Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
Microsoft aims to bridge the divide between home computers and television sets this holiday season with the release of new “media extenders.” These TV set-top boxes will allow users to use their TV sets to watch movies, TV shows and Web video that is stored on their computers. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070927/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_tvr 9/27)
NBC will unveil the live reality show Phenomenon October 24 at 8p. Mystifier Criss Angel and mentalist Uri Geller will search for the next great mentalist during the five-week run which also includes a special two-hour live episode on Halloween night at 8p. Ten chosen mentalists will compete against each other, demonstrating their unique powers in front of a panel of celebrity guests and the studio audience. Criss and Uri each will offer advice, but viewers will decide who wins the final grand prize of $250,000.
Eric McCormack has signed on to join the cast of “Truth in Advertising,” a TNT series whose pilot is scheduled to begin shooting in October. The Emmy-winning actor from “Will & Grace” will play an art director at a Chicago ad agency who thrives on the internal politics at the firm. (Yahoo!/Reuters/Hollywood Reporter 9/26)
Scripps Networks made a multi-year pact with Comcast to distribute HGTV HD and Food Network HD. Comcast has begun this task as both networks are now in Boston and parts of New Jersey. Comcast will launch the networks in other markets over the next year.
Time Warner’s Warner Bros. is entering a multibillion-dollar alliance with Abu Dhabi real estate developer Aldar and Abu Dhabi Media to develop a theme park, hotel and cinemas, as well as a fund for films, video games and to help build out the infrastructure for new media in Abu Dhabi. (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/abu-dhabi-shows-warner-bros-the-money/ 9/26)
Time Warner Cable is expanding its “My Football Tracker” fantasy-football application to Buffalo, N.Y.; Portland, Maine; and Waco, Corpus Christi and El Paso, Texas, for the 2007-08 season. The service allows subscribers to get fantasy-football information on-screen, regardless of which channel they’re watching. (Multichannel News 9/26)
Cox and Hearst-Argyle Television have made final a retransmission-consent agreement covering high-definition digital signals, digital-multicast programming and the ongoing carriage of analog signals in six markets. (Broadcasting & Cable 9/26)
DVR maker TiVo will launch a second-by-second ratings system called Stop||Watch, which will show live and time-shifted viewing habits for both programming and commercials. Publicis Group’s Starcom ad agency has already become the first subscriber to the service. (Yahoo!/Adweek.com 9/26)
Consumers are shelling out more money on media and entertainment thanks to upgrades in technologies, according to a new SNL Kagan study, to the tune of 1.85% of the average U.S. annual income. Things are good all over, it would seem. TV broadcasters are benefiting from political ad dollars and retrans agreements; cable operators will see VOD grow from $1 billion to $5.5 billion by 2017; and wireless carriers saw subscriptions grow by 12% last year and will reach 233 million subscribers by year-end.
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Two freshman series from NBC – Chuck and Journeyman – popped up on the iTunes store, despite NBC’s refusal to renew its deal with Apple site. (NBC continues to fight for more pricing flexibility and piracy controls). It turns out the shows, though branded as NBC titles, are produced by outside studios. Chuck is a Warner Bros. co-production, and Journeyman is produced by 20th Century Fox TV.
MySpace and MTV are partnering to launch the first ever interactive, real-time Presidential dialogue series. The inaugural dialogue will begin with former Senator John Edwards in New Hampshire on Thursday, September 27 (today), webcast live at 12PM EST on MySpaceTV and MTV.com. (Sen. Edwards is the first of 11 candidates confirmed to participate.) Viewers can participate by uploading videos, participating in real-time polling and chatting via instant messaging. (http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9785527-36.html 9/26)
Very interesting interface with voting buttons available underneath the screen. The only drawback my accomplice and I found was that the polling interface didn’t automatically refresh after we had voted. As Edwards moved on to new questions, we were stuck on the voting features for the first question. All in all though, this is a great way to engage the online youth of this country in a subject they are usually relatively indifferent to. Well done. Video clips from the web cast are available by clicking on the image below.
Wes Anderson’s newest film The Darjeeling Limited, scheduled for release on Sept. 29, will be promoted this week with the release of a 13-minute short called Hotel Chevalier. To help make it a hot commodity, Anderson convinced Natalie Portman to appear sans costume in the clip, even though she has only the briefest of cameos in the feature film. The short premiered at Apple Stores in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Santa Monica and is up on iTunes for free today. 
(Below) MUCH better idea. I don’t want to be forces to see a pre-roll every 5 seconds. . .every 5 minutes I could possibly deal with.
Dreaded pre-roll videos are finally being deemphasized. MSN Video officially launched a new version of its player that serves ads based on how long the user has been on the site instead of how many videos they have viewed. MSN Video also improved its search functionality, added new community features and integrated Soapbox user generated videos with the entire MSN catalog.
The National Legal and Policy Center, a copyright watchdog group, says it has found 300 full-length motion pictures on Google Video, including summer releases like “Shrek the Third” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.” (http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2199527/google-video-piracy-claims 9/26)
Anheuser-Busch has agreed to continue funding the much-maligned Bud.tv at least through 2008, vowing to improve traffic, add more interactivity and sign more content deals.
Moviefone relaunched its celebrity – on – celebrity unscripted series, adding embeddable video, improved navigation and user interaction functions. Verizon Wireless has signed on as exclusive sponsor.
Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner from The Kingdom
Blip.tv signed a deal to host and distribute the popular videoblog Rocketboom. Blip.tv will offer post roll ads and collapsible overlays with the video in both Flash and Quicktime formats, believed to be a first in the online video space.
Google’s YouTube will grant non-profit organizations their own channels so they can solicit donations and upload footage of their work. The channels will allow visitors to make donations online. The first groups to use the service include the American Cancer Society and the March of Dimes. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aa.zKu218._s 9/27)
Facebook must respond within “a few weeks” to requests by state attorneys general that it do more to protect kids from sexual predators, says Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal. “If Facebook slams the door, we would consider legal options,” he says. (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2007-09-26-facebook_N.htm 9/26)
Business networking Web site LinkedIn is now allowing its 14 million users to post photos of themselves. The company wants users to post “serious-looking head shots.” LinkedIn will “do everything we can to encourage it to remain professional,” says a spokeswoman. (http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2007/tc20070926_647441.htm 9/27)
Demand Media, a Santa Monica start-up that specializes in buying little-used Web sites, is raising an additional $100 million from Goldman Sachs, among others. Demand is headed by Richard Rosenblatt, the onetime CEO of MySpace’s former parent company, Intermix Media. (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-demand27sep27,1,6232780.story?ctrack=3&cset=true 9/27)
U.S. Army computers around the world are blocking certain Time Warner emails and Web sites due to a security breach, says a Pentagon source. Phishing emails are said to be directing users to visit compromised Web sites, which then infect users’ computers with viruses. (http://www.wwnytv.net/72k/new-full-story.asp?uid=15164 9/26)
Top Visited US Broadcast Network TV Show Sites (Week ending Sept. 22, 2007)
Rank Network Website Market Share of Visits
1 NBC Deal or No Deal 32.08%
2 CBS Big Brother 8 10.08%
3 FOX America’s Most Wanted 2.73%
4 FOX Prison Break 2.40%
5 The CW Gossip Girl 2.25%
6 The CW America’s Next Top Model 2.18%
7 ABC Dancing With The Stars 2.14%
8 ABC Grey’s Anatomy 2.02%
9 NBC The Biggest Loser 1.99%
10 NBC Heroes 1.76%
Source: Hitwise
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
MLB.com launched a slew of new mobile features providing fans with text alerts, gameday audio, video clips and a newly revamped mobile site.
Playboy is partnering with Quattro Wireless to provide its content on mobile phones. Users will be able to view non-nude photos of Playboy playmates and read their personal interviews, along with the advice column Playboy Advisor and reviews of music, games and books. (http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-sectors/media-publishing/42529.html 9/27)
(Below) This article contains 15 things that Apple should fix in the 2.0 version of the iPhone. So rarely have I read an article and proceeded to scream “Yes!!” out loud at my desk. All 15 of these things are spot on in terms of what Apple can do to refine an already amazing product. I put my special allegiance in #14. Discovering that I could not text to multiple recipients at once was almost like the time I heard that The OC was cancelled. Devastating. Everyone with an iPhone should stop what they’re doing and read this article at once.
The iPhone will likely go down as the most successful launch of any technology product in history. It’s a truly revolutionary product and deserves much of the praise it has received — but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/26/15-things-Apple-should-fix-in-iPhone-2.0_1.html 9/26)
Struggling EarthLink has stepped back from further funding Helio, its U.S. mobile joint venture with SK Telecom, amid hints that the South Korean cellular carrier may become the majority shareholder. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/21/EarthLink-stops-funding-Helio_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-09-27 9/21)
Mobile developers around the world are in an uproar over a change Vodafone has made in the U.K. that dramatically decreases the quality of their products and that they fear could prevent new and innovative mobile services from reaching the market. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/21/Mobile-Web-developers-irate-at-Vodafone-move_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-09-27 9/21)
Filed under: GAMING
GAMING
(Below) As compared to Microsoft’s initial $155M estimate, this is a HUGE victory.
“Halo 3″ has become “the biggest entertainment launch in history,” according to GameDaily Biz. Microsoft’s new game earned $170 million in U.S. retail sales in its first 24 hours of release. The previous record was for “Halo 2,” which brought in $125 million on its first day. (GameDaily BIZ 9/26, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i04dccdded53aca28afb8c6b0f8ae850b 9/27)
Sony sold more than 250,000 new PlayStation Portables in Japan during the model’s first four days of release, according to reports from video game magazine Enterbrain. (The Globe and Mail (Toronto)/Reuters 9/26)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
Nokia plans to add WiMax connectivity to its N-series Internet tablet next year, the company said Wednesday.(http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/27/Nokia-adding-WiMax-support-to-products_1.html?source=NLC-WIR&cgd=2007-09-27 9/27)
