I wont be hosting next seasons XFactor which is a shame but I cant complain as I’ve had a great time. Good luck to everyone on the show.

— Steve Jones (@SteveJones) January 31, 2012

Show creator Simon Cowell has this to say:

“I don’t think he did a bad job, but there is a Brit limit on the show.”

As of yet there is no news on who may replace Jones, but Cowell commented saying there would be changes coming to X-factor U.S.A.

Also, reportedly popular singer Nicole Sherzinger will not return to the show either, she says she wants to work more on her own personal music career and doing X-factor nearly everyday has halted her from doing so. Surprising enough Paula Abdul will not come back either. She did not leave on her own, rather she was asked to leave; I guess that’s a nicer way to say Donald Trump’s famous line “you’re fired”.

Because The Simpsons is the longest-running scripted sitcom, animated or otherwise, of all time, the possesses an huge library of content, and apparently, the desire of the Fox suits goes beyond simple syndication. Instead, when discussing ways to further monetize The Simpsons and its content, the idea of an “All Simpsons” channel began to take shape.

Over at SlashFilm.com (via Slice of SciFi), the details of such a venture were discussed by Fox COO Chase Carey at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media Communications & Entertainment Conference (and that’s a mouthful), and while the idea is definitely in the gestation stage, there does appear to be some interest. Obviously, Fox’s interest comes from making more money off of their Simpsons content, and considering the show’s popularity, the idea should be at least intriguing for consumers, provided they want nothing but Homer choking Bart playing on their television screens on a continual loop.

Of course, The Simpsons are much more than that, which is obvious by the amount of years it has been on the air. For those who may be unaware, when the Fall season kicks off on Fox, The Simpsons will be entering their 23rd year of original content.

Like SlashFilm points out, apparently, there’s only so much money to be made off of syndication, DVD sales and Simpsons-related collectibles, and so, the idea for such an “all Simpsons” channel, especially when you have 22-plus years of content, does make sense, especially if there’s a demand for advertising slots. SlashFilm continues:

If this does happen, however, it wouldn’t be for several years. First of all, the show is still on the air for Fox and doing well. Plus, it’s wrapped up in long term syndication deals. Fox would have to let all the show’s current contracts expire before they could go ahead and program an entire channel without huge legal ramifications.

Which means, if the Simpsons channel did happen, all those syndicated showings would cease to exist. This indicates the syndication revenue is not as lucrative as Fox expected, or it means Fox realizes it could make more off of cable subscriptions and advertising on a channel dedicated to showing nothing but The Simpsons.

With that in mind, is an “all Simpsons” channel something you would support, or is this just overkill by a company trying to ring every last dollar they can out of Homie and the gang? With all of this in mind, this seems like a perfect place to revisit the intro Banksy made for The Simpsons.

Under the agreement Netflix is providing its members access to the first season of “Glee” and the first two seasons of “Sons of Anarchy” beginning today. In addition, “Ally McBeal” and “The Wonder Years” will stream instantly on Netflix.

“We’ve worked closely with Fox for the last year to provide our members access to some of the studio’s greatest TV franchises and library of both contemporary and classic movies,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer.  

“Our members love TV shows, and making such pop-culture hits like ‘Glee’ and ‘Sons of Anarchy’ available to watch instantly reinforces our commitment to provide them a wider selection of programs.”

Under an existing agreement with Fox, Netflix also streams “Lie to Me,” “24,” “Prison Break,” “Arrested Development,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” and “X-Files.”

Does it make any sense that networks are blocking content from Google TV? Tell us your thoughts.

It looks like Google has a long negotiating road ahead of them. According to TheNextWeb, “Google was said to be in negotiations with at least three television networks to unblock the content but that news surfaced towards the end of October and we’re now approaching the middle of November and it looks as if things have regressed rather than move forward.”

Why does blocking content to viewers ever seem like a good idea? Well it seems that networks don’t want television and online content to cross paths, as online content pulls in far less ad revenue compared to on-air commercials. Networks want you to watch their actual broadcasts.

When do you think Google will reach agreements with the networks? Let us know.

There are at least 5 shows I regularly watch on FX, and I have DISH Network, so naturally, this presents a problem for me. 3 of these shows are currently in mid-season. Now, I get to figure out where to watch the next episodes. My first thought was Hulu. They have FOX and (FOX-owned) FX content. I remember watching full episodes of "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia" there some time ago. I remember that they even had episodes a week after they aired. I can deal with that if I have to. 

Too bad they don’t do that anymore. 

Looking at that show’s page now, there are no full episodes available, let alone the newest ones. Now the show’s page on Hulu says they’re able to post new episodes 30 days after they air, starting later this month. The same goes for "The League". The Same goes for the "Sons of Anarchy". Awesome. Thanks Hulu. Thanks FOX. 

AdAge has an interesting and timely article about a speech given by Hulu CEO Jason Kilar this week. According to the article, he basically told the "big media" to either serve consumers or lose them. AdAge’s Nate Ives reports:

That’s particularly true because media consumption is basically an optional activity, he said. It’s habitual and important for most of us, he argued, but no one’s going to actually die if they don’t see the latest episode of "30 Rock." And within media, as the magazine publishers in the room were well aware, mushrooming options mean you’ve got to serve consumers or lose them. It’s no sure thing that a young person’s going to watch "The Amazing Race" instead of visiting Facebook. "Content is discretionary, so you better focus on convenience," he told the audience.

Convenience. What a concept. It seems like FOX is going out of its way to make it as inconvenient as possible for me to see the shows I watch. Meanwhile, DISH claims to be keeping up the fight. 

"We regret that FOX Networks, the owner of some Regional Sports Networks, FX and National Geographic Channel, removed their channels from the DISH Network line-up," the company says.  "FOX has demanded a rate increase of more than 50%. An increase this large would force DISH Network to pass these costs on to our customers, which we are unwilling to do during these tough economic times."

"DISH Network will continue to work tirelessly for a fair agreement in order to bring these channels back at the earliest possible time."

Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll bring the channels back in time to see episodes that haven’t even aired on Hulu yet, so we’ll either have to DVR them while we wait to be caught up. 

By the way, none of these shows are even available on Hulu Plus for $9.99 a month.

"Apple will broadcast its September 1 event online using Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards," the company says.

The whole thing is so open, you have to use a Mac running Safari on Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard, an iPhone or iPod Touch running iOS 3.0 or higher or an iPad. In other words you have to have bought an Apple device to view it.

It is also so open that the announcement makes it a point to say, "This broadcast is the property of Apple and is protected by US copyright law and international treaties. Any reproduction or distribution is strictly prohibited without prior written approval from Apple."

The event itself is expected to center around updates to iTunes, iPods and possibly TV. According to the Wall Street Journal, FOX and ABC will announce 99 cent rentals of TV shows through iTunes. "People familiar with the matter" are cited.

According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Apple will announce a set-top box for video that will include Netflix programming and a revamped version of Apple TV that will cost $99. The publication also says that Apple will release a revamped version of iTunes and an upgraded iPod Touch with higher screen resolution.

The whole thing should be a big win for Netflix.

"FAN and MySpace have worked together closely over the past several years and this integration will further align these two properties," said Jon Miller, Chairman and CEO of Digital Media for News Corp. "Adam has been an invaluable asset to News Corp, having led FAN’s growth from the ground up into one of the Web’s largest ad platforms, and we wish him well in the future."

"By fully integrating FAN’s platform and team, we are in a great position to further leverage FAN’s technology, which allows advertisers to serve the right ad to the right person and apply that to content across MySpace to provide a more relevant experience for our users,” said Mike Jones, President of MySpace. "The FAN team is incredibly talented and we’re excited to welcome them to the MySpace family."

Created in 2007, Fox Audience Network reaches over 150 million Internet users, according to the company. It supports monetization efforts across the News Corp.’s online content portfolio, as well third-party publisher sites.

Bain has been named Twitter’s President of Revenue. More on this here.

Platt’s song pretty much defies words – or at least words beyond "pants on the ground," which represent about 90 percent of the lyrics.  It goes after folks who wear their pants too low and their hats sideways, but, well, we’ve embedded a clip below so that you just view the spectacle for yourself.  (Stay tuned for a little break dancing after Platt gets warmed up). 

This one clip’s already received almost 120,000 views.  The phrase "pants on the ground" has become a trending topic on Twitter, too.

Barring some apocalyptic event that leaves just him and the judges alive, Platt won’t win American Idol, of course, but the show appears positioned to get plenty of attention thanks to his vocal efforts just the same.

The FoxPop app is free and works by "listening" and syncing to an exact moment in a movie, using real-time audio recognition technology. As events happen in the movie, facts and trivia automatically "pop up" on the iPhone or computer offering viewers new information each time they watch a movie. From am actor on the screen, a location, or song, FoxPop provides users with information about the scene.

FoxPop will launch with the DVD release of "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" on December 1. Other films slated to receive the FoxPop treatment include "500 Days of Summer" and "Jennifer’s Body."

Additional application features include the ability for users to share and chat with friends while watching a movie via social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. A collapsible dashboard "Now Playing" feature provides users with a large space to see information about characters, places and trivia related to the film.

"By providing interesting movie-related information and the ability to engage with fellow Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian audiences, the application creates a powerful new connection between the movie and its viewers," said Mary Daily, EVP North America Marketing of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Related Articles:

>News Corp Posts Disappointing Financial Results

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>Facebook Connects Users With iPhone Apps

Ginger Says:

September 3rd, 2009 at 10:02 pm

When I watch television I’d like to see the program, concentrate on the program, and not be inundated with superfluous trivia such as the content of the Twitter being shown on Fringe. This format does not allow the viewer to see the movie. I simply decided to change the channel, as did most of my friends.

Debbie Says:

September 4th, 2009 at 12:20 am

I hated every second, and am about to stop watching a show I love. It was NOT at the bottom of the screen, it took up half the screen, never ended. It must include a way to stop it or I will stop watching FOX altogether.

Len Cyca Says:

September 4th, 2009 at 12:27 am

I have just changed channels. Twitter on fringe was just too much to take. I have never seen anything quite so distracting and irritating. It covered two third of the bottom of my High definition image and made it unwatchable. Too bad, fringe was an interesting show. What are you guys thinking !!

rose Says:

September 4th, 2009 at 12:32 am

I was curious about the show. Then the twitter blocked the lower half of the TV screen. Wanted to turn know how to get rid of it. Instead changed the channel. Adding TWITTER to the show is extremely annoying. I don’t want to look at INANE converstations……. STUPID idea.

Annoyed Says:

September 4th, 2009 at 12:46 am

Twitter messages on my TV !!! Without asking for it? I’ll stop watching. Great job Fox! Way to lose viewers.

_________________________________________________________________

So rather than rave reviews it looks like this one is getting raving mad reviews. Note to self: When mixing Twitter with anything use with caution. Not everyone finds everyone that interesting.

See ya next week.

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