Television

While programming for the spring 2008 television season was full of delays and changes due to the writer's strike, this fall's crop of new series is arriving on time. Two of the best new shows — "Fringe" and "True Blood" — are already underway, but there is plenty more to come. Quite a number of shows are either imports or adaptations of programs that first saw the dim light of evening abroad. But don't worry: They're still not as good as our homegrown versions. One import may be a cult hit. HBO's "Little Britain USA" (September 28) is a parade of grotesques, ostensibly masquerading as inquiry into the differences and similarities between the colonialists and their former colonists. It begins somewhere in America with a paraplegic British tourist who isn't paraplegic at all — he's just lazy — getting out of his wheelchair and gleefully urinating in a hotel swimming pool full of appalled vacationers. It goes on from there to take in deranged astronauts, obscene … [Read more...] about Television Is Back on Track

Peter Dinklage poses with the Outstanding Supporting Actor for a Drama Series for 'Game of Thrones' during to the 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018. Kevork Djansezian | NBC | NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images "Great times" are ahead for consumers of television content as viewers now have so much content and so many platforms to choose from, said the chief executive of HBO Asia. "It's the golden age of television in many ways," Jonathan Spink, CEO of HBO Asia, told CNBC on Thursday at the APOS 2019 summit in Bali, Indonesia. "There's just so much content being produced." Yet, that can come as a double-edged sword, in particular for media companies. "It's equally very difficult to reach the audience because you've got so many different platforms and within those platforms, finding content can be problematic," Spink said. That's potentially one of the benefits for companies such as HBO, which offer linear TV — or real-time … [Read more...] about It’s the ‘golden age of television,’ says HBO Asia CEO

In a relief for common man, the GST Council on Saturday reduced tax rates on over 50 items including small televisions and lithium-ion batteries, which would now be taxed at 18 percent, down from the current 28 percent. Apart of bringing down rates, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council also exempted GST on other products. The changes would come into effect across the country from July 27 onward, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal told media after the 28th meeting of the GST Council. "Refrigerators, small televisions, of upto 25 inches, lithium-ion batteries, vacuum cleaners, domestic electrical appliances, such as food grinders, mixers....storage water heaters, immersion heaters, hair dryers, hand dryers, electric smoothing irons, among others have been brought to the 18 percent slab," Goyal said. Another significant decision the council made was regarding easing of return filing procedure by approving two new simplified forms called 'Sugam' and 'Sahaj', the minister said. Also, … [Read more...] about GST Rate Cut: Small Televisions, Lithium Ion Batteries to Become Cheaper

It’s not every day that a new show comes to television spinning itself as a show rooted in horror but one that actually explores deeper, thought provoking questions, many involving miracles and faith.  Married producers Robert & Michelle King, who formerly created the show The Good Wife (ran for seven seasons on CBS), hope to explore the crossroads of faith and the nature of evil in the new CBS television series EVIL. Not for the faint of heart, the new series delves into the investigation of several supernatural cases, sometimes creepy in nature, that cannot be explained by faith or forensic psychology.  I recently spoke with Robert, a devout Catholic, and Michelle, a secular Jew, to discuss the religious debate they have been having for 30 years, the importance of C.S. Lewis’s writing to the series, and why people of evangelical faith would even want to watch it. As the writers and creators of EVIL, in your words, please give a thumbnail sketch for … [Read more...] about Husband and Wife Team Explore the Supernatural in New Television Series

A new initiative at Loyola University is bringing professional television producers to campus to coach students eyeing a career in the industry. The university is partnering with Atlanta-based Gray Television on a “Producer Incubator Lab,” where producers from the company’s TV stations around the country will visit the campus to educate students on how broadcasts are produced. The company will send one visiting professional per week for 10 consecutive weeks during the Spring 2019 semester to spend two days in the classroom and lab. They’ll discuss all aspects of daily newscasts, including generating stories, vetting sources and streaming news. This is the latest offering in Loyola’s Department of Mass Communication. Its Digital Communications Lab allows students to work with HD cameras to record interviews, conduct live shots via Skype and work in a TV production studio. Gray Television is a publicly traded TV broadcast company that operates in 57 markets. … [Read more...] about Loyola, Gray Television create lab to coach aspiring producers