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BBC America, available in the US through both DirecTV (channel 264) and DISH Network (channel 135) has place on their site where viewers can request a program.
One of their listings is for Doctor Who, which I’d like to recommend everyone take a brief moment of their time and submit in hopes of getting the wonderful new BBC series shown here in the States in one form or another.
The BBC has announced the new star for the next season of Doctor Who. The role of the 10th Doctor will be played by David Tennant, a long time fan of the science fiction series.
Tennant has received much praise for his part in the three-part BBC3’sCasanova. The series was written by Russell T Davies who also serves as writer and executive producer on Doctor Who.
The star, who says he’s “delighted, excited and honoured” to have the role, will appear in a Christmas episode currently being filmed this summer and then in his first thirteen episode run next year. He’ll also be seen in as Barty Crouch Jr. in the November release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
“I grew up loving Doctor Who and it has been a lifelong dream to get my very own Tardis,” says Tennant, giving hope to the fans for a long run with the actor after it was announced that Christopher Eccleston would be leaving after his single year in the role.
InformationWeek has an article up on a recent report stating that shipments of MP3 players tripled in 2004. The article also estimates that shipments in 2005 should increase by at least 35%, with a minimum 10% annual increase every year until at least 2010.
According to JupiterResearch analyst David Card the important number to reach for any new technology is somewhere around 15 to 20% of US households, at which point the critical mass will be enough to fully support growth in supplemental products and services based around that technology. According to Card, “MP3 players will hit that mark this year.”
Already we can see evidence of this phenomenon. Apple’s iPod has become an icon in the public’s eye and hundreds of companies are now producing accessories for the devices. Although Apple currently dominates the MP3 player field, the growth of the MP3 hardware industry over the last year has made it possible for a number of competitors, such as iriver and Creative to have their own levels of success as well.
The increase in MP3 hardware penetration in the average US household has also lead to the online music sales success of Apple’s iTunes. Again, while Apple dominates, the market is reaching the critical mass necessary to support a number of competitors, such as Yahoo’s Musicmatch, RealNetwork’s Rhapsody and the reinvention of Napster as a legal online music source.
If you watch any amount of American television lately, you’ve probably caught one of Burger King’s new ads featuring the over-sized plastic-headed King appearing in unsettling places, such as next to the customer in bed or just outside their window.
MSN’s Slate has an article up explaining the return of the Burger King as part of the company’s edgier marketing campaign that’s included recent hits like the Subservient Chicken web site.
Long live the king!
When UPN and Paramount Network Television canceled the floundering Enterprise series in February of this year due to poor ratings and highly critical reviews, millions of Star Trek geeks cried out in horror.
Within weeks, however, some of the more vocal fanatics pooled together their resources and started saveenterprise.com a site that hoped to collect enough money to force the creation of new episodes in the latest Star Trek series. At one point, three anonymous contributers from the aerospace industry had even pledged $3 million dollars to the cause.
Unfortunately for the fans of Enterprise, though perhaps fortunate for the Star Trek sub-genre in general, Paramount has announced that their cancellation decision is final and the efforts to revive Enterprise will not cause the company to change its mind.