Jack Mathews, the New York Daily News critic who has sometimes steamed studio executives by breaking the usual day-of-release embargo on movies -- he did so in 1999 with Star Wars -- Episode I: The Phantom Menace and again in 2003 with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King -- has become the first major newspaper critic to review Dreamgirls (presumably because the film premiered in New York on Monday). In his review, he writes that former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson "inscribes her name on an Oscar" for her performance. "How strange and wonderful," he adds, "that a singer four years removed from gigs on Disney cruise ships could win a role as important as Effie and own it as completely as Hudson. If the movie were as powerful as she is, it would blow out the speakers" at the theaters where it opens on Dec. 15. Meanwhile, news reports on Tuesday told of a standing ovation for the film after it was screened at the Monday premiere.

Just days before the release of the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller Blood Diamond, which deals in part with the diamond-financed civil war in Sierra Leone less than a decade ago, State Department officials are telling reporters that they are concerned that the movie will harm Africa's legitimate diamond industry. At a briefing on Tuesday, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Paul Simons said that while it was true that 4-15 percent of the world's supply of rough diamonds once came from conflict areas, controls have been in place since 2002 that have reduced the supply to "significantly less than 1 percent." However, Charmian Gooch, executive director of Global Witness, suggested that, given the value of diamonds, even such a small amount is significant. In a statement, Gooch said, "The story is clear: blood diamonds are still being sold, and consumers cannot completely trust that these blood-soaked gems are being kept out of stores." And Rory Anderson of World Vision said that the movie "illustrates the incredible devastation the illegal diamond trade has caused -- and continues to cause."

A recent survey has concluded that 83 percent of moviegoers are satisfied with the quality of current firms. The survey was conducted by PA Consulting and reported in today's (Wednesday) Daily Variety.In an interview with the trade publication, Mike Hunter of PA called the result a surprise and noted, "The satisfaction with the quality of films was consistent everywhere we polled." Nine cities were targeted by the company, which quizzed 2,000 moviegoers. The survey also indicated that the greatest factor keeping moviegoers away from theaters was ticket prices, with 86 percent saying that they'd attend more often if prices were cut in half.

Billionaire media tycoon and sometime songwriter Edgar Bronfman, who, with other investors bought Warner Music Group for $2.6 billion in 2003, has told the Reuters Media and Marketing Summit in New York that he was "fairly certain" that some of his children had illegally downloaded music from the Internet. "I explained to them what I believe is right, that the principle is that stealing music is stealing music," the Warner Music Group CEO told the conference. "I can assure you they no longer do that." In 2000, Bronfman, who then controlled Universal Pictures and Universal Music, declared that intellectual property must be protected "across the board, in every case, with no exceptions and no sophistry about a changing world." He vowed to track down all of those who "demonstrate contempt for law and copyright ... [in] every territory, in every court in every venue, wherever our fundamental rights are being assaulted and attacked." Meanwhile, police on Tuesday reported the latest arrests for online piracy, saying that John Acas and Sheryl Demesa stole screeners intended for a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and posted them on the Internet.

In the hope of winning back some of the customers it lost to Netflix, Blockbuster is launching a promotion that will give Netflix subscribers a free movie rental for each Netflix address flap they bring in. In an interview with Home Media Retailing magazine, Blockbuster chief John Antioco said, "We want these movie fans to experience getting the movies they want without the wait so they never have to be without a movie."

With ABC airing a heavy load of reruns last week, NBC was able to capture first place in the ratings among the 18-49-year-old audience most prized by advertisers. CBS came out on top once again among overall viewers. (It has won every week of the current season, now in its 11th week.) NBC's success could also be attributed to the growing success of Heroes, arguably the biggest new hit of the current season, and to Sunday Night Football. The network has also seen a resurgence of ratings for E.R. on Thursday nights, now that it no longer competes against ABC's Grey's Anatomy. In overall numbers, CBS finished the week with an average 7.5 rating and a 12 share. NBC placed second with a 6.7/11, edging out ABC, which posted a 6.4/10. Fox trailed with a 5.2/8.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 15.2/23; 2. NFL Sunday (overrun), Fox, 13.8/23; 3. Criminal Minds, CBS, 11.5/18; 4. CSI: Miami, CBS, 11.2/18; 4. NCIS, CBS, 11.2/17; 6. Deal Or No Deal (Monday), NBC, 10.8/16; 7. CSI: NY, CBS, 10.6/18; 8. House, Fox, 10.5/16; 9. The OT, Fox, 10.4/17; 10. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 10.0/15; 10. (Tie) NBC Sunday Night Football, NBC, 10.0/16.

ABC is moving Lost out of the path of the American Idol juggernaut and will air it at 10:00 p.m. on Wednesdays when it returns on February 7. Lost had previously aired at 9:00 p.m., an hour that will now be devoted to two new comedy shows, The Knights of Prosperity and In Case of Emergency, which will premiere on January 3. The network has not decided what it will air in the 10:00 p.m. slot until Lost Returns. Day Break, the network's current fill-in for Lost, has generated dismal ratings. Some analysts are predicting that the newsmagazine Primetime will hold down the fort. Meanwhile, CBS's Criminal Minds, which managed to eke out a small victory over Lost in the latter show's last two weeks before its hiatus, registered its strongest numbers yet last week, putting it at third place for the week. CBS further announced that the crime show has been given the prized slot following the Super Bowl on Feb. 4.

Former Good Morning America executive producer Shelly Ross is leaving ABC after 17 years after the network declined to renew her contract. In an interview with the New York Observer, Ross indicated that she was taken by surprise in 2004 when she was ousted as GMA's producer. "Eventually [ABC News chief] David Westin asked me to his office, and he said, 'Something's come up and I need to reassign you.' I was, you know, not happy about it. I can't hide any of that." A former writer for the National Enquirer, Ross acknowledges that she brought many of the tabloid's features to television, but, she told the Observer, "I don't like where my innovations have wound up. ... Now I really feel like I watch the murder of the month, the murder of the week, the murder of the day. I just see garden-variety murders without anything interesting."

CNN co-founder Reese Schonfeld has taken note of MSNBC's continued rise in the ratings -- particularly against Headline News. "Six months ago Headline and MSNBC were running neck and neck, now it isn't even a horse race. The addition to Headline's primetime lineup of the outrageous Nancy Grace and the slightly demagogic Glenn Beck has done nothing to close the gap," Schonfeld wrote on his website, meandted.com, Tuesday. He pointed out also that MSNBC has been pulling out ahead of all cable news networks in viewers 18-34. However, he added, "That's not saying much because all the news networks do miserably in that demographic."

Reminiscent of the early days of television when NBC's nightly newscast was titled The Camel News Caravan, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams aired with a single sponsor, Philips Electronics, on Monday and pulled well ahead of its rivals. According to the TVNewser website, the Brian Williams-anchored newscast drew 10.3 million viewers, substantially ahead of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson's 9.2 million and miles ahead of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, which drew only 8 million.

Former ABC television chief Lloyd Braun has quit Yahoo! after plans to restructure the company left him in a diminished role, according to published reports. In an interview with today's (Wednesday) Los Angeles Times, Braun said, "I'm really ready for another challenge, perhaps one that combines old media and new media." Shares in Yahoo! have fallen 30 percent over the past year.

Townhall.com, a website operated by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, has blasted NBC's decision to renew Aaron Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Sorkin, it said Tuesday, "will get to continue his anti-Christianity themed show despite low ratings." The website accused Sorkin not only of pushing "his radical agenda on television," but of using his wealth to fund liberal causes and political candidates.