Filed under: MISC
RADIOHEAD STRIKES BACK:
HOW DO MUSIC LABELS FARE IN THIS DIGITAL AGE?
The long-suffering music business took a hit last week when British powerhouse, alt-indie band Radiohead left their music label and iTunes behind releasing their 8th studio album In Rainbows online with a choose-your-own pricetag attached to it.
Outselling this week’s Billboard chart topper Bruce Springsteen 3-1, Radiohead forfeited chart prospects for total ownership of their master tapes, publishing and therefore the ability to release the album themselves. The music industry can probably breathe a small sigh of relief, however, as not many artists can do what Radiohead did. There’s a very specific artist/fan online relationship that Radiohead established years ago by constantly blogging (http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/) about virtually everything including the production process of In Rainbows.
For this round however:
Radiohead: 1
Music Label Goliath: 0
Radiohead’s Blog Site
(http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1571936/20071015/index.jhtml 10/16)
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
Initial reactions were lukewarm to the debut of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Business Network on Monday. “They appear to have a rooting interest in prices going up,” observes news analyst Andrew Tyndall. “It’s normally not a good sign of journalism when you’re rooting for an outcome.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSN1524789820071015 10/15)
Video on the Launch (Click Below)
Dow Jones, which is yet to be acquired by News Corp., is breaking its advertising contract with CNBC and pulling ads that were to run on one of its Web sites, MarketWatch, on the launch day of rival Fox Business Network. News Corp. says it had nothing to do with Dow Jones’s decision. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119249267523060024.html?mod=djm_HAWSJSB_Welcome 10/16)
On the verge of being acquired by News Corp., Dow Jones pulled ads from Fox Business Network rival CNBC on MarketWatch.com and wsj.com, reports the New York Times. The sites pulled the ads despite signing a two month long contract with its longtime client CNBC that began with banner ad placements on Oct. 1. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-more-on-djs-decision-to-block-cnbc-ads-for-fox-business-network-launch- 10/15)
Disney spent $2.14 million in the first half of 2007 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form. The company lobbied on issues including digital television, patent reform, copyright protection, online child safety, and government spending on homeland security. (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071015/disney_lobbying.html 10/15)
The Friday-night premiere of “Twitches Too,” an original sequel on The Disney Channel, attracted 6.96 million total viewers. It was the highest-rated show on basic cable that evening and pulled in more viewers 12 to 34 than any other show in its time slot. (Variety 10/15)
Twitches Too Trailer
Even with privately held Hearst rescinding its offer to buy out Hearst-Argyle shareholders en route to taking the TV-station group private, analysts believe Hearst will eventually mount another bid — perhaps after investors lower their expectations and the stock price drops. (http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=69254 10/16)
The “big four” broadcast television networks are continuing to lose audience share, according to new figures from Nielsen Media Research. All four networks are losing roughly the same share of viewers — most likely to a variety of entertainment options. (http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/networks-show-five-percent-declines/ 10/16)
Starz Entertainment launched three new hi-def premium movie channels: Starz Comedy HD, Starz Edge HD and Starz Kids & Family HD. All three are hi-def East Coast feeds of the Starz Comedy, Starz Edge and Starz Kids & Family channels and join Starz HD (East) and Starz HD (West). The new channels and the original Starz HD channels are available for free to DIRECTV’s Starz Super Pack subscribers that have DIRECTV’s HD set-top boxes and HD DVRs. DIRECTV is the first affiliate to offer the new channels to its customers.
Meanwhile ESPN said ESPNEWS HD will launch on March 30, 2008, complete with new “Sideline” graphics that streams news, stats, scores and headshots below the video. DirecTV, Comcast and Time Warner Cable have agreed to carry the network so far.
Overbuilder RCN is now offering broadband services ESPN360.com and ABC News Now to its high speed internet customers.
Cablevision is worth more than the $22 billion the founding Dolan family is willing to pay to take the company private, according to several shareholders and advisory companies. Major shareholders are likely to oppose the deal when they are scheduled to vote Oct. 24. (http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzcable1016,0,6034847.story 10/15)
AT&T has been told by utility regulators in Connecticut that it must get a cable TV license to continue offering its U-verse IPTV service in the state. AT&T will be allowed to continue offering the service to existing customers until a ruling is made on the TV license. (The Boston Globe/Associated Press 10/15)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Led Zeppelin is finally ready to show a whole lotta love toward digital platforms. The band has licensed ringtones and downloads of some of its songs to Verizon Wireless, which go on sale this week, and digital tracks to online music stores such as iTunes that will become available beginning Nov. 13 as the band prepares for a reunion gig in London. Led Zep recently signed a $60 million/10 year distribution deal with Warner/Chappel music. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-led-zeppelin-finally-set-to-sell-music-online 10/15, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=abTDcHxP1Q8g 10/15)
YouTube unveiled its long-awaited copyright protection filtering system designed to automatically notify copyright holders when their work is unlawfully uploaded to the site. The technology promises to identify repeat infringers and ban them from site, block identical copies from being re-uploaded and provide electronic notification and takedown tools to simplify the process. The onus is on rights holders to submit content first so that YouTube can build a database of protected files. Time Warner, Disney, Hearst-Argyle and CBS Interactive are among the companies to have tested the system. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-google-launches-youtube-video-identification-copyright-protection-tool- 10/15)
Napster, the digital music service, plans to attract more customers by moving to a Web-based platform allowing users to play their music from any computer without having to download any additional software. The move aims to make the service compatible with any Internet-enabled device. (http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN1538561720071016 10/16)
Streaming Napster Product
Free Trial for 7 days ($9.95 after) The pop up window at the top left appears after a track is played.
P.S. Blue Magic is Jay Z’s first released track (produced by Pharrell) from the forthcoming album based on the movie American Gangster aptly titled the same. The track is hot. If you don’t have Napster and want to check it out, head here: http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2007/09/jayz_magic/ . The man is ahead of his time.
Current.com, the new Web site for the television network backed by Nobel Peace Prize-winner Al Gore, now allows viewers to take assignments from network producers and vie to have their clips broadcast on television. Current sees its future in the convergence of online and broadcasting. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/16/BU3DSQF0I.DTL 10/16)
Current.tv Tutorial Video
This is the best tutorial video for an online product that I have ever seen. Informative, witty, 70′s-inspired. I heart Berlich (the video’s creator). I finally hooked myself up with a Current.tv account and I gotta say, really easy navigation and very fun to use.
Drew Carey, the comedian and new host of “The Price is Right,” is joining with the nonprofit think tank Reason Foundation to launch Reason.tv. The new Web site will present short journalistic videos on current issues such as drug laws and immigration. Carey will “host” the video clips. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i0c86abe9c72f2e6ef119bc756dc03db3 10/16)
E.W. Scripps says it plans to split into publicly traded companies. One company will include Internet and cable television assets; the other will oversee newspapers and broadcast-TV stations. The proposed split comes about two weeks after Belo announced a similar break-up. (http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUSN1642801120071016 10/16)
Belo, which plans to spin off its newspaper and television assets into separate companies, is abandoning a popular industry trend — the convergence of newspaper and TV operations. Belo says it has found that newspapers are TV “are now moving in different directions.” (http://www.projo.com/business/content/BZ_Belo_October_16_10-16-07_H97G9N2.25d6d2c.html 10/16)
After months of criticism, the BBC will be able to offer Mac and Linux users access to its catch-up video service iPlayer by the end of the year via a just-announced strategic relationship with Adobe. The twist: Mac and Linux use will be limited to streaming through Adobe Flash Player software while the PC download service stays Windows only. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-bbc-iplayer-finally-will-go-cross-platform-with-adobe 10/15)
Although they’re not exactly going head-to-head, in assessing Google’s and eBay’s respective attempts at online media buying systems for TV over the past six months, Adweek finds Google meeting with some success, while eBay continues to struggle. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-reviewing-online-tv-ad-sales-efforts-google-moves-forward-as-ebay-remai 10/15)
Vimeo, a nascent video-sharing Web site owned by Barry Diller’s IAC, is expected to announce that it will begin distributing videos with a resolution of 1280 pixels by 720 pixels, the standard for high-definition — four times the typical resolution used by YouTube and similar sites. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/10162007/business/video_sharing_web_site_goes_hi.htm 10/16)
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Sprint launched Sprint Exclusive Entertainment, the first wireless TV network to be produced in house by a major U.S. carrier. SEE offers Sprint Power Vision data subscribers access to more than 150 free music, sports and entertainment programs a week, co-produced by Intersport. Talent includes former VH1 VJ Rachel Perry, NFL Network analyst Marshall Faulk and celebrity commentator Kelli Zink.
Greenpeace claims that Apple’s new iPhone contains “brominated flame retardants” and other chemicals that can be harmful to the environment. “If Apple really wants to reinvent the phone,” says the environmental advocacy group, “it needs to design out all hazardous substances.” (http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=202402995 10/15)
The deal has gone through after rumors for the last two months-InfoSpace has sold its mobile services business to Motricity for $135 million in cash, meaning that the company will now be solely focused on online search. INSP also recently sold its online directory business for $225 million in cash. Once the transaction closes InfoSpace expects to have $550 million in cash, and will return part of it back to investors as a special cash distribution. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-motricity-buys-infospace-mobile-services-business-for-135-million 10/15)
Broadcom unveiled a next-generation processor that packs all the key 3G cellular and mobile technologies onto a single low power chip. The “3G Phone on a Chip” claims to be a year ahead of competing technologies and should help the company make up for lost ground in the mobile chip market.
Filed under: GAMING
GAMING
Sony is developing a music- and video-distribution system for its PlayStation 3 Network, as the company hopes to better compete against rival Microsoft Xbox 360′s Xbox Live service. “We are trying to get our devices to talk to each other efficiently. PlayStation Network should migrate from gadget to gadget. But initially it starts with PlayStation devices and then to TV and beyond. That’s the goal,” said Sir Howard Stringer, chief executive officer of Sony Corporation of America. (Financial Times 10/16)
Hoping to attract more Latino gamers, EA Sports will release a Spanish-language version of its popular “Madden NFL 08″ game. Due in time for the holidays, the game will feature a fully translated script and a new cover model — Luis Castillo, defensive end for the San Diego Chargers. (GameDaily BIZ 10/15)
Filed under: MISC
MISC
The special-edition DVD version of “Live Free or Die Hard” will include a computer file that allows users to play the movie on their computers and other select electronic devices. “This may be the killer app, where you have physical media that allows you to have a big-screen experience and at the same time move the file around to other devices and have a great experience there as well,” said Mike Dunn, worldwide president of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. (The Boston Globe/Reuters/Hollywood Reporter 10/16)
