Fort Lee, New Jersey — The National Inflation Association issued the following statement about the multi-platform revolution that is beginning this week at the London Olympic Games: On August 5th, tens of millions of Americans were upset about being unable to be among the billions of people worldwide to watch Usain Bolt’s 100 meter Track & Field gold medal victory live on TV.

One of NBC’s main reasons for not airing Olympic events live on TV in the U.S. is the fact that NBC recognizes the London Olympic Games as the beginning of the U.S. multi-platform revolution. All Americans who own a laptop, desktop, iPhone, or iPad, and are subscribers of any cable, satellite, or telco TV service, had the ability to authenticate their Internet-connected device and watch Usain Bolt race live using NBC’s ‘TV Everywhere’ web site and iTunes apps.

NBC reported that 1.3 million Americans watched their live ‘TV Everywhere’ stream of Usain Bolt’s race. This was NBC’s second most popular multi-platform live stream during the London Olympic Games so far, with only the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team gold medal victory surpassing it with 1.5 million live streams across all platforms.

In the 48 hours leading up to Usain Bolt’s 100 meter gold medal victory, NBC reported that an additional 1 million pay-TV subscribers authenticated their Internet-connected devices. This increased NBC’s total ‘TV Everywhere’ devices authenticated by consumers for the London Olympic Games across all platforms up to 7.6 million. So far, 7.6% of America’s 100 million pay-TV subscribers with the right to authenticate their multi-platform devices, have successfully gained access to live streams of every single Olympic event, with NBC streaming as many as 40 events live simultaneously.

NBC is also making available an archive for authenticated multi-platform ‘TV Everywhere’ users that offers a total of 3,500 hours of prerecorded London Olympic events.NIA recognizes the fact that Americans have fallen in love with their smartphones and tablet devices. With the new multi-platform revolution now officially underway, Americans will no longer be forced to watch TV in their living room.

Americans who are pay-TV subscribers will now be able to watch any TV programming, at any time, from any location, on any platform! This could create billions of dollars in value for pay-TV companies and their subscribers between now and the end of 2012.

NIA recently accumulated 2% ownership in Synacor, Inc., a publicly traded company with multi-platform authentication technology that is making it possible for NBC to provide their ‘TV Everywhere’ coverage of the London Olympic Games, by authenticating for NBC the pay-TV subscribers of nearly 40 pay-TV companies, including 12 of America’s 25 largest multi-channel programming distributors including Dish Network, Charter Communications, SuddenLink, Mediacom, and CableOne! Synacor recently reported 58% revenue growth last quarter, which validates the huge growth ahead for companies that deliver ‘TV Everywhere’ services across multi-platforms.

If you are looking for ways to capitalize on NBC’s hugely successful multi-platform coverage of the London Olympics and the multi-platform revolution that is now underway, please be sure to download NIA’s brand new free 58-page educational ‘TV Everywhere’ report by going to: http://inflation.us/tveverywhere.html

NIA’s brand new in-depth report talks about how this is the biggest fundamental shift for the TV industry since the invention of color TV. NIA believes that multi-platform offerings of ‘TV Everywhere’ services could potentially create billions of dollars of wealth in the U.S. for leading pay-TV companies. NIA’s report is the most important report ever released about the future of cable, satellite, and telco TV services in America.

Image Courtesy of  Denis Kuvaev / Shutterstock.com

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The microblogging service credited with helping free speech flourish goofed this past weekend. After suspending the Twitter account of journalist Guy Adams for a tweet that supposedly violated Twitter’s privacy rules, the service was besieged with media requests and outraged users over the dubious nature of the suspension.

Adams, a Los Angeles correspondent for UK-based publication The Independent, lost his account over a July 27 tweet that included the NBCUniversal corporate email of Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics. On July 29, NBC Sports filed a support ticket with Twitter to suspend the account, which it did.

The Comcast Corporation subsidiary and Twitter entered a non-financial partnership for the duration of the London 2012 Olympics, which led to skepticism about the service’s quick response to its business partner.

There were also questions about the accuracy of Twitter’s privacy rules to ban the posting of “private and confidential information” with regards to Zenkel’s corporate email address, which follows the same format as all NBCUniversal employees: FirstName.LastName@nbcuni.com.

The situation became murkier on July 31, when UK-based publication the Telegraph broke news that the Twitter Olympics team assisted NBC in making the report, according to correspondence with Christopher McCloskey, vice-president of communications for NBC Sports.

Despite silence from the social networking website all weekend, Twitter unsuspended the Independent correspondent’s account on July 31 and issued an apology on its blog:

“The team working closely with NBC around our Olympics partnership did proactively identify a Tweet that was in violation of the Twitter Rules and encouraged them to file a support ticket with our Trust and Safety team to report the violation, as has now been reported publicly. Our Trust and Safety team did not know that part of the story and acted on the report as they would any other.”

Posted by Twitter’s general counsel, Alex Macgillivray, the statement went out of its way to explain the service’s objectivity as a whole, separate from the actions of individual employees, “As I stated earlier, we do not proactively report or remove content on behalf of other users no matter who they are. This behavior is not acceptable and undermines the trust our users have in us. We should not and cannot be in the business of proactively monitoring and flagging content, no matter who the user is— whether a business partner, celebrity or friend.”

In response to the quandary surrounding whether Zenkel’s corporate email address fell into the realm of personal email addresses as defined by Twitter Rules, Twitter responded: “There are many individuals who may use their work email address for a variety of personal reasons— and some may not.” Therefore, the site’s response stemmed from the policy, which, as the post says, “That we can implement across all of our users in every instance.”

However, it had been determined that Zenkel’s corporate email had previously been revealed by a blog protesting NBC’s coverage of this year’s U.S. Open.

A report from Wired states that the Guy Adams incident has its own place in debates about Twitter’s future, and whether it has a place as a technology company or as a media entity.

A tweet from the reinstated account of Guy Adams suggested that his account was unsuspended because NBC rescinded its complaint.

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The first individual fencing competition to finish this year was the men’s individual sabre event which ended in a gold medal for Hungary’s Aron Szilagyi, 22, on Sunday, July 29.

In honor of these events Google’s doodle for July 30 was a picture of two fencers.

After the preliminary rounds Szilagyi was rated fifth. He was also in luck since the strongest competitors from Russian and Germany were eliminated early in the competition.

In the final round Szilagyi beat Italian Diego Occhiuzzi, 31, 15-8. Strangely, this was the same score and outcome of the 1948 Olympic games in which Hungarian Aladar Gerevich beat Italian Vincenzo Pinton 15-8. Aladar went on to win seven gold medals, which Szilagyi is probably hoping for.

The fame and glory is a little new to Szilagyi: “To be honest I have never been part of a press conference room before. It feels great. I can say, I have never been as happy as when I stood up on the podium and took up this gold medal.”

Szilagyi got fifteenth place in Beijing and took sixth place in the 2011 and 2010 world championships. Although he may have been the underdog, it certainly did not show during the competition. In the first of three 3-minute rounds, Szilagyi took a 7-0 lead over Occhiuzzi. Szilagyi stated, “When I was up eight to one, that’s when I started to think about winning.”

Occhiuzzi, who won silver, is also considered somewhat of an underdog. He is currently Italy’s third best of the team competing in London and yet he made it to the finals. In fact the world champion, Montano, was on the Olympic team and is Occhiuzzi’s teammate, but Occhiuzzi beat him 15-13.

The Italian silver medalist stated, “It was always my dream. I was always thought of as the underdog with only team medals to my name. But I knew I had the abilities and I just had a magical day.”

Several amazing fencers were eliminated fairly early in the games. China’s Zhong Man, who won the gold four years ago, has been falling in the world rankings since then and is now 21st.

Russian Nikolay Koyaley, 25, won the bronze medal after beating Romanian Rares Dumitrescu. Dumitrescu beat out the former world champion Nicolas Limbach from Germany 15-12. Koyaley did much better than teammate Alexey Yakimenko, the European champion who lost to American Daryl Homer 15-14.

Homer then went on to take sixth place, but since NBC cut a lot of the fencing coverage, no one in America was able to see it.

According to Yakimenko’s coach, Bauer, “In difficult matches [Yakimenko] loses a little bit his mind. I believe he is number one in the world, but he must win.”

The men’s sabre rounds proved to be unpredictable and exciting; hopefully the rest of the fencing matches will prove to be the same.

Image Courtesy of   Diego Barbieri / Shutterstock.com

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The semifinal bout of the women’s individual epee competition has many fencing fans and Olympic viewers wondering how the victory was taken away from South Korea’s Shin A-Lam.

The first weekend has been full of controversy in the fencing competitions. On Sunday, July 29, after the victory of Hungarian Aron Szilagyi in the individual men’s sabre competition, the officials played the wrong anthem. Also somewhat of an upset was Ukrainian Yana Shemyakina beating the number one seeded Chinese Sun Yujie in the first semifinal round.

However, this most recent event has 97% of individuals on a Bleacherreport.com poll agreeing that a bad call was made.

During the second semifinal bout South Korean Shin A-Lam, seeded eleventh, was fencing German and Beijing gold-medalist Britta Heidemann, who was seeded fifteenth. The two were tied 5-5 at the end of time and in fencing, ties are determined by something called priority. In priority a minute is put on the clock and a coin or computer determines which player will get the ‘priority,’ meaning that at the end of one minute if neither player has scored then the player with priority wins the bout.

In this priority round Shin had the priority and the clock for priority had run out. However, Shin had committed a penalty so the referee, Barbara Csar, put one second back on the clock. When the bout started up the clock malfunctioned and did not go off in the one second that it was supposed to, giving Heidemann an extra few seconds to score and take the victory.

The judges deliberated for about twenty-five minutes and awarded Heidemann the victory. Shin and her camp immediately appealed, which is a lengthy process. During the appeal Shin had to remain on the piste (the raised platform they fence on) or she would give the victory to Heidemann.

While Shin sat on the piste and cried for about ten to fifteen minutes, her coaches fought valiantly for the win to be overturned or reconsidered. After a short while the Koreans were forced to pay money for the appeal to be considered valid. After almost an hour, the appeal was denied and the victory stayed Heidemann’s.

Heidemann then went on to fence in the finals match versus Ukrainian Yana Shemyakina where Heidemann lost 9-8.

After losing the appeal Shin was then required to fence China’s Sun Yujie for the bronze medal, fifteen minutes (a typical rest period in fencing) after the end of the previous match. However, Shin was still very upset from the previous round and was fencing an incredible epeeist. Sun Yujie won 15-11 and Shin will be leaving the Olympics without any medals.

Image Courtesy of  karnizz / Shutterstock.com

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Under The Twitter Rules, it is stated that “You may not publish or post other people’s private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, street address or Social Security/National Identity numbers, without their express authorization and permission.”

The San Francisco-based microblogging service offered this reasoning to journalist Guy Adams for his account’s suspension on July 29. Adams, the Los Angeles correspondent for UK publication The Independent, had tweeted on July 27:

“The man responsible for NBC pretending the Olympics haven’t started yet is Gary Zenkel. Tell him what u think! Email: Gary.zenkel@nbcuni.com.”  The corporate email account belongs to Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics for NBCUniversal (a Comcast Corporation subsidiary), the American broadcaster with exclusive US media rights to the airing of the London 2012 Olympics.

As part of his email to Twitter’s European public relations executive Rachel Bremer, Adams wrote, “I’m of course happy to abide by Twitter’s rules, now and forever,” it reads. “But I don’t see how I broke them in this case: I didn’t publish a private email address. Just a corporate one, which is widely available to anyone with access to Google, and is identical [in form] to one that all of the tens of thousands of NBC Universal employees share.”

Although Zenkel’s email is not readily available on NBCUniversal’s website, the email accounts of executives at American cable channel Bravo – which is owned by NBCUniversal – follow the same format. Since his suspension, Twitter users have been reposting Zenkel’s email in a show of solidarity. Regarding the dubious “non-public” status of the account, New York Magazine wrote, “If it was ever private, it’s not now.” The hashtags #NBCFail and #TwitterFail are also trending in relation to the incident.

In a twist that had Adams writing about “various ethical issues relevant to journalism in the online era,” NBC Sports issued a statement yesterday regarding its role in bringing the message to Twitter’s attention. Matthew Keys of Reuters tweeted part of the statement, “”We filed a complaint with Twitter because a user tweeted the personal information of one of our executives.”

The service entered into a partnership with NBC to tweet exclusive Olympic content through its website. According to the Wall Street Journal, the broadcaster will not be paying Twitter or sharing any advertising revenue.

Twitter has not responded publicly regarding the incident.

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Now that the Olympics are facing their fourth competition day, the medal count panorama is starting to get its usual shape with China and USA in the first positions.

China’s delegation is still at the top of the medal table with a total of 14 medals, of which eight are gold, four silver and two bronze.

On Sunday, July 29 there were 14 gold medals at stake, of which two were awarded to the Chinese divers Zi and Wu Minxia in synchronized three-meter springboard. Chinese woman Guo Wenjun also climbed to the top of the podium in the shooting category after winning the rounds of the 10-meter air pistol.

With these two new medals, China reached six golden medals -now they have 8 golds after today’s victory in men diving in the 10 meter synchronized, and Sun Yang winning in the 400m swimming freestyle with a new Olympic record- which leads them as the best country, so far, in the London Olympics.

The United States is the closest to the Chinese, with a total of 13 podiums, 3 of them being gold. On Sunday 29th the shooter Kimberly Rhode (Skeet) and swimmer Dana Vollmer (100m butterfly) caused the American anthem to be played, for a country that can already presume to have three gold, five silvers and five bronzes.

Kimberly Rhode has become the first American athlete to win five medals in an individual event in five consecutive Olympic Games. Will she make the record bigger in Rio, Brazil is a question on everyone’s minds.

The other gold, Dana Vollmer, broke the 100m butterfly world record at the Olympics, finishing in a time of 55.98 seconds.

The six first places in the medal count go for Italy that has gone up to the podium 8 times (2 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze), France (2,1,3 respectively), Republic of Korea (2,1,2) and Russia (2,0,3).

It is still early to make any conclusion, but it seems that both China and USA are full of expectations. On the other hand, the UK (one silver and one bronze), Germany (0 medals), and Spain (0 medals and loosing in soccer where they were favorites) are not doing as well as originally expected.

MEDAL COUNT

• China 8 Golds 4 Silver 2 Bronze 14 Total
• USA 3-5-5-13
• France 2-1-3-6
• Italy 2-4-2-8
• Republic of Korea 2-1-2-5
• Russia 2-0-3-4
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 2-0-1-3
• Kazakhstan 2-0-0-2
• Japan 1-3-3-7
• Romania 1-2-0-3

Image Courtesy of   Raywoo / Shutterstock.com

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New Jersey, U.S.A. – NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group and Panasonic Corporation of North America announced on July 20 that the first-ever 3D coverage of the Olympic Games, beginning in London later this month, will be available to subscribers of MVPD’s (multichannel video programming distributors) representing nearly 80% of U.S. TV households.

The daily 3D programming, which will be shown on next-day delay, will be carried by many cable, satellite and telco providers such as such as Armstrong, AT&T, Blue Ridge, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, Insight, Mediacom, RCN, Suddenlink, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and  WideOpen West.

These carriers will distribute roughly 242 hours of the 3D broadcasts via the Media Center. Panasonic is NBC Olympics’ exclusive Flat-Panel HDTV and Blu-ray Disc Player advertiser for the London Olympic Games.

“We are pleased that nearly 80 percent of U.S. TV households will receive the incomparable clarity and performance of the first-ever 3D production of the Olympic Games,” said Joseph M. Taylor, Chairman & CEO, Panasonic Corporation of North America. “Panasonic’s 3D technology and NBC Olympics’ superb, moment-by-moment coverage of the Games will make the events more engaging to viewers as they watch their favorite athletes compete.”

The 3D broadcasts will be produced by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and will include some of the most-anticipated events of the Games, including:

• Opening and Closing Ceremonies
• Men’s and Women’s gymnastics
• Extensive coverage from the Aquatic Center, including both diving and swimming
• Bicycle racing (cycling) from the Velodrome
• Full coverage of track & field from the Olympic Stadium

NBC Olympics will provide 12 hours of U.S.-oriented 3D programming every day, introduced by Bob Costas and featuring both competitive highlights from the previous day as well as the best moments of the Games to-date. Viewers who watch the award-winning primetime coverage on NBC will have the opportunity to go back and relive their favorite events as never before – in Full HD 3D.

Olympic Broadcasting Services will capture the Games using Panasonic’s state-of-the-art 3D production technologies and fully-integrated twin-lens Full HD 3D camera recorder products. A taste of what’s in store can be sampled at retail outlets everywhere, where Panasonic 3D televisions will be displaying amazing 3D footage of the memorable Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Image Courtesy of  fstockfoto / Shutterstock.com

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Following months of uncertainty over the future of ‘Cougar Town’, which stars Golden Globe nominee Courteney Cox, it was revealed on Thursday May 10 that a deal has been made which will see the critically-beloved, but low-rated, series move to TBS for a fourth season, set to air in early 2013.

There had been rumors of such a deal in the last week, with initial reports suggesting that TBS would pick-up ‘Cougar Town’ for 30 episodes spread across two seasons. However, as it stands TBS has only renewed it for Season 4, with the actors under contract for Season 5 should it perform well enough for TBS to order an additional season.

This move comes after a difficult life for the series on ABC. Premiering to strong ratings in the fall of 2009, ‘Cougar Town’ was scheduled alongside ABC’s number one comedy ‘Modern Family’ and performed well-enough to stay in that slot for two seasons. However, its ratings weren’t quite on par with ‘Modern Family’, and ABC pulled it from the schedule while it tried out a variety of other comedies, hoping to find a more compatible fit for ‘Modern Family’.

But no such series was found while ‘Cougar Town’ remained off the air, until February of this year. When the series finally did return to ABC, it was scheduled alongside freshman comedy ‘Last Man Standing’, a much lower-rated series than ‘Modern Family’ and one which skews a significantly different audience demographic. The combination of a protracted hiatus and an incompatible lead-in resulted in poor ratings for ‘Cougar Town’, as well as an unlikely chance at renewal on ABC for next season.

However, with 61 episodes under its belt and with it being owned by ABC Studios, the series is too close to syndication for ABC to cancel it altogether. With the new TBS deal, ABC will still benefit financially if the series produces enough episodes for syndication, which it presumably will in light of TBS and ABC coming to this agreement in the first place.

‘Cougar Town’ is not the first series in recent history to switch networks, nor is it the first for co-creator Bill Lawrence (his last series, ‘Scrubs’, aired on NBC for seven seasons before moving over to ABC in 2008).

Yet, ‘Cougar Town’s move does mark a blow to the long working relationship between Lawrence and ABC. Although ‘Scrubs’ aired on NBC for the majority of its run, it too was owned by ABC Studios, while prior to that Lawrence had co-created the sitcom ‘Spin City” which had a six season run on ABC from 1996 to 2002.

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Emmy-nominated comedy series ‘Parks and Recreation’ ended its fourth season on Thursday May 10, with an episode which revealed the long-awaited result in main character Leslie Knope’s election bid for city council.

The episode, titled “Win, Lose, or Draw”, was written and directed by series co-creator Michael Schur. The episode featured Leslie, played by Amy Poehler, waiting to hear if she had beat rival Bobby Newport, played by Paul Rudd, in an election storyline which had been running all season. The initial result showed that Bobby had won by a margin of 21 votes, however, after Leslie’s campaign manager – and love interest – Ben Wyatt, played by Adam Scott, demanded a recount, it was revealed that it was in fact Leslie who had won by 21 votes.

The result of the election had been top-secret since production wrapped on ‘Parks & Recreation’ several months ago. At a Paley Center event in March, Schur revealed that multiple endings had been filmed for the episode so that he could wait until the last moment to decide which ending to air. Poehler admitted to being a fan of both endings, telling the audience:

“It was really touching and moving to do both the acceptance and the concession speeches. Concession and acceptance speeches are about the same until the end. They thank everybody and talk a lot and say congratulations to the other guy … Having to talk to the cast, which were all my friends, and say thank you for this election year. I couldn’t do it without you, cue the waterworks factory.”

Leslie’s win in the season finale means several changes for the series in its fifth season. Until this season, the series had revolved primarily around Leslie’s duties as the Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation, whereas now the series is expected to feature more storylines involving Leslie’s burgeoning political career.

Also undergoing some changes is Ben Wyatt, who accepted a job offer in the finale to run a congressional campaign in Washington for six months, effectively forcing Leslie and himself to attempt a long-distance relationship for at least some of next season, assuming that it does not skip entirely over those six months.

For the season, ‘Parks & Recreation’ averaged between 3-4 million viewers per week, but strong critical acclaim and consistent Emmy nominations have ensured its survival on the struggling NBC network. Earlier this month, both the series and Poehler won at The Comedy Awards for Best Comedy Series and Best Comedy Actress in TV, respectively, while the series was recently named as the recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award.

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NASHVILLE, U.S.A. – Casey Weston, country music recording artist and last season’s finalist from NBC’s “The Voice,” will have a big month.

She will perform the National Anthem for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, May 12, 2012. She also will do a special event for the VIPs in a private reception.

Weston also will join the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra during their Patriotic Pops program, a star-spangled celebration of America, at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts, at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, May 25-26.

“The 75,000 fans in attendance at Darlington and over 8 million television viewers will listen to one of country music’s rising stars,” stated Greg Terada, who has worked with the top music artists in the world.

“Performing the National Anthem for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway will be another defining moment in my young career,” Weston said. “I’m excited to attend my first NASCAR race, and I can’t think of a better track than Darlington, one of the most historic racetracks in the sport. To have the opportunity to perform the anthem in front of tens of thousands of loyal and passionate NASCAR fans will mean a lot to me.”

Joining Weston in Darlington will be TV Producer and Music Manager Jacques Lambert and Event Producer, Music Manager and Consultant to “A List” Celebrities Greg Terada.

Weston, originally from Naples, Fla., began her performing career six years ago with both original songs and covers. Both originals and covers were well received and her audiences continue to grow. In 2009, Weston released her first album, 10 songs on the self-titled “Casey Weston.”

“I’m thrilled to return to my hometown to sing with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and see many of my friends and fans who helped me get started. I’ll never forget them. They mean so much to me,” she said.

Following the successful release of her first album, Weston auditioned on the popular show “The Voice” and was one of eight finalists in the inaugural season for the TV show sensation. Following her success on the “The Voice” Weston continues to stay in touch with her friend and coach Adam Levine, front man for Maroon 5.

The post-season “The Voice Finalists Tour” had Weston performing on stages across the nation. Weston has also performed at venues and festivals in Southwest Florida, the Old Rock House in St. Louis, Schuba’s in Chicago, NBC-Universal Studios in Los Angeles and the Women Today Expo in Ventura, California. She has also performed at the Commodore Lounge, Hard Rock Cafe, Rocketown and the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. On the national concert circuit, Weston has opened for Top 40 and country acts such as James Otto, John Anderson, Craig Morgan and Justin Moore.

Follow Casey’s upcoming performances on Facebook at www.facebook.com/caseywestonmusic

Weston is being consulted by Greg Terada, former Executive Producer of Celebrity Fight Night withMuhammad Ali. Terada is known for creating and producing Red Carpet buzz with events such as Charity Jam with Alicia Keys and Kid Rock, the NBA All Star Game Main Event with Run DMC and Ashanti,Manny Pacquiao’s Ring “Walkouts” with “Eye of the Tiger” and Jimi Jamison, the Obakki Foundation Launch with Nickelback’s Ryan Peake and many more.

Image Courtesy of    Casey Weston

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Universal City, CA, U.S.A. – Universal CityWalk‘s “5 Towers” state-of-the art concert venue welcomes the Final Four of NBC’s blockbuster vocal competition show, “The Voice,” for a live performance at 10:30am on Thursday, May 3, 2012. The special one-time concert in Los Angeles invites fans to Universal CityWalk to cheer on their favorite performer. “The Voice” winner will be announced next Tuesday, May 8.

CityWalk’s new interactive outdoor concert venue will serve as the energetic backdrop to showcase the leading vocal artists from celebrity musician coaches Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.

The artist lineup set to command the stage at “5 Towers” include Kansas native Chris Mann for Team Christina, Florida native Juliet Simms for Team CeeLo, Connecticut native Tony Lucca for Team Adam, and New York native Jermaine Paul for Team Blake. Competing to be named “The Voice” in Season 2 of the hit show, each of the final four artists will perform one song on the “5 Towers” stage and the performances will be streamed live to Facebook, NBC.com and at the NBC Experience Store in New York.

First to christen the “5 Towers” stage in July 2011 was none other than CeeLo himself paving the way for the first-of-its kind outdoor concert venue with fan immersive features and next-generation technology.  The Music Spotlight Series held this spring at “5  Towers” featured Billboard chart-topping talent Carly Rae Jepsen, as well as an eclectic and impressive lineup of local homegrown favorites including The Thomas Nicholas Band, Midnight Red, and Cherri Bomb, to name a few.

“We are so excited to have the finalists from ‘The Voice’ here at the 5 Towers on CityWalk,” said Pat Donahue, Director of CityWalk Entertainment. “While we’ve hosted established recording artists like Flo Rida, Good Charlotte and Justin Bieber, we also have a strong commitment to supporting emerging artists.  It’s a great privilege to provide up-and-coming talent with an outstanding, state of the art venue to do what they love to do – which is to play great music and entertain the masses!”

Before the final four contestants were announced, the eight semi-finalists recently were treated to a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of Universal Studios Hollywood’s epic, new thrill ride, Transformers: The Ride-3D, set to open officially on May 25, 2012. Photos and video featuring the semi-finalists in the theme park are available upon request.

More information on Universal CityWalk’s upcoming events is available at www.CityWalkHollywood.com.  Artist announcements and “5 Towers” concert venue events can also be found on Twitter @CityWalkLA and Facebook-Universal CityWalk Hollywood.

“The Voice” Final Four Live Performances at Universal CityWalk “5 Towers” Concert Venue
100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA  91608
Press Check-In: 8:30AM  /  Media Interviews: 9-11AM  /  Live Concert: 10:30AM-11AM

For artwork and a complete press kit from the show please visit the NBC Universal Media village website at HTTP://WWW.NBCUMV.COM. Follow on Facebook atHTTP://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NBCTHEVOICE and on Twitter at @NBCTheVoice and #TheVoice.

Image Courtesy of    The Voice

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Entertainment legend Betty White has joined Twitter, but was initially thought to have been the victim of a Twitter hoax after an account claiming to be her was opened by White’s people, without White herself being informed.

The profile was first revealed to be a fake by White through her ‘Hot in Cleveland’ co-stars Jane Leeves and Valerie Bertinelli when they each took to their own profiles to advise users to unfollow the person claiming to be White.

While fake Twitter profiles are commonplace on the social networking site, this alleged hoax was even more surprising due to the fact that White’s alleged profile had a verification checkmark, a feature which only Twitter itself is able to give when it has confirmed that profiles are indeed legitimate.

The profile, under the Twitter handle @BettyMWhite, went up on April 10 and amassed over 140,000 followers by the time of this writing. Only three tweets had been posted before Jane Leeves and Valerie Bertinelli, with whom Betty currently co-stars on the TV Land sitcom ‘Hot in Cleveland’, reported that it was in fact an impostor running the profile. Bertinelli wrote:

Just spoke with Betty and she is VERY upset! @BettyMWhite is NOT her. Don’t know how they got verified, but it is not Betty. Please RT!

Leeves followed with:

@BettyMWhite is a fake and has upset the real Betty White! Please unfollow!

However, just minutes later Bertinelli took to her Twitter profile again, this time writing:

Stop the presses! Betty just got a call. An account was opened on her behalf by her people. More to come…

The evident confusion will likely become a source of amusement for fans of the 90-year old screen icon, who are no doubt looking forward to seeing her attempt to grapple with a popular form of modern technology.

A hoax, however, would have been embarrassing for more than just as her fans as television network NBC was already using it to help promote their new series ‘Betty White’s Off Their Rockers’, while the TV Line website earlier today crafted a ‘@BettyMWhite Twitter Bingo Card‘ for users to play along with as they watched the Emmy winner’s foray into social media.

While it seems that White’s people will be doing all of the tweeting, her official presence on Twitter makes her one of the oldest verified celebrities on the site.

Image Courtesy of   Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

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‘Southland’ will end its season next Tuesday (March 20), as the cast, crew and audience wait to find out whether TNT will renew the critically-acclaimed drama for a fifth season.

Debuting in April 2009 on NBC, ‘Southland’ was intended to take over from ‘ER’ (John Wells and Christopher Chulack executive produced both shows) as the network’s next, gritty, high-octane drama series. It followed the experiences of several members of the Los Angeles Police department, weaving in and out of various divisions ranging from Homicide, Narcotics and Patrol. The first season order of six episodes performed well enough for NBC to renew the series for a second season to air in the fall of 2009, however, when NBC designated all of its weeknight 10pm slots to ‘The Jay Leno Show’, ‘Southland’ was left without a place on the schedule and was soon cancelled altogether.

Soon after, TNT picked up the rights to re-air the full first season and proceeded to put the show back into production for a second season consisting of six further episodes. Since then, TNT has continued to renew ‘Southland’, now with 10-episode orders, and the series will conclude its fourth season on March 20 with no word as yet on whether it will live to see another season. Season-to-date, ‘Southland’ has averaged 1.85 million viewers, roughly on par with its Season 3 average, making it difficult to determine TNT’s decision on the series’ fate.

Regardless of its uncertain future, the producers of ‘Southland’ have plotted this season in such an intricate, slow-burning way that the approaching finale will likely come to be seen as the most significant and game-changing one yet.

The season began with multiple changes to the series’ structure, with long-time patrol partners John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) and Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie) being re-teamed with Jessica Tang (special guest star Lucy Liu) and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy), respectively. Moving away from the teacher/student dynamic between Cooper and Sherman, which had served as the series’ central relationship throughout its first three seasons, gave Cudlitz the opportunity to play the lighter shades of his character now that Cooper was on more equal footing with Liu’s character. Similarly, McKenzie’s character got to move beyond his ‘student’ position by developing a more relaxed rapport with Hatosy’s Officer Bryant while making several lapses in judgement with regards to his professional behaviour. Detective Lydia Adams (Regina King), meanwhile, juggled a new partner of her own while coming to terms with an unplanned pregnancy, thereby enabling the show to explore the professional and personal ramifications of a woman in her late-30s who is ready for motherhood but must reconcile this with the dangers, not to mention institutional bigotry, of working on the streets and hunting criminals while heavily pregnant and already at risk of miscarriage due to previous complications.

In the penultimate episode, “Risk”, which aired on March 13, all of these season-long developments began to come to a head as:

• Cooper and Tang butted over Tang’s determination to secure a job promotion despite her behaviour following her accidental shooting of a teenage boy.
• Sherman and Bryant were involved in a car accident following Sherman’s involvement with a prostitute and her pimp.
• Adams revealed her pregnancy to her partner, but feared for her baby’s life following a physical altercation with a suspect.

Thus, fans are eager to see how the finale resolves the partnership between Cooper and Tang (Liu is only signed on to appear in this season, and has taken a role in a CBS pilot), how Sherman reacts in light of Bryant’s injuries and his continuing involvement with the prostitute, and how Adams will handle the nature of her job after the stress it caused to her pregnancy.

The season finale, titled “Thursday”, is written and directed by Jonathan Lisco and Christopher Chulack, respectively, who also wrote and directed the season premiere, titled “Wednesday”, suggesting that audiences can expect the episode to focus on the resolution of all of the above-listed season-long storylines.

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In addressing her audience at Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Mika Brzezinski, the co-host of ‘Morning Joe’ on MSNBC, emphasized a singular message for current and aspiring female professionals:

Always know your own value, and never let anyone else assign it for you.

Brzezinski frequently highlighted this point throughout promotion of her book, titled “Knowing Your Value,” at the park’s amphitheater on Monday, March 12.

After a humorous introduction that saw her point out the amount of Democrats, Republicans and Independents present in the audience, Brzezinski laid out the challenges inherent for women in the workplace, using her own experiences in media as reference.

One such challenge is that women have difficulty recognizing the value that they can bring to the workplace. This lack of recognition, Brzezinski points out, will not only make it easier for women to lose their value, but for others to define it for them.

“I found out the hard way that it is very easy to lose your value,” she said.

In order to maintain that value, Brzezinski emphasized that women should (1) never miss their moment when their stock is up, (2) always do your research, (3) never play the victim and (4) to not worry if people choose not to like you.

In explaining the first point, Brzezinski recalled when she refused to read a Paris Hilton news piece despite repeated prodding, as she thought that the item was not serious news. This action impressed her superiors, who in turn offered her a separate show.

“Thank you so much,” was her response, a reply that she admitted was a mistake. Women tend to be grateful for merely achieving success, without using it as a springboard for greater opportunities.

“Women are trained to be grateful and to do it all, but it is so girly to miss the moment,” she commented.

Brzezinski then mentioned the importance of doing research, especially so you know what you are getting into when you sign contracts and make agreements. She admitted to not knowing this early on, which led her to sign a contract where she would become one of the lowest paid staff members there.

She then mentioned that women should never play the victim in the workplace, and to not worry about the opinions of other individuals.

“It should never matter if others like you,” she pointed out.

In further explaining her fourth rule, Brzezinski singled out the differences between men and women in terms of negotiations. Women, to her, tend to be more emotional and feed into their own insecurities.

She also encouraged women to apologize less during discussions.

“All women should remove the words ‘I’m sorry’ from their vocabularies,” she stated proudly.

“You should know your value and be proud of it! In fact, I am 44 years old and I am only now just learning my value.”

Brzezinski concluded her speech by thanking her employer, Phil Griffin from NBC, for allowing her to present her opinions to others.

“I am proud of my story, and for my employer for allowing me to tell it,” she said.

Brzezinski then took questions from the audience. The members used this opportunity to obtain her opinions on various topics, such as the standing of women at work as well as her role on Morning Joe.

One questioner openly wondered why Mika appears to play a secondary role to her co-host Joe Scarborough during the ‘Morning Joe’ broadcasts. She reminded the audience that while Joe appears to shoulder most of the responsibility, she handles most of the action behind the scenes and plays a key role in the program’s maintenance.

“I am happy where I am on the show, and I don’t mind being #2,” she said.

When one audience member requested her opinion regarding the controversy surrounding the contraceptive provision in President Obama’s health care law; she answered by stating that while she is a strong Catholic, she is also the type of individual that does not impose her views on others.

Another questioner wanted her opinion on the employment landscape for young people. She responded by noting that individuals in their 20’s are not yet in position to heed the advice mentioned in the book.

“For those of you in your 20s, you should dial it back a bit,” she pointed out.

“You can’t own the place just yet.”

After all the questions were completed, Mika thanked the audience for their attendance and reminded everyone present to be aware of their own worth.

“If you fail to recognize your own value, you will not know it from anyone else.”

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/wacphiladelphia/

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NBC’s smash hit sitcom ‘Community’ has been announced to return from its hiatus on Thursday, March 15^th 2012 at 8:00pm. Creator Dan Harmon released the news via Twitter February 21^st to the celebration of many fans of the show. For those who are unfamiliar with it, ‘Community’ is a comedy about a collection of misfits at Greendale community college who have formed a study group and inadvertently become a dysfunctional little family.

The study group consists of the self-absorbed Jeff (Joel McHale), the continuously preachy liberal Britta (Gillian Jacobs), the television obsessed Abed (Danny Pudi), the former jock Troy (Donald Glover), the innocent straight-A student Annie (Alison Brie), steadfast Christian Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), and the perpetually offensive Pierce (Chevy Chase). The college is run by the effeminate and ever-meddling Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) who often charges the group with helping him with school activities against their will.

In season one, the group had been taking a Spanish class with the demented Señor Chang (Ken Jeong) and learning their dynamics. Jeff had been interested in Britta and claimed he was a Spanish tutor in order to get her to hang out with him so he could ask her out, but Britta invited Abed and Abed invited the other members of the group, much to Jeff’s frustration.

He tried to leave but his selfish instincts were pushed aside as he realized that they needed his help and he reluctantly became the leader of the study group. As the season progressed, they became closer and much more fond of each other and proceeded to the next Spanish course together.

In season two, it is revealed that Señor Chang lied on his application to the college and is not a certified Spanish teacher. Furthermore, he reveals that he has become obsessed with their study group and wants to join it, much to their horror. Relationships within the group begin to change over the course of the semester, such as Jeff and Britta’s romance fluctuating, Annie developing a crush on Jeff, and Pierce continually alienating himself from the group by being a sexist, racist jerk more and more often.

In the first half of season three, which will continue March 15^th, the group reluctantly accepts Pierce back into the fold, and starts taking a Biology class together. Jeff and Britta are now friends rather than lovers, Jeff tries his best to keep Annie at a distance despite their mutual attraction, Troy and Abed move in together as best buds, and Pierce is pretty much still Pierce.

The broke and homeless Señor Chang has become a security guard on campus, and continues to menace the group at every turn after being unable to join them. The Dean has to work with a lower budget for the college, and continues coercing the group into helping him with school activities.

‘Community’ is well known for its fast-paced humor, savvy pop culture examinations, and most of all for its spread of characters. Each member of the group has a distinct personality with plenty of quirks and problems that make their interactions comedic gold. Despite all the hijinks they get themselves into, it is easy to see them as one big family, and that is the selling point of the show.

Its hiatus united the fans, who launched an online petition to get the show back on the air, and the cast members themselves continue to support it. Joel McHale, who some know as the host of E’s ‘The Soup’, promoted the show during the hiatus. The show also received surprise support from geek god Nathan Fillion, via Twitter.

Hopefully, with this fierce nation of fans, ‘Community’ will be greenlit for season four.

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On Wednesday, 8 February 2012, the NBC Rock Center TV program website ran a provocative story, “Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran’s nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News.” The article claims, “Deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by an Iranian dissident group that is financed, trained and armed by Israel’s secret service, U.S. officials tell NBC News, confirming charges leveled by Iran’s leaders.”

In conducting covert operations against Iranian nuclear scientists and engineers, the NBC story asserts that Israel’s intelligence service supposedly uses as a proxy the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MeK), an Iranian dissident group the State Department classifies as a terrorist organization.

According to Professor Raymond Tanter, former member of the National Security Council staff in the Reagan-Bush White House and now President of the Iran Policy Committee, “Left out of the NBC story is that the State Department categorizes the MeK as a terrorist group despite the law and facts.” Tanter added, “Tehran’s anti-MeK propaganda machine also routinely blames the MeK for terrorist actions, irrespective of evidence to the contrary.”

Consider an October 2011 criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department against Iranian agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force charged with involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States. In discussing Tehran’s role in the plot, the former head of the Department of Justice 2007-2009, Attorney General Michael Mukasey, made an assessment of the law and facts concerning the MeK terrorist designation.

General Mukasey said on 14 October 2011, “Continued listing [of the MeK] is totally unjustified as a legal matter. There are no facts that justify maintaining MeK on the terrorist list.”

And what is Tehran’s response when confronted with evidence of its own complicity in the Saudi assassination plot? Professor Tanter said, “The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security blames Israel and the United States and asserts MeK involvement. Even the State Department promptly denied MeK responsibility in the plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador and accused Tehran of fabricating news stories to exploit skepticism about the scheme.”

Tanter added, “A similar pattern is apparent in the accusation reported in the NBC story by Mohammad Javad Larijani, a senior aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, of alleged collusion between the MeK and Israel to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists. “Larijani simply fabricated a narrative associating Israel with the MeK to exploit uncertainty about the nature of those who are engaged in assassinating Iranian scientists,” according to Tanter.

The NBC story claiming to connect Israel to the MeK also alleges an association of the MeK to al Qaeda. Supposedly, the MeK cut a deal with Pakistani-born terrorist Ramzi Yousef a year after he masterminded the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Yousef also built a bomb that MeK agents allegedly placed in a shrine in Mashad, Iran, in June 1994 . 

The IPC book,  Terror Tagging  authored by Professor Tanter with the Foreword by General Mukasey, refers to the bombing of the Mashad shrine mentioned in the NBC report implicating the MeK and linking it to one of the operatives in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing—Yousef. Tanter stated, “Contrary to the NBC anonymous U.S. government source, an open Pakistani source accuses a Pakistani militant not the MeK as having connections to Yousef to carry out the 1994 shrine bombing.”

Although [the Iranian] government blamed the Mujahedin-e-Khalq in a TV show to avoid sectarian conflict between Shia and Sunni, the Pakistani daily “News” of March 27, 1995 reported, “Pakistani investigators have identified a 24-year-old religious fanatic Abdul Shakoor residing in Lyari in Karachi, as an important Pakistani associate of Ramzi Yousef. Abdul Shakoor had intimate contacts with Ramzi Ahmed Yousefand was responsible for the June 20, 1994, massive bomb explosion at the shrine Imam Ali Reza in Mashhad.

At the time of the 1994 Mashad bombing, the MeK denied any role. And a few years later, during one of the regime’s regular factional feuds, a former member of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence asserted that the bombing had been perpetrated by the Ministry, and in particular, by Saeed Emami, then one of its deputies.

A main theme of the NBC story is its assertion, anonymously backed by American officials, of collusion between Israel and the MeK. That claim provides a convenient rationale for the Iranian regime to engage in terrorist attacks against Israeli diplomats.

“Accusing Israel of using as a proxy a ‘terrorist’ organization to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists provides false legitimacy for Iranian assassination plots in Washington as well as a trio of plots and bombings against Israelis in New Delhi, Tbilisi, Georgia, and Bangkok, Thailand,” according to Professor Tanter.

Regarding the anonymous leak that lends a veneer of credibility to the NBC story, on 11 February 2012, former Director of the FBI, Judge Louis Freeh, called for an investigation of the leak to NBC because it damaged U.S. national security; and former Governor of Vermont and presidential candidate, Howard Dean, said, “Either the source committed treason or committed the usual Washington sin of lying to the press.”

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/idfonline/

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The current US television season is only just half-underway, but already the major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and the CW) have made the majority of their pilot orders with regards to new programming for the 2012-2013 season.

John Wells, former show-runner of the hit medical drama ER and current show-runner of the cable dramas Shameless and Southland, makes his return to network television with two pilot orders this development season. The first of his pilots is a comedy co-effort with Glee actor Mike O’Malley for FOX, and is currently titled Prodigal Bully.

The premise of the series, if it is picked up beyond its pilot order, would be that of “a young boy genius who uses his brains and brawn to get whatever he wants“. As for Wells’ other pilot, he is developing a remake of the British drama hit Bad Girls for NBC. This series would follow the activities of a group of female prisoners, and ran for seven years in the UK.

Other notable figures to have sold new pilots to the major networks include: JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias, Alcatraz), who has sold Shelter to CW; Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Chuck, Gossip Girl), who will be writing Carrie Diaries, a teenage prequel to the Sex and the City franchise); and NCIS star Mark Harmon, who will be producing Joey Dakota for the CW.

It is unusual that so many pilot orders have taken place by the beginning of February, as several midseason shows have yet to debut for the 2011-2012 season, while the fates of such long-running hits as FOX’s House and NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit remain uncertain. In any case, the networks appear to be stockpiling in a effort to combat the ratings decline which has struck many of them this season – particularly, The CW.

The CW came into this season with the high-profile television return of Sarah Michelle Gellar, however, its ratings declines have been well-documented and the network has now picked up five drama pilots with the potential pick-up of several more. This aggressive development move is in contrast to CBS which has so far picked up just a handful of projects, although, CBS’ ratings are in a much stronger position.

As the remainder of the 2011-2012 season plays out and the networks learn of the fates of their long-running shows, while also seeing how their new midseasons shows fare among established competition, it will become more clear just how many of the ordered pilots will indeed make it to air in the fall, how many will be benched until midseason and how many will be put out of contention altogether.

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Stone Phillips, former Dateline NBC and ABC News 20/20 reporter, returns to the field with ”Hard Hits, Hard Numbers: The First Study of Head Impacts in Youth Football.”

This exclusive story, released on StonePhillipsReports.com January 27th, reveals the findings of a groundbreaking Virginia Tech study, which placed instrumented helmets on 7- and 8-year-old football players.  Data was collected on more than 750 hits to the head over the course of a season.  With some impacts reaching magnitudes considered high even for college players, the findings provide the first quantitative assessment of the acceleration that young brains are exposed to in youth football.

Lead researcher Stefan Duma, who has been gathering data on head impacts among college players at Virginia Tech for nine seasons, describes the results of the youth study as “surprising.”  ”The highest impact we measured was 100g, which puts you right in the middle average of a concussion,” Duma tells Phillips.

Dr. Gunnar Brolinson, head of Virginia Tech’s Sports Medicine Department, remarks, “With the kids, when you start seeing 50, 60, 70, 80g blows, you’re just going ‘Wow!’ That is really impressive in terms of the load that’s occurring.  And again, you’ve got a young athlete and a developing brain subject to those kinds of loads. So it’s concerning.”

Significantly, 29 of the top 38 hits and all impacts over 80gs occurred during practices.  ”This shows how important our research is.  Without the sensors, we would never have known this. We can change the practices like we’ve done at college and dramatically minimize risk,” says Professor Duma.

The study, expected to be published this spring, was funded through a grant from NHTSA and conducted through the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest Center for Injury Biomechanics.

“Hard Hits, Hard Numbers” features interviews with Stefan Duma, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Gunnar Brolinson, team doctor and head of Virginia Tech Sports Medicine, John Clark, coach of the participating youth football team, and team parents.

Stone Phillips, who suffered two sports-related concussions during his high school and college years, says, “We all know how fierce the hitting is in professional, college and even high school football.  For the first time, this study gives hard, sobering numbers on head impacts among the youngest players.”

Image Courtesy of  Richard Paul Kane / Shutterstock.com

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Hagens Berman announced an investigation of Netflix regarding claims made in a recently filed securities class-action lawsuit, including alleged insider selling by corporate executives, and informed investors of a March 13, 2012, deadline to move for lead plaintiff.

Investors who purchased shares of Netflix common stock between December 20, 2010, and October 24, 2011 (the “class period”), and have lost more than $500,000 are encouraged to contact Partner Reed R. Kathrein.  Kathrein is leading Hagens Berman’s investigation.

The securities class-action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on January 13, 2012. The complaint alleges that Netflix violated federal securities laws by making false and misleading statements to investors during the class period.

Specifically, the lawsuit claims that Netflix knew its short-term contracts with content providers were likely to expire or be so costly to renew that the company would be forced to raise its prices, but failed to timely disclose these details to investors. On July 12, 2011, Netflix announced that it was raising prices for some subscribers, and on July 13, 2011, the company announced a new multi-year agreement with NBC Universal.

Following the news, Netflix stock closed at $298.73 per share. The company then announced on Sept 15, 2011, that it was updating its third quarter 2011 guidance, disclosing that it had lost a million subscribers following the price increases. On this news, Netflix stock price declined by nearly 19 percent, closing at less than $170 per share.

On October 24, 2011, the company disclosed to shareholders a net loss of more than 800,000 subscribers. Netflix stock fell again, closing at $80.86 on Oct. 27, 2011. According to the class-action complaint, Netflix executives sold over $90 million worth of the company’s stock during the class period. The lawsuit alleges that CEO Reed Hastings sold 190,000 shares for $43.2 million. The deadline to move the court for lead plaintiff status is March 13, 2012.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/hackingnetflix/

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Another award season begins in Hollywood with the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards, which will be announced on January 15. Prior to the telecast, the names of the winners will be safeguarded by Ernst & Young LLP, a leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services and services to strategic growth markets.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has relied on the firm for the past 39 years to conduct the ballot tabulation process of the Golden Globes with security, integrity and reliability. The 69th annual Golden Globe Awards will be telecast live on NBC on Sunday, January 15, 2012, 5:00 p.m. PST/8:00 p.m. EST from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

“We maintain the accuracy and integrity of the Golden Globe Awards voting process and protect the security of the results,” said Andy Sale, Ernst & Young LLP lead partner responsible for the 2012 Golden Globe Awards. “The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has depended on Ernst & Young for nearly 40 years, and we have always been unwavering in upholding the standard of our work on their behalf.”

Some additional facts about the Golden Globes voting, balloting and tabulation process:

• Winners are known only to three senior Ernst & Young LLP professionals in advance of the telecast.
• The firm is also responsible for qualifying voting members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, confirming that their credentials are current and meet the standards set forth by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
• The firm oversees the entire voting process, beginning with the nomination ballots, and maintains control of the ballots until the telecast is over.
• Results are triple-checked to eliminate any margin of error.
• Winner envelopes are assembled by the firm and are maintained exclusively under its control until they are handed directly to each celebrity presenter moments before they appear on-stage.

“The Golden Globe Awards signifies the start of the award season in Hollywood, and we are honored to be responsible for protecting the process of determining the winners,” said John Nendick, Global Media and Entertainment Leader for Ernst & Young. “Motion picture, television, music, publishing, advertising and digital media companies continually turn to Ernst & Young as one of their most valuable and trusted resources.”

s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

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TV Land, home to America’s favorite sitcoms, has partnered with world-renowned Dr. Lee Berk, DrPH, MPH, a preventive care specialist and psychoneuroimmunologist, for a breakthrough study titled “The Power of Laughter” showing a direct correlation between laughter and the positive effects on the body and mind. In fact, watching sitcoms, a staple on TV Land, can contribute to improving your overall health.

Some key findings include:

• People who laugh often are more likely to exercise vigorously and eat healthier.

• Sense of humor is the #1 quality that people find attractive in a person over other traits like physical appearance and intelligence.

• Over 70% of people agree that laughter, as a personality trait, can open doors and create opportunities in the workplace.

A basic necessity, 92% of people agree that everyone needs laughter in their life, with humor about everyday life ranking as the #1 type of humor. While almost everyone recognizes the importance of laughter, 55% of people in the study can be defined as heavy laughers versus 45% of people who are recognized as occasional laughers, almost an even split.

The study, titled “The Power of Laughter,” was conducted in October 2011 via an online survey nationally representative by gender and ethnicity. The survey measured 1200 people ages 21-59 plus an augment of TV Land viewers.

“After you’re done with the stress of everyday work, planning the family meals, and dealing with your in-laws, balance the pressures of the holidays with the health benefits of laughter,” states Dr. Berk. ”Our study validates that watching sitcoms like the ones on TV Land is the number one way people seek out and find laughter.

That is very significant since this is an accessible way, be it alone or with others, that Americans can obtain the psychological and physical benefits of laughter such as feeling less stressed and depressed, having more optimism and vigor, along with lowering blood pressure, stress hormones and enhancing components of immunity.”

“It’s been said before that laughter is the best medicine, and we have seen that firsthand working with sitcom greats like the ones featured on TV Land,” said Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land.  “What’s interesting is how something as seemingly simple as watching sitcoms is now shown to be connected to affect physical and psychological health and well-being. This research debunks the stereotype of a couch potato when, in fact, the laughter derived from watching sitcoms has many benefits. My holiday wish is that everyone watches more TV Land this year – after all, it’s good for you!”

A whopping 88% of people agreed that laughter helps you deal with the seriousness of life. Whether it’s due to the effects of years of financial market instability, almost a decade of war or individual experiences, the need to laugh came through in many ways in the “Power of Laughter” survey and that the benefits of laughter are plentiful.  88% of people agree that the more you laugh, the less stressed you feel and 63% of people believe that laughing makes you more relaxed.

The television industry is currently seeing the benefits of people wanting to laugh as sitcoms on TV are seeing a massive resurgence. 71% of people believe “watching a funny TV show” is the #1 laugh-inducing activity. In fact, “Hot in Cleveland’s” Betty White is the top celebrity that makes people laugh the most. Among TV Land viewers surveyed, TV Land was voted funnier than the broadcast networks netting out with TV Land at 62%, CBS with 51%, NBC at 50%, ABC with 45% and Fox at 42%.

77% of people believe that laughter makes you happier. Heavy laughers are 69% more likely to feel happier now than ever before. When asked how often you laugh with your significant other, 77% of heavy laughers responded all or most of the time as opposed to 38% of occasional laughers. Additionally, 45% of heavy laughers strongly agree that they are excited about their next chapter in life versus 17% of occasional laughers. The optimism of heavy laughers is truly inspirational as almost 50% of this segment expect things to go their way versus 32% of occasional laughers.

In addition to having less stress, the “Power of Laughter” study showed people who laugh more are more likely to: maintain their target weight (48% vs. 42%), exercise vigorously (68% vs. 53%) and eat healthier with heavy laughers reporting to be 39% more likely than occasional laughers to eat fruits and vegetables with every meal. 76% of all of those surveyed and 84% of heavy laughers agree “my health improves when I laugh more.”

89% of those surveyed believe that laughter keeps them young and whether you are a heavy laugher or not, 80% of people believe that those who laugh more are more youthful. Additionally, 88% of people believe that laughter is energizing.

Good sexual health is also a benefit of laughter. Almost 60% of heavy laughers describe their sex life as “just right” versus 44% of occasional laughers. Additionally, heavy laughers are more likely than occasional laughers to participate in romantic activities every day or several times a week. Whether or not romantic activities are at play, 55% of people agree that laughing increases their libido and 54% of people agree that laughter is an aphrodisiac.

The “Power of Laughter” study found that there is an undeniable correlation between laughter and personal financial success. 52% of heavy laughers agree that they are living up to their full potential while only 33% of occasional laughers say the same. 33% of heavy laughers consider themselves very successful versus 22% of occasional laughers.

Heavy laughers are 69% more likely than occasional laughers to be satisfied with their job and 71% of people agree that laughter opens doors and creates opportunities. In general, 64% of people believe that people who laugh more are more effective.

Interestingly, there is a very social aspect to heavy laughers. Furthermore, heavy laughers actually draw people to them. Almost 90% of people agree that laughter brings people together. 40% of heavy laughers socialize with their friends several times a week versus 28% of occasional laughers.

Additionally, 89% of people agree that laughter is contagious and 76% of people are more attracted to people who laugh a lot. In fact, people find sense of humor to be the #1 quality that people find attractive in a person over other traits like physical appearance and intelligence.

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The upcoming Fall season ushers in many new, must see television series debuting in upcoming weeks. The major television networks of ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX will be introducing a wave of new shows in hopes of becoming the next big hit. Many successful television shows will also be going through major changes as popular celebrities leave shows and are replaced by fresh faces.

NBC welcomes Christina Applegate, Maya Rudolph and Will Arnett in “Up All Night”, a new comedy series that highlights the struggles of parents with young children. The series preview aired on September 14. “Up All Night” is the brainchild of Emily Spivey and produced by Lorne Michaels, both from “Saturday Night Live.”

Juggling careers, daily responsibilities, and sleep deprived life with a baby is the foundation of this new comedy. With strong ties to humor and wit, the cast and creators of “Up All Night” are set on showcasing a hilarious perspective on parenthood. Simon Cowell’s departure from American Idol has come and gone, but the British superstar will now return to television with a new reality competition.

His UK hit show, “The X-Factor” will debut on September 21 on FOX. The singing competition has been #1 in the UK for years, and Cowell hopes to have the same success with the show in the United States. Raising the stakes from prizes in the past, the grand prize of a $5 million record deal is something people have not yet seen in reality competitions.

Judges for the show include music mogul L.A. Reid and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. The highly anticipated reunion of Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul as judges will be one to watch. Along with many new up and coming series, many fan favorites are coming back with a new season of episodes.

Hilariously written and performed “Modern Family” will be back for new laughs and jokes on ABC starting September 21. With last season’s mention of couple Cameron and Mitchell wanting to have son, viewers can look out for this story line as well as the usual ups and downs that make up this family’s lives.

Changes are also coming to a solid television series on NBC. “Law & Order: SVU”, which has been on air since 1999, will no longer have Christopher Meloni playing widely popular detective Elliot Stabler. Marishka Hargitay, who plays Olivia Benson as Stabler’s partner will stay for season 13.

The fan favorite duo of Benson and Stabler will no longer be shown each week, leaving loyal fans at a loss. “Law & Order: SVU” has been the most successful series of the Law & Order brand. Time and ratings will tell if the show will continue on as a mainstream hit without the reliable detectives headlining the show. “Law & Order: SVU” will premiere its new seasons on September 21.

Change is also occurring on NBC’s hit comedy, “The Office”. With the departure of comedian Steve Carell as Michael Scott of Dunder Mifflin, critics have questioned if the show can retain its signature comedy. Viewers will soon find out who the new manager of the company will be. The new season of “The Office” starts September 22.

After the much publicized Charlie Sheen scandal, “Two and a Half” men will premiere on September 19, with front man Ashton Kutcher replacing Sheen. Kutcher will also take the coveted title of highest paid actor on television, receiving $700,000 per episode. The comedy will surely be watched under scrutinizing eyes as viewers see the transition of the show from Sheen to Kutcher.

There are plenty of new and exciting television shows to watch for the upcoming Fall 2011 season. With new additions to already successful shows, it will be interesting to see which shows come out on top and which may not deliver.

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Upcoming TV shows are expected by all of us in these summer days (If you are a series geek, of course).

Producers and TV Companies drain theirs brains to give us fresh and new stories for the next season and obviously trying to catch out attention through trailers and reviews of their products.

Do you remember Christina Applegate?
She became famous and in one of the most successful TV shows ever: “Married With Children”.
Ten years in this show helped Christina to enormously develop her career as an actress, and the rest is history.

What about Will Arnett?
Best known for his role in Arrested Development, Will worked in several movies and TV shows.

Now, together and with the support of the NCB company, they become a couple in “Up All Night” an upcoming show that will be released this fall.

About the show

Life is all about balance. So what happens when you throw a new baby into it?

Reagan (Christina Applegate) and her husband, Chris (Will Arnett), are the proud new parents of baby Amy. She may have been unexpected, but life’s curve balls can be a godsend, literally. Unless you have a career that needs attention, which is exactly what Reagan has. So, bucking tradition, they decide Reagan is the one going back to work while Chris is going to be the stay-at-home dad. Easy, right? Well, not quite.

Back at work at her high-pressure job, Reagan immediately feels the push and pull of motherhood and career while her self-involved co-worker, Ava (Maya Rudolph), can’t believe her best friend now has a baby (nor can she even remember if it’s a boy or girl). Then her Facebook-generation assistant reminds Reagan of the free-wheeling lifestyle she and Chris once had. She also remembers that no matter how rowdy the partying once was, she always managed to get home, something that makes her very proud.

Determined to prove that she and Chris still have a hot love life, and that she can be the perfect wife, mother, and career woman, Reagan spins a little out of control. But she eventually realizes that Amy is her new number one priority and somehow everything (except maybe Chris) is going to take a backseat to their new bundle of joy.

Written by Saturday Night Live’s Emily Spivey, executive produced by Lorne Michaels, and directed by James Griffiths (Episodes), Reagan and Chris are about to find out whether it’s really possible to have it all.

In an interview given to NBC, Christina Applegate states:

“Everyone’s making big adjustments and that’s what really happens when you have a baby. Everything changes, is no longer about you anymore, which is great because you have this angel in your life and it’s ok to make these changes”.

And she continues.

“I’ve never laughed out loud reading something so that was the first time that  I laugh out loud reading the script and that?s when I signed on to be a part of the journey”

With this being just a sneak peek, we will have to wait until September 14th, to see how this couple attempts to deal with the new member who comes to show that, sometimes, life can change for good.

Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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