Thursday, June 28, 2012

NY state cites club that was site of celeb brawl

NEW YORK (AP) — New York state officials say a nightclub that was the site of a bottle-hurling brawl following a dispute between the entourages of singers Drake and Chris Brown could lose its liquor license.

The New York Post reports (http://nyp.st/MqgGIo ) the State Liquor Authority filed 14 charges on Friday against New York City's W.i.P. nightclub.

The agency says the Manhattan club has been cited for numerous fights, excessive noise and using unlicensed or unprofessional guards, including one accused of selling marijuana to an undercover investigator.

Liquor Authority spokesman William Crowley says the club is in danger of having its license yanked.

Club representatives were unavailable for comment.

The club earned notoriety earlier this month, when Brown and Drake were involved in a fight that featured patrons hurling bottles of liquor.


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Bobby Cannavale to team up with Al Pacino

NEW YORK (AP) — Al Pacino is getting some help in "Glengarry Glen Ross" on Broadway this fall — from Bobby Cannevale.

Producers of the David Mamet revival said Thursday that Cannavale will play Richard "Ricky" Roma, the part Pacino played in a 1992 film version of the same play.

Previews will start on Oct. 16 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and an opening night has been set for Nov. 11.

Cannavale, who has appeared on "Nurse Jackie" and won an Emmy in "Will & Grace," was last on Broadway playing a recovering addict opposite Chris Rock in the Tony-nominated play "The Motherf---- With the Hat."

The actor is also slated to star in a new production of Clifford Odets' "The Big Knife." It begins previews on March 22 at the American Airlines Theatre.


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Hudson, Mirren, others to get Walk of Fame stars

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Helen Mirren, Jennifer Hudson, James Franco and the Backstreet Boys are among the famous folks getting stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 2013.

Actress Marg Helgenberger and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced the new 24 inductees Friday at a press conference on Hollywood Boulevard's star-lined sidewalk.

A committee selects celebrities eligible for a star and those who accept pay $30,000 in costs and fees.

Other entertainers slated for a star next year are Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Simon Baker, Bryan Cranston, Jane Lynch, Katey Segal, Matthew Perry, Ellen DeGeneres and Olympia Dukakis; performers Penn & Teller; makeup artist Rick Baker; filmmaker Ron Howard; radio personalities Steve Harvey and "Shotgun" Tom Kelly; and musicians Jane's Addiction, New Kids on the Block, Janis Joplin, Usher, Thalia and Luther Vandross.


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800,000 at 'sensational' Vienna open-air music fest

The Daytime Emmys showered "General Hospital" with five trophies, including best drama, while giving Regis Philbin a fond farewell as a departing talk-show host.


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Music mogul Rosemond indicted on NY murder charge

NEW YORK (AP) — Hip-hop mogul James Rosemond has been indicted in New York on a murder-for-hire charge.

Prosecutors brought the revised indictment Friday accusing Rosemond of ordering others to kill a man in the Bronx in 2009 as payback for an assault on his 14-year-old son.

The 47-year-old chief executive of New York-based Czar Entertainment is already imprisoned. He was recently convicted in federal court in Brooklyn on drug trafficking charges.

Rosemond's lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

He is behind such hits as Salt-N-Pepa's "Shoop."


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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

DirecTV cuts 3-D channel from 24-hour to part-time

LOS ANGELES (AP) — DirecTV says it has reduced the programming hours of its 24-hour 3-D channel, n3D, due to a shortage of 3-D content.

The satellite TV provider launched the channel to much fanfare in July 2010, boasting the backing of Panasonic Corp. The company said it was the first 3-D channel to operate around the clock.

A dearth of 3-D programs on n3D led to the same shows being run in a constant loop. Now, when there is nothing available, the channel will show the n3D logo. If there's an upcoming special event, details will appear on the program guide two or three weeks in advance.

The reduced hours began June 1.

It's the latest setback for 3-D TV, which has had trouble attracting mainstream audiences.

DirecTV's channel isn't the first 3-D offering to stumble. Last August, AT&T Inc. said its U-verse lineup of video channels would no longer include ESPN 3D. The company said the cost wasn't justified, "especially considering the low demand we've seen from customers."

Meanwhile, sales of 3-D TVs are growing. Tracking firm NPD Group said last month that 3-D TVs accounted for 11 percent of all flat-panel TV sales in the first three months of the year. That's nearly double the rate of a year ago.

DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said n3D will continue to air 3-D shows like "Guitar Center Sessions" and plans to air Olympics coverage in 3-D this summer.

To watch the channel, viewers need a 3-D ready TV, an HD receiver, and HD service, which costs $10 a month. The channel is available to all DirecTV subscribers.


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Study: E-book library borrowing takes slow pace

NEW YORK (AP) — E-book readers have been relatively slow to borrow digital works from the library, frustrated by a limited selection and by not even knowing whether their local branch offers e-releases, according to a new study.

The Pew Research Center published a survey Friday that reports around 12 percent of e-book users 16 years and older downloaded a text from the library over the past year. Earlier in 2012, Pew issued a study showing that around 20 percent of adults had read an e-book recently.

Simon & Schuster, the Hachette Book Group and other major publishers have limited e-book offerings to libraries or refused to make any available, citing concerns that the ease of free downloads would hurt sales. Lack of awareness may be another factor. Around 60 percent of those 16 and older couldn't say whether their libraries had e-books.

Pew's Internet & American Life Project study, conducted with nearly 3,000 respondents between Nov. 16 and Dec. 11, 2011, suggests that library patrons trying to borrow digital texts have been deterred by the selection and by not having the right e-book device. Just over half of respondents said their library did not have the book they were looking for and nearly 20 percent found that the device they owned could not receive a given title.

Nearly half of those who have not borrowed an e-book said they would be "very" or "somewhat" interested if they were lent an e-reading device with a book already downloaded.

Officials from the American Library Association have been meeting with publishers in an effort to work out a system that would satisfy both sides. On Thursday, Penguin Group (USA) announced a pilot program with the New York and Brooklyn library systems that will make e-books available six months after they first go on sale. Penguin had suspended its e-book program with libraries last year.

"I applaud Penguin's decision today to re-start e-book sales to libraries so that we may again meet our mutual goals of connecting authors and readers," library association president Molly Raphael said in a statement.

One statistic reported by Pew should please publishers and librarians: Those who borrow e-books from libraries tend to read more — 29 books a year — than readers who don't use the library (23 books). But library card holders also are more likely to borrow, as opposed to buy, a book compared to those without library cards.

Overall, around half of those surveyed said they had bought their most recent book. Around 15 percent said they had borrowed a copy from the library.


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