Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
As much as one-fifth of the audience for television’s most popular shows are skipping the commercials, according to the first round of data for the new fall season, released by Nielsen Media Research. The figures underscore concerns about the effectiveness of TV advertising. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119258237478561380.html 10/17)
Short-form content from HBO sister channel Cinemax will be available via online video service Ripe TV, a deal that marks the movie channel’s first Web foray outside its own portal. Ripe TV has developed a channel called Max Effect for the content, and it will create a number of links and banner ads to drive traffic — and new subscribers — back to Cinemax. (The Hollywood Reporter 10/17)
Plans for sweeping changes at the BBC over the next several years are expected to include the elimination of some 2,000 jobs, mostly in the news and factual television departments. The broadcaster is reallocating resources to digital and making investments in new media. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7047477.stm 10/17)
Star Wars the TV show? George Lucas told the LA Times yesterday he was working on a Star War spin-off, live action series for television that does not include Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader, and in fact is more about robots than familiar characters. This is not to be confused with the Lucas’other TV project, an animated series called Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Debra Messing will reprise her role as The Starter Wife in the 10-episode USA Network series based on the original miniseries which ran last summer, and for which she received an Emmy nomination. The best news is also returning are Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott, the writing team from the miniseries, who will also exec produce the series. The series is from Universal Media Studios, 3 Arts Entertainment and McGibbon/Parriott Prods, and is based on the novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer. (The Hollywood Reporter 10/17)
Comcast’s G4 and NBC Universal’s Sci Fi Channel have won the cable rights to ABC hit “Lost,” which both channels will begin running in the fall of 2008. The deal includes all 69 episodes from the show’s first three seasons for both networks, as well as the 48 episodes that will be produced by 2010. (Mediaweek 10/17)
CBS is extending the contract of CEO Les Moonves to Sept. 30, 2011, and tying his compensation more to the radio and television broadcaster’s stock performance. Moonves will earn a base salary of $3.5 million; in 2006, he received $5.6 million in salary. (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071016/cbs_moonves.html 10/16)
Extending an olive branch to television and film writers, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is withdrawing an unpopular proposal on residual payments that had threatened to derail contract talks. The current contract is still set to expire Oct. 31. (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-guild17oct17,1,1511856.story?ctrack=8&cset=true 10/17)
Cablevision Chief Executive Officer James Dolan said the company would not alter its $10.6 billion privatization plan. Despite some shareholder discontent, Dolan said in a statement that, “…I want to state emphatically that there will be no modification of the family’s accepted offer to acquire Cablevision.” (Forbes/Associated Press 10/16)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Internet companies with funny names, little revenue and few customers are starting to command high prices. The cost of doing business is declining dramatically, say financial observers, and traditional media companies are waking up to “the opportunities of the Web.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/business/media/17bubble.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 10/17)
News Corp. and eBay have struck a deal to tie the world’s largest social networking platform together with the world’s most popular voice-over-IP service. Beginning next month 110 million MySpace users will be able to place calls through its instant messaging program powered by the 220 million-member Skype network. The ad supported deal should help the two services cross pollinate; so far only 6.7% of Skype customers use MySpace IM and just 2.6% of MySpace IM users use Skype. Separately MySpace also announced a pact with Sony BMG to make select artists’video and audio content available on their MySpace profile pages. The two companies will share in the ad revenues generated from deal. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-myspace-signs-first-licensing-deal-with-major-label-will-share-revenues 10/16)
Apple iTunes customers will now be able to download DRM-free songs for 99 cents (previously $1.29). The price drop is expected to help iTunes better compete against Amazon.com and Wal-Mart Stores, both of which offer similar-priced DRM-free downloads. (The Wall Street Journal 10/16)
Yahoo‘s third quarter net income declined by 4.6% as revenue increased 12% to $1.77 billion from a year earlier. New CEO Jerry Yang said he was pleased with the company’s progress increasing the portal’s overall usage, improving its ad platform and attracting more developers by adopting open standards. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-earnings-yahoo-q307-revenues-up-net-income-stagnant 10/16)
Yahoo is announcing a new search advertising partnership with WebMD Health, and new display advertising partnerships with Ziff-Davis Media and Forbes.com. Also: The U.S. government is asking Yahoo execs to testify about “false information” involving the jailing of Chinese dissidents. (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/yahoos-profit-falls-beats-expectations/story.aspx?guid=%7B7709EE00%2DAE76%2D44CB%2D97C6%2D0E2A7632F4D7%7D 10/16)
Playboy TV is launching “Playboy Prime,” a new daily prime-time format featuring short-form programming, designed to appeal to the “YouTube generation,” its key 18- to 34-year-old male demo. The programming mix is expected to increase overall time spent viewing the channel. (http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=playboy101607.htm 10/16)
Next New Networks, the online video startup of former MTV Networks vice chairman Herb Scannell, is acquiring BarelyPolitical.com, the site behind the “Obama Girl” viral-video hit. BarelyPolitical achieved prominence thanks to the sendup clip “I Got a Crush on Obama.” (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i795423a0d07b7acd1f94d48b329401c5 10/17)
Google’s new copyright filter technology for YouTube isn’t enough to convince Viacom to drop its lawsuit. “It doesn’t have any impact,” says a Viacom spokesman. “We don’t even know if the technology works yet.” Also: The filter may be “too labor intensive” to be effective. (http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=69346 10/17)
New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo reached an agreement with Facebook on safeguarding against obscene content and online predators. Facebook agreed to address complaints within 24 hours after they are made, respond to them within 72 hours and post safety procedures in a prominent place on the site. The deal was struck a day after the Pew Internet and American Life Project estimated that 44% of online American teens have been contacted by a stranger on social networking sites. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aD.9QP3a5sT4 10/16)
Director Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up,” “Superbad”) is signing on to be a principal partner at the online comedy site FunnyOrDie.com, with Will Ferrell and writer-director Adam Mckay. FunnyOrDie.com brought to the Web “The Landlord,” one of the most viewed clips of all time. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/newmedia/la-et-apatow16oct16,1,3189772.story 10/16)
Judd Apatow Announcement Video
Nearly a month after the New York Times shut down TimesSelect, the subscription-based service for premium content on NYTimes.com, traffic to areas of the site that were previously members-only is “flowing fast and free.” The overall NYTimes.com site has grown by roughly 10%. (http://blog.compete.com/2007/10/16/new-york-times-open-op-ed-archives/ 10/16)
Virtual worlds for youngsters are enjoying a growth spurt in interest and advertising. “This is a very powerful medium for marketing because it involves huge engagement,” says Bob Bowers, CEO of virtual-world designer Numedeon. “It’s more powerful than a cereal commercial.” (http://www.news.com/Are-kids-ready-for-ads-in-virtual-worlds/2009-1024_3-6213661.html 10/16)
Membership to social networking sites will reach 230 million worldwide by the end of 2007, according to a new report by independent market analyst Datamonitor. Ad revenues at social networking sites are also on the rise, expected to increase from $965 million this year to $2.4 billion by 2012. By year-end 2007 Asia Pacific will account for 35% of the world’s social networking memberships. Europe, the Middle East and Africa will hold 28%, North America 25% while the Caribbean and Latin America will account for 12%.
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Samsung has released details surrounding the company’s first GPS-equipped mobile phone. The i550 will go on sale in Europe sometime in November and will incorporate the Symbian operating system. (Yahoo!/Reuters 10/16)
Samsung’s i550
The delayed announcement of Orange selling the iPhone in France has finally come through-much the same details as in Germany (399 euros (US$565)) and rumors of Apple getting 30 percent of services revenue. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-now-its-really-official-apple-and-orange-announce-iphone-partnership-in 10/16)
Ipevo has announced a stand-alone desktop phone that connects Internet-based Skype voice calls without an accompanying computer. The device, dubbed SOLO, connects via broadband and an RJ-45 Ethernet connector. (ModernAgent.com 10/16)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
Apple will release its newest Macintosh operating systems Oct. 26. Mac OS X 10.5 (code-named “Leopard”) will retail for $129. A server version will also be available on that date, priced at $499. Leopard was originally due earlier this year, but Apple delayed it to focus its development resources on the iPhone. (Digital Trends 10/16)
Filed under: MISC
MISC
AT&T, the biggest U.S. phone company, may buy satellite-television provider EchoStar Communications for $29 billion to take on cable companies, according to Citi Investment Research. There is a “65% chance” AT&T will buy EchoStar within the next year. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSoI7in_cVY4 10/16)
