In The U.S. Heartland, Drama With A Different Flavor

Murdoch and Immelt tried to broker MSNBC-Fox News peace accord

The on-screen and behind-the-scenes feuding between cable news rivals MSNBC, owned by General Electric Co., and News Corp.'s Fox News has become so ugly that the chief executives of their respective parent companies recently held a hush-hush meeting to try to broker a peace treaty.

News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch and General Electric chief Jeffrey Immelt met up at -- appropriately enough -- the Microsoft CEO summit in Redmond, Wash., to figure out how to diffuse tensions between the two channels, Company Town has learned. The primary focus of the chit-chat was the back-and-forth sniping between MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Fox's Bill O'Reilly. The two often exchange insults, Olbermann by name, O'Reilly by insinuation. 

If Immelt and Murdoch took their message of peace and love back to their respective news channels, it doesn't seem to have taken. Olbermann, who generally is the aggressor, has been attacking Fox News and O'Reilly on a regular basis. O'Reilly still takes occasional shots at MSNBC, NBC and General Electric.

For example, on July 9, Olbermann, commenting on reports that Murdoch's London tabloids had to settle lawsuits for illegal wiretaps, said "why did News Corp. go to all that trouble, rather than just get the secret personal information from the Bush administration?"

O'Reilly, meanwhile, accused NBC News on June 18 of being in President Obama's pocket and said last month that "there is compelling evidence that NBC is giving President Obama favorable treatment so that GE will be awarded billions, billions, in government contracts."

A Fox News spokeswoman said "we can't comment on any meeting that may or may not have taken place between Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Immelt," while a News Corp. spokeswoman declined to comment. A General Electric spokesperson was unavailable to comment.

While Fox News and MSNBC don't get along, News Corp. and NBC are in bed together on other ventures including, most prominently, video site Hulu.com, which also counts Walt Disney Co. among its owners.

Since Murdoch and Immelt seem unable to get these two to play nice, maybe President Obama can bring them all in for a beer.

-- Joe Flint

Photos: Rupert Murdoch (top left) by Andrew Gombert/EPA. Jeffrey Immelt (bottom right) by Jonathan Fickies/Bloomberg.

The Watcher at the Television Critics Association press tour
Maureen Ryan's Twitter feed

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"G.I. Joe's" Channing Tatum and singers Kelly Clarkson and Caleb Followill appear on"Today" Scarlett Johansson looks super in retro fashion. Plus: Nelly Furtado, Sharon Stone, and Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson at "Julie & Julia" premiere.
In The U.S. Heartland, Drama With A Different Flavor

Natasha Williams, a Ukrainian-born cafe owner and former actor, has gone back to her roots: She's started a Stanislavsky-inspired theater company in Lexington, Ky. called the Balagula Theatre.

Get to know your Watcher

Despite 'Up' and other movie hits, Disney revenue drops, net income sinks

Walt Disney Co. felt the pain of the recession across the board last quarter, as revenue dropped for every division and overall net income plunged 26%.

The conglomerate's revenue fell 7% to $8.6 billion. The drop was in line with competitor Time Warner Inc. and smaller than that of Viacom Inc. Another Disney rival, News Corp., hasn't yet reported earnings for the quarter that ended June 30.

Revenue at Walt Disney Studios fell 12% despite stronger theatrical revenue from hits like "Hannah Montana" and "Up." While the studio racked up marketing expenses to promote the movies in this quarter, it will reap more of the benefits from those hits, along with "The Proposal," later in the year.

"The content cycle has started to improve, however, and generally we believe the worst is over for the Disney studios," wrote Anthony J. DiClemente, media analyst for Barclays Capital.

The studio lost $12 million for the quarter, compared to a $97-million operating profit in 2008.

Disney's television networks, usually a bright spot for the company, experienced a 2% drop in revenue as even stalwart ESPN saw advertising income decline. Broadcaster ABC took the biggest hit, however, as higher programming costs and falling ad revenue drove down its operating income 34% to $204 million. Operating income for Disney's cable networks was $1.1 billion, down 8%.

Parks and resorts saw a 9% decline in revenue and 19% decline in operating income as guests at Disney World and Disneyland spent less because of the economic downturn.

Second-quarter margins for the parks were squeezed by aggressive promotions to keep visitors traveling to Disney's domestic parks, including discounted hotel rates at the Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. These promotions largely propped up attendance, which slipped a modest 1% in Orlando, and grew by 2% at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.

Travel to Orlando, which is a loose proxy for attendance at Walt Disney World, has showed signs of stabilizing since June, DiClemente wrote in a July 30 report.

Disney's interactive media division, which oversees online content and video games, had the steepest drop in revenue at 20%. But it narrowed from a $91-million operating loss last year to a $75-million loss because of reduced marketing and product development costs for games.

Consumer products revenue fell 10% as sales declined at Disney Stores.

-- Ben Fritz and Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo: Revenue at Walt Disney Studios fell 12% despite stronger theatrical revenue from hits like "Up," which hit movie theaters at the end of May. Credit: Disney / Pixar.

Get to know your Watcher

The Television Critics Association summer press tour began a couple of days ago in lovely Pasadena, Calif., and I am headed there on Thursday. The idea of my blog going three full days without new content began to fill me with anxiety, until I recalled that I had something in the hopper that I'd been meaning to post for a while. So until I begin filing stories from TCA press tour, this little tidbit may tide you over.

A few months ago, as part of a reader-rewards program that the Tribune runs, I was asked to answer a few questions about myself. So if you want to know more about my background, how I got this job and what a typical day is like, read on.

Get To Know Maureen Ryan: 10 Questions

1. What made you want to become a reporter/writer, and more importantly, how did you get the cherry gig of TV reporter?  How did The Watcher get started?

I realized I wanted to be a writer when I got the chance to travel the world for almost a year. I got that chance in about 1991 when I was laid off from my first post-college job. Although it wasn't fun, I began to see being laid off as a big opportunity. I was only 25, so I decided to sell most of my possessions and travel, and I had many adventures and (for the most part) a fantastic time (except for a few weird incidents in Australia, the less said of those the better).

But I realized I was constantly writing in my travel journal and I wanted to see if I could expand those interests and skills into a profession. I knew I didn't want to pursue fiction (which I have zero talent for), so when I returned from that yearlong experience of working and traveling abroad, I applied for and was accepted to a graduate journalism program.

After a stint at a public-affairs magazine and then several years at a company that produced a variety of entertainment magazines, as well as a lot of freelancing and a long stint producing my own music-oriented "zine" (the title: "Steve Albini Thinks We Suck"), I was hired by the Tribune in 1997. I was mostly an editor for about seven years, but I still wrote pieces about pop culture, books, music and, increasingly, TV. About five years ago, when our TV critic at the time went on sabbatical, myself and a colleague named Sid Smith began covering TV full time, and eventually I was named the Tribune's TV critic.

The Watcher site began five or six years ago when I began writing about TV in earnest. The best aspect of the site is that it allows me to see what readers are thinking and saying. Our readers are really smart and I'm always learning new things or getting new perspectives from them. And being able to post thoughts and reactions instantly is just a thrill. I love that part of the online experience. (Twitter is the even more addictive version of this, by the way.)

2. Could you explain a typical workweek for you to our readers?  How do you typically view the hours of programming needed to stay current?

I watch a lot less TV than people think I do. As much as I wish the job involved putting my feet up and clicking around with the TV remote for eight or nine hours a day, that's not really what it's like.

I usually only get to watch one hour of TV in the daytime. I usually try to do that first thing, then spend some time writing, before I turn on the Internet, e-mail, Twitter and what I generally refer to as "noise." Don't get me wrong, I love "noise" but if I didn't have a couple of hours in the morning during which I tried to ignore the outside world as best I can, I'd get nothing done.

The rest of a typical day is spent writing print columns, writing blog pieces, reading and responding to reader e-mail and comments, communicating with publicists, doing interviews, putting together my monthly schedule and working with my editors on what I'll be writing about and when. I also try to keep up with a range of good TV Web sites written by fan bloggers and other TV writer/reporters in the media. All of that kind of stuff keeps me busy much of the rest of the day.

At night is when I do a lot of my "regular" TV viewing, and my husband is the unsung hero of the Watcher universe. We sometimes watch things I have to review for work in the evenings, or watch shows we want to keep up with. The upshot is, he sometimes has to watch terrible television but does not get paid for it. The man is a saint.

We have two TiVo DVRs in our house, and I also get a fair amount of TV on DVD from various networks. So we've always got something to watch, and I'd say on an average night we watch between 3-5 episodes of drama and/or comedy.

I'm lucky in that my husband and I have quite similar tastes in TV, but when we disagree about a show or an episode, it's actually a great thing. I find that it sharpens my thinking about a show when I have to defend it. Just keep in mind, if you think I'm wrong about a show, there's a good chance my own spouse and my other family members agree with you.

3. You’ve been widely praised for your keen TV eye, and sticking with shows you believe in (recently for shows like Chuck and Dollhouse, which this question-asker fully backs).  Is there a secret to weeding through the muck, and finding the goods?

When I'm dealing with new shows I know nothing about, I usually look at a few factors in deciding whether I will review something. Is it a one-off program? If so, I may not want to review it, unless it's a really worthy documentary or film or miniseries.

Is it going to be an ongoing series? If it's on a broadcast network and it's scripted, I will usually try to review it. If it's a reality show, on either the broadcast or cable networks, it has to have something exceptional going for it -- an interesting idea or compelling people. There's so much copycat reality fare out there, that I find myself reviewing less and less of it as time goes on.

If it's a scripted cable show, I will usually try to at least view the show -- much of the most interesting work on TV is being done in the cable realm these days. And I always pay attention to the credits on any show -- the writers, the directors, the actors, the producers, the creators. If there are names involved that I have associated with quality work in the past, I will generally try to give that show a look.

As far as "finding the goods" in other ways, I rely on readers and various TV sites to help me out there. I wasn't a huge fan of the first season of "Chuck," but readers and other TV writers obviously were really enjoying the show, so I looked at its second season, which I ended up loving.

Another good example was ABC Family's "The Middleman." I didn't review it out of the gate, but so many readers and other TV writers were fans of it that I made time to watch it (and ended up enjoying it immensely).

With something like "Dollhouse," I had been such a fan of Joss Whedon's earlier work that I had faith that he'd find an interesting show in that strange concept at the heart of that show, and he and his writers did. Being able to write that both "Dollhouse" and "Chuck" got additional seasons -- well, that was a great week!

In any case, with the number of networks sending me DVDs these days, there's no way I can keep up with everything -- it's great having readers act as an "early warning system." Via e-mail and comments on the blog, I'll usually start to hear buzz on a show that I may not have reviewed yet, and that'll put that show on my radar screen.

But the best part of my show involves pulling a DVD out of a press kit, popping it in, and -- without knowing much about that show -- being really wowed by how good it was. "Lost," "Veronica Mars," "Battlestar Galactica," "Mad Men" -- that's just a partial list of shows I didn't know much about before I watched them. Quality work like that just jumps out at you, even if I hadn't heard any "buzz" ahead of time.

4. With the emergence of quality and popular original, scripted-programming on channels like USA, FX and TNT, is this the direction you see TV heading towards?

Yes, definitely. Just this past spring, Starz premiered a new show called "Party Down" that I really ended up loving. It wasn't a show with a huge budget, but the cast was outstanding and the writing was really sharp. Cable has been coming up with many gems in recent years, and I hope that stays the case.

Of course, cable networks are capable of producing bland, uninteresting and derivative shows too -- the networks don't have a monopoly on that. And it's worth recalling that the broadcast networks are capable of producing some pretty fine fare as well. But generally it seems to me that the cable networks are taking more chances, which is something I'm always in favor of.

5. In same vein, premium channels like HBO and Showtime seem to have taken quite a hit from their…well, lack of hits recently.  Do you see a future without such premium channels, as cable channels firmly establish themselves as credible, original programming?

Don't know that I agree. I think Showtime has been perceived as being on the upswing in recent years -- "Dexter" did a lot to cement Showtime's reputation as a network with a lot of "buzz." And "Nurse Jackie" is definitely my favorite new show of 2009.

HBO, however, has had some stumbles in its post-"Sopranos" era.  I don't think, at this stage, HBO has fully gotten its groove back -- Showtime, FX and AMC probably have the hotter shows at the moment, and in particular, AMC has some shows that seem as though they would have been HBO shows in years past.

But HBO has been perking along with compelling cult shows such as "Flight of the Conchords," "In Treatment" and "True Blood," all of which cater to very rabid fan bases, and "True Blood's" audience seems to be expanding each week. It's never a good idea to count HBO out -- they're developing a bunch of new shows I am looking forward to, just based on the track record of the creators involved.

In any case, I'll always give HBO and Showtime programs a look, because even when they don't work, they typically don't work in quite interesting ways.

6. What are you’re thoughts on reality TV?

I used to watch a lot more reality TV than I do now. I was definitely a fan of the genre when it first arrived -- it showed us characters and story lines that were surprising and unexpected. Now, however, most reality shows are predictable and full of cliches -- and those are things I want to avoid when I'm watching TV. I want to be surprised and moved and provoked by stories, whether they're in a book, in a film or on TV.

If the stories on a reality show can do surprise or move or provoke me, that's great, but I find that I usually have those kinds of "wow" reactions when I'm watching scripted fare such as "Mad Men" or "Friday Night Lights" or "The Shield" or "Battlestar Galactica." I do still watch "The Amazing Race" with my husband and son, but I don't watch much else in the reality realm, aside from "Project Runway" and the occasional "Top Chef" episode. And of course I have to write about "American Idol," or, as I call it, the Death Star of TV.

7. How did your connection with TiVo come about?  What has the response been like?

The connection to TiVo came about through James Warren, who is the Tribune's former managing editor. He started talking to executives at TiVo about having me do segments for TiVo viewers, and the reaction has been really positive. I've heard from quite a few folks who have seen me that way and they seem to enjoy the segments. They're quite fun for me -- I love talking about TV in any medium, including on camera. Though I have to admit, when I was in journalism school, half the attraction of being a print major was the thought that I'd never have to be on camera. I still have a lot to learn in that arena.

8. Have you ever thought of stepping over from the critical side to the production side of TV?

Too much work! Seriously, people who work on quality TV shows work very, very hard. It can be quite a time commitment to write for, act on, direct or otherwise have a major creative voice on a quality TV show. Also, as I mentioned above, I have absolutely no talent for telling fictional stories Whether I have a talent for what I do now, I leave to the beholder, but I definitely know that I don't have the kind of imagination it takes to tell fictional stories. All things considered, I'm quite happy to sit on my couch and just watch what people who are good at TV come up with.

9. You lived in England for some timeâ€"what brought you there?  What brought you back?

I first went to England when I was 20, as part of a Junior Year Abroad program. I was there for 12 months, and after that, the English authorities had a hard time getting rid of me (kidding! I think).

I usually go back there about every other year. Part of the reason I go back so much is because I have relatives who live outside London (translation=free place to stay). And about 10 years ago, I met the man who became my husband, so in the last decade we've been back a few times to visit his family and expose our son to the finer aspects of English culture (and their reality TV is not one of those things, trust me. Our reality TV shows are positively quaint and timid by comparison).

I really love England, and especially London, and I feel at home there. However I would not want to live there, because I'd have to wait longer to see new episodes of most of my favorite shows. Not going to happen. 

10. Lastly, what do you like to do to relax, when you’re not updating The Watcher?

I am a very keen gardener. I don't think a lot of people know that about me -- that I love to garden and be outside and commune with my compost. I think most people probably picture me as a pale, TV-obsessed person who never leaves her couch. True, I am pale, but that's because of the SPF 70 sunblock I wear (the pale Irish skin -- it's a blessing and a curse). But I love gardening because its a way of being creative and being in touch with the world yet it does not involve words. After a day spent at the computer keyboard, that's a great relief.

Other than that, I watch movies, play board games and run around outside with my husband and son. Well, my son, who is seven, runs. I just try to keep up.

Swimming holes in the San Lorenzo River, and beyond
Deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the San Lorenzo River offers secret spots for a cool dunk to those willing to explore, dodge poison oak and share space with water skeeters.

  Map San Lorenzo River swimming spots

  Other area swimming holes to check out
A Date With Dolphins, And Death, In 'The Cove'

In an isolated village in Japan, an annual hunt rounds up thousands of dolphins. A few go to marine parks; the rest never return to the sea. A stirring new documentary lifts the veil on the annual dolphin hunt.

Hollywood hoping Redbox will be the DVD version of $1 movie theaters

Movie studio executives don't hate Redbox -- they just think it's the equivalent of that dingy movie theater where you can see 4-month-old movies for a buck.

That's the growing consensus among many executives in Hollywood as they search for a strategy to deal with the fast-growing DVD kiosk company that rents movies for $1 per night. Redbox has proved very popular among consumers, but studios are concerned because they don't receive a cut of the revenue as they do with rentals from Blockbuster or Netflix. And even if they make a deal with the company -- as Sony Pictures recently became the first to do -- a share won't bring in nearly as much revenue as they get from other rental services.

Universal Pictures, in fact, is in the midst of litigation attempting to prevent Redbox from renting its movies. Redbox currently buys DVDs wholesale, although its deal with Sony will see it cutting that studio in on the action rather than working around it.

In a conference call today with analysts after the conglomerate released its earnings, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes made clear where he sees Redbox fitting in the lifeblood of a movie: "In general, we think there may well be a role for $1 rental kiosks just like $1 movie theaters," he stated. Pressed by an analyst as to whether that means movies shouldn't be available to rent from Redbox until well after they go on sale and are available for rent from more expensive services, he responded, "Probably."

The idea that Redbox should essentially be a last step in the DVD release process, much like discount movie theaters, has been echoed by several home-entertainment executives who have spoken on background with The Times.

Most, it seems, don't share Sony's eagerness to cut a deal with Redbox. Instead, they're waiting for a decision in Universal's lawsuit. If the studio is victorious, it will be able to prevent Redbox from buying its  DVDs and renting them without permission.

Movies still will be available for a buck. But only when Hollywood says so.

-- Ben Fritz and Dawn Chmielewski

Photo: A Redbox kiosk in a northern Seattle grocery store. Credit: Elaine Thompson / Associated Press

Kevin Jonas on Disney and their concert tour, coming to San Jose's HP Pavilion
Kevin Jonas talks about how the brothers Jonas make music.
On The Page, Poet Mourns Daughter's Murder

Leidy Bonanno had just graduated nursing school when she was killed by an ex-boyfriend in 2003. Slamming Open the Door is Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno's way of remembering.

DreamWorks Animation revenue drops 7%, video games provides boost

DreamWorks Animation revenue drops 7%, video games provides boost

As March release "Monsters vs Aliens" proves a solid peformer, but nowhere near as big as last year's "Kung Fu Panda," DreamWorks Animation revenue fell 7% in the second quarter to $132 million, while its net income stayed flat at $25.6 million.

The company got a $24 million benefit in the quarter from a change in its video game licensing deal with Activision that provided extra payments for games based on several previous films, including "Monsters vs Aliens." Without that amended deal, DreamWorks' revenue would have been $108 million, down 24%, and net income would have fallen by a third to about $17.1 million.

"Monsters vs Aliens" has sold $198 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada and $179 million overseas, making it the first DreamWorks Animation picture to earn less internationally than domestically. The film's $377 million worldwide gross isn't enough for DreamWorks to recognize any revenue from distributor Paramount, which gets to keep an 8% distribution fee and recoup all of its spending on marketing.

DreamWorks' second quarter revenue instead came almost entirely from older films. Last summer's "Kung Fu Panda" brought in $32.7 million, primarily from domestic pay television; last November's "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" contributed $26.1 million, most of it through international DVD sales. "Shrek: the Musical," the company's first Broadway show, brought in $10.1 million.

Due to a scheduling shake-up, DreamWorks Animation is releasing only one film this year, meaning most of its revenue for the rest of 2009 will come from the home video launch of "Monsters vs. Aliens" in September. Next year it will release three movies, starting a schedule of five every two years.

CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and president Lew Coleman were scheduled to speak on a conference call with analysts shortly after earnings were released.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: "Monsters vs. Aliens." Credit: DreamWorks Animation.

Yadegaran: Why women like movies made for men
Features writer Jessica Yadegaran explores why she loves movies such as "The Hangover" and doesn't apologize for it.
GLAAD's 'Network Responsibility Index' Gives HBO And ABC High Marks

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has a new report looking at the portrayals of gay and lesbian characters on broadcast and cable television. Scripted shows and reality shows have both contributed to the list of passing and failing grades.

Comic-Con roundup: 'True Blood,' 'Lost,' 'Supernatural' and more

Barry and Ben in business together again

Mogul Barry Diller, who last week at an industry conference warned that the transition from old media to new media will get "bloody," is betting on Ben Silverman to figure it all out.

Cutting through all the industry speak about platforms, silos,integrated content and 360 degrees that fills the press releaseannouncing their new company, what we basically have is an advertisingand marketing agency.

Silverman, who is ending a stormy two-year run as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, said in an interview he wants to build "big-time opportunities that transcend any single medium." He added that "More and more of the advertisers need help to get attention"and that he wants to "break down walls" and "connectdots." Silverman has coined his new venture a combination of Warner Bros. and BBDO, the giant ad agency.

In a statement, Diller said the new venture's goal is to "create a truly integrated and truly interactive new media production entity ... that bridges the gap between traditional television and the Internet."

The new entity reunites Silverman with Diller, who was an investor inSilverman's old production company Reveille. His stake was later boughtout by NBC Universal for $8.2 million. The as-yet-unnamed company will be a privately held venture that will count Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp. as an investor. Other investors will be brought in as well, including possibly NBC Universal.

In Silverman, Diller gets a well-connected, globe-trotting entrepreneur with a knack for packaging shows and advertisers, particularly in reality shows such as NBC's "The Biggest Loser" and Bravo's "Blow Out."

He also gets an executive whose personality was never a good fit for corporate life at General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal. Silverman's tenure at the network was more notable for the compelling drama going on in the executive suites than it was for the programming on the air. His brief reign was filled with gossip about missed meetings, a late-night lifestyle and constant fights with agents and producers.

Much of that would have been overlooked if NBC's ratings were better, but the network is still stuck in fourth place in viewers and the key adult demographics that advertisers covet. Silverman wasn't helped by the fact that much of his time as head of NBC Entertainment was marred by labor strife.

"At end of the day, all that matters is results and obviouslyNBC is not where they want to be," said Peter Tortorici, global CEO of GroupM Entertainment, a unit of the large media buying firm GroupM.

Acknowledging that his style didn't mesh at NBC, Silverman said, "being able to create a culture is probably what I'm best suited to do as opposed to trying to change a culture, which is a lot harder than I thought." He added, "In these senior executive jobs you become a manager a lot more than an idea generator."

-- Joe Flint

Photos: Top left: Barry Diller. Credit: Joe Tabacca/Bloomberg. Bottom right: Ben Silverman. Credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Comic-Con roundup: 'True Blood,' 'Lost,' 'Supernatural' and more

Though running low on power, like a laptop left on too long, I thought I'd share a few last Comic-Con thoughts.

The high points of Comic-Con, for me, were three joyous celebrations: of a show that's ending soon, of a show that was canceled, and of a show that got an unexpected reprieve this spring.

The panel for "Lost," which is over in 2010, was an elaborate homage to the show's fans (there's a minute-by-minute account of it on my Twitter feed and a good summary on Alan Sepinwall's site). There were hilarious clips made just for Comic-Con (check out SL-Lost and Get Lost with JOpinionated for fine collections of "Lost"-at-Comic-Con video and interviews). And actors such as Jorge Garcia, Michael Emerson, Nestor Carbornell and Josh Holloway came out to join in the fun (Dominic Monaghan, who just joined the cast of "FlashForward," even appeared for a minute). But to me, the most emotional moment came as 6,800 fans filed out of Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center. A version of "Over the Rainbow" by Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole played over the sound system, which was an appropriate choice for a show that took us to so many fantastical yet emotionally compelling places. I got emotional; this was the last time I'd see "Lost" at Comic-Con. It hit me: The show is really ending. The world won't be the same when it's gone. "The Middleman," an ABC Family show that was canceled after one too-short season, staged a reading of what would have been the show's finale (it was not aired but turned into a comic book). It was sad to think that the show's stupendously talented cast would never be together again, but what a way to go. Their energetic rendition of "The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse" was deliriously enjoyable. One thing that's hard to explain about Comic-Con is the vibe. It's a celebratory place; it has its myriad irritations, but every single person there wants to be there and is enjoying communing with friends they may not see for the rest of the year. The panels are sometimes just big parties, as the "Chuck" session was. It's hard not to feel uplifted when you're in a room with thousands of other people who are ecstatic about the fact that they brought their favorite show back, against all odds. Twenty-four hours after the panel, I'm finding it a little hard to recall what was said at the panel, but I do remember Jeffster! rocking the house. And I remember how much dang fun it all was.

A few bits of news emerged at Comic-Con over the weekend (and some of these things come from my Twitter feed, if you want more on "True Blood," "Middleman," "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" and "Dollhouse," check that out):

Nestor Carbonell, who plays the never-aging Richard Alpert on "Lost," is now a series regular on that show. Previously he had guest-star status. Fans of the "Lost" character Juliet may be happy to know that she will reappear on the show some time during its last season. Felicia Day, who appeared in the unaired episode of "Dollhouse" titled "Epitaph One," will appear in the new season of the Fox show, as will "Buffy" and "Angel" veteran Alexis  Denisof. Summer Glau of "Firefly" may also make an appearance in Season 2. When "24" returns in early 2010, it will be set once again at the Counter Terrorism Unit, but this time, CTU will be set in New York City. Via a clip reel of Seaon 8 scenes, those at the "24" panel at Comic-Con got a glimpse of the new set and it is quite fancy -- a two-story affair full of glass, sleek surfaces and high-tech gizmos. If you like "True Blood," you're in luck. A third-season renewal has not yet been officially announced by HBO yet, but "it will be very soon," executive producer Alan Ball said at a Saturday "True Blood" session. I moderated the "Supernatural" panel on Sunday, and that was very fun. I'll have much more from a post-panel interview with creator Eric Kripke soon, but here are a few bits of news from the panel and from interviews with Kripke and other "Supernatural" folks (check out the SuperWiki for more Comic-Con links, and, by the way, spoilers ahoy): Ellen and Jo Harvelle are back this year as a "hunter duo" (those are executive producer Sera Gamble's words, and I believe the Harvelles are back in Episode 2 of the season). Also back this season are Rufus, Meg, Jessica, Zachariah and Chuck. We'll see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who get around in muscle cars, not on horses. In one episode, Dean takes Castiel to a house of ill repute. The fourth episode, which is being written by executive producer Ben Edlund, will look five years into the future (that story, "our version of '28 Days Later,'" Kripke said, also pays off the "Croatoan" mystery from Season 2). There's an episode that deals with "celebrity ghosts," including, Kripke said, "homicidal ghost Lincoln." Castiel, having been "fired" from heaven, doesn't have the same powers he used to have, and he and the Winchesters are on the run from representatives of both Heaven and Hell. Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino) will be in a couple of episodes at the start of the season but then he won't be around much for a while. There's a big change ahead for Bobby Singer, who's more heavily involved in this season. Finally, Kripke promises that the writers are finding much humor in the Winchesters' attempts to deal with the Apocalypse they've unleashed. "It's a fun Apocalypse," Kripke said in an interview. "I have to give credit to the writers. It doesn't feel grim." Oh and there's this: Kripke is open to doing a sixth season of the show. He'll close out the Season 5 arc that he had envisioned -- he won't stretch that story into a two-year odyssey -- but he says that the conclusion of that story doesn't preclude having a new "chapter" to write about in a potential sixth season.

source: Michael Jackson doc gave him drug before death
LOS ANGELES — A law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation into Michael Jackson's death says the pop star's personal doctor administered the powerful drug that authorities believe killed him.
The Monks: A 'Transatlantic' Gambit Gone Awry

The Translantic Feedback, a documentary about an oddball band of American ex-GIs dressed up like monks and singing bitter songs, is out on DVD at last. Ed Ward explains the appeal of The Monks.

Taylor Hackford elected president of Directors Guild without opposition

Continuing its reputation as the least politicized of Hollywood's unions representing creative talent, the Directors Guild of America has selected Taylor Hackford as its new president without opposition.

Hackford was elected to a two-year term unanimously at the DGA's national convention Saturday, which is held every other year. He was the only candidate nominated after former President Michael Apted chose to step aside after serving for six years.

In a farewell letter posted on the DGA's website, Apted outlined the major challenges that Hackford will face:

Economic news remains grim, Internet piracy threatens our ability to earn a living and the next cycle of negotiations will be upon us before we know it. We are now deep into a digital age that has begun to fundamentally alter the relationship between creators and the audience.

The president of the DGA and other officers are not chosen directly by the guild's 14,000 members but by the 135 delegates they elect to represent them at the convention.

Hackford's directing credits include "Ray," for which he was nominated for an Oscar, "Proof of Life" and "An Officer and a Gentleman." He has been part of the DGA's national board of directors since 2002 and served as third vice president since 2005. He also has been chair of the guild's political action committee.

In a statement, Hackford said that his top legislative priority will be pushing for further government action to combat Internet piracy.

By late next year, however, his energies will undoubtedly turn to the DGA's contract with the Hollywood studios, which expires June 30, 2011. Contracts for the two major acting unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, end at the same time; the Writers Guild of America's pact expires two months earlier.

That sets up another potentially hostile showdown between Hollywood and its creative talent. The WGA went on strike in late 2007 and early 2008, primarily over payments for digital media work. The DGA, under Apted, reached an agreement with the studios during that time that ultimately provided a template for deals struck by the  WGA, SAG and AFTRA.

SAG, which recently has been the most fractious Hollywood guild, is gearing up for a new leadership election between moderates and those who think the latest agreement should have been rejected. Actor Ken Howard on Thursday announced his candidacy for president of SAG as part of a moderate slate.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: Taylord Hackford. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times.

Guinea pigs in 3-D beat Harry Potter at the box office
LOS ANGELES — An elite squad of guinea pigs has worked its own brand of magic at the box office, taking the No.
Micro-Sculptures Fit In The Eye Of A Needle

How many miniature figures of the Obama family can fit in the eye of a needle? All of them. They were created by micro-sculptor Willard Wigan. Wigan speaks with host Liane Hansen about his small world.

Opening day: Guinea pigs beating 'Potter' at the box office

Opening day: Guinea pigs beating 'Potter' at the box office

Forget about the "Half-Blood Prince." Harry Potter's most powerful foe is turning out to be a bunch of superpowered guinea pigs.

Disney's "G-Force" scored a surprise first place at the box office Friday, selling $11.5 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada. That sets it up for a solid weekend performance of about $35 million.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," meanwhile, is continuing to sputter at the box office after its strong start. The sixth film starring the teenage wizard fell 65% from its opening Friday to $9.3 million. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," by contrast, which also opened on a July Wednesday, fell under 61% on its second Friday in 2007.

"Potter" is in a tight race for second place this weekend with Sony's romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth," which earned a healthy $10.8 million on its opening day. Because family films tend to do better at weekend matinees than an R-rated picture like "The Ugly Truth," both movies are on track to gross about $30 million through Sunday.

Horror film "Orphan," which Warner Bros. is distributing for Dark Castle Entertainment, made $4.9 million on its opening day and should take in about about $13 million for the weekend, a so-so start for the low-budget picture.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: "G-Force." Credit: Disney Enterprises

Quick Bite: Eating cheap at Ikea in East Palo Alto
You can hate crowds, umlauts and assembling your own furniture. But you can't hate those meatballs.

Ashton Kutcher on Twitter, bypassing the media, and Mischa Barton

Ashton Kutcher on Twitter, bypassing the media, and Mischa Barton

Actor and producer Ashton Kutcher was the eye candy at Fortune magazine's Brainstorm Tech conference in Pasadena, but he also showed a keen grasp of social networking and provided some insights in his desire to get more followers than CNN on Twitter.

"If one individual could have as much influence on a social network as a media conglomerate, I thought that was pretty profound," Kutcher said. "Consumers of media are becoming the creators and editors of media," he added.

Kutcher, who has also built a successful TV production company, Katalyst Media, said he wants to "successfully syndicate content on a social media platform so we will have a leg up when the convergence actually takes place."

As for the role Twitter plays in allowing the actor, whose with wife Demi Moore is a favorite of the tabloids, to bypass the media, Kutcher said, "I don't have to rely on People magazine or Us Weekly, who are going to twist what I'm doing."

Having said that, he provided an update on actress Mischa Barton, who is in Katalyst's "The Beautiful Life" on the CW and who was recently hospitalized. "I can tell you right now Mischa Barton is doing great -- I can give that to my audience straight and have a direct conversation without the filter."

-- Joe Flint

Conversation, music, wine, food and sublime atmosphere at Carmel Bach Festival
Now in its 72nd season, this outpost for performances of music by J.S. Bach and his successors is a magnet for the 25,000 or so culture mavens who descend on Carmel-by-the-Sea for this annual tribute, running through Aug. 1.
Comic Con Is More Than Fan Boy's Feast

The annual Comic Con in San Diego started out as a comic book convention and expanded to graphic novels, comic-inspired films, television series and games of all sorts. It's now all about standing in line to see stars, writers, graphic artists and gaming geniuses.

CULTURE-AUSTRALIA: Film on ‘Slavery’ Ignites Controversy
SYDNEY, Jul 24 (IPS)‘Stolen’, an Australian documentary film that premiered at the Sydney Film Festival last month, has ignited a controversy with its claims on slavery in the refugee camps of Western Sahara. The main protagonist has denounced the film for her portrayal as a 'slave’, but the filmmakers say they stand by their version of the story "one hundred per cent".

AOL's Tim Armstrong begins charm offensive to repair service's image

 

Let's start with the burning question on everyone's lips: Why would a senior executive leave Google to take the helm at America Online, the 25-year-old Internet company that Silicon Valley has discounted as a has-been?

The response may befuddle the tech-obsessed, who have turned their attention to instant publishing platform Twitter and sprawling social network Facebook.

"AOL is in a very good space to be a player in the future of the Internet," Armstrong said at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference in Pasadena.

Huh?

Armstrong wants to use AOL's still-sizable online audience (106.5 million visitors in June, according to comScore) to compete against Yahoo, Microsoft and Google on display advertising. He'll use the information gleaned over the last quarter century to provide targeted ads -- and try to capitalize on AOL's "massive investments" in advertising networks to compete for banner ads.

This, Armstrong argues, will position AOL for the day when the advertising market recovers from the current recession.

"Every corporation, they have two dump truck loads of money," Armstrong said. Advertisers will decide how much money to send down "Traditional Media Lane" and how much will head for the Internet. "My guess is they put more money in the Internet truck. And AOL has a big house -- a nice property -- on that lane. Can we get the trucks to stop?"

As part of making AOL an appealing destination for advertisers, Armstrong said he would emphasize specialized content -- although he didn't volunteer much by way of specifics. The company will drag its MapQuest service into the modern era, incorporating local information, he said, and find new ways to unlock value from AOL's communications stalwarts, including e-mail and AOL's Instant Messenger.

Armstrong has also decided to hang on to some assets AOL had planned to sell, including video search engine Truveo. Bebo, the social network that AOL acquired last year for $850 million, will exist as a separate entity run under AOL Ventures.

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo: AOL Chairman and Chief Executive Tim Armstrong. Credit: Fortune magazine

Vipul Doggy Dogg
This massive mass of man, fat, beer and muscle was, once-upon-a-time, simply known as "the loudest man on radio."
Quick Bite: Eating cheap at Ikea in East Palo Alto
You can hate crowds, umlauts and assembling your own furniture. But you can't hate those meatballs.
'In The Loop': Wartime Fever As Screwball Tragedy

A blistering British political satire, In The Loop plays bureaucratic bungling in the run-up to war for scabrous laughs — not a few of which will be pained laughs of recognition.

Want a better spot on the dial in New York City? Open up your wallet.

The price of real estate is rising in New York â€" at least on the TV dial.

Time Warner Cable just rejiggered its lineup of channels in the Big Apple on its cable systems, and the cost of moving to a better neighborhood is pretty steep. According to people familiar with this dance, it is not unheard of for a cable network to pay Time Warner Cable as much as $5 million annually for what it considers to be a good channel position in New York City, which is the nation's No. 1 TV market and home to all the top advertising agencies.

Although it may seem anachronistic in the age of digital video recorders and remote controls, channel position still matters. Being lower on the dial is better than being higher, and being adjacent to other similarly themed channels beats being banished to cable Siberia.

In this latest shift, News Corp.'s FX has jumped from channel 37 to 10, which had been occupied by CNN, which now goes to 78. Unfortunately for CNN, that's not a great neighborhood. Most of the channels in the 70-80 part of the dial are New York City access channels.

Also on the move is NBC Universal's Oxygen, which jumped from 61 to 12. That slot had been occupied by Lifetime, which is moving to 62. Its new neighbor there will be Turner's Cartoon Network, which hardly seems like an ideal fit. Cartoon, FYI, had been on channel 22 and was bumped to make room for the Discovery Kids, which is now co-owned by Hasbro and getting a makeover for a relaunch.

The move of several Time Warner-owned networks by a cable system owned by the recently spun-off Time Warner Cable has led many to joke that old family ties don't count for much anymore. However, Time Warner Cable did not move TNT or TBS, so draw your own conclusions.

The losers in all this are the viewers who every few years have to relearn the dial.

â€" Joe Flint

Photo: Empire State Building and Chrysler Building. Credit: Richard Drew/Associated Press

The Watcher at Comic-Con
Maureen Ryan's Twitter feed

San Jose Civic returns as full-time music venue
The city and a Los Angeles concert promoter are teaming up to make the venerable San Jose Civic Auditorium into a South Bay alternative to San Francisco's Warfield theater and Oakland's Paramount Theatre.
In 'Funny People,' Lessons In Living And Dying

Writer and director Judd Apatow talks about his new film Funny People, starring his former roommate Adam Sandler.

[Updated] Haim Saban's ex-tax lawyer sues mogul, seeks $36 million sitting in Austrian bank

Updated with Saban statement at bottom.

Media mogul Haim Saban, who paid the government about $250 million to settle charges of tax evasion, is now in a battle over the $36-million commission his tax lawyer got for putting Saban in the illegal tax shelter in the first place.

Saban, pictured at right, is accused in a civil suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by his former tax lawyer, Matthew Krane, of trying to take the commission that Krane received from the Quellos Group, a Seattle-based investment firm that cooked up the illegal tax shelter scheme. Krane parked the money in an Austrian bank, and Saban last year filed a suit there laying claim to the money that has effectively frozen the assets.

Krane, once a powerful Hollywood lawyer and the brother of movie producer Jonathan Krane, is not exactly an angel himself -- he has spent the last year in a federal holding pen in Los Angeles on charges of identity theft and passport fraud. He has since been hit with a money laundering charge as well. When the IRS searched Krane's home in 2008, the agency found methamamphetamine as well as materials to fake a passport.

The origins of this tawdry battle stem from the sale of Fox Family Channel from Saban and News Corp. to Walt Disney Co. in 2001 for $5.2 billion. Saban made a capital gain of $1.5 billion on that sale and Krane was tapped to minimize Saban's pain. He turned to Quellos Group, which manged to turn Saban's gain into a loss until the the government jumped in and charged Quellos Group with tax fraud.

A spokeswoman for Saban called Krane's suit "frivolous" and said it is a "transparent attempt to distract from Mr. Saban's right to recover the money stolen from him by Mr. Krane.

-- Joe Flint

Photo credit: Nati Harnik / Associated Press

The Star Report: Did Obama's mom jeans prevent him from throwing a strike? Plus, Susan Boyle, Jackson Brown
One might have thought that the most cringy part of President Barack Obama's performance on the mound before last week's All Star game was that his delivery of the first pitch had absolutely no mustard on it.
Dane Cook's half brother arraigned on new charges

Sister-in-law accused of stealing from Dane Cook

Movies opening this week

AMC looks to turn art into cash

AMC, which last week broke its own year-old record by earning 23 Emmy Award nominations, is translating that critical success to its bottom line. The cable network, which for years ran nothing but movies and onlystarted carrying commercials in 2001, has done a remarkable job ofremaking itself.

But it hasn't been cheap. Rerunning "Cool Hand Luke" afew dozen times may cost only $300,000, but producing a season of "MadMen" and "Breaking Bad" is more like $30 million. The network isn't resting on its laurels. It has another pricey series-- the political thriller  "Rubicon" -- in the works next summer and amini-series remake of "The Prisoner" for November.

AMC, owned by Cablevision Systems Corp.'s Rainbow Media, has already seen strong growth in ad revenue. Charlie Collier, president and general manager of AMC says the network's ad dollars have grown by 50% since 2006 when it first started its push into original programming. While Collierwouldn't cough up real numbers, industry research firm SNL Kagan saysAMC took in about $208 million in ad revenue last year, compared to$144 million in 2005.

The next challenge for AMC is to get distributors to pay more to carry the channel. According to Kagan, AMC gets about 23 cents per-subscriber from cable and satellite operators. That's a far cry from the more than 40 cents per-subscriber that FX and USA pull in.

AMC may have to get Don Draper of "Mad Men" out there to personally sell the network if it wants to play in that league. For starters, even though its shows are critical favorites and award winners, they do not get the ratings of shows such as "The Closer" on TNT, FX's "Rescue Me" and USA's "Burn Notice."

Furthermore, like most cable networks, AMC's deals with its distributors are staggered. In other words, they don't all come up at once. The plus side to that is if a network is struggling, it doesn't face of slew of cable and satellite operators looking to lower the price. The downside is if a network is hot, as is the case with AMC, a lot of distributors still have sweet deals.

AMC recently wrapped up long-term deals with cable giants Comcast and Cox that helped it boost its distribution fee and will soon start talking with satellite broadcaster DirecTV. Collier would only say that with success comes a "better position" and "better deals."

For Don Draper's sake, let's hope so.

-- Joe Flint

Photo credits: Top: Charlie Collier. Credit: AMC. Bottom: Jon Hamm as Don Draper. Credit: Associated Press

Question time, part 2: Help me out at San Diego Comic-Con

On Wednesday, I head west for San Diego Comic-Con. Come 6 p.m. that day, I'll be prowling the main floor, checking out the wares and also seeing how people in Ballroom 20 are responding to "V," "Human Target" and "Vampire Diaries," three shows that are screening their pilots that evening.

Of course, the main Comic-Con action takes place Thursday through Sunday. There are a ton of panels featuring comic-book artists, writers, directors, film actors and so forth, but obviously I'll be focusing on the TV panels that will be taking place.

You can follow my coverage on this site (I'll most likely be doing longer blog posts at night, and everything with the Comic-Con label will be collected here), and also on my Twitter feed, where I'll be posting frequent updates during the day. By the way, sister site Zap2it.com will be covering Comic-Con like crazy, be sure to check out that site for live team coverage of the San Diego madness.

So anyway, dear readers, I'd like to ask for your help. There will be press conferences and media events backstage, at which I might be able to ask questions. I've also been able to line up a couple of one-on-one interviews (I'm not going to say with whom, for fear of jinxing things).

If you have a question about the shows listed below, leave it in comments. I can't guarantee that I'll use your question, but you never know, I might. And it'll be helpful to know what fans of particular shows are most concerned about and interested in.

A special shout-out to "Supernatural" fans: I'll be moderating that show's Comic-Con panel on Sunday. So please spread the word in the "Supernatural" fandom that I'm taking questions for Eric Kripke, Sera Gamble, Ben Edlund, Misha Collins and Jim Beaver. Of course I will have more than a few questions of my own, but fan input is most welcome.

A couple of notes: Please keep the questions short and sweet.

And please, only leave questions about the following shows. I will be attending various panels during Comic-Con, but I will (maybe) have the opportunity to ask questions of the some of the people who bring us these programs:

"Lost""Chuck""Supernatural""Burn Notice""Caprica""Battlestar Galactica: The Plan"

Thank you!

Movies opening this week
"(500) Days of Summer" (PG-13): A romantic comedy about a boy with a broken heart and the girl who broke it.
Living History At Lincoln's Summer Retreat

A country home on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., provided a respite and a summer getaway for a president mired in the Civil War.

After big midnight shows, 'Half-Blood Prince' performs just like 'Order of the Phoenix'

After big midnight shows, 'Half-Blood Prince' performs just like 'Order of the Phoenix'

In the end, there were more hard-core muggles but not a big, new crop of moviegoers.

"HarryPotter and the Half-Blood Prince" earned a studio-estimated $159.7million in its first five days in the U.S. and Canada, another strongstart for the series and a modest jump from the $139.7 million that itspredecessor "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" opened to inJuly 2007.

Overseas, "Half-Blood Prince" was bigger, earning$237 million in 54 foreign territories. Although comparisons aredifficult due to ticket-price inflation as well as the mix of countries where movies open, it's clearly one of the biggest internationalstarts of all time. "Order of the Phoenix" launched in 44 foreignterritories and earned $193 million in its first five days.

Worldwideticket sales for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" were a massive$396.7 million, a very healthy debut even given the sizable $250million that Warner Bros. spent on production and $155 million tomarket and distribute the picture around the globe.

Many close observers of the box office had expected an even bigger domestic launch for"Harry," however, after it soared past previous records for midnightshows on its opening day, selling $22.2 million worth of tickets domestically.The previous record was $18.5 million for "The Dark Knight" last year."Order of the Phoenix" earned only $12 million from its debut midnightshowings. Based on that, it looked like the new "Potter" had a shot atbreaking the record for a five-day opening starting on a Wednesday of$200.1 million that "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" set lastmonth.

After the big late-night start, however, "Half-BloodPrince" quickly settled into a box-office performance that almostmirrored "Order of the Phoenix." After accounting for a rise in ticket prices of about  8% over the last two years, theremaining advantage for the new film can be attributed to earningsfrom its midnight debut.

It seems, in other words, that as thedevoted fan base for the series has aged over the years, there are moreteenagers and young adults eager to wait in line for the first shows.But beyond them, Warners' huge market campaign essentially brought outthe same audience that came to the last "Harry Potter" movie.

Theaudience for "Half-Blood Prince" was slightly older than for previous filmsin the series but, otherwise, nearly identical. Once again, audiencesloved the movie, giving it an average grade of "A-," according to marketresearch firm CinemaScore. The picture is likely on its way to a finalgross similar to that of "Order of the Phoenix": $292 milliondomestically and $646.2 million overseas.

Universal and financierMedia Rights Capital felt the pain of a bad audience reaction as"Bruno" plummeted 73% on its second weekend. That's the biggest dropfor any film this year and more evidence, along with the CinemaScore of"C," that moviegoers simply don't like the second partially improvisedfarce from Sacha Baron Cohen.

Still, "Bruno" has grossed $49.6 million domestically and $46 million overseas, a decent totalgiven that Universal paid $42.5 million for distribution rights in theU.S. and most major foreign countries.

Though no other new movies dared challenge "Harry Potter" nationwidethis weekend, "500 Days of Summer" had a fantastic start at 27 theatersin 10 cities. The indie romantic comedy sold $837,500 worth of tickets,giving it a strong average of $31,000 at each location. Accordingto Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of distribution for FoxSearchlight, the picture sold out nearly every show at its fourtheaters in Los Angeles.

Next weekend, it expands to a total ofabout 80 theaters in 17 new cities. "500 Days" will continue to growfrom there until it's playing across the country on Aug. 7.

SummitEntertainment's war drama "The Hurt Locker" also continues to performsolidly in limited release, having earned $2.2 million over four weeks,during which it has expanded to a total of 93 theaters.

Here's alist of the top 10 movies at the box office in the U.S. and Canada,based on data provided by the studios and Hollywood.com:

1. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Warner Bros.): $79.5 million for the weekend, $159.7 million since it opened Wednesday.

2. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs"(Fox): $17.7 million, down only 36% despite the competition forfamilies from "Harry Potter." Domestic gross is now $152 million.

3. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (Paramount): $13.75 million, down 43% on its fourth weekend. Domestic total is $363.9 million.

4. "Bruno"(Universal/Media Rights Capital): Plummeted 73% on its second weekendto $8.4 million. Total ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada are $49.6million.

5. "The Hangover" (Warner Bros./Legendary):Continues to hold on very strong, dropping only 16% to $8.3 million onits seventh weekend. Domestic total: $235.9 million.

6. "The Proposal"(Disney): Also showing strength at the box office, the romantic comedyfell just 22% on its fifth weekend to $8.3 million. Total ticket salesin the U.S. and Canada are $128.1 million.

7. "Public Enemies" (Universal/Relativity): $7.6 million on its third weekend, a drop of 45%. Domestic total: $79.5 million.

8. "Up"(Disney): $3.1 million, down 33% on its eighth weekend. The latestPixar animated feature has grossed $279.6 million in theU.S. and Canada.

9. "My Sister's Keeper" (Warner Bros./New Line): Declined 34% on its fourth weekend to $2.8 million. Total ticket sales domestically: $41.5 million.

10. "I Love You, Beth Cooper" (Fox): $2.7 million, a drop of 46% on its second weekend. Domestic total is $10.3 million.

-- Ben Fritz

RELATED:

'HarryPotter' opens to $58.4 million; evening slowdown keeps it from beating'Transformers' [Updated with international ticket sales]

Harry Potter breaks Hollywood's midnight ticket sales record

Photos: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens in L.A.

Review: Kenneth Turan on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Read more "Harry Potter" coverage on Hero Complex

Photos, from top:Daniel Radcliffe and Bonnie Wright in "Harry Potter and the Half-BloodPrince." Credit: Warner Bros. Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levittin "500 Days of Summer." Credit: Chuck Zlotnick / Fox SearchlightPictures

Concert review: Kenny Chesney is a pro, but his show at AT&T Park was a bit of a bummer
The country star delivered his stock 90-minute show and wrapped things up at 10:40 p.m. Throw in overtaxed restrooms, less-than-helpful security, sonic shortcomings and decidedly untropical weather, and this stop on the Sun City Carnival tour was a disappointment.

'Harry Potter' headed toward $160-million five-day opening

After a eye-popping, record-breaking $22.2-million midnight debut, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is starting to look like, well, a "Harry Potter" movie.

The sixth film in Warner Bros.' series based on the bestselling books sold $26.8 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada on Friday, according to the studio, bringing its domestic total since opening Wednesday to $107 million.

Its Friday gross was just 4% more than the last movie in the series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which is a bit less than the increase in ticket prices since that film opened two years ago. Assuming it follows the same path as "Phoenix," "Half-Blood Prince" will likely gross about $80 million for the weekend and $160 million over its first five days.

"Order of the Phoenix" earned $139.7 million in its first five days in July 2007.

The last movie also grossed $193 million during the same time period overseas. After earning $48.9 million on its first day internationally, "Half-Blood Prince" could earn a little more than that.

-- Ben Fritz

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RIP Walter Cronkite

News emerged late Friday that Walter Cronkite died.

In an era when the role of the news media changes every day, it's worth remembering the example Cronkite set. The word "legend" is thrown around a lot, but Cronkite deserved it.

“Walter’s early lessons would be well keptin mind by all of us who have followed him. And that is to keep it on the news.Tell people what happened that day, keep it short, keep it direct, and keep itaccurate,” "ABC World News" anchor Charlie Gibson said in a CBS press release issued late Friday. 

President Barack Obama said this in the CBS release: "He brought us allthose stories large and small which would come to define the 20th Century.That's why we love Walter, because in an era before blogs and e/mail cellphones and cable, he was the news. Walter invited us to believe in him, and henever let us down.”

CBS will air "That's the Way It Was: Remembering Walter Cronkite," a tribute to the man who for many years defined CBS' newsgathering operation, 6 p.m. Central Sunday.

Below are links to some Cronkite obituaries and appreciations:

Legendary Chicago reporter Robert Feder, one of my journalism heroes, reflects on Cronkite's legacy. Robert Lloyd in the Los Angeles TimesRoger Ebert on the end of what Cronkite stood for: "When he left the air, something else was already leaving the air: Asense of probity, of caution, of fact-checking, of restraint anddecency. What did he make of these latter years of breathless nonstoparound-the-clock cable news, with its shouters, its opinions, its faketeases, its blizzards of computer graphics, its obsession with trashylives led in public?"Writer/director Ken Levine: "Name me one person, anybody, who could be called the most trusted man in America now. I can’t think of one either."Tribune newspapersThe New York TimesTVGuide.comA CBS obituary is at the end of this post

Media Decoder has a group of Cronkite's most famous reports. The one below comes from the day of John F. Kennedy's death. Reports are coming in from all over, chaos reins and yet Cronkite is as calm as can be. His voice becomes thick as the awful truth emerges, but Cronkite never stops doing his job.

CBS' full press release on Cronkite's death, which includes quotes from President Barack Obama, former president Bill Clinton, CBS anchor Katie Couric and others, is below.

CBS NEWS PAYSTRIBUTE TO WALTER CRONKITE IN THE PRIMETIME SPECIAL “THAT’S THE WAYIT WAS: REMEMBERINGWALTER CRONKITE,”

ON SUNDAY, JULY 19AT 7:00PM ET ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

 

“WALTERINVITED US TO BELIEVE IN HIM, AND HE NEVER LET US DOWN,” SAYS PRESIDENTBARACK OBAMA

 

Legendary Newsman IsAlso Honored With Remembrances From Such Luminaries As, Mike Wallace, MorleySafer, Katie Couric,

Ted Koppel, DianeSawyer, Brian Williams, George Clooney, Robin Williams, Spike Lee and Many More

 

CBS News will honor the legendary anchorman WalterCronkite who passed away on Friday, July 17, 2009 at the age of 92 with theprimetime special THAT’S THE WAY IT WAS: REMEMBERING WALTER CRONKITE tobe broadcast on Sunday, July 19 at 7:00PM ET on the CBS Television Network.

 

Considered by so many in this country to be the “mosttrusted man in America,”Cronkite was the biggest name in television news through whom generations ofAmericans witnessed history. This sentiment is echoed by some of the biggestnames in politics, news and entertainment â€" including President Barack Obama,CBS News colleagues Mike Wallace, Morley Safer and Don Hewitt, Katie Couric,George Clooney, Robin Williams and Spike Leewho each share their ownmemories of the industry’s elder statesman as part of THAT’S THEWAY IT WAS.

 

“Walter Cronkite represents the best of CBS Newsand the journalism profession as a whole,” says Sean McManus, PresidentCBS News and Sports. “With a rare combination of confidence andfamiliarity, Walter left a personal mark on the most powerful stories of the 20thcentury â€" from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, to spacelaunches and the Vietnam War. His presence on screen was incomparable.”

 

The luminaries featured in THAT’S THE WAY IT WASare a testament to Walter Cronkite’s personal and professional integrity.Among the sentiments shared are:

 

President Barack Obama:

“He brought us allthose stories large and small which would come to define the 20th century.That's why we love Walter, because in an era before blogs and e/mail cellphones and cable, he was the news. Walter invited us to believe in him, and henever let us down.”

 

Don Hewitt, Executive Producer of CBS News, Creator of60 MINUTES:

“Americahad a love affair with Walter Cronkite.”

 

Katie Couric, Anchor, THE CBS EVENING NEWS:

“There is something that is so quintessentiallyAmerican about Walter Cronkite…his honesty and candor in difficulttimes…if someone has integrity, to me, that is the finest attribute theycan have. That means honor at a time when so many people are dishonorable. Ithink Walter Cronkite was and will always be the personification of thosequalities.”

 

Mickey Hart, Drummer of the Grateful Dead:

“He was a freedom fighter and he was an honest,truthful guy that used his power while he was here on earth well, he was forthe good… It just so happens that everybody’s trust was put in theright place.  That’s the lucky part of all this.”

 

President Bill Clinton:

“The passing of the years did not diminish asnearly as I could tell, one iota, his interest in, and love for his country andhis desire to see the world get better.”

 
George Clooney, Actor/Director:

“His legacy will be one of the great legacies ofgreat Americans. It sounds overstated, but it isn’t. He’s thatimportant to us. Not just to generations before him but to generations comingup… That’s probably good that there will never be a most trustedman in Americaagain because if we’re not lucky enough to get Walter Cronkite, then wemight be in a lot of trouble.”

 

Brian Williams, Anchor and Managing Editor,“NBC Nightly News”:

“Walter got early on that this job is part handholding, so that all of us in this line of work â€" who on days like 9/11have been forced into any kind of explanatory role â€" Walter is with youwhether you see him in the studio or not!”

 

Andy Rooney, Correspondent, 60 MINUTES:
“He was the best newsman, he was just dedicated to news, he really caredabout what the news was and he thought it was important to tell it to theAmerican people, it’s that simple.”

 

Charlie Gibson, Anchor, ABC “World News”:

“Walter’s early lessons would be well keptin mind by all of us who have followed him. And that is to keep it on the news.Tell people what happened that day, keep it short, keep it direct, and keep itaccurate.”

 

Robin Williams, Actor/Comedian:

“[Walter] was a man of integrity at a time whenwe needed it. At a time when we still need it. A man, a legacy of someone whobelieves in the first amendment as being one of the prime directives ofdemocracy, but also of civilization. The idea of speaking out, and speakingdirectly.”

 

Diane Sawyer, Co-Anchor, ABC’s “GoodMorning America” and “Primetime Live”:

“You miss these people who stand above thehorizon a little bit and remind you where to look. You miss people who seem tostand not just for something, but stand for us.”

 

Morley Safer, Correspondent, 60 MINUTES:

“What I miss about Walter is that 2:30, 3:30 inthe morning, ‘let’s have another drink. Let’s find anotherfriendly saloon’…Jokes. Not the more do-er first amendment man, itwas that wonderful, fun loving, life loving kid really.”

 

SusanZirinsky is the executive producer of THAT’S THE WAY IT WAS: REMEMBERINGWALTER CRONKITE.

CBS' obituary/release is below.

CBS’SWALTER CRONKITE, TELEVISION NEWS ICON,

 ISDEAD AT 92

 

           Walter Cronkite, the CBS newsman so revered by Americans that they consideredhim the “most trusted man in America,” died today.  He was92 and had homes in New York and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. 

 

Cronkite was the biggestname in television news, the king of the anchormen; in fact, he was thereporter for whom the term “anchorman” was coined.  He gave upthat role 28 years ago, but never lost the weight and respect it accorded him,living the rest of his life as the industry’s distinguished elderstatesman.

 

           As anchor and managing editor of the CBS EVENING NEWS from 1962 to 1981,Cronkite became the symbol of CBS News and the face two generations ofAmericans associate with some of the biggest stories of the 20thcentury.  Speaking in a calm, authoritative voice with a screen presence thatexuded confidence and familiarity, Cronkite formed a bond with Americans bybringing stories such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, spacelaunches and the Vietnam War into their living rooms.  The bond was sostrong that Americans polled in 1973 chose him â€" by a 16 percent marginover the nearest competitor â€" as the “most trusted” publicfigure in the country.  He still enjoyed that status 22 years lateraccording to a poll published in TV Guide in1995, nearly 15 years afterrelinquishing his anchor chair.

 

            No doubt aware of the power that came with such respect, Cronkite neverexploited it. Though it was suggested many times that he run for public office,he knew it would be devastating to journalism if reporters decided tocapitalize politically on their popularity.

 

           Cronkite’s popularity was growing for 10 years before he took over the15-minute CBS EVENING NEWS from longtime anchor Douglas Edwards on April 16,1962. The next year, on Sept. 2, 1963, Cronkite’s news became the firsthalf-hour network weeknight news broadcast.  In an effort to punctuate thelonger broadcast and personalize it in the process that first night, Cronkiteconceived and delivered for the first time his iconic sign-off, “Andthat’s the way it is.”  It didn’t happen overnight, butthe CBS EVENING NEWS WITH WALTER CRONKITE eventually overcame NBC’s“Huntley-Brinkley Report” in the ratings and became the televisionnews broadcast of record.

 

Cronkite became one ofthe first nationally recognized television reporters and the model for theelectronic news term “anchorman” when he reported from the 1952Republican Convention in Chicago. There, executives decided he would assume the crucial role on the teamreporting the event, a role likened to the anchor spot on a track relay team.Cronkite remained the CBS News “anchor” for conventions andelections until 1980.

 

If the Kennedyassassination was the birth of modern television news, then Cronkite wasmidwife at an event that drew an entire nation to the still-novel medium. Itwas Cronkite, removing his glasses to wipe a tear, who first reported thepresident’s death on television and the man the country watched for muchof the four commercial-free days that CBS News remained on the air -- coveragesome credit with helping to hold together an anxious nation in the midst of theCold War.

 

No other network coveredthe space program as thoroughly as CBS News, and Cronkite, openly enthusiasticover its advances, became inextricably linked to it and is often credited withbeing the program’s biggest booster.  “Old Iron Pants,”as Cronkite was known for being unflappable on live television, stayed on theair all but three of 27 hours of the Apollo XI lunar walk coverage.  Headmitted late in his life that he was so awed when Neil Armstrong landed on themoon that, for once, he was at a loss for words and merely uttered “Whew.Oh boy.”

 

           Another story Cronkite seemed to make a personal mark on was Vietnam, also a baptism fortelevision news.  Despite the graphic images of death and destructiontypical in America’sfirst televised war, he, like most Americans, seemed to support theconflict.  After the bloody Tet Offensive of 1968 signaled a longer war,Cronkite decided to see for himself.  He returned from Vietnam believing the war to be aquagmire and, in a rare editorial moment during a CBS News Special Report onTet, told Americans as much.  President Lyndon Johnson, watching thebroadcast, is said to have told his press secretary that if he had lostCronkite he had lost the American public. Indeed, public opinion for the war,already shifting, plummeted.

 

           Cronkite’s decision to cover the Watergate story also influenced thepublic and created a problem for a president.  Heeding the drumbeat ofcoverage in the New York Times, Washington Post andthe Los Angeles Times, Cronkitetold the whole story in a two-part investigation on THE CBS EVENING NEWS.Cronkite’s Emmy-winning report was the first to put all the facts in thestory together in one place and elevated the controversy to a new level ofawareness, drawing an angry call from the Nixon White House to CBS ChairmanWilliam Paley.

 

           Another example of Cronkite’s reporting having influence on news eventswas when he interviewed Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat in 1977 and asked himif he would be willing to visit Israel. The two countries were stilltechnically at war and the interview led to a peace treaty. 

 

           Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was born in St. Joseph, Mo., on Nov.4, 1916, to Walter Leland Cronkite, a dentist, and the former Helen LenaFritsche.  He became fascinated with journalism in high school, writingfor his high school paper and getting a summer job with the The Houston Post, a paper he wrote for andoccasionally delivered, too.  He then attended the Universityof Texas at Austin for two years while juggling writingjobs for the Houston Press andScripps-Howard as a state capitol reporter. He dropped out after two years topursue his journalism and broadcasting interests that also included working asa sports announcer for a radio station in Oklahoma City before joining the United Press in 1937.

 

           In 1940, he married Mary Elizabeth Maxwell, whom he met at KCMO radio in Kansas City, Mo.He and “Betsy” had three children: Nancy, Kathy and Walter (Chip),who survive him, along with four grandsons.  Mrs. Cronkite died in Marchof 2005.

 

Cronkite became a warcorrespondent for United Press when World War II broke out, landing with theinvading Allied troops in North Africa, covering the battle of the NorthAtlantic in 1942 and taking part in the Normandybeachhead assaults.  He landed in Hollandby glider with the 101st Airborne Division in 1944 and later was with Gen.Patton's Third Army covering the Battleof the Bulge.  He was one of the first newsmen to fly on Bâ€'17 raidsover Germany launched from England. While in London,he met legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow, who offered him a job as a radiocorrespondent.

 

Cronkite turned down theopportunity to be one of “Murrow’s Boys” when his boss atUnited Press countered Murrow’s offer with a modest raise he felt obligedto take. He went on to cover the German surrender, the Nurembergtrials and re-open several bureaus in Europe before becoming chiefcorrespondent for United Press in Moscow.

 

The next timeMurrow offered, Cronkite jumped at the chance to cover the Korean War for CBSNews and joined its Washingtonbureau in 1950. He never got to Korea,however, as a temporary role anchoring the news for the CBS local televisionstation, WTOP, showed off talents CBS News brass thought would be betteremployed as a Washingtoncorrespondent. This led to news division head Sig Mickelson picking Cronkite tolead convention and election coverage â€" the start of the central role hewould play in CBS News for the next 30 years.

           

In 1954, theup-and-coming Cronkite was asked to move to New York to be host of CBS’s“The Morning Show,” to answer NBC’s “Today Show”success. Some felt he looked awkward in the role and he was soon replaced byJack Paar. Cronkite then found a more comfortable niche in other programs,serving as narrator and host of such early CBS News staples as “You AreThere,” “Eyewitness to History” and “The 20thCentury.”  He also anchored and reported for documentaries under the“CBS Reports” banner â€" a role he continued throughout hiscareer.

 

To much fanfare, Cronkitestepped down from his anchor duties on March 6, 1981 to allow Dan Rather totake his place. He became a special correspondent and hosted several acclaimedCBS documentary programs, including the Emmyâ€'Award winning“Children of Apartheid” and the CBS News science magazine series“Walter Cronkite's Universe.”   He also appeared on PBS,most notably as host of the New Year’s Eve Vienna Philharmonic Concert,and was a special correspondent for CNN and NPR.   In 1993 he coâ€'foundedThe Cronkite Ward Company, which has produced more than 40 awardâ€'winningdocumentary hours for The Discovery Channel, PBS and other networks.

 

 In 1985, Cronkitewas inducted into the Academy of Television Arts andSciences Hall of Fame. He won four Peabodyawards for excellence in broadcasting over his career and won virtually everyelectronic journalism award in existence during his tenure, including the duPont Columbia,George Polk and Emmy awards.  Cronkite twice won the Radio &Television News

 

Directors’Association’s highest honor, the Paul White award, a distinction sharedby only one other, the late Dr. Frank Stanton, former CBS president.  In1981 Walter Cronkite was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedomthehighest honor a U.S.civilian can receive.

 

           Cronkite donated his personal papers to the Universityof Texas at Austin.  He allowed his name to be puton an endowment for Arizona State University’sjournalism school, now called the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and MassCommunication and on the University of Southern California'sAnnenberg Award for excellence in television political journalism.

 

Cronkite Ward Company, incollaboration with CBS and The Discovery Channel, produced his video memoirsentitled “Cronkite Remembers.”  A twoâ€'hour special wasaired in May 1996, and a longer version, an eightâ€'hour series, appearedon The Discovery Channel.

 

CBS News feted Cronkitein 2000 on his 50th anniversary with the Network.  Industryluminaries joined Cronkite at the Freedom Forum in New York to recollect 50 moments from hisincredible career, each picked by Cronkite himself.  His distinctive voicecould still be heard on television up until his death, introducing the CBSEVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC and on AARP’s Retirement LivingTelevision.

 

Cronkite was anadventurer. Before taking up long-distance sailing as he became older, hecompeted as an amateur racecar driver, racing with the Lotus team at Limerock, CT, and theLancia team at Sebring, Fla., in the late 1950s.  Later,Cronkite recorded his experiences sailing from the Chesapeake Bay to Key West in his book Southby Southeast (Oxmoor House, 1983), covered the Northeast coast in North by Northeast (Oxmoor House, 1986)and recounted his sailing tour of America's West Coast in Westwind (Oxmoor House, 1990). Cronkite’s first book, Eye on theWorld (Cowles, 1971), is an edited compendium of CBS News’reporting on the major trends and stories of 1970, for which he providedanalysis and commentary.  Another, AReporter’s Life (Knopf),was a best-seller in 1996.  His last book, Around America, a reprinting of his three prior sailingadventures on America’scoastlines, was published by Norton in 2001.

 

He was active in severalcharities, including: Citizens for Global Solutions, Committee to ProtectJournalists, Common Cause, Drug Policy Alliance, Interfaith Alliance, HeiferProject, and People for the American Way. Cronkite was named Honorary NationalCommodore in 1977 by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

 

 

 

For photos of Cronkitethrough the years, follow the link below.  If hi-res versions of theseimages are needed for print publication, go to www.cbspressexpress.comor contact neichenbaum@cbs.com

 http://nyphotos.cbsig.net/NE_CronkiteSelects/

 

 

 

QUOTES FROM

 

Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer,CBS Corporation:

“It is with enormous sadness that wemark the death of Walter Cronkite. His passing is, of course, a major loss forjournalism. He was a great broadcaster and a gentleman whose experience,honesty, professionalism and style defined the role of anchor and commentator.For almost two exciting and turbulent decades during the 1960s and 1970s hehelped inform our nation, and bring us together. In so doing, he transcendedhis field to become the most trusted man in America. The legacy he left us allwill endure. It was one of the great honors of my career to have had the opportunity to know him.” 

 

 

SeanMcManus, President, CBS News and Sports:

“It is impossibleto imagine CBS News, journalism or indeed America without Walter Cronkite.More than just the best and most trusted anchor in history, he guided Americathrough our crises, tragedies and also our victories and greatest moments.No matter what the news event was, Walter was always the consummateprofessional with an un-paralleled sense of compassion, integrity, humanity,warmth, and occasionally even humor. There will never be another figure inAmerican history who will hold the position Walter held in our minds, ourhearts and on the television. We were blessed to have this man in our lives andwords cannot describe how much he will be missed by those of us at CBS News andby all of America.”

 

 

Katie Couric,anchor and managing editor, CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC
correspondent, 60 MINUTES:

“When I think ofWalter Cronkite, I think of his high journalism standards, integrity â€"but most of all his humanity.  I think he was so trusted because heexhibited a sense of purpose and compassion, night after night.  He wasthe personification of excellence."

Don Hewitt,executive producer, CBS News, creator of 60 MINUTES and Cronkite's firstexecutive producer on the CBS EVENING NEWS:

“How many news organizations get the chance to bask in thesunshine of a half-century of Edward R. Murrow followed by a half century ofWalter Cronkite?”

 

Andy Rooney, 60MINUTES commentator:

“I've been proud over the years to see Walter become, not justone of the best known people on television but one of the best known people inthe whole world of people. He was proud of me, too and there's no better feelingin life than that. I wouldn't trade Walter Cronkite liking me for just aboutanything I’ve ever had.”

 

Mike Wallace, 60MINUTES correspondent emeritus:

“We were proud to work with him â€" for him â€" we lovedhim.”

 

Morley Safer, 60MINUTES correspondent:

“Walter was truly the father of television news. The trust thatviewers placed in him was based on the recognition of his fairness, honesty andstrict objectivity. …and of course his long experience as a shoe-leatherreporter covering everything from local politics to World War II and itsaftermath in the Soviet Union. He was a giant of journalism and privately oneof the funniest, happiest men I’ve ever known.”

 

Charles Osgood, anchorSUNDAY MORNING, CBS RADIO "The Osgood File":

“There was a reason why Walter was called the most trusted man inAmerica.Nothing was more important to him than getting the story right and telling itfairly, and he expected the same of us.  I've learned a lot from wonderfulcolleagues here at CBS News, but from him most of all.”

 

Jeff Fager,executive producer, 60 MINUTES:

“Walter Cronkite reached heights that will be almost impossibleto match.  It’s unimaginable when you consider his achievementsajournalist who was the most trusted man in America.  He made us proud of whowe were and what we did, and always with an extraordinary dignity andhumility.”    

 

Linda Mason, SeniorVice President, Standards and Special Projects:

“I was the first woman producer on the CBS EVENING NEWS, andWalter could not have been more welcoming and more professional. I remember hisgreat enthusiasm for almost every story he touchedâ€"from politics to spaceand even the good fire. Everything was new. When I had the opportunity toexecutive-produce a two-hour special on Cronkite as his career was windingdown, I was again struck by how much he retained the common touch and how heregarded his career with wonder.  I told him he was the Forrest Gump of the 20thcentury and he laughed.”

 

Rick Kaplan,executive producer, CBS EVENING NEWS:

“Radio and television newsrooms all over America are filled with reportersand producers, writers and editors, who got into journalism for one reason:Walter Cronkite. He was a role model for so many of us. I grew up watchingWalter on television, and it was the thrill of my life to finally meet him, anda privilege to spend six years producing pieces for him for the CBS EVENINGNEWS.  He set standards that we in broadcast journalism still strive to meettoday. Walter Cronkite was, quite simply, the best. His legacy and his spiritwill always be part of CBS News and wherever good journalism ispracticed.”

 

Susan Zirinsky, executiveproducer 48 HOURS:

“As a Washington researcherunder Cronkite during Watergate, as a Washingtonproducer for Cronkite, he pushed us all to never give up and always seek thetruth. His energy and his passion were infectious. Cronkite made us all betterat our jobsâ€"he was the spine of CBS News and we were proud to be on histeam.”

 

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