Filed under: MISC
Tomorrow begins my 7 day countdown to the iPhone release on 6/29 (next Friday). Starting tomorrow, expect some iPhone-dedicated fun. “I know what I want, and I know what they want.” (Steve Jobs as quoted before the iMac release)
But for now, check out a really fun piece of video from the HBO Voyeur project.
Starting 6/28 (next Thursday), HBO will launch hbovoyeur.com, a web site where the twelve main storylines of the HBO Voyeur Project begin. The website is a virtual city which features a four floor apartment building that you can peek into and zoom in and out of. You can also navigate through the city to peek into four other apartments in various locations. Supposedly, there is a film component as well that will be premiering somewhere in New York City to coincide with the launch of the web site. More on that as it hits me. . .well, not literally.
Find out more at http://thestorygetsdeeper.com/. And check out this cool HBO intro from the 80′s I found while surfing the site. Ah, the 80′s. Bringing it all back for me.
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
With most network TV executives pondering how best to address the ramifications of viewers watching more amateur Internet videos and the increased adoption of DVRs that enable viewers to skip commercials, Pricewaterhouse Coopers says such habitual and technological advances will actually help boost network TV ad revenues. The firm is forecasting growth in traditional-TV ad sales by an average of 4.5% a year to $46.3 billion in 2011. (USA TODAY 6/20)
NBC is said to be paying as much as $1 million for Paris Hilton’s first after-jail interview, which will be conducted by Meredith Vieira for the “Today” show. The deal is reportedly infuriating ABC, which was banking on Hilton’s interview going to Barbara Walters, who is close with Hilton’s mom. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/06212007/news/nationalnews/nbcs_1m_deal_for_paris_chat_nationalnews_marianne_garvey.htm 6/21)
Although former HBO chief Chris Albrecht exited the executive suites in May, he’s not completely gone from the picture. While Albrecht is expected to resurface — likely at the helm of a production company that will hatch film and TV with private financing — he has quietly been helping guide the screen version of the HBO series “Sex and the City” to the starting line. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967320.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 6/20)
In other HBO news, Justin Timberlake is bringing his explosive FutureSex/LoveShow as he headlines his first solo concert event on HBO. The HBO Concert Special will be taped August 16th to be seen exclusively on HBO on September 3rd at 9PM. Behind-the-scenes footage of concert preparations will debut on HBO on Demand beginning 8/13. (http://www.justintimberlake.com/index2.html, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117964155.html?categoryid=14&cs=1)
Check out the JT tease video below.
Viewership of local news is declining across the United States, and for the same reasons network news is hurting: the Internet and changing lifestyles. “Increasingly, people find local TV news repetitive,” says Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/20070621_Indifference_at_11.html 6/21)
Cox President Pat Esser says the company hopes to be offering 50 HD channels by the end of this year. Esser also hinted that the company would soon be rolling out a marketing campaign that urges viewers to compare the quality of Cox’s HD picture with satellite’s. Multichannel News (6/20)
After Fox completed its upfront business earlier this week with a $1.9 billion haul, CBS and ABC have now followed suit, with CBS securing $2.5 billion in deals and ABC wrapping up $2.4 billion in business. NBC and The CW are expected to wrap up their upfront action by the end of this week. (Advertising Age 6/20)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
The European Commission is clearing NBC Universal and News Corp. to form a joint venture which will broadcast television and film content over the Internet. The deal, first announced in March, is widely seen as a move to wrench dominance of online video from Google’s YouTube. (http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20070621-000480-0535 6/21)
Comedy Central is expanding its long-running “InDecision” franchise into a new political humor site, Indecision2008.com, with video clips relevant to the upcoming election from “Jon Stewart” and “Colbert Report.” A blogger dubbed “The InDecider” will facilitate online banter. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i07b4dbb2a064255c02767196f9f202ee 6/21)
Lawyers for the family of Ron Goldman and a bankruptcy trustee say celebrity gossip Internet site TMZ.com should be held in contempt for posting a manuscript of O.J. Simpson’s “If I Did It” book. Time Warner’s TMZ could eventually be held financially liable for any violation. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19337802/ 6/20)
Bloggerazzi star Perez Hilton’s Web host dropped Perezhilton.com after numerous warnings against creator Mario Lavandeira’s use of copyrighted images. Site host Crucial Paradigm took the blog offline; it was dark for several hours before it returned with a different host. (http://www.variety.com/VR1117967331.html 6/20)
CBS soaps are now available online for the first time. CBS began streaming full episodes of The Young and The Restless, As The World Turns and Guiding Light on CBS.com and across the CBS Audience Network, which includes AOL, MSN, CNET, Comcast Joost and Veoh. Each day’s episode is posted from 6 pm ET/ 2 pm PT. Gerber has signed on as a major sponsor.
Google prevailed in an antitrust complaint against Microsoft. Settling out of court, Microsoft agreed to change a feature in its new Vista operating system designed to make it difficult to use search software other than the in-house version. Users will now be able to choose which desktop search engine they wish to use without slowing down the interface.
Video Search engine Blinkx is launching a new ad platform called AdHoc to target ads alongside or inside webvideos based on speech recognition technology. The software allows advertisers to buy specific words, like they do with Google’s AdSense, spoken in videos or representing the context of the video. Blinkx has indexed more than 12 million hours of video on the net, searchable via speech-to-text and clustering techniques.
Analysts predict social-networking and entertainment sites are expected to help drive double-digit growth in Internet advertising and consumer spending on access over the next four years. Total revenues are projected to hit $78.4 billion by 2011, reflecting 10.7% annual growth from $47.2 billion in 2006. (CNET/Reuters 6/20)
The first webisode of Bravo’s “Ask a Gay Man: The Wedding/Commitment Cake Edition” launches today on OUTZone.com, timed to coincide with Gay Pride Week in New York, along with a variety of pride-themed programming.
Thumbs down from me. Trite and stereotypical.
MySpace founder Brad Greenspan is leading an investment group out to take a 25% stake in Dow Jones. The offer would involve purchasing outstanding common stock via Dutch auction. The Dow Jones board announced it would “take the lead” in addressing any and all transactions after meeting with representatives of the controlling Bancroft family.
Between 10-15% of adults 17-35 years old fall into the category of “ad avoiders” according to a new study sponsored by Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions and Starcom MediaVest Group, going out their way to avoid being targeted. There are two types of avoiders: the active group tends to be young, tech savvy men who pay extra to get what they want with no ads (like from DVDs, iTunes or satellite radio).
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
AT&T did launch a service called Video Share, available to subscribers with more advanced handsets, which allows users to stream live video to one another during a call. Call it mobile one-one-one video conferencing. It’s only available in Atlanta, Dallas and San Antonio so far, but it will be expanded to include all “3G” markets in July, covering about 3/4 of the 100 biggest U.S. cities. Sorry – Video Share won’t work on the iPhone, an EDGE network device.
For the launch of its new iPhone, Apple has built a low-key campaign that allows the product’s buzzworthy innovations to sell themselves. “…[T]hey understood they didn’t need to let the advertising get in the way of the product,” said Kelly O’Keefe, executive education director of the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Adcenter. “The product itself is innovative enough that demo-ing it on the ads is enough to generate excitement.” (Reuters 6/20)
Watch the ads by clicking on the photo below.
Samsung Electronics’upcoming SGH-E950 phone has a feature that stands out from other models: a 1.2-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) keypad that can display different icons depending on how the phone is being used. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/06/20/Samsung-phone-OLED-keypad_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-06-21 6/20)
YouTube also launched a WAP-based site this week (m.youtube.com) that allows visitors to upload and view clips directly from their phones. Video categories include Featured, Recently Added, Most Viewed and Top Rated. This is a work in progress, as are most WAP sites, so don’t look for all the features you’re used to seeing, such as forward to a friend.
Motorola CEO Ed Zander is sharing his vision in a keynote at the NXTcomm trade show in Chicago of a converged future for mobile phones and television sets. TVs and mobile phones will be the “driving force” for converging, disruptive technologies, he says. (http://www.suntimes.com/business/437298,CST-FIN-zander21.article 6/21)
Filed under: GAMING
GAMING
Two hundred new gaming titles are expected to be released for Sony’s PlayStation 3 gaming console this business year, according to Sony Computer Entertainment President Kazuo Hirai. An additional 180 download-only titles will also join the gaming catalog and are expected to help rebound slow sales of the device. (The Washington Post/Reuters 6/20)
You know things are bad when consumers create a song all about how your gaming console sucks. Wow. Way harsh. This song parody is called Killed Your Brand. I think this should put things in perspective for people wondering why sales of the PS3 are so underwhelming. (Click on the image below)
Consistently strong sales of Nintendo’s Wii and DS game systems have driven up the company’s stock price to the point where its market value is now second only to Sony’s. Some analysts say that they believe Nintendo’s rise will continue and that its market capitalization will eventually exceed that of Sony. Sony’s total sales are more than eight times that of Nintendo. (CNNMoney.com/Reuters 6/20)
New predictions from industry analyst PricewaterhouseCoopers state that the video game sector will continue to experience above-average growth through 2011. The group further predicts that U.S. consumers will spend $7.9 billion on gaming consoles and hand-held games that year. (The Hollywood Reporter 6/21)
