Kremlin-funded station to broadcast WikiLeaks show
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s new talk show will be broadcast on RT, the Kremlin-funded English-language television station said Wednesday.
WikiLeaks had said in a statement Monday that Mr. Assange’s show would begin airing in March, but there was no word on who would air it or how it would be produced.
RT television stepped forward Wednesday to say it will be broadcasting the show, a series of 10 interviews with what it described as “key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries - figures who in the author’s opinion will be shaping the political agenda of tomorrow.”
The names of the guests are still to be disclosed.
The RT statement said Mr. Assange is filming the series from the location of his house arrest in Britain. He is currently fighting extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted on sex crimes allegations. U.S. officials are weighing possible charges linked to the leaks, the biggest disclosures of secret documents in U.S. history.
RT, which also broadcasts in Spanish and Arabic on its cable networks, often takes a critical stance on U.S. policy.
New Weather Channel head to expand overseas presence
The Weather Channel has a new chief executive, and he’s forecasting expansion overseas.
The Weather Channel Co. said Tuesday it was appointing veteran digital executive David Kenny its new chairman and chief executive. Mr. Kenny succeeds Mike Kelly, who will be a special adviser to the company.
Mr. Kenny is on Yahoo’s board of directors and most recently has been president of Akamai, a cloud platform serving mobile and Internet users.
He said he’d like to see the company move more swiftly to establish its websites and mobile applications in overseas market where it is now a small player. That takes precedence over trying to establish a television presence overseas, he said.
The U.S. television network currently has two hours of weather-related reality programming in prime time - high seas rescues and the like - that supplement the live weather coverage it airs at most other times. Expect that direction to continue.
“There will be a real focus on programming,” Mr. Kenny said. “The television channel itself will have more room for long-form [programming] given that we have other ways of giving information about the weather.”
The Weather Channel is owned by a consortium of Bain Capital, the Blackstone Group and NBC Universal.
The consortium, in a statement, said Mr. Kenny “has a deep understanding of the TV and digital business, and he has the leadership experience and vision to drive global initiatives across all platforms.”
Star Jones returns to ’View’ for first time since 2006 tiff
Star Jones will return to her old stomping grounds next month with her first cameo on “The View” after leaving the ABC daytime talk show in 2006.
Ms. Jones, an original co-host on the program created by Barbara Walters, will appear on the Feb. 22 episode to promote the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” campaign to raise awareness of heart disease in women, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Ms. Jones left “The View” in a high-profile huff in June 2006 amid a disagreement with Ms. Walters, who also co-hosts the show. ABC declined to renew her contract and Ms. Jones blindsided the veteran newswoman when she abruptly announced her departure on June 27. The following day, Ms. Walters figuratively slammed the door in Ms. Jones’ face, refusing to let her back on the air.
Ms. Jones - who’s since had her own short-lived legal-news series on truTV, appeared on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” and authored a novel about the offstage drama of a fictional talk show - has slammed Ms. Walters for revealing a past affair in her memoirs. For her part, Ms. Walters claimed Ms. Jones covered up her gastric bypass surgery by asking “View” colleagues to keep mum on the operation.
But the two appear to have patched things up. Both underwent open heart surgery to restore faulty valves in 2010.
’Glee’s’ Lea Michele star of new Candie’s ads
Lea Michele is moving from a locker to a much bigger closet. She’s the star of the new Candie’s clothing ad campaign, dubbed “Hanging at Home,” shot at a private mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The images show her poolside, in the kitchen, in a bed with satin sheets and in a walk-in closet, wearing a new outfit and pair of shoes in each one, according to the Associated Press.
The 25-year-old star of “Glee” is following in the high-heel footprints of former brand spokeswomen Britney Spears and Fergie, among others. Miss Michele said she particularly liked Miss Spears’ old ads.
“I think they’re fun and flirty and show off her body great,” she said.
Miss Michele does a little showing off here, too, with some sexy poses, some silly poses and some glamorous ones.
Anyone who has seen Miss Michele do a turn on the red carpet knows she’s got her moves down for the camera.
She has become a “get” for designers eager to show off their gowns on a hot, young starlet. At the recent Golden Globes, she wore a silver Marchesa gown that was straight from the runway.
Her sentimental favorite gown, though, was probably the one she wore to her first Globes in 2010: a black, strapless Oscar de la Renta with a full skirt.
The Candie’s brand is available exclusively at Kohl’s Department Stores.
• Compiled from Web and wire service reports.
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