NEWS: Product Placement, Rosa Rio, SOAPnet, CORRIE

Tampa Theatre plans Saturday tribute to soap organist Rosa Rio‎
Rio, who had played the theatre's Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ since 1996, was the last of the original silent film accompanists, having played in movie theaters in New Orleans, Philadelphia and New York in the 1920s. In her radio soap organ days, she was known as "Queen of the Soaps."

Disney may seek higher fee for Junior than SOAPnet
Disney Channels Worldwide president Carolina Lightcap said she’s confident Disney Junior will meet its distribution goals by launch. It’s unclear whether Disney will seek higher fees than SOAPnet’s current 12 cents per subscriber, or try to package the new service with other kids-targeted networks like Disney Channel or Disney XD or other new services like ESPN 3D.

Brian Frons added about the end of SOAPnet: "With our soaps, we just make money off of broadcast — there’s no real ancillary revenue, not very much in the international market or in merchandising."

As stations search for a sustainable business model, product placements keep seeping into local TV
Stations, battered by the recent recession, are increasingly confronted by the lure of product placement lucre, and the effect it may or may not have on years of viewer trust. Branded integrations have long been a staple of network entertainment programming—Telemundo, for one, built an ersatz Subway restaurant at its studio in Colombia and flew in brand spokesman Jared for an elaborate plug. And now they are becoming increasingly common in local TV.

CORONATION STREET's HD debut draws more than 500,000 viewers
Coronation Street's first high-definition broadcast proved an instant hit with viewers, attracting more than 500,000 viewers to the ITV1 HD channel last night.

DJ Tony Okungbowa from ELLEN Guest Stars on B&B, June 1-4 & 7
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL's hot and sizzling summer storyline kicks off when DJ Tony Okungbowa of THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW guest stars as "Dempsey, Tuesday, June 1-Friday, June 4 and Monday, June 7 on CBS. Rapper Daddy Yankee will appear June 1-4 and 7, and THE PRICE IS RIGHT model Manuel Arbelaez appears June 4 and June 7.