Entertainment Industry News

LOS ANGELES - Two actors unions and the U.S. advertising industry said Monday they agreed to extend a contract covering commercials on TV, radio, the Internet and other new media by six months through March.

-Yesterday's Losers: High School Musical – Get in the Picture (ABC), America's Toughest Jobs (NBC), coverage of the day one of the Democratic Convention

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Aug. 18-24. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.

TORONTO (Reuters) - The curtain rose on the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday night with romance "Passchendaele" playing to a packed theater and starting a 10-day parade of films and stars at one of the world's top movie gatherings.

-Ratings Breakdown: NBC's winning streak continued, with the prime-time portion of the ongoing 2008 Summer Olympics at a dominant (but below average) 17.73 million viewers and a 5.4 rating/18 share from 8:30-11 p.m. on Friday. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

NEW YORK - NBC says the Beijing Olympics proved so captivating that millions of Americans now need to catch up on some sleep.

-Ratings Breakdown: Once again, it is all about NBC, with the 2008 Summer Olympics from Beijing at a significant 18.0 rating/29 share in the overnights for the prime-time (8-11 p.m.) portion. Comparably, that beat the four competing networks combined by 75 percent. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

SAN FRANCISCO - The end is near for a bitter legal dispute between the three surviving members of The Doors now that the California Supreme Court has refused to take up their case.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, unknown to most Americans a week ago, nearly matched Barack Obama's record TV audience with her feisty speech on Wednesday accepting the Republican nomination for vice president, topping 37 million U.S. viewers.

-Ratings Breakdown: NBC's Beijing Summer Olympics steamroller continued, with a whopping 18.4 rating/29 share in the overnights for the prime-time (8-11 p.m.) portion. Take a look at the half-hour breakdown:

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two billionaires used the screening of a documentary in theaters across the United States on Thursday to urge the country to come to grips with its staggering debt load.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Initially expected this fall as a fourth-quarter blockbuster, U2's next album has been pushed to early 2009 while the band continues to write and record material.

Once again, it was all about the Olympics, with the 2008 Games from Beijing leading NBC to an advantage over the five competing networks combined (including MyNetworkTV) of 75 percent in households, 14.76 million viewers, 113 percent in adults 18-49, 110 percent in adults 25-54 and 119 percent among adults 18-34. Comparably, and according to NBC, this is now the fourth most-watched event in U.S. television history behind the games from Atlanta in 1996, Lillehammer in 1994 and Athens in 2004.

NEW YORK - Junior Mints, Yoo-hoo, Drake's Coffee Cakes, puffy shirts: These are all things Jerry Seinfeld has endorsed — at least in his alter ego on his classic sitcom. Now, add Microsoft software.

VENICE (Reuters) - A late flurry of independent U.S. pictures at the Venice film festival has blown the competition wide open ahead of the awards ceremony on Saturday.

-Ratings Breakdown: NBC's Summer Olympics juggernaut continued, with an average 18.7 rating/29 share in the overnights for the prime-time (8-11 p.m.) portion. Comparably, this beat the four competing networks combined by 108 percent. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

TOKYO - Nintendo's hit Wii console with its wandlike remote controller has been targeted in patent infringement complaints by a U.S. technology company.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Target and Target.com (http://www.target.com/) will be the sole retailers to carry Christina Aguilera's first greatest hits collection, "Keeps Gettin' Better - A Decade of Hits," due November 11.

NBC's winning streak continued care of the ongoing 2008 Summer Olympics from Beijing, which averaged 25.46 million viewers and an 8.2 rating/26 share among adults 18-49 for the prime-time (8-11 p.m.) portion. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Grown men argued over dolls for six hours as they wrapped up a federal trial pitting the maker of the pouty-lipped Bratz dolls against the house of Barbie — a lawsuit that could cost upstart MGA Entertainment Inc. up to $2 billion.

(Reuters) - CNBC has entered into an alliance with LinkedIn under which the financial news channel will air content generated by the professional networking site's 27 million members.

-Yesterday's Losers (Excluding Repeats): Last Comic Standing (NBC)

Several major news organizations, including The Associated Press, prematurely reported the death Wednesday of U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio, who had suffered a brain hemorrhage while driving in suburban Cleveland.

VENICE (Reuters) - Anne Hathaway's dark role in "Rachel Getting Married," which premiered this week in Venice, is generating early Oscar buzz, with several critics hailing her departure from fairytale and comic characters.

-Yesterday's Winners: So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), Criminal Minds R (CBS), CSI: NY R (CBS)

NEW YORK - Not only have the Jonas Brothers notched the year's third-biggest debut album, they've managed the rare feat of having two albums in the top 10 at the same time.

NEW YORK - A new book about Sen. Barack Obama has intensified a rivalry between two powerful competitors: Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Amazon.com.