Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
HBO has picked up a new drama project called True Blood from exec producer Alan Ball, who also did Six Feet Under for HBO. True Blood is based on the Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire books series, where vampires live among regular humans, and thrive on a synthetic blood product. All very civilized and a little horrific at the same time. The pilot has already been shot, and production for the series is expected to ramp up this fall.
ABC will pose no restrictions on usage of its coverage of the August 5 and August 19 Presidential debates, pointed out B&C. Nor is MSNBC restricting usage of its coverage of this past Tuesday’s AFL-CIO presidential candidate forum, provided the footage is not used for commercial purposes.
Oxygen is reportedly in talks to sell or sell a stake to NBC Universal, and the reported valuation of the cable network is in the $1-$2 billion range. According to Hollywood Reporter, the network has not made any thing official, but is always keeping its eyes open for opportunities and options. Oxygen is currently available in 69 million plus households and targets women 18-49.
A federal appeals court ruled that DirecTV was within its rights in its internet ads to grossly underestimate the quality of its competitor’s service, in this case Time Warner Cable’s HDTV offering. (The ads depicted the cable image as being so blurry and unwatchable, that it was found to be an obvious an exaggeration). But it sided with Time Warner’s complaint against the TV ads starring Jessica Simpson and William Shatner, agreeing it was unfair to directly claim DirecTV’s quality surpassed cable. The decision had little direct relevancy, as DirecTV and Time Warner had already settled their spat out of court.
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Video sharing site Veoh has filed a lawsuit against Vivendi’s Universal Music Group in federal court seeking protection against possible copyright-infringement lawsuits. Veoh is not seeking damages. Rather, the move is meant to counter threats leveled at the start up about allegations of copyright infringement. The company wants a judge to declare it is not liable if users upload unauthorized videos to its site containing music with Universal artists.
CBS launched an online game component for the quiz game Power of 10, asking users to predict the American public’s response to poll questions similar to those posed on the show. The game will be available from 9 pm to 2 am (ET) and 6 pm to 12 am (PT) each of the next three Wednesday night airings. Successful players may be considered as a contestant.
National Lampoon.com launched a satirical sports commentary “splog,” poking fun at sports personalities and the obsession with blogging in general. John Daly is compared to Babe Ruth in a recent posting, asking what other athlete could play a sport as well and be in less shape? 
Google News added a new feature to allow individuals mentioned or quoted in stories to post comments below the story. Google News programmers say comments will be published in full, without editing. Like collaborative online encyclopedia Wikepedia, the rebuttal feature is proving to be controversial, with some raising questions about motives or verifying the real identify of posters.
Social shopping/networking site Kaboodle was acquired this week by Hearst Corporation for an undisclosed amount. Kaboodle, which has a user base of over 250,000, has deals with more than 1,000 retailers that advertise by creating profiles around their products. Users help build buzz for products by rating and recommending them to friends. Hearst plans to build pages on Kaboodle by profiling products featured in its women’s and lifestyle magazines.
A final National Labor Relations Board ruling was released this week, setting a precedence that could have far reaching consequences in the digital marketplace. NLRB ruled that NBC Universal Studio’s complaint against Writer’s Guild of America West, accusing the guild of improperly asking writers and showrunners to refuse to work for free on web-only content, had no merit. NBCU had argued that work on online extensions of The Office and Crossing Jordan was merely promotional support for what writers are being paid to do on TV. The issue of who gets paid for what and who benefits from the repurposing of content in digital arenas remains front and center as negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers over a new contract languish.
The FCC ruled that prototype devices submitted for approval by a coalition of electronics manufacturers couldn’t reliably detect TV spectrum and couldn’t be used to offer high-speed internet services over unused TV spectrum. The coalition, which includes HP, Intel, Earthlink and Philips, will work with the FCC to resolve the issues, according to the AP.
Facebook has updated its ad serving system to help advertisers avoid having their ads appear next to unintended user groups on its site. Advertisers will be able to avoid popping up in certain profiles by adjusting new blocking settings. The announcement comes after several big clients pulled their ads from the social networking site after they appeared next to a profile for the British National Party.
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Free city-wide Wi-Fi coverage in San Francisco won’t go to the vote until November, but Paris is already moving ahead with its free Wi-Fi plans, opening almost 400 hot spots in public places around the city in mid-July, with a second wave planned for September. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/09/paris-wi-fi_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-08-09 8/9)
San Francisco voters will be able to vote in November for free citywide Wi-Fi, a concept that the city has been working toward for three years but that may be dead in the water by the time of the election. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/06/SF-sets-Wi-Fi-vote-but-deal-may-fade_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-08-09 8/6)
Vodafone Group has decided to keep a 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless in a move to retain a toehold in the important U.S. mobile phone market. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/08/Vodafone-hangs-onto-Verizon_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-08-09 8/8)
