Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer swings to profit

Los Angeles Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. swung to a profit in the third quarter on the strength of its TV shows and revenue from sales of DVDs of new releases and library titles.

MGM’s hit film “Barbershop” also helped brighten the quarter and will contribute to future earnings with a sequel and possible TV series, the company said Tuesday.

MGM reported net income of $11.7 million, or 5 cents per share, for the three months that ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $16 million, or 7 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Revenue declined slightly to $381 million compared with revenue of $393 million in the same period last year. Operationally, MGM’s income tripled to $28.7 million compared with $9.2 million in the third quarter of last year.

For the first nine months of the year, MGM reported a net loss of $201 million compared with a loss of $94 million in the same period last year, before the effect of accounting changes. Adjusting for accounting changes, which changed how media companies expense the cost of marketing films, MGM’s nine-month loss in 2001 was $477 million.

Executives said MGM would see a profit in the fourth quarter, despite the cost of launching an expensive marketing campaign for its new James Bond film, “Die Another Day.” The movie, starring Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry, opens Nov. 22.

MGM said it plans four sequels in the next 18 months, including a second installment of last year’s hit “Legally Blonde,” starring Reese Witherspoon. MGM has also extended an option for ABC Television to develop a series based on the movie after the sequel, “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde,” is released next July.

Profits from DVD sales are steadily increasing, the company said. And its TV division is hoping to create a new series based on its library title “Carrie.” A two-hour pilot is to air Nov. 4 on NBC.

Alabama Hall of Fame to induct Harris

Mobile, Ala. Emmylou Harris is among the inductees for the Alabama Music Hall of Fame’s class of 2003.

The 55-year-old singer will be inducted at an awards banquet and show in Mobile on Jan. 25, the Hall of Fame announced Monday. Other inductees include soul singers Clarence Carter and Eddie Floyd, songwriter Mack Vickery and jazz orchestra leader James Reese Europe.

Harris, who was born in Birmingham, has been an influential force in country, folk and pop since the early 1970s. She’s among the artists on the Grammy-winning “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” album.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the fact that Emmylou will be inducted and that she’ll be performing at the induction banquet,” said David Johnson, the hall of fame’s executive director.

“We’ve got a great lineup of music achievers, and we’re going to have an absolutely incredible show.”

NBC to cancel family drama

Providence, R.I. The family drama “Providence,” starring Melina Kanakaredes, will end a four-year run with a two-hour series finale on Dec. 20, NBC announced.

The series debuted as a midseason replacement in January 1999. Kanakaredes stars as Dr. Sydney Hansen, a Los Angeles plastic surgeon who quits her job and moves home to Providence to be with her family after her mother’s death.

“NBC owes a great deal of gratitude to the cast and crew of ‘Providence,’ which turned the lights on for the network on Fridays when it premiered,” NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker said Monday.

Marc Berman, a television analyst for the trade journal Mediaweek, said “Providence” averaged 9.83 million viewers so far this season, down from 11.85 million last year.

The series, filmed mostly in Los Angeles, helped remake the image of Providence. The city struggled economically in the latter decades of the 20th century and is now enjoying a rebirth.