Filed under: MISC
Beginning on Monday, I will bring you a special edition daily from Digital Hollywood, an industry conference combining the media and technology worlds in one happy conference. Happy weekending all.
http://www.digitalhollywood.com/
Online Site of the Week
On the site (launched today), users can post videos outlining what they think is sexy in a mate. Other users can rate these videos or post their own.
Created entirely in Las Vegas, this clever and sophisticated new show from Cinemax, Sin City Diaries, is all about turning fantasy into reality. World-renowned model and actress, Amber Smith, plays Angelica, a VIP concierge whose every day mission is to make her clients’ dreams come true.
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
Time Warner chief Dick Parsons is signaling that he might drop at least his CEO title in the next year or two and is again backing COO Jeff Bewkes as his heir apparent. He also is shooting down talk about a possible sale of Time Inc. “Magazines will be around for a long time,” he says. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3if6219759863b5ce94a11540c2dad3594 6/8)
Paris Hilton has deep-pocketed fans in corporate America, writes Jonathan Berr. Comcast’s E! cable network is the newest home to Hilton’s “The Simple Life.” Warner Music is putting out Hilton’s album “Paris.” Time Warner’s TMZ.com is attracting millions of visitors seeking Hilton gossip. (http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/06/07/paris-hilton-corporate-america-profits-handsomely-from-her-anti/ 6/7)
MTV will comb through videos uploaded by consumers on the new Web sites for two new series, “Short Circuitz” and “Yo’ Momma,” and then air the best clips on episodes of the shows. Viewers will be able to record, upload and submit their own sketches. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966485.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1 6/7)
To fight the challenge posed by TiVo, NBC is borrowing a tactic from television’s early days — live commercials. “The Tonight Show” will air a live skit promoting car satellite-navigation devices made by Garmin International. The skit will air immediately before the show goes to commercial break. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118126715054728630-b4wstW1H0DVPEyfVrXuJTqpjEH0_20070615.html 6/8)
Disney and Cox and are working on a deal that would add ABC shows such as “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy” to Cox’s VOD tier the day after they’re broadcast. Since the shows would be on VOD, subscribers wouldn’t be able to skip commercials like they can in a DVR-environment. (MediaPost Communications 6/7)
HBO led the cable industry by racking up nine nominations from the Television Critics Association Awards. Showtime and ABC Family also garnered multiple nominations. The winners are scheduled to be announced July 21. (Multichannel News 6/7)
The FCC also wants cable and satellite customers to have the choice to rent or own their converter boxes, with the ability to choose which bells and whistles they prefer. Beginning July 1, operators must supply only set tops that take “cable cards,” designed to guarantee interoperability. The initial TV cable card experiment, which was supposed to replace the set top with cards that slide directly into the TV set, has failed thus far; only 250,000 homes have them deployed, according to The Wall Street Journal.
While executives from RCN and iN Demand haven’t confirmed the deal, RCN is promoting Major League Baseball’s “Extra Innings” package to its subscribers. It’s believed the deal is the first time iN Demand, which is jointly owned by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Advance/Newhouse has distributed content to overbuilder RCN. (Multichannel News 6/7)
Programming from the Here cable network will become available via monthly subscription to Time Warner Cable digital customers in Southern California. The gay-themed programming is currently available on a pay-per-view tier, but it will cost interested subscribers $7.95 a month once it moves to digital July 1. (Variety 6/7)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
TV Guide, Fuel TV, Oxygen, Speed and the Sundance Channel have signed on to NBC Universal and News Corp.’s joint online video venture. The new video portal is set to launch this summer. (Yahoo!/Adweek.com 6/7)
NBC debuted Live From The Peacock Room, a summer concert series that takes place in the virtual reality site Second Life. The concerts, which kicked off yesterday, will take place on top of the NBCU building and feature artists such as Fuel, Drowning Pool, Stereo Suite, Les Claypool, Novah, Dispatch, Jacob Miller and Michael Penn. VirtualNBC will host archive the shows for non-Second Life residents.
Michael Moore launched a YouTube channel to solicit “healthcare horror stories” leading up to the release of Sicko on June 29. He is planning to share the more compelling videos with Congress to strengthen his case for reform.
Wine aficionados have a couple of new resources to turn to on the web. TheWineryChannel.tv launched the first all-video website devoted to wine enthusiasts, with an initial line-up of 12 shows on various topics focusing on the “stories” behind established and up-and-coming vineyards. Snooth is peer review platform that encourages users to rate and catalog wines. It has built a database of over 300,000 labels and offers recommendations and ratings from users and professional critics.
Video sharing site Break.com launched a new video player with more TV-like features. Videos can be paused, played in slow motion or skipped using the “reel” feature. Brightness, contrast, saturation and smoothing can also be adjusted, and the screen can be resized with a drag of the mouse, without interrupting the video.
Azooca launched a new Video Mail application that allows users to send and receive video emails through its free web-based service. The video, which can be sent directly from a webcam, is received and stored on Azooca’s servers instead of the user’s desktops. Each video message is limited to 1 minute in length or 10 MB in size, and each user’s mailbox can store up to 250 MB of messages.
People in cities with lower broadband penetration tend to watch more TV than people in cities with higher penetration rates, according to an eMarketer analysis of The Media Audit’s National 2006 report on local media markets. However, adults in the five cities with lower broadband penetration rates actually consumed more total media per day (603 minutes) than the five cities with the highest penetration rates (586 minutes).
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Sprint unveiled a new mobile search service called Slifter that helps shoppers locate products and services in their local areas. It also provides price and availability information and directions to the stores. GPSShopper is providing the GPS-based technology, which replaces a zip-code based service, found to be difficult to use when users are in an unfamiliar area.
The U.S. International Trade Commission barred imports of new models of cellphones containing chips made by Qualcomm that provide high-speed Internet access on mobile phones. The company was found to have infringed on patents held by rival Broadcom. The move represents something of a compromise, as Broadcom had asked for a ban on imports of all devices containing the chips instead of just future models. But the ruling is going to cause nightmares for wireless carriers rushing to roll out new models with touch-screens, built-in media players and other third-generation features to try and compete with the upcoming Apple iPhone going on sale June 29. Ironically the iPhone is unlikely to be effected because it operates on AT&T’s older “Edge” based network.
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft’s new Zune music player will be sold exclusively for 30 days in Target stores and online at Target’s partner, Amazon.com. The debut of the red Zune, which costs $220, coincides with Father’s Day shopping. (MediaPost Communications 6/8)
Size and comfort issues plague the new crop of high-definition camcorders released by Sanyo and Canon, according to a reviewer from The International Herald-Tribune. However, a third hybrid device released by Panasonic captures quality high-def video, although the quality of its still images remain questionable. (International Herald Tribune 6/7)
Sony unveiled 14 new full-high-definition TV sets Wednesday, many of which add updated features to the company’s popular BRAVIA line. The new offerings will include slimmer cabinets, HDMI 1.3 and full 1080p resolution. (Electronic Engineering Times (Asia) 6/7)
