Entertainment Industry News

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.

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.

-Yesterday's Losers (excluding repeats): Greatest American Dog (CBS)

Based on preliminary live plus same day Nielsen data, the two-hour premiere of the CW's 90210 roared out of the Tuesday gate as the highest rated telecast of any scripted show ever on the network among adults 18-34 (3.0/9), women 18-34 (4.3/12), adults 18-49 (2.6/7) and women 18-49 (3.6/9). 90210 finished as the third highest rated series premiere in the CW's history in women 18-34 (4.3/12), adults 18-34 (3.0/ 9) and adults 18-49 (2.6/ 7). And it led the CW to its best performance for any evening among adults 18-49. Now, tell me…who is the father of Kelly's son?

NBC led the low-rated troops for the week of August 25 in households, total viewers, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54; while Fox pulled ahead among adults 18-34. But with four nights of coverage of the 2008 Democratic Convention at 10 p.m., none of the networks were rejoicing. CBS, in particular, took a hit with year-to-year losses of as much as 36 percent.

VENICE (Reuters) - A hand-drawn Japanese cartoon, the tale of a clash between native Indians and white settlers in Brazil and a portrayal of Ethiopia's bloody past are favorites to win the Venice film festival's top prize on Saturday.

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.

Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Aug 25-31. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:

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.

(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.

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles man claims in a lawsuit that Gene Simmons took him for a ride on a marketing deal with the Indy Racing League.

NEW YORK - What a difference the Olympics makes, especially when it's over.

-Yesterday's Winners: America's Got Talent (NBC), 90210 (CW)

LOS ANGELES - "Tropic Thunder" defended its position at the top of the box office with $14.6 million in ticket sales over the long Labor Day weekend. Vin Diesel's sci-fi thriller, "Babylon A.D.," debuted in second place.

Current Emmy nominee Ted Danson, who will reprise his role on FX's returning Damages for at least three episodes, will headline a comedy pilot on HBO called Bored to Death. Danson will play the friend and mentor of a struggling Brooklyn writer with a drinking problem who pretends to be a private detective.

LONDON - Mick Jagger's pout is officially fit for a museum.

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Hollywood Reporter) - The McCain campaign came out swinging Wednesday against the media over the controversy and coverage swirling around vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

-Yesterday's Winners: Deal or No Deal (NBC), Two and a Half Men R (CBS)

NEW YORK - On Sept. 9, the U.S. publisher of "Harry Potter" will premiere a highly ambitious series with a mystery ending for readers and a couple of puzzlers for the industry: How big is the market for a multimedia story — and can a phenomenon be conceived by a publisher rather than created by the public?

-Yesterday's Losers (excluding repeats): Greatest American Dog (CBS) and ongoing coverage of the Democratic Convention

LAS VEGAS - Jerry Lewis raised a record $65 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in his annual Labor Day telethon, a benefit that also made a pitch for those inconvenienced by Hurricane Gustav.

With just 25 days to go until the official start of the 2008-09 season, here is an updated listing of series and season-premiere dates. Keep in mind that the return of Deal or No Deal and debut of America's Toughest Jobs, both on NBC, was this past Monday.

BAYREUTH, Germany - The dramatic struggle played out backstage, pitting the great-grandchildren of composer Richard Wagner for control of the legendary festival dedicated to his music.

-Ratings Breakdown: Once again, this was far from an Olympic-sized performance. But NBC's winning streak continued, with an advantage last night over second-place Fox of a healthy 1.8 rating points. Third overall in the Tuesday metered markets was CBS, followed by ABC and, of course, the CW. Next week at this time I will have the initial results for 90210!

LOS ANGELES - A juror was removed Thursday in the federal wiretapping trial of Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano and a high-profile attorney, forcing deliberations to restart a day after the panel got the case.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Sun, a daily newspaper launched six years ago as an often conservative-leaning alternative to The New York Times, may stop publishing by the end of September unless it gets additional financial backing.

Once again, it was all about the Olympics, with the concluding nights of the 2008 Games from Beijing leading NBC to an advantage of 7.6 million viewers and 48 percent among adults 18-49 over the five competing networks combined (including MyNetworkTV). Comparably, and according to NBC, this is now the most-watched event in U.S. television history. Time will tell, of course, if this huge promotional platform will benefit the network this fall. So far, it did not have a noticeable impact on the debut of America's Toughest Jobs on Monday.

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.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Liberty Media Corp will spin off its stake in DirecTV Group and other assets into a publicly traded company called Liberty Entertainment Group SA, taking the first step to simplify ownership of the satellite TV provider.