Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
Showtime’s “Weeds,” a series about a pot-selling suburban mom, attracted 824,000 viewers for the premiere of its third season, 43% higher than its season-two debut. The series also offered an effective lead-in to “Californication,” a new show starring David Duchovny that averaged 550,000 viewers. (Yahoo!/Reuters/Hollywood Reporter 8/15)
Below is a short clip of content from the public access show: Good Morning Agrestic. Amusing. Very amusing. And let me point out something here, uploaded by Showtime 8/13 to YouTube.
Lifetime has signed a deal with author Gigi Levangie Grazer to make her 2003 novel “Maneater” into a four-hour miniseries. USA turned Levangie Grazer’s “Starter Wife” into a six-hour limited series this summer and received strong ratings and 10 Emmy nominations. (Yahoo!/Reuters/Hollywood Reporter 8/15)
“Painkiller Jane,” the action series starring Kristanna Loken, has been canceled by the Sci Fi Channel . The show just completed production on its 22-episode, first-season order, and the series finale is scheduled for Sept. 21. (Yahoo!/Reuters/Hollywood Reporter 8/15)
Several traditional media companies are busy acquiring Internet start-ups. But more than a few of the recent deals are viewed as letdowns. Conde Nast purchased Reddit last year, only to see it eclipsed by rival Digg. Even News Corp.’s buy of MySpace is “showing signs of uncertainty.” (http://news.com.com/Big+media+hunts+for+Web+cred,+again/2100-1030_3-6202570.html 8/15)
Nike and its ad agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland devised an interactive TV campaign providing Dish Network DVR customers with access to short videos, an interactive game and a long form Nike commercial. San Diego Chargers back LaDainian Tomlinson and other star athletes are featured conducting training exercises in the videos.
CBS is settling its termination dispute with shock jock Don Imus, a possible step toward Imus going to work for a rival broadcaster. Imus and CBS are now being sued by a Rutgers women’s basketball team member Kia Vaughn, who claims his disparaging on-air comments defamed her. (http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-08-14-rutgers-lawsuit_N.htm 8/15)
DirecTV plans to announce an agreement with Current Group to provide high-speed Internet service over electric-power lines. The satellite-television provider will market a bundled package of Current’s broadband and voice over Internet protocol services under the DirecTV brand. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118714676340798244-4rRxIwNmQhwCTCxYzqKVtsdi1T4_20070822.html 8/15)
Cablevision has started offering a free preview of “High School Musical 2″ in its entirety to subscribers of Disney Channel’s on-demand service, in an effort to boost marketing buzz. The movie is scheduled to debut Friday on Disney’s basic cable channel. (The New York Times 8/15)
Although major marketers including KFC, Coca-Cola and Audi of America have tried “DVR buster” ads, which require viewers to use a DVR to slow down the proceedings to screen them, the spots have proved to be more of a gimmick than a valid way to get viewers to watch ads on TV, according to this article. “Nobody has made anything revolutionary yet,” said Tom Trenta, a marketing strategist with EggStrategy who is credited with developing the idea while at Interpublic Group’s Foote, Cone & Belding. (Advertising Age 8/14)
Comcast has started bundling its high-speed Internet and digital-voice offerings. The company, which took over the market from Time Warner Cable in June, allows customers in the region to bundle cable, Internet and phone services for a monthly fee of $33 per service. (American City Business Journals/Houston 8/15)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Blockbuster purchased studio digital video joint venture MovieLink for only $6.6 million, according to an 8-K filing by Blockbuster sourced by paidcontent.org – a much lower price than earlier estimates. Warner Bros., MGM, Sony, Universal and Paramount invested an estimated $100 million in the venture when it launched in 2002.
Wishlist and gifting start-up gBox was selected by Universal Music Group as a venue for its DRM-free MP3 sales trial. Universal will purchase ad space on Google that will appear when a user searches for specific artists. The banner ads will direct customers to gBox to buy individual tracks. DRM-free songs will go for 99 cents, 30 cents cheaper than on iTunes. The site is scheduled to launch August 21.
Facebook is now offering its news feeds feature – which constantly updates users about what their friends are up to – as an RSS feed, allowing friend postings to be viewed without logging into their Facebook accounts.
Current TV debuted The Daily Fix, described as a music blog for television that combines daily music industry coverage with user generated video clips, MP3s from music blog aggregators and cell phone camera submissions. The 90-second burst will air six times daily at 9:31 am, 1:31 pm, 5:31 pm, 8:31 pm, 12:31 am and 4:31 am (all times ET). Submissions can be made at current.tv.
Since Facebook opened up to developers in May, the social-networking site has seen an influx of applications, leading to the creation of advertising networks designed to help marketers reach the site’s growing user base. MySpace “isn’t able to compete with them.” (http://www.adweek.com/aw/national/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003625255 8/13)
DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers who find themselves traveling on Sundays will have access to the games online this fall. Fans who subscribe to the “SuperFan” option can watch the entire line up NFL games via DirecTV.com, the first time the NFL has offered up its games on broadband. The premium $99 add-on (paid on top of the $269 Sunday Ticket package price) comes with interactive features including live look-ins at scoring opportunities and up-to-the-minute scoring and stats. Superfan also gives subscribers access to more than 180 live games in HD, a 20% increase over last year.
Online video network Broadband Enterprises signed an exclusive deal to syndicate sports highlight show CineSport, making it available to more than 1,800 affiliate websites. The two-minute show features news as well as college and pro sports highlights.
Widgetbox launched a Flash-based widget to allow users share iTunes music, TV shows and movie favorites across social networks such as MySpace, hi5 and Facebook.
To be clear, this widget does not allow you to share music files so much as it allows viewers of your site to see what you are buying and personalizes the web site owner by music selections. Pretty cool.
Hitwise launched a new Hitwise To Go widget in the US, UK and Asia Pacific providing a desktop application to deliver Hitwise data as it is released. The widget can also access a full archive of past statistics and data sources. The application is currently available on the Yahoo Widgets platform and will soon be available on the Google Gadget and Yourminis platforms.
Netflix has gone against the grain of Web-based companies by eliminating its e-mail-based customer service in favor of a call center and locating that call center in the U.S. — in Oregon, a state known for friendly, polite workers. When the company found itself losing customers to Blockbuster for the first time last year, it opted for a friendlier, more personalized level of customer service to help get back its edge. (International Herald Tribune 8/14)
Web users spend half their time visiting content sites, far outstripping time spent on search, communications and commerce sites according to a four-year analysis released by the Online Publishers Association. Research from Nielsen/Net Ratings showed a dramatic shift as users turned to the net more frequently to view breaking news, sporting events, entertainment information and weather, with traffic spiking during major news and seasonal events.
Four Year Summary of OPA Internet Activity Index:
Share of Time Share of Time Share of Time Online
Online 2003 Online 2007* Change 03 - 07
Content 34 % 47 % + 37 %
Search 3 % 5 % + 35 %
Commerce 16 % 15 % - 5 %
Communications 46 % 33 % - 28 %
Total 100 % 100 % –
(2007 includes January through May) source: Online Publisher’s Association
XM Satellite Radio and News Corp.’s MySpace are partnering to launch “Show Us What Ya Got,” an online search for unsigned hip-hop and R&B music talent. Participants will compete for the chance to perform at the Mix Power Summit in October and an appearance on XM. (http://www.djbooth.net/index/news/entry/xm-myspace-power-summit-ask-to-show-us-what-ya-got-0815072/ 8/15)
Yahoo is adding more city-specific Web pages as it aims to attract more local advertisers. Yahoo Local will have a weekend section to help users find movies and events. The site also lets visitors add comments to reviews of businesses such as restaurants and barber shops. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=afBrAjLSeQaI 8/15)
News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media says it will develop and manage Web sites of Fox television station affiliates. The division of News Corp. that also controls MySpace struck the deal with the Fox affiliate Board of Governors, a group that represents over 160 Fox affiliates. (http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1523483620070815 8/15)
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Bravo is teaming with Verizon Wireless to bring exclusive clips of Top Chef 3 Miami to V Cast-enabled phones. It is the first time Bravo has offered “bite sized” segments taped specifically for mobile. Judges from the competitive reality show will weigh-in on what transpired each week.
Substantive global wireless growth will come from companies that can establish so-called “mobile triple plays” involving video, voice and the Internet, a new report claims. The study from high-tech market-research firm In-Stat says these triple plays will be greatly aided by the use of femtocells, small cellular base stations designed for the residential and small-business environments. (Cartt News Service 8/14)
Since the iPhone’s July launch, games have been available on the handheld device, but industry buzz indicates Apple will likely expand the gaming available with the iPhone. The move is expected to put it in competition with Nintendo DS and Sony PSP for casual gamers. (The Times (London) 8/13)
HarperCollins is setting up a special link that will allow browsers to view excerpts from more than a dozen new books on the new Apple iPhone. “Reaching consumers on mobile devices and the Internet is increasingly important,” says HarperCollins chief Brian Murray. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070815/ap_on_en_ot/books_iphone 8/15)Today’s cell phones are turning into the must-have concert accessory, offering free ringtones, concert tickets and backstage passes. Fans sign up to receive updates and ticket information and to enter contests, allowing promoters to generate a whole new form of live-music income. (The New York Times 8/15)
Filed under: GAMING
GAMING
EA Sports’ Madden NFL ‘08 cover athlete Vince Young will host a one-hour interactive forum online tonight from 6 pm to 7 pm ET on circuitcity.com to kick off the release of the new game.
The release of Alectronic Arts’ Madden NFL 08 marks the first time that the popular gaming title has been fully integrated with the Xbox 360. This year’s edition is sure to please gamers, as EA has decided to pump up the frame rates and add increased controls. (Yahoo!/USA Today 8/14)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
A new market study predicts that LCD televisions will occupy 75% of the worldwide TV market by 2011. The report, issued by In-Stat, also predicts that plasma technology will decrease to less than 15% of global market shares, as U.S. consumers are showing less interest in the high-definition technology. (TWICE 8/14)
