, whose agreement with Paramount expires at the end of 2012.

But the CEO declined to comment on what Paramount's move would mean for his studio. "Our current agreement goes on for another year and a half, and what we are not going to do is move prematurely to try and answer a question that does not need to be answered yet," he said.

He also declined to address reports that DreamWorks will in 2013 end its pay television deal with HBO and sign an exclusive contract with Netflix.

Katzenberg was loquacious on the disappointing $160-million domestic box office take for May's "Kung Fu Panda 2. " He blamed it on the stronger-than-expected opening of "The Hangover Part II" on the same weekend. That movie played to a broader audience than most R-rated comedies and took in $103.4 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, compared with $60.8 million for "Kung Fu Panda 2."

Internationally, "Kung Fu Panda 2" has grossed a much stronger $440 million.

He also expounded on the state of the 3-D market. Katzenberg, who has been an outspoken proponent of the technology for the last few years, admitted that America's interest has slipped. "There has been too much extreme on the optimistic side of it, and I’m probably somewhat to blame for that," he said. However, he noted that 3-D continues to be very popular overseas and said the cost of making images pop out of movie screens, currently less than $10 million, makes it profitable.

"Even at its levels today, [3-D] is one of best returns on investment of anything DreamWorks Animation has done," he said.

"Kung Fu Panda 2" contributed $55.8 million in revenue to DreamWorks Animation, driven by box office, merchandise and licensing. Last November's "Megamind" generated $19.7 million as it sold an unimpressive 4.3 million DVDs, in line with its soft box office performance

Net income for the quarter was $34.1 million, in line with Wall Street's expectations.

The studio's next release is the "Shrek" spin-off "Puss in Boots" in November.

Before rising in after-hours trading, DreamWorks Animation stock closed down 2% at $21.57 on Tuesday. Its shares are down 29% from a year-to-date high of $30.52 in February.

RELATED:

DreamWorks Animation stock up on news of Netflix deal

Paramount's new animation division spells likely end for DreamWorks deal

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: A scene from "Kung Fu Panda 2." Credit: DreamWorks Animation.

While local television stations compete against each other for ratings and advertising dollars, their fights don't usually end up in court.

But a battle between two broadcasters that own and operate properties in Fort Wayne, Ind., is getting particularly nasty. Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc., an Irving, Texas, broadcaster and parent of WFFT-TV in Fort Wayne, has filed an antitrust lawsuit in an Indiana federal court against Granite Broadcasting Corp., a New York company that owns WISE-TV in Fort Wayne.

Nexstar alleges that Granite has an unfair advantage in Fort Wayne and is engaging in anti-competitive behavior because besides owning NBC and MyNetwork TV affiliate WISE-TV, it also handles advertising sales for Malara Broadcasting's WPTA-TV, the ABC and CW affiliate, and starting next month will use one of WISE's digital channels to broadcast programming from the Fox network. Nexstar's WFFT had been the home of Fox in the market, but it could not come to terms on a new deal to remain affiliated with the network.

By owning or handling advertising sales for affiliates of three major networks as well as CW, Granite has an unfair advantage and is using its leverage to squeeze advertisers and to harm Nexstar, the suit said. The suit also said that Granite has been trying to poach employees from Nexstar and has been bad-mouthing WFFT, which will operate as an independent station starting next month.

Nextstar said that Granite controls about 45% of all broadcast television ad revenues. Throw the Fox station into the mix and Granite will have the ability to "foreclose competition through its contracts for five of the six exclusive national network affiliations" in town. 

The end result, according to Nexstar, is that advertisers will be forced to pay inflated rates for commercials and Indiana consumers will have to shell out more for goods and services.

Nexstar asked the court to rule that Granite give up control of ad sales for at least one of the network affiliates and that it not try to hire any more of its employees.

Granite Chairman Peter Markham declined to comment on the suit.

Nextsar got support for its suit from an unusual source: the American Cable Assn., a lobbying outfit for small cable operators that is also concerned about consolidation among local broadcasters because of fears that one company controlling multiple outlets will drive up rates that distributors pay to carry their channels.

“Cable companies have documented for the FCC that they pay from 21% to 161% more for retransmission consent when they are required to negotiate with a single entity representing two network affiliated stations in the same market," ACA President Matthew Polka said. "When two stations in a market are involved, it’s real bad; but when it’s three, it’s outrageous."

This month, Nexstar announced that it was considering a possible sale of the company. It owns and operates 63 stations in mostly small and mid-size markets.

-- Joe Flint