Warner Bros. On Demand In China; Cable Users Drop

•Warner Brothers is the first studio to offer films on demand nationally in China. The company will be connecting directly to peoples’ television sets through a distribution with CAV Warner Home Entertainment and YOU On Demand Holdings. According to Deadline, consumers will have access to new release and catalog films via pay-per-view this summer.

•U.S. television households are may not be embracing cable, but that does not mean they aren’t watching programming. According to a study released by Nielsen, 91percent of these homes have a subscription service, and of that percentage 53.8 percent had cable, 30.2 percent had satellite television and 6.7 percent used service from a telephone company. While both satellite and telephone company video distribution have increased, cable fell by almost 2 percent. Read the story at The Los Angeles Times.

•The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science is shaking things up. According to The New York Times, they have now changed the rules to allow a variable system, meaning that the number of best picture nominees can range from 5 to 10 in any year. The number of nominees will not be publicized until the nominations have been announced.

•Regal Entertainment executive chairman Mike Campbell has taken a leave of absence for “personal reasons.” Deadline reports that CEO Amy Miles and other executives will be taking care of his responsibilities while he is away.