The Hoff To Join "Britain's Got Talent"

David Hasselhoff best known for playing Michael Knight on NBC's "Knightrider" show in the eighties as well as on "Baywatch" is heading to the UK to host "Britain's Got Talent." David Hasselhoff has had many personal issues over the last few years that have become very public so its good to see him bounce back. Recently his reality show was cancelled after just a few episodes so it good to see him get another gig so soon. David Hasselhoff has hosted the US version of this show which is on NBC before with Piers Morgan among others. David will join current hosts Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden as well as newcomer to the show comedian Michael Mcintrye. "Britain's Got Talent" does well for ITV1 and its final attracted an average of 12.3 million viewers the grand prize for the winner is a spot on the Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen.

Is Local Television News Dead?

Every day there are stories about newspapers struggling to survive or closing because of the internet as well as the downturn in advertising at the present time. The question is will the internet kill off the local television newscast? Local television news still makes money but the question is will younger members of the television audience watch the local news shows as they grow older or will they just get their news from the internet. My guess is they will stay with the internet which is bad news for the local news shows. Does this mean that local television news is dead? The answer is no its not dead but it will change to survive with the internet websites of the television stations becoming more and more important. The stations websites will have more and more video so readers can watch news stories when they want there instead of watching a 5pm or 11pm newscast. In many television markets the line between online and local televsion newscasts is blurring as in Los Angeles where the Tribune company owns the LA Times newspaper and KTLA channel 5. If you look at the LA Times the video clips are from KTLA and the KTLA newscast promotes stories in the LA Times. The days of star anchors with huge salaries on local news are over as budgets will get smaller. As conditions have changed ownership rules have been relaxed such as in Los Angeles where CBS owns channels 2 and 9 and FOX owns channels 11 and 13 the news staff are combined. All the consolidation in local news is bad for the public with less voices but for local news to survive there isnt a choice. All around the country local stations are sharing their video content with other stations to save money. You may see the same video on several stations but its up to each station to edit or present the video as they want. Local television news will survive but it will be just part of larger picture with the local stations website becoming more important especially as a place to watch local news video. They could be a day when your local news is produced in a different city with stringers and video shared from other news outlets to save costs. This is already happening in England where instead of having your local ITV news its produced miles away in a regional studio. What this could mean is that the anchor team for the Detroit news could be in Los Angeles using Detroit video segments and then because of the time difference anchor the Los Angeles news later that same night. Before you say this is crazy i think this could happen in smaller markets in a not too distant future. In fact in England its already happening where local ITV news studios are being closed as the news becomes regional broadcast from a few television studios. So local televison news will survive but it will be less local and there will be less competing voices but the internet could take up the slack with super local news content either way things are changing.

"Im A Celebrity" Star Hospitalized Over Weekend

The drama continues on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here with reports that Heidi Montag was hospitalized over the weekend in Costa Rica. Reports all over the internet have said Heidi became physically ill over conditions at the show. Her sister in law Stephanie Pratt has attacked NBC over their treatment of Heidi and her husband Spencer Pratt. On her Twitter feed Stephanie said that Heidi had never been sicker and was virtually on her deathbed. On last Thursdays show Heidi and her husband Spencer begged to get back on the show after walking off and saying the devil made them do it. To get back on  the show the other contestants had to say yes and, also the couple would have to spend the night in the shows "Lost Chamber." It looks like the couple were allowed to return and stayed in the "Lost Chamber" which Stephanie has claimed the couple were in for 72 hours without food and water. Reports have said they were in there for only 14 hours and ITV the shows producer has come out with a statement that celebrities were never deprived of food and water. I hope Heidi gets well and thankfully its looks like Spencer and Heidi are finally off the show.

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