Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

The new “TMZ on TV” is said to be distinguishing itself from rival “Entertainment Tonight” by being aggressively snarky. News stories are read by unidentified narrators who have “strong opinions.” One describes Victoria Beckham as looking like “a slutty Malibu Barbie.” (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2007/09/11/2007-09-11_on_tmz_on_tv_beware_snark_attack.html 9/11)

Even this simple teaser got me excited.  Who doesn’t love snarky Hollywood gossip?  My absolute favorite part of this teaser campaign is the tag line: You make them stars.  We make them real. 

The digital production model may start resembling the TV one if a new plan by Warner Bros. is any indication. WB’s digital production arm Studio 2.0 announced a new slate of 23 short form projects for broadband and wireless and, according to The New York Times, will begin paying the upfront costs for the productions instead of trying to line up sponsorships beforehand. Studio 2.0’s current production slate includes three new live action puppet series produced with Jim Henson Company and RealNetworks, a 3D animation project with artist Alex Pardee and a 10-project commitment with comedians Joey Manderino and David Young, creators of web series joeyanddavid.com.

News Corp. will not pull its television shows from Apple’s iTunes as NBC Universal has done over a pricing dispute, says president Peter Chernin. “But let me say this,” he adds, “we’re the ones who should determine what the fair price for our product is, not Apple.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSL1053262920070911 9/11) 

After declining to join the News Corp./NBCU joint venture Hulu.com, ABC is in talks with several internet portals including AOL, Comcast, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo to form its own digital distribution platform, according to Mediaweek. Central to ABC’s strategy is to require partners to offer content through its proprietary video player, thereby insuring a quality user experience. (http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/interactive/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003637087 9/10)

Comedy site My Damn Channel is launching a branded channel on MySpaceTV to increase distribution of its original content from artists including Harry Shearer, David Wain and Andy Milonakis.

Social-networking phenom Facebook “is the very definition of ‘hot,’” according to Adweek. Facebook ranks No. 1 on Adweek’s third annual Digital Hot List. While newcomers dominate, the online properties of established media brands Disney and Discovery also make the Top 10. (http://www.adweek.com/aw/iq_interactive/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003637662 9/10)

Yahoo’s U.S. audience was smaller than Google’s by about 6 million people in the month of August, but Yahoo visitors lingered about twice as long, according to data from Nielsen//NetRatings. Yahoo is seen as a content company, while Google is “mainly a search engine.” (http://blogs.business2.com/utilitybelt/2007/09/yahoos-audience.html 9/10)

Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp, the parent of Home Shopping Network, is revamping its shopping-comparison Web site, Pronto.com, to incorporate social networking, creating a “Facebook for shopping.” Users will be able to rate products, write reviews and interact online. (http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20070911-000005-0016&hpadref=1 9/11)

Swedish mobile company TerraNet is testing a peer-to-peer technology that will allow its mobile customers to communicate with one another without the use of a base station. The system uses other TerraNet handsets to create a mini-network that routes calls to their target and is expected to be valuable in outlying areas of some emerging markets. (BBC 9/11)