After the coffee. Before wondering why I don't have an endorsement deal yet.

The Skinny: It's a sports-heavy Morning Fix. Time Warner Cable did a deal with the Lakers. ESPN's on-air talent is raising eyebrows with their endorsement deals. Lastly, Charlie Sheen went on Dan Patrick's sports talk radio show to discuss baseball and proclaim himself ready to return to "Two and a Half Men."

Time Warner Cable steals the ball. Time Warner Cable, which in the past has often griped about the high cost of carrying sports channels, has decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The pay-TV distributor has struck a big deal with the Los Angeles Lakers to create not one but two new regional sports networks in Los Angeles, using the world champs as the backbone. The move is a big setback for Fox Sports West and KCAL-TV Los Angeles, the two current rights holders for the Lakers. The as-yet-unnamed channels will launch in 2012 and could result in higher cable bills for consumers. Details and analysis from the Los Angeles Times, Sports Business Journal and Variety.

More exits at Disney. The shakeups continued at Walt Disney Studios, with Bruce Hendricks, president of physical production, leaving and Marcia Ross, the longtime head of casting, also on the way out. The moves are part of Disney's overall strategy to make fewer movies. Details from the Hollywood Reporter.

If the shoe fits. Apparently, being on-air talent at ESPN is a ticket to a sneaker deal. The New York Times looks into the surprising number of ESPN broadcasters and commentators with shoe deals, a few of which the network itself knew nothing about. Of course, ex-jocks having commercial deals is kind of dog-bites-man. Still, given the cozy relationship between sneaker companies and athletes, ESPN might want to take a look at whether those deals have the potential to give the wrong idea about its news coverage.

Charlie's ready! Charlie Sheen went on Dan Patrick's national radio show Monday morning to talk baseball, but it wasn't long before the star of CBS' "Two and a Half Men" was talking about himself. Sheen said he's ready to work and that it's CBS and Warner Bros. that need to get their act together. As for recent incidents that have led production of the show to be shut down, Sheen says he heals quickly. Of course, he also noted that he unravels pretty fast too. Perhaps it is his tendency lately to unravel that may have the folks making the show wanting more than a quick fix from Sheen. Here's the full interview from Dan Patrick and analysis of the Sheen situation from Variety. 

Public-radio potty mouths. Swear words on some rock or hip-hop radio station are par for the course -- but on public-radio coverage of an opera? Seems that's how opera singers roll. More on the foul-mouthed sopranos from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Three members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences talk about their Oscars votes.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. It's more exciting than the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. twitter.com/JBFlint

Time Warner Cable has struck a massive deal with the Los Angeles Lakers to create two regional sports channels that will use the world champs as their backbone.

There had been rumblings recently that the Lakers were looking to either start their own channel or find a new partner. The 20-year agreement between the cable giant and the National Basketball Association powerhouse is a major blow to Fox Sports West and KCAL-TV, the two current rights holders for the Lakers. Starting with the 2012-13 season, all Lakers games except for national telecasts will be available on cable only. That includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

One of the two as-yet unnamed cable channels will be Spanish-language network that will have its own prodcution team instead of just being a feed of the English-language channel.

The loss of games to KCAL means that no Lakers games will be available on free over-the-air television. KCAL, which is owned by CBS Corp., currently carries 41 games. Of the 5.67-million TV homes in the Los Angeles market, about 620,000 do not subscribe to any pay-TV provider. 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Under its current deal with Fox Sports West, the Lakers were getting about $30 million a year in rights fees, people familiar with the situation said. Some industry observers pegged the 20-year pact at a value of $3 billion, a figure dismissed by Time Warner Cable.

In a statement, Fox Sports said it had made the Lakers an offer that “would have paid them one of the highest local TV rights fees in professional sports.  We did not believe that going higher was in the best interest of our business or pay TV customers in Los Angeles, who will bear the cost of this deal for years to come.”

Time Warner Cable, which has about 2 million subscribers in Southern California, isn't looking to stop with the Lakers. In an interview, Melinda Witmer, executive vice president and chief programming officer of Time Warner Cable, said the company would be "looking at all available sports in the marketplace."

Next on their list could be the Dodgers. The team's current pact with Fox's Prime Ticket channel expires in 2013. The Angels also have a contract with Fox Sports West, but that arrangement has many years to run.

For Time Warner Cable, snagging the rights to the Lakers and creating two channels is a shift in strategy. While many cable operators including Comcast, Cox and Cablevision are major players in the regional sports channel business, Time Warner Cable has pretty much stuck to the sidelines.

However, Time Warner Cable's Witmer said the move to get into business with the Lakers is part of its overall desire to "control our economic destiny."

Consumers may feel some pain as a result of the deal. Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) are generally some of the most expensive programming for distributors. Typically, RSNs cost between north of $2.50 per month, per subscriber. Given the high cost of the Lakers, Time Warner Cable will likely be looking for north of $3.50.

The cable giant will need to strike carriage deals with other distributors in the region and may face tough negotiations. First stop will be DirecTV, which has about 1 million subscribers in the area. Other major distributors include Charter Communications and Cox Cable. That will likely lead to tough negotations.

At the same time, Fox Sports West will likely get pressure from Time Warner Cable and other distributors to lower the price of its channel now that will be losing the Lakers.

— Joe Flint

Photo: Kobe Bryant takes it to the hoop. Credit: Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times / MCT.

Viacom said Monday that it had sold $500 million in new corporate bonds -- at 4.5% interest -- to raise money to buy back some of its higher-interest debt.

The sale of the new 10-year senior notes is expected to close Feb. 22.

"Viacom intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund a cash tender offer for up to $500 million of its outstanding 6.25% senior notes due 2016," the media company said in a statement, adding, "and, to the extent any proceeds remain, for general corporate purposes, including the potential repayment of any borrowings under its revolving credit facility or other outstanding indebtedness."

The tender offer -- for senior notes due in 2016  -- expires at midnight (Eastern time) March 14.

The company, controlled by billionaire Sumner Redstone, has been on a tear this year.  Its marquee MTV Networks have seen ratings soar,  in large part thanks to Snooki and the Situation of MTV's juggernaut hit, "Jersey Shore."  It's 3-D Justin Bieber biopic, "Never Say Never," released by new label Paramount Insurge, raked in more than $30 million in weekend box-office receipts. 

Viacom's stock price has risen more than 50% during the last year.  Viacom common stock closed Monday at $45.26 a share, up 12 cents a share.

The company said Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo Securities were serving as dealer managers for the offering.

-- Meg James

Another veteran film executive is leaving Walt Disney Studios. 

Bruce Hendricks, the head of physical production who has supervised the making of more than 200 motion pictures, is leaving the company. Monday marks his last day running the department, although he'll remain as a consultant for several months, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Most recently, Hendricks served as director of “Jonas Brothers:  The 3D Concert Experience,” a box-office disappointment that brought in just $23 million in global ticket sales, as well as the record-setting “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour” movie.

Over his 25-year career, Hendricks has served as executive producer on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy.

Hendricks is the most-recent member of the old guard to leave or be displaced since Rich Ross took over as chairman of the studio. The list of the departed includes the studio's top production head, Oren Aviv, the executive in charge of distribution, Mark Zoradi, and marketing chief Jim Gallagher.

Updated at 1:30 p.m.: Marcia Ross, executive vice president of feature casting at the studio, also will be leaving the company after wrapping up several projects over the coming months, people familiar with the matter say.  

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski

The new chief executives of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer have found their No. 2. Ken Schapiro, a veteran Hollywood executive who most recently served as a partner in media investment fund Qualia Capital, has been appointed chief operating officer of MGM.

Schapiro is the biggest outside hire for the studio since it emerged from bankruptcy in December with Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum as chief executives.

Qualia, which Schapiro co-founded with partner Amir Malin in 2003, looked at the financially troubled MGM in early 2010 and had proposed restructuring it with a $500-million investment. Instead, MGM entered Chapter 11 reorganization in November and raised a $500-million credit facility to help fund its future operations.

Schapiro was previously president of independent film company Artisan Entertainment from 1998 until it was acquired by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2003. Prior to that, he was executive vice president of Morgan Creek Productions, where he worked with Barber.

Barber and Birnbaum have been discussing hiring Schapiro since at least September, even before they were certain they would get the top MGM jobs.

MGM also has promoted John Bryan to president of domestic television distribution, overseeing the sale of its movies and TV programs and the studio's premium cable channels. He replaces Jim Packer, who recently left for Lions Gate, where he is now president of worldwide television distribution and digital.

-- Ben Fritz

Related:

Spyglass signs MGM letter of intent, courting Ken Schapiro to become COO

Lions Gate hires MGM's Jim Packer to run television distribution   

Photo: Ken Schapiro. Credit: MGM

Advertisers have spent nearly $720 million during the last decade to advertise their products in the Academy Awards telecast, according to an analysis released Monday by Kantar Media.

That comes out to an average of $72 million a year, although three years -- 2006, 2007 and 2008 -- saw spending levels top $80 million. The total haul is important to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because the organization relies heavily on ad revenue from the telecast to finance its operations and stage Hollywood's annual glitzy gala, including the Governors Ball. 

ABC is on track to bring in more than $80 million in commercial sales for this year's event, which will be broadcast Feb. 27.  The Walt Disney Co.  network has sold out its available inventory for the program and fetched prices of about $1.7 million per 30-second spot.  That's up considerably from last year's $1.4 million per spot.

Last year's higher ratings -- an average of nearly 42 million people tuned in -- helped ABC bump up the ad rates this year.

Over the last five years, more than half the total ad revenue from the show has come from just five companies: Coca-Cola, J.C. Penney, General Motors, American Express and Mastercard International, Kantar said. Auto giant GM took itself out of the running two years ago and was promptly replaced by Hyundai, which continues to be the exclusive auto sponsor -- and the program's largest advertiser overall.

This year's hosts -- James Franco and Anne Hathaway -- are part of the Academy's campaign to attract more young adults to the TV screen.  The median age of last year's Oscar audience was 50, according to Kantar, and that's slightly grayer than advertisers would like.

In another bid to attract young viewers and whip up excitement surrounding the awards show, the Academy this year has amped up its interactive media elements, such as Internet coverage of red carpet arrivals and peeks at backstage areas, including press-room interviews with winners. 

-- Meg James

Photo: Awards show host James Franco arrives at last week's nominees luncheon in advance of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. Credit: Mike Nelson/EPA

Lots of upsets, no annoying host reading lame jokes, life-size Muppets and a giant egg carrying Lady Gaga was enough to drive the Grammy Awards to its biggest audience in more than a decade.

About 26.6 million people tuned in for the music industry's biggest awards show to see Arcade Fire, Lady Antebellum and Esperanza Spalding score surprise wins. That's a 2.5% increase from last year's program and the largest audience since the 2000 show, which drew 27.8 million viewers. In the key 18 to 49, demographic, the program had its strongest ratings since 2004.

The strong numbers are indicative of the appeal of live events. Awards shows, particularly music shows, have had something of a renaissance as of late. Some credit social networking and sites such as Twitter,  which gives viewers the ability to share thoughts and critiques while the program is happening, as a factor in driving interest in live shows.

The show was not entirely glitch-free. Although CBS did a good job of catching most of the obscenities that flew out of the mouths of some performers, a couple bad words seemed to have slipped through. Given recent wins by the broadcast industry in court over the Federal Communications Commission's enforcement of its so-called fleeting expletive rules, the network may not have too much to worry about.

-- Joe Flint

 Photo: Lady Gaga emerges on the Grammys. Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Image

After the coffee. Before deciding whether the hype for Cedar Rapids is a tad overblown.

The Skinny: You know the best way to watch the Grammy Awards? With a DVR! A slow Monday so far. Grammy recaps, box office recaps, a bidding war for Thomas the Tank Engine, and Cinemax wants to grow up.

No sure thing. Lots of upsets and surprises at Sunday night's Grammy Awards. Arcade Fire took album of the year with "The Suburbs," while Lady Antebellum won song and record of the year, beating out bigger names including Eminem, Jay-Z and Katy Perry. As for the show itself, Eminem rocked. Bob Dylan's voice was a little rough and Cee-Lo with those life-sized Muppets was amusing. If the producers were really cool, they'd have persuaded Madonna to perform "Express Yourself" right after Lady Gaga did "Born This Way," which is a total rip. Coverage and analysis from Billboard, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Rolling Stone and Variety.

Tight battle at box office. Adam Sandler's "Just Go With It" from Sony took the top spot at the box office with $31 million. That barely beat back Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never," which was stronger than anticipated and took in $30.3 million. Also off to a solid start was "Gnomeo & Juliet," which made $25.5 million. Not taking off was "The Eagle." Box office coverage from the Los Angeles Times and Movie City News.

Skinemax adds layers. Cinemax, the sister channel to HBO dubbed Skinemax by many for its library of cheesy soft-core entertainment, wants to get serious with original programming. The New York Post reports on the pay channel's plans.

Still some fire in that tank. Haim Saban and Michael Eiser may find themselves in a bidding war for Hit Entertainment, owner of the kids property Thomas the Tank Engine, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: "The King's Speech" cleans up at BAFTA Awards. Need a movie for Valentine's Day?

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. It's the perfect Valentine's day gift. twitter.com/JBFlint

Though the best picture contest at the upcoming Academy Awards is widely viewed as a race between "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network," a clear winner  is emerging at the box office.

On its 12th weekend in theaters, "The King's Speech took in $7.4 million in ticket sales, down a negligible 4% from the previous weekend. That's particularly impressive given that it played in 321 fewer theaters.

Its box-office total is now $93.9 million. "The Social Network," meanwhile, stands at $96.6 million as it wraps up a theatrical re-release following its eight Oscar nominations.

Given its momentum, "The King's Speech" is almost certain to pass "The Social Network" by the end of the week. Coming off a string of recent award wins and heading into the Oscars on Feb. 27, where it has 12 nominations, it's clear the drama starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter has yet to lose its cultural relevance for moviegoers.

"The King's Speech" is putting on a phenomenal performance for a low-budget release from an independent studio, placing it alongside this awards season's other surprise smash hit, "Black Swan." The psychological thriller set in the world of ballet is only inches away from the $100-million mark, with a current box-office tally of $99.4 million.

-- Amy Kaufman and Ben Fritz

Photo: Colin Firth stars in "The King's Speech. Credit: The Weinstein Co.

Never underestimate the power of a teen idol. Pre-release polling had led many in Hollywood to believe that Adam Sandler's new comedy, "Just Go With It," would easily beat out "Never Say Never," a 3-D Justin Bieber documentary, but the box-office results are a virtual tie.

"Never Say Never" took in $30.3 million at the box office, according to an estimate from distributor Paramount Pictures, while "Just Go With It" distributor Sony estimated its movie would end up with $31 million. The two popular films could easily trade places when final ticket sales for Sunday are tabulated Monday morning.

The 3-D animated family film "Gnomeo & Juliet" was a surprisingly strong No. 3, with $25.5 million. Meanwhile, the Channing Tatum historical action film "The Eagle" came in far behind the other new movies with $8.6 million.

Going into the weekend, it was unclear how well the Bieber film would perform; it's difficult to measure the interest of his young but devoted fan base. But "Never Say Never" came in at the high end of Hollywood's estimates, boosted by surcharges for 3-D tickets, which represented 84% of its receipts. Still, it didn't quite surpass a similar hit, 2008's "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds," which opened to $31.1 million.

"Never Say Never" is the first release from Paramount Insurge. The studio's label, devoted to making quick, inexpensive movies, was created in the wake of "Paranormal Activity."  It cost only $13 million to produce, making it an immediate hit for the fledgling division.

The audience was mostly female, as expected, and they loved the movie, giving it an average grade of A, according to market-research firm CinemaScore.

But there may not be many Beliebers left after the weekend. Concert films tend to fade quickly from the box office after fans pack theaters on opening weekend. There are already signs that "Never Say Never" is losing some momentum: Its ticket sales fell 13% on Saturday, after fans with Bieber fever rushed to theaters Friday.

Sandler's romantic comedy "Just Go With It" is almost certain to end up with a higher box-office number when all is said and done. The movie jumped 41% from Friday to Saturday and earned a CinemaScore of A-. Sandler's last film, "Grown Ups," ultimately took in four times its opening-weekend gross.

Sony spent $80 million to produce "Just Go With It," which means the movie will need to perform well in the weeks ahead and overseas to be profitable for the studio. "Just Go With It" also opened in 16 foreign markets, where it grossed $5.1 million.

The audience was 58% female, signaling how Sander has transitioned from a male-skewing gross-out comedian to more of a romantic-comedy star with broader appeal. It's also a solid performance for Jennifer Aniston, who has had several recent box-office flops, such as "The Switch" and "Love Happens."

"Gnomeo & Juliet" has been in the works for more than 10 years at Walt Disney Studios and was set to be released by its Miramax label before the unit was sold last year. After all the backstage turbulence, it ended up with the highest-ever opening for an animated film in February, not accounting for ticket-price inflation. The majority of the audience was made up of families with children younger than 12, and with no other kids' films being released until "Rango" on March 4, it should rack up a strong box-office total.

Despite the relatively soft debut for "The Eagle," distributor Focus Features said it was pleased with the start for the $23-million production. But word-of-mouth may be poor, as the audience, mostly male, gave the film a soft CinemaScore of C+.

In limited release, the Ed Helms comedy "Cedar Rapids" performed well, taking in $310,789 at 15 theaters.

[Updated at 10:46 a.m.: Overseas this weekend, "The Green Hornet" had the widest opening ever for a film in China and saw good results, grossing $11.5 million. That's more money than the Sony film has collected in any other international territory to date, including Great Britain, where it opened five weeks ago. The strong debut in China was undoubtedly due in large part to co-star Jay Chou, a native of Taiwan popular in the region.

In total, "The Green Hornet" has grossed $107.2 million overseas so far, slightly more than its domestic total of $92.3 million. It is now approaching $200 million worldwide, a decent number for a big budget 3-D event film.

"True Grit" opened in 13 international territories this weekend and collected $8.3 million. It performed best in Britain, where the Coen brothers-directed western grossed $2.7 million. "No Strings Attached," an Ashton Kutcher-Natalie Portman romantic comedy, opened in 22 foreign markets and had $5.9 million in ticket sales. 

Here are the top 10 movies at the domestic box office, with foreign grosses when available, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com:

Pandora Media Inc., an Internet streaming radio service used by more than 80 million listeners, announced plans Friday to sell shares in an initial public offering this year.

After years of struggling for survival, the Oakland, Calif., company is finally on the verge of breaking even and sees the offering as a way to raise $100 million to grow its business.

Pandora, which has a catalog of 800,000 songs from more than 80,000 artists, has roughly half the market for Internet radio in 2010, according to a study published in November by Ando Media. Though the service is wildly popular, it has yet to make a profit.

In its prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Pandora reported a $16.8-million loss on $55.2 million in revenue for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2010. From Feb. 1, 2010 through Oct. 31, Pandora narrowed its losses to $328,000 on $90.1 million in revenue.

Because Pandora is largely a free service, only 9% of its revenue in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2010 came from subscriptions and other paid services. The vast majority of the company's revenue came from advertising.

When the Oakland, Calif., company was founded in 2000 by Tim Westergren, Pandora was more of a curious academic experiment. Then called the Music Genome Project, it used musicians to analyze the attributes of all types of music, from early Renaissance madrigals to funk.

Five years later, the company introduced an Internet radio service called Pandora that used data collected from the Music Genome Project to play songs that sounded similar to individual listeners' favorite tunes or bands.

Though wildly popular, the company limped along financially until 2008, when Westergren announced that Pandora was on the brink of collapse because federal courts had ordered Internet radio stations to pay a dramatic, retroactive increase in performance royalties.

After a public campaign launched by Pandora fans who wrote letters of support to lawmakers, the fees were ratcheted down in 2009, sparing Pandora from what seemed like certain extinction.

Pandora still forks over 60% of its revenue to pay royalties, but the reprieve enabled the company to focus on growing rather than just staying alive.

The service first became available on computer via Web browsers, but its membership took off when Pandora introduced a version for the Apple iPhone in 2008. About half of Pandora’s subscribers use the service on mobile devices.

Major investors in the company include Crosslink Capital, which holds 23% of the shares, and Walden Venture Capital, which owns 18%. Westergren owns just 2.4%. Former News Corp. president Peter Chernin, who joined Pandora’s board in January, owns less than 1%.

The company did not disclose how many shares it would make available and at what price.

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-- Alex Pham

If you play computer games, you would know Will Wright. He made The Sims, Sim City and most recently, Spore.

But if you're the type who would rather curl up on the couch and surf channels, then Wright probably means little to you. So far.

The developer, revered by millions of players but unknown outside of the geeky realm of games, has jumped into the world of television. Last year, Wright partnered with former Nickelodeon President Albie Hecht to create a scripted drama whose plot, characters, set and back story came from thousands of online contributors.

The result is "Bar Karma," a new series that starts Friday night on Current TV.

The contributors weren't so much writing as they were playing with a software Wright created called Storymaker, which he modeled after games that he designed in the past. The project is still ongoing, and anyone can kick in an idea on the show's website.

Wright, in the video below, briefly explains the concept and how it works. You can also read our story on the show here.

-- Alex Pham