The sports telecasting juggernaut, otherwise known as ESPN, is expanding and shows no sign of slowing down. Its stranglehold over all things sporty seems to be growing as it extends its coverage of College Football Bowl games now. Consider this, out of the 34 games in the December - January period, ESPN covered 24. They also provided radio coverage for five of the games that were not telecast by them. Within this year, the only Football event, they will not cover is the Rose Bowl, but every other Bowl championship will be telecast over the Disney-owned channel.

ESPN’s near-monopoly on sporting events is not necessarily a bad thing, as they have excellent coverage and in-depth analysis of every sporting event. They have even started launching market-focused websites such as espnlosangeles.com, which puts them in an invincible position in the market. Their economic clout is such that, they can even impose their will in kickoff times and game schedules.

However, the coverage overkill and its strategic positioning in cable package offerings, where you pay for ESPN even if you do not watch it, among other things have come in for a lot of criticism. This is why many people hope that Comcast will be able to challenge the juggernaut.

Comcast’s new acquisition of NBC U will bring in NBC sports, which in addition to the Golf Channel and Versus, could form a decent threat.
However, that seems unlikely at the moment. The manner in which this decade will pan out will be an interesting watch, especially if ESPN is dethroned as the undisputed champion of sports broadcasting.

Unexpected as it is, Russia seems to loosening up a bit in terms of political satire. For the first time in over ten years, the unthinkable suddenly appeared on state TV. A satirical cartoon featuring President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was telecast and enjoyed by its citizens. The two and a half minute clip poked fun at the Olympics’ chief Jacques Rogge, Russian bureaucracy and the power play between the President and the Prime Minister.

The cartoon did not come close to taking the liberties that western media does, but it did signify a thawing in the policies of the Russian government in relation to media freedom. Not since the heyday of Boris Yeltsin has this type of lampooning been seen on Russian TV. During Yeltsin’s time NTV’s “Kukly” enjoyed massive success with political satires. However, immediately after Putin took over the satire, along with NTV, it died an unnatural death.

State TV is well known for its unabashed telecast of propaganda and praise for Russia’s two leaders. So, it came as a massive surprise when “Mult lichnosti”, a program that takes pot shots at public figures featured Medvedev and Putin. It was especially surprising that the clip was played immediately after the New Year address of President Medvedev to the nation. The good news is that the two characters will continue to be part of the show, which features the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and President Obama.

How long this will last is anybody’s guess. However, as long as it does, the Russians are enjoying a good laugh after a long time.

Ratings are called into question during this time of the year and it is time for another set of fresh TV series pilots to try their luck on the silver screen. Yes, it is Pilot season, although things have started out a little slowly.

ABC has two dramas that it is interested in; Off the Map is yet another medical drama from (surprise surprise) Shonda Rhimes. The team of Rhimes, Beers and Jenna Bans are responsible for this one, which is about three doctors working in a tropical medical clinic. The other drama titled Body of evidence is a Police procedural about a female medical examiner and is written by Chris Murphy. ABC is also picking up a comedy about a group of friends that experience a shake-up as a couple (within this group) decides to part ways. The single camera project is titled Happy Endings and is written by Dave Caspe.

Fox is going ahead with a project put forward by Ajay Sahgal, about two brothers who hail from a very traditional Indian background. One brother is a rebel and dates a non-Indian while the other is not, and agrees to an arranged marriage. The comedy revolves around their interactions within the family.

NBC picked up a multi-camera comedy called The Strip, starring Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. The story is about a Hooters-like restaurant owned by a former child star. Lennon has been handed the lead role while Garant will play the supporting role.

CBC is still deciding on whether to take on The Odds, a project written by Jeff Wadlow about cops who are friends.

Rachel Eggebeen is the newest entrant to Shondaland, the production company run by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. The company is most famous for its hit offerings Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice.

Shondaland has been experiencing a lot of growth over the past few years and has been hiring new staff. Eggebeen has been hired as a development executive and is expected to bring in a lot of creative input as well. “We look forward to the creative expertise that Rachel brings to the company”, said Rhimes on the new addition to the Shondaland family.

Eggebeen’s credits include her roles as a Creative Executive with Section Eight Productions, as an Associate Producer on Pu-239 as well as working as an assistant to Charles Shyer and Michael Mann. She was involved in development and production at Paramount Vantage before her move to Shondaland.

She looks to be in for a busy time as the production company has quite a few projects that have been approved. These include “Year to Year”, a marriage-based drama written by J.J. Philbin from Heroes, “Off the Map” a drama on doctors written by Jenna Bans from Grey’s Anatomy; and “Love and Death,” which is a romantic crime drama set in San Francisco, written by Mark Wilding from Grey’s Anatomy.

“Off the map” will probably be aired first, as ABC has already given the go ahead for a pilot. The plot revolves around three doctors from mainland USA who choose to work in an isolated clinic at a tropical location.

The drama surrounding American Idol takes on a different stance this time around with the fate of Simon Cowell, the show’s most hated and loved judge - in the air. The show has established itself on the Fox network, at least until 2011, but Cowell’s $45 million-a-year deal ends this season.

The future of American Idol is still uncertain however - although figures estimate the franchise’s value at a whopping $2.5 billion in 2007 and fetches ad revenue with an annual figure touching $500 million. The show has also won Fox the 18-49 primetime adult segment for five seasons straight, and this time around - the sixth season is more or less assured with American Idol’s success bringing in Fox as the top network of the year for the first time.

Simon Cowell is a crucial part of the show. This season could prove to be the biggest yet with Cowell’s association to the show still up in limbo.
Last year the show added on a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, which disrupted the usual flow of the show, and the choice to bring around 36 semi finalists slowed down the pace of the show.

Preston Beckman, Fox’s scheduling and program strategy topper said, “There is still enormous goodwill for ‘American Idol’. This show is going into its ninth season, and it is rare for a show to stay as high, and grow, as ‘Idol’ has. Now we are in a normal, natural path. There is a little shedding of the audience. But this is the kind of show we can, with the right group of 12 kids, turn the ratings around a bit.”

Though Cowell’s possible exit could make or break the show, Paula Abdul’s departure will not have much of an effect on the show - although industry experts are still unsure of how her absence could change the usual going-ons of the show. Abdul brought in a sense of unpredictability to the show as well as huge doses of emotion - and somehow, she served as ‘peacemaker’ between Cowell’s personality and Randy Jackson’s incomprehensible comments.

Ellen DeGeneres replaces her - whom folks expect to bring in doses of humour, although it is doubtful if she will make the headlines as Abdul did. DeGeneres also does not have as much music experience as Paul Abdul does.

This year looks set to be full of upheavals and changes as shows, hosts and deals look shaky. Kicking things off are the negotiations for the broadcast of the Emmys, as the TV Academy’s deal with broadcasters ends this year. Rumors of a rival show are in the works and the inability on the part of the Academy to elect a CEO is fuelling the fire.

Nevertheless, speculation on that deal is nothing when it comes to determining the future of American Idol über- judge Simon Cowell. With his open refusal to continue next season, the theory is that either he is pushing to get “The X Factor” onto Fox or that he is holding out for a bigger payout. The smart money is on the X Factor theory - so far.

Staying with Idol, it remains to be seen how new judge Ellen DeGeneres will fare on the show as Paula Abdul’s replacement. While being the ratings juggernaut for sometime, American Idol has been consistently slipping from its summit and this season may be a defining moment for the show.

Spring brings new things and so will it decide the fate of “The Jay Leno Show”. Tumbling ratings have forced NBC to rethink altogether the future of the show. The problems for NBC do not end there as Leno’s replacement on “The Tonight Show”, Conan O’Brien continues to suffer as well. Fixing this problem is anybody’s guess.

On the News front, people will watch the battle between the newly promoted Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric eagerly as well as the progress of George Stephanopoulos in “Good Morning America” and his unnamed replacement on “This Week”.

With Bonnie Hunt and Tyra quitting and Oprah in her final season this has resulted in throwing the daytime talk show market wide open, leaving execs scrambling for replacement shows. With the renegotiations for the “Ellen Show” coming up in 2011, the problems seem to be mounting for the networks with no good news in sight.

2010, if anything, promises to be an “interesting” year.

With the overall consensus on Ninja Assassin being that it was ‘overly serious and incomprehensibly edited’, the movie seems to have failed to live up to the promise of its title. The low ratings received for the movie confirms that Hollywood will not have to endure a ninja craze.

The movie starts with a strong mix of traditional themes that get you all excited and pumped up with the opening scene, which talks of the ninja legend and then, wham bam - an explosion of violence.

Then come along these Europol agents who never stop talking and somehow the entire premise lies on the fact that ninjas do not exist - which of course every moviegoer knew and did not need any further explaining of.

The sequence of the scenes was too fast, which gave the feeling that there might have been a version of the story that made sense, but this one seemed to have been shortened to such an extremity that was more or less incomprehensible. The lengthy explanations and rigmaroles could have easily been done away with, which would have then at least then made this movie a better watch.

The movie has a few interesting bits which were the ninja preparations, the legend and the training scenes. Embracing something of a comic book feel, the effects however were sadly poor with CGI blood that looked absolutely terrible - although the killings were fabulously and outrageously gory.

The generic cop talk in the movie slowed down the pace of the movie and made it boring with terminology commonly used in TV shows making an appearance. As one critic put it: “This is one ninja flick that should have remained in the shadows…”

The old saying “Always leave ‘em wanting more,” is being taken way too far by networks. More TV shows seem to be taking extra long mid-year breaks during winter, as networks seem to be experimenting with the traditional schedules of prime time TV.

Glee, Fox’s brand new TV sensation is taking a four month hiatus before it hits TV schedules in April, while others also taking lengthy breaks are Fringe and Lie to Me.

ABC too seems to going ahead with big breaks with two of its science fiction shows; FlashFoward and V. Both premiered in November, and now will not be back until the end of March.

Jeff Bader, program planning and scheduling topper, ABC, “The viewers are more used to it. It’s a case of scripted mirroring what alternative series do.”

Of course there are reality shows like Survivor, Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Top Model that usually take long breaks and rightly so in the case of such reality series. They have varied casts and storylines which do not leave its audiences hanging on until the next episode.

Shows like Glee and FlashForward however ended the fall with a fair number of loose ends - which means the long wait will only build up a bigger demand when they actually return.

“This isn’t like any of us have discovered a magic formula. We stumble into most things. Out of necessity, each network in its own way has thought up creative ways to split up the 22-episode order. These long hiatuses are becoming a bit more normal,” said Preston Beckman, Fox sked guru.

After his performance in Stomp the Yard, Columbus Short’s career simply shot up. And now, with Armored, Short has marked his first foray into the action genre.

Speaking about the new movie, Short said he had been initially looking for an action drama that had high risks, and was insistent that it not be like Justice League or Passenger 57. He was intent on working on a movie that was set in reality.

Short said, “I spend the second half of the movie in the back of the truck trying to MacGyver my way to ending the situation. Matt [Dillon]’s character, Cochrane, is my godfather in the movie, so it’s this story of betrayal between the two of us. This man I’ve looked up to my whole life, who’s taken me and my brother in, he turns his back on us and is doing something reckless. That starts the divide halfway through the movie. Then I’m in the back of the armored truck, and I’ve got to figure this out. But I’m an ex-Marine, so that comes in handy, my quick thinking and ingenuity.”

Interestingly, in Armored, Short is allowed to do his own stunts, which involves ‘parkour-ing’, climbing up buildings and jumping off trucks.
Speaking about the high speed movie action of choice, he said, “What I’m doing in this movie is not necessarily Parkour as much as it’s just this guy who knows how to maneuver through bars and obstacle courses, and he does it kind of stealthy so it looks Marine-like. I am neither one of those things, but I’m acting like I am. I’m kind of agile, but I had to do a little. It’s awesome. Now I’m going to go free running in the Promenade and show off my skills. I’ve been working with these stunt guys for about four months now, so we just talk it through and rehearse it. I can do most of the stuff without cables, but they have to put the cables on so you can be safe. But it’s great to challenge yourself to do things you’ve never done. My body’s beat up worse than it’s been beat up in my life, but it’s fantastic. It’s worth it.”

For the first time, a Zac Efron movie has not made it to top spot. Me and Orson Welles is a smaller movie, one that does not involve the likes of high school, singing, basketball and dancing genre that his movies are normally associated with.

Talking about the movie, Efron says, “…it was different and it was a very unique opportunity for me at the time and it still is. I think it was something that just didn’t seem so cut and dry. It wasn’t an obvious decision. Even I was a bit surprised, and that’s very cool. I hope I can continue to maintain that and have those options. I mean, that’s why we do this, to grow, and try new things, and that was exactly what this movie represented for me. It came at the perfect time.”

In Me and Orson Welles Efron plays the part of a 17 year old actor, taking part in Welles’ famous Julius Caesar production. Fictional Richard Samuels is plucked off the street and plays a very small part in the production. His week with Orson Welles helps 17 year old Samuels learn to light a match the ‘cool way’, impress a girl and hobnob with the likes of Houseman, Joseph Cotton (James Tupper), George Coulouris (Ben Chaplin) and radio star Les Tremayne (Michael Brandon).

Known more for his acting than his singing, Efron rose to fame with Disney’s High School Musical movie series and Broadway musical Hairspray. He was also declared Rolling Stone’s ‘poster boy for tweeny-boppers’ in August 2007.