News Round-up

Job loss in the age of blogs and Twitter
"It's been decades since Americans had this much time on their hands and -- thanks to the Web -- never have there been so many opportunities to burn it. Many online entertainment categories were seeing steady growth even before the economy took a turn for the worse a few months ago, and public interest in the November U.S. presidential election also drove traffic to online video, social networking and other sites. But the sudden rise in usage in some online categories at the end of the year stands out from past growth trends."

MOSCOW TIMES: How soap operas can save us
"We clearly underestimate the significance of soap operas in our lives. If a monument to the liberal economic reforms of 1992 is ever built, the main figure should be a hero from a popular Mexican or Brazilian soap opera. Since Russians were glued to their television sets, never missing a single show, they neither had the time nor the emotional strength to stage an uprising against the government.

Remember when Rossia television attempted to cancel the SANTA BARBARA soap opera. It was met with public protests that were rivaled only by pensioners opposed to the monetization of benefits."

FNL Season 3 on DVD
From the DVD Times (UK): Universal Pictures Home Entertainment have announced the Region 1 DVD release of FRIDAY NIGHT LIHGTS Season 3 on 19th May 2009 priced at $29.98 SRP. This American Football drama series returns to DVD with its 13 episode third season spread over four-discs presented in anamorphic widescreen with English DD5.1 Surround audio and English SDH subtitles. There are no extras.

Cameron Mathison on 54
"I was on the set of '54" when I got the call about [being cast on] ALL MY CHILDREN. It was my first film and like my third acting job ever."

Oh his man-on-man kiss in the film: "Oh yeah! That was my first on-screen kiss!"

ABC's PRIVATE PRACTIVE: Prognosis brightens as ratings climb
PRIVATE PRACTICE has been on the mend since ABC moved the show to 10 p.m. Thursdays this season, right behind GREY'S, where it seemed to belong in the first place. This week, the show zoomed to its best-ever ratings in the ad-friendly adults ages 18 to 49 demographic (5.3 rating/14 share; 13 million viewers overall), according to early data from Nielsen Media Research.

Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?
Sara A. Bibel blogs: "I’m toasting the Buchanan men with a virtual Bourbon and branch water. They will be missed."

Televisions 'to be fitted in contact lenses within ten years'
The sets would be powered by the viewer's body heat, according to Ian Pearson, a so-called "futurologist" who has advised leading companies including BT on new technologies.