Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) announced on February 5th that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with CBS RADIO to produce select radio sponsored concerts in Live Nation venues throughout North America. Combining Live Nation’s production expertise and CBS RADIO’s massive broadcast reach, the agreement also calls for the two partners to work together to jointly develop new live concerts and experiential events across multiple stations and markets.

Live Nation owns, operates or manages more than 110 music venues across North America, drawing more than 28 million music fans annually. CBS RADIO operates 137 radio stations across the country, a majority of which are in the top 50 markets. Live Nation expects the agreement to bring over 260,000 fans annually to its venues to enjoy CBS RADIO events, generating additional sponsorship, ticket sales and ancillary venue revenue.

“Our alliance with CBS Radio is another example of our focus on leveraging our unmatched portfolio of live venues across the nation to drive profitable revenue streams,” said Jason Garner, Chief Executive Officer of Global Music for Live Nation. “We have worked closely with CBS Radio as a marketing partner in the promotion of our 12,000 annual North American concerts. This deal deepens that relationship while increasing the utilization of our live entertainment venues in a risk-averse manner.”

CBS RADIO President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Mason commented: “For many years we have enjoyed a very successful relationship with Live Nation helping us grow our radio shows across the country into some of the biggest events of the year. With their national platform of venues and their team of talented promoters and marketers, we feel we will be able to expand the breadth of radio shows we offer on-site, on-air and online in a substantive way over the course of this agreement.”

ABOUT LIVE NATION:

Live Nation’s mission is to maximize the live concert experience. Our core business is producing, marketing and selling live concerts for artists via our global concert pipe. Live Nation is the largest producer of live concerts in the world, annually producing over 16,000 concerts for 1,500 artists in 57 countries. The company sells over 45 million concert tickets a year and expects to drive over 60 million unique visitors to LiveNation.com in 2008. Live Nation is transforming the concert business by expanding its concert platform into ticketing and building the industry’s first artist-to-fan vertically integrated concert platform. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol “LYV.” Additional information about the company can be found at www.livenation.com/investors.

ABOUT CBS RADIO

CBS RADIO, one of the largest major-market operators in the United States with stations covering news, sports, talk, rock, oldies, country, adult contemporary and urban formats, among others, offers audiences an enhanced and customized listening experience through the combination of on-air, online and new media platforms. CBS RADIO operates 137 radio stations throughout the nation’s top 50 markets and broadcasts play-by-play coverage of 26 of the country’s leading professional sports franchises. CBS RADIO also has embraced interactive programming through the use of streaming, HD Radio, podcasts and mobile messaging. The division maintains an agreement with AOL Radio through which CBS RADIO powers AOL Radio and distributes its stations to its network of listeners. Home to the nation’s most listened to news (1010 WINS), sports (WFAN-AM), rock (KROQ-FM) and country (WUSN-FM) stations, CBS RADIO is a division of CBS Corporation. For more information on CBS RADIO, please visit www.cbsradio.com.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) announced on January 12th comprehensive, new long-term program carriage agreements which bring new and expanded CBS programming to Verizon’s television and wireless customers.  Verizon has broadened and extended its rights for retransmission consent for CBS’s owned and operated television stations, Network and local video-on-demand for the FiOS TV platform as well as mobile rights for Verizon Wireless’ V CAST Video service. 

“We are extremely pleased to have reached this broad long-term agreement that recognizes the value of our programming,” said Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corporation.  “Verizon subscribers will have continued access to the Number One TV network not only through FiOS TV, but also through V CAST on the mobile phone, which enhances our profile on a key emerging platform.”

“Verizon is focused on providing the most comprehensive and exciting entertainment to our customers across all our services and platforms,” said John Harrobin, Senior Vice President of Digital Media for Verizon. “We’re pleased to extend our relationship with CBS, which helps us deliver the hit shows and compelling content our customers want to enjoy.”

Under the new agreement, Verizon has secured

The expanded agreements also provide national video-on-demand rights for programs in both standard and high definition format, including such leading shows as “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “NCIS,” “Survivor,” and “Numb3rs,” as well as video-on-demand rights for local news, also in SD and HD.

And, Verizon will continue to offer CBS programming on Verizon FiOS TV, its all-digital fiber-optic TV service, which is available in parts of 14 states, and reaches more than 1.6 million subscribers.

Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW – a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime Networks and CBS College Sports Network), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/DVD (CBS Home Entertainment), in-store media (CBS Outernet) and motion pictures (CBS Films).  For more information, log on to www.cbscorporation.com.

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc., headquartered in

The Nielsen Company released on January 23rd its annual Guide to the Super Bowl, which showcases a full range of consumer and media information about the most anticipated marketing event in the U.S. This year’s matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers is scheduled for February 1 in Tampa, FL.Among the key findings from Nielsen:

• TELEVISION: Last year’s tilt between the Patriots and the Giants was viewed by a record 97.5 million people nationwide. As expected, the Super Bowl was the most-watched TV broadcast in 2008.

• ADVERTISERS: The cost of a 30-second spot in last year’s Super Bowl was $2.7 million. Total spending for the game reached over $195 million. Anheuser-Busch bought the most commercial time (4 minutes total). The highest-rated commercial minute was the Victoria’s Secret spot at 9:44pm, seen by 103.7 million viewers. The most-liked ad was produced by the NFL. The most-recalled ad was produced by FedEx.

• ONLINE: Super Bowl advertisers saw a 24 percent jump in Web traffic the day after last year’s Super Bowl. The Pepsi commercial featuring Justin Timberlake gathered the most Internet buzz.

• MUSIC AND MOVIES: In the week following Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ halftime performance last year, sales of their “Greatest Hits” album jumped 196%. Petty’s “Anthology: Through the Years” album jumped 240% that same week. Box office sales on the weekend of Super Bowl Sunday show notable decline. The NFL Super Bowl XLII DVD was the #1 selling sports DVD in 2008.

• SNACKS AND BEER: The Super Bowl is the 8th-largest beer-selling event each year. Markets with hometown teams involved in the big game are more likely buy more beer. Potato chips are the snack of choice at Super Bowl parties, but tortilla chips are quickly gaining.

• CONSUMER TRENDS: There’s a softer side to football fans. People identifying themselves as avid NFL fans outpaced total U.S. spending in skin care by 74% from 2005 to 2007. NFL fans are also more likely to own hi-tech electronic items than the average adult.

• DEMOGRAPHICS: About 138 million adults - or more than 60% of the adult population in the U.S. - are NFL fans. The league is slightly more likely to attract fans from higher education and income brackets. Fans are also generally more physically active than the average American.

For more details and analysis, please see the full downloadable news release.

For additional advertising and media trends, visit Nielsen’s blog at: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

More than 6.5 million U.S. households - or 5.7 percent of all homes — are not ready for the upcoming transition to all-digital broadcasting and would be unable to receive any television programming at all if the transition occurred today, The Nielsen Company reported on January 22nd. This is an improvement of more than 1.3 million homes since Nielsen reported readiness status at the end of December.

Table 1
Percentage of Households that Are Completely Unready
For the Digital Transition

Source: The Nielsen Company

Under government-mandated action, all television stations are required to switch to digital programming by February 17, 2009, which will leave viewers without a television signal unless they purchase digital television sets, connect to cable, satellite, and alternate delivery systems or purchase a converter box.

Nielsen is making these estimates available as a public service to the television industry, government policy-makers and local communities. This information is based on the same national and local television ratings samples that are used to generate national and local television ratings. To conduct the survey, Nielsen representatives observed and tabulated the actual televisions used in its samples. Because Nielsen has developed samples that reflect the total U.S. population including African American and Hispanic populations, these household characteristics in the samples can be projected to the whole country.

“Nielsen has been preparing for the transition to digital television for more than two years,” said Nielsen Vice Chair Susan Whiting. “Because we recognize that accurate and reliable information on consumer behavior is essential to this transition, we’ve been sharing our data with clients, government leaders and the public so they could track progress to digital readiness.”

“There are still millions of people who will be adversely affected because they are not ready for the digital transition.  So it’s critical that we provide them with the information and resources they need to stay connected with the world,” said Ernest W. Bromley, Nielsen Hispanic/Latino Advisory Council (HLAC).

“Nielsen has played a key role in reaching out to our underserved communities and helping them understand what needs to be done,” said Nita Song, Nielsen Asian Pacific American Advisory Council (APAAC).

“It is imperative that we operate at an accelerated pace to educate those who are at the greatest risk of losing their television service — low-income households, large numbers of senior, minority and disabled viewers.   These viewers rely on traditional television the most and can least afford to lose their television lifelines.  We have a responsibility to make sure that these groups whether in our families, churches or communities are equipped and ready for this transition,” said Cynthia Perkins-Roberts, Nielsen African American Advisory Council (AAAC).

Local Market Rankings

Among the 56 local markets that Nielsen measures with electronic meters, the one that is least ready is Albuquerque-Santa Fe, with 12.4% of the households completely unready. The most prepared market is Hartford & New Haven, with only 1.8% of homes unready.

Table 2
Least Prepared Local Metered Markets Based on Percentage of Households
Currently Unprepared for Digital Conversion

Source: The Nielsen Company

For more information on the U.S. state of readiness for digital transition, please visit: www.nielsenwire.com.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) announced on January 22nd that it will increase the sample target for cell-phone-only households in all Portable People MeterTM markets to 15 percent by year end 2010. In an interim step, the current target of 7.5 percent will be raised to 12.5 percent in PPMTM markets by year-end 2009.“Arbitron has developed, tested and is presently implementing an address-based sampling method to identify and contact cell-phone-only households,” said Bob Patchen, chief research officer, Arbitron Inc. “This new method is more efficient than the manual dialing procedures we had been using and thus allows us to substantially increase the number of CPO persons included in our panels. We are also retaining the random-digit-dialing (RDD) sampling method for landline homes because that approach enables telephone contact with a higher percentage of landline homes not listed in telephone directories. These unlisted landline households are more likely than listed ones to contain Hispanics, African-Americans and young adults. The better response achieved with telephone contact can improve the overall representation of these groups in our PPM samples.”

“Increasing the number of cell-phone-only households in our PPM samples is an important element in our ongoing programs to enhance the participation of 18-34 year olds of all races and ethnicities,” said Owen Charlebois, president, Technology and Research & Development. “As the number of households that can be reached only by cell-phone continues to grow, Arbitron will update its methodologies to better include this important segment of the population.”

For the New York PPM radio ratings service, Arbitron has already announced that it would increase the cell-phone-only sample target to 15 percent by July 2010.

Cell-phone-only sampling plans for diary markets 
On December 15, 2008, Arbitron announced plans to expand the introduction of cell-phone-only sampling to 151 diary markets in Spring 2009 and to all diary markets (except Puerto Rico) by Fall 2009.

In diary markets, Arbitron also plans to use an address-based sample frame as the foundation of its cell-phone-only sample, while maintaining the random-digit-dial (RDD) sample frame for landline households.

The expansion of cell phone-only sampling to 151 diary markets in the spring assumes that the company is able to complete the development of software necessary to support the rollout as scheduled. If the company is not able to develop the software as expected, the planned acceleration of cell phone-only sampling could be delayed. Arbitron expects to confirm its plans for cell-phone-only sampling for the Spring 2009 survey by late February.

About the Portable People Meter 
The Arbitron Portable People Meter^TM system uses a passive audience measurement device – about the size of a small cell phone – to track consumer exposure to media and entertainment, including broadcast, cable and satellite television; terrestrial, satellite and online radio as well as cinema advertising and many types of place-based electronic media. Carried throughout the day by randomly selected survey participants, the PPM^TM device can track when and where they watch television, listen to radio as well as how they interact with other forms of media and entertainment.

The PPM detects inaudible codes embedded in the audio portion of media and entertainment content delivered by broadcasters, content providers and distributors. At the end of the day, the meter is placed in a docking station that extracts the codes and sends them to a central computer. The PPM is equipped with a motion sensor, a patented quality control feature unique to the system, which allows Arbitron to confirm the compliance of the PPM survey participants every day.

PPM ratings are based on audience estimates and represent the opinion of Arbitron. PPM ratings, like all audience estimates however derived, should not be relied on for precise accuracy or precise representativeness of a demographic or radio market.

About Arbitron 
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is a media and marketing research firm serving the media – radio, television, cable, online radio and out-of-home – as well as advertisers and advertising agencies in the United States. Arbitron’s core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The company has developed the Portable People Meter, a new technology for media and marketing research.

Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with The Nielsen Company, Arbitron provides additional media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, newspaper and online industries.

Arbitron’s marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and technology organization located in Columbia, Maryland.

At the motion picture box office, there is one man who keeps showing that nobody does it better: Bond. James Bond.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures’/Columbia Pictures’ Quantum of Solace, the 22nd James Bond adventure, has taken in over $167.1 million to become the most successful Bond film of all time in North America, surpassing the $167 million grossed domestically by Casino Royale, it was announced on January 8th by Jeff Blake, chairman of Sony Pictures Worldwide Marketing and Distribution. The film is still playing in 891 theaters in the United States.

In addition, Quantum of Solace has grossed another $382.9 internationally, with the important market of Japan still yet to open. Taking in a worldwide gross so far of $550 million, Quantum of Solace is already the second-highest grossing Bond film of all time worldwide.

Commenting on the announcement, Blake said, “It is always gratifying when the audience responds to a film, but to be working with a character as successful as James Bond and see the two films Sony has handled become the two most successful films in the history of the franchise makes us all tremendously proud. It has been a special thrill to work on the Bond films, and we couldn’t be more excited by the success of Quantum of Solace.”

Daniel Craig reprises his role as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in Quantum of Solace, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures release of EON Productions’ 22nd adventure in the longest-running film franchise in motion picture history. The film is produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and directed by Marc Forster. The screenplay was written by Paul Haggis and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade.

About EON Productions

EON Productions/Danjaq, LLC, is owned by the Broccoli family and has produced twenty two James Bond films since 1962, including QUANTUM OF SOLACE. The James Bond films, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, make up the longest running franchise in film history and include the recent blockbuster films GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day and Casino Royale. EON Productions and Danjaq LLC, are affiliate companies and control all worldwide merchandising of the James Bond franchise.

About Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures, part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 100 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., Ventanazul, MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Domestic Networks LLC, MGM Distribution Co, MGM International Television Distribution Inc, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Worldwide Digital Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching nearly 120 countries. MGM ownership is as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%), TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

Advertising Age (AdAge) magazine announced on January 19th that it has named TBWA Worldwide as its 2008 Global Agency of the Year, recognized TBWA’s President and CEO Tom Carroll as Executive of the Year and placed TBWA\Chiat\Day 2nd on its exclusive A-List of top agencies in the United States.

Tom Carroll, President & CEO TBWA Worldwide said of TBWA’s recognition, “Over the last 10 years, under the leadership of Jean-Marie Dru and Lee Clow, we have been delivering both ‘Disruptive’ and creative ideas in a truly global and inclusive culture. Our objective is to bring out the best in our clients and their brands. Fortunately for us they want and expect TBWA to create work that gets us this kind of recognition. Thanks for noticing.”

In its selection of TBWA Worldwide, AdAge noted: “TBWA is our Global Agency of the Year because its uncommon success in marrying global scale with tremendous creativity.” AdAge further noted that, “A company that grew up as a confederation of independent states could really behave as a network… Judging by the Visa win; its success in assembling a new agency to win the Adidas’ digital business; its respectable revenue growth in a tough climate; and its continued creative excellence in a number of international markets, TBWA has done just that. That’s why it’s Advertising Age’s Global Agency of the Year for 2008.”

In recognizing Tom Carroll AdAge noted that, “The person who best embodied the spirit of leadership in the agency business is Tom Carroll.” AdAge went on to say that he is “Fit to run a relevant-as-it-gets global network;” and, “What really set Tom apart last year was his commitment to improving the ad business when so many of his peers were afraid to do so.”

Carroll said of being recognized as Executive of the Year, “I am fortunate to be part of a company with incredibly talented people in every corner of the world. This recognition is a reflection of the passion that everyone in the network has for the work we do.”

Carroll said of being recognized as Executive of the Year, “I am fortunate to be part of a company with incredibly talented people in every corner of the world. This recognition is a reflection of the passion that everyone in the network has for the work we do.”

TBWA\Chiat\Day was also recognized 2nd in AdAge’s Agency A-List noting that,” “The shop poured on about a billion dollars in billings in 2008, winning major marketing accounts for such storied brands as Pepsi, Gatorade and Visa, and grew revenue 4% globally and 3% in the U.S., numbers that likely will see Tom Carroll’s shop climb the Ad Age tables from its current position as the 10th-largest agency in the U.S. Yet, unlike many of the agencies it now rivals in size, TBWA still appears to breed creativity rather than killing it in the quest for scale.”

TBWA Worldwide was also recognized by Adweek magazine as it Global Agency of the Year for 2008.

AdAge first began recognizing agency networks in 1998 previously naming TBWA Worldwide as it Network of the Year in 2004. Network of the Year is judged in four categories: Net growth (business wins and substantial organic account expansion/contraction); agency management (hires, restructures, substantial new initiatives, operational or strategic change); creative quality (both excellence in traditional creative and creative innovation, such as new ways agencies have engaged consumers); marketing effectiveness (achieving substantive measurable results for clients).

Apple(R) announced on January 6th several changes to the iTunes(R) Store (http://www.itunes.com). Beginning today, all four major music labels — Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI, along with thousands of independent labels, are now offering their music in iTunes Plus, Apple\’s DRM-free format with higher-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings. iTunes customers can also choose to download their favorite songs from the world\’s largest music catalog directly onto their iPhone(TM) 3G over their 3G network just as they do with Wi-Fi today, for the same price as downloading to their computer. And beginning in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29, with most albums still priced at $9.99.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer our iTunes customers DRM-free iTunes Plus songs in high quality audio and our iPhone 3G customers the ability to download music from iTunes anytime, anywhere over their 3G network at the same price as downloading to your computer or via Wi-Fi,” said Steve Jobs, Apple\’s CEO. “And in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points — 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29 — with many more songs priced at 69 cents than $1.29.”

iTunes offers customers a simple, one-click option to easily upgrade their entire library of previously purchased songs to the higher quality DRM-free iTunes Plus format for just 30 cents per song or 30 percent of the album price. The iTunes Store will begin offering eight million of its 10 million songs in Apple\’s DRM-free format, iTunes Plus, today with the remaining two million songs offered in iTunes Plus by the end of March.

iPhone 3G users can now preview and purchase the entire iTunes Store music catalog on their iPhone 3G over their 3G network, just as they do with Wi-Fi today, for the same price and in the same high quality format. Songs purchased on an iPhone will automatically sync to a user\’s computer the next time they sync their iPhone.

The iTunes Store is the world\’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 10 million songs, over 30,000 TV episodes and over 2,500 films including over 600 in stunning high definition video. With Apple\’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod(R) and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac(R) and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.

Sony/MGM’s Quantum Of Solace scored the best launch in James Bond franchise history at the weekend with a thunderous $70.4m that far exceeded predictions and dwarfed the competition.

The result beat the previous franchise record of $47.1m set by Die Another Day in 2002 and combined with 007’s continued international domination to propel the global tally past $322m in just over two weeks.

For the record Daniel Craig and Co easily surpassed the $40.8m launch of Casino Royale almost exactly two years ago to the day. Sony/MGM chiefs will have derived much pleasure from the fact that Quantum Of Solace beat the best ever Jason Bourne launch of $69.3m set by The Bourne Ultimatum in August 2007.

According to exit polls the film exits drew a 54% male and 46% female crowd while 58% of the total audience was aged 25 and over.

With no other new titles in the mix, almost every remaining top ten film comedy moved down one place. DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa added $36.1m for $118m and Universal’s Role Models grossed $11.7m for $38.1m. Both releases were in their second weekend.

In fourth place Buena Vista’s High School Musical 3: Senior Year drew a further $5.9m out of the tween demographic for $84.4m after four while Universal’s Changeling in fifth place continued to thrive on excellent word of mouth and added $4.2m for $27.6m after four. The period drama can expect a box office boost in January, when it is likely to figure among the Oscar nominees.

DreamWorks-Paramount’s thriller Eagle Eye ranks 12th after eight weeks and continues to inch its way towards $100m on $98.8m.

Fox Searchlight’s Slumdog Millionaire will be one to watch as it expands in the coming weeks and launched in 23rd place on an excellent $418,000 from 10 venues.

Samuel Goldwyn Film’s Christian drama Fireproof has reached $30m after eight as $1.3m from 905 screens raised the tally to $30.2m.

Meanwhile Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure became one of the fastest giant screen films to hit the $30m since opening on October 5 through National Geographic Cinema Ventures.

Next weekend’s wide releases are: Buena Vista’s 3D animated family tale Bolt voiced by John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, among others, and Summit Entertainment’s vampire romance Twilight with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

Estimated Top 10 North America Nov 14-16, 2008
Film (Dist)/Int’l dist/Est wkd gross/Est total to date

1 (-) Quantum Of Solace (Sony/MGM) SPRI $70.4m –
2 (1) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (DreamWorks-Paramount) PPI $36.1m $118m
3 (2) Role Models (Universal) UPI $11.7m $38.1m
4 (3) High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $5.9m $84.4m
5 (4) Changeling (Universal) UPI $4.2m $27.6m
6 (5) Zack And Miri Make A Porno (TWC) TWC Int’l $3.2m $26.5m
7 (6) Soul Men (MGM/TWC) $2.43m $9.4m
8 (9) The Secret Life Of Bees (Fox Searchlight) Fox Int’l $2.40m $33.7m
9 (7) Saw V (Lionsgate) Mandate Int’l $1.8m $55.4m
10 (8) The Haunting Of Molly Hartley (Freestyle Releasing) Odd Lot
Int’l $1.6m $12.7m

Source : Screen Daily, Jeremy Kay

IMAX and Disney will finally work together after signing a five-film deal that kicks off with Robert Zemeckis’ 3D retelling of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey in November 2009.

According to Disney sources close to the deal the roster may include films from Tim Burton and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, which would suggest Alice In Wonderland and The Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time, both of which are scheduled to open in the first half of 2010. Release dates for additional titles will be announced in the near future.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group president Mark Zoradi said IMAX experience took cinema-going to “a whole new level of excitement.”

He added that A Christmas Carol would be followed by “an incredible slate of new Disney Digital 3D motion pictures from some of the industry’s most accomplished and innovative film-makers, and we know audiences are going to love being immersed in these great fantasies and adventures in IMAX’s format.”

IMAX co-chairmen and co-CEOs Richard L Gelfond and Bradley J Wechsler said the deal with Disney ensured “an outstanding slate of movies going forward”, adding: “We’re delighted to enter this new partnership with one of the greatest brands in the industry, especially at a time when we’re expanding to reach even more IMAX moviegoers.”

Source : Screen Daily, Jeremy Kay