Trade Round-Up: Moonves Reassures The CBS Troops
· In an attempt to level the playing field with TNT and USA, AMC coughs up $80 million in licensing fees for 22 Warner Bros. movies (including Batman Begins, Million Dollar Baby, and The Last Samurai). Warner Bros. also receives "prima nocte" privileges with the brides of selected AMC execs, who described the unusual provision as "totally worth it for the rights to air Terminator 3 on cable." [Variety]
· Les Moonves assures CBS affiliates that a much-discussed Viacom split will be beneficial to the network. When his assurances were initially met with a skeptical silence, Moonves then added, "And no matter what happens on the corporate level, Jeff Zucker will continue to be my bitch." The crowd then exploded into a joyful hymn as Moonves stoked their passions with ten minutes of pantomimed Zucker-buggery. [THR]
· The Agent Dance, "We Can't Make Ourselves Care" Edition: Former William Morris network TV head Greg Lipstone shuffles over to ICM as a senior VP. [Variety]
· CBS picks up the Julia Louis-Dreyfus project Old Christine for midseason, when the dreaded Curse of Seinfeld will kick in, causing near-immediate cancellation despite everyone's professed love for Dreyfus' talent. [Variety]