News Round-up: Williamson, Casiello, Big Media Stocks

Tracking 7 Decades of Chicago's 'LIGHT'
"For many, the shuttering of GUIDING LIGHT seems akin to the death of an old, eccentric family member who -- though she sometimes seemed a bit daft at the dinner table -- never failed to entertain."

T. Gamble: Soap operas a far piece from morality
"I hate to see the GUIDING LIGHT go. Grandmother would have been devastated. How in the world will the next generation learn about morality? I guess they’ll have to watch JERRY SPRINGER."

NBC's SOUTHLAND Pushes Ad Limits in L.A. Times
NBC is promoting tonight's premiere of SOUTHLAND with a front-page ad in today's Los Angeles Times that appears to be unlike any other front page ad the paper has run previously. That's because the ad is designed to resemble a news story.

As part of the next phase in its extensive marketing campaign for the John Wells-produced drama, NBC has bought a traditional strip advertisement that will run across the bottom of the Times' page one and will feature key art from the show. It will be adjacent to another paid ad unit: An advertorial-type feature story documenting then first day on the job of a fictional Los Angeles Police Department rookie cop.

Williamson says he doesn't miss EASTENDERS
Former EASTENDERS star Shaun Williamson has said that he doesn't miss working on the soap. According to the Daily Record, the actor said: "I don't miss 'EastEnders' at all - I haven't since the day I left."

Williamson said he liked playing Barry in the show when the character was evil saying, "It was great, but I wouldn't go back to playing a loser again, otherwise I might as well have stayed. I got gobbled up by EASTENDERS and spent nine years there, which wasn't planned. You just keep re-signing the contracts."

Gloomy forecasts haunt brief market rally
U.S. stock markets stabilized and gained somewhat Wednesday after two days of losses driven by first-quarter earnings fears, but Wall Street experts believe that the upcoming earnings season could end the recent market run-up, which many view as a temporary bear-market rally. Big media and entertainment stocks, which had a down first quarter but have gained momentum during recent weeks and were up again Wednesday, might be no different.

News Corp. shares rose 41.8% from their February closing price through the end of last week. Viacom's stock gained 25.6% during that period, Disney shares rose 19.3%, CBS Corp. improved by 15.2%, and Time Warner edged up 6.3%.

Tom Casiello on head writing aspirations
"I always thought I did, but in this environment, I don't think I would. I've watched so many head writers just get beaten down, attacked from all angles, from networks-to their writing team-to EP's-to the fans. So much so that their stories end up nothing like what they intended. Once upon a time, it was my dream, but that was before I saw what one goes through in that position. I'm really, really happy just being part of the collaboration of a breakdown team now, and wouldn't trade it for anything."