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Mar 17

Morning Media Newsfeed: Durst Charged With Murder | Cablevision to Offer HBO Now

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The Jinx Director: ‘We Discovered We Had This Shocking Piece of Audio’ (TVNewser)
Andrew Jarecki, the director of HBO’s documentary The Jinx: The Life And Deaths of Robert Durst, told CBS This Morning he and his crew were wrapping up years of work on their film when they realized they had captured audio of what may be Durst’s confession. “We discovered that we had this shocking piece of audio,” he said. Variety In Sunday’s finale episode, Durst appears to acknowledge his role in three murder cases that he has been linked to since 1982. The heir to a real estate fortune was arrested in New Orleans on Saturday in connection with the murder of his friend, Susan Berman, in Los Angeles in 2000. “Killed them all, of course,” Durst says while talking to himself in a bathroom in a moment captured by the still-live microphone after he squirmed during an interview where Jarecki presents him with handwriting evidence pointing to his guilt in Berman’s shooting death. Capital New York Jarecki appeared Monday on two morning shows — ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS This Morning — to talk about Durst, the focus of the six-part series. He also gave an interview to The New York Times and to Jeanine Pirro’s Fox News show. Jarecki later canceled several scheduled appearances and said that he is no longer available for interviews. In a statement attributed to Jarecki and his fellow Jinx producer Marc Smerling, inquiring journalists were told: “Given that we are likely to be called as witnesses in any case law enforcement may decide to bring against Robert Durst, it is not appropriate for us to comment further on these pending matters.” THR / The AP Los Angeles prosecutors filed a first-degree charge against Durst on Monday that could trigger the death penalty. In Louisiana, Durst was rebooked on charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a weapon with a controlled dangerous substance — a small amount of marijuana. Authorities didn’t immediately know whether prosecutors would try to keep Durst in Louisiana on those charges before he is sent to Los Angeles. LostRemote Sunday night’s finale of The Jinx made the list of top social TV last week, as Durst was conveniently arrested before its airing.

Cablevision to Offer HBO Streaming Service (WSJ)
Cablevision Systems Corp. will offer its broadband customers HBO’s coming streaming service, HBO Now, making it the first cable operator to strike such a deal, the companies said Monday. CNNMoney The channel already has HBO GO, a streaming service and mobile app that’s available to HBO’s cable and satellite subscribers. HBO Now will allow customers to stream programming without signing up for a cable package. It’s a move that will help the network cater to a younger market that mostly watches television online through stand alone services like Netflix. THR The partnership means that subscribers to Cablevision’s Optimum Online broadband service will be able to order HBO Now through Optimum and simply tack on the extra per-month fee to their existing bill. HBO Now launches in April and last week it announced a partnership with Apple so that it will be available by way of an app on iPhones and iPads, and it will be a channel on Apple TV. While HBO executives have already said HBO Now will cost $14.99 per month, Cablevision and HBO said Monday that the price Optimum users will pay won’t be announced until later. Deadline Apple has a three-month exclusive period for digital-only services, but HBO said that traditional pay TV providers also could offer HBO Now from the start if they want.

Apple Plans Web TV Service in Fall (WSJ)
Apple’s lofty plans to build an online television service are coming into sharper focus. The technology giant is in talks with programmers to offer a slimmed-down bundle of TV networks this fall, according to people familiar with the matter. Variety Apple is in talks with multiple TV programmers — but not NBCUniversal — about launching an over-the-top TV service later this fall that would charge $30-$40 for about 25 channels, including broadcast TV. THR Apple’s new service would be able to stream channels live to Apple TV, iPhones and iPads and devices using Apple’s iOS. The slimmed-down service would include well-known channels like CBS, ESPN and FX, leaving out the dozens of smaller channels found in a standard cable package. Last week Apple cut the price of Apple TV from $99 to $69, and also announced that HBO’s stand-alone streaming service, HBO Now, is launching in April exclusively on Apple devices. The Verge The long-rumored online TV service could be announced as soon as June.

Paramount Names Marc Evans President of Motion Picture Group (THR)
Paramount has named Marc Evans as president of the motion picture group, the studio announced on Monday. Evans will succeed Adam Goodman, who was ousted last month after a six-year stint in the role. Variety Goodman was pushed out because of strained relationships with top talent agencies, according to insiders. Goodman had a year remaining on his contract and was offered a production deal with the studio as part of an exit package. Evans, a 12-year veteran of the studio, most recently served as president of production. He will assume the new position immediately and will report to Paramount chairman-CEO Brad Grey. TheWrap While Grey did consider outside candidates, Evans was always seen as the favorite for the job, having earned his stripes at Paramount. He joined Paramount in 2003 as VP of production before being promoted to senior VP in 2006 and executive VP in 2008. Evans has worked with the industry’s top filmmakers and supervised production on some of the studio’s most critically and commercially successful films, including the Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises, as well as World War Z, Interstellar and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

News Streaming App Watchup Partners With Tribune (TVSpy)
Watchup, the news streaming app that delivers personalized newscasts, has announced a content partnership with Tribune Broadcasting. LostRemote Watchup users will be able to access online news segments from KTLA TV in Los Angeles, WGN in Chicago, and WPIX in New York. Seattle, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Ft. Smith, Houston, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Sacramento, Kansas City, Greensboro, New Orleans, Huntsville, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Scranton, Denver, Harrisburg, Moline, Memphis, Hartford, Norfolk, Indianapolis, Richmond and Grand Rapids are also included in the deal. Variety Tribune Media last fall led a $2.75 million round of funding in Watchup. Watchup, founded in 2012 at Stanford’s StartX accelerator, culls news from about 100 sources including Fox News, PBS Newshour, CNET, The Washington Post, Fusion, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Media.

Millennials’ Nuanced Paths to News And Information (American Press Institute)
The American Press Institute has completed a broad study of millennials and their news consumption habits. The findings debunk the notion that younger Americans are choosing to focus their attention on only a few things, particularly so-called soft news and entertainment. TVNewser Millennials, the study concluded, prefer to seek out their own information — from trusted sources — on a variety of topics. They don’t go to trusted sources for a summary of the day’s news, but they do seek out stories to satisfy specific curiosity on a variety of topics. Millennials, the study found, will “dive deep” on a topic, but they won’t start with traditional news sources. Only 3 percent said they’d start with national TV, 4 percent said they’d start with local TV and just 2 percent said a newspaper. The go-to starting point: Google. FishbowlNY When it comes to getting news from social media, young people turn to Facebook first. The report found that a whopping 88 percent of millennials get news from Facebook at least occasionally. The runner-up was YouTube at 83 percent. Instagram (50 percent), Pinterest (36 percent) and Twitter (33 percent) rounded out the top five. PRNewser Young people aren’t dumb, though: the primary topics for which Facebook serves as a key news source are “pop culture,” “music, TV, and movies,” and “social issues.” National politics ranks near the bottom of that chart, so young people know that you don’t really turn to The Social Network for in-depth reporting.

Two Largest Onscreen Movie Theater Ad Companies Call Off Merger (THR)
A $375 million acquisition that would have brought together the two leading companies providing on-screen advertising in movie theaters, National CineMedia (NCM) and Screenvision, has been called off in the face of government opposition. Variety The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division filed suit in November to block the proposed merger of the cinema advertising networks, citing antitrust concerns. The three largest movie circuits in the country — Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Entertainment and Cinemark Holdings — are majority owners of NCM. The suit alleged that Regal, AMC and Cinemark exercise “significant control and influence” over NCM’s actions. The DOJ contended that the chains could block NCM from entering into contracts with independent movie theaters that contain upfront payments exceeding $1 million, an important area of competition between NCM and Screenvision. Deadline NCM shares were down more than 8 percent in post-market trading after the companies decided it wasn’t worth what they called “the ongoing cost and distraction” of fighting the DOJ. The trial was scheduled to take place April 13.

ABC News Launches on Roku (TVNewser)
ABC News announced Monday it had launched on Roku, the streaming video service. ABC joins networks including CBS News, NBC News, Fox News and Sky News on Roku, reaching an audience of 10 million Roku players. LostRemote Earlier this year, the ABC News app was available on Apple TVs both in the U.S. and internationally. ABC News VP of digital Colby Smith said in an official memo: “Roku users now have ABC News live video and on demand content, local news from several major markets and a wide range of historical video footage from ABC News’ archives. During breaking news and special events, Roku customers will have immediate access to multiple content streams, live 24/7.”

Scripps Networks to Buy Controlling Stake in Polish TV Company TVN for $615 Million (THR)
Scripps Networks Interactive has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Polish commercial broadcaster TVN for $615 million (€584 million) in cash, the cable networks group said Monday. Variety Scripps, which owns the Travel Channel, the Food Network and other channels, has agreed to buy a 52.7 percent stake in TVN from ITI and Canal Plus Group. Scripps will also take on €840 million ($885 million) of debt. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals. Once the deal is completed, Scripps will launch a public tender offer to up its stake in TVN. TVN had a market-leading 22 percent share of Polish viewing last year.

BBC Launches Investigation Into Top Gear Host Jeremy Clarkson (HuffPost / AP)
The BBC has launched an investigation into Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson’s alleged “fracas” with a producer, trying to establish the facts of the incident before deciding its next move. The popular TV presenter has been suspended pending an investigation into whether he punched a producer during a dispute over a meal. THR After suspended the series last week, the show’s replacement on Sunday evening lost almost 4 million viewers.

Cameron Joseph Joins NY Daily News’ Washington Bureau (FishbowlDC)
The Hill’s Cameron Joseph will be heading to the New York Daily News’ Washington bureau, announced managing editor and head of political content Gregg Birnbaum on Friday.

Endemol Shine North America Reveals New Executive Structure, Ben Samek Named COO (Variety)
Endemol Shine North America, the result of a joint venture uniting Endemol, Shine and Core Media and now the largest independent production and distribution group in the world, has announced its new executive management structure.

James Dolan Will Temporarily Run MSG as CEO Moves to Sotheby’s (Deadline)
MSG CEO Tad Smith announced Monday that he’ll leave at the end of the month to take the top job at Sotheby’s auction house. MSG chairman James Dolan, who also runs Cablevision, will steer his family-controlled operation while it looks for a new CEO.

Uproxx Launches Daily News Show The Desk (THR)
Edgy culture-focused editorial site Uproxx is launching its first daily news series. Called The Desk, the three-to-five minute program will tape Monday through Friday at noon PT and will stream on Uproxx later that day.

White House Office to Delete Its FOIA Regulations (USA Today)
The White House is removing a federal regulation that subjects its Office of Administration to the Freedom of Information Act, making official a policy under Presidents Bush and Obama to reject requests for records to that office.