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November 30, 2007
The FCC gave the boys from Chicago permission to own a newspaper and a television station in the same market...
The British parent of the newly opened Fresh & Easy chain could be in a little trouble over its massive...
So much for losing market share to the upstart Fox Business Network. CNBC was up 42 percent in total viewers...
November 29, 2007
In what could at least stir things around in the impasse between writers and the big media companies, the Alliance...
Talk about too little, too late. Assembly Democrats are proposing legislation that would help homeowners avoid foreclosures and toughen enforcement...
Or so says Nikki Finke, who has been reporting the rumblings coming out of this week's negotiations between striking writers...
Strike impact minimized: Sure, it's a big deal for portions of Hollywood, but it won't mean all that much for...
November 28, 2007
Not a huge surprise, since no presidential candidate is about to be caught crossing a picket line at CBS Television...
The Mouse House has formed an acquisition group that's looking to make up to 20 Internet buys over the next...
For now they'll be administrative-type jobs - no journos - but Editor Bill Keller warned in an internal memo that...
Kevin Martin has proposed exempting the LAT parent from rules prohibiting ownership of newspaper and TV stations in the same...
Charlie Koones, who has overseen lots of changes at the trade paper - online, special issues, acquisitions, a NY edition...
Or more precisely, the Coliseum Commission. Word of USC's potential interest in moving cross-town to the Rose Bowl is almost...
November 27, 2007
Site abatement work on Phase I of the Frank Gehry-designed Grand Avenue Project begins on Monday. Demolition of the ugliest...
How motivated are the networks to settle the writers strike? A new report by Bernstein Research projects a 1 percent...
I managed to skip over this morning's LAT story about the company's former HR head agreeing to plead guilty to...
Market shows life: This morning's news that Citigroup has received a $7.5 billion injection from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority...
November 26, 2007
This wasn't supposed to happen. Black Friday shopping was better than expected, oil prices were holding steady, and Wall Street...
This time, NY Sen. Chuck Schumer wants to look at the potential risks of having the Federal Home Loan Bank...
The fast-food giant will be introducing something called the "McSkillet" this week, though the item can already be found in...
Writers nearing deal?: Nikki Finke has a reliable source telling her that an agreement is in place, although a settlement...
November 23, 2007
As usual, the Friday after Thanksgiving offered little specific sales data but lots of anecdotes from shoppers, merchants and retail...
The Santa Monica-based cell phone company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June after burning through almost $400 million -...
November 21, 2007
Motley Fool's Timothy Otte says he got to talking with a senior VP from Best Buy's field operations - no...
Well, what else is there to do? There was no big news today, but plenty of worry - about oil,...
You might recall that the famous red Michelin restaurant guide has expanded to include a Los Angeles edition, but the...
Stocks take another hit: I don't get it: Aren't we supposed to be easing into Thanksgiving? No big news, other...
November 20, 2007
CBS CEO Les Moonves and Warner Bros. honchos Barry Meyer and Alan Horn sent out can't-we-all-get-along memos to their employees...
Hollywood Boulevard, that is. The crowd of WGA members - plus a scattering of SAG representatives - heard a couple...
Angelo Mozilo says he has never been through anything like the last six months – the scrutiny, the allegations, the...
The airport's position as a world cargo hub has slipped noticeably, from second place in 1997 to 11th place last...
Air travel delays: LAX should be improving by now, but a thick blanket of fog delayed a bunch of early...
November 19, 2007
The buyer appears to be investment firm Hudson Capital, which acquired the Sunset-Gower Studios in Hollywood a while back (and...
The government's new survey has the average price in L.A. at $3.363 a gallon, up about 4 cents from a...
The Writers Guild says the vote was 81 percent in favor of authorizing a work stoppage if need be (about...
I'm always suspicious of trend stories like a Bloomberg piece that says folks in the 100K-300K income level are reigning-in...
Stocks getting battered: A downgrade of Citigroup, a big write-down at Swiss Reinsurance and rising oil prices are among the...
November 17, 2007
CAA partner Bryan Lourd and United Talent agency's Jim Berkus apparently convinced both the media companies and the writers to...
Talking is always better than not talking, so the unexpected news last night that the studios and networks will go...
November 16, 2007
...Well, just be sure you don't believe this poll concerning the effects of the writers strike on TV viewing habits....
L.A. County's unemployment rate in October was a reasonable 5.1 percent, unchanged from the previous month though well above the...
Do gas prices matter?: We'll soon find out as T-Day fast approaches - and pump prices edge ever closer to...
November 15, 2007
A Superior Court jury tacked on $2.5 million in punitive damages for the company’s failure to warn five Nicaraguan banana...
So much for any reunion with Joe Torre. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez has struck an agreement in principle to re-sign...
There's a lot happening this week, such as Honda, Ford and GM announcing plans to put alternative fuel technology vehicles...
War between the unions: It's the Writers Guild and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, but more to the...
November 14, 2007
Really, really changed. What had been a nasty 'ol fruit and vegetable business that couldn't give a darn about its...
She calls the production guys "dude" and "bro," takes a few passing shots at Dan Rather's trenchcoat fixation, and snorts...
He's the Korean internist who bought up much of Koreatown and is now being named as one of the major...
This is news. For months the median price of an L.A. County home had kept going up, despite declines in...
Strike getting uglier: The WGA is trying to get copies of all scripts submitted to the studios over the past...
November 13, 2007
It's still not official, but News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch told shareholders in Australia today that he would prefer ad revenue...
Actually, it's probably happened by now. Several outlets are reporting that the always entertaining Regan is seeking damages of $100...
November 10, 2007
I'll be traveling for the next couple of days. Posting will resume Tuesday afternoon....
November 9, 2007
That was Frank Gehry responding - sort of - to a lawsuit filed against him by MIT, which says that...
Spago, Mélisse and Urasawa earned two stars, while one-star restaurants include Providence, Sona, Water Grill, Ortolan, Patina, Ritz-Carlton Huntington Dining...
The world really doesn't need another profile of NBC head programmer and child-about-town, Ben Silverman, but his nasty attack on...
Another really bad day, with the Dow dropping 223 points - and tech stocks did even worse than the overall...
Gas prices skyrocket: No more of this slow and steady stuff - L.A. pump prices are 14 cents a gallon...
November 8, 2007
The Mouse House CEO said that the writers walkout will "definitely have an impact" on ABC programming if it stretches...
Never mind the stock market - if you want to get a nervous feel for where the economy is headed,...
Actually, the WSJ is using the word "plunging." Tech issues, which had been holding up pretty well in this topsy-turvy...
The founder of L.A.'s American Apparel - he's the one who likes to take R-rated pictures of his models -...
Bernanke sees slower growth: That's not exactly shocking news, but you and me saying it isn't quite the same as...
November 7, 2007
Oh, why not? On a day when the Dow fell 360 points comes word of a new report by Goldman...
Sort of. The celebrated chef who helped jumpstart L.A. cuisine into the big leagues with Citrus restaurant on Melrose will...
This time the culprit is a toy called Bindeez, which contains small beads that are found to mimic the effects...
It's nervous time: The market is down 135 points at last check, and it could be even worse if not...
November 6, 2007
There's probably some reasonable explanation, but Michelle Leder at footnoted.org wonders why IndyMac CEO Michael Perry recently signed a new...
A big bash is planned for tomorrow night at the new store in Glassell Park. It's one of half-dozen or...
This year's long-running soap opera involving Messrs. Geffen and Redstone gets an entertaining airing in the December Vanity Fair. All...
Countrywide bending the rules: You're a senior executive at the big mortgage lender and you're sitting on all these options....
November 5, 2007
The government's latest survey shows that the average price of regular in L.A. County was $3.182 a gallon, which to...
At last, Time Warner's board has approved the promotion of Jeff Bewkes to be CEO. He succeeds Richard Parsons, who...
The always-entertaining media mogul folded his cards on IAC/InterActiveCorp, the Internet conglomerate that owned everything from Ask.com to the HSN...
The writers and producers made more progress on Sunday than anyone would have expected on Friday, but all of a...
November 4, 2007
WGA President Patric M. Verrone just emailed guild members to say that the strike will begin first thing Monday morning....
November 3, 2007
Don't get your hopes up, but there is some 11th hour chatter going on by writers and producers - plus...
November 2, 2007
Bloomberg's Seth Lubove examines the lawsuit-happy Ron Burkle in a profile of the L.A. billionaire (his annual legal bill could...
At least there weren’t any signs of it in Friday's session, where most of the big media issues saw little...
The WGA walkout goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, the WSJ is now posting. Picketing at the major...
All set to strike: Hollywood writers will be walking off their jobs, most likely next week. It'll be the first...
November 1, 2007
Can't Ron Burkle cut a deal that's easy? The latest adventure involving our peripatetic L.A. billionaire involves Interstate Bakeries, the...
A three-year contract was finalized today, believed to be worth around $14.5 million. "Having grown up in Brooklyn, I have...
Now that his return to NY airwaves has finally been announced - he starts Dec. 3 on WABC - the...
Ari Emanuel the voice of sanity? Who would have thunk it? But the chieftain of talent agency Endeavor makes a...
Everybody remembers the scene where the Julia Roberts character, dressed in faux-hooker attire, is given the brush by a couple...
Strike talk: Well, it doesn't look great. Talks between the Writers Guild and the studios and networks broke down last...
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