League reaches tentative agreement with match officials - Board Games

The deal is still subject to ratification between the league's board of governors and the union representing its officials, the NHL said on its website. Both sides will have no comment until the new deal is ratified.
The previous contract expired on August 31 and the league's officials and linesmen had been working through the pre-season games without a deal in place.
The regular season opens October 7 with five games, including one in Helsinki, Finland, between the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Ian Ransom)
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UBS starts U.S. entertainment sector with neutral bias - Entertainment News

* Sees cable network assets as organic growth opportunity
* Starts Time Warner, Discovery Comm, Viacom with "buy"
* Starts Scripps Networks, Walt Disney with "neutral"
Sept 21 (Reuters) - UBS began coverage of the U.S.
entertainment sector with a neutral bias and said it considers
cable network assets as one of the few organic growth
opportunities in media.
The brokerage started coverage of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N),
Discovery Communications Inc (DISCA.O) and Viacom Inc (VIAb.N)
with "buy" ratings.
"Investment in programming has been a driver of growth in
audience share over the past few years, with cable ad growth
significantly outperforming the TV networks," analyst John
Janedis said in a note to clients.
The analyst, who started Scripps Networks Interactive Inc
(SNI.N) and Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) with "neutral" ratings,
said technology is making the film business model more
challenging.
"Properly responding to these changes will be a key factor
in maintaining the health of the business model," Janedis
said.
Last week, Credit Suisse said streaming video offerings
from Netflix (NFLX.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Google TV will
catch on with consumers eager to cut the cable cord and
downgraded the U.S. entertainment sector to "underweight."
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Anne
Pallivathuckal)
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UPDATE 3-SuperGroup super hot as sales soar - Celebrities

* Q1 total sales up 59.8 pct to 32.8 million pounds
* Q1 retail sales up 62.7 pct, wholesale sales up 53.9 pct
* CEO says does not expect growth to slow
* SuperGroup shares down 4.2 pct at 1,101 p, index flat
(Adds CEO, analyst comment, updates shares)
By James Davey
LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - SuperGroup (SGP.L), the British
company behind the Superdry fashion brand worn by celebrities
such as David Beckham, reported soaring sales, underscoring its
status as one of the hottest fashion labels around.
But shares in the retailer and wholesaler, which listed at
500 pence in March, fell 4.2 percent to 1,101 pence by 1204 GMT,
valuing the business at about 823 million pounds ($1.27
billion), having risen 7 percent on Monday. The FTSE All Share
index was 0.2 percent lower.
"It's had a very strong run, so it's just a bit of profit
taking," said Nick Bubb, analyst at Arden Partners.
SuperGroup, which had Britain's most successful IPO so far
this year, said on Tuesday total sales jumped 59.8 percent to
32.8 million pounds in the three months to Aug. 1, its fiscal
first quarter.
Founder and Chief Executive Julian Dunkerton, who along with
SuperGroup's other management shared 105 million pounds of the
120 million pound IPO proceeds, forecast a successful year
outcome and said he would not expect growth in sales of the
company's trademark T-shirts, hoodies, check shirts and jogging
bottoms to slow, despite tough macro headwinds.
"I see no reason to believe that we will not continue
growing in the nature that we have been growing. Young people
have to look good," he told Reuters.
Dunkerton said SuperGroup, unlike fashion brands such as
French Connection (FCCN.L), would sustain its growth because it
was hitting a gap in the market for quality, value for money,
branded clothing that is not reliant on one product or one logo.
SuperGroup, whose clothes are a favourite of film stars
Leonardo DiCaprio and Zac Efron, trades from 49 stand-alone
Superdry and Cult stores in Britain and 64 concessions and has a
wholesale business in 34 countries.
The company has a 20 stores a year opening programme and
sees scope for 150 Superdry and Cult stores in UK/Ireland.
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Hungarian artists alongside greats in London show - Arts

LONDON (Reuters) - Hungarian artists hang alongside some of Europe's greatest painters in a new blockbuster exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts put together at the 11th hour after the original show fell through.
"Treasures from Budapest: European Masters from Leonardo to Schiele" opens on Friday and features around 230 works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest and Hungarian National Gallery.
The London exhibition was scrambled together in only a few months when a show featuring treasures from the Prince of Liechtenstein's collection was canceled in December following a dispute over the export of one of the prince's paintings.
Kathleen Soriano, director of exhibitions at the Royal Academy, said the Hungarian museums offered the institution "carte blanche" to select works for the show and within three months they had made their choices.
For the Hungarian partners, the exhibition at one of Britain's top galleries was a rare opportunity to showcase one of Eastern Europe's finest collections and teach the West something about the history of Hungarian art.
"First of all it helps focus London's cultural interest on East and Central Europe, and more specifically on Budapest," said Ferenc Csak, general director of the Hungarian National Gallery.
"Secondly, the idea is to choose a selection of Eastern European art and present it alongside the international artists," he told Reuters.
And so a 1711 self-portrait of Adam Manyoki, one of Hungary's foremost painters of the 18th century, hangs in the same room as portraits by the likes of Peter Paul Rubens, Frans Hals and Joshua Reynolds.
And Philip de Laszlo's portrait of Pope Leo XIII dated 1900 shows how he was inspired by earlier papal paintings which he would have seen while working in Rome, notably that of Pope Innocent X by Diego Velazquez.
ALTARPIECE, MASTER DRAWINGS
The opening room of the exhibition is dominated by the towering "St. Andrew Altarpiece" from Hungary in 1512, made for a small village church and which survived Turkish and Protestant iconoclasm when many medieval religious works were destroyed.
At the heart of the exhibition is a selection of more than 80 old master drawings, which include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Duerer and Giambattista Tiepolo.
Many came from the Esterhazy collection, acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts in 1871. The collection began in the 17th century and expanded during the rule of Prince Nikolaus II Esterhazy.
It includes one of the most priceless works in the exhibition, the so-called "Esterhazy Madonna" by Raphael, which an 18th century Esterhazy prince probably obtained from Austrian statesman and collector Prince Kaunitz.
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PRESS DIGEST - Singapore newspapers - Sept 30 - Movies

SINGAPORE, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The following are stories
from Singapore newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified
these stories.
STRAITS TIMES
Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was admitted
into hospital late on Wednesday for treatment of a chest
infection. Lee, who is minister-mentor in the cabinet of his
son, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, suffered a fall on
Monday and had gone to hospital on Tuesday for physiotherapy.
- The government on Wednesday rejected a suggestion by a
censorship review committee to allow R-rated movies to be
screened in suburban areas. It did, however, agree to let
companies provide R-rated content via video-on-demand services.
BUSINESS TIMES
- Junket operators, who organise visits to casinos and
provide credit to gamblers, may make an appearance in Singapore
seven months after the opening of the city-state's first
casino. Singapore's Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) said on
Wednesday it has received licence applications from junket
operators endorsed by Resorts World Sentosa, which is owned by
Genting Singapore (GENS.SI). CRA did not say how many
applications were received.
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HP close to naming Hurd's successor - Bloomberg - Board Games

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard(HPQ.N) is nearing a decision on a new chief executive to succeed Mark Hurd and is likely to pick an internal candidate, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The board of HP, the world's largest computer maker, met this week to consider possible successors to Hurd, who departed in August, and a decision could be announced in the coming week, according to the report.
The short list includes Vyomesh Joshi, who runs HP's printer business; Todd Bradley, head of the personal-computer division; Dave Donatelli, who runs the storage and server unit; Tom Hogan, executive vice president of enterprise sales and marketing; and Ann Livermore, executive vice president of the enterprise business, Bloomberg said.
HP spokeswoman Mylene Mangalindan declined comment on the matter.
While the company hasn't ruled out hiring from outside, HP may not be inclined to recruit from a rival, the report said.
(Reporting by Soyoung Kim in New York and Bill Rigby in Seattle; editing by Carol Bishopric)

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Singapore Stocks-Flat at midday on Wall St;seen near fair value - Casino

* Index flat; near-term support seen at 3,043 pts
* Genting Singapore and Genting HK fall on profit-taking
By Eveline Danubrata
SINGAPORE, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Singapore shares were flat
at midday after Wall Street slipped overnight, prompting local
investors to take a break from a four-week rally, and are seen
range-bound in the afternoon, traders said.
By the lunch break, the Straits Times Index (STI) .FTSTI
inched 0.01 percent or 0.25 points higher to 3,113.71.
"I think we are taking the cue from Wall Street. We are
also already quite close to 3,200 and a lot of us see it as a
fundamental fair value for the STI," said Carey Wong, an
analyst at OCBC Investment Research.
"We do see more profit-taking pressures, especially if
Europe opens on the soft side," Wong said, adding that if the
STI falls below the 3,100 level, support may come in at 3,043.
Shares of casino operators Genting Singapore (GENS.SI) and
Genting Hong Kong (GENH.SI) were down on profit-taking and
after a brokerage said the current valuation for Genting Hong
Kong looks expensive.
At midday, shares of Genting Singapore were down 3 percent
at S$1.96. Nearly 76 million shares had changed hands.
Genting Hong Kong shares lost 5.3 percent to trade at
S$0.45 on a volume of 66 million shares.
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Will your new film be a hit? Ask the web - Movies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tracking web searches for new songs, video games and movies can predict which ones will be big hits, but often not much better than traditional methods, researchers at Yahoo Inc reported on Monday.
And they confirmed earlier findings that showed searches associated with diseases, such as Google's Google Flu Trends, were not any more effective than traditional methods for predicting the spread of infections.
Tracking web searches worked the best in predicting how a new video game would sell, Yahoo's Sharad Goel and Jake Hofman said.
"Here we show that what consumers are searching for online can also predict their collective future behavior days or even weeks in advance," they wrote in a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Specifically we use search query volume to forecast the opening weekend box-office revenue for feature films, first-month sales of video games, and the rank of songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, finding in all cases that search counts are highly predictive of future outcomes," they added.
"We considered four different classes of web activity. At least three of them we do a pretty good job of predicting outcomes," Goel said in a telephone interview.
Counting the number of searches related to new songs was the least effective, they found.
But Goel said using Billboard Top 100 listings to predict whether a song would stay at the top of the charts worked as well as or better than counting web searches.

� Continued...
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Egypt's Mubarak to Berlin, Rome to discuss Mideast - Arts

Mubarak will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to Berlin that will last only a few hours, then head to Rome to have talks with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and open a newly renovated Egyptian arts academy on Thursday.
Mubarak, 82, was also in Germany in March for gallbladder surgery in Heidelberg Hospital. In 2004, he had surgery for a slipped disc at a Munich hospital.
Both events sparked rumours about the state of his health, unnerving Egypt's financial markets because he has no designated successor. Mubarak has not appointed a vice president, the post he held before taking office in 1981.
"The discussions in Berlin and Rome will centre around the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis" as well as regional issues and bilateral relations, MENA said.
The peace talks are stuck over the issue of Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, with the Palestinians threatening to quit the negotiations unless Israel extends a partial construction moratorium in the enclaves.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and presidential chief of staff Zakaria Azmi will accompany Mubarak, it added.
He will return to Egypt later on Thursday.
The relations between First Quantum and the Democratic Republic of Congo have gone from bad to worse in recent months, after the country expropriated the miner’s $765 million Kolwezi copper tailings project in September. � Blog�
When some of the most influential figures in emerging markets finance spoke to a group of Reuters editors, they were asked about top picks for growth beyond the so-called BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China.� Blog�
The giggles started when the seventh journalist in a row said that his question was for Egypt’s water and irrigation minister, Mohamed Nasreddin Allam.� Blog�
It has debt levels to die for and huge amounts of oil, but economically it’s lagging and political concerns remain. Speakers at a Libyan trade and investment forum this week saw the North African country as a mixed bag.� Blog�
If Guinea can pull off free and fair elections this weekend, it will lay the foundations for what could be one of Africa’s most unexpected and significant good news stories.� Blog�
Africa is providing a lot of fine material for the London theatre these days.� Blog�
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UPDATE 2-Online gaming company GVC positive on H2 trading - Casino

* Q3 average net gaming revenue up 17 pct
* H1 pretax profit 1.5 mln euros vs 8.2 mln euros last yr
* Shares rise 6 pct
(Recasts; adds analyst comments, details)
By Aditi Samajpati
BANGALORE, Sept 28 (Reuters) - European online-gaming firm
GVC Holdings (GVC.L) said trading improved at the end of the
summer holidays in the third quarter and it expected the trend
to continue through the next two months.
Total average net gaming revenue for July 1 to Sept. 26 was
up 17 percent at 151.1 million euros, said the company, which
operates three business segments -- casino, poker and sports
betting.
"We are expecting a much stronger fourth quarter in
particular, as generally gaming companies do better in the
winters because people stay in as opposed to go out and do
other things," analyst Robert Sanders at Arbuthnot Securities
said.
GVC shares, which have lost more than half of their value
over the past one year, rose 6 percent to 103.5 pence at 1152
GMT on Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange.
The firm said it expected Betboo, its South American online
sports and gaming business that it bought last year, to be
profitable within 18 months.
GVC's January-June pretax profit fell to 1.5 million euros
($2.0 million) from 8.2 million euros a year ago, with Betboo
posting a pretax loss of 1.5 million euros.
Net gaming revenue rose 8 percent to 28.1 million euros.
The Isle of Man-based company, which competes with Sportech
(ROD.L) and Sportingbet (SBT.L), declared an interim dividend
of 10 euro cents a share.
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Christina Hendricks joins Superman cartoon - Arts

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - James Denton, Christina Hendricks and Anthony LaPaglia are lending their pipes to "All-Star Superman," the animated adaptation of one of the most acclaimed comics of the past decade.
The story begins with the Man of Steel (Denton) oversaturated by radiation during a rescue mission near the sun, accelerating the degeneration of his cells. Knowing that he has a limited time before he dies, Superman sets out on a journey that sees him revealing his secret to Lois Lane (Hendricks), giving Lex Luthor (LaPaglia) an epiphany on humanity and ensuring the safety of Earth for when he is gone.
Also in the cast are Ed Asner as Perry White and Frances Conroy as Ma Kent along with Linda Cardellini, Arnold Vosloo and Matthew Gray Gubler.
The Warner Bros. film is due to be released in the spring.
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French comedy Little White Lies a little too long - Comedy

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - That time-honored configuration known as the vacation house, a trusty venue for dramatic revelations, hidden secrets and all around less-than-exemplary behavior, finds itself fully booked in "Little White Lies" ("Les petits mouchoirs").
Thanks to a sparkling ensemble headed by Francois Cluzet and Marion Cotillard, the familiar backdrop still provides ample opportunity for audience pleasing in Guillaume Canet's nicely observed dramatic comedy.
The problem is, the film, which has its world premiere at Toronto, ultimately loses much of its effervescence as it goes on -- and on -- eventually passing the two-and-a-half-hour mark. With its popular cast, that won't be a cause for concern when the picture opens in France next month, but the 154-minute length will likely be an issue for North American consumption. A tighter edit could help matters.
There are deliberate echoes of "The Big Chill," and by extension, "The Return of the Secaucus Seven" in Canet's screenplay, which has a group of mainly thirtysomethings again gathering at a lovely summer beach house, even though one of their group (Jean Dujardin) remains back in intensive care after a very serious motorcycle accident.
Not that they're going to be enjoying themselves, anyway. Their somewhat older host, Max (Cluzet) is more uptight than even usual after his good friend and chiropractor, Vincent (Benoit Magimel) informs him that he's fallen deeply in love with the successful businessman, even though both are happily married with children.
But the others have their own problems, including the pining Antoine (Laurent Lafitte) who drives the group crazy trying to decipher an ex-girlfriend's cryptic text messages; and Marie (Cotillard) an ethnologist by occupation and a commitment-phobe by reputation. Their ailing friend's absence will eventually weigh heavily on their collective conscience, but first they're going to have to confront their own respective drama.
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Kenya to send full team to troubled Commonwealth Games - Board Games

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya will send a 240-strong team to the New Delhi Commonwealth Games from Saturday after receiving security assurances from India, officials said on Thursday.
Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Sports Minister Paul Otuoma told the Kenyan delegation that the two governments were working closely together.

(For a SLIDESHOW: Countdown to Delhi Games, click here)

(For more on Delhi Games, click here)


"Kenyans should not join a team of pessimists but go and bring glory to our country. As a strong member of the Commonwealth, Kenya should show solidarity with India by honouring the Games," Musyoka told the delegation while handing over the east African nation's flag to team captain, world steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi, and chef de mission Jonathan Koskei.
Several leading Kenyan athletes including the defending 800 champion Janeth Jepkosgei, world 800 record holder David Rudisha, 2007 world marathon champion Luke Kibet and African 5,000 champion Edwin Soi have all pulled out citing illness or fatigue.
India are fighting against time to save the Games scheduled to open on Oct. 3 after escalating concerns about athletes' accommodation and security.
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Christina Hendricks joins Superman cartoon - Arts

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - James Denton, Christina Hendricks and Anthony LaPaglia are lending their pipes to "All-Star Superman," the animated adaptation of one of the most acclaimed comics of the past decade.
The story begins with the Man of Steel (Denton) oversaturated by radiation during a rescue mission near the sun, accelerating the degeneration of his cells. Knowing that he has a limited time before he dies, Superman sets out on a journey that sees him revealing his secret to Lois Lane (Hendricks), giving Lex Luthor (LaPaglia) an epiphany on humanity and ensuring the safety of Earth for when he is gone.
Also in the cast are Ed Asner as Perry White and Frances Conroy as Ma Kent along with Linda Cardellini, Arnold Vosloo and Matthew Gray Gubler.
The Warner Bros. film is due to be released in the spring.
Watch Arts Online

Easy A an intelligent high school comedy - Comedy

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - If, as the old comic apocryphally said on his deathbed, dying is easy but comedy hard, then how is it every so often a film comes along that makes comedy look so easy? Such is the case with "Easy A," a high school romp that turns a stale genre upside down with sly wit and sharp satire.
Certainly much of the credit goes to Bert V. Royal, a playwright and sometime TV writer who has crafted a smart screenplay that introduces a classical theme into contemporary youth culture. And director Will Gluck keeps the screen busy and vibrant without the current fad of attention-deficit, run-and-gun editing.
Most of all, a young actress was needed to carry the movie. Emma Stone, who has been waiting in the wings for such a starring opportunity, seizes the moment with such self-assurance and old-fashioned brio that she elevates the game of every actor who comes within her orbit. Consequently, the film is loaded with sparkling supporting performances that make the comedy oh-so-much richer.
"Easy A" has the potential to be that rare avis that connects with audiences below and above the 25-year age demarcation. But to reach that wider demographic, Screen Gems will need to market its September 17 release as a "Juno"-like offering centering on a teenage girl with whip-smart dialogue and observant humor.
The story takes place in Southern California's Ojai Valley, the film's first stroke of brilliance as this lovely oasis of natural beauty with a spirited arts colony has scarcely appeared in movies since it was used to represent Shangri-La in Frank Capra's 1939 "The Lost Horizon." The conflicting interplay of liberal sensibilities and small-town small-mindedness underscores the themes in Royal's playful script.
You might not quite buy the notion that such a pretty and intelligent student as Stone's Olive Penderghast ever flew under everyone's radar at Ojai High School. But nevermind -- once a vicious rumor races through the campus, Olive certainly takes center stage. Trouble is, she is the source of the rumor.
To cover up for a dull weekend of doing absolutely nothing, Olive tells best gal pal Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) a lurid tale about having a hot romance with a college dude; she more than hints that she lost her virginity. Gossip-hungry Rhiannon is as pleased as she is shocked, but the tale is overheard by Marianne (Amanda Bynes), leader of the school's Jesus-freak celibates, who is merely shocked.
The scandalized teen can't wait to tweet, so the social network of Ojai High is soon abuzz over Olive's promiscuity. Discovering to her surprise that her new notoriety is more appealing than alarming, Olive decides not to deny the rumor, which leads to surprising consequences.
Another school pal, Brandon (Dan Byrd), bullied because he is gay, persuades Olive to use her bad-girl reputation to help him fake his heterosexuality. Soon other losers in the popularity games of youth come to her with propositions.
It just so happens that while this is going on, Olive's English class, taught by the charismatic Mr. Griffith (Thomas Haden Church), is studying Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." Realizing her newfound identity with its heroine, Hester Prynne -- a public pariah because of an act of adultery -- Olive starts to wear homemade trashy clothes festooned with a bright letter "A."
Her liberal-minded and most trusting parents (Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson), latter-day hippies one can only wish to have for parents, notice this change in their daughter and do question her about her choice of attire. But they never question her judgment or behavior.
So the film makes all sorts of comic attacks on hypocrisy, social networking, peer pressure, false values and double standards. Meanwhile, parents will no doubt thrill to any teen movie that treats the loss of virginity in a negative light.
If there's any drawback it's that the comedy peaks too early in Olive and Brandon's hilarious make-out behind closed doors at a raucous party. The film never finds anything nearly that funny in the subsequent "sales" of fraudulent sexual favors by Olive to other males eager to establish their reputations as studs. And the film struggles to find anything humorous in the sad demise of Mr. Griffith's marriage to a guidance counselor (Lisa Kudrow), which indirectly involves Olive.
The entire movie is framed as a live webcast by Olive to the entire community to confess her false career as a school slut. This allows Stone's character to offer wisecracks and wisdom while commenting on this career and everyone else's character-defining response to utter nonsense. The entire screenplay is shot through with zippy one-liners and puns that might possibly make the film funnier on second viewing.
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UBS starts U.S. entertainment sector with neutral bias - Entertainment News

* Sees cable network assets as organic growth opportunity
* Starts Time Warner, Discovery Comm, Viacom with "buy"
* Starts Scripps Networks, Walt Disney with "neutral"
Sept 21 (Reuters) - UBS began coverage of the U.S.
entertainment sector with a neutral bias and said it considers
cable network assets as one of the few organic growth
opportunities in media.
The brokerage started coverage of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N),
Discovery Communications Inc (DISCA.O) and Viacom Inc (VIAb.N)
with "buy" ratings.
"Investment in programming has been a driver of growth in
audience share over the past few years, with cable ad growth
significantly outperforming the TV networks," analyst John
Janedis said in a note to clients.
The analyst, who started Scripps Networks Interactive Inc
(SNI.N) and Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) with "neutral" ratings,
said technology is making the film business model more
challenging.
"Properly responding to these changes will be a key factor
in maintaining the health of the business model," Janedis
said.
Last week, Credit Suisse said streaming video offerings
from Netflix (NFLX.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Google TV will
catch on with consumers eager to cut the cable cord and
downgraded the U.S. entertainment sector to "underweight."
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Anne
Pallivathuckal)
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My Generation insufferable - Documentary

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Picture this: A documentary crew films an Austin-based high school senior year of nine classmates who are all so two-dimensional that the filmmakers can refer to them as "rock star" or "wallflower."
Now imagine it's 10 years after graduation, and the film crew is back, tracking down the naive nine around the country and back to Austin, where apparently most still live. Not one of them is happy: They're losers in love, adulterers, drunks, commitment-phobe slackers, have daddy issues or are raising 10-year old boys from that prom-night stand.
Who wants to spend time with these people? ABC thinks millions will, and that's the basis for "My Generation," a show with a concept so top-heavy that before Thursday's first episode is out, it's already tumbling into its own conceit.
There's no unifying center for these nine, because as in the real world, most left home. That means creator Noah Hawley ("The Unusuals") has to contrive reasons for the wanderers to return. That's not just unrealistic; it's a nightmare reminiscent of George Bailey's failure to escape Bedford Falls. On top of that, there's the documentary crew, which scares every one of the winsome, pleasant and bland characters into hiding the minute something gets juicy.
That said, there are flashes of sardonic brilliance; the "beauty queen" and "rich kid" (Jaime King and Julian Morris) have inevitably married and become wine-sniffing yuppies. They set out a plate of cold cuts for their interviewer, and when Beauty chirps, "I'm so excited to see how that salami will go with the wine," it's a surreal and hilarious moment. If only the rest of the series was so spot-on aware of its ridiculousness. Kudos also to the bad blind date who announces, "I like to read but never books."
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World of Khubilai Khan revealed in new exhibit - Arts

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A new exhibit featuring massive statues, dragon-shaped roof ridge ornaments and art from the Yuan dynasty gives visitors a glimpse of ancient China that the first Westerners would have seen 700 years ago.
"The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty," at the Metropolitan Museum of Art features 200 works of art. Many are being shown outside of China for the first time.
It focuses on the era spanning the birth in 1215 of Khubilai Khan, Gengis Khan's grandson and the Mongol founder of the Yuan dynasty, to its fall in 1368.
"As you enter the galleries, you'll discover the extraordinary world of Khubilai Khan, in a sense, as Marco Polo did," said Thomas Campbell, the director of the museum.
Khubilai Khan was the emperor who welcomed Marco Polo to China in 1275.
The show, which opens on Tuesday and runs through January 2, is the museum's largest exhibit about Asian art since "China: Dawn of a Golden Age" in 2004.
Two 10-foot (3-meter) tall, 8,000-pound (3,636 kg) statues of Yuan dynasty officials welcome visitors to the exhibit, which includes paintings, sculptures, gold and silver, tapestries, ceramics and religious and secular pieces meant to give visitors a flavor of everyday life.
All of the pieces illustrate a taste in ancient China for fine art, such ceramic containers for transporting wine and elaborate jewelry.
The eclectic styles reflect the unification of China under the Yuan dynasty, which Khubilai Khan founded in 1271, and the influx of artisans from across the Mongol empire. The Yuan dynasty included what is now modern day Mongolia, Tibet and North China.
"This is the culmination of many years of work, and is certainly among the most complex exhibitions ever presented by the museum," Campbell said of the show, which took seven years to organize.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art collaborated with other museums including the Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carvings and the Palace Museum in Beijing, to assemble the exhibit. Many items are from relatively recent archaeological finds in China.
One of the most striking elements of the show is the depiction of the Yuan dynasty as a religious melting pot tolerant of Daoists, Nestorian Christians from Syria, and Indian traders, who were able to build Hindu temples.
The show includes the model of a stage, showing the enthusiasm people had for the performing arts, and the influence of ancient plays on modern Chinese opera.
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Modern Family wins best comedy series Emmy - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The rookie comedy "Modern Family" won the Emmy for the best TV comedy series on Sunday, ending the three-year reign of "30 Rock."
The show, which revolves around an extended family in Los Angeles, earlier won awards for best supporting actor and writing.
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NZ tell Comm Games organisers 'clock is ticking' - Board Games

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) still planned to send a team to the Delhi Commonwealth Games but warned organisers on Friday "the clock was ticking" for them to get their house in order.
The NZOC board had been discussing whether to send the team after its president Mike Stanley and secretary general Barry Maister returned from a whistle-stop visit to Delhi to inspect facilities following scathing criticism of athletes' accommodation by team chef de mission Dave Currie.
The NZOC had already delayed the arrival of athletes into the village until September 28 in the hope issues ranging from leaky plumbing to Internet access would be rectifed. The first athletes and team officials were supposed to arrive on Saturday.
"The situation we found was inexcusable and unacceptable," Stanley told a televised news conference on Friday. "There is no doubt about that.
"By delaying the athletes' arrival what we have done is give the organisers time to get their house in order. We fully expect that will be the case.
"Planning for the team to go to Delhi will continue and we will monitor the situation ahead of the athletes' arrival next week.
"It is now up to the Games organisers to provide satisfaction to the implementation of the Games plans and we will continue our assessment (of that)."
Stanley said that some areas of the village were of high quality but some of the residential towers had caused problems.

� Continued...
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