The timekeeper cites three news sources in as many weeks that have noted that the $500 million Reliance/DreamWorks deal is "a week" away from closing. The Wall Street Journal was a little more vague when breaking the story last June, reporting only that the parties were "close" to a deal. A fun theory floated at the time suggested outgoing 'Works partner David Geffen fed the story to the Journal to entice a bid from Rupert Murdoch himself, whose 20th Century Fox is on the short (if unlikely) list of potential DreamWorks distributors:

"This is what [Geffen] does really well," a studio veteran said after details of DreamWorks' new deal fanned across the film industry like a Malibu fire. On close inspection, the source explained, those details are not only weeks away from being worked into a contract, but out there in a way to stir up interest from interlopers. Even the scoop by which the deal-in-progress became public — page one, above the fold, in The Wall Street Journal — appeared orchestrated.

Our own DreamWorks digging unearthed little new news, and our Magic 8-Ball isn't much help either, with the inquiry, "Will Steven Spielberg be a free man?" first turning up the response, "Ask again later," followed by, "Outlook good." Whatever — if it's good enough for the Journal, then it's good enough for us.

• Why Is This DreamWorks-Reliance Deal Taking So Long? [The Business Sheet]

How do you Hulu? You don't have to pay anything, download a special player or even register your name or e-mail address. The site, which went up in mid-March, is free; in exchange for watching relatively brief ads, you get access to complete high-resolution episodes of top TV series such as "24" and "30 Rock," as well as impressively cataloged clips from "Saturday Night Live" and other shows.

Wow. Imagine how excited he'll be when he finds out about BitTorrent. Jests aside, Hulu may not seem like much of an innovation to anyone with more than a passing familiarity with the internet. But according to Collins, Hulu represents the next step in Rupert Murdoch's plan to rule the world. Hulu's innovation is not what it can do — it's what it can't do.

As countless media pundits have informed us over the years, the internet has democratized media, allowing any kid with a webcam to become famous by posting video of himself humping an ottoman or crying about Britney Spears. Almost every video site from funnyordie to VEOH allows people to post their own work. Not Hulu. It's "professional" video only. No Chocolate Rain allowed here!

Its rivals think that's a bad idea. Said Dmitry Shapiro, VEOH's founder,

"That's how the Internet was built; everyone participates," Shapiro said in an interview. "That is really the complete opposite of what Hulu is based on," he added, because Hulu doesn't allow users to post their own video. "Closed systems don't work on the Internet."

The Hulu-worshipping Collins quickly revealed the fallacy of his argument, leaving Shapiro stammering.

(When I raised the example of Apple's iTunes music and video store as a type of closed system that's done quite well, Shapiro dismissed it as "an anomaly.")

Meanwhile, in his castle, Murdoch looked at Hulu's impressive stats (63 million total streams during April, good for 10th best on the Internet) and cackled with glee. He rubbed his claws together, in eager anticipation of the day when everything on the internet would be created by his minions.

• Where TV and the Web converge, there is Hulu [LAT]

· Meanwhile, ABC and CBS fired some of their final first-run, scripted TV bullets at each other Thursday night, with new episodes of Grey's winning the 18-49 demo and CSI taking a victory in total viewers. [THR]
· The Devil Wears Prada's Anne Hathaway! How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days' Kate Hudson! Starring in...Bride Wars! (Two best friends, one wedding date, fatal gunfire etc etc.) [Variety]
· Realizing that only rival Sumner Redstone lives forever, Rupert Murdoch has started to hand over the reigns of New Corp to son James. [THR]

· Sundance's high-profile "Premieres" titles have been revealed, including Jack Black/Mos Def/Michel Gondry project Be Kind Rewind and Alan Ball's directorial debut, Towelhead. [Variety]
· Running out of new episodes of its scripted series, NBC is cramming three extra hours of reality shows onto its early 2008 schedule, with American Gladiators, The Biggest Loser and 1 vs. 100 filling timeslot holes caused by the strike. "We're kicking off the New Year with a craptastic, writer-free bang!" crows NBC's head of alternative programming. [Variety]
· Cameron Diaz's Christmas wish is granted as Shrek the Halls puts up "socko" (translation: huge) Nielsens Wednesday night, ensuring that future generations of children will be spending the holidays with their favorite Santa-ogre. [Variety]

· Finding Wednesday's ShowrunnerPalooza to be a great success, the WGA has even higher hopes for this morning'smore ambitious Striking Man festival at Fox Plaza, during which between 2,000-4,000 Guild picketers, hundreds of members of the media, and countless News Corp employees idling in traffic jams will join together to form an hours-long protest community and listen to an acoustic set by Tom Morello (we were just joking about the Rage performance last time, but now it's for real). At the conclusion of the event, a 50-foot tall effigy of Rupert Murdoch constructed from surplus picket signs will be burned to the ground, a dramatic expression of solidarity that will be cheered wildly by the thousands of red-shirted strikers who tossed matches into the pyre. [THR]

· Will studios turn to the U.K., where the WGA has no jurisdiction, for stopgap screenwriting labor? Beware the Blighty Scab Menace! [Variety]
· Why They Fight, Multilingual Equine Stars Edition: "'This morning, I picketed with an 86 year writer, who wrote for 'Mr. Ed.' He said, 'It pisses me off that that fucking horse wound up speaking Italian, Polish and Rumanian, and I never made more than a nickel.'" [United Hollywood]
· TV's favorite sitcom Neanderthals should be grateful for the strike, which probably will push the show's inevitable cancellation date back a bit. [LAT]
· An anonymous producer wants to collect the names of everyone who's lost a job due to the strike, then mail it off to WGA and AMPTP presidents Patric Verrone and Nick "Why Does That Pretty TV Doctor Think I'm A Weiner?" Counter, hoping to shame them into restarting negotiations. [DHD]
· Candy Spelling makes her pitch to become a strike mediator. Also: pie sounds delicious right about now.[Scribe Vibe]

• Complete Hollywood StrikeWatch Coverage

Almost completely lost in the media chaos following Anna Nicole Smith's death was the fact that soon after News Corp. potentate Rupert Murdoch shocked—shocked!—the entertainment industry by bragging that his 20th Century Fox division had locked up Sacha Baron Cohen for a Borat sequel, the studio had to very delicately inform the world that while Fox loves and admires Cohen and would like nothing better than to lavish millions of dollars upon him for such a project, things were not quite as contractually finalized (the phrases "casual discussions" and "too preliminary to discuss" figured in the statement) as the boss might have erroneously hinted. Following such a public backtracking off a blockbuster announcement, it's not too hard to imagine that an embarrassed Murdoch's vague order to "Make this go away. I don't care how," being taken by an overeager underling as an opportunity to demonstrate his skill in creating the kind of media smokescreen only achievable by the mysterious and unexpected passing of a troubled celebrity.

Then again: Nah. Nothing less than a fatal Lohan mishap would be enough to impress Murdoch.

[Photo: GettyImages]

• Fox studio puts talk of "Borat" sequel on ice [Reuters]
• Rupert Murdoch Reveals Plans For 'Borat 2'; First Lawsuit From Angry Victim To Be Filed Later Today [Reuters]

Universal Studios won the rights to [Bruno] last year. However, once that is completed, Mr Baron Cohen will "come back and do Borat Two," Mr Murdoch said during an interview at a conference in New York.

The revelation of plans for another Borat movie, which have not been announced by Mr Murdoch's film studios or Mr Baron Cohen, will come as some surprise as the huge popularity of Borat has led people to believe it would be hard for the character to continue to fool people into speaking to him. [...]

Mr Murdoch said his 20th Century Fox film division did look at buying the rights to the Bruno movie but that they were not prepared to outbid rivals as Mr Baron Cohen "would not even show us the script".

The Borat movie has generated huge earnings for News Corp, and its film division reported record earnings on Wednesday.

Mr Murdoch, speaking at a conference organised by McGraw-Hill, said he had seen the first Borat movie three times and "laughed like hell".

How to execute another Borat film that now the character is universally recognized (and a frequent target of lawsuits) is a secondary concern; as the original approaches $250 million in worldwide box office, Fox doesn't particularly care if the sequel consists of nothing more than footage of the faux Kazakh's "victims" trying to concentrate on reading some lengthy legal waivers as Borat's hirsute, overweight producer once again tries to suffocate him with the respiration-hampering fumes of his fetid taint.

• High five! Murdoch signs up Borat 2 [FT.com]

The 83-year-old Redstone married his second wife, Paula Fortunato, a former New York schoolteacher who is now 44, in 2003.

Murdoch, 75, took his third wife, Wendi Deng, in 1999. The former executive at News Corp.'s Asian satellite service is 37.

Call it the "fountain of youth effect," said Stuart Fischoff, professor emeritus of media psychology at Cal State L.A.

He says younger wives can be revitalizing for aging lions. "It's a generalized arouser, giving a sense of purpose, a new spirit ... a new inspiration," he said.

The Times further points out Redstone's youth-sustaining passion for collecting exotic fish, a pursuit that should dovetail nicely with his new bride-collecting hobby by allowing him to dispose of his current partner in an assiduously maintained piranha tank when she passes her trophy wife expiration date sometime in the next half-decade.

• Younger Wife, Exotic Fish: The Mogul's Secret to Vitality [LAT]
• The Last of the Titans [LAT]

For our company, next year may yet be even more eventful than this one. Competition will grow more fierce. Yet I have full confidence that we can rise to the challenge. Our company has not only thrived on change, we have been a catalyst for change. We have created new businesses and pioneered new products. We have the talent, the energy - and the urgency - to forge ahead. I know that through your hard work, we can, and we will.

The full e-mail, which will leave no heart-cockle unwarmed, follows after the jump:

From: Fox Communications Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 11:43 AM To: Fox Communications Subject: Season's Greetings from Rupert Murdoch

Dear Colleagues,

As the year comes to a close, I want to thank all of you for another outstanding year. Each of our divisions excelled and our company posted record revenues and profits. Yet there is much more to the spirit of this company - and to this season - than just the bottom line.

Among the many highlights of this eventful year, your response to the natural disasters that took so many innocent lives and destroyed or disrupted whole regions stands out. Together our company and employees contributed more than $8 million to help the victims of the South Asian tsunami. When catastrophe struck again less than a year later, in the forms of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, you rose to the occasion once more, generously donating more than $675,000. Nothing could better illustrate the values of our company, and I am inspired by your commitment to helping those in need.

This year, I had the good fortune to meet many of you and visit your places of work. My travels took me from New York to China, India, Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy and Los Angeles - nearly every place we have a business interest. I came away more impressed than ever by the quality of our operations and especially of our people. It is clear that wherever we operate, there is one standard by which we measure ourselves: excellence.

Since last year, our corporate family has grown. We have acquired exciting new businesses and dramatically expanded our presence on the Internet. In the months and years to come, our company will have no higher priority than ensuring that we are as successful online as we have been in print and on the big and small screens. We will pursue the same strategy as always: offer the customer the highest quality content and the widest possible choices. But we will do it in new venues, in a media environment that is changing faster than ever. As we transform our company - and all its divisions - into an Internet heavyweight, we will lead, not follow.

For our company, next year may yet be even more eventful than this one. Competition will grow more fierce. Yet I have full confidence that we can rise to the challenge. Our company has not only thrived on change, we have been a catalyst for change. We have created new businesses and pioneered new products. We have the talent, the energy - and the urgency - to forge ahead. I know that through your hard work, we can, and we will.

So this holiday season, let us stop to cherish and appreciate those dearest to us. And let us look forward to another year of great things for our company, and for us all.

With my warmest wishes for a joyous Holiday Season,

Rupert Murdoch

• Previously: Rupert’s Holiday Greetings [Defamer]

• Rupert [MySpace]
• Dude, Rupert Murdoch Is Totally In My Friend Space [Defamer]

• News Corp. to Acquire MySpace [LAT]