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I pieced together this ranking for an article I found here:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117918743?catego ryid=1275&cs=1

*2 & 3 are not listed but I am almost positive they are HBO and CineMax respectively

Most popular cable channels (in the USA)
1. TNT
*2. HBO
*3. Cinemax
4. Cartoon Network - woohoo!
7. Fox News
8. Spike TV
9. ESPN
10. Sci-fi
12. Comedy Central
14. FX
15. Discovery
18. TV Land
20. Court TV
21. Hallmark Channel
22. Home and Garden
23. TLC
24. Food Network
25. CNN
26. Animal Planet
27. VH1
30. Bravo
33. Country Music TV
35. E!
36. Weather Channel
37. Game Show
38. MSNBC
39. Speed Channel
42. National Geographic
44. Oxygen
46. Discovery Health
48. WE
47. Outdoor Life
50. Noggin
51. CNBC
58. BBC USA

Apple has a QA standard to tv transcoding? **irrellevant hardware comparisons snipped**

The same reason people with tivos still buy DVDs, extra content. **gushing speculation snipped**

Silly. It would be no more than a portable tivo.

I did a simple google search (piracy in south Korea) and found the following interesting articles. I may be wrong, but it does look like S. Korea is known for a major amount of piracy And is my opinion that we (United States) are no way as close to the piracy in other countries like South Korea as we tend to fear repercussions and law suits more then other countries do...

http://www.mpaa.org/PiracyFactSheets/PiracyFactShe etSouthKorea.pdf

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117907504?catego ryid=1009&cs=1

Piracy losses (US$ millions) $27 million
Seizures (all items) 231,514
Piracy level (Video & Optical Disc) 25%

"Piracy has been on the rebound in South Korea since the economic downturn in 2001 and 2002. Historically, piracy of high quality, counterfeit videocassettes has been the most prevalent in the market. However, in 2003, there has been a significant increase in the number of DVD imports and optical disc burner operations in South Korea. In addition, duplication facilities of videocassette plants and now burner labs have become larger, more secretive and more sophisticated with technology. This signals a shift from the historical trend where piracy duplication facilities had small and medium capacity.

South Korea's cat-and-mouse with piracy

"With a piracy rate of 40 percent to 50 percent, according to various estimates, South Korea has become one of the hot spots for cracking down on illegal software."

Again I may be wrong but it seems that your statement is unfounded. - Cheers!

Just a coincidence Made-for-TV Movie 'Mayday'
was shown last night? Part of the plotline was a corporation and government trying to put the kabosh on why a plane was going down. (The review said it was like a serious remake of "Airplane!" Yes the plot cause of the incident is dissimilar, but corporate and government the motives are not.

Noble impartiality is all well and good, but there's no point in forgetting history. If it was a director I trusted to make a good movie, I'd be tempted to give it the benefit of the doubt and go see it. Since it's Lucas, and I've already formed an opinion of his abilities based on his past work, the ONLY way I'll see it is if it gets good reviews.

One of the reasons I'm intrigued by the review in Variety (here, but now needs registration) is that the reviewer had many of the same objections to the first movie that I did (I didn't bother with the second). Since he's not blind to Lucas's prior mistakes, he's piqued my interest.

I'm not interested in shoving my opinion down anyone's throat. If you liked the earlier prequels, this sounds like it's going to be better then either of the first two.

Google did something similar to this when Chad rode his bike across the country, and look how well that worked out for them...

These guys put their ad in the wrong paper. I live in LA and my wife works in the entertainment industry. The only thing that matters is Variety.. Everyone reads Variety. From wannabes to studio heads. Therefore, everyone in the biz advertises in Variety.

The LA Times is a newspaper, not a trade rag. No one will the Enterprise ad. It was a waste of money and effort.

Nashville Times

Engadget

P2P Net

Variety

The article at the end said for more see Variety.

so do it.

And for those who hate trial subscriptions, here's the full text:

• Posted: Wed., Apr. 2, 2003, 8:56pm PT

• Landmark going digital

  All auditoriums nationwide to be outfitted with d-cinema

  By CARL DIORIO

  Arthouse giant Landmark Theaters will today announce plans to outfit its entire 177-screen circuit for digital cinema and a related effort to deal directly with filmmakers lacking distribution for their low-budget digital video features.

  The d-cinema initiative involves a joint venture with Microsoft and L.A.-based Digital Cinema Solutions. Terms weren't available, but it's believed the unique three-way relationship will shave Landmark's costs to a fraction of the usual $100,000-plus per screen to install most d-cinema systems.

  All auditoriums in Landmark's 53 theaters, located in 20 markets nationwide, will be outfitted with d-cinema playback systems based on Microsoft's Windows Media 9 Series. DCS will select digital projectors from a variety of manufacturers.

  The Windows Media systems are substantially less expensive than other systems, because they essentially represent off-the-shelf technology, officials said. The playback systems will be married to relatively inexpensive digital projectors, because the smaller size of its screens requires less illumination to project an image of acceptable resolution.

  Landmark chief Paul Richardson said he doesn't expect a lot of immediate interest from specialty distribs in converting their primary releases for digital distribution. But he believes they may be more inclined to acquire niche pics shot in digital video than previously.

  "There's a whole bunch of product that doesn't get picked up at the film festivals because people don't believe it's worth the cost to invest the money to make a master print, which can cost $50,0000-$60,000," Richardson said. "But for $6,000-$8,000, you can encode the film for digital (to) play our circuit, and I think some distributors will be interested in doing that."

  Landmark and its joint venture partners will also ante up the encoding costs for some number of pics, he said. "We're not going to bid on films against the guys in the business," the Landmark CEO said, noting he won't be personally prowling any film markets.

  "The films we're going to package are maybe a year old and haven't gotten picked up yet," he explained. "Those people are in contact with us all the time."

  In the past, Landmark's steered such filmmakers to various indie distribs but now will deal with them more directly in some instances. Richardson said he's not sure how many such pics the joint venture partners themselves will distribute, nor have they identified a likely first release to run through the digital circuit.

  "We're starting out on an adventure here, and we really don't have a road map," he acknowledged. "We have a huge opportunity, but we're just not exactly sure where that opportunity is going to evidence itself."

  Landmark aims to outfit all of its screens for digital projection by December. "We're starting on the smaller auditoriums first, because that's where these pictures will play," Richardson said.

  Landmark and Microsoft previously collaborated on a small number of digital installations in connection with the BMW Films digital shorts series. For that series, which features BMW autos in several digitally produced action shorts, DCS installed d-cinema systems in a couple dozen theaters, including several Landmark sites.

  Landmark also used Microsoft-outfitted auditoriums to exhib Artisan's recent music docu "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" in nine locations.

And for those who hate trial subscriptions, here's the full text:

• Posted: Wed., Apr. 2, 2003, 8:56pm PT

• Landmark going digital

  All auditoriums nationwide to be outfitted with d-cinema

  By CARL DIORIO

  Arthouse giant Landmark Theaters will today announce plans to outfit its entire 177-screen circuit for digital cinema and a related effort to deal directly with filmmakers lacking distribution for their low-budget digital video features.

  The d-cinema initiative involves a joint venture with Microsoft and L.A.-based Digital Cinema Solutions. Terms weren't available, but it's believed the unique three-way relationship will shave Landmark's costs to a fraction of the usual $100,000-plus per screen to install most d-cinema systems.

  All auditoriums in Landmark's 53 theaters, located in 20 markets nationwide, will be outfitted with d-cinema playback systems based on Microsoft's Windows Media 9 Series. DCS will select digital projectors from a variety of manufacturers.

  The Windows Media systems are substantially less expensive than other systems, because they essentially represent off-the-shelf technology, officials said. The playback systems will be married to relatively inexpensive digital projectors, because the smaller size of its screens requires less illumination to project an image of acceptable resolution.

  Landmark chief Paul Richardson said he doesn't expect a lot of immediate interest from specialty distribs in converting their primary releases for digital distribution. But he believes they may be more inclined to acquire niche pics shot in digital video than previously.

  "There's a whole bunch of product that doesn't get picked up at the film festivals because people don't believe it's worth the cost to invest the money to make a master print, which can cost $50,0000-$60,000," Richardson said. "But for $6,000-$8,000, you can encode the film for digital (to) play our circuit, and I think some distributors will be interested in doing that."

  Landmark and its joint venture partners will also ante up the encoding costs for some number of pics, he said. "We're not going to bid on films against the guys in the business," the Landmark CEO said, noting he won't be personally prowling any film markets.

  "The films we're going to package are maybe a year old and haven't gotten picked up yet," he explained. "Those people are in contact with us all the time."

  In the past, Landmark's steered such filmmakers to various indie distribs but now will deal with them more directly in some instances. Richardson said he's not sure how many such pics the joint venture partners themselves will distribute, nor have they identified a likely first release to run through the digital circuit.

  "We're starting out on an adventure here, and we really don't have a road map," he acknowledged. "We have a huge opportunity, but we're just not exactly sure where that opportunity is going to evidence itself."

  Landmark aims to outfit all of its screens for digital projection by December. "We're starting on the smaller auditoriums first, because that's where these pictures will play," Richardson said.

  Landmark and Microsoft previously collaborated on a small number of digital installations in connection with the BMW Films digital shorts series. For that series, which features BMW autos in several digitally produced action shorts, DCS installed d-cinema systems in a couple dozen theaters, including several Landmark sites.

  Landmark also used Microsoft-outfitted auditoriums to exhib Artisan's recent music docu "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" in nine locations.

According to Variety.com, The Good Girl star Jake Gyllenhaal has been lined-up as a possible reserve.

So I figurred I'm already there I might as well click the link see if I recognize the replacement actor. Behold my suprise whent the page loaded and I saw George Bush staring back at me!

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I always thought it was some kinda IMF/World Bank/Visa conspiracy to keep micropayment down, but now I'm thinking it's the geeks, led by that Anonymous Coward guy...

What a bunch of clueless comments. Just bait, right?

Micropayments are the missing link in any sort of indie Net movement. Most of the creatives - artists, programmers - and the smaller and mid-size companies that would support 'em, got beat right down, financially and emotionally, with the dotcom fiasco. What a cheap way to kill the street competition and a new freak medium - smothering with cash works just as well as a plastic bag over the head!

Meanwhile, the ONE clear thing about the Net threat to the Establishment since '95-'96 WAS that micorpayments, done right, could provide real people the missing economic link to make the Net work for them.

Not freakin' credit card-based crap (ccard penetration outside the US is around 20%, and Americans are long since maxed out). Not even debit cards. You want a kid to be able to scrounge a fiver, take it to the 7-11, shove it in a machine, get a card like a subway card or library card or discount phone card, go home, start surfin' and be able to click and pay, dime here, nickel there, a buck for a pretty heavily compressed indie track (two bucks for a fatter file)... A little hard manga past that over 13? sign...

It's classic human consumer nature. The old candy store and what do you do with that quarter or buck. Jawbreaker, licorice, y'know... THAT'S A FAIR DISCRETIONARY BUYING SET-UP: lotsa instagratification choice, priced so you can both browse and buy.

Forget the anonymous cash aspect, take just the CASH aspect. All previous micro systems were tied to plastic - very limiting to the audience, by the mindset alone - and then to the increasingly-proven-evil debit mode (you can't really get debits to stop).

A GOOD micropayment system lets indie artists draw comics, bands and labels release tracks, every funny or fanatical freak who can type churn out fiction, reportage, lyrics, people create jewellery, put up friggin' FRACTALS for sale. No limits.

They tried that at the portals, The Globe, at least, others? Open a mini store. Or ebay. But these are different animals, CREDIT CARD secured. PayPal's hardly better.

If Cartio delivers invoice and personal check/money order fill options, THAT'S a revolution. Not only don't a ton of people have cards, or cards with anything left, people HATE them deep down. Spending cash is real.

As for usage: the click to far syndrome's spreading, slightly sneaker than in the XXX world. Been to Salon lately. Click a juicy headline. Start reading a couple paras. Suddenly: PREMIUM CONTENT, DUDE, SUB HERE. Even fuckedcompany is subscription: click too far and it's login or pay time. Papers like Variety, hardcore trades, the NY Times, etc have been doing that for a while, a teaser regular page with headlines and leads, then click a story and it's the subscriber page! Variety is a classic - try reading a juicy story.

And that's subs for $10-20-30+ a year, or even a month. Take DJ culture instead, it supports the talented quite well thanks, by NOT supporting the vast infrastructural overhead of a major label, or other big corp. Stay real, and charge reasonable, and you end up with more in your pocket than signing that big corporate contract to do whatever.

And people LIKE to pay, when they feel the payment is going direct. Buying with a card from a middleman is wack. Cracking Adobe software is cold. But sending three bucks to U-Turn records DIRECT may be questionable, but if you wanna do it, it's not less money for you, it's satisfaction!

Good micropayment is the lemonade stand. It's Tom Sawyer whitewashing the wall... It's FREE ENTERPRISE...everyone can play, and pay to play as well.

You did actually know this, right? Just teasing me?

Note that the National Association of Broadcasters wants to get in on the encryption action too.

This Variety article describes a letter from the NAB president about how "it would be a betrayal of the public interest to protect digital TV programs shown on cable from being recorded by consumers, but to not protect those broadcast over the airwaves."

Apparently it's in the public interest to prevent people from recording cable programs for home viewing... as long as you prevent them from recording broadcast TV, too!

What you say is true, a boycott does not have to be 100% effective to be successful. My only real point is that some of these corporations have become *so* huge that it's nearly impossible for an action to be noticed at all. Take your 8% drop in sales number, for example. If that were 8% of all of Sony, that is an incredible number. The Hollow Man is a Sony movie that is not doing so well, yet it has so far grossed over $61M according to Variety. The Patriot has grossed over $110M. Those are just two movies in one division of Sony.

Your point about the marketing of the boycott is right on the mark. It doesn't even really matter if the boycott has any material effect at all if the perception of damage is there.

Sweetiebabycookiehoney! It's all just lingo, like fsck, grep, and grok.

Thesp = actdroid (a/k/a "Talent")
Segs = segments
Sked = schedule ("line-up")
Skedded = scheduled
Skein = series
Topper = Executive ("suit")

More wacky showbiz lingo here.

Hey, let's do lunch some time, okay?

k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank

Variety has an article today about how Speilberg is slated to do both movies, AI starts production July 10th, Minority Report to begin April 2001. No release date yet. Lots of hollywood exec hyperbole about 'the talented mr. speilberg' please.... kissing up to $$$

This is the argument the MPAA always uses to justify their actions. The ratings are voluntary, true; but see how fast a theater owner will get in hot water for disregarding them, especially in this year's hypermorality backlash atmosphere. See this article by Roger Ebert for another example of MPAA hypocrisy (in the case of Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut).
--

Yeah, I tried to post this as well, found both of these off of dvdresource.com: One from Variety Magazine and another from Sci Fi Wire