Nielsen’s figures include few of the people who watch a show in the days after it airs, and none at all who watch on a phone, a tablet, or Netflix. “If almost nothing is a hit anymore, why shouldn’t a hit be whatever we say it is? But that ‘we’ is exactly the problem.”
Tag: 11.12.15
Real Literature Is About Losers, Says Umberto Eco
“Dostoevsky was writing about losers. The main character of The Iliad, Hector, is a loser. … Madame Bovary is a loser. Julien Sorel is a loser. I am doing only the same job. Losers are more fascinating. Winners are stupid … because usually they win by chance.”
How (& Why) Did ‘Law & Order’ Producer Dick Wolf Take His TV Empire To Chicago?
“‘Chicago embodies unapologetic, old-fashioned values of right and wrong and how you should act,’ he says. Or, in the language of NBC’s ads, it’s a ‘city of heroes’ defined by ‘the people who protect, serve and heal.’ Tales of the urban heartland are tailor-made for the broad audience of network television, a medium that itself can seem old-fashioned in the new world of niche dramas on cable and streaming TV.”
Is Theatre Too Much In Love With Itself?
“The nervousness that theatre-about-theatre raises in critics and audiences is similar to the prejudice among literary critics towards novels that have novelists as their protagonists: a fear of professional special pleading and jokes that mean more to producers than consumers.”
Betye Saar’s Work Couldn’t Be More Relevant, So Where Are The Shows?
“‘I guess it’s always a problem to get recognized in your hometown,’ she reflects. ‘But they can’t wait and wait because then I’ll die and it’ll cost big bucks,’ she adds with a laugh. ‘Then they will pay for their hesitation.'”
Where All The World Heritage Sites Are (By The Numbers)
“In 1978, when Unesco published its first list of protected places, there were just 12 World Heritage Sites. Now there are 1,031, including Fray Bentos meatpacking plant in Uruguay, as of July this year.”
Opera Company To Take Up Residence In Stately Countryside Estate
“The design of the 700-seat theatre is based on one of the most celebrated opera houses in the world, La Scala in Milan, which opened in the 18 century. It will feature four tiers of balconies above the stalls, according to plans seen by the Times.”
In Grenoble: Free Fiction Dispensers
“The free stories are available at the touch of a button, printing out on rolls of paper like a till receipt. Readers are able to choose one minute, three minutes or five minutes of fiction.”
One Of Seattle’s Major Public Radio Stations Buys The Other
The University of Washington station, at 94.9 FM, is well-known for its National Public Radio news programs, while the Pacific Lutheran University station, at 88.5, broadcasts both news and jazz.
Strong Week Of Auctions, But Concerns For Health Of The Market
“Sotheby’s stock price reflects the general slowdown in the global economy. The stock has been hurt by their earnings from their main auction business, which are weak.”