U.S. studios go online with Spain's Wuaki

MADRID -- Pinning their hopes on incremental home entertainment revenues from online distribution in Spain, Warner Bros., Walt Disney, Sony and Paramount have licensed part of their content to Spain's new over-the-top service Wuaki.tv. Wuaki launches November in Spain and will sell or rent north of 1,000 feature films and TV skeins for streaming. Moving out of its beta launch period, Wuaki claims near 60,000 registered users. "Our business model with the studios is pure revenue share," said Wuaki co-founder and CEO Jacinto Roca. Company has clinched deals with indie distributors Aurum, Vertice and Filmax, plus toon house BRB Internacional, and is in talks with Fox and NBC, according to content director Josep Monleon. One strong pillar of Wuaki's market strategy is its agreements with smart TV manufacturers Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Philips to integrate Wuaki access onto their screens. "Users aged 25 to 50 will be seduced by the convenience of controlling everything from the remote," Roca said. One of Wuaki's main challenges is to convert the millions of Spaniards who make unauthorized Internet downloads into legal buyers in a country included in the priority piracy watch list of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus. Wuaki has a large space in which to grow. According to IHS Screen Digest, over-the-top online movies transaction revenues for 2011 will reach only $6.6 million in Spain, far below the U.K. ($80.1 million), France ($63.5 million) or Germany ($46.6 million). However, some key international players are moving into Spain's online market. iTunes started to offer U.S. studio films in November; Netflix launches next year. "Although right now the online market is still small in comparison to TV, it is growing," said Patrick Stuart, senior manager, Disney Media Distribution, Spain and Portugal. "Wuaki is a great opportunity to give consumers in Spain wider access to our programming, and the ability to enjoy it in even more flexible ways," he added. Juan Angulo, general director at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Spain, commented: "A general priority for Warner is to develop all the legal markets for its product, specifically for digital distribution." The Wuaki deal fits in with that policy, Angulo added. Backed by risk capital funds Axon Capital and Bonsai Venture Capital, Wuaki partners have invested $6.7 million in the venture. They plan to expand operations to Brazil later this year. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

CNBC hawks more 'Squawk'

Melissa Lee, co-anchor, "Squawk in the pub" CNBC has canceled "The Phone CallInch and "Strategy Session" and broadened "Squawk in the pub" to 3 hrs, with Carl Quintanilla hosting the brand new 11 ayem hour, that will concentrate on global marketplace changes, particularly the European bourses."Carl will most likely be became a member of by other people from the 'Squawk around the Street' team, for example Simon Hobbs," stated CNBC honcho Nik Deogun. "Additionally, Gary Kaminsky and Ron Santelli may have recurring roles around the program."Using the growth of "Squawk," the finance net's 11 o'clock show "The Phone CallInch isn't any more series was moored by Melissa Francis and Ray Kudlow.The internet can also be eliminating its halfhour 12 p.m. show "Strategy Session," growing its 12:30 show "Quick Money Halftime Report" into the slot, which makes it a complete hourlong."Host Scott Wapner along with a deep bench of seasoned traders will break lower analyst calls, market-moving corporate news, options action and technical analysis," stated Deogun. Contact Mike Thielman at mike.thielman@variety.com

Sugarland Plans Indiana Collapse Benefit Concert

First Launched: October 7, 2011 11:27 AM EDT Credit: Getty Premium Indiana, Ind. -- Caption Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Rose rose bush of Sugarland perform at Raley Area in Sacramento, Calif. on August 25, 2011 Sugarland expects to stage a free of charge concert in Indiana on March. 28, 11 days carrying out a stage flattened on fans, killing seven people, before the country music duo wound up being to do within the Indiana Condition Fair. This rock band introduced Friday that Conseco Fieldhouse concert will be the final show of the tour which special guest artists will probably be introduced later. The crowd would proceed and take stage with an August. 13 concert each time a strong gust of wind blew inside the stage rigging. Five fans, a thief guard together with a stagehand died utilizing their injuries and many 40 others were hurt, some seriously. This rock band states donations to have an assistance fund for your collapse sufferers will probably be collected throughout this several days show. (Copyright 2011 by Connected Press. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed) Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Ratings: American Horror Story Scares 5 Million Suburgatory Slips Slightly

Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Taissa Farmiga To get into a manifestation in the Clockwork Orange: Ratings for your American Horror Story premiere were "real horror show" - meaning, real good. The completely new drama from Glee bosses Ryan Murphy and Kaira Falchuk attracted 3.2 million audiences at 10/9c and a bit more than 5 million counting the encore airing. Foreign exchange Systems Leader John Landgraf mentioned Thursday he was "thrilled," adding: "We're equally thrilled with the a reaction to last night's episode on social media, which was all positive and proven the crowd loved the show around all of us do.Inch American Horror Story: Connie Britton solutions the burning questions Round the broadcast systems, preliminary Nielsen data shown that Suburgatory's second outing wound up a rather small 7 percent, nicely ensconcing itself in ABC's Wednesday comedy block, while Free Agents completed so poorly again it got cut from NBC's selection. The completely new ABC sitcom - inside the time slot hammock of 8/30/7:30c involving the Middle and Modern Family - clicked up 9.05 million together with a 3. rating among 18-to-49-year-olds after opening to 9.81 million and three.3, which marked a 27 percent improvement over last year's tenant of occasions slot, Better Together With You. Inside the same slot, the completely new NBC sitcom starring Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn handled just 3.28 million audiences - which actually was slightly up from three.11 million yesterday - together with single rating on the market-valued demo. This Nielsen data introduced the network making it the second casualty in the 2011-12 season. NBC cancels Free Agents Ultimately the spin-doctoring and mea culpas uttered by Simon Cowell to lessen ratings anticipation, Fox's The X Factor appears to own found its plateau, calculating 11.54 million and three.6 demo, ongoing a downward trend. (It opened up as much as some 12.14 million audiences together with a 4.2 demo and reduce 11.51 million and three.9 the other day.) At 9:30/8/:30c, Raising Hope saved just 6.19 million. CBS won the night's overall viewership fight having its choice of Survivor: South Off-shoreline, (10.54 million), the night's most-seen program Criminal Minds (13.34 million) and CSI: Crime Scene Analysis (11.81 million) - the ultimate two winning their unique time slots at 9/8c and 10/9c. At 8/7, ABC's The Middle clicked up 9.01 million, as NBC's Up With The Evening loved a fourth-week upturn to 5.60 5 million audiences as well as the CW's H8R descended to a single.15 million. Fall Preview: Get scoop inside your favorite returning shows Modern Family maintained its strong showing on ABC, entertaining 13.08 million people and posting a evening-winning 5.6 demo Week 2 of Happy Being had 6.92 million people tuning in after setting a collection high with 7.38 million. Also in prime time's middle hour: NBC's Harry's Law (8.22 million) and America's Next Top Model round the CW (1.68 million). Inside the final prime-time hour, ABC's Revenge can be a dish, otherwise offered cold, agreed to much less people. It attracted in 7.70 million, another large drop from last week's 8.55 million (and 10.15 million due to its premiere). Law & Order: Special Sufferers Unit totaled 7.88 million, when compared with last week's 7.14 million (and 7.60 million due to its thirteenth season premiere).

Chris Pratt Had a Perfectly Good Reason For Giving His Cat Away on Twitter

“Bottom line, and not that this is any of your fucking business weirdos, but my wife and I want to start a family and we ABSOLUTELY CANNOT have an animal that shits all over the house. Sorry. If you are a parent you will understand. And if not, that probably explains why you have such a hard on for cats. Just sayin’.” And that, Internet, is why Moneyball star Chris Pratt gave up his 15-year-old cat Bella for adoption on Twitter. The actor ultimately gave Bella to a Twitter user named Meghan who is a “perfectly reasonable, sweet and friendly cat lover.” Pratt’s wife is What’s My Number? star Anna Faris. [ChrisPratt.com]

Eliza Coupe on Egg Babies and Her Black Swan Moment That Might've Saved Happy Endings

Eliza Coupe Happy Endings had all the ingredients for a quick midseason burn-off show: It premiered in April in a 10 p.m. time slot with back-to-back episodes that aired out of order. But the sharp-tongued, pop culture-referencing sitcom soon developed a devoted following to earn a surprising renewal. "I think it was the fifth episode where I was Max's beard and Penny dated [the guy named] Hitler that it started clicking," Eliza Coupe, who plays Jane, tells TVGuide.com. "It was such a well-written episode. I felt like that was when people got into it." See what else the actress has to say about the show's "amazing" (or is it "a-mah-zing"?) fans, why Brad and Jane are not the Drapers, and Jane's quest this week to find her egg baby - the child she believes was conceived from an egg she donated in college.Fall Preview: Get scoop on your favorite returning showsJane is searching for her egg baby, which begs the question: Will she and Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.) have kids any time soon?Eliza Coupe: I don't know. I think that Jane likes the idea of having a kid, but the whole "that's the next step" would really disrupt her whole life. ... She had that plan [in the pilot], but I don't think she wants to be a mom yet. I think it's more real and more modern that they don't have a kid. Just because they're married doesn't mean they have to have a kid. That's what I like about them - making the traditional marriage a little hipper.Do you believe in the baby sitcom curse?Coupe: I do. ... You know, just don't bring kids into the mix! They're annoying. Because if you have a baby on a show, eventually, you'll need a kid actor. Then it's going to be one of those child actors who are 8 years old and who says things like, "Back when I was a kid." You're like, "Shut up! 'Back when I was a kid' - yeah, which is right now! You're 8. I hate you!" [Laughs]I love the fact that she donated an egg, especially given how uptight she is now.Coupe: Yeah, and I like that she so badly thinks it's her egg baby. Like no one else could've donated an egg! But when I first signed on, we made an agreement that Jane has a really dark, checkered past. I like that we introduce that a little more. There's a reason why people become control freaks. They weren't always like that, but there's something that sparks that. I think that it makes sense that she has had a different kind of path and now she's overcompensating for it. She was a bit of a beer slut. Jane was crazy. She was that girl in college who was always the life of the party, drinking and slutting it up. So yeah, she sold an egg. She needs to go to Cabo!Brad didn't know she hooked up with girls back then or about the egg donation. Why isn't he privy to her past?Coupe: Right. Brad is in the dark. There's a lot he doesn't know. We're going to find out more this year. I don't think she's lying to him, but that part of her life is over. I think they both have things they hide from each other, but they're pretty crazy behind closed bedroom doors. Check out photos from Happy EndingsIs that why they're such a great couple?Coupe: Yes! Lots of sex! [Laughs] They're almost like buddies that are married. It's a more modern-day relationship. It's not so I'm the man, I'm the woman. It's not Mad Men. It's not like the Drapers, like we don't know anything about each other. Brad and Jane are really comfortable with each other. They can be buddies and make fun of each other. They can each play the straight guy. ... Yes, it's heightened for television, but it's definitely more real than the Drapers.Damon makes his pants drop by snapping his fingers again this week. How does he do that?Coupe: There's a very heavy belt and Damon is just a wizard. It's his thing, really.I heard you cut your hair while waiting to hear if the show was picked up. True?Coupe: Yeah, it was a real Black Swan moment in my bathroom. I've had a lot of people take some scissors to it at this point. I did it myself, then I went to my hairstylist and then I did a movie in China this past summer, and the Chinese hairstylist decided to get into it and he did a great job. And then recently, we went a little shorter and the woman on Happy Endings trimmed it. Now it looks really, really nice. I'm actually wearing it a little straighter. It actually looked pretty good [when I cut it]; it was just choppy. I mean, look, if things don't work out with Happy Endings, I'm going to open a salon. Maybe that's why the show got renewed. It was the anti-Felicity curse.Coupe: Maybe! But, honestly, I do think there is something to be said about going on with your life. If I just sit around and go, "I'm not going to change anything. I'm going to focus all my energy on this show getting picked up," that's really setting yourself up. Going on with your life, you're setting yourself up for the next thing. And luckily it worked out.ABC offers Fred Savage Happy EndingsPeople who love the show are really into it. Are you surprised at how it's caught on?Coupe: Kind of. We've been talking about our show as the online show. People love it, but I have not seen a billboard. There are no billboards! People find it and they love it. I went to a wedding last night and people were talking about how they sit down with their kids and watch it. I was like, "Wow!" It was just nice to hear that. We've been doing a lot of Twitter stuff and Facebook stuff, and I think that's hitting our demographic too. Maybe the billboards aren't necessary if we can stay up with the hipper things. Zach Knighton and I just did an "apology" to the frolf community. We did a live show at UCB and we're going to do that again and try to keep it fresh and find different ways to get people interested. The show has a similar structure to Friends, but it's different and I think our fans really see that.What else can we expect this season?Coupe: Brad and Jane decide to take couples improv, which was a lot of fun to shoot. But oh, the Halloween episode - buckle up! You have to see my costume! It was the best costume in the world and I was in it the entire episode. And let's just say I'm completely covered except for my face in not a flattering way. It's a food item and I'm completely covered in a mock version of this food item made out of Styrofoam. It's just an insane costume. Brad is Brad, and we take on the suburbs. It was one of the episodes Fred Savage directed, and it was awesome.Happy Endings airs Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.

Watch Transformers 3 Free

Kanye Launches Luxe Fashion Label

First Launched: October 1, 2011 6:33 PM EDT Credit: Getty Images Caption Kanye values the applause in the audience following a KW by Kanye Prepared to use Spring / Summer season 2012 show throughout Paris Fashion Week at Lycee Henri IV in Paris on October 1, 2011 PARIS, France -- Styles most well-known aficionado, music star Kanye, switched professional on Saturday getting a lavish hard-edged womens collection that bucked all the stereotypes about celebrity designers. West is really a front-row fixture at fashion shows for any very long time, but industry affiliates had welcomed news he was prone to launch a kind of their very own getting a greater than hefty dose of skepticism and a lot of barbed quips about how precisely it could surely be Lindsay Lohans tights line once more. So, it absolutely was with slightly humbled question the style editors, stylists and journalists hands-selected to visit Saturdays late-evening spring-summer season 2012 show welcomed the sophisticated, highly designed looks round the catwalk. Sure, West didnt reinvent the wheel: You are able to start to see the influence of established designers lots of shows he visited over time. There's a bit of Balmain inside the short, sex-drenched dresses and several Givenchy inside the medieval, bondage-y leather jackets and skirts, for example. But luxed-up streetwear elements, like hooded jackets created in a number of crocodile skins, gave the range a unique voice that belongs to them. The greater understanding about project ongoing to become foggy: The extent of Wests participation within the design ongoing to become unclear, as did the particulars of people on his design team. But Wests emotional attachment for the brand was apparent. Speaking with reporters following a show, the seasoned artist saved repeating Im so scared, Im so nervous. The finest conversation I am hoping I am in a position to finish tonight is whole celebrity designer factor, he mentioned once hed handled to collect themselves. Thats the finest hurdle when you want to acquire amazing people to get results for you. Another challenge, he added, was identifying who to make use of. The design and style marketplace is infamously opaque and sometimes inscrutable for outsiders, even ones too connected as him. Stars (R&B singer Ciara), designers (Ernest Altuzarra, Alexander Wang and Olivier Theyskens) and celebrity designers (the Olsen twins) switched out for Wests show, which was hands-lower The large event on Paris spring-summer season 2012 calendar. Ciara, repel the stifling weather in the fur stole, mentioned he did an admirable job. I walked out of this show feeling like I must placed on this line. There is lots within it thats right up my alley. Especially since personally, its so awesome to find out someone result from our music world making a move similar to this. Its very difficult, she mentioned a backstage interview. U.S. designer Jeremy Scott concurred. Everyone probably think chances are it will be another like Jennifer Lopezs Macys line which is not, its really apparent it's not, mentioned Scott, whos recognized for his kooky, colorful designs. Kanye has impeccable taste and you also see his taste level is on the internet for. Hes interested in design overall. I have five-hour extended conversations with him constantly about everything because hes so obsessed, but we have got a bit of a consider his mind there. Inside a secondary school in southern Paris, Saturdays show came a thick crowd of star-struck celebrity audiences who clicked on their cell phone cameras at literally something which moved. A couple of from the students who board within the school seen the site visitors file in from lack of from the products made an appearance as though old-school prison bars and begged passers-by their invites as souvenirs. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.