Microsoft Pulls Out of Family Guy Special

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Comedy, Specials, FOX, Commercials, Family Guy, Video

Apparently there are things Microsoft won’t do to promote Windows 7.

The software corporation recently announced that it has severed ties from a FOX event it was set to exclusively sponsor. Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show, a special airing next month, would have incorporated bits about the company’s new product in lieu of traditional commercials. Unfortunately, the execs had a change of heart after watching a taping earlier this month.

Although animated portions of the variety special reportedly cover controversial subjects like incest, feminine hygiene and the Holocaust, those segments were supposedly in line with a typical Family Guy episode. It’s the live segments Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein (Lois Griffin) taped before an audience that may have been considered questionable.

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Read More | Hollywood Reporter

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American Idol Finds New Ways to Make Money

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, News

It’s the Number One rated series. It gets more press than any other program on TV. Product placement has totally gotten out of control on the show, and promos run almost all year long. How in the world could FOX possibly squeeze even more money out of American Idol?

Thank goodness for partner deals. Idol has inked a deal with Apple’s iTunes which will allow fans to buy performances from the Top 24 contestants, which will be whittled down to 20 later this week (so get them while you can). It will cost 99 cents for each song (already available), but for $1 more buyers can also have video of the Top 12 performers belting out tunes (this will be available March 11). You can even pre-order performances in anticipation.

Idol is already chock-full of sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Ford and AT&T (products from whom are featured every single episode). I’ve got an idea. Forget the show. Just show us sponsored products throughout, forget about pretending to offer entertainment and get on with the business of making as much loot as possible. The three existing big sponsors of the show, by the way, pay a cool $35 million a pop for commercial time.

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

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