Filed under: MISC
Online Video of the Week
Ping pong anyone? Check out the movie trailer for what is bound to be one of the comedic masterpieces of our time. And oh yeah, I’ll take any of you in a game of pong. Don’t be intimidated when I show up with my own paddle. That’s just how I roll. And one more thing, Christopher Walken is in this movie. Quality all around my friends. For more comedic masterpieces, check out the dotcomedy.com site and read the article below in the Online Services/Interactive Media section.
And yes, today, we have two videos. Justine here switched to AT&T after buying her new iPhone only to receive a 300 page bill from AT&T. E-billing. Save a forest.
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
Barry Diller’s IAC is said to be the worst performing major media stock. Analysts point out that though the company owns several leading Web assets (Evite, Citysearch) it is not a pure-play online media firm. IAC may decide unload its “unglamorous” Home Shopping Network. (http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/13/news/companies/iac/index.htm?postversion=2007081312 8/13)
Top media analyst Michael Nathanson of Sanford Bernstein is cutting Time Warner’s share price target by 17%, citing slower growth at the AOL Internet unit. AOL’s advertising sales next year won’t be enough to offset falling revenue from users in 2008 and 2009, he says. (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_e9JyhIZVQ4 8/13)
SCI FI Channel gave off more than a flicker when the new original series Flash Gordon premiered last Friday night (9p). The debut episode delivered 1.2 million A25-54 viewers, 973,000 A18-49 viewers and 2.1 million total viewers. The series airs each Friday night at 9p.
Flash Gordon Teaser
HBO has canceled surfing drama “John From Cincinnati” a day after the finale of its first season. The cable net has yet to announce the fate of “Flight of the Conchords,” its other summer freshman series. (Yahoo!/Reuters/Hollywood Reporter 8/14)
Showtime Networks Inc. inked two new licensing deals surrounding the show The L Word. Showtime, along with its licensing agency, 360ep made a deal with Aquarius through NMR Distribution to create a line of posters, postcards and a 2008 16-month wall calendar. Furthermore, Gamaka Ltd., a division of Z7 Worldwide Group will release the show on DVD as well as board and trivia games.
On Sept. 10, NBC will begin offering a fourth hour of the “Today” show from 10 to 11 a.m. Eastern time. Hosts for the expanded program include Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira as well as Ann Curry, Natalie Morales, Hoda Kotb, former New York Giant running back Tiki Barber, Amy Robach of MSNBC, medical correspondent Nancy Snyderman and food reporter Giada De Laurentiis. (The New York Times 8/14)Lifetime is preparing its first miniseries, “Desperate: The Search for the Green River Killer.” The four-hour film focuses on one of the deadliest serial-killing sprees in U.S. history. (The Hollywood Reporter 8/14)
Tivo announced the results of its Stop||Watch DVR commercial ratings for June. Each spot in the top 10 ran during Fox’s House broadcast on May 29, ranging from a 12.1 rating for a Wendy’s commercial to a 9.4 rating for an ad for MGM’s Mr. Brooks movie. The May 29 episode of House was also the top show in terms of total viewing, scoring a 17.1 rating, followed by ABC broadcast of Boston Legal on the same night (11.1) and NBC’s Dateline on June 18 (10.5).
Time Warner Cable is getting ready to roll out a new Look Back service, allowing subscribers to pull up and watch shows they missed and forgot to record. The service, launching in South Carolina in October before introduced around the country, will be offered to digital subscribers at no extra cost, according to The New York Times. But like Time Warner’s Start Over function, it will disable commercial fast-forwarding.
Following in the footsteps of cable companies such as Time Warner Cable, Cox and Cablevision, Charter is now offering customers an international phone-calling plan. Charter, with 7.6 million phone customers, offers 250 minutes of international calls a month for $20. (Multichannel News 8/13)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
NBC has produced a multiplatform 30-minute primetime preview show to showcase this fall’s new and returning shows, hosted by Greg Grunberg from Heroes. The show, a mixture of clips and interviews conducted by Grunberg, is being offered to NBC’s 232 affiliates to show on air or on their websites through September 23rd. It can also be seen on demand, on select United Airlines flights, on various NBCU cable networks and on NBC’s own air on Saturday night, September 8 at 8:30 pm ET.
NBC’s DotComedy.com announced a partnership with Tel Aviv-based Hiro Media to deliver free ad supported downloads of the site’s premium content. The technology is already being used on DotComedy.com’s video sharing section, video-to-go. The system, which asks users to register basic demographic information, enables ads to be swapped out dynamically each time a program is viewed to help advertisers create personalized, time sensitive campaigns. So far the videos are being delivered directly from NBC servers rather than using a P2P model.
The Viacom/YouTube court battle is turning into a celebrity trial full of all-star witnesses and high stakes gambles. Google wants to depose Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Sumner Redstone and Philippe Dauman according to court documents posted on scribd.com. Viacom want to call YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steven Chen to the stand. Don’t expect an outcome anytime soon, however, as pre-trial motions are expected to drag on until December 2008. (http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9759091-7.html 8/13)
VideoEgg opened its Eggnetwork Advertising Platform to Facebook application developers, helping them monetize their content by leveraging VideoEgg’s interactive overlays and the network’s international sales team. Hundreds of large and small companies have developed widgets for the social network following the release of its open source developer’s package.
ESPN.com is getting ready to relaunch its PodCenter site with new audio and video podcasts, enhanced interactivity and an iPhone-compatible player. Chris Mortensen, former Dallas Cowboy head coach Bill Parcells and former wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson will be hosting their own podcasts. Shows will be archived for 30 days arranged by category and will offer email, poll and conversation functionality. The new PodCenter player will appear on the ESPN.com homepage.
Following its acquisition by MTV Networks SpikeTV.com has merged with iFilm to become a community video sharing site slanted toward the male demographic. It looks a lot more like an internet pure play than a cable network site now, featuring user generated clips and offering sharing, embedding, playlists, comments and all the other typical community stuff. What there’s not a lot of is Spike TV programming, as the network is clearly trying to attract and convert new audiences.
General-interest magazines such as Life and Look failed in part due to the rise of niche magazines, writes Ephraim Schwartz. A similar fate may await Google as it faces new niche search engines, such as the business-focused ZoomInfo. Google could become “irrelevant.” (http://weblog.infoworld.com/realitycheck/archives/2007/08/the_demise_of_g.html 8/14)
For the first time, Google has lost its crown to Yahoo as the highest-rated search and portal site in a key customer satisfaction survey by the University of Michigan. The shift reflects Yahoo’s success with new services such as its revamped Web mail. (http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135908-c,yahoo/article.html 8/13)
Celebrity news site TMZ.com is slated to premiere its syndicated weekday television series, “TMZ on TV,” in September. Court TV once tried a TV version of TheSmokingGun Web site that bombed, observes David Bianculli. “So when turning to TV, TMZ better tread cautiously.” (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2007/08/14/2007-08-14_tmz_allstar_look_at_celebs_gone_wild-1.html 8/14)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
Japan’s Onkyo Corp. has announced that it will release an HD DVD player this fall. The DV-HD805 will be the first HD DVD player not manufactured by Toshiba. (DigiTimes 8/14)
