Spanish TV ads dive 9.5% in 2011

MADRID -- In its worst result for years, Spanish TV advertising revenues plunged 9.5% to 2.2 billion ($3.0 billion) in 2011, vs. 2010, according to a report by Madrid consultancy InfoAdex. The slide won't stop. TV advertising market will plummet about 5% more in 2012, said an analyst. This dire degradation will trickle-down to both film and TV production -- very likely prompting broadcasters to turn ever more to low-cost and cost-effective imports. Encompassing movie theaters, press, radio and TV, Spain's total ad market tumbled 6.5% to $15.8 billion in 2011, the lowest result since 2003. Worst hit of TV operators were Spain's regional pubcasters. Their ad revs dived almost 30% after some lost flagship slots such as Formula One sportscasts in drastic austerity measures. After anti-trust diktats forbade their advertising to be sold by Spain's big broadcasters, Spain's smaller DTT channels also lost ad clout: one, Veo 7, owned by Italy's RCS Media Group, suffered a 48% ad rev crash to $16.6 million in 2011. Mediaset Espana and Antena 3, Spain's biggest broadcasting groups, punched profits last year, of $148.1 million and $125.2 million respectively. But their ad revs were down, 12% at Mediaset Espana to $1.3 billion. Given the two are obliged to invest 3% of annual sales into Spain's film production, both will be funneling less coin this year. Broadcasters are subjecting original shows' profitability to intense scrutiny. For cash-strapped operations, low cost imports will increasingly prove more attractive, one analyst said. Emiliano de Pablos contributed to this report. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Ridley Scott Can Have Japan Per Day

He'll make the new crowdsourced docFollowing on from the prosperity of Existence Per Day, Ridley and Tony Scott have made the decision to show the format right into a franchise, featuring two times the amount of explosions along with a different situation for Sigourney Weaver to... Okay, so they have really just became a member of forces with Fuji TV to capture a Japan Per Day, that will concentrate on March 11.Your day is important since the earthquake and tsunami struck this past year on that date. Scott Free's plan's to provide out 200 cameras to individuals within the most heavily impacted areas and also have them, just like Existence, document one 24-hour period beginning at night time. The very best footage will be edited together and coupled with Fuji TV's coverage to produce a new documentary feature.Director Kevin Macdonald oversaw Existence Per Day, there is however not sure yet on who definitely are helping obtain the Japanese project fit. While Ridley Scott is again serving as executive producer, we doubt he'll possess the time for you to be completely hands-on, considering that he's finishing and promotingPrometheus and planning to shoot Cormac McCarthy script The Counsellor alongside developing roughly 72,000 other projects.Have a gander in the Japan Per Day trailer below.

Tom Hollander Joins Invisible Woman

Ralph Fiennes' Dickens biopic The Charles Dickens bi-centenary continues to fling interesting projects at us, like Mr Smallweed hurling cushions at his wife. Along with BBC and BFI seasons and Mike Newell's Great Expectations, Ralph Fiennes is directing The Invisible Woman, in which he'll also play the author. Just revealed to be joining him is Tom Hollander, who'll be playing Dickens' friend and frequent collaborator Wilkie Collins.Calling The Invisible Woman a "Dickens biopic" is useful shorthand, but it also ironically plays into exactly what the the book and the film are about: Dickens' secret mistress Ellen "Nelly" Ternan, and her airbrushing from his official history.Ternan was a theatre actress (a year younger than Dickens' eldest daughter) with whom Dickens conducted an affair for the last thirteen years of his life. As a member of a less-than-respected profession, Nelly's social position was negligible, and Dickens went to inordinate lengths to keep the relationship out of the public eye. Exposure as Dickens' mistress would have brought the actress utter disgrace and ruin during his lifetime, but she did achieve some status after Dickens' death, despite their relationship having by then come to light.Expect a colourful depiction of the world of the Victorian theatre, masking an excoriating view of nineteenth-century social mores. Felicity Jones is playing Nelly, with Kristin Scott Thomas as Dickens' long-suffering wife Catherine. Holland, as we said, is Wilkie Collins, most famous as the author of The Moonstone and The Woman In White, but also a prolific playwrite. He co-authored The Frozen Deep with Dickens, and it was that fateful production on which Dickens and Nelly first met.The screenplay is by Shame's writer Abi Morgan, and it's based on Claire Tomalin's book, first published in 1991. Shooting starts in April.The Invisible Woman is available in paperback from Penguin, and Tomalin's more recent Charles Dickens: A Life is currently still only in hardcover from Viking.

'Saturday Evening Live's' Abby Elliott Nabs Lead in Fox Comedy Pilot

"Saturday Evening Live" may be losing Abby Elliott.The actress remains attracted onto star in "Ben Fox Is My Manny," the Fox comedy pilot from "Couples Retreat" scribe Dana Fox, a studio repetition has confirmed to "The Hollywood Reporter."Inside the project Elliott would play just one mother who'll have an assist from her brother who moves together with her in the bid to help her raise her baby. The title character is known to love a elevated version of Fox's brother, Ben Fox.The writer, whose credits include "What Continues in Vegas" and Adult Swim's "Children's Hospital," is repped by WME and Anonymous Content.Should "Ben Fox" obtain a series order, Elliott would depart Lorne Michaels' NBC late-evening sketch series for the primetime slot at Fox.Elliott, who grew to become part of "SNL" in 2008, is much better known on "SNL" on her behalf impersonations of Jennifer Aniston, "Glee's" Jum Michele and "New Girl's" Zooey Deschanel.She joins the formerly cast Maggie Manley and Echo Kellum inside the single-camera project from 20th Television and Chernin Entertainment. The Hollywood Reporter

CBS sees Q4 profit hike, Netflix pact

Ted Danson in "CSI" CBS is in talks to produce an original series for Netflix as it expands its content business, moving beyond selling the streaming service its old series.CBS chief exec Leslie Moonves didn't provide details of the new show. But the Eye's willingness to produce content for Netflix is proof that Moonves doesn't see Netflix as a rival to CBS. "Unless they are doing 22 hours a week of premium content, we don't look at them as a competitor," he said.Streaming licensing pacts with Netflix and other outlets plumped up CBS profits last quarter even as revenue dipped in part on lower political advertising. But that will change fast as the primaries heat up, he promised during a conference call Wednesday to talk about earnings. CBS is "looking forward to a lot of nastiness on both sides" to fill its coffers, Moonves said. "They're talking about the number $2 billion. Generally speaking, we get 9%-10%. That's generally the ballpark," he said. That was the figure spent for local broadcast spots in the political 2008 cycle. Moonves sees it flowing amply to radio as well as TV.CBS Corp. profit rose 30% last quarter to $370 million. Execs promised that existing output agreements with Netflix, Amazon and Hulu Plus and new ones would keep the coin flowing year after year.Revenue slid to $3.78 billion in the fourth quarter from $3.9 billion on tough comparisons from the year before, which included second-cycle syndication sale of "CSI."The entertainment division -- comprised of CBS, CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios Intl., CBS Television Distribution, CBS Films, and CBS Interactive -- saw revenue ease 1% to $1.9 billion. Advertising revenue was flat.But operating income rose to 31% to $275 million on streaming deals, retransmission pacts and lower costs.Execs said scatter prices are up in mid-teens from last year's upfront and major categories are rebounding led by automotive. CBS has sounded the most upbeat among big media companies so far on the state of the ad market after a dour fourth quarter. "Because of our ratings we are commanding the bulk of the scatter market," Moonves said.Local broadcast, including TV and radio stations, saw revenue fall by $100 million to $721 million. Operating income was down 18% to $242 million.Cable network revenue rose 10% to $1.62 billion. Adjusted operating income nosed up 3% to $169 million. These are heady times for Showtime, which passed 21 million subscribers and just won two Golden Globes including best television drama series for "Homeland." At Simon & Schuster, revenue eased 1% to $229 but sales of digital content grew 83%. Digital sales are cost less and are more profitable, which led to a 50% boost in operating income to $27 million. Outdoor revenue firmed 1% to $514 million. Operating income surged 80% to $76 million on more profitable contracts. In brief remarks at the opening of the call, CBS chairman Sumner Redstone called Moonves "a genius" at least four times. "Thank you Sumner, very much, for that overly kind introduction," Moonves said. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Pilot Season: Melrose Place's Katie Cassidy lands Female Lead in CW's Arrow

Katie Cassidy Eco-friendly Arrow, meet your Black Canary. Melrose Place reboot star Katie Cassidy has showed up the feminine lead in CW's Arrow, starring Hung's Stephen Amell as Electricity superhero Eco-friendly Arrow in this particular modern retelling in the legendary archer's adventures. Pilot Season: Stephen Amell Lands Leading Role inside the CW's Arrow Cassidy, whose credits have Gossip Girl and Supernatural, may have Laurel, a young legal clinic attorney who shares a romantic past with Oliver, the Eco-friendly Arrow's alter-ego. Electricity fans will realize that Laurel is Dinah "Laurel" Lance, also called the second Black Canary. Brothers and sisters & Sisters' Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim will executive-produce while using Vampire Diaries' Andrew Kreisberg. As formerly introduced, David Ramsey and Susanna Thompson may even star.

Pilot Season: FNL's Michael B. Jordan Reunites with Jason Katims on NBC's County

Michael B. Jordan Michael B. Jordan will re-team with Friday Night Lights and Parenthood executive producer Jason Katims on his NBC pilot County.Pilot Season: NBC picks up projects from Jason Katims and Dick WolfThe drama revolves around the lives of a group of young doctors, nurses and administrators in an underfunded and morally compromising Los Angeles hospital. Jordan will play Travis, an intern who put himself through eight years of medical school with no help but rarely lets that show.The project will also reunite Jordan with fellow Parenthood guest-star Jason Ritter, who was previously cast as the lead.

'Beautiful' replace on British Entertainment

Blighty's Entertainment Film Entrepreneurs has pre-bought U.K. rights for mystical teenage witch pic "Beautiful Creatures." Pic, that's produced by Alcon Entertainment and being looked within the European Film Market by Summit Intl., has provided to Germany's Concorde Film on Friday. Numerous British customers were mentioned being competing for your project, including Entertainment One. Pic, using the best-selling tome by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, toplines Emma Thompson, Viola Davis and beginners Jack O'Connell and Alice Englert. "Creatures" is presently in pre-production which is modified and helmed by Richard Lagravenese, whose previous pointing credits include "P.S. I Like You" and "Freedom Authors" and scribe credits include "Water for Tigers" and "The Bridges of Madison County." Warner Bros. will release the teen medieval romance in your area through its financing and distribution agreement with Alcon. Story focuses on just a little-town teenage boy Ethan, who wants avoiding his regular existence prior to the day he meets Lena, a young witch. The Two fall crazily for each other but as her 16th birthday approaches, she fears for Ethan's safety within her existence and chooses to erase their love from his memory despite the fact that outcomes of the two remains inevitable. Erwin Stoff, Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Manley and Molly Cruz produce. Garcia and Stohl's "Beautiful" series up to now includes four books which is first installment was launched last season. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

Top Chef's Ed: What's the Point of Last Chance Kitchen?

Edward Lee Edward Lee would like to point out that he technically was in the final four of Top Chef - for a few hours. But then Beverly, having won Last Chance Kitchen, returned to the game and out-cooked him for a spot in the actual final four. "It is what it is. I don't hold a grudge. She won fair and square," Ed tells TVGuide.com. "I shouldn't have used the smoked oysters, so it was all on me." Still, the Louisville-based chef is none too pleased with the second-chance secret competition for eliminated cheftestants. Find out why.Top Chef's Grayson: I wasn't excited about Last Chance KitchenDid you think you were going to be eliminated?Ed: Yeah, a lot of times I think you can feel it when your dish isn't up to par. ... It was a tough elimination, especially because it was me and Lindsay. She's such a great chef. She was, as you saw, in major tears mode. I was feeling bad for her because she was really breaking down. It was a fair assessment. Why did you buy smoked oysters? You know one of the show's biggest sins is buying pre-packaged food.Ed: Who knows? [Laughs] We made a smoked oyster soup before - obviously not with pork. It was a completely different dish. I never even thought that I wouldn't find fresh oysters. When it happened, I was so thrown off my game. I saw these smoked oysters and was like, "You know, we've used them before..." But the minute I started cooking with them, I was like, "This is not a good idea." I should've just not put the sauce on the plate. But if it didn't have a sauce at all, it might be too simple. It wasn't a terrible sauce, but it just didn't go with the dish. Everything stems from one small decision and it continues to grow and becomes a thing. But hindsight's 20/20.How tough was it to lose in front of your mentor?Ed: Frankie [Crispo]'s OK. I've known Frankie for so long that he's less of a mentor and more of a friend. He was sympathetic.Had you won the Quickfire, you said you would've chosen the car over the free pass into the final. Would you really have or did you say that because Sarah chose the free pass?Ed: You'd have to be in the moment, but I think I would've chosen the car. We're here to compete. Who knows? In the heat of the moment, I might've broken down and picked the free pass, but I'd like to think I'd have taken the car.Do you think that's a fair twist? I feel like you should all cook your way into the final.Ed: That, I didn't really mind. But I didn't understand the concept of Last Chance Kitchen to be completely honest. I understand why it's there, but to me it seems like, once you're out, you're out. What's the point of a second chance? I don't get it.And they weren't competing under the same challenges as you guys were.Ed: Yeah. I mean, obviously I don't like it because I was the one that was knocked out! [Laughs] Beverly loves the concept of Last Chance Kitchen! But if we're in a basketball tournament, you can't lose and say, "Let me play another loser and get back in." That's all water under the bridge now.Top Chef's Chris Jones: I had a bad feeling about everythingYou were the only eliminated chef who didn't get to participate in Last Chance Kitchen.Ed: Well, that's the whole thing. And it's interesting because had we known there was Last Chance Kitchen, there might've been a way to strategize. I don't think anyone would, but you could think, "Hey, maybe I'll purposely get eliminated because I know I'll have a chance to get back in." It will be interesting in upcoming seasons if they continue [Last Chance Kitchen]. Because the Last Chance Kitchen challenges are - I wouldn't say easier - but they're much more simple than the elimination challenges. For example, I think Nyesha had an incredible run and it was very possible for her to come back except for the fact that she got knocked out so early, so for her to win, like, eight or nine challenges in a row is tough. And at a certain point she probably got exhausted. So you could strategize and maybe go out closer to the end. Beverly only had to beat three people to get back in. Why were you convinced it was Beverly and not Grayson coming back?Ed: As much as this is a cooking competition, it's also a psychological one. Once you're psyched-out, it's hard to come back. Beverly has shown that she has the resilience and toughness. I think Grayson, just from her personality, checked out mentally when she got eliminated. As chefs, I think they're both equally strong, but Beverly was coming off some confidence [with wins in Last Chance Kitchen] and Grayson just got eliminated so close to the final four that it might've been tough mentally to get back in.You were one of the few people, the majority of which were guys, who didn't have problems with Beverly. Why was she such a sore spot for the girls?Ed: I think a lot of it is that her ways are very unorthodox. It's tough working next to her because she does things and says things and says things. I think guys just pay less attention to that. We're probably less in tune to what's going on around us. Women might be more sensitive. That's a generalization, but I think it's true in this case. The other thing is sometimes she's portrayed as a victim and sometimes she's not - one scene she's crying and next she's putting an elbow into your rib to get an ingredient. There were times where she was very headstrong and it rubbed the girls the wrong way. I think guys are also naturally more competitive. If someone checks me or bumps into me or whatever, I may get mad at the moment, but I wouldn't hold a grudge. I won't sit and stew about it. It would just motivate me to concentrate and beat them. At the end of the day, we all respect each other.Top Chef's Beverly: I stood out like a sore thumbI loved the scene of you forcing yourself to cry.Ed: [Laughs] I was close to crying [this episode]. I didn't cry at all on the show. It was really shocking to me to see everyone cry when their mentors came out. It's not to say I didn't want to cry. But seeing the emotional weight it carried for the other chefs was like, "Wow! These guys really want it." It's hard to explain. I'm also emotional, but I guess I show it less. It was really enlightening to see how much the other chefs were so deeply invested. Why did you wear a suit jacket to bed?Ed: [Laughs] It was a running joke. Every day we'd wake up and say, "It's all about business." And I brought this suit and I never really had an opportunity to wear it. So I was like, "If we're going to be about business, I'm going to sleep in this suit."Was it comfortable sleeping in it?Ed: You know, I don't know. We're so exhausted that some moments I fell asleep sitting in a chair. You try to get as much sleep as you can since you never know what's coming next.What are you up to now?Ed: Just plugging away. The restaurant's busier than it's ever been. I'm working on a cookbook, which will hopefully be released in 2013. Tons of opportunities have come from this and I'm just trying to be wise about them and not jump at the first offer.

'Gnomeo' shop Arc nabs 'Thomas' series

Arc Productions, the visual effects and animation studio behind "Gnomeo and Juliet," has signed on as animation studio for Hit Entertainment's CG-animated kid television series "Thomas & Buddies," marking the toon shop's first global TV serial. "Thomas & Buddies" presently airs in 185 marketplaces, with 16 series created for that brand to date. "We're proud to become entrusted using the stellar assignment of animating the highly regarded as and far loved 'Thomas & Friends' TV series," stated Arc COO Shaun Youthful. "You will find effective brands, along with a handful come to be franchises. Then you've individuals precious couple of that rise to legendary stature." Toronto-based Arc will give you animation for those 11-minute instances of the approaching series, in addition to a one-hour "Thomas & Buddies" special feature. The brand new episodes are going to air Fall 2013. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com

Actress Frances Labyorteaux dies

Character actress Frances Labyorteaux died of natural causes on Jan. 26 in Sherman Oaks, Calif. She was 85. Her career over seven decades included vaudeville, nightclubs, touring with the Tommy Dorsey band as Frankie Marshall and talent agent with husband Ron Labyorteaux. Survivors include two sons, actors Patrick Labyorteaux ("JAG") and Matthew Labyorteaux ("Little House on the Prairie"). For information on memorial services email k9lvr4@aol.com. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com