Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
In the end, money talked. News Corp. earned the votes needed to win control of Dow Jones & Co. after a key Bancroft trust changed its mind and decided to accept the company’s $60/share offer, reported The Wall Street Journal. Part of the deal calls for a Bancroft family member to join the News Corp. board of directors to help insure Dow Jones’s journalistic independence. Check out the Journal’s website for more coverage.
Let me just say, it will be VERY interesting to see what happens to the perspective of the WSJ going forward. Read your paper with care folks. Perhaps this is an old wives’ tale somewhere but Always be wary of the man who wants to own all media outlets.
Changes in Dow Jones management “would not be surprising,” writes Richard Siklos. Buying Dow Jones could set the stage for the eventual move of Rupert Murdoch’s son James to the United States to oversee News Corp.’s print, television and online businesses, say company insiders. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/business/media/01murdoch.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 8/1)
It appears the Republican candidates are not quite ready to jump into the YouTube debate format after all. To date only three candidates – Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson – have committed to the Sept. 17 CNN/YouTube event while Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have already begged off. The Billiam the Snowman clip created by Minnesota twentysomethings Nathan and Greg Hamel has become the focus of a backlash against the “silliness” of using user-generated video to pose questions to men who fancy themselves presidential. Republican internet consultants are worried candidates’ reluctance to play in this space will create a new digital divide the party can ill-afford.
The Republican party ladies and gentleman. . . To be clear, I am neither Democrat nor Republican because of ill feelings towards the bi-partisan political system. That said, this is one of the most pathetic excuses I’ve ever heard. This is sord of like that excuse you tried to use on your parents in high school to get out of doing trivial labor of any sort.
The Disney Channel’s net, which is not supported by ads, beat out all basic-cable competitors with an average 2.99 million viewers and solid delivery of its core demographics during the month of July, Nielsen said. In the ad-supported space, USA Network, averaging 2.58 million viewers, enjoyed its sixth monthly prime-time win of the year. (Mediaweek 7/31)
With lackluster ratings on NBC the last two years, the NHL is reportedly now in talks with ESPN for the 2008-09 season, according to online publication SportsBusiness Journal. NBC posted a 0.9 ratings household average during the 2005-06 season and a 1.0 for 2006-07. (The Globe and Mail (Toronto) 8/1)
With a tip of the hat to cult favorite “The Twilight Zone,” ABC this month will debut “Masters of Science Fiction.” The series, adaptations of short stories by sci-fi icons such as Robert Heinlein and Harlan Ellison, will be narrated by Stephen Hawking. (The Washington Post/Associated Press 7/31)
Discovery Communications plans to acquire Treehugger.com, a companion Web site to its upcoming Planet Green cable network, for about $10 million. The deal aims to build on the cultural movement toward environmentally friendly personal and business practices. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/08012007/business/discovery_buys_green_business_peter_lauria.htm 8/1)
FOX will premiere its next musical reality show The Next Great American Band (wt) with a special two-hour presentation on October 19 at 8p. Bands of all types will audition and judges will select 10 semifinalists who will perform weekly in front of a live studio audience. Much like the format of American Idol, viewers will vote for their favorite bands, narrowing the field down to the ultimate winner which will receive a recording contract with 19 Recordings.
Cable networks are alive and well, according to a new study from SNL Kagan. Ad revenue rose 9% last year while total revenue climbed 12% and cash flow was up 13%, Kagan reports. The new research shows that most of the growth is coming from networks owned by the major cable players, such as NBC, Time Warner and Viacom. (The Hollywood Reporter 8/1)
Time Warner reported Wednesday that second-quarter profit rose 5.2% to $1.07 billion. Part of the bullish news can be attributed to the New York-based company’s cable operations, whose revenue rose 59% during the period. (The Washington Post/Reuters 8/1)
Time Warner’s second-quarter profit gained 5.2%, as surging cable-television revenue outweighed a drop in sales at AOL. “The revenues disappointed for all divisions except cable,” says one analyst. Magazine unit Time Inc. has cut about 900 jobs in 1 1/2 years to boost earnings. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVfrLfsK_kHM 8/1)
Barry Diller says a weak concert schedule is responsible for disappointing results at the Ticketmaster unit of his IAC/InterActiveCorp. The company is “dependent on selling concert tickets,” he says. IAC’s LendingTree and HSN are seeing “substantial layoffs” in order to cut costs. (http://www.thestreet.com/s/heat-stays-on-iacinteractivecorp/newsanalysis/technet/10371364.html 7/31)
Rainbow Media’s VOD service Sportskool announced two new instructional on demand series. “Football with Doug Flutie” offers step-by-step instructions on quarterbacking. “Baseball with Harold Reynolds” offers tips on playing both infield and outfield defense. Sportskool programming is currently in over 23 million digital cable homes.
Cox has selected Infinera to build its 12,000-mile, coast-to-coast national transport network. The system will support the cable company’s voice, video, data and wireless services for residential and business customers. (Converge! Network Digest 7/31)
AT&T announced Tuesday that it would invest $350 million in North Carolina over the next several years to create a fiber-optic infrastructure to deliver TV programming over phone lines. The company did not announce when programming would be available or what the service would cost. (The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) 8/1)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Apple announced the iTunes store surpassed 3 billion songs sold and downloaded. The iTunes catalog now includes over 5 million songs, 550 TV shows and 500 movies for purchase, making it the third largest music retailer in the U.S., according to the NPD Group’s MusicWatch survey. (New York Post 8/1)
I’ve taken up this horrible habit of downloading the same piece of music both at work and home. It would be most helpful if Apple could figure out a way to resolve this problem. Obviously, not to their benefit from a profit perspective but it sure would make me happy.
Eminem’s music publisher, Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated, is filing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Apple, alleging the computer giant violated copyrights by allowing unauthorized downloads of the rapper’s songs onto iPods. The suit is “likely a sign of more to come in the music industry.” (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070731/METRO/707310351/1013/ 7/31)
MTV will debut The Real World: Sydney on August 8 at 10p. A sneak preview of the first episode started airing today at www.RealWorld.MTV.com, where fans can also find cast blogs, cast and house photos and 2-minute peaks of upcoming episodes. Exclusive content will also be available via MTV.com, and starting August 8 through Virtual Real World at www.vmtv.com. Episodes can be downloaded the day after airing on MTV through a variety of services: iTunes Store, Amazon Unbox, AOL Video and Walmart Video Downloads, plus the preview episode can be downloaded for free starting August 2.
(Below) SUCH a better option. I’d rather watch an ad than pay for Wi-Fi anyday. Certainly for business travelers who find themselves in several airports a week, this is a better solution. On the road, this option works. At home, I personally would want to remain ad-free. I haven’t used Net Zero in years and I’m not about to.
Start up ad firms such as JiWire are selling ad space in municipal Wi-Fi internet hubs, according to the Wall Street Journal, giving advertisers another online option. Instead of paying a fee to get online the user agrees to watch an ad instead. JiWire also sells space in airports and hotels; Charles Schwab and Dell have bought ads this year targeting business travelers on the go.
Facebook is removing the Audio music-sharing application from its platform, saying it violated music copyrights. Audio allows users to upload audio files, share them with others and listen to them within Facebook. Audio says it expects to be back online “within the next several days.” (http://venturebeat.com/2007/07/31/facebook-kills-audio-for-copyright-violations/ 7/31)
Below is the application which was removed from Facebook. Click on the pic below to check out iLike’s site.
Is Google creating a campus in Manhattan, much like the one at its home base in Mountain View, Calif.? The Internet giant is vastly expanding its office space in the city. A Google spokesman says: “New York is significant to Google as we have many … advertisers and publishers there.” (http://www.observer.com/2007/google-gobbles-more-space-west-chelsea 7/31)
(Below) From inside sources, the ad sales team is in a very sorry condition at this point in time. Many are looking for the closest exit. As several leave, others are left burdened by too much work for the same $$. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that this is generally a bad sitution.
After an advertising sales shake-up last month, including the departure of ad chief Wenda Harris Millard, several ad execs are said to be looking to leave Yahoo. An exodus could take with it the expertise that persuaded the likes of Citibank and PepsiCo to move their ad dollars online. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/08012007/business/ad_ding__pain_business_holly_m__sanders.htm 8/1)
Endemol USA’s JoeCartoon.com relaunched with tons of new flash-based cartoons and games but the same twisted sense of humor. The Frog in a Blender concept has been advanced to include an interactive sketch where users get to torture the poor guy on a rack, one of many in the “press ‘n ‘splode” series.
Hitwise has built a new category measuring broadcast network TV Show microsites, reporting weekly visits in terms of market share within this custom category. Initial results have shown a high concentration of reality shows, but The Simpsons obviously benefited this week from the 20th Century Fox movie release, which earned over $70 million at the box office last weekend.
Top Visited US Broadcast Network TV Show Websites (Week ending July 28, 2007)
Rank Network Website Market Share Of Visits
1 FOX The Simpsons 21.90%
2 CBS Pirate Master 7.15%
3 NBC America’s Got Talent 6.88%
4 FOX American Idol 6.19%
5 FOX So You Think You Can Dance 5.81%
6 FOX America’s Most Wanted 4.23%
7 NBC Deal Or No Deal 3.17%
8 FOX Hell’s Kitchen 2.69%
9 ABC Greys Anatomy 2.21%
10 NBC Age of Love 1.85%
Source: Hitwise Rankings based on market share of US visits among custom category of television network websites among six major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The CW and MyNetwork) for the week ending July 28, 2007 (Sunday Saturday) from the Hitwise sample of 10 million US Internet users.
Swarmcast released a new live streaming solution that enables distribution of HD-quality video over the net. The company says the solution works seamlessly with existing Digital Rights Management Systems and can integrate with a number of popular media players.
Multiplatform kids service Kabillion unveiled a new pre-school block of programming today available online and on demand across Comcast systems nationwide. New 2-5 year-old targeted shows include 3D CGI-animated Dive Olly Dive, based on the dolphin series “Flipper & Lopaka.”
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Nine new NBC Universal channels were added to Verizon Wireless’ V Cast mobile TV service, including offerings from NBC’s prime time and late night shows, NBC News, NBC Sports, Access Hollywood, Telemundo, Mun2, Bravo and iVillage. Clips from Heroes, Friday Night Lights, The Office, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Project Runaway are featured. The short form videos are available on demand to V Cast subscribers, who pay a monthly fee of $15 for an all-you-can-eat subscription.
Viacom Japan is rolling out myMTV, a social-networking service that incorporates simultaneous video and page-browsing via a wireless handset. NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank Mobile will offer the ad-supported service free to their customers. (C21 Media 8/1)
The FCC is approving rules for the Jan. 28 auction of the 700 MHz airwave spectrum that grants only half of what Google had requested. The agency did not adopt the platforms that would have created conditions for a third method of broadband delivery. Google now might skip the auction. (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2164828,00.asp 8/1)
CBS plans to team up with mobile-advertising firms AdMob, Millennial Media, Rhythm NewMedia and Third Screen Media to sell ads on mobile devices for its programming. Marketers will be able to buy text and banner ads for mobile sites as well as video spots for devices. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118593909269684456-wp4VnN_D7VHJnxcG293h6oPAfBY_20070808.html 8/1)
A consumer has filed a lawsuit against Apple in an Illinois state court over the battery in an iPhone. The suit alleges that Apple didn’t disclose the $86 replacement cost or the limitations of the battery. (The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)/Bloomberg 7/31)
Filed under: GAMING
GAMING
The founders of MumboJumbo have announced that they formed a new casual-gaming company, Slapdash Games. Although they have yet to announce details of their upcoming games, they plan to develop cross-platform titles for the PC, consoles and mobile devices. (GameDaily BIZ 7/31)
