Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
NBC Universal has found a digital distribution outlet more to its liking. NBCU reached a wide-ranging distribution agreement with Amazon.com to make a variety of broadcast shows, cable shows and movies available for purchase on its Unbox platform including several packaging options and incentive plans. NBC has been dabbling with Unbox for the past year, but the new agreement allows Amazon to offer full seasons of hits including 30 Rock, The Office, Heroes and the 3 Law & Order incarnations at volume discounts, with new episodes to be added the day after they premiere this fall. The pilots of new shows Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman and Life will also be available for free from September 10, then for $1.99 per episode following their premieres. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avvnTZoJpaik 9/4)
NBC Universal, which decided last week to pull its shows from Apple’s iTunes, is seen as only the first media company considering hardball tactics as deadlines approach to renew contracts with the service. Television programs could disappear from iTunes altogether, say media analysts. (http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUSN0437196820070905 9/5)
(Below) How I do love a good video download service show down. Being that Sony is offering this service as tied to popular devices like the PS3, PSP, and the Bravia HD TV’s, this should make things very interesting. Of course, this depends on the simplicity of the interface and most importantly the price points.
After throwing in the towel on the music download business, Sony is gearing up to challenge Apple and Microsoft with a new video download service tied to the PlayStation 3, the PSP handheld and its line of Bravia HD TV’s. Although the article provides few details, Sony’s differentiator appears to be the ability to offer shows and movies in HD. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118885177843416106.html 9/4)
Yahoo acquired online ad network BlueLithium for $300 million in cash. BlueLithium specializes in targeting based on users’ interests, custom segmentation and extending frequency against a marketer’s targeted audience.
Universal Music Group is accusing Veoh Networks, the Internet video-site operator backed by former Disney boss Michael Eisner, of infringing its copyrights. Veoh and its financial backers — which include Time Warner — must be “held financially responsible,” says Universal. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoI_7BwsoBnM 9/4)
You’ve heard of movies and TV series getting a little marketing push in the virtual world Second Life, but here is the reverse. HBO has picked up a documentary completely shot and produced in the online site Second Life. The 35-minute doc, My Second Life: The Video Diaries of Molotov Alva follows the avatar director/producer Alva (aka director Douglas Gayeton) as he travels the Second Life world in search of its creator, and comes across many a colorful character on his way. The doc will be scheduled to air in 2008. (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0444783420070904 9/4)
Investors sent Yahoo shares up more than 5% Tuesday after Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck said the Internet giant “remains an attractive acquisition candidate for either traditional media companies seeking to deepen their exposure to the Internet or from tech companies like Microsoft.” (http://www.nypost.com/seven/09052007/business/takeover_talk_lifts_yahoo__by_.htm 9/5)
ESPN360.com completed a relaunch featuring an entirely new look and updated user interface enabling broadband users to view up to 10 simultaneous events at once. The next generation player features DVR-like controls and improved video quality delivering 640 x 360 images displayed in either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios. ESPN is hoping the new features and a revamped line up of more than 2,000 live sporting events in the next 12 months (including NBA, NASCAR, College Football and College Basketball) will convince more broadband providers to carry the service. So far AT&T, Verizon, Charter and Mediacom are the only major carriers paying ESPN for the privilege of offering it to their subscribers, giving about 17 million homes access.
Tyler Perry, the producer of the sitcom “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” is launching his own broadband video channel is a partnership with the William Morris Agency. Several other single artist broadband channels featuring William Morris talent are said to be in the works. (http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003634868 9/5)
WCSN announced a deal with FOXSports.com to provide Olympic-style and World Championship event video content to sports fans on MSN.FOXSports.com and within the MSN Video platform. WCSN will launch a branded channel users can link to from FoxSports.com’s “More” category, with additional content appearing in the “Olympic Sports” section. Coverage will include interviews and behind-the-scenes looks at the Beijing Olympics as well as streaming of cycling, gymnastics and alpine skiing events.
Entertainment ‘zine site OK-Magazine.com relaunched with new exclusive content including continuously updated breaking news, celebrity updates, photo galleries, videos, reviews, blogs and numerous interactive features.
In my mind, and I’m not just saying this because I am one, bloggers like Perez Hilton and Trent from Pinkisthenewblog have excelled at providing celebrity news and photographs because they rely on the mass market for information. At this point, the celebrity magazines like OK! And US Weekly just seem left behind in getting entertainment news to the public.
Video advertising company VideoEgg raised an additional $15 million in funding according to TechCrunch, led by Focus Ventures with existing investors WPP, Maveron and August Capital also contributing. The company has raised more than $32 million since its founding in 2005. VideoEgg recently struck a deal with Facebook to sell ads directly into applications developed for the social networking site.
CBS Corp.’s collegiate sports site CSTV.com reported a unique user base of 1.2 million as of College Football kickoff Saturday on Sept 1st, a 27% year-to-year increase. The overall CSTV network, which includes 215 official collegiate websites, recorded 8.2 million page views last Saturday.
The McClatchy Co. is retaining its 14.4% stake in online jobs site Careerbuilder.com amid declining classified revenues at its newspapers. Gannett and Tribune each maintain a 40.8% stake in the site.
Peer-to-peer downloading still dominates internet traffic according to the preliminary results of a survey conducted by Germany-based ipouque, accounting for somewhere between 50-90% of the bits delivered on the world wide web. BitTorrent leads all P2P providers serving 50-75% of the global streams. A survey of BitTorrent shared files in October of last year found audio music to be the most popular genre (accounting for 22.3% of all downloads), followed by movies (21.24%), adult video (15.04%) and TV series (11.25%).
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