Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
AOL’s disappointing earnings are contributing to a fall in the share price of parent Time Warner. The strategic direction of the group is said to remain unclear: whether it will be spun off, or whether it will be combined in some way with rivals such as Yahoo or Microsoft. (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5071f402-4e6b-11dc-85e7-0000779fd2ac.html 8/18)
Friday’s premiere of The Disney Channel’s made-for-TV “High School Musical 2″ is said to be the most-watched basic cable television program of all time, with 17.2 million viewers. Sing-along song lyrics from Disney’s newest franchise property are available for young fans to download. (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/high-school-musical-2-breaks-tv-records/ 8/19)
HBO renewed the musical-comedy series Flight of the Conchords for a second season. The number of new episodes for the half-hour series has not been determined. Additionally, HBO ordered the fifth season renewal of the comedy series Entourage, the pay network’s second longest-running show.
MTV’s premiere of Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County last Wednesday night (1030p) averaged more than 1.7 million total viewers and was #1 in its time period among P12-34 across all of television.
On Tuesday, CNN debuts “God’s Warriors,” a six-hour look at religious fundamentalism. The series will comprise two-hour, prime-time installments over three consecutive evenings, with Christiane Amanpour as host. (Yahoo!/Associated Press 8/20)
While the cable industry has done its part to build the infrastructure that will give consumers access to a nearly limitless cache of films with their VOD offerings, the Hollywood studios so far have been slow to free up their content. Comcast, for instance, can offer only about 300 movies a day, excluding its premium channels, on its on-demand menu. (The New York Times 8/19)
RHI Entertainment, a producer of made-for-TV movies, has announced 24 films that will premiere on the video-on-demand services of cable companies around the country through 2008. Pricing on the films will vary, but is expected to run about $4 for 72 hours of unlimited viewing. (USA TODAY 8/19)
Lachlan Murdoch’s two-year non-compete clause with News Corp. is ending. Rupert Murdoch’s 35-year-old son resigned from his executive positions with News Corp. in 2005. The younger Murdoch, now an Australia-based media entrepreneur, sold 220,000 shares of News Corp. stock last week. (http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/murdoch-deal-proves-to-be-a-good-option/2007/08/17/1186857771217.html 8/18)
Gemstar-TV Guide, the publisher of TV Guide magazine and on-screen program listings, is accelerating stock options and other benefits for some execs and employees as it considers the possible sale of the company. Potential buyers are said to include Google and Comcast. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aS7.ixW6ip8k 8/17)
Several independent cable companies are trying to get Congress to support a program that would extend analog-TV signals seven years beyond the Feb. 17, 2009, DTV deadline. The move, called Save Our Sets, would also provide for free local broadcast channels for those who still rely on over-the-air TV signals. (TWICE 8/20)
Comcast executives say its new triple-play service in Albuquerque, N.M. — which bundles cable TV, high-speed Internet and digital phone service — is virtually selling itself. Even before the service became available or before the triple-play ad campaign had started, there was a waiting list of 2,000 people, according to the company. (American City Business Journals/Albuquerque, N.M. 8/17) AT&T today begins offering high-definition video service over its phone lines in the Sacramento, Calif., area. The U-verse offering includes 26 channels and will be bundled with the company’s broadband Internet service. (The Sacramento Bee (Calif.) 8/20)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
American Airlines is filing a lawsuit against Google for selling search words involving its name. The suit accuses the Internet giant of violating trademark laws with its practice of selling search terms such as “AA.com” to competitors who then direct searchers to their own Web pages. (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1725026420070817 8/17)
Google is acquiring a stake in Chinese community Web site Tianya.cn, a foray by the global search leader into social networking. The stake is said to be anywhere from less than 10% to up to 60%. Google may be eyeing acquisitions in China, the world’s second-largest Internet market. (http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSSHA23163320070820 8/20)
Comcast has begun the practice of cutting off users who try to download files from P2P file sharing site BitTorrent, reports the blog TorrentFreak. Cable MSO and other ISPs have long limited bandwidth for heavy P2P users, but this new practice is preventing BitTorrent users from completing downloads by severing the connection between the BitTorrent client software and other peers contributing content. Comcast is utilizing an application provided by Sandvine to choke BitTorrent traffic, according to the blog.
(Above) Dear Comcast, I the user would prefer not to be monitored by my internet usage. The big brother attempt at broadband management freaks me out and leads me to general paranoia. But seriously, I realize that much of BitTorrent usage involves illegal file sharing but who is Comcast to monitor whether I’m using a P2P site like BitTorrent versus perhaps a more acceptable P2P site like Joost? Furthermore, is use of BitTorrent inherently illegal? I’m sure there are some legitimate users out there trying to get their file share on. This situation quietly brings the debate regarding net neutrality to the forefront and I, for one, won’t let that fact go unnoticed.
Yahoo’s new, chameleon-like SmartAds dynamically change images and messages in response to what the Internet firm knows about the user viewing them. For instance, a consumer who researches plane tickets on Yahoo Travel could later be shown an airline ad with fare quotes. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-ym-yahoo-0819aug19,0,7250623.story 8/19)
Media Rights Capital’s digital arm struck a deal to use Google’s AdSense network to monetize and distribute branded content. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane and That’s So Raven star Raven-Symone have signed on to create original online content. MRC Digital will finance by selling online sponsorships integrated with the original videos. Banner ads, pre-rolls and other kinds of digital ads will be served by AdSense across multiple sites.
Raw, uncensored video entertainment site No Good TV is shopping a latenight linear TV franchise, according to Variety. The site specializes in profanity-laded interviews with celebrities who are usually sitting down to promote their latest releases. Late Show With David Letterman producer Robert Morton has signed on to executive produce the project, along with NGTV.com, Endeavor and 3 Arts Entertainment.
Check out the Superbad interviews where I learned my new phrase of the day, douche hole. Douche hole, for those times when douche bag doesn’t quite reach the propensity that you were looking for.
Video sharing site MetaCafe launched a Facebook application, allowing users to watch videos and grab them to share and embed elsewhere. The application allows users to view the most popular videos within their Facebook network and search the entire archive on MetaCafe.com.
Facebook launched the Facebook Diaries project with Comcast’s Ziddio, featuring real life video submissions from Facebook users. Clips can be submitted on Ziddio.com and can be viewed on either site or via Comcast’s VOD platform. (Registered Facebook users can view them at facebook.com/diaries.) New episodes based on different topics will be added each Thursday.
The 19 largest cable and telco providers added a combined 1.7 million new high speed internet subscribers during the second quarter, according to Leichtman Research Group. The top providers now collectively account for 58 million subscribers, representing about 94% of the market in the U.S. Growth is leveling off, with only Charter recording more net broadband additions compared to second quarter last year. Telcos added about 925,000 new subs – 54% of the net new additions. But cable still serves 31.5 million broadband customers vs. telco’s 26.4 million subscribers.
A new Harvard study released by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy concludes that the internet is redistributing news audiences at a rapid rate with the biggest gains in coming to non-traditional providers including news feeds, search engines and bloggers. Traffic to national web portals such as nytimes.com and usatoday.com are also increasing, by 10% on average during the past year. The trend threatens daily newspapers and local news organizations the most as national brands tend to eclipse local ones on the web.
Cellphones, the Internet and other technologies are integrally woven into the lives of today’s 13- to 24-year-olds, according to a study on happiness and young people by MTV and the Associated Press. Half of those young people polled say the Internet alone helps them feel happier. (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-20-2007/0004648048 8/20)
Advertising revenue at Time Inc. grew only 1% in the second quarter, even with traffic increasing at key Web sites and an all-hands-on-deck approach to reinventing itself as a multiplatform content company. People.com “missed the chance” to own the entertainment news category. (http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070819/FREE/70818004 8/18)
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
CBS Mobile is teaming up with Verizon Wireless and MediaFLO USA to launch a new Big Brother 8 mobile channel, offering V Cast subscribers 24/7 live coverage from inside the Big Brother home. Additional mobile offerings around the show include full episodes, highlight clips, breaking house alerts and daily insider summaries. Coverage will continue through the season finale on Sept. 18.
The NAB weighed in on the “white space” debate, agreeing with the FCC that wireless broadband devices would indeed interfere with broadcast signals. The association is asking further tests of such devices, requested by Microsoft, be delayed until the DTV transition in 2009. The NAB estimates portable devices could disrupt as many as 15% – 20% of viewers who watch TV over the air.
Sprint Nextel admits that Pivot, a joint venture with several cable companies to package wireless communications with TV, Internet and phone services, is proving a tougher sell than anticipated with consumers. Sprint, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Advance/Newhouse joined forces in 2005 on Pivot. (BusinessWeek 8/20)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
Sony is working with Waste Management’s Recycle America program to help customers recycle Sony TVs, computers and other electronics equipment. The Sony Take Back Recycling Program will accept devices at 7 drop-off centers throughout the country, taking Sony equipment for no charge or competitors’products for a nominal fee. A list of drop-off centers can be found at sony.com.
