News Corp. throws Rotten Tomatoes at Flixster

Rupert Murdoch is getting out of the produce business.

News Corp. has sold Rotten Tomatoes, the movie reviews compilation site it received as part of its acquisition of IGN Entertainment in 2005, to fast-growing user reviews site Flixster Inc., which is aiming to take on market leader IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base).

Under the terms of the all-stock deal, Murdoch's media conglomerate will get a substantial minority equity stake in Flixster and a non-voting seat on Flixster's board of directors.

The deal is the latest sign that News Corp. wants to unload what it views as non-essential digital assets as it attempts to re-focus and grow its two biggest online properties, IGN and MySpace. The conglomerate's Fox Interactive Media division, which houses them both, has consistently lost money in the last year and took a $403-million impairment charge last summer.

News Corp. appears to be targeting IGN at the site's original audience of young male video game players. Then-independent IGN bought Rotten Tomatoes in 2004 as part of a plan to expand into movie coverage. However, the movie reviews site doesn't fit into IGN's video game focus and News Corp. apparently concluded it didn't want to invest resources to grow Rotten Tomatoes, which gets roughly 10 million visitors per month.

San Francisco-based Flixster, which is privately held, has more than 20 million monthly visitors and a database of more than 2.3 billion user reviews, is looking to become a major player in the online movie news and information space, which is dominated by IMDB and also includes sites such as Yahoo! Movies, AOL's Moviefone, and Fandango.

"Both sides wanted to build a player that can be No. 1 in the category and our feeling is that a strong independent company is the best way to do that," said Joe Greenstein, chief executive of Flixster.

Rotten Tomatoes' 13 employees will move to Flixster as part of the deal and no layoffs are planned, Greenstein said.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: Rotten Tomatoes' logo. Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Hot stuff: The Watcher's winter TV preview

Once again, the new year is stuffed with a lot of good or at least notable TV returns and debuts. Here's a quick glance of the early 2010 TV schedule (and please note that if you don't see a particular show listed here, you can most likely find information about it at The Futon Critic's site. By the way, don't miss the Futon Critic's 50 Best Episodes of 2009 list, which he'll begin posting Monday).

A couple of final notes: All times below are Central. And as we gather clips from the programs below, you can be sure we'll quickly stick them in the video player on the right side of this page. Check the Watcher video player for daily updates.

Jan.10, "Chuck," 8 p.m., NBC, "Big Love," 8 p.m., HBO, "Return toCranford," 9 p.m., PBS, "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan," 8 p.m., Syfy:Retail clerk Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) finds out whether his newspy skills will help him save the world from bad guys in "Chuck's" two-hour season premiere (there's also a fresh episode at 7 p.m.Monday, the show's normal time slot. By the way, I've seen the first five episodes of the new season, which starts out satisfying and gets even better as it goes); Sissy Spacek joins the cast of"Big Love" as a powerful lobbyist; Dame Judi Dench returns in thesequel to the pleasing Victorian miniseries "Cranford"; and finally the"Battlestar" TV movie tells the story of the Cylon attack on humanityfrom the Cylons' point of view. (There are eight "Chuck" clips in the video player at the right side of this page; at left is a picture of Yvonne Strahovski and Zachary Levi from "Chuck.")

Jan.11, "How I Met Your Mother," 7 p.m., CBS: The 100th episode of thiscomedy, "Girls vs. Suits," allows Broadway veteran Neil Patrick Harrisand the rest of the "HIMYM" cast strut their stuff in a big musicalproduction number (warning: possible jazz hands!). As if that's not enough, Tim Gunn from "ProjectRunway," Stacy Keibler and Rachel Bilson guest star. And yes, there is a development on the "mother of Ted's children" front. (Pictured at right: Neil Patrick Harris and the cast of "HIMYM" taking to the streets in their big 100th episode production number.)

Jan.12, "American Idol," 7 p.m., Fox and "Southland," 9 p.m., TNT: Newjudge Ellen DeGeneres won't be part the judges' panel when the auditionrounds of "Idol's" ninth season begin -- she will join the showstarting with the Hollywood round. "Southland," the grittypolice show from former "ER" producer John Wells, got a reprieve from cable's TNT, which is re-airing the seven episodes that were made for NBC last season. InMarch, TNT will begin airing six previously unseen episodes from the"Southland's" second season. 

Jan.13, "Leverage," 9 p.m., TNT: When this breezy caper series returns,Nate (Timothy Hutton) and his fellow do-gooder grifters try to takedown a sweatshop owner.  

Jan.14, "Project Runway," 9 p.m., Lifetime and "Archer," 9 p.m., FX: Forits seventh season, judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia are backfull-time and the show returns to its New York roots (thank goodnessfor both developments). "Archer" is a dry, edgy, sometimes surreal animatedcomedy about a put-upon spy with a complicated personal life. 

Jan. 17, "Human Target," 7 p.m. and "24," 8 p.m., Fox: It's a night of manly action on Fox, as the network unveils the bodyguard-for-hire action-drama "Human Target,"which has a great cast -- Mark Valley, Chi McBride and Jackie EarleHaley -- but a somewhat iffy execution in the pilot. When "24"returns, cast constant Keifer Sutherland will be joined by KateeSackhoff ("Battlestar Galactica") and Freddie Prinze Jr. And at somepoint, you can be sure that Jack Bauer will be "running out of time!" (Photo: Sackhoff as analyst Dana Walsh and Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian)

Jan.18, "Life Unexpected," 8 p.m., The CW: A 15-year old who spent her lifein various foster homes goes to live with her biological parents inthis CW drama. 

Jan.19, "White Collar," 9 p.m., USA: What the heck is going on between FBIguy Peter (Tim DeKay) and reformed con artist Neal (Matthew Bomer)?Here's hoping we see a well-crafted resolution of "Collar's" Novembercliffhanger when this USA show returns. 

Jan.21, "Burn Notice," 9 p.m., USA: If the frigid winter is getting to you,returning to Miami for more adventures with Michael Westen (JeffreyDonovan), Sam (Bruce Campbell) and Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) should bejust the ticket. 

Jan.22, "Caprica," 8 p.m., Syfy and "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," 9 p.m.,Starz: "Caprica" is a promising "Battlestar Galactica" prequel serieswith a great cast (Paula Malcolmson, Polly Walker, Esai Morales andEric Stoltz) and zero spaceships. "Spartacus" is an updating of theclassic tale of a slave turned gladiator; one of the stars in the Starzdrama is "Battlestar" alum Lucy Lawless (pictured at right). Starz must be feeling pretty confident about the show -- the network has already given the green light to a second season.

Jan.25, "Damages," 9 p.m., FX: The cast for the third season of this legalthriller looks stellar: Martin Short, Lily Tomlin, Campbell Scott andKeith Carradine will join stars Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and TateDonovan for more classy conniving in New York boardrooms, offices andbedrooms. 

Feb.1, "RuPaul's Drag Race," 8 p.m., Logo: The first season of this realityseries was a hoot and a half. It's sort of a low-rent "Project Runway"for drag queens, but the fierceness of RuPaul, the judges and thecontestants made this slight slice of escapism unexpectedly fun. 

Feb. 2, "Lost,"8 p.m., ABC: "We concocted the mythology of the show a long time ago,and it’s like having a Christmas present and you kept it on the shelf along time and people are finally going to get to open it and see it,"executive producer Carlton Cuse said in a recent interview. (I posted some excerpts from that interview here, but I'll post the full text of my talk with Cuse and executive producer/co-creator Damon Lindelof in a couple of weeks.)

March1, "Parenthood," 8 p.m., NBC: Another attempt at crafting a TV seriesfrom the film of the same name, this version stars Lauren Graham("Gilmore Girls"), Erika Christensen and Craig T. Nelson. 

March14, "The Pacific," 9 p.m., HBO: The creative team behind "Band ofBrothers" produced this epic miniseries, which follows the lives of threeWorld War 2 Marines as they fight their way from Guadalacanal to Peleliu toOkinawa. 

March22, "Nurse Jackie" and "United States of Tara," 9 p.m., Showtime:  EdieFalco's drug-addicted nurse returns to duty and Tara's multiplepersonalities get another workout in the Toni Collette show's secondseason (for a story on what's to come in the second season of "Tara," go here).

Addendum: A heads up about various shows that are taking breaks of various lengths and returning later in the spring:

"FlashFoward" returns to ABC March 4
"V" returns toABC March 30Fox's "Fringe" has new episodes in January and oneepisode in February, then takes a break until April 1"Glee" returns April 13 (four more months without Sue Sylvester? Argh. At least we'll have a Joss Whedon-directed episode to look forward to when the show returns.)
"Lie to Me" is on a break until ayet-to-be-named date in the spring. When it does return, one episode will feature a mini-reunion of actors from "The Shield"
AMC's "Breaking Bad" will return inMarch but no date has been set for the debut of its third seasonAgain, for monthly breakdowns of what's coming in January, February and March, you can always check out the Futon Critic's extensive listings. Please don't leave a question about a specific show in comments unless you can't find info about its return at that site or via Google.

Review: FOG Trio's benefit concert for Music at Kohl was exceptional
Violinist Jorja Fleezanis, pianist Garrick Ohlsson and cellist Michael Grebanier (the first letters of their last names spell 'FOG') were all about Haydn, Brahms and Schumann; nothing gimmicky.
Film Director Battles For Soul Of Chinese Cinema

China's most famous film director aims to do battle with Hollywood for the China market with his latest film, a remake of the Coen brothers' Blood Simple. From art-house auteur, Zhang Yimou has transformed into the director of Beijing-sanctioned spectacles, including the ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.