Disney Creating a new Channel for Boys!

Hannah Montana, High School Musical, the Jonas Brothers...what do all these things have in common? They are all geared towards girls and the Disney channel is doing something about it. They are coming out with a new station called Disney XD that will be geared towards boys ages 6-14. I find it interesting that the Disney channel is doing this but it does make sense. The channel has always been more of a girl station in my opinion so this will be a nice balance for them. Also, this is a great way to make more money!! They can create more movies that will bank millions of dollars in clothing, toys, CDs, you name it. The Disney channel is known for its movies so that will be interesting to see what kinds of movies they make on the XD channel. Also they will have a whole new group of "tween" actors and actresses that will be making millions I'm sure. They are joining forces with ESPN to bring sports to the boys station as well as animation, action and drama. They will also have music videos and gaming is included in all of this too! I think they are on the right track, they say they will have some shows that are more for the older group and other for the younger kids but they will all be appropriate. It will be interesting to see what they have in store and if it works out.

No Chris Brown Tell Me it isn't True!!!!

I am a huge Chris Brown fan and the recent allegations against him have me very worried. He is under investigation for making criminal threats and hitting his girlfriend Rhianna. I cannot believe this, how could he do that when he had so much talent?? His career is most likely over and I am mad because I love his music. My ipod is 50% Chris Brown and 50% everything else, how will I live without his music??

Professional PR people and image consultants are saying that Chris is making the wrong move by staying silent. They think he should be out there giving his apology with tears running down his face and showing his appreciation for women if he is ever going to get his career back. I think that no matter what he does his career is over and although I will miss his music he deserves that for what he has done. There is no excuse for hitting a woman, especially since he has made statements that his mother was a victim of abuse. I hope that this was all a misunderstanding and he did not do what they are saying he has done but I know that is just wishful thinking. I guess I will have to find another favorite singer. Any suggestions??

Antivirus Virus Alert!!

If you go to the website Digg to get your news BEWARE!! There have been reports that cyber-crooks are setting traps on that site. Criminals pretend they are Digg members and trick readers into downloading harmful software. Apparently these "cyber-crooks" tell members to watch online videos featuring celebrities. But, in order to watch these videos you have to download certain software. This software is actually a program that pretends to scan computers for viruses. It says it has found critical problems and to eliminate them you have to pay a fee.

There have been over 50 comments posted to lure people into this scam. The Digg community manager says that he is working on the problem and every profile with this content is being deleted. So be careful out there on the internet because there are so many viruses that appear to be anti viruses and they will trick you and then ruin your computer!

Ikea Promotes Change with Obama!

A lot of companies are using the new president Barack Obama and his strive for change as an ad campaign. Ben and Jerry and Hewlett Packard are among the many that are promoting change alongside Mr. President and now Ikea is joining them. The Swedish furniture store recently kicked off an ad campaign called "Embrace Change 09". They have an oval office replica inside union station in Washington DC furnished with all Ikea furniture. They also have billboards featuring the Embrace Change slogan. They are going to hold a mock motorcade in which they strap furniture to the hood of vehicles and drive around Washington to symbolize the President and his family moving into the White House. A website has also been created were you can design the oval office using a drop click feature. There is going to be a $1500 gift card giveaway to those who visit the site.

I think that this is a great message and they are doing a lot of fun things to promote it. I checked out the website and it was really cool. The address is www.embracechange09.com if you want to go see what it is all about. Good job Ikea!!

Sirius XM Filing for Bankruptcy??

Sirius XM radio is in danger of filing for bankruptcy! According to a New York Times article the company will be deciding within days if they are going to file. This is a surprise to everyone, even their CEO. Sirius was supposed to be the most successful of all the XM stations and they are running out of money. The economy is taking its toll on everyone and not letting up at all. If the bankruptcy does go through they are not sure what will happen to customers. At this point they assume they will not be affected by it but who knows what will happen in the future. The big problem is that the company might have to cancel some of their big name shows, like Howard Stern and Martha Stuart. I think this would piss a lot of people off, especially Howard Stern because now the only way to hear his show is through Sirius XM. If bankruptcy does occur it would make it one of the largest casualties of this recession with over $5 billion in assets. I hope that it does not come to that but you never know. My question is what is going to be next??

Cancel Cable and Watch TV on the Internet!!

When I miss one of my shows the first thing I do is go online. You can watch almost anything online if you look hard enough. Most shows are posted on the TV station's website right after it is aired so you never have to miss a beat. You can also find TV shows, movies, really anything you can think of on video sites like Youtube or hulu. A lot of people are tuning into the internet to save money and cancelling their cable. I think that is a good idea because of how expensive cable is. This could be a really helpful way for someone to save money if they are struggling. Especially now with the economy the way it is, there are many that are turning off the cable and turning on the computer.

There are some disadvantages to this new way of watching your favorite shows. You have to watch on a smaller screen than that of a TV. Also, most videos are streaming and it may take a long time for them to load or they could stop in the middle of the video. If you have a laptop you could have trouble with your connection. Despite some of the problems I think that this is a new inventive way to save money in this bad economy.

No Jobs For Us Seniors...

We all know about the recent job losses that are affecting America. Many people are getting laid off from their jobs in the companies quests to save money. Many media organizations are also taking this route, which is not good news for us communication majors! Time Warner is planning on laying off 1250 staffers. They have recorded a net loss of $8.16 billion so they are trying to prevent the company from going under like many others have. The cuts will save them $90 million in a year. A rep from Disney says that their quarterly profits were unexpectedly low. They are predicting that these changes in consumer behavior could have a long term impact on broadcast TV and DVD sales. If that does happen it could mean a really big problem for the communication world.

These new cuts are scaring me, as a senior that is graduating in the fall I am anticipating the worst. I do not think it will be possible for me to find a job in the communications Field any time soon. Not only in communications but in all Fields there is a shortage of jobs. I hope that eventually I will be able to get a job were I can use my degree as I intended too and not have to get any old job just to make a living. I still have some time before I graduate for the economy to fix itself so I will keep my fingers crossed!

Media Leads to Depression...I Don't Think So!

In an article I found on Science Daily.com they claim to have evidence that the exposure to TV and other media outlets to teens causes depression in young adulthood. In 1995 4,142 adolescents who were not depressed were asked how many hours during the day they use media. This was back when the Internet wasn't used nearly as much as it is used now. 7 years later when these children were twenty one 308 of them were depressed. These facts in my opinion prove in no way that the media causes depression. The article goes on to say that children that spend hours a day watching TV and playing video games spend less time outside socializing with other teens. Also, that these social activities such as sports and clubs protect against depression. Watching TV at night or staying online for hours into the night lessens the hours of sleep teens get which can also cause depression symptoms. These occurances might play a small part in causing depression symptoms, but not causing depression itself.

One of the biggest concerns are that the messages teens get from the Internet and television are making them feel inadequate or cause aggression. We all know the supposed link between violence in children and video games and I think this is going off of that sort of thing. I do believe that the media has an effect on teens, sometimes good and sometimes bad. Blaming the media for depression in young adults I will not go along with. Depression is a disease and cannot be blamed on how much TV you watched when you were a teenager. I feel like people are always trying to blame the media for everything bad that happens and I think the media does great things for our society.

The Transition to Digital...Are We Ready??

The upcoming transition to digital television has left many people feeling unprepared. A study done by Mindshare Online Research revealed that older adults (55+) were more prepared than younger adults (18-34). I was surprised by these facts because I was almost certain it would have been the other way around. Because older people are less likely to already have cable I figured they would have no idea what to do. One thing I did not think about is the fact that older people have been better prepared for the transition because of this fact.

My grandparents do not have cable and I was worried about how they were preparing for the transition. I asked them about it to make sure they knew what to expect and what to do in order to be ready. They said that they have known about it and have been prepared because of commercials informing them about it. However, there are still many Americans that are not prepared and will no longer have access to television once the transition takes place on the 17th. Some are worried that this will effect ratings but I think that if a person is a regular TV watcher they will be ready for the transition.

I think that the government is doing a good job of preparing people for what is going to happen on February 17. I have seen tons of commercials, for a couple of years they have been airing them. The government has also been giving coupons for free converters for the people that cannot afford them. All in all I think that the transition is going to go well and most people are prepared.