Press "Enter" to skip to content

Good Black News

Steve Harvey-Hosted "Family Feud" Continues Ratings Surge, Tops All Gameshows in Demo

By goodblacknews on February 6, 2014
Family Fued Steve Harvey
Look out “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy,” because “Family Feud” is on a ratings roll.  The Steve Harvey-hosted show, from producer FremantleMedia North America and distributor Debmar Mercury, hit another milestone the week ending Jan. 26, rising to Nielsen heights the show hasn’t seen in at least 25 years. It also edged out the venerable “Wheel” as the top syndicated gameshow in some key female demos.
According to Nielsen estimates, the nationally syndicated “Family Feud” averaged  a 6.1 household rating — the first time the gameshow has surpassed the 6.0 ratings threshold and its highest number since the advent of Nielsen People Meters in 1988. It was up 7% week-to-week (5.7) and a big 20% vs. the comparable week a year ago (5.1). Overall, the show is up a monster 336% since Steve Harvey became host in September 2010.
“Feud” was similarly up in total viewers, according to Nielsen, with its 9.235 million a 19% gain vs. a year ago (7.789 million). Among gameshows during the week, it was more competitive with the big boys, “Wheel” (12.571 million) and “Jeopardy” (11.555 million), both of which were up by single-digits vs. last year.

Magic Johnson's Investment Group Buys WNBA's L.A. Sparks

By goodblacknews on February 5, 2014

Magic Johnson

An investment group led by Magic Johnson and controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mark R. Walter, has bought the WNBA franchise Los Angeles Sparks. The WNBA and NBA Board of Governors have unanimously approved the sale.  The investment group includes Dodger co-owners Todd L. Boehly, Robert L. Patton and Stan Kasten.

The franchise will remain in Los Angeles and play at Staples Center. The WNBA’s 2014 game and television schedule will also be announced this week.  “We are thrilled to welcome Magic Johnson and Mark Walter to the WNBA,” said WNBA president Laurel J. Richie. “With their proven track record in the business realm, their commitment to the city of Los Angeles through civic engagement, and their passion for the game of basketball, we look forward to partnering with our new owners to usher in a new era for this iconic team. This is a great day for Los Angeles, the Sparks franchise, its players, and of course, the loyal fans who have been so supportive of the team for 17 seasons.”
Johnson, who led the Los Angeles Lakers to five championships in the 1980s, has been involved with the Dodgers since before the 2012 season.  “This is a great day for the city of Los Angeles and the Sparks,” Johnson said. “The leaders of this great city came together quickly to keep this franchise right where it belongs—in the city of Angels. Thanks to my sister, Evelyn, playing college basketball, I have a great appreciation of the talented players that represent the WNBA. Our group will now work together to bring our loyal fans another WNBA championship. ”
Johnson pushed some of his fellow owners of the Dodgers to buy the Sparks after Lakers ownership had decided to pull out.  “Earvin came to me and said we need to help save the Sparks and keep them in Los Angeles,” Walter said. “The decision was quite easy for our investment group due to the passion Magic has for this city, these great athletes and our phenomenal fans. This team and its great players should remain a part of the sports fabric of this wonderful city.”
One of the league’s original eight teams, Los Angeles won the WNBA championship in 2001 and 2002, and is the last team to have earned titles in consecutive seasons. Los Angeles advanced to the Western Conference Finals in three of the past six seasons, most recently in 2012. A trio of WNBA All-Stars – forward/center Candace Parker, forward Nneka Ogwumike, and guard Kristi Toliver – headline a talented roster. The reigning WNBA Most Valuable Player, Parker also earned the honor during her rookie season in 2008. Ogwumike took home the WNBA Rookie of the Year award in 2012, the same year Toliver earned the WNBA Most Improved Player award.
article via usatoday.com

LeBron James-Produced Comedy Series Gets Picked Up by Starz

By goodblacknews on February 5, 2014

LeBron JamesStarz has given a series order to the basketball comedy from NBA star LeBron James.  The half-hour scripted series, Survivor’s Remorse, is set in the world of professional basketball and, according to the series description, “explores the comedy and drama of an experience that everyone reads about but few understand — what truly happens when you make it out.”  The comedy was announced last September and the shot clock is ticking fast, with a fall premiere being eyed. For the premium channel that has steadily crafted a brand of sweeping period dramas, Survivor’s Remorse marks a toe-dipping back into the comedy waters.

It centers on Cam Calloway, a basketball powerhouse in his early 20s who must navigate the limelight after inking a multimillion-dollar contract with a professional basketball team. Something the Miami Heat star might know something about.  James serves as an executive producer, alongside Tom Werner (Roseanne, That ’70s Show), Maverick Carter, Paul Wachter and Mike O’Malley (actor on Glee, writer on Shameless), who will also write.

“Ever since I got cut from the freshman hoop team at Bishop Guertin High School in 1980, I’ve wanted to write about my love and hatred of basketball,” O’Malley said in a statement. “Starz has given us great freedom to explore an authentic world inspired by Maverick and LeBron. Tom’s legendary TV career and his experiences as a professional sports owner combined with Paul’s wealth of business and entertainment industry relationships have given this team a truly strong foundation to build a successful series.”

Virtual Instruments CEO John W. Thompson Replaces Bill Gates as Chairman of Microsoft Board

By goodblacknews on February 5, 2014

John W. Thompson, Chairman, Microsoft Board of Directors (Image: File)

John W. Thompson, CEO of Virtual Instruments and former CEO of Symantec Corp, has been named chairman of Microsoft’s board of directors, according to reports.  An industry leader for more than 40 years, he has made phenomenal strides in technology, having served as the only African American leading a major tech company during his time at Symantec. The Florida A&M and MIT alumnus is credited with growing the software giant’s revenues from $632 million to $6.2 billion and leading the growth of its worldwide workforce to more than 17,500 employees.

Thompson has served as an independent director on the board of Microsoft and also brings his experience as a former vice-president at IBM to his current post.  An early innovator and investor in tech advances in Silicon Valley, Thompson has also been included among Black Enterprise’s “100 Most Powerful African Americans in Corporate America,” and was named “Corporate Executive of the Year” as head of Symantec in 2004.
The West Palm Beach, Fla. native was recognized early for his knack for sales and has had a go-getter approach to his advancement. In a recent New York Times article, Thompson shared the following on career and business lessons he’s learned through the years: “First, never take yourself too seriously, or work is boring. Next, people make the difference. You can have great technology, but if it’s not complemented by great people, it won’t go anywhere. Finally, customers buy from people they like. I can always circle back to former customers and suggest they might want to take a look at our products.”
article by Janell Hazelwood via blackenterprise.com

ABC’s Anthony Anderson/Kenya Barris Pilot Adds Larry Wilmore As Showrunner

By goodblacknews on February 4, 2014

wilmoreWhat do you do when you have a show about what it means to be black in today’s society that is in a need of a showrunner? You turn to an expert. ABC’s untitled Anthony Anderson/Kenya Barris comedy pilot (formerly Black-ish) has tapped The Daily Show’s senior black correspondent Larry Wilmore as executive producer/showrunner. Written by Barris and loosely based on his personal experiences, the project centers on an upper-middle-class black man (Anderson) who struggles to raise his children with some sense of cultural identity despite constant contradictions and obstacles coming from his liberal wife, old-school father, and his own assimilated, color-blind kids. Wilmore tackled similar issues on his Fox comedy series The Bernie Mac Show. The Anderson/Barris pilot hails from ABC Studios, Laurence Fishburne‘s Cinema Gypsy and Principato Young, with Wilmore executive producing alongside Anderson, Barris, Cinema Gypsy’s Fishburne, Helen Sugland and Tom Russo as well as PYE’s Peter Principato, Paul Young and Brian Dobbins. Fishburne may also guest star.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com

Chicago Artist Savannah Wood Aims For Engagement, Empowerment With South Side Book Exchange (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on February 4, 2014

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyMplbQkEg0&w=560&h=315]
CHICAGO — If Baltimore native and Chicago transplant Savannah Wood has one regret, it’s that she didn’t take enough time to read all the books she said surrounded her as a youngster.  Though the Chicago-based artist and Rebuild Foundation instructor said she was surrounded by incredible books, she laments that she didn’t stumble upon a book like Richard Wright’s 1940 novel Native Son, which she said she received as part of a book exchange while she was studying abroad in France as a student of the University of Southern California. Reading Native Son, which tells the story of a 20-year-old Chicago man feeling alienated like an expat in his own country, was an experience, she told The Huffington Post, that resonated deeply.  “That was the beginning of my being interested in black literature as a reflection of black life, the positive imagery in black lit,” Wood said in a recent interview. “I want to share that with other people.”
Last week, Wood launched an Indiegogo fundraising campaign for Black Ink Book Exchange, an initiative that will eventually become “not quite a library and not quite a bookstore” focused on works written by and about those from the African Diaspora and located inside the University of Chicago’s Arts Incubator in the city’s Washington Park neighborhood.  Wood told HuffPost she was inspired to launch the pop-up exchange after working with renowned Chicago artist Theaster Gates to create a library focused on the works of black authors for a private client. With the Black Ink Book Exchange, she hopes to take that idea and make it publicly accessible in a way that serves as a focal point for the predominately black neighborhood to engage with the arts. She plans to open the space by spring and, during the summertime, move it to other locations on Chicago’s South Side.
books
“I’m hoping to really activate the space and give people a place they can feel they can take some ownership of,” Wood said. “It’s not just to be looked at, but handled.”
Part of the interactivity Wood is aiming for entails the offering of free creative writing and crafting workshops taught in the space by guest artists. Money donated to the project’s $6,000 fundraising goal will go toward paying the artists a stipend for their services, in addition to purchasing books to supplement donated books, furniture and covering administrative costs.
“You can get hands on and make things here too,” Wood said of what makes the exchange different from a traditional library or bookstore. “I’ve been making things my whole life and I think it’s an empowering skill to have to produce something and put it out into the world.”
Visit the Black Ink Book Exchange’s Indiegogo page for additional information about donating funds or books toward the project.
article by Joseph Erbentraut via huffingtonpost.com

Vanity Fair's 2014 Hollywood Issue Features Biggest Display of Diversity in its Cover History

By goodblacknews on February 4, 2014
Julia Roberts poses with (fromt lef) Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba and George Clooney on the March cover of Vanity Fair.
Julia Roberts poses with (front left) Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba and George Clooney on the March cover of Vanity Fair. (ANNIE LEIBOVITZ EXCLUSIVELY FOR VANITY FAIR)
Vanity Fair released a sneak peek of its 20th annual Hollywood Issue on Monday, and it may be the most groundbreaking one yet.  The magazine has apparently taken steps toward emphasizing the diversity of Hollywood. For the first time since it began putting out the annual special in 1995, six of the 12 celebrated thespians gracing the 2014 cover are not white.  The magazine has come under fire in the past for an apparent lack of diversity. Just a few years ago, as Buzzfeed has pointed out, a 2010 the cover featured nine actresses — all white, thin and under 40 years old.
Over the years the annual selection has included one or two minority actors — such as Angela Bassett in 1995, and Lucy Liu and Salma Hayek in 2004 — but this year’s edition shows how expansive the African-American film scope has grown across several genres.
(From left): Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts, Idris Elba, George Clooney, Michael B. Jordan, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong’o, Naomie Harris, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Margot Robbie and Léa Seydoux.
From left: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts, Idris Elba, George Clooney, Michael B. Jordan, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong’o, Naomie Harris, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Margot Robbie and Léa Seydoux. (ANNIE LEIBOVITZ EXCLUSIVELY FOR VANITY FAIR)

Among those featured on the three-panel foldout are many of Hollywood’s most heralded actors of the past year, including Oscar nominees Julia Roberts, for August: Osage County, Jared Leto, who is the front-runner in his Best Supporting Actor category for Dallas Buyers Club, and Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong’o from 12 Years A Slave.

Pharrell Williams to Perform Oscar-Nominated Song "Happy" at Academy Awards

By goodblacknews on February 4, 2014

Pharrell Williams

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday that Pharrell Williams will perform his Oscar-nominated song “Happy” at the 2014 Oscars.
“Happy,” which Williams wrote and produced for the animated film Despicable Me 2, is nominated for the original song category alongside “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, “Let it Go” from Frozen and “The Moon Song” from Her.
“I wanted to send a reminder: There are lots of reasons to smile,” the 40-year-old told the Los Angeles Times in an interview in December on his nominated song. “You can be resilient with your smile. Why is it so cool to be mad all the time? Some songs, everybody’s so upset.”
The song “Happy” has a “lyric version” — a video featuring the film’s minions making mischief around the song’s words in bold fonts. It also has a website launched for the song, 24hoursofhappy.com, where the song is played on repeat for 24 hours straight.
“Each take starting every hour is me,” he told The Times. “So I did 24 four-minute takes of ‘Happy.’ From 1:00-1:04, I perform ‘Happy.’ Then at 1:04, the next person does it. We picked all kinds of people, all types. Every hour is 15 takes.”
Williams, a seven-time Grammy Award winner, was named Billboard’s producer of the decade in 2010. Most recently, he collaborated on two of 2013’s top Billboard hits: Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines,” which he co-wrote and produced, and Daft Punk‘s “Get Lucky,” which he co-wrote and also sang.
The Oscars, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, will be held March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and broadcast live on ABC.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-pharrell-williams-oscars-20140204,0,5694271.story#ixzz2sONfjm7t

Apply Now! Here Are The Top Black History Month Scholarships

By goodblacknews on February 4, 2014

Shutterstock
Great news for students! For Black History Month many companies — through their foundations — have announced scholarship programs. Dallas Weekly recently highlighted the top 10. Act fast–the deadlines are in February.  Here are five of the newspaper’s choices for the college-goer in your life to consider:
1) The Frito-Lay “Create to Celebrate” Black History Month Art Contest: Do you have artistic talent? Show it off here by submitting an original piece of art. The piece, which can be in any medium (video, song, photo, sculpture, painting, etc), must celebrate African-American achievement.
2) The Coca-Cola Pay It Forward Scholarship Program: This program offers once-in-a-lifetime apprenticeship experiences to African-American youth.
3) The RBC Black History Month Student Essay Competition: This Royal Bank of Canada scholarship is strictly for Canadian students. Applicants must write a 750-words or less essay on how black Canadians have contributed toward the heritage of Canada.
4) The 100 Black Men of America Future Leader Scholarship Program: Based on academic achievement and community service, this scholarship is open to high school seniors along with college freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.
5)  The Jerry Bartow Scholarship Fund: The Black Executive Exchange Program awards three scholarships each year for HBCU  undergraduate students majoring in business, engineering, technology, or education.
To find other 2014 scholarships, click here.
See more at: http://madamenoire.com/345755/apply-now-top-black-history-month-scholarships/#sthash.l9t3x37S.dpuf

Lifetime’s “The Gabby Douglas Story” Earns 3.8 Million Viewers

By goodblacknews on February 3, 2014

the gabby douglas story
Imani Hakim as Gabby Douglas in Lifetime’s “The Gabby Douglas Story” (Source: Lifetime)

This past Saturday, Lifetime aired The Gabby Douglas Story. And apparently many were anxious to see it. The cable network movie pulled in 3.8 million viewers according to Nielsen Research. And immediately after her Lifetime movie debuted, the network broadcast a documentary called Beyond the Headlines: The Gabby Douglas Story, which averaged 3 million viewers.
In addition to views, according to Nielsen SocialGuide, the cable movie premiere was also the most-tweeted program of the night across all of television, excluding sporting events. The Gabby Douglas Story stars Regina King as Gabrielle’s mother, S. Epatha Merkerson as her grandmother and Imani Hakim (Tonya from Everybody Hates Chris) as the teenaged Douglas.
article by Veronica Wells via madamenoire.com