Word: ovitz
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...previous agreement with Letterman's representatives, headed by Hollywood superagent Michael Ovitz, NBC had one month to try to match CBS's offer. Though neither Letterman nor NBC executives would divulge details of the negotiations, insiders say NBC made several offers, including a weekly prime-time slot. But Letterman rejected them. "If you were going to do a half-hour of prime-time television," he explained, "you would have to do it as well as Jerry Seinfeld does it. I couldn't do it that well, so why waste my time?" The prospect of a different kind of prime-time...
...begins to feel restless in his late-late (12:35 a.m. est) time slot. But when the job he covets -- host of the Tonight show -- becomes available, it goes to Jay Leno. With his NBC contract expiring next spring, Letterman hires a new agent, Hollywood power broker Michael Ovitz, and starts entertaining offers. Everyone from the Fox Network (which wants to team Letterman in a late-night bloc with Chevy Chase) to major syndicators like Viacom (which offers Letterman additional exposure on its cable networks MTV and VH-1) weighs in with lucrative bids...
...Nashville Now, a live show on the Nashville Network (TNN), has been on best-seller lists for 17 weeks. In just two years, the magazine Country America has doubled its circulation to almost 1 million. Even the arbiters of hipness have begun paying attention: both Spin magazine and Michael Ovitz's Creative Artists Agency have new outposts in Nashville. And Saturday Night Live this month featured Brooks as its musical guest...
Finally, while Americans may gripe about the foreign takeovers of Hollywood's dream machines, none of the buyouts have been hostile. Far from sneaking into Hollywood, both Sony and Matsushita were squired around by superagent Michael Ovitz, the homegrown power broker. All of which brings to mind a scene in the 1978 film Heaven Can Wait in which the fictional owner of the Los Angeles Rams decries the abrupt takeover of the team by a fancy-pants financier. "The s.o.b. got my team," he moans. But how did the sneaky businessman do it? Says the team owner: "I asked...
What effect will Matsushita's takeover of MCA have on American entertainment? -- Superagent Michael Ovitz arranged the marriage. -- Meet one of Saddam's favorite arms dealers...