Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
HBO has started using a system that inserts an invisible bar code into each frame of a video in order to track the source of shows that appear on the Internet before they’ve been shown on TV. The system, called Shield Forensic, inserts a unique ID into each copy of shows delivered to reviewers. (Multichannel News 9/12)
TNT’s “The Closer” finished No. 1 in Nielsen Media Research rankings for the week of Sept. 3-9 with 5.83 million homes and 8.17 million viewers. The college football matchup between Florida State and Clemson on ESPN was second and was followed in the Top Five by MTV Networks’ MTV Networks’ MTV Video Music Awards, USA Network’s “WWE Raw” and TNT’s “Saving Grace.” (The Boston Globe/Associated Press 9/12)
CNN is permanently shifting to taped programming for the second hour of “Anderson Cooper 360,” scaling back an ambitious programming block created in 2005 to showcase the studio and field-reporting talents of Cooper, who it viewed as an emerging star. (http://www.variety.com/VR1117971904.html 9/12)
Cablevision’s Dolan family may sell assets, form partnerships, lower expenses and shut down businesses to cut debt after a $10.6 billion buyout of the New York cable company. The Dolans are said to be “considering steps to reduce Cablevision’s post-closing leverage.” (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a2.C9dxDSnrk 9/13)
Some 62% of Americans say television programs are getting worse, says a poll by the Associated Press and AOL Television. More than 70% believe there are too many reality shows. “I’m not entertained by watching people eat spiders,” says Jeanie Peterson, 59, of New Orleans. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070912/ap_en_tv/tv_fall_poll 9/12)
HDTV viewing does not seem to affect commercial viewing patterns, according to a new study by Knowledge Networks. HD consumers do tend to be more selective about what they watch; however, with about half saying they make the effort to find something in HD before switching over to a standard def broadcast.
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Veoh Networks closed on yet another round of financing, this time led by Goldman Sachs and including former Viacom and MTV Networks CEO Tom Freston and former Viacom Entertainment Group Chairman Jonathan Dolgen. (Old media heavyweight Michael Eisner is also an investor in the venture). The additional $25 million will be used to fund additional deals with content providers and to further enhance its backend operations. Veoh reported 18 million unique users in August, a 307% increase since its official launch in February. (http://www.variety.com/VR1117971894.html 9/12)
News Corp./NBCU video service Hulu.com is in the midst of acquiring Beijing-based Mojiti, according to an unconfirmed report in the blog TechCrunch, the venture’s first major acquisition. Speculation is that Hulu will utilize Mojiti’s platform as the basis for its service, which had initially hoped to be up and running by the end of this summer. Mojiti, founded by former Microsoft Asia executive Eric Feng, allows users to make personal annotations at timed intervals within uploaded videos.
Coming from executive producers Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick is the web-based series Quarterlife that will “air” exclusively on MySpace.com, and will have its own social networking site at quarterlife.com. Each episode is about 8 minutes long and is about a group of college friends who have just recently graduated from school. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-fi-myspace13sep13,1,62457.story?ctrack=1&cset=true 9/13)
It’s like My So-Called Life for the digital age. Why is it that every web-based series includes a long soliloquy of a blogger and her web cam? Just because I’m watching web-based video doesn’t exactly mean that I require a one-on-one Ferris Bueller blogger moment with the web cam. That said, it looks mildly interesting; filled with teenage angst and such.
Quarterlife Trailer (Premieres 11/12)
The musician Prince is threatening to sue several major Web sites, including YouTube and eBay, as part of an initiative to “reclaim the Internet” from rampant piracy. In recent weeks, Prince’s legal reps have requested the removal of around 2,000 illegally uploaded videos from YouTube. (http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2168265,00.html 9/13)
Yahoo plans to distribute “Nissan Live Sets,” an online music performance series, through a high-definition channel from Viacom’s MTV. The new alliance marks a rare instance in which material first designed for the Internet is coming to mainstream television. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/09132007/business/web_wags_dog.htm 9/13)
Video-sharing site Revver has paid $1 million to more than 25,000 people who have posted their work since last September. The biggest paycheck — $50,000 for 15 clips — went to two guys from Maine who put a Mentos mint into a Diet Coke and watched it explode. (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2007-09-13-revver_N.htm 9/12)
Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments
Dig it. Who knew you could do all this with diet coke and mentos?
Disney.com broke its own traffic record in August, with 23 million unique visitors, the same month Disney Channel debuted its hit made-for-TV movie “High School Musical 2.” Disney is redesigning its main Web sites — Disney.com, ABC.com and ESPN.com — to draw customers. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqtA2U2xuGAs 9/12)
Next week, MTV plans to air “The Gamekillers,” a new series created by Unilever to promote Axe antiperspirant. Subtle references to the Axe brand are placed in the show. Facing intensifying competition for advertising dollars from the Web, TV execs “need to please advertisers.” (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118963983165125765.html 9/13)
The Gamekillers Trailer
Shares of WebMD, the health care information site, shot up more than 8% Wednesday, and some analysts cite chatter that the company could be a takeover target for Google as the reason. Google “could be interested in WebMD since they are one of the leaders in health care.” (http://mediabiz.blogs.cnnmoney.com/2007/09/12/paging-dr-google/ 9/12)
IFC is teaming with technology and data services provider B-Side on a new broadcast/distribution/marketing initiative designed to help monetize undiscovered indie festival films. “B-Side on IFC” titles will be distributed on multiple platforms including grassroots movie theaters, DVD, broadband, IPTV, and mobile devices. The documentary Before the Music Dies, Andrew Shapter’s critical look at the music business, is the program’s first title.
IFC.com also announced a new partnership with Salon.com to produce a series of original interstitials, Beyond the Multiplex, named after the Salon column of the same moniker. The 2-3 minute segments will focus on movie industry news, trends, technology and talent, premiering once a week each Thursday night on IFC and salon.com. Freelance film critic Matt Singer will host, joined by Salon columnists Andrew O’Hehir and Stephanie Zacharek.
MTV Networks’ Logo topped comScore Media Metrix’s list of leading LGBT sites for the first time in August, attracting 719,000 unique visitors. Logo has slowly acquired a number of popular gay and lesbian entertainment sites to strengthen its online portfolio, including Afterellen.com and Afterelton.com, 365gay.com and DowneLink.com.
User-regulated Wikipedia registered its 2 millionth English language article this week, with a posting on Spanish language TV Show El Hormiguero putting it over the top.
Social bookmarking site Searchles added support of MetaCafe and Veoh. Video clips from these sites as well as YouTube, Google, MySpace, Blip.tv and LiveLeak can be searched and embedded into custom channels created by the user.
Video sharing site Kewego.com raised $6.9 million in second-round financing, reports paid content.org led by Banxei Venture Partners and CDC Enterprises. The site is a joint venture formed from merging two French video sites.
Online broadcast platform provider Titan TV cut a deal with internet-based syndication startup Radar Entertainment to begin streaming the new court show Jury Duty in a way that allows local station sites to maintain territorial exclusivity. Through its geo-targeted TitanCast video player, Titan TV (formerly Decisionmark) allows a station to manage, host and stream content only within its DMA, thereby protecting broadcasters’ over-the-air exclusivity.
(Below) Tres interesting. Tell all your friends: the Daily Marauder does it better. . .depending on what the “it” is.
Responding to customer demand, market researcher comScore plans to start tallying the number of readers of blogs both popular and obscure, as well as some social networking sites. The move suggests blogs are getting enough traffic to appeal to advertisers. (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2182592,00.asp9/12)
Top U.S. Online Video Properties by Videos Viewed – July 2007
Property Videos MM) Share (%) of Videos
Google Sites 2,454 27.0 %
Yahoo! Sites 390 4.3 %
Fox Interactive Media 298 3.3 %
Viacom Digital 281 3.1 %
Disney Online 182 2.0 %
Time Warner Network 181 2.0 %
Microsoft Sites 149 1.6 %
ESPN 75 0.8 %
Veoh.com 53 0.6 %
Comcast Corporation 51 0.6 %
Total Internet 9,077 100.0 %
Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks.
Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video.
Source: comScore Video Metrix
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
MobiTV cut a deal with NBC Universal Digital Distribution to air all of Notre Dame’s regularly scheduled home football games this season on compatible phones and mobile devices.
Nokia has added new features to its mobile mapping application, with a revamped user interface and a status indicator to alert users when they’re connected to a GPS satellite. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/11/Nokia-revamps-mobile-map-service_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-09-13 9/11)
Filed under: GAMING
GAMING
Aspyr Media will develop and produce “Guitar Hero 3″ specifically for PC and Mac platforms, according to a newly inked deal between the company, Activision and RedOctane. The next edition of the popular guitar-playing game will be released on twice as many platforms as previous versions and will feature more than 70 total songs. (CNET/GameSpot 9/12)
Nintendo will introduce its “Wii gun” in time for the upcoming holiday season, according to company officials. “The Wii Zapper combines our remarkable controllers into one housing with a classic style reminiscent of arcade-style games,” said George Harrison, a Nintendo executive. (E-Commerce Times/TechNewsWorld 9/11)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGYWarner Home Video President Ron Sanders is dispelling rumors that his company will make the switch to exclusively using the HD DVD format. Speaking at a recent industry conference, Sanders stated that sales remain strong in both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. (TWICE 9/12)
Filed under: MISC
MISC
A sequel to the old school digital fantasy Tron is underway at Disney, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with commercial director Joseph Kosinski in negotiations to direct. Kosinski also signed on to direct the remake of Logan’s Run for Warner Bros. Pictures. Look for lots of cool digital extensions on this project.
Holy wow. . .this is amazing. Originally released in 1982, this movie was one of the first great hacker films. Jeff Bridges pre-The Big Lebowski. And get this: Tron was nominated for 2 Oscars that year. OK yes, they were for costume design and sound but all the same, can’t WAIT for the sequel.
