Published Dec. 16, 2009

When CBS announced Dec. 8 that it was canceling the 54-year-old soap opera “As the World Turns,” the news was less surprising than spotting Meryl Streep in a “For your consideration” ad. Eye Network president Nina Tassler had cast doubt on the show’s future at the August upfronts, when she told the New York Post that the program was “having ratings challenges” and that its health was being closely watched. A month later, the final episode of another CBS daytime stalwart, “Guiding Light,” then the longest-running scripted program on television, aired. (more…)

Published Dec. 2, 2009

Robert Iger has been busy. On the last day of August, the Walt Disney Co.’s president and CEO announced Disney’s intent to buy Marvel Entertainment—makers of comic books and Robert Downey Jr. films—for $4 billion. Just more than a month later, Iger replaced Walt Disney Studios chief Dick Cook with a TV executive, Disney Channels Worldwide president Rich Ross. But the most eyebrow-raising Disney news came Nov. 4, when the company announced that it had gained approval from the Chinese government in Beijing to build a new theme park in Shanghai. (more…)

Published Nov. 18, 2009

From 2006 to 2008, the Better Business Bureau received approximately 1,000 complaints and 143,000 inquiries related to acting and modeling scams in Southern California. And the frequency of such schemes—usually targeting child performers and their families, often costing the victims thousands of dollars—has been growing. From January to October of this year, the bureau fielded 78,055 inquiries and 544 complaints. Often the stories find their way to Mark Lambert’s desk. (more…)