Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
CBS this fall will not be your grandparents’network anymore, with a slate of “daring and different” new shows for the traditionally older-skewing network. “Swingtown,” set during the sexual experimentation of the 1970s, is expected to push the boundaries for explicitness. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-wk-cbs19jul19,1,7156351.story?ctrack=1&cset=true 7/19)
A&E’s ”Mad Men,” which is its first original series, re-creates the golden age of Madison Avenue advertising. The show is set in 1960 and reflects the changes that were poised to take place over the coming years. (Houston Chronicle 7/18)
The House is overwhelmingly rejecting President Bush’s plan to eliminate the $420 million federal subsidy for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The outcome was never in doubt, unlike a fight two years ago when Republicans tried but failed to slash public broadcasting subsidies. (http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/18/congress.broadcasting.ap/index.html 7/18)
The publisher of TV Guide says that some Mitsubishi digital televisions will begin including an updated version of its on-screen guides. Gemstar-TV Guide is revising its licensing deal with Mitsubishi to include a new interactive TV-listings product known as “TV Guide Daily.” (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070718/gemstar_mitsubishi_contract.html 7/18)
The sister of Texas prosecutor Louis “Bill” Conradt, who grabbed a gun and shot himself as he was about to be busted in an underage-sex sting set up by “Dateline,” is hitting NBC with a $100 million lawsuit. Her attorney says: “NBC was responsible for his death.” (http://www.nypost.com/seven/07182007/tv/dateline_sued_in_sex_sting_suicide_tv_cynthia_r__fagen.htm 7/18)
In an SEC filing, Motorola said it was bringing its wireless-service-provider unit into the fold of its cable group. The combined cable and wireless-network units would have accounted for $9.2 billion last year, with the cable group, formerly known as the Connected Home Solutions division, kicking in $3.3 billion of that total. (Multichannel News 7/18)
CableLabs held a media briefing Tuesday on the OpenCable Applications Platform. The webcast provided updates on OpenCable Platform standard revisions and reinforced the dropping of the OCAP acronym in favor of using OpenCable Platform. (CED Magazine 7/18)
Embrace the transition away from analog, says DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. DEG predicts that there will be more than 52 million HDTV homes in the U.S. by the beginning of 2008, including the 16 million sets that are predicted to sell by the end of 2007. (The Hollywood Reporter (free content) 7/18)
Comcast’s analog-reclamation project in Chicago is paying off bandwidth dividends. Comcast added four new HD channels — A&E HD, Food Network HD, Home & Garden Television HD and National Geographic Channel HD — after getting rid of 38 analog channels on its expanded-basic analog tier. (Multichannel News 7/17)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Google, with sales slowing after a sevenfold increase in the past three years, is seeking acquisitions worldwide, with about a dozen staffers weighing deals. The search giant says it is looking for engineers, intellectual property or innovative products, and ways to increase Web traffic. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aVb6liu4eYDU 7/19)
Two U.S. congressional subcommittees are investigating whether Google’s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick will stifle competition in online advertising. The search giant announced plans to buy DoubleClick in April to bolster sales of Internet ads. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=a6eHsDf8twME 7/18)
With purported copies of the new Harry Potter book flooding the Internet prior to its release, publisher Scholastic is issuing a statement asking “everyone to preserve the fun and excitement.” Author J.K. Rowling is appealing to fans to “ignore the misinformation popping up on the Web.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL1887939520070719 7/19)
Food Network parent Scripps is acquiring Recipezaar.com, a user-generated recipe and community site, for an undisclosed amount. Scripps says the acquisition marks the start of a new strategy to expand the company’s online presence beyond its core TV brands. (http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/07/scripps_acquires_recipezaarcom.php 7/19)
MySpace plans to build and launch a “create and share” writing tool in partnership with book publisher HarperCollins. Teens and college kids on the site can write prose and then share it with friends on the social-networking site. Users can then vote on the best writing. (http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9746784-7.html 7/18)
Former Yahoo exec Lloyd Braun and his partner Gail Berman, a former Paramount exec, have struck an online deal with Pepsi, under which the entertainment and marketing arm of the beverage giant will be a “first-look” and have a chance to sponsor original online content the pair produces. (http://kara.allthingsd.com/20070718/hey-yahoo-lloyd-braun-will-eat-lunch-in-this-town-again/ 7/18)
The National Hockey League is entering a deal with tech firm NeuLion to show games live on the Web, starting from the 2007-2008 season. The deal follows the NHL’s attempts to use the Internet to overcome declining U.S. television audiences of the sport. (http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/162169/nhl-games-to-go-online 7/19)
Disney’s Hollywood Records label is introducing a new version of the music CD. Called CDVU+ (pronounced “CD view plus”), the disc launches a digital magazine containing song lyrics, videos, photos and customizable posters — extra bells and whistles unavailable from a typical music download. (http://mediabiz.blogs.cnnmoney.com/2007/07/18/disney-tries-to-save-the-cd/ 7/18)
Whether or not you believe the Internet holds the key to the future of TV viewing, there are still many speed bumps in place, according to this article. Among the challenges: Internet TV lacks the quality of service customers have come to expect, and rights-management issues need to be resolved. (Electronic Engineering Times (Asia) 7/18)
Filed under: GAMING
GAMING
Online movie retailer CinemaNow has extended its movie-download service to Xbox 360 owners. In related news, CinemaNow has also begun offering burn-to-DVD service compatible with Windows Vista. (Yahoo!/TechWeb/InformationWeek 7/18)
MTV Networks’Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group plans to invest $100 million in the creation of casual gaming titles, sites and platforms. Among the gaming initiatives: myNOGGIN, a subscription service where preschoolers can play educational games and parents can track their progress. (http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/07/nick_kids_group_puts_100_milli.php 7/18)
STAR TV is announcing the formation of a three-party joint venture with News Corp. siblings DirecTV and BSkyB to invest in the Championship Gaming Series, a professional video gaming league. CGS offers players the chance to win cash prize money in online contests. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117968755.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1 7/18)
National Geographic is entering a partnership with Big Fish Games to distribute two of gaming company’s most popular products online. Both games will be branded as part of a series that fits with National Geographic’s mission to inspire people to care about the planet. (http://www.informationweek.com/internet/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=201002081 7/18)
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Two days after it restructured operations, Motorola on Thursday reported that flagging sales of mobile devices were a factor in its second-quarter loss of $28 million, or $0.01 per share. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/19/Motorola-earnings_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-07-19 7/19)
New research has confirmed that India’s mobile phone market is set for a period of fast growth, with revenue from cellular services expected to jump by more than 18 percent each year for the next five years. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/18/India-mobile-growth_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-07-19 7/18)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Panasonic have announced a joint promotion to educate and inform consumers of Blu-ray high-definition DVDs. “There are so many high-definition-enabled households not taking full advantage of its capabilities, and we hope to change that with the Disney Magical Blu-ray Tour,” Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook said. (MediaPost Communications 7/18)
Toshiba has extended its promotion that offers five free HD-DVD movies to customers who buy any Toshiba HD-DVD player. The campaign comes on the heels of several price cuts to the company’s HD-DVD players. (TWICE 7/18)
