The Lion Roars, Tamely

Leo Hindery said media titans Sumner Redstone and John Malone share a shortcoming: "They're both hotheads." That's about the worst thing Leo manages to say about either Viacom Inc.'s Redstone or Liberty Media Corp.'s Malone, who are portrayed as dealmaking geniuses in The Biggest Game Of All
(The Free Press, $25, with a February release date) — Hindery's career memoir written with the aide of Wall Street Journal
reporter Leslie Cauley.

Hindery entered the big leagues by turning a $20,000 cable investment into a $100 million fortune — he calls it a "nest egg" — and by helping Malone dump Tele-Communications Inc. on AT&T Corp. Hindery isn't shy about saying whom he likes and dislikes. But no one takes a worse pounding than former AT&T CEO C. Michael Armstrong, who Hindery said vastly overpaid for TCI and failed to perform rudimentary due diligence that would have uncovered TCI's arthritic plant and gold-plated programming contracts with Liberty's Starz Encore LLC.

Hindery, currently the CEO of the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network, also takes a Louisville Slugger to the head of Chuck and Jim Dolan of Cablevision Corp. for not carrying his pricey baseball network on basic. Thought the Baby Bells had given up on cable? He reveals Verizon Communications tried to coax him and Malone into taking a run at AT&T Broadband. Hindery predicts more big deals are coming and insists that the AOL Time Warner merger was "smart strategically" and deserves more time to work.

Dolan Fest

Leo Hindery didn't appear to be present at the Dolans' big holiday event last Thursday, a benefit for the Lustgarten Foundation at Manhattan's Irving Plaza. The bash raised $450,000 for the fight against pancreatic cancer, according to bandleader Jim Dolan. The Cablevision CEO's band, JD & The Straight Shot, played for at least four hours. The CEO played guitar (highlight: his solo on the Grateful Dead's "Bertha") and sang a little. AOL Time Warner chief Richard Parsons read an adapted version of The Night Before Christmas. It was a little different than the one that appears on page 28, after Ed Adler and company at AOL TW got done with it. It also was accompanied pretty hilariously with a slide show depicting the verses. Here's their ending:

"Looking for cookies, Santa found only a plate, next to a short, nasty note about the new cable rate.

"Merry Christmas, Rupert exclaimed, as he soared out of sight — Or if you'd rather, you can kiss my . . . satellite!"

'Rudy', In Canada?

Here's a vote for the biggest unsolved mystery this Christmas: the call by the masterminds behind Rudy, one of USA Network's biggest made-for 2003 features, to make like Rudolph — the reindeer, that is, not the movie's subject, former New York City Mayor Giuliani — and head up to Canada for filming.

Red-nosed inquiring minds want to know why such a quintessential New York figure as Giuliani, portrayed by James Woods, is getting a docudrama produced mostly north of NYC's borders. Red-nosed, because they don't like it one, flaky bit. Indeed, before saluting AMC Networks president Kate McEnroe with a local honor two weeks ago, New York Women in Film and Television put on a Rudy
rant. NYWIF president Marcie Setlow took USA to the woodshed for its venue call. "There's enough firepower in this room to insure that New York stories get shot in New York," she declared to applause. "We're hoping that when the Mayor Bloomberg story gets shot, it gets shot in New York."

One scene, where Giuliani breaks off an affair with a staff member, was shot in Central Park late last month, according to press reports.

Carlton America, the production company responsible for Rudy, is maintaining a wall of silence over the decision. USA confirmed that a portion of principal photography was done in the Big Apple. "We are paying a premium to do so," a network spokesperson added. "We support any efforts that would make production in the U.S. more economically feasible."

If you think this situation is frosty, consider the chills New York PR firm The Lippin Group is going through. They represent both Carlton America and NYWIF.

Side Jobs

A sad sign of the times: While Christmas-tree shopping, after selecting a fir that would not sink the household budget, one of The Wire's brave souls sought help from lot personnel to wrangle the tree to the family car. She was surprised to see, when the help arrived, he was wearing a Charter Communications Inc. work shirt.

"You work for the company?" our shopper said, pointing to the logo.

"Yeah, sometimes," said a voice from under the moving tree.

"You a subcontractor?" she said.

"Yeah. But you gotta make ends meet," he said, lashing the tree to the car.

Programming Note

Game Show Network will revive a special 1977 To Tell the Truth
episode featuring Frank Abagnale as one of the subjects.

If the name doesn't sound familiar to you, be patient until Friday (Dec. 27). He's the young con man portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in Steven Spielberg's fact-based feature Catch Me If You Can, which hits theaters that day.

As of last week, GSN slotted its Abagnale Truth
episode for two plays Dec. 29 and a third Jan. 2.

Play your wishes well the rest of 2002, and from all at The Wire, happy 2003.