NBC, CBS to offer shows on demand for 99 cents
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A pair of separate deals announced Monday between CBS and Comcast, as well as NBC Universal and DirecTV, soon will allow viewers to pay to watch current primetime broadcast hits just hours after they air for free. CBS and NBC will be charging 99 cents per episode to access such series as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and the "Law & Order" spinoffs putting a twist on the traditional TV business model that will have untold implications for industry sectors ranging from affiliates to advertisers for years to come.
50 Cent shows soft side in new film
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amid the point-blank shootings, nude scuffling and desperate partying, the most shocking image in the movie "Get Rich or Die Tryin"' is the tear that rolls down the cheek of the baddest man in gangsta rap, 50 Cent. The bullet-scarred, tattooed king of the hip-hop charts did not resort to tricks to achieve the moment. As in other aspects of his life, he was motivated by the fear of failure.
Stones roll into Hollywood Bowl for historic show
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Rolling Stones returned to the Hollywood Bowl for the first time since 1966 on Sunday, playing for about 18,000 fans at the historic venue including U2 guitarist the Edge, actor Tom Hanks and cycling champion Lance Armstrong. The two-hour set was the first of a pair of sold-out performances at the 83-year-old hillside arena as part of the rock band's "A Bigger Bang" world tour: a second show will take place on Tuesday.
Sela Ward joins Costner, Kutcher in 'Guardian'
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Sela Ward has signed to join Kevin Costner in "The Guardian," an action drama that also stars Ashton Kutcher. The Disney project revolves around the relationship between a rebellious Coast Guard enlistee (Kutcher) and a legendary rescue swimmer (Costner). Ward will play Costner's wife in a troubled marriage.
Kate Hudson to sue over weight stories
LONDON (Reuters) - Hollywood actress Kate Hudson, star of "The Skeleton Key," instructed lawyers to begin action on Monday against several publications for printing pictures which she said falsely implied she had an eating disorder. Hudson, daughter of actress Goldie Hawn, claims the pictures "suggested that she had an eating disorder that was so grave and serious that she was wasting away, to the extreme concern of her mother and family," her lawyers said.
Wonder would not rush 1st album in decade
LONDON (Reuters) - Stevie Wonder has taken plenty of time over his latest album, 10 years to be exact, but the rock legend said he was determined not to be rushed. The 55-year-old singer spoke of the sorrow behind his new record "A Time to Love," raged about terrorism and war, joked about his blindness and confirmed that he was no longer seeking to restore his sight through new techniques.
Grokster to stop distributing file-sharing service
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - File-sharing service Grokster Ltd. has agreed to stop distributing software that allows users to copy songs over the Internet after losing its case before the U.S. Supreme Court, a recording industry trade group said on Monday. The settlement with the Recording Industry Association of America follows the high court's unanimous ruling in June that Grokster and other "peer to peer" networks can be held liable if they induce users into violating copyright laws.
Scooter Libby novel becomes hot online item
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A steamy novel by Lewis "Scooter" Libby has become a hot item now that Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff is under indictment. An inscribed copy of "The Apprentice: A Novel," which Libby wrote in 1996 when he was a relative unknown outside Washington, was on sale on online bookseller Amazon.com on Monday for $2,400. Unsigned hardcover copies were going for $700.
NBC, CBS to offer shows on demand for 99 cents
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC and CBS unveiled separate plans on Monday to make some of their hottest prime-time shows available for viewers to watch at their leisure -- without commercials -- for 99 cents an episode, throwing open the door to "on-demand" television. The back-to-back announcements from NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., and Viacom Inc.-owned CBS, came weeks after Walt Disney Co.'s ABC began offering commercial-free Internet downloads of its biggest hits, "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," for $1.99 a piece.
NJ governor, US environment chief, now an actor too
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman will make her stage debut in a comedy play "Inspecting Carol" next month, the theater company said on Monday. Whitman, who controlled the purse strings for the state of New Jersey and the EPA before retiring from her cabinet position in 2003, will play an inspector deciding whether a struggling local theater group should get funded.
