A Brave New (Holly)World?

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"Reality" shows and gadgets like TiVo are revolutionizing how we watch TV and how Hollywood does business. Technology has fragmented the audience, moved product placement into programming itself, and changed the way we perceive and interact with media. Programming, though expanded, if often formulaic as a result of Hollywood being bought by conglomerates whose primary interest is the bottom line. We look at how such changes impact us all with a writer of The West Wing, a Hollywood journalist, and the heads of the Center for the Study of Popular Television and Sony Pictures Classics. Newsmaker: Economy Surprisingly Strong in First Quarter - Despite Doomsday predictions, America's gross domestic product grew by two percent in the first quarter this year, up from one percent in the final quarter of last year. Knight Kiplinger, who edits the Kiplinger Letter, has been bullish all along and expects continued growth as a result of recent rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Reporter's Notebook: Scalped NBA Playoff Tickets Aren't Hard to Find - Not long ago, the National Basketball Association was America's most glamorous sports attraction. But the retirement of several sports legends, corporate greed and players' strikes have resulted in empty seats and lower viewership. Sam Walker, sports writer for The Wall Street Journal, talks about the "popping of the NBA's balloon."
"Reality" shows and gadgets like TiVo are revolutionizing how we watch TV and how Hollywood does business. Technology has fragmented the audience, moved product placement into programming itself, and changed the way we perceive and interact with media. Programming, though expanded, if often formulaic as a result of Hollywood being bought by conglomerates whose primary interest is the bottom line. We look at how such changes impact us all with a writer of The West Wing, a Hollywood journalist, and the heads of the Center for the Study of Popular Television and Sony Pictures Classics.
  • Newsmaker: Economy Surprisingly Strong in First Quarter - Despite Doomsday predictions, America's gross domestic product grew by two percent in the first quarter this year, up from one percent in the final quarter of last year. Knight Kiplinger, who edits the Kiplinger Letter, has been bullish all along and expects continued growth as a result of recent rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Scalped NBA Playoff Tickets Aren't Hard to Find - Not long ago, the National Basketball Association was America's most glamorous sports attraction. But the retirement of several sports legends, corporate greed and players' strikes have resulted in empty seats and lower viewership. Sam Walker, sports writer for The Wall Street Journal, talks about the "popping of the NBA's balloon."

Center for the Study of Popular Television

Inside.com

The Keys to the Kingdom

The Kiplinger Letter

The McLaughlin Group

MSNBC

National Basketball Association

Sony Pictures Classics

The Wall Street Journal

The West Wing

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney