Portfolio.com: Culture Inc

Power Tables

Fri, 16 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

On April 22, the plush dining room at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington is noticeably bare. Aside from a table of tourists and a lone harried diner, most of the overstuffed chairs sit empty. It is the day of the Pennsylvania primary, and there are no politicians to feast on artichoke and fennel soup; no reporters.

"During an election year, no one is in Washington," sighs Barbara Bahny David, the hotel's public relations director. "But, boy, oh boy, after the inaugural, just wait."

Though plenty happens in the White House corridors and Congressional halls, the city's dining rooms serve as the real backdrop for dealmaking drama in this small town. That's where politicians hammer out negotiations with lobbyists, spin reporters, and flirt with fundraisers. Jim Hewes, who tends the Willard's Round Robin Bar, can always tell which major player has just sealed a big deal. It gives him a chuckle to read about it in the paper the next day. "I think, That's funny, because he just spent two hours here with me last night."

When the next administration swings into town, eateries will be buzzing with staffers intent on making their mark. In Washington, politicos pick where they eat to be close to the inside action, says Colleen Evans, who has seen her share of inaugurations as publicity director of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. "It speaks volumes if you can walk into the Palm and have [maître d'] Tommy Jacomo slap you on the back and tell you a dirty joke," Evans says.

That holds true no matter which party you belong to. "Quite often in Washington, a good restaurant gets both sides of the aisle," says Mame Reiley, a Virginia superdelegate who heads the Democratic National Convention's Women's Caucus

Mainstays like the Palm, which is a half-dozen blocks from the White House, remain political hotbeds across generations of administrations. "If Tommy got a cut of all the deals that happen at the Palm, he could have retired by now," Reiley jokes. But she points out that the tastes of senior administration staffers can quickly turn restaurants into power spots. The Old Ebbitt Grill, an oyster bar and saloon a block from the White House, was anointed by President Bush's advisers.

So restaurant owners are looking ahead to the new administration. There's speculation that newer spots might see a spike in business if Barack Obama wins the presidency and brings to town lots of fresh young faces drawn to hipper venues. John McCain, as usual, is a wild card. And many restaurant owners fondly look back on the Clinton years, when the commander in chief flitted about town both with and without his wife. Ashok Bajaj, who owns half a dozen restaurants around town, including the Oval Room and Rasika, says the Clintons are adventurous eaters and attracted crowds wherever they dined. (The current president prefers the comfort of his own dining room. )

Whatever the dining trends in 2009, it's not just restaurateurs who will be affected, but political up-and-comers as well. "They have to make sure to be at the right places," says Satinder Palta, general manager of the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel. "That way it sets the right tone for their boss." Here's the rundown:

The Palm
When Bill Clinton first came to town after his inauguration, campaign manager James Carville and fundraiser Terry McAuliffe immediately set up shop at the Palm, a downtown steak house. Carville, now a political consultant, still comes back to his usual table, though he sticks with light fare like pasta, says Jacomo. No matter who gets into office, the steak house will always remain a neutral meeting ground for both parties. "Washington is never going to change," he says. "Both parties need each other, so they can't burn bridges."

Morton's
The elder George Bush was a big fan of Morton's, another steak house near the White House. "It was never just 'hi' or 'bye' with him," says Danny Festa, general manager. "He'd stop, take pictures—it would take him 45 minutes just to get out." Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his successor Robert Gates come to Morton's regularly for their red-meat fixes, Festa says. CNN news host Larry King has a regular booth, but since his 1987 heart attack he avoids steak.

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
Café Promenade has served politicians going back to Herbert Hoover, and the Secret Service is here every day, boasts general manager Satinder Palta. Just four blocks from the White House, the dining room is a frequent stop for many power brokers. Former United Nations ambassador John Bolton dines at Café Promenade about five times a week at a three-seat table in the corner, opting for international fare like Greek salads and Chilean sea bass. Senator Barack Obama stayed at the Mayflower the night before the Washington and Maryland primaries, ordering a room-service breakfast of eggs and bacon—no waffles—before playing basketball at the local Y.M.C.A. Senator John McCain wolfed down a Mediterranean burger—but only half the bun—minutes before giving a major fundraising speech. Rumsfeld goes for burgers and Cobb salad with lots of blue cheese for lunch at Café Promenade. And the hotel makes sure to have chocolate-covered doughnuts available for California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and cigars for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

As for the Mayflower's recent infamous guest, Eliot Spitzer, Palta says he never made the special-request database. "He never ordered much," says Palta. "And he doesn't have any allergies."

Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert
Ripert's new Washington venture is the type of lively place where people go to celebrate a deal, not to make one, Evans says. Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who lives at the Ritz Residences above the restaurant, is a regular. The place has also played host to Today anchor Matt Lauer, who was in town during the Pope's visit in April. "Westend is becoming a very popular nightspot—not just for dinner, but cocktails," says Reiley. After Larry King threw a gala for his heart foundation there in May, partygoers lingered at the bar, she says.

Zola
This six-year-old contemporary restaurant has notched its fair share of accolades from national food and wine press. Those nods, combined with its proximity to the Verizon Center, the basketball and hockey arena, means it sees as many sports celebrities as political ones. "One day I remember watching Michael Jordan going up the steps and Delaware Senator Joe Biden coming down," says owner Dan Mesches.

The Source
Wolfgang Puck's first East Coast eatery and Sonoma, a five-year-old wine-themed restaurant, both play second home to California congresspeople, who are less likely to fly home on off weekends. Pelosi is a regular at the Source, often ordering Chinese lacquered duckling. Former presidential candidates Fred Thompson and Walter Mondale, as well as Senator Harry Reid, are also regulars, says chef Scott Drewno. Sonoma's location next to Capitol Hill also means it gets celebrities like Lance Armstrong and Bono, who have each grabbed bites there after Congressional hearings.

Bombay Club
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is known to mix it up at Washington's more elegant eateries, including this Indian restaurant near the White House. She has "sophisticated tastes," leaning toward healthy fare like seafood and vegetables, Bajaj says. Rice frequents many of his restaurants, including Bombay Club, Rasika, and the Oval Room. A resident of the Watergate Hotel, she's also a regular at places like Café Milano, a Georgetown hotspot for politicians, as well as the tasting room at BlackSalt, a sustainable seafood restaurant near the vice president's residence.

View a map of the different restaurants and the politicians who dine there.

Related Links
Paulson's Speech Brings Results Already
Which Candidate Do Oil Companies Like Most?
Prediction Markets: A Probability is not a Certainty

Bronx Cheer

Fri, 16 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Jason Giambi has a deep, dark secret. Deeper than his compulsion to sleep on the side of the bed nearest the door, and darker than his dream of growing up to be a heavy-metal musician.

The deepest, darkest secret harbored by the New York Yankees first baseman is that whenever he is in a prolonged hitting funk, he wears a gold lamé, tiger-stripe thong under his uniform. "I only put it on when I'm desperate to get out of a big slump," he confides.

Over Giambi's checkered career in the Bronx, he has left the "golden thong" in the lockers of slumping teammates Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Johnny Damon, Robin Ventura, and Robinson Cano. "All of them wore it and got hits," he reports. "The thong works every time."

This season, the 37-year-old Giambi could stand a good thonging or two. He is in the final guaranteed season of a seven-year, $120 million contract, and through Wednesday was batting an obscenely low .188 with seven homers and 20 R.B.I.'s in 33 games for the sputtering Yanks.

Though he can still swat long flies and work bases on balls, against power pitchers-those who strike out or walk more than 28 percent of batters faced-he has often looked outmatched.

"I never hear the boos because I'm too busy booing myself," he says. "No critic is worse on me than me: I can beat myself up pretty good."

Off the field, Giambi is a freewheeling character with a smile as wide as the gap in left center at Yankee Stadium. He loves strip joints, cites Letters to Penthouse as his favorite work of literature, and lives by the motto "Party like a rock star, hammer like a porn star, rake like an all-star."

"I'm a year older than Mickey Mantle was in his final game," he says. "My teammates used to call me the Modern-day Mick because I could play all day and party all night. Now I'm more of a family guy. I drive an Escalade to the ballpark."

Mantle, of course, was a Gold Glove center fielder. Giambi has a cold glove and an icicle of a throwing arm. He would make a splendid designated hitter if not for an inability to focus when coming off the bench. He's a much sharper hitter-his lifetime batting average is about 60 points higher-when he plays the field.

"When I D.H., my numbers are terrible," Giambi says. "I don't know what it is. When I play first base, it gives me something to do." Unfortunately, none of his understudies are batting much better this season.

Giambi's 2008 salary—$23.4 million—is the second highest in the majors, behind only Alex Rodriguez. "There's no such thing as perfect happiness," Giambi says with a sigh.

"I wish there was, but that's not life. Whenever something perfect happens you can always count on something else going wrong. As much fun as I had during my ‘comeback season' in 2006, life was bittersweet. My dog got cancer."

Giambi's career numbers as a Bronx Bomber seem to confirm the notion that ballplayers 30 years or older never merit contracts of seven or more years.

Only three players have ever justified such long-term, big-money deals: Derek Jeter, who in 2001 signed for 10 years and $189 million; Manny Ramirez, who in 2000 got $160 million over eight years from the Boston Red Sox; and A-Rod, whose 2000 free-agent pact with the Texas Rangers was for $252 million and spanned 10 years. At the time of their signings, all three were 28 or younger.

Giambi was 30 when he first donned pinstripes. He had won a Most Valuable Player Award in 2000 and was runner-up in 2001 with Oakland before turning free agent and rejecting the Athletics' offer of six years at $90 million—40 percent of the team payroll. "A coach once told me to play as hard as I could, perform well, and money would be thrown at me," he recalls. "The coach was right."

He took the money George Steinbrenner was throwing at him and headed east, where his production all-too-quickly went south, largely because of injuries connected to steroid use. From 2004 to 2007, he averaged 110 games a season, missing a third of the Yankees' games.

When this season ends, the Yanks could pick up Giambi's 2009 option for $22 million. Or they could pay him $5 million to go away. Though Giambi would happily take a pay cut to stay in New York—"Money doesn't drive me," he says—the team will likely give him a buyout and invest in younger, less limited talent. No doubt he'll sign on with another franchise, quite possibly the A's.

Giambi doesn't plan to hang up his cleats just yet, but he's not exactly ruing the day he does. "After A-Rod retires, he wants to be a real estate mogul, the next Donald Trump," Giambi says. "I could care less. As long as I can have a fast boat and a margarita machine and can light my hair on fire, I'll be just fine."

Hollywood Ending: Guilty

Thu, 15 May 2008 19:00:00 GMT

A federal jury convicted a Hollywood private investigator of conspiracy and other crimes for having wiretapped and otherwise harassed a string of celebrities who ran afoul of his wealthy, privileged, and powerful clients.

Anthony Pellicano represented himself at the trial in U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer's courtroom in Los Angeles. After being convicted on all but one of 77 counts, the 64-year-old private eye faces eight to 10 years in prison.

The verdict followed nine weeks of testimony and two weeks of jury deliberation. The jury also convicted four other men, including a former Los Angeles police sergeant and a former telephone company employee, of helping Pellicano.

Schruers on Pellicano
Read Hollywood Deal blogger Fred Schruers' commentary on the Hollywood private eye and his trial.

A federal grand jury indicted Pellicano and seven codefendants in 2006 on 110 counts, including racketeering, conspiracy, wire fraud, identity theft, bribery, and wiretapping. (An amended complaint, reducing the counts to 78, was filed in January. Three of the defendants pleaded guilty; the rest went to trial.)

Pellicano's alleged victims included comedians Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon, actors Sylvester Stallone and Keith Carradine, and real estate developer Robert Maguire.

The verdict was a relatively unsurprising judgment that the government's voluminous and aggressive case had indeed proved that Pellicano had been a remorseless and avid operative who crossed into illegality on a regular basis.

The jury convicted Pellicano on one count each of racketeering, conspiracy, wiretapping conspiracy, and possession of a wiretapping device. It also found him guilty of multiple counts of wire fraud, unauthorized computer access, identity theft, computer fraud, and wiretapping.

Retired Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant Mark Arneson, repeatedly branded by a lead government prosecutor as "a dirty cop," was convicted on all 46 of the counts against him, including racketeering and conspiracy.

Painted by the prosecution as a crucial link to state and federal databases containing information on Pellicano's investigative targets, Arneson was fortunate in having courtroom-savvy attorney Chad Hummel on his side.

Hummel's determined but always controlled cross-examinations of key witnesses did as much as possible to undercut the work of the F.B.I. in compiling evidence and testimony against his client. At one stage, a failure by the government to disclose some pertinent data almost won Arneson a mistrial.

But today's verdict from the jury showed that Arneson ultimately didn't quite seem credible.

Rayford Turner, the phone company technician who emerged in the trial as a devoted ladies' man in a tool belt, was convicted on 16 of 21 counts.

Kevin Kachikian, a computer expert who testified that he was just a tech wonk working with his head down amid the wider conspiracy, was convicted on two of 11 counts.

Abner Nicherie, a shadowy businessman whom the government said served as a translator (of Hebrew conversations) for Pellicano, slept through many portions of the trial and was found guilty of one count of aiding and abetting a wiretap.

Studio chief Brad Grey and other Hollywood figures who had hired Pellicano to spy on and sometimes to harass their business and personal enemies were thought to be in some jeopardy during the government investigation. In the end, however, they went largely unscathed during the trial.

Former super-agent Mike Ovitz, who was uncharged but was linked in testimony to the terrorizing of reporter Anita Busch, testified coolly about his professional battles with former C.A.A. colleagues Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane, who also testified for the government.

And über-lawyer Bert Fields, also never charged although his name came up incessantly in the press as a key Pellicano client, was never called to the stand.

Pellicano is already serving time on a separate weapons and explosives charge, yet today's verdict will not end his troubles with the Feds. He and lawyer Terry Christensen also face criminal charges in a separate case based on Pellicano's investigation of Kirk Kerkorian's former wife Lisa Bonder Kerkorian.

Pellicano, who was largely emotionless and seemingly bored during much of the trial, represented himself anemically. Only during his cross-examination of a teary and obviously still emotionally damaged Busch did he show the feral instincts the government often alluded to.

And just as he was damaged by his refusal, based on his supposed Sicilian code of honor, to mount a defense by testifying against his clients, his casually cruel cross-examination of Busch seemed to damage his credibility as much as did the many tapes of incriminating phone calls with his clients.

Those calls showed an operative who swung between being avuncular and icily threatening, and painted a portrait of a greedy and often remorseless villain in a shiny tie. Related Links
The Pellicano Trial--Not Much Hollywood, But Quite A Show
Across the Storyverse
The New Masters of Hollywood

We're Watching You

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Charter Communications, one of the nation's largest ISPs, plans to begin eavesdropping on the web surfing of its customers, in order to help web advertisers deliver targeted ads.

In letters being sent to some of its 2.7 million high-speed internet customers, Charter is billing its new web tracking program as an "enhancement" for customers' web surfing experience. The letters were first reported by a BroadbandReports.com user on Sunday. The pilot program is set to begin next month.

"Browsing the web can become more like flipping through your favorite magazine, where you see ads that are appealing to you and enhance your enjoyment and the utility of the experience," the company's letters read.

Charter's system appears to be similar to a targeted advertising system in the U.K. developed by Phorm, a London company with alleged spyware roots.

Phorm is trying to strike deals with several large British ISPs to install a targeted advertising system to track the web-surfing patterns of broadband customers. Using modified browser cookies, Phorm's system would use surfing patterns to deliver closely targeted ads, and, the company claims, protect against online scams like phishing.

However, Phorm's proposal has set off a storm of consumer protest after it was revealed that British Telecom ran secret trials on thousands of broadband customers. Phorm's opponents include the inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners Lee, and several prospective advertisers. The U.K. government has said the system would likely be illegal unless explicitly opt-in

Charter plans to test its program in four markets: Ft. Worth, Texas; San Luis Obispo, California; Oxford, Massachusetts, and Newtown, Conneticut, according to Charter Vice President Ted Schremp.

He described the system as capable of noticing when a user visits Honda.com or Toyota's website, for example, so that when the user visits unrelated sites, he or she will be treated to automotive-related ads.

The company is aware of the privacy and transparency concerns, according to Schremp, but believes the program will benefit its customers and its own bottom line.

"The fact that we sent customer notification letters is indicative of the approach we are taking overall," Schremp said. "This is just another example of leveraging the latest technology."

Charter is partnering with a company called NebuAD to build profiles of its users. NebuAD will share the behavioral tracking results with third-party advertising networks like DoubleClick. Users can opt out of the system, but have to give their full name and address to get an opt-out cookie. The process would have to be repeated for every browser on every computer in a home to block the service, and would have to be reset if cookies are ever deleted.

Charter is entering tricky territory with the program, which effectively turns the ISP into the ultimate third-party tracking network. Conventional ad delivery networks like DoubleClick use a third-party cookie to build profiles of users across different websites, but can only track visits to sites that serve the company's ads. In contrast, Charter will know every URL its customers visit.

Charter's move also comes at a sensitive political moment for ISPs, as Congress and the Federal Communications Commission revisit net neutrality -- the idea that ISPs should treat all content fairly and without interference.

The move also highlights the increasing determination of ISPs to carve out new revenue streams, as they discovered that the traffic-delivery business –- simply being a dumb pipe –- isn't as lucrative as being a content provider. ISPs like Earthlink and Verizon are now redirecting requests for nonexistent domains to pages with ads, while others are talking about ways to charge companies like YouTube higher fees to put their content on the fast lane to subscribers.

But Schremp says Charter isn't affecting other companies' websites or inserting their own ads, and is instead benefiting the ad networks by helping them target customers better.

"We don't see it as related to net neutrality," Schremp said.

Charter says it will not be tracking personal information, such as medical websites. Schremp said he did not know how long surfing histories were stored by NebuAD, but said it was long enough that the the company's profile of customers can learn and evolve over time.

---
Correction: The original version of the article inaccurately described some aspects of Charters' plans, based on a misreading of the company's descriptions of the program. Threat Level regrets the error. Related Links
I Don't Want My Web TV
MySpace and Friends Need to Make Money. And Fast.
Google Wins One

The Suite Smell of Success

Wed, 14 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Just three years ago, searching for English translations of Irène Némirovsky's novels was a largely futile gesture; there weren't any in print. Only a few of her dozen-plus novels ever appeared in the U.S., and after her death in the Holocaust in 1942, Némirovsky was largely forgotten.

It wasn't until her posthumous novel, Suite Française—discovered in a notebook by her surviving daughter several years ago—was translated into English in 2006 that Némirovsky became a bestselling author on this side of the Atlantic. The French writer is one of the publishing industry's biggest—and most unlikely—success stories in recent years.

"It's very unusual for a translated and posthumous book to do as well as Suite Française," says Sara Nelson, editor in chief of Publishers Weekly. The book was an instant hit upon its release in France in 2004, selling more than 640,000 copies, according to its publisher, Denoel. Translated into 32 languages and published in 35 countries (with more still to come), the hardcover edition sold hundreds of thousands of copies. In the U.S. alone, 900,000 English versions have sold, says Random House, whose imprints Alfred A. Knopf and Vintage had the domestic rights. Both editions of Suite Française were New York Times bestsellers; the trade paperback edition alone occupied a spot on the list for over 30 consecutive weeks.

Be prepared for a Némirovsky flood over the next few years. Not surprisingly, publishers are trying to capitalize as much as possible on the book's popularity, releasing as many other versions and novels as possible. A museum exhibit opens this fall. The film rights to Suite Française were snapped up by Universal two years ago, though no plans for production have been released.

According to publishing insiders, only a scant 3 to 4 percent of books published in the U.S. each year are translated from another language. "It's probably closer to 2 percent," says Dedi Felman, editor and vice-president of Wordswithoutborders.org, an online literary magazine that publishes and translates international literature and poetry.

Few of those have had tremendous success, and Némirovsky's sales figures already rank with bestselling contemporary writers. Take Colombian-born Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose One Hundred Years of Solitude published in English in 1970, and who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. In 2004, he got a boost from a force more powerful than the Nobel Academy—Oprah Winfrey. The edition with her seal of approval sold 658,000 copies.

Celebrated Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk is considered to have a strong audience in the U.S.; the hardcover edition of his 2004 novel, Snow, sold 42,000 copies here, according to Nielsen BookScan. Since then, the trade paperback edition of Snow has sold more than 342,000 copies in the U.S.—no doubt helped along by his 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature. Yet he's still nowhere near Némirovsky's numbers.

In the wake of her sales, Random House has wasted little time translating and publishing five other Némirovsky novels. In 2007, the publisher released another posthumous work, Fire in the Blood, in hardcover, which was discovered in archives by two biographers, Patrick Lienhardt and Olivier Philipponnat, and sold 24,000 copies (the paperback comes out in July). The company will issue the pair's biography, The Life of Irène Némirovsky, in the fall of 2009.

This past January, the publisher issued a single volume collection of four early novels —David Golder, The Ball, Snow in Autumn, and The Courilof Affair—in an elegant, hardcover Everyman's Library edition, a higher-priced imprint usually reserved for classic works of modern-day masters. Némirovsky is already part of the Contemporary Classics series of the Everyman's Library, which includes novels from the likes of Salman Rushdie, Patricia Highsmith, Italo Calvino, and Toni Morrison.

"What the success of a single book like [Suite Française] means is that the rest of the author's backlist gets picked up and published," Felman says.

Which is why four more Némirovsky novels are currently being translated into English: Dogs and Wolves, Jezabel, The Wine of Solitude, and All of Our Worldly Goods. Némirovsky's titles will continue to be published until 2010 or 2011.

"It only makes sense for a publisher to try to recapture their past successes," Nelson says. "If there are four more Némirovsky novels, they would be crazy not to publish them."

The story behind Suite Française could easily be a bestselling book or movie itself (it will be the subject of an exhibition at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage in September). Born in Kiev to a Jewish family in 1903, Némirovsky moved to France, studied at the Sorbonne, started a family, and became a celebrated novelist. She published more than a dozen books of fiction to much acclaim—critics compared her to Tolstoy and Balzac—and a few of her works were adapted into film. After the Nazis invaded France, she and her family, like the characters in Suite Française, hid in a small village in Burgundy, where she continued to write, scribbling away in a brown leather-bound notebook. In 1942, she was arrested by French police as a "stateless Jew" and deported to Auschwitz, where she died.

When her husband was arrested, he gave his daughter a leather valise with the notebook among its contents. For decades, the book was left unread—Denise couldn't bear to see her mother's diary of those final, fear-stricken months. When she finally did, she discovered that it was the first two parts of a five-part work, Suite Française.

"We're lucky to have this book," says Lexy Bloom, an editor at Vintage and Anchor, who has edited all of the U.S. paperback editions of Némirovsky's books. "It's a gem and a testament to the power of good literature."Related Links
Raising the Bottle
Andrew Wylie
Bubble Economy

HBO's iTunes Menu

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Plenty of Sex and samples of Sopranos, Wire, Deadwood, and Rome were on the menu when HBO opened shop on iTunes today.

Every episode from Sex and the City's six seasons is for sale, at $1.99 per half-hour episode, or $22.99 for the whole season; limited seasons from six of HBO's other most popular series are also available on the Apple site. More shows will become available in the future.

News of HBO's reaching a deal with Apple to join iTunes was first reported Monday on Portfolio.com.

Sex and the City:
The Smackdown
It's been four years since HBO retired the popular series and Carrie, Big, and the rest of the crew had to audition in a post-S.A.T.C. world. Some have had more success than others.

The timing of the HBO's launch on iTunes is in tune with the theatrical release of the Sex and the City movie on May 30.

The first and last seasons of The Sopranos are available at $2.99 for every hour-long episode, or $38.87 for the first season and $62.79 for the final season.

For The Wire, only the first season is available, at a cheaper $1.99 for an hour-long episode and $25.87 for the whole first season.

The first seasons of both Deadwood and Rome are also for sale, at $2.99 per hour-long episode and $35.88 for the whole first season.

Flight of the Conchords rounds out the current selection, at $1.99 per half-hour episode and $23.88 for the whole first season.

There is no discount for buying a whole season of any series.

HBO spokesman Jeff Cusson said the pay-cable network plans to expand its offerings on iTunes at regular intervals in a "roll-out release" of programs.

Cusson also said that HBO shows would not be available on iTunes until after the DVDs of the shows are released. That contrasts with shows currently on sale at iTunes; many of them can be bought and downloaded one day after they are broadcast.

The iTunes store is the world's most popular online TV store, with a catalog of over 800 shows and 20,000 episodes.

Some free HBO content is hiding on iTunes, too, and it's been there for a few years. There's a small button on iTunes HBO network page labeled "Go to HBO Podcasts." It leads to 13 free podcasts, ranging from HBO Boxing to Def Comedy Jam.Related Links
Sex on the Go?
Not in Tune with iTunes
Happy Birthday iTunes

Late Night: The Next Generation

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:30:00 GMT

NBC is playing a risky numbers game with Jimmy Fallon—and it ain't about the Nielsen's.

Next year, Conan O'Brien will replace the popular and all-around menschy Jay Leno as the host of NBC's The Tonight Show, and yesterday, Jimmy Fallon was anointed O'Brien's successor on the Late Show.

For a network accustomed to dominating the late-night arena—with Leno's mainstream appeal regularly trumping David Letterman's snide humor on CBS and ABC's Nightline, and O'Brien spanking ABC's Jimmy Kimmel and CBS' Craig Ferguson on their own late shows—the host shuffle is a surprising move.

Why, in the first place, displace Leno, a bastion of steady ratings? Industry gossip has Leno regretting his decision to hand the job over to O'Brien and contemplating jumping to another network, a move that would displease NBC greatly.

But it's a chance the network seems willing to take, and as for why—it's the numbers, stupid. And we're not talking about the ratings. Fallon's appeal is obvious: He's good-looking (in a comedian kind of way), funny, and young. And in this age of fragmented viewership, YouTube phenomena, and iTunes, the "young" part is the most important piece of the puzzle.

O'Brien is a proven youth-attractor, with the youngest average viewership among the late-night shows, at 47.3 years. Not quite frat boys, but strong compared to Ferguson's 50.2 and Kimmel's 49.7. In the earlier hour, Leno pulls in viewers of the ripe old average age of 54.3, while Letterman's crowd has a more youthful average of 52.6.

The age differences may seem minute, but younger viewers are more attractive than ever to advertisers in the digital age. NBC is increasingly trying to capitalize on mobile and online ad platforms, as it emphasized Monday in a "spotlight" presentation to advertisers.

Even Lorne Michaels, who was responsible for Fallon's appointment, acknowledges that "no one under the age of 18 comes home and turns on their TV before their computer."

Still, there are two sides to Fallon.

There's the Saturday Night Live Fallon. He joined the show in 1998 and eventually grabbed its brass ring, becoming the co-host, with Tina Fey, of the Weekend Update segment.

"The young kids think he's the cat's meow," says Caroline Hirsch, proprietor of Caroline's on Broadway, the comedy club where Fallon got his start performing stand-up in the mid-1990s.

Plus, "stand-ups really have much more going [for them] than the writer-producer or actor type," when it comes to talk-show jobs, says Hirsch. "They think fast. Their interviews are funnier."

Then there's the post-SNL Fallon—who doesn't seem to have done much besides appear alongside Drew Barrymore in Fever Pitch in 2005 and, more recently (and regrettably), in a much-YouTubed Pepsi commercial with fellow New Yorker Parker Posey in which the two danced spastically on the top of a taxicab.

"He strikes me as an unusual choice," says Russell Peterson, a visiting assistant professor in the department of American Studies at the University of Iowa, and the author of Strange Bedfellows: How Late-Night Comedy Turns Democracy Into A Joke, which was published this March.

"Fallon has a kind of likability," Peterson adds, "but I have my doubts about how well that likability will wear based on the fact that he hasn't had a real career since SNL ended."

And then there's the Simpsons episode—animated evidence of an anti-Fallon movement—in which Homer yells to his kids, "What are you two laughing at? And if you say Jimmy Fallon, I'll know you're lying!"Related Links
Idle Chatter: Fallon Amuse Himself on 'Late Night'
Idle Chatter: Is There a Way to Make Jay Stay?
Ratings Surge Goes To...Leno?

Sex on the Go?

Tue, 13 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Some of HBO's most popular programs will be available for sale on iTunes starting on Tuesday, consummating a long-gestating deal between the cable network and Apple, according to a source within HBO, which is owned by Time Warner.

HBO spokesmen Jeff Cusson would not confirm today's launch, but did say that the official announcement of the deal between HBO and Apple could come as early as today.

Some HBO shows will cost more than the content currently on iTunes, according to Cusson, though he would not disclose specific prices. He also declined to say which programs would be available first, but it is expected that some of the network's most popular series—including The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and Entourage—will be among the first.

Cusson said that HBO shows would not be available on iTunes until after the DVDs of the shows are released. That's a much longer delay than current shows on iTunes, many of which can be bought and downloaded one day after they are broadcast.

Not all of HBO's library will be available on iTunes. HBO and Apple have agreed on a "rolled-out release," which means that over time more and more content from HBO's libraries will be available.

Cusson also said that the idea that HBO pursued the deal with Apple as a result of pressure from parent company Time Warner is "absolutely ridiculous."

Apple representatives did not return calls for comment.Related Links
HBO's iTunes Menu
Happy Birthday iTunes
Not in Tune with iTunes

Foul Ballpark

Mon, 12 May 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Do richer Major League Baseball teams play in cleaner stadiums? We surveyed health-code violations at 11 stadiums to find out. It turns out that two of baseball’s richest teams, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, and a team near the bottom of the revenue pile, the Kansas City Royals, play in stadiums with some of the best inspection records. But the big middle contains several ballparks where you might want to skip the hot dogs. Two West Coast teams, the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland A’s, had far more food fouls than any other team. While most were minor, some were, well, disgusting. Teams contract out food service to a handful of vendors, though team management is responsible for stadium cleanliness. The A’s declined to comment; a spokesperson for the Angels conceded that 2007 was an off year but that the team had worked with its vendor and an outside consultant and “made a lot of changes” for 2008. (View an interactive feature that rates the filthiest stadiums.)Related Links
Torii Hunter Joins Angels for Five Years and $90 Million
Torre Could Be Headed to Hollywood
Claim: A-Rod's Dollars Make Sense for Yankees

Abbacadabra

Mon, 12 May 2008 10:00:00 GMT

At first glance, the movie incarnation of the stage musical Mamma Mia!, which opens on July 18, seems as risk-free a project as a studio could make. Written, produced, and directed by the team behind the $2 billion global Mamma Mia! brand, the release follows nine years of advance advertising. It also has an easily digested story line, big stars, and a soundtrack you can’t get out of your head.

But the screen translation arrives in megaplexes with some not-inconsiderable baggage. Judy Craymer, the film’s producer and originator of the stage version, worries that a misfire could damage the thriving Mamma Mia! industry, which currently boasts nine productions around the world. The concern for Universal, one of the project’s backers, is historical. Contemporary audiences have been finicky about onscreen musicals. There have been hits, like Chicago, the 2002 movie credited with reviving the genre; it cost $45 million but took in more than $300 million worldwide. Last year’s Hairspray was a home run too. But looming just as large are film disappointments like Rent and Phantom of the Opera, as well as outright flops like The Producers, which cost $45 million to make but grossed only $37.9 million. (See how recent film versions of Broadway hits have fared.)

When considering a musical, "we have to ask, 'Does the idea overcome the audience’s trepidation?' " says Donna Langley, president of production at Universal. Yet Mamma Mia!'s proven stage appeal persuaded her to go ahead. “It’s a phenomenon,” she says. "We jumped at the chance."

On the most basic level, Mamma Mia! is the story of the search for identity, set to the tunes of Abba, the Swedish pop band. A bride-to-be invites three men to the Greek island where she lives with her single mother, hoping to find out which one is her father. The challenge for Universal and Craymer—along with Playtone, Tom Hanks’ production company—was to avoid the static feel that plagued stage-to-film translations like Rent. Instead of using a minimal set and no-name actors, as the Broadway moneymaker did, the studio budgeted $56 million and shot some scenes on location in Greece. The cast includes Meryl Streep as the mom, Christine Baranski as her best friend, and Pierce Brosnan as one of the potential dads. And yes, the actors all perform musical numbers. "I actually got to dance on a beach with 20 gorgeous men half my age," Baranski says.

Even if the film bombs, the stage show could stand to benefit. With Mamma Mia!'s 10th anniversary approaching, the timing is good, says Hollywood producer Craig Zadan, plus filmed versions of plays can boost attendance of the stage production. Before the release of the movies Hairspray and Chicago, both of which Zadan co-produced, ticket sales for those two Broadway shows had been slow. Once the movies were released, sales rebounded. "The movie is a big commercial for the show," Zadan says.