Hearst Corp. has long been averse to publicity about its founder, William Randolph Hearst, and the family fortune he left behind.
That may be changing a little on Tuesday when the company debuts “Citizen Hearst,” a new movie celebrating the 125-year history of the company.
The title gently spoofs the Orson Welles film “Citizen Kane,” which was based on the life of Hearst. At the time of “Kane”’s debut in 1941, it so infuriated WRH that he forbade any newspaper in the Hearst empire from reviewing it.
At the time, WRH was battling with the Pulitzer empire to be the pre-eminent newspaper baron in the country.
To be sure, the new movie was commissioned and funded by Hearst, but it did give famed documentary film director Leslie Iwerks a pretty free hand in putting the film together and sifting through the archives and newsreels.
“I think the first cut was a lot more dramatic than they might have expected,” said Iwerks. “The story is more like a roller coaster. There were a lot of ups and downs. WHR nearly lost the company in the Great Depression.”
The documentary delves into yellow journalism and WHR’s role in fostering the Spanish-American War.
The movie includes one of the last interviews with Helen Gurley Brown, the legendary editor of Cosmpolitan who transformed the title into the biggest moneymaker in the Hearst magazine empire during her 32-year reign. She died last month.
Iwerks also spends a lot of time talking to Frank Bennack, Hearst’s current chairman and CEO, who pushed for the company to complete the Hearst Building on Eighth Avenue, where a glistening tower overlooking Central Park now sits atop the art deco building that WHR had started but halted without completing in the Depression.
Today the company has 15 daily papers, 30 weeklies, 20 US magazines (nearly 300 worldwide), but it’s Hearst’s 20 percent minority stake in ESPN (a company that is controlled by Walt Disney) that is one of its biggest profit centers.
Another modern media mogul, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, is scheduled to make remarks at a champagne reception and dinner on Tuesday night.–Keith J. Kelly
Spoilsports
Our sources tell us business-model-busting Dish boss Charlie Ergen desperately wants to try to break free of the TV industry’s fixation with sports by separating the cost from the rest of the bundle.
One person close to Dish says Ergen’s idea isn’t yet cemented in reality, largely because of existing sports-league contracts, but that he’d like to loosen the firm’s dependency, given that sports-rights fees are hitting the stratosphere.
Meanwhile, CBS and Turner are mulling teaming up on the Major League Baseball cable rights to share the escalating costs, as they do on NCAA college basketball. CBS is also strongly considering bidding for the broadcast side, insiders tell On the Money.
Fox and Turner share the broadcast and cable rights until 2014. A decision about who gets what is expected to come down before the end of the month. One thing is certain: MLB will be expecting a raise on the order of what ESPN just paid, $5.6 billion over eight years.–Claire Atkinson
Glam Gramercy
Politics met tech at an intimate NYC fundraiser last week.
The city’s tech elite were mingling with the heirs to political royalty at a Gramercy loft on Thursday.
A political fundraiser was held for Joe Kennedy III, who is running for Barney Frank’s Massachusetts seat in Congress.
Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley and Facebook’s Sean Parker attended the event co-hosted by Robert F. Kennedy III, Al Gore and his son Al, our sources tell us.
Host Sam Hamadeh, a private-company investing consultant, lent his 4,000 square-foot loft for the affair. He did not return calls for comment.
Venture capitalists Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures and Thatcher Bell of Draper Fisher Jurvetson also were on hand.–Garett Sloane
K marketing
The Kardashian sisters launched their newest fashion product, Kardashian Kurves, denim for women sizes 18-24 on Friday in Yonkers.
The reality TV stars launched their Kardashian Kollection clothing line for Sears a year ago with everything from women’s apparel, handbags, lingerie, accessories and shoes.
They say of the new Kurves line, “We wanted to offer a line for all women, no matter the size,” said Khloe.
Kourtney, Kim and Khloe “obviously promote their female bodies, and they are always the first to be proud of their curves,” according to Bruno Schiavi, the fashion designer and owner of Jupi Corp., the Kardashians’ licensee.
“Three days ago we launched denim and we have been inundated,” said Schiavi. Last October, he said that collection was projected to make $200 million a year and he confirmed the figure was “in the realm of that.”–Julie Earle-Levine