•
107-
Alibaba's Jack Ma = tvi Person of the
Month
Jack Ma, is the
founder and CEO of Alibaba.com, and runs
one of the world's largest E- commerce
businesses.
Alibaba is China's,
biggest online commerce company. Its three
main sites -- Taobao, Tmall and
Alibaba.com -- have hundreds of millions
of users, and host millions of merchants
and businesses. Alibaba raised $20billion
in an IPO, in September 2014, becoming one
of the most valuable tech companies in the
world. Ma now serves as Executive Chairman
of Alibaba Group, which is a holding
company with nine major subsidiaries:
Alibaba.com, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall,
eTao, Alibaba Cloud Computing, Juhuasuan,
1688.com, AliExpress.com and
Alipay. •
Click
For More
tviStory
107-s90- TimeLIne Jack Ma- TVI's Person of
the
Month
•
106-
FCC: Pay-TV distributors to include Tech
companies Federal
Communication commissioner Tom Wheeler
proposed expanding the definition of a
pay-TV distributor to include companies
that transmit TV programming via the
Internet. The move should give tech
companies access to some of the most
popular channels in television.
••••
The proposal was designed to spread
competition within an industry dominated
by cable and satellite TV giants.
••••
"Consumers have long complained about how
their cable service forces them to buy
channels they never watch," Wheeler said
in a blog post announcing his plan to
modify the FCC's definition of a
multi-channel video provider. "The move of
video onto the Internet can do something
about that frustration -- but first
Internet video services need access to the
programs."
••••
Under the proposed rule change, which must
be approved by the full commission,
companies that seek to distribute packages
of TV channels over the Internet would be
included in an expanded definition of a
"multi-channel video programming
distributor." That would level the playing
field, making Internet companies equal to
satellite television, cable and
programming provided via telephone
companies. • Long before the Internet was a
viable distribution outlet- ••••
Wheeler said his goal was to modernize FCC
rules that were adopted in the early 1990s
-- long before the Internet was a viable
distribution outlet. The FCC's rules were
adopted then with the blessing of Congress
to prevent cable companies from using
their clout to shut out what was then a
new technology: satellite TV.
••••
However, skepticism remains that Wheeler's
move would translate into lower-cost
pay-TV subscriptions.
••••
Content companies, such as CBS Corp.,
NBCUniversal and the Walt Disney Co.,
control the terms of the distribution of
their channels. That includes the prices
that distributors, including DirecTV and
Dish Networks Corp., pay to carry those
channels.
• Three start-up companies asked
the FCC- to be included in the definition of a
multi-channel distributor, namely
SkyAngel, which describes itself as a
"faith and family values" broadcaster;
FilmOn Networks, a streaming service in
Beverly Hills; and Aereo Inc., the tech
start-up that distributed broadcast TV
signals over the Internet until the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled the transmissions
violated the broadcasters' copyright.
••••
A rule change could also help tech giants,
including Google Inc. and Apple Inc., to
offer a package of television channels to
consumers.
••••
However, the rule change was not intended
to help on-demand services, such as
Netflix Inc. or Amazon.com Inc. But it
should boost the efforts of several large
companies -- including Dish Networks,
Verizon Communications Inc. and Sony Corp.
-- that have been preparing to roll out
packages of TV channels that would be
streamed to consumers via the
Internet.
•Click For More
tviStory
106-s90- FCC
proposes pay-TV distributors to include
Tech
companies
///
CANNES--
"Mongolia's
Got
Talent"- quipped Simon
Cowell recently at his keynote accepting
the honors of Mipcom's Personality of the
Year,
as interviewer Piers Morgan joked about
the fact that the only two regions where
the format hasn't been picked up were
Mongolia and half of Papua New
Guinea. •He plans to
bring 'X Factor' back to America. ••••
"I believe that I
and Fox gave up too early on 'X Factor,'"
said Cowell of the show that was canceled
after three seasons. "I do know because
I'm the music business that 'X Factor' is
the best music format in the world and it
only takes one artist, a Susan Boyle, or a
One Direction for the whole thing to turns
on its head. So I'll be the one to bring
'X Factor' back to America." •
Expectation set too high- as he was
reflecting on the underwhelming
performance of "X Factor" in the States,
"I think the first year we made a really
good series but I said it would get 20
million people and we got 12 million. If I
hadn't opened my big mouth it would have
been perceived as a hit. I thought we
could achieve in one year what we achieved
in 10 years in the U.K."
••••Cowell
also said the fact the U.S. launch of 'The
Voice" -- which also included the
mentorship element -- right before "X
Factor" was also a setback. •
His future
endeavors include
expansion
into feature films- kicking off
with an animated feature based on the
Betty Boop franchise, among two other
animated projects.
••••"We're
moving slowly (in film) and with the same
thinking that applies to what we do with
TV. You have to find the best in their
field," said Cowell. "So when we decided
to go into animation we partnered up with
Animal Logic Entertainment because
they had done the animation on "The Lego
Movie." They weren't too big but they were
the best in the business so we created a
partnership with them."
••••Added
Cowell, "We'll look at other vehicles
basically designed to be successful as
films but also designed to sell music --
there are so many of these shows now with
so many artists on that I look at
something
like 'High School Musical' and think maybe
that's the route to go now." •
Looking back
on his early days in the biz- "I consider myself very lucky because
I was here in Cannes at Midem, the music
equivalent to Mipcom 30 years ago, when I
was trying to run a company and I
literally didn't sell anything during the
week. I went back home pretty depressed so
the fact that I'm here today talking about
some of the things I've achieved, I feel
incredibly happy. It is work but it's also
passion."
•Click For More
tviStory
101-s90- Simon Cowell's keynote
speech
///
•108-
AT&T fined $105 million for cramming
charges in customer
bills ••••
As part of a $105
million settlement with federal and state
law enforcement officials, AT&T
Mobility LLC will pay $80 million to the
Federal Trade Commission to provide
refunds to consumers the company
unlawfully billed for unauthorized
third-party charges, a practice known as
mobile cramming. The refunds are part of a
multi-agency settlement that also includes
$20 million in penalties and fees paid to
50 states
• AT&T
billed its customers for hundreds of
millions of dollars in charges
originated by other companies, usually in
amounts of $9.99 per month, for
subscriptions for ringtones and text
messages containing love tips, horoscopes,
and "fun facts," as alleged in the FTC
complaint against AT&T.
••••
"This settlement
will put tens of millions of dollars back
in the pockets of consumers harmed by
AT&T's cramming of its mobile
customers," said FTC Chairwoman Edith
Ramirez. "This case underscores the
important fact that basic consumer
protections -- including that consumers
should not be billed for charges they did
not authorize -- are fully applicable in
the mobile environment."
••••
Beginning
October 8th,
consumers who believe they were charged by
AT&T without their authorization can
visit www.ftc.gov/att to submit a refund
claim and find out more about the FTC's
refund program under the settlement. If
consumers are unsure about whether they
are eligible for a refund, they can visit
the claims
website
or contact the settlement administrator at
1-877-819-9692 for more information.
• The FTC's 7th cramming case
since 2013-
This case is part
of a larger FTC effort to clamp down on
mobile cramming. This is the FTC's seventh
mobile cramming case since 2013, and its
second against a mobile phone carrier this
year. The FTC filed a complaint against
T-Mobile in July, and that case is
ongoing. The Commission also issued a
staff report on mobile cramming in July.
The FTC mobile cramming cases build on the
FTC's extensive law enforcement work over
the last decade to combat cramming on
landline phone bills.
••••
The FTC's
investigation into AT&T showed that
the company received very high volumes of
consumer complaints related to the
unauthorized third-party charges placed on
consumer's phone bills. For some
third-party content providers, complaints
reached as high as 40 percent of
subscriptions charged to AT&T
consumers in a given month. In
2011 alone, the FTC's
complaint states, AT&T received more
than 1.3 million calls to its customer
service department about the charges.
••••
According to the
complaint, in October 2011, AT&T
altered its refund policy so that customer
service representatives could only offer
to refund two months' worth of charges to
consumers who sought a refund, no matter
how long the company had been billing
customers for the unauthorized charges.
Prior to that time, AT&T had offered
refunds of up to three months' worth of
charges. At that time, AT&T
characterized its change in policy as
designed to "help lower refunds."
•In February
2012-
one AT&T employee said in an e-mail
that "Cramming/Spamming has increased to a
new level that cannot be tolerated from an
AT&T or industry perspective," but
according to the complaint, the company
did not act to determine whether third
parties had in fact gotten authorization
from consumers for the charges placed on
their bills. In fact, the company denied
refunds to many consumers, and in other
cases referred the consumers to
third-parties to seek refunds for the
money consumers paid to AT&T.
•
Click
For More
tviStory
108-s90- AT&T $105 million settlement
to pay refunds and penalties for
unauthorized Cramming
Charges
///
•
108-MGM
Studio buys 55% in Popular Production
Companies ••••
The Webusersguild,
wwwWUG4.com, reported that the Culver City
Studio, MGM, announced it had acquired a
majority stake in Mark Burnett's
production company, One Three Media, which
holds rights to reality hits like "The
Voice," "Survivor," "The Apprentice" and
"Shark Tank." Mr. Burnett will run the
operation as CEO of a new MGM unit called
United Artists Media Group. • United Artists has a storied
history.
•
Click
For More
tviStory
108-s90-MGM
buys 55% in Popular Production
Companies ///
•
108-
Using Stock-Bonds As Collateral
- Larry
Ellison Upgrades Oracle Credit Line to
$9.9
Billion ••••
Like most Wall Street
financial firms . . . billionaire Larry
Ellision, has increased the amount of
Oracle Corp. stock he's pledged against
personal indebtedness and lines of credit
to $9.9 billion.
•••
Billionaires including Sumner Redstone,
the chairman of Viacom Inc., and Tesla
Motors Inc. co-founder Elon Musk also use
shares to secure personal debt. Musk has
pledged at least 10 million Tesla shares
as collateral, valued at $2.53 billion as
of yesterday's closing price, according to
the company's proxy statement. -- Ellison
"isn't doing anything unusual-
•
Click
For More
tviStory
108-s90- Using Stock-Bonds As Collateral .
. . Larry Ellison
///
•
101-
George Clooney Honored with Cecil B.
DeMille
Award ••••
The Hollywood
Foreign Press Association announced that
actor, director, writer, and producer,
George Clooney will be honored with the
Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 72nd Golden
Globe Awards next year, for his impact on
the entertainment industry.
••••
Recent recipients include Woody Allen
(2014), Jodie Foster (2013), Morgan
Freeman, (2012), Robert De Niro (2011),
Martin Scorsese (2010), Steven Spielberg
(2009), Warren Beatty (2007), Anthony
Hopkins (2006), Robin Williams (2005),
Michael Douglas (2004), Gene Hackman
(2003), Harrison Ford (2002), Al Pacino
(2001), and Barbra Streisand (2000).
•
Click
For More
tviStory
101-s90- George Clooney Honored with Cecil
B. DeMille Award
///
•108-
Buffett + $Bill = Burger King- "INVERSION"
Deal
•••
TVI's
Person of theWeek, Warren Buffett greases
$3 Billion to make the Burger King
Inversion deal
happen
••••
The
$11.4 billion dollar transaction for
Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim
Hortons Inc., with headquarter in Canada
is the latest company to undergo an
inversion, which happens when an American
company uses a merger to reincorporate as
a foreign one.
••••
In such a maneuver, which is legal, a U.S.
company buys a foreign competitor in a
nation with a lower corporate tax rate and
shifts its headquarters to that
country.
••••
Buffett is famous for arguing- that our tax code should be fairer
and that the rich and powerful should not
get more breaks than middle-income
Americans.
••••
He has been a staunch advocate of
companies and citizens paying their fair
share of taxes &emdash; so much so that
the administration's proposal to force
millionaires to pay the same share of
their income in taxes as middle-class
families is known as the Buffett Rule.
•
Click
More
tviStory
108-s90- Buffett greases Burger King
inversion
deal ///
•101-CELEBRITY
SCENE - PETE ALLMAN HONORS MOTHER ON HER
93rd BIRTHDAY
WITH MUSICIAL
CELEBRATION ••••
Celebrity
Scene's Pete Allman, known as ''the man on
the scene,'' has been involved in the
entertainment business for years, in
helping escalate the careers of Lyn
Ashley, The Oscar Martinez Dancers and
Kirby Van Burch, known as The Prince of
Magic.''
••••
Allman first arrived in Las Vegas in 1978
where he opened his own review, ''The Pete
Allman Revue,'' which opened at The
Fremont Hotel, later moving up the strip
to The Marina Hotel, now The MGM.
••
Click
for
More
tviNews stories Pete
Allman ///
•
101-
Emmy Nominees - Award
Winners Actor
in a drama: Bryan Cranston ("Breaking
Bad") Actress in a drama: Julianna
Margulies ("The Good Wife") Drama series: "Breaking Bad"
(AMC) Comedy series: "Modern Family"
(ABC) Mini series: "Fargo" (FX) TV Movie: "The Normal Heart"
(HBO) Variety
Series: "The Colbert Report" •
Click
For
Complete
List of Emmy Nominees-
101-s90 ///
•
Click For More
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