WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT











Customers who used credit cards at Hersheypark or other Hershey Entertainment & Resorts properties between Dec. 4, 2006, and Sept. 1 could be entitled to some compensation.

Their reward: Either a coupon for $8 off a single admission at Hersheypark or a voucher for coffee or hot chocolate and a slice of pound cake and a cookie at the Hershey Lodge Cocoa Beanery. Value of the eats: $8.33.

The choices are part of a settlement agreement that Hershey Entertainment has reached in a dispute regarding information contained on credit card receipts.

A class action lawsuit filed last year alleged that Hershey Entertainment’s credit card receipts contained information about the cards’ expiration dates and/or more than five numbers of each card, a violation of a new law intended to help prevent identity theft.

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Rich media, made-for-mobile content and increasing adoption of 3G data services will drive mobile entertainment revenues to $47.5bn by 2010, according to Juniper Research.

The second edition of the analyst firm’s Mobile Entertainment Markets: Opportunities and Forecasts 2007-2012 report predicts that mobile music, games and TV will generate $34bn by 2010.

Although the market is expected to go from strength to strength, the report warns that entertainment service adoption will be retarded unless improvements are made to the user interface, network coverage and the excessive cost of data services.

Furthermore, some mobile areas such as gambling, adult content and some social networking services could be hindered by national and international legislation.

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Brash Entertainment today announced a game development deal with California-based game development studio, Factor 5. Under the terms of the worldwide agreement, the partners will collaborate on an unnamed title releasing in 2010 to be announced around the E3 Expo in July.

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{March 27, 2008}   That Was the Week That Was

Entertainment highlights during the week of March 16-22:1953: The Academy Awards were televised for the first time. “The Greatest Show On Earth” was named best picture.1957: Elvis Presley bought Graceland.1963: Barbra Streisand and Elliot Gould were married. They divorced in 1971.1968: The Bee Gees made their U.S. television debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The brothers sang “To Love Somebody” and “Words.”1969: John Lennon married Yoko Ono in a private ceremony in Gibraltar.1970: Singer Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumor in Philadelphia at age 24. The tumor was diagnosed three years earlier when she collapsed during a concert.1970: David Bowie and Angela Barnett got married in England. They later split up.1989: Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” album was released.1991: Seven members of Reba McEntire’s band and her road manager were killed when their plane crashed after taking off from an airport in San Diego.1991: Eric Clapton’s 4-year-old son, Conor, died when he fell out of a window in New York.1993: Comedian Eddie Murphy and Nicole Mitchell got married in New York.

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It’s Sunday morning in the heart of Ybor City, Tampa’s entertainment district. The streets are quiet, the nightclubs shuttered. In one ornate building, though, a crowd is gathering in a dark ballroom.

They’re 20- and 30-somethings, single, married, wearing skinny jeans, short-sleeved tees over long-sleeved tees and Vans tennis shoes, sporting spiky hair and sipping Starbucks. They file past a peaceful-looking man watching the doors, and they bob their heads to the music of The Embassy, a rock band jamming on stage. Screened silhouettes bookending the bandstand show men and women in flirty poses. And one ultra-hip-looking guy tells the crowd that having a lot of sex is good.

This could easily be the scene Jimmy Buffett imagined when he sang “there’s a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.”

But this is a worship service at Relevant Church Tampa, and Day 21 of Relevant’s 30-day Sex Challenge, aimed at helping married couples rekindle that sensual spark and helping single people strengthen their romances through nonsexual contact.

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Revenues at Montana ExpoPark have jumped by $1 million under the management of SMG, the first private facilities manager to run the Cascade County-owned entertainment complex.

“That’s powerful to our retailers and our whole business community,” said Bill Ogg, ExpoPark’s general manager.

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SAN FRANCISCO (Thomson Financial) – Sony Online Entertainment will report to Kazuo Hirai, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., starting April 1, the company said Thursday.

Sony Online Entertainment, based in San Diego, is currently a part of the Sony Pictures Entertainment unit.

Sony said the new structure is designed to further accelerate the PlayStation business through Sony Online Entertainment’s “strong online gaming expertise.”

Under the new structure, the unit will continue to develop games and its president, John Smedley, will report to Hirai.

Separately, the company said Yair Landau, president of the digital division at Sony Pictures, is leaving in April.

During his time at Sony Pictures, Landau also oversaw the growth of Sony Online Entertainment.

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MILFORD, Mass. — The owner of a Milford bar says he’ll appeal after being denied an adult entertainment license.

Neighborhood residents bitterly opposed to the request by Doc’s Sports Bar packed a meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals Thursday night, and were rewarded when the board voted 4-1 against the license.

While owner Kevin Coady had not specified his plans, critics believed the bar was planning to offer female strippers.

Opponents picketed the bar over the weekend, many carrying signs that read: “No nudes is good nudes.” They said a strip club would hurt the image of the working-class central Massachusetts community.

The town’s planning board said the bar was too close to a planned day care center, a school for the mentally retarded and a Sikh temple.

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Food, arts and entertainment are becoming a niche for downtown Ypsilanti, but more business development and marketing are needed to propel the business district forward in the next five years, a consultant says.

“There is a renewed energy and buzz in downtown,” Doyle Hyett told about 125 people who gathered last week at the Riverside Arts Center to hear recommendations on improving downtown. “Ypsilanti is going in the right direction, but you need to get the word out and take risk.”

Hyett of HyettPalma, a Virginia consultant firm, and a representative from the state prepared a five-year plan to market and improve downtown. They interviewed residents, business owners and patrons. Hyett said the city has been improving infrastructure in downtown and continues to attract offices and residents to live in the business district, a healthy mix for a downtown.

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{March 21, 2008}   Flashbacks

Entertainment highlights during

the week of March 16-22:

• 1953: The Academy Awards are televised for the first time. The Greatest Show on Earth is named best picture.

• 1957: Elvis Presley buys Graceland.

• 1963: Barbra Streisand and Elliot Gould marry. They divorce in 1971.

• 1968: The Bee Gees make their U.S. television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.

• 1969: John Lennon marries Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.

• 1970: Singer Tammi Terrell dies of a brain tumor at 24.

• 1989: Madonna’s Like a Prayer album is released.

• 1991: Seven members of Reba McEntire’s band and her road manager are killed in a plane crash near San Diego.

• 1991: Eric Clapton’s 4-year-old son, Conor, dies when he falls out of a window in New York.

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et cetera