CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 29, 2010 | By Louis Sahagun
A few weeks before the opening of Santa Catalina Island's zipline attraction, its designer popped a question that caught a handful of local officials and visiting journalists off guard: "Want to zip?" Bradd Morse, the president of Canopy Tours Inc., was mindful that being among the first to hurtle over rocky, cactus-filled canyons at speeds of up to 40 mph while dangling from a cable as high as 300 feet off the ground might make some people nervous. But getting these individuals -- public safety officials, mostly -- to take a ride on the Catalina Zipline Eco-Tour is all part of the plan to transform this struggling harbor community of about 3,000 people into a more prominent Southern California destination.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 10, 2010 | By Jon Weinbach, Special to the Los Angeles Times
There's one sector of the entertainment industry that has not been roiled by the Internet, the economy or ever-changing consumer tastes. Say hello to Hollywood's most stable business: Soft-core pornography. The oft-mocked genre, which has given the world such memorable fare as "Witches of Breastwick" and "Tarzeena: Jiggle in the Jungle," is more visible — and valuable — than ever, even at a time when hard-core adult entertainment is easily accessible on every media device.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 6, 2012 | By Steven Zeitchik, Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK - On a recent morning, Joel Stillerman, an executive with the cable network AMC, was sitting in his 15th-floor office opposite Madison Square Garden and getting excited. He wasn't enthused about the usual matters, like the restored popularity of the network's signature series, "Mad Men," or the shiny ratings for the recently concluded season of the zombie hit"The Walking Dead. " "You've never seen 'Ace in the Hole?'" Stillerman said to a reporter, referring to the 1951 Billy Wilder film about a cynical newsman.
ENTERTAINMENT
December 30, 2009 | By Matea Gold
After getting mixed ratings report cards in 2009, CNN and MSNBC are adjusting their lineups in the coming weeks as they try to lure back viewers who drifted away after the 2008 election. The changes at the two channels come after a year in which Fox News grew even stronger, bolstered by outspoken hosts such as Glenn Beck, who used his show to rally opposition to the Obama administration. In prime time, Fox News averaged 2.2 million viewers, a 7% rise over 2008, the network's best showing in its 13-year history, according to Nielsen.
ENTERTAINMENT
September 25, 2010 | By Jon Weinbach, Special to the Los Angeles Times
"American Idol" fired judges, "The Tonight Show" is a punch line and viewers keep splintering across the channel landscape, but there's at least one sure thing in the TV business: Football rules the airwaves in 2010. In a striking display of ratings prowess, the opening games of the college and pro football seasons drew record audiences, further cementing the sport's position atop America's sports-media food chain. Already this month, NBC had the most-watched regular-season National Football League game ever shown in prime time, and Fox's ratings for the opening weekend of NFL games were the network's best Week 1 numbers since it began showing pro games in 1994.
BUSINESS
October 23, 2010 | By Craig Howie, Los Angeles Times
Like moving furniture, rearranging household finances is an onerous task. Cable television is one of the first places consumers look to save some cash. Movies, phone plans and eating out are next. And though your average tech enthusiast probably would prefer to sell a kidney than cut back Internet bandwidth, it's often a victim of cost cutting too. With a new baby at home, I needed to realign a few things financially (and move a whole lot of furniture). I wanted a convenient setup where I could watch movies, use the Internet and listen to my iTunes music in one place.