NIKKI FINKE GRILLED ?????

Nikki Finke Grilled


TheWrap's Sharon Waxman gets to the bottom of Finke's vision for the future.


Finke, who sold her site for $14 million to Mail.com Media Corporation, said, "A year and a half ago, there started to be interest, and about a year ago there was more.


It ranged from people kicking the tires to really wanting to buy it, to money to invest in it.


It was dizzying."


Iranian Taking To The Airwaves -- From L.A.








Expatriate hosts weekly newscast that gets beamed back home.


As Iranian citizens take to the streets, Hossein Hedjazi is sending his own message from abroad.


Hedjazi, an Iranian expatriate who lives in Los Angeles, hosts a weekly newscast on PARS-TV, which broadcasts out of Tarzana.


Its mostly political programming reaches viewers in Iran, despite the efforts of the Iranian government, which has blamed Western media outlets for encouraging protesters.


'Transformers' Poised For Huge Opening









Michael Bay-helmed sequel has only holdovers in its way.


Paramount's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is coming in for a major box-office kill.


After weeks of mid-budget comedies, like "The Hangover" and "The Proposal," and Pixar's "Up" dominating theaters, the PG-13 sequel to 2007's "Transformers" opened in 4,600-plus theaters at midnight.


Considering it has five days to go up only against holdovers, Optimus Prime and co. will easily take the title of biggest debut of 2009.


Time Warner, Comcast Go After Hulu







Conglomerates announce initiative to make online viewing more difficult.


Cable giants Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. are expected to announce toda y that they are teaming on a new venture that would make it harder for people to watch TV shows online for free.


Motivating the media giants is the emergence of online video as an alternative to television;


Hulu has become an overnight sensation with its steady stream of hit TV shows for free.



MySpace Cuts Worldwide Staff










Latest job eliminations come after site said it's getting back to 'start-up' mode.


Following last week's announcement of its plan to cut 30% of its U.S. workforce, MySpace is now slashing its international staff by two thirds, to about 150 employees.


The social networking site also plans to close four offices outside the U.S. MySpace said last week that it had planned to get back to "start-up" mode.