Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
James Gandolfini will star and executive produce a film for HBO titled “ABCD Camp.” The actor, who turned Tony Soprano into an American icon for HBO, will play Sonny Vaccaro, a controversial sports scout for Nike. (Variety 8/12)
Showtime tonight premieres the third season of “Weeds” followed by the new “Californication,” which stars David Duchovny as a novelist who chases every woman in sight. (The Sacramento Bee (Calif.) 8/13)
Time Warner Cable will soon offer customers a free recording feature for their televisions — one that will not allow them to zap through the commercials. The service, called Look Back, will let cable customers watch certain shows later on, but without an extra monthly fee. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/13/business/media/13adcol.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 8/13)
CBS Television Distribution is taking a 50% stake in “Big Shot,” an online talent search that aims to emerge as a “Star Search” of the YouTube era. CBS will distribute the online program via the Web sites of hundreds of local stations that run the company’s “Entertainment Tonight.” (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970097.html?categoryid=1238&cs=1 8/12)
Nickelodeon will split up its Noggin and N cable networks later this year, with each becoming 24-hour channels. Noggin is a commercial-free, daytime network aimed at preschoolers, and N is a nighttime, ad-supported channel for teens. (The New York Times 8/13)
Versus, the Comcast-owned sports channel once known as the Outdoor Life Network, is moving into its first year as a transformed and far more diversified network. Now in 72 million homes, Versus’lineup includes the NHL, college football and mixed martial arts. (Yahoo!/Reuters/Hollywood Reporter 8/13)
Microsoft will make its case to the FCC today for using TV airwaves made vacant by the 2009 transition from analog to digital TV signals for wireless services. Broadcasters have complained that such a move would interfere with their signals, but Microsoft claims that new technology would alleviate that problem. (Yahoo!/Reuters 8/13)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Google is shuttering its online video rental and retail shop after several user interface experiments and 19 months of operation. Google Video will discontinue rentals and download-to-own sales from August 15 but continue to offer free video content, allowing users to upload clips a la YouTube. To compensate users who will no longer be able to view videos they have already purchased, Google is offering credits for Google Checkout. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070811/ap_on_hi_te/google_video 8/10)
It’s near impossible to discover a download-to-own video amongst the quantity of free videos. As a user, I imagine once I did stumble upon one of these videos, I would be frustrated that this video wasn’t free like the rest.
Most of the Republican presidential candidates are agreeing to participate in a YouTube debate, now set for Nov. 28. CNN says it has not heard from Mitt Romney, who has been critical of the format. The earlier Democratic CNN/YouTube debate did not break any ratings records. (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/republican-cnny.html 8/12)
MySpace is inviting users to listen to a live webcast of Yellowcard’s first “Hey-Play This” concert produced by CenterStaging, beginning tonight at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET. The band will perform tracks from their new album Paper Wall. Users can request songs via email or IM.
Universal Music Group signed a deal to allow digital tracks of its artists to be sold DRM-free on artists’sites and online retailers’sites including Amazon.com, Google, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Real Network’s Rhapsody. The Vivendi-owned company becomes the second major music label to remove digital rights management restrictions, following EMI’s deal with Apple. Songs will be available without copying protections on a trial basis from August 21 to January 31, as Universal wants time to study the impact of DRM-free sales. Conspicuously missing from the partner list Apple’s iTunes store, as the music industry continues to push to level the playing field among online music retailers. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg turned down a $1 billion takeover offer from Yahoo last year. Investor Peter Thiel compares the social-networking site’s current price tag to that of Viacom’s MTV, which he values at about $8 billion. “Between the two,” he says. “I’d want to own Facebook.” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227872/site/newsweek/ 8/20)
As more marketers place ads on social networks such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, they will have to strike a balance between the chance of reaching millions of users and the potential risk of their brand being associated with controversial content. Global advertising spending on social-networking sites, now an estimated $445 million, could reach $3.6 billion by 2011. (International Herald Tribune 8/12)
Microsoft plans to announce a management overhaul of its online advertising businesses after wrapping up a $6 billion deal for Web ad firm aQuantive this week. The software giant will put aQuantive CEO Brian McAndrews in charge of all its ad-serving and technology, sources say. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/08132007/business/ad_man__at_last_business_holly_m__sanders.htm 8/13)
Ignored or shunned by almost every U.S. cable television provider, the Al Jazeera English news channel is turning to YouTube to reach American viewers. Al Jazeera’s channel on YouTube has received 2 million hits since it entered a distribution deal with the video-sharing site in April. (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-ft-jazeera13aug13,1,2013225.story?ctrack=1&cset=true 8/13)
History.com launched a new online game as a companion to The History Channel original martial arts series Human Weapon, which debuted July 20 and airs on Fridays at 10:00 pm ET. The game allows users to pick from five forms of martial arts featured in the series – Savate, Muay Thai, US Military Martial Arts, Kung Fu and Karate – and go through six levels of play.
The Marauder Review: Very fun & very easy to play. The only way I could make this better is if Wu Tang Clan was playing in the background. Nicely done.
Gloob.TV launched a new video aggregation service, selecting the day’s best videos in multiple categories including sports, movies, music, news games and TV. An editorial staff of 25 sifts through multiple sites to handpick the clips, adding between 20 and 30 new clips each day. Community features include the ability to add comments, pictures and video responses.
Video company BitTorrent will unveil a new service next month offering TV shows and feature films as streaming video on the Internet. The content will be supported by advertising and will be available at no cost and with no downloading delays. (The Seattle Times/San Jose Mercury News 8/13)
The new Global Digital Living II survey from Parks Associates gave video downloading services less than flattering marks. Only 16% of those surveyed were pleased with the selection of download-to-own videos while only 21% said they were generally satisfied with videos they have downloaded. Just 13% of video downloaders found the price to be “reasonable.”
High speed internet subscription growth slowed in the second quarter according to quarterly reports with the four largest providers – AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable – adding only 1.2 million new subs, a drop of 21% compared to the same period a year ago. The U.S. ranks 25th in the world in broadband adoption with just over 50% connected, according to Point Topic. South Korea leads with a penetration rate of 89%, according to 4th quarter 2006 figures.
NBC will join rivals CNN and ABC in making video footage of U.S. presidential debates aired on its networks freely available for non-commercial use. The move is seen as a victory for Internet activists who have been pushing to make the debates more widely available. (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070810-nbc-allows-bloggers-to-use-debate-footage.html 8/10)
NBC Universal is revamping its floundering “iVillage Live” television show with a new look and new hosts. The show is a tie-in to the company’s iVillage women-focused Web site it acquired last year. NBCU is now said to be eyeing Oxygen, the women-focused cable network. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/13/business/media/13ivillage.html 8/13)
The Economist and CNN are taking down their online paid-subscription walls, offering content for free. The Web sites of both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal could soon go free. Consultant Ken Doctor says: “The content world is becoming almost entirely ad-monetized.” (http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=119836 8/13)
Filed under: WIRELESS
Gannett Co. will launch WAP-based local mobile sites in more than 100 markets, delivering freshly updated news, sports and weather information to phones and other mobile devices. Mobile versions of Gannett’s 84 community daily newspapers, 19 local broadcast stations and the USA Today.
Filed under: GAMING
The release of the highly anticipated “Halo 3″ gaming title for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming system may very well signal a reversal of fortunes for the console. Microsoft, however, continues to deal with Xbox 360 repair issues. (The New York Times 8/13)
The attack of the “Halo 3″ tie-ins has begun. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition Console goes on sale next month. After that, consumers can look forward to “Halo 3″ Mountain Dew, “Halo 3″ Burger King promotions and “Halo 3″ Slurpee cups from 7-Eleven. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer 8/12)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
New startup company gBox is looking to wrest market share away from Apple’s popular iPod. The company recently inked a deal with Universal Music Group that allows it to offer DRM-free music to consumers. (The Sydney Morning Herald 8/13)
Analysts predict that HD DVD and Blu-ray discs will continue their back-and-forth competition for a significant time. A new cropping of dual-format players may prove to be a best buy for consumers who wish to have access to the most movie titles and playback options, according to this article. (The Washington Post 8/12)
To help show off its latest products and technologies, LG Electronics has built the LG House Malibu. The 3,500-square-foot party space features a 71-inch plasma TV, a refrigerator with a 15-inch LCD HDTV and other high-tech devices. LG and Universal Media Studios held an Emmy party there recently, and upcoming events include an MTV premiere party. (The Korea Times 8/13)
