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ESPN Films Signs On For JackieRobinson Project
Robert Redford Will Star, Co-Produce Untitled Film
By Larry Barrett -- Multichannel News, 4/14/2008 11:17:00 AM
ESPN Films Monday announced it will co-produce a yet-to-be titled film starring RobertRedford chronicling the relationships and events surrounding Jackie Robinson’s historic effort to break baseball’s color barrier in the late 1940s.The film, which also includes Baldwin Entertainment Group and Andrew Cohen as co- producers, will star Redford as legendary Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey.The network said the film marks the first announced project from the collaboration betweenESPN and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) aimed at identifying creative and commercialopportunities for ESPN Films’ scripted arm. ESPN will lend its sports storytelling knowledgeand expertise to the production.ESPN said the film is being produced with the approval of Robinson’s widow, Rachel, BranchRickey Jr. and Major League Baseball.“ESPN Films is honored to be collaborating with such accomplished storytellers and filmmakersfor such an important sports and American story,” Ron Semiao, senior vice president, ESPNcontent development, said in a statement.
 
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LOWDOWN ON THE UPFRONT: BETSeeks ‘Connection’ With Advertisers
New Animation, Scripted And Reality Series In The Offing 
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 4/17/2008 5:00:00 PM
 New animation, scripted and reality series—as well as a youth-targeted get out to voteinitiative—were the staples of BET’s upfront presentation to advertisers Thursday night in NewYork.Under the tagline “Connection You Can Feel,” the 92 million-subscriber network unveiled several new programs, including a primetime animated series
The Black Panther 
, based on aclassic Marvel Comics superhero that will debut in first quarter 2009. BET Entertainment president Reggie Hudlin is a writer for the series.Other new shows announced at the upfront include:
 Brutha
, a reality series basedon the lives of a true-life sibling R&B group set to debut in fall 2008;
 Judge Karen
, the latestiteration of the TV courtroom reality series strain premiering later this year;
The Boot 
, a realitydating/competition series premiering this spring; and
106 & Gospel 
, a weekly gospel musicversion of the network’s hit music video series
106 & Park 
set to launch in 2009.The network will also return several of its current original series, including
 American Gangster 
,
Sunday Best,
 
 Keysha Cole: The Way It Is
and a revamped version of its decade old
Comic View
 series.On the news front, the network will launch two new series in 2009, including
The Truth With Jeff  Johnson
, a talk show which will focus on the issues facing Black America; and
Unreported 
, aninvestigative series which looks at the imbalance in journalistic coverage with respect to AfricanAmericans.“We’ve had fantastic original programming success stories during primetime, and the next stepin our strategy is to create even more hits throughout the other parts of the day,” said Hudlin in astatement. “We’ll continue to roll out more weekly and daily shows that our audiences crave.”BET’s on-air programming will complement the network’s online efforts through BET.comwhere viewers can watch replays of their favorite shows as well as get information and other services. “‘Connection You Can Feel’ is the foundation of BET’s digital offerings,” saidDenmark West, president of Digital Media, BET Networks in a statement.“BET.com users are not only technically savvy, but they are actually driving the next wave of technologies, and we are meeting those needs, whether it’s by creating unique communitiesonline, or being their go-to site for news, entertainment, and information from the Black community," he added.
 
3Basketball, cuisine and leading men are the subjects of three new reality series from BET sister channel BETJ scheduled to bow this fall. Viewers will get a behind the scenes look at the life of  National Basketball Association star Carmelo Anthony in a new series called
Carmelo’s Way
.Chef Marcus Samuelsson will walk viewers through the preparation of delicious, low-caloriemeals as part of his new show
Urban Cuisine
, while prominent African-American men will provide a rare look at their private lives in the new series
 Leading Men,
said network executives.On the pro-social front, the network will roll out a multiplatform You(th) Vote! initiative in aneffort to encourage Black youth to discuss, debate and actively participate in the presidentialelection process, said BET executives.For more information on Madison Avenue's upfront selling season, click here.
What's A Blogger?
by Jack Loechner, Friday, Apr 18, 2008 8:15 AM ETWhat's A Blogger?
 Bloggers are younger and higher percentages are Hispanic & African American than the general population. A higher percentage of Democrats than of Republicans are blogging. Now that Blogging might better be called a market segment rather than a market niche, it's usefulwith regard to positioning the marketing message to understand what a Blogger looks like, asdistinguished from the rest of the population. According to the BIGresearch Simultaneous MediaSurvey, 26% of all adults say they regularly or occasionally blog. Of those:
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53.7% are male
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44.7% are married
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28.4% hold a professional or managerial position
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10.4% are students.Bloggers tend to be younger, averaging 37.6 years old, compared to 44.8 for adults 18+ (the"general population"). Ethnically:
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69.7% of Bloggers are White/Caucasian (vs. 76.1%)
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12.2% are African American/Black (vs. 11.4%)
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3.7% are Asian (vs. 2.0%)
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20% of Bloggers are Hispanic, compared to 14.8% of adults 18+In addition, Bloggers report a lower income ($55,819 vs. $56,811) and are better educated (14.3years of education vs. 14.2).Political blogs are becoming increasingly common, especially in this election year, where 24.6%of registered voters say they regularly or occasionally blog. Political affiliation of regular/occasional Bloggers look like this in 2008:
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