Ticketmaster settles case

February 24, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ticketmaster agreed Monday to change its online ticket sales process after butting heads with Bruce Springsteen and his fans.

Ticketmaster reached a settlement with New Jersey, where the Springsteen concert in question had been scheduled, said state Attorney General Anne Milgram.

The changes apply to all Ticket-master sales nationwide, she said.

Ticketmaster said in a statement Monday that the problem was caused by a software glitch. The “voluntary agreement” with the attorney general just formalizes changes the company had already implemented, the company said.

Springsteen ticket-seekers were redirected from the main Ticketmaster site to a subsidiary that charged more. Milgram said at the time that redirecting them might have violated the state’s consumer fraud act.

Ticketmaster did not admit wrongdoing but agreed to pay the state $350,000, Milgram said.

Oscar viewership rises

NEW YORK — An estimated 36.3 million people watched this year’s Academy Awards, an increase of more than 4 million from last year’s least-watched Oscars ceremony ever.

Though ABC was heartened by the larger audience, especially among younger viewers, there are still only two Oscar telecasts on record with fewer viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research: in 2008 and 2003.

Hugh Jackman was the host of Sunday’s show, where “Slumdog Millionaire” was the big winner.

The largest Oscars audience on record was in 1998.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Abe Vigoda is 88. Actor Steven Hill (“Law and Order”) is 87. Actor Dominic Chianese (“The Sopranos”) is 78. Actor Barry Bostwick is 64. Actor Edward James Olmos is 62. Musician George Thorogood is 59. News correspondent Paula Zahn is 53. Country singer Sammy Kershaw is 51. Actor Billy Zane is 43. Drummer Matt McGinley of Gym Class Heroes is 26.