Missive From Murdoch
Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch has never fully explained why he put his Los Angeles mansion up for sale and left for New York.
But as part of an interview in the current Vanity Fair, the head of News Corp. does give readers a hint while briefly discussing his divorce last year from wife Anna.
It seems that the owner of 20th Century Fox and the L.A. Dodgers felt out of touch while living in the nation’s second-biggest city.
“I’ve got nothing against Los Angeles, except that working from there all the time I felt a bit frustrated and worried that I was losing day-to-day contacts and control of the company,” Murdoch said.
He even lays some of the blame for his divorce on the situation: “I was traveling a lot and very obsessed with business and perhaps more than normally inconsiderate,” he said.
Time Expired
A nasty battle is raging along Rodeo Drive as Beverly Hills cracks down on tour buses that don’t move along fast enough after dropping off passengers.
After the city raised the fine for that offense from $38 to $255, some tour operators threatened to skip the city altogether.
“The tourists don’t want to have to walk a couple of blocks with several bags in tow,” said Ko Ueno, director of the Japanese Tour Operators Association.
Nonsense, counters Lisa Miller of the Beverly Hills Visitors Bureau. “The tour bus staging areas are only a block or two off Rodeo Drive. We don’t need the buses blocking access and sight lines to the stores.”
The city is talking about designating a new bus staging area on Rodeo, but that’s at least a year away. In the meantime, it sounds like a good opportunity for a pedicab operator.
Out to Lunch
Paramount Studios is opening its gates to groups looking to add a little location sizzle to fund-raisers and corporate parties. But the studio shouldn’t rely on its employee cafeteria as a selling point.
On the lot, it’s no secret that the smaller and more accessible commissary at nearby Raleigh Studios is the preferred lunch spot along that block of Melrose Avenue.
“It’s not the Paramount commissary that’s the problem that’s where the high muckety-mucks go,” said one ex-Paramount employee. “It’s the cafeteria where everyone else has to go that stinks.”
‘Nightmare’ at Disneyland
A public relations snafu has pitted the “Happiest Place on Earth” against a buttoned-down bank and guess who’s not so happy anymore?
Disneyland officials are upset that Union Bank released information about a banking center for children planned at the Anaheim theme park.
The branch reportedly will feature pint-sized teller windows and ATM cards for kiddie consumers who might run a little short of cash while tripping around Tomorrowland.
After the story broke, Disneyland was deluged with calls from reporters and parents eager to learn more details. Trouble is, the plan is still a work in progress.
The result has been a “P.R. nightmare,” said Union Bank spokeswoman Sharon Woodson-Bryant.
Now, bank officials will only say that ideas are being considered to make the branch more appealing to children. Disney isn’t commenting. “Our hands are tied,” a spokesman said.
