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| Exclusive: Charter weighs bid for Time Warner Cable by year-end -sources Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:10 PM PDT  By Soyoung Kim, Nadia Damouni and Ronald Grover NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc is weighing a bid for Time Warner Cable Inc before year-end and is trying to devise a deal structure that would lure the No. 2 U.S. cable operator's shareholders, people familiar with the matter said. John Malone's Liberty Media Corp, which owns about a quarter of Charter, approached Time Warner Cable earlier this year about merging Charter and Time Warner Cable. Talks between the parties restarted over the past few days, according to a separate source close to matter, but Time Warner Cable's management remains cool to the idea of a tie-up. Time Warner Cable, which earlier this week indicated that it was open to a deal at the right price, has a market value of more than $34 billion, compared with Charter's market value of about $13 billion. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. regulator considers end to sports broadcast blackout rule Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:46 PM PDT  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission is considering whether to eliminate a decades-old rule that prohibited broadcasting of some professional sporting events, often NFL football games, in their home markets. The FCC said on Friday its members are reviewing a proposal to eliminate the nearly 40-year-old rule that was originally meant to ensure broadcasts of sports games did not hurt local ticket sales. "Changes in the marketplace have raised questions about whether these rules are still in the public interest, particularly at a time when high ticket prices and the economy make it difficult for many sports fans to attend games," FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn said in a statement. The FCC will study whether the rules "remain justified" and could eventually take them off the books. Full Story | Top |
| Lead character in Syria war film emerged from carnage Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:46 AM PDT By Rania El Gamal ABU DHABI (Reuters) - When Mohammed Soueid started shooting a film about Syria's civil war, he collected footage from three activist cameramen and had no idea who his lead character would be. It was only as he looked over the shots that it became the story of Abu Bakr, a rebel with the Islamist Al Tawheed Brigade fighting in the streets of Aleppo from February until October 2012. "When I reviewed the shots I found that there is one character who is always there and that is Abu Bakr and his story is developing. The Lebanese director spoke to Reuters after a screening of his film "Hanging Dates Under Aleppo's Citadel" at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival this week. Full Story | Top |
| "Do his phone," Murdoch editor told journalist hunting celebrity scoop Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:16 AM PDT By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Coulson, an editor of Rupert Murdoch's now defunct News of the World newspaper, instructed a journalist working on a story about a celebrity to "do his phone", a jury trying Coulson and three others for conspiring to hack phones was told on Friday. The trial was also told how a phone call from Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince Harry was hacked, and fellow ex-editor Rebekah Brooks authorized payments at Murdoch's Sun tabloid to military figures for a picture of Prince William in a bikini and details of soldiers killed on active duty. Coulson and Brooks are the two most high-profile figures among eight defendants on trial on various charges related to phone-hacking, illegal payments to officials for stories, and hindering police investigations. Full Story | Top |
| YouTube hopes to boost music profile with new awards show Friday, Nov 01, 2013 09:43 AM PDT  By Luciana Lopez NEW YORK (Reuters) - Does the world really need another music video awards show? The answer is yes - at least according to YouTube. The online video-sharing site is rolling out its first YouTube Music Awards on Sunday, with a show that pairs established industry stars such as Lady Gaga and Arcade Fire along with performers from the Google-owned video site. The show will boost YouTube's profile just weeks before the site is expected to announce a subscription service that will compete in an already crowded music marketplace. Full Story | Top |
| Coulson warned of illegal payment to police -court Friday, Nov 01, 2013 05:21 AM PDT Andy Coulson, former editor of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, agreed to pay a police officer for a telephone directory of Britain's royal family despite being warned it was illegal, a London court heard on Friday. Prosecutor Andrew Edis said the tabloid's former royal editor Clive Goodman had emailed Coulson in January 2003 asking him to approve a 1,000-pound ($1,600) cash payment to a royal protection officer for a "Green Book" which contained private numbers of the royal household. Edis said it was not clear whether Coulson had received the full email from Goodman including the warning, although he argued he had, but said Coulson had received enough to know that paying a police officer for a stolen book was illegal. Full Story | Top |
| Seeing is believing: IMAX to launch $250,000 home theatres in China Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:48 AM PDT By Matthew Miller BEIJING (Reuters) - China's newly minted rich can now get up close and personal to the movies after mega-screen maker IMAX Corp signed a deal to produce luxury home theaters in the company's second largest market. The fifty-fifty joint venture with Shenzhen-based TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings Ltd will give Chinese the chance to watch IMAX-enhanced Hollywood blockbusters in the comfort of their homes, maybe even on the day of their world premieres. The joint venture is targeting wealthy homeowners in Hong Kong, Russia, and the Middle East, but the main focus, IMAX Chief Executive Richard Gelfond said, is China. "China now is our second largest market in the world, and our fastest growing market," Gelfond told Reuters on Friday. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese newspaper replaces top editors in wake of scandal Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:35 AM PDT The top editors of a Chinese newspaper have been replaced after one of their journalists was arrested for damaging the reputation of a major state-owned construction equipment maker, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. The wrangle over the journalist and his newspaper, the Guangzhou-based New Express tabloid, comes as the government cracks down on freedom of expression by journalists, lawyers, whistleblowers and internet users. The reporter, Chen Yongzhou, was arrested on Wednesday after confessing on state television to accepting bribes for fabricating more than a dozen stories that said Changsha-based Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co. Ltd. engaged in sales fraud, exaggerated its profits and used black public relations tactics, accusations strongly denied by the company. The editor-in-chief of the New Express, Li Yihang, and deputy editor Ma Dongjin were both removed from their posts, Xinhua said. Full Story | Top |
| TV's 'Duck Dynasty' waddles its way into country, music that is Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:13 AM PDT  By Vernell Hackett NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Already atop the duck hunting industry and cable television, the Robertson family of juggernaut reality series "Duck Dynasty" now has the music charts in their crosshairs. "Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas," which was released this week, features the bearded, down-home-on-the-bayou clan singing traditional Christmas carols and duck-themed songs in the latest addition to their stable of merchandise. The album, in which the family showcase their work on the squawking duck calls that have made their Duck Commander company leaders in the hunting industry, will also be a test of how the unlikely TV stars can compete head-to-head against Christmas albums by country music's perennial million-sellers Kelly Clarkson and Trace Adkins. Full Story | Top |
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