TV show host boots out 9/11 conspiracy theorists

It's the conundrum that faces all television personalities broadcasting live: how to deal with hecklers trying to disrupt the show. Do you ignore the perpetrators? Do you try to reason with them? Or do you do what the American comic and talk show host Bill Maher did - jump into the audience, threaten the hecklers with an "ass kicking" and scream "Get the fuck out of my building!"
In one of the more unconventional displays of audience interaction on US television in recent years, that is now doing hot trade as a clip on YouTube, Maher reacted to the interruptions of hecklers in his studio audience with the memorable words: "Do we have some fucking security in this building?"
He then tore off his lapel microphone and stormed off the stage and up to some protesters wielding "expose the 9/11 cover-up" banners.
It was at that point during a panel discussion on his HBO show, Real Time With Bill Maher, that the nature of the comic's difficulties with an element of his audience became clear. Maher is a darling of the US liberal intelligentsia for his brand of Bush-bashing and anti-religious pedantry.
But the one point over which he will not bash the Bush administration is the events of September 11 2001. He does not agree with 9/11 conspiracy theorists, or Truthers as they call themselves, that the Bush administration brought down the Twin Towers in a controlled explosion.
The trouble started a few weeks ago when Maher launched a verbal assault on air against the Truthers, calling them "crazy people". He advised the conspiracy theorists, who had been demonstrating outside his studio, to visit their doctor to ask whether the antidepressant Paxil was right for them.
In 2002 ABC ended its relationship with him over comments he made in his former show, Politically Incorrect, about the 9/11 hijackers.

Mastermind seeks more women

When was the last time a woman won the BBC quiz Mastermind? Why have there been nearly three times as many male champions? What can be done about this gender imbalance? Such questions have been testing the ingenuity of producers on the long-running series since the presenter, John Humphrys, recently bewailed the shortage of women contestants. Between 1,500 and 2,000 people undergo auditions for the TV show every year, but only a quarter are female.
In an attempt to rectify the disparity, the programme has launched a recruitment drive through advertisments in women's magazines and approaches to women's organisations. Insisting there would be no positive discrimination or lowering of standards, a BBC spokeswoman insisted: "Women will still have to be good enough to get on the programme. Mastermind is looking at encouraging more women to apply because they are not getting as many as men."
The show began in 1972 and was the brainchild of the TV producer Bill Wright, a former RAF gunner, who drew on his wartime experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo. Over the past 35 years, eight women and 21 men have won the title. The series was not screened between 1997 and 2003. Curiously, the first three winners were women, the last being Anne Ashurst, a novelist, in 1997.
Humphrys believes women triumph in general knowledge but men do better in specialist topics.

This article is about the show "Mastermind" and how only eight women but 21 men have won the title. This is quite a shocking statistic and makes me wonder if it was just coincidence at the time or purposely done.
Now however, mastermind are encouraging more women to apply.

The reason i chose this article is because the matter of gender discrimination has always been a controversial issue and therefore this interested me from the start, but even more interestingly it was actually the women that didn't want to apply not so much Mastermind not letting them.
I think there is not discrimination actually being enforced, yes it may seem that way due to the vast gap between the number of male winners and female winners, but actually it is just the fact that more men apply. Maybe Mastermind's encouragement can help turn these statistics around.

Time Warner

Time Warner Inc. is the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in New York City, with major operations in film, television, publishing, Internet service and telecommunications. Among its subsidiaries are AOL, Home Box Office, New Line Cinema, Time Inc., Time Warner Cable, Turner Broadcasting System, The CW and Warner Bros. Entertainment

*Conglomerates: a conglomerate is a collection of companies owned by a single institution. These need not all be within the same industry. This diversification allows protection against a single part of the conglomerate failing.

Origins

Warner Communications was established in 1972 when Kinney National Company spun off its non-entertainment assets, due to a financial scandal over its parking operations.It was the parent company for Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Music Group during the 1970s and 1980s. It also owned DC Comics and Mad, as well as a majority stake in Garden State National Bank (an investment it was ultimately required to sell pursuant to requirements under the Bank Holding Company Act). Warner's initial divestiture efforts led by Garden State CEO Charles A. Agemian were blocked by Garden State board member William A. Conway in 1978; a revised transaction was later completed in 1980. Warner made considerable profits (and later losses) with Atari, which it owned from 1976 to 1984. In 1976, Nolan Bushnell sold his Atari company to Warner Communications for an estimated $28 - $32 million. While part of Warner, Atari achieved its greatest success, selling millions of Atari 2600s and computers. At its peak, Atari accounted for a third of Warner's annual income and was the fastest-growing company in the history of the United States at the time.In the 1970s, Warner expanded under the guidance of CEO Steve Ross and formed a joint venture with American Express, named Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, which held cable channels including MTV, Nickelodeon and Showtime. Warner bought out American Express's half in 1984, and sold the venture a year later to Viacom, which renamed it MTV Networks.In February 1983, Warner expanded their interests to baseball. Under the direction of Ceasar P. Kimmel, executive vice president, bought 48 percent of the Pittsburgh Pirates for $10 million. It then put up its share for sale in November 1984 following losses of $6 million. The team's elderly majority owner, John W. Galbreath, soon followed suit after learning of Warner's actions.

Turner Broadcasting logo

1999 Time Warner logo

In 1984, due to the video game crash of 1983, Warner sold the consumer division of Atari to Jack Tramiel. It kept the arcade division and renamed it Atari Games. They sold Atari Games to Namco in 1985, and repurchased it in 1994, renaming it Time-Warner Interactive, until it was sold to Midway Games in 1996. Meanwhile, In 1987, it was announced that Warner Communications and Time Inc. were to merge. The last thing Warner did before the merger closed in 1989 was to buy out Lorimar-Telepictures. In early 1990, the combined companies were named Time Warner. This company subsequently acquired Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System in October 1996.Time Warner had also been owner of the Six Flags Theme Parks chain during the 1990s after near bankruptcy. It sold all Six Flags parks and properties to Oklahoma based Premier Parks on April 1st, 1998. Some theme park insiders argue that Six Flags was much better off under Time Warner ownership.

America Online merger

In 2000, a new company called AOL Time Warner was created when AOL purchased Time Warner for US$164bn. The deal, announced on 10 January 2000 and officially filed on 11 February 2000, employed a merger structure in which each original company merged into a newly created entity. The Federal Trade Commission cleared the deal on December 14, 2000, and gave final approval on January 11, 2001; the company completed the merger later that day. The deal was approved on the same day by the Federal Communications Commission, and had already been cleared the European Commission on 11 October 2000. The shareholders of AOL owned 55% of the new company while Time Warner shareholders owned only 45%, meaning that the smaller AOL had in fact bought out the far larger Time Warner.

There has been some speculation about the motivations of each party. Some observers believed that Time Warner was struggling to integrate "new media" into its business. At the time of the announcement, Time Warner executives spoke of the need to "digitize their business." They were also eager to be attached to a dot-com company, as the dot-com bubble was near its peak. A merger with AOL provided a huge subscriber base of Internet users, along with online marketing know-how. While some business journalists have reported that AOL executives felt that AOL stock was severely overvalued and that a big merger was the only way to avoid a collapse in valuation, it this could merely have been a small part of AOL executives' desire to diversify the assets of the company beyond the Internet and online sectors. In addition, executives at AOL were quite concerned about the prospect of increased competition with Microsoft and sought to enlarge the company as a defensive measure. Finally, AOL executives believed that the integration of AOL's Internet distribution and Time Warner's content would create a tremendous amount of value for both sides of the company.Media companies felt that the vertically integrated AOL Time Warner would unfairly promote its own content within its outlets. This fear existed before the merger, but Time Warner was thought to be a conglomeration of very independent divisions. It was feared that this would change with the influence of AOL executives.Consumer advocates were concerned with the threat of product tying between Time Warner's cable TV systems and AOL's Internet service. Some consumer groups saw a possible attempt to corner the Internet-over-TV market, whereby AOL could force all of the Time Warner cable subscribers to use AOL branded Internet-TV. Smaller internet service providers feared that AOL would tie its Internet service to Time Warner's cable modem service. Some ISPs wanted the opportunity to use Time Warner's cable network as a common carrier for their services, which competed with AOL. AOL and Time Warner pledged not to violate any antitrust regulations.Many observers were shocked that a large, diversified media conglomerate was being acquired by a much smaller company. Market conditions at the time of the merger placed a greater premium on Internet-related stocks than on traditional media stocks. AOL's high market capitalization relative to that of Time Warner made the acquisition possible. The deal has since become a symbol of the Dot com bubble and is widely regarded as a disaster for shareholders of the original Time Warner, with a $2.4 billion shareholder settlement, a further $600 million set aside and a $5 billion price boosting share buyback program announced on August 3, 2005.AOL CEO Steve Case became executive chairman of the new company, while Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin retained the CEO title.

Financials

In 2004, Time Warner's market capitalization was $84 billion. When the AOL-Time Warner merger was announced in January 2000, the combined market capitalization was $280 billion.For fiscal year 2002 the company reported a $99 billion loss on its income statement because of $100 billion in non-recurring charges, almost all from a writedown of the goodwill (intangible asset) from the merger in 2000. (The value of the AOL portion of the company had dropped sharply with the collapse of the Internet boom, in the early 2000s.)

Competition

Time Warner faces industry competition from traditional media companies such as CBS Corporation, News Corporation, and Viacom, as well as online search portals such as Yahoo!, and Google for competition of viewer attention which translates to ad sales. According to the recent 10Q, in order to remain competitive, Time Warner and AOL must keep pace with rapid technological changes on the internet. Time Warner's business may be severely impacted by the increasing 'piracy' of feature films, television programming and other content which decreases company revenues.AOL's subscriber base is declining, and declines are expected to continue, adversely affecting subscription and advertising revenue. As more individuals are using non-PC devices to access the Internet, AOL is under pressure to secure placement of its services and applications on mobile devices.Box office receipts and the growth rate of DVD sales have recently been declining, which adversely affects Warner Brothers' growth prospects and revenues.

Controversy

Time Warner has been criticized for its funding associated with Planned Parenthood, listed as a boycott target by Life Decisions International.

Distributor - filmography

The Nativity Story (2006) ... Distributor (2006) (worldwide) (theatrical)
"Kindergarten" (2001) (mini) ... Distributor (2001) (USA) (TV)
Toonheads: The Lost Cartoons (2000) (TV) ... Distributor
Goodwill Games Closing Celebration (1998) (TV) ... Distributor (1998) (USA) (TV)
"Nightcap" (1998) ... Distributor
WCW Great American Bash (1997) (V) ... Distributor (1997) (USA) (VHS)
WCW Slamboree 1997 (1997) (V) ... Distributor (1997) (USA) (VHS)
WCW Road Wild '97 (1997) (TV) ... Distributor (1997) (USA) (TV)
WCW Uncensored (1997) (V) ... Distributor (1997) (USA) (VHS)
"Kickback with Scott Pastore" (1994) ... Distributor
Bugs Bunny's Creature Features (1992) (TV) ... Distributor
Bugs Bunny's Overtures to Disaster(1991) (TV) ... Distributor

Production Company - filmography

Superjail (2007) (TV) ... Production Company
Faces of Evil (2000) (TV) ... Production Company
WCW SuperBrawl VII (1997) (V) ... Production Company
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (1996) ... Production Company
The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994 (1994) (TV) ... Production Company

Kershaw admits restraining order breach

http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,,2171818,00.html
The DJ Andy Kershaw today pleaded guilty to drink-driving and breaching a restraining order banning him from approaching his ex-girlfriend.
The former BBC Radio 1 presenter, who now has a show on Radio 3, admitted the offences at a court on the Isle of Man, where he was arrested last month close to the home of Juliette Banner.
Kershaw, 48, had moved to the town of Peel with Ms Banner and their two children in April last year.
But the couple split and Ms Banner moved out of the family home and into a small terraced house around 150 yards away.
Ms Banner won a restraining order against Kershaw on August 1 and he was arrested close to her property on August 29.
She has since moved house in an effort to reduce tensions between the couple.
The drink-driving charge came after Kershaw was stopped by police on September 13.
He was breathalysed and gave a reading of 57 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 30.
The deputy high bailiff, Alastair Montgomerie, adjourned the case until October 19 for social inquiry reports to be prepared.
He said: "As I have not heard any of the facts, the court is indicating all sentencing options are open."
Kershaw was bailed on condition that he cooperate with the probation service and not drive a car.
He must also comply with the original restraining order requirements that he does not approach Ms Banner, observes a 9pm to 7am curfew and does not enter pubs or restaurants selling alcohol.
Outside court, Kershaw said: "I've lost my kids, I've lost the woman I love, I've lost everything. It's a very difficult time for me. I just want peace and quiet."
Kershaw, originally from Rochdale, Manchester, studied politics at Leeds University before moving to London in 1984 where he worked as Billy Bragg's driver and roadie.
He was hired by the BBC and worked on the Whistle Test music show, before going on to host his own slot on Radio 1.
Kershaw has presented a world music show on Radio 3 since 2001, but it is not known if he will return to the show.

This article is about Andy Kershaw pleading guilty to drink driving and as if that wasn't enough he even breached a restraining order, these events have caused him some devastation, "I've lost my kids, I've lost the woman I love, I've lost everything. It's a very difficult time for me. I just want peace and quiet." The fact that he breached his restraining order makes us question firstly exactly what he may have done to earn that restraining order and also what kind of state he must be in do breach it too.

The reason i chose this article is because it interested me(as it always does) that only because this is Andy Kershaw, there is an article about it, whereas if this were any average person there would be absolutely no fuss about it. It also reminded me that even people with celebrity status are still human and do still make mistakes like every other average person does.

I think this whole fiasco will possibly have an effect on his listeners and the response will be interesting, they may either share the same views as me that everyone makes mistakes and just because he's a celebrity he doesn't have to change himself, whereas on the other hand he might get negative feedback and a lot of his listeners may turn their backs on him. Either way this will definiately effect his radio slot whether it be positively or negative.