First Word
Zell wins auction: It looks as if real estate billionaire Sam Zell's last-minute bump in his bidding price for the Tribune Co. has paid off -- the company announced this morning that Zell has won the auction. His offer reportedly went to $13 billion, or $34 a share. (Wall Street Journal, CNN Money)
DRM, bye-bye: At a press conference today in London, Apple and record giant EMI announced what tech blog rumors had been suspecting for some time: All of EMI's catalog will now be available on iTunes without the digital rights management software that limits copying. Tracks from EMI artists -- from the Rolling Stones to the Decemberists -- will be of a higher quality (256k) and higher price, but users will be able to do with the MP3s as they will. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a press release that "selling digital music DRM-free is the right step forward for the music industry." (Tech Crunch, EMI)
Timbaland straight-talks: In case there was any lingering doubt who hip-hop artist Timbaland is referring to in "Give It to Me" -- the first single off his debut album "Timbaland Presents Shock Value" -- he made it clear Sunday night. While performing the song at the Marquee, Timbaland shouted, "Scott Storch is a bitch!" Storch, 32, the record producer who has worked with Beyoncé, 50 Cent and Jessica Simpson, used to be friends with Timbaland, 36. Rumors were that "Give It to Me" was directed at Storch (who even made a revenge video over the song), but Timbaland had denied it in the past. When he also improvised the line "Scott Storch, I'm a real producer and you just a piano man," though, it left no doubt that the two had had a falling out. Representatives for both artists declined to comment. (Page Six)
Talker
More on Matt The Marines' investigation of Matt Sanchez, the former Marine and gay porn star (who recently appeared in these pages) took a turn on Friday when the Corps revealed it was investigating Sanchez not only for his career in porn but also for allegedly soliciting funds from the New York City United War Veterans Council and U-Haul for his purported deployment to Iraq -- the USMC says he arranged a $300 payment from the veterans group and $12,000 from U-Haul. Sanchez told the Marine Corps Times that the allegations are "demonstrably false," and the investigation is now in the hands of Brig. Gen. Darrell Moore, who will decide what happens next. ("Sanchez Investigation Wraps Up," Marine Corps Times)
White noise ... Former child actor Brian Bonsall -- aka Andy Keaton from "Family Ties" -- was arrested Sunday in Boulder, Colo., on charges of assaulting his girlfriend. (Los Angeles Times) ... 
In other former child star news, Marie Osmond announced on Friday that she and Brian Blosil, her husband of 20 years, are getting divorced. (People) ... Larry Seidlin -- one of the judges in the Anna Nicole Smith case -- will reportedly be meeting this week with prospective TV producers in Los Angeles interested in making a courtroom show in which he would star. (Broadcasting & Cable) ... Philip Roth has been awarded the first-ever PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. (CBS News)
Buzz Index
- Most viewed story on Yahoo News: "Jellyfish Have Human-Like Eyes," LiveScience.com
- Top story on Technorati: "Ex-Aide Says He's Lost Faith in Bush," New York Times
- Top entertainment story on Digg: "Carlos Mencia Hangs Up on Radio Show After Being Questioned About Stealing!" Dirty Rotten Gossip
- Most e-mailed story from the New York Times: "For Girls, It's Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too"
-- Vera Wang, being modest about her position in fashion. (Ella via Page Six)
Numbers
The weekend box office:
| Movie: | Weekend total: | Per-screen average: |
| 1. "Blades of Glory" | $33 million | $9,786 |
| 2. "Meet the Robinsons" | $25 million | $7,341 |
| 3. "300" | $11.2 million | $3,713 |
| 4. "TMNT" | $9.2 million | $2,935 |
| 5. "Wild Hogs" | $8.4 million | $2,621 |
Turn On
This Monday, "Lincoln Heights" (ABC Family, 7 p.m. EDT) and "Prison Break" (Fox, 8 p.m. EDT) have their season finales, a Minneapolis chef downs the creepiest grub in "Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmerman" (Travel Channel, 9 p.m. EDT), "American Experience" (PBS, check local listings) follows the career of evangelist Aimee McPherson and 25 hopeful ladies vie for a Navy Seal in the premiere of "The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman" (ABC, 9:45 p.m. EDT).
Talk
| SHOW | GUESTS | |
|---|---|---|
| Regis and Kelly (ABC, 9 a.m. EDT) | Dakota Fanning, Derek Jeter, Sarah McLachlan (repeat) | |
| The View (ABC, 11 a.m. EDT) | Chris Rock, Kerry Washington, Cyndi Lauper, guest co-host Jacque Reid (repeat) | |
| Ellen (Syndicated, check local listings) | Howie Mandel, Joey Fatone, Kym Johnson, Blue Man Group, Lynrd Skynrd | |
| Oprah (Syndicated, check local listings) | Miss USA Rachel Smith | |
| Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings) | Live Schreiber, Eric Bogosian | |
| Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EDT) | TBA | |
| Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT) | John Bolton (repeat) | |
| Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT) | Willie Nelson (repeat) | |
| David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT) | Stupid Human Tricks, Jake Gyllenhaal, Brand New (repeat) | |
| Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT) | Kurt Russell, Shia LaBeouf, Hilary Duff | |
| Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EDT) | Amy Poehler, Carmela Anthony, Josh Groban | |
| Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT) | Quentin Tarantino, Jesse L. Martin, Brian Kiley | |
| Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT) | Josh Brolin, Jason Segel, the Noisettes |
Fix contributors: Dipayan Gupta, Heather Havrilesky, Scott Lamb, Kerry Lauerman, David Marchese, Laura Miller, Andrew O'Hehir, Amy Reiter, Stephanie Zacharek
Fix logo by Rhonda Rubinstein
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