'Twas a Circle of Fun, With Whistles

Time Warner Inc. threw itself a gala to celebrate the opening of its palatial Time Warner Center at New York's Columbus Circle last Wednesday night: Jewel, Cindy Crawford and even Jon Stewart were there, and the pricey restaurants and posh shops in the front atrium were gleaming.

Wire-service photos the next day made it look like lots of celebrity fun. You couldn't see the rude reception across the street: a 20-foot high blowup rat, accompanied by several dozen union representatives blowing whistles.

Members of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians said they were protesting Cable News Network's refusal to negotiate with the union after the network hired a number of former contract workers as full-time technicians. National Writers Union reps complained that Time Inc. publications insist that freelance writers give up all rights to articles that run in the company's publications.

"They [Time] want all of the rights for every format yet to be invented anywhere in the universe. It prevents us from reselling our rights to other regional markets as we've traditionally done for decades," said National Writers Union president Jerry Colby.

NABET rep Moe Thomas, an ABC employee, complained that CNN refuses to recognize the union as a bargaining agent.

But he said the protesters wouldn't try to block access to the party. "We don't want to ruin the evening or anything, we just want to get the message across."

Houses So Bright

A court in Florida will get a chance to find out what a difference a space makes. BrightHouse LLC, which describes itself in its complaint as an "ideation" company (translation: they create marketing concepts) has sued Bright House Networks and its corporate parent, Advance/Newhouse Communications, for trademark infringement over the brand name chosen for A/N's cable ventures.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, details the legal wrangling between the two parties since March of last year.

The Atlanta company, the no-space BrightHouse, states it trademarked its name in 1997. That business counts among its clients hometown biggies The Coca-Cola Co. (with whom it developed concepts for the Coke-themed Olympic Park during the games there) and Delta Airlines, as well as The Home Depot and the Red Lobster restaurant chain.

BrightHouse claims it demanded the cable operator cease and desist using the new brand name it began using last March.

Bright House attorneys responded there was little chance of confusion over the name because the companies have different-looking brand marks and conduct very different businesses.

But there is confusion, the Atlanta firm assured the cable company. The complaint says that between the time the name of the former Time Warner Cable systems changed to Bright House in October 2003, the marketing BrightHouse had collected 1,446 e-mails, as well as telephone calls and snail mail, from consumers trying to complain to the cable company's corporate masters about customer service.

The Atlanta firm finally sued late in December, accusing the cable company of trademark infringement, violations of the unfair trade practices acts in the states in which Bright House operates, including California, New York and Florida, and seeking an injunction against the use of the name.

Stay tuned.

Moving on Down

Employees at video-game centric G4 network are still unpacking in new digs, especially designed for the channel, in the former AT&T Digital Media Center in Los Angeles.

But a few workers are already noticing a disconcerting feature of the new plant. The office of founder and CEO Charles Hirschhorn looks right out at the entry plaza, with his workstation positioned against the glass wall.

The network has only been in the building a week and Hirschhorn is already getting teased by employees who ask if he will be taking attendance.

In the network's old location, a half-block away in West Los Angeles, Hirschhorn's office was on the 11th floor and he could look out and see the Pacific Ocean.

"Now, I overlook the smoker pod," he said wryly, adding that most workers have already taken notice of the boss's office location and have moved to the other end of the building to smoke unobserved.

Giraffe Gaffe

Sci Fi Channel's Stargate SG-1 has been soaring in the ratings, both with new shows on Friday nights and earlier years' reruns on Mondays. But no show is perfect, and an eagle-eyed Wire correspondent in Denver spotted a fun foible in the Jan. 30 episode entitled Chimera.

Short background: the show is "based" in a secret military facility within Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, but actually is filmed in Vancouver, Canada.

Dialogue between two characters — Maj. Samantha Carter and her new boyfriend, Pete Shanahan — in the episode, as reported on the Gateworld.net fan site:

Shanahan: "Come on Sam, call in sick. Spend the day with me; we'll go to the zoo."

Carter: "There's no zoo in Colorado Springs."

Gaffe, gaffe! Not only is there a zoo in the Springs — it's called the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo because it's near, you know, the mountain.

Had the episode writers only checked cmzoo.org, they'd have known better — and might have enjoyed the Live Giraffe Cam, to boot.

Contributors: Steve Donohue, Karen Brown.