Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Harpo Productions launched an Oprah channel on YouTube featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes and backstage footage. YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen will make appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show tomorrow to help promote the launch, along with a selection of YouTube amateur “stars.” Oprah will also serve as guest editor for the site over the next couple of days; look for some of her favorite video picks on the YouTube homepage. (http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202801677 11/2)

ESPN is bringing its content to the mostly young male audience of Microsoft’s Xbox Live. Users will be able to download the network’s sporting events and programming. As part of the deal, ESPN is considering ways to incorporate the Xbox gaming community into its telecasts. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975355.html?categoryid=1011&cs=1 11/4)

AOL and CBS are putting HD online video on the backburner, according to the NewTeeVee blog. AOL’s two-year-old Hi-Q site will be phased out due to lack of user interest, and CBS is discontinuing plans to launch an HD-compatible player due to compatibility issues and the fact that users are reluctant to download a separate application in order to watch online video.

AOL plans to pay $300 million for Israeli advertising startup Quigo in a move to compete better with Google and Yahoo. Quigo’s AdSonar is similar to Google’s AdSense, placing links on search results, while its FeedPoint product serves up ads on search results or Internet sites. (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/919607.html 11/5)

Heroes star Masi Oka will serve as global ambassador for the non-profit One Laptop Per Child initiative, which has set out to design, manufacture and distribute laptops to developing countries for under $100 each. The Brown University Math/Computer Science grad is a dual threat in the digital space, known not only as an actor but also as a SFX guru with George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic.

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner plans to create a movie, television, Internet and publishing franchise around Bazooka Joe, the eye-patch-wearing character from Bazooka bubble gum, part of the Topps trading-card company he just acquired. Bazooka Joe “could be the next big hero.” (http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2007-11-04-topps-eisner_N.htm 11/4)

Yahoo is set to launch Kickstart, an online social network for college students, alumni and recruiters, aimed at helping recent graduates build a professional network. The LinkedIn-like Kickstart won’t compete with Facebook because it will be focused on careers, “not on fun.” (http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9810108-7.html 11/4)

OH LORD. Say no to any more social networking sites. I’ve got some major profile fatigue. We’ve got LinkedIn for professional networking, Facebook for poking and other weird randomness, MySpace for checking out music and joining strange groups, and Friendster for. . .well, does anyone remember Friendster any way? In essence, you wanna join the fray of social networking sites? You better make something with a distinct strategy. I couldn’t even get past the screen to enter my college name without encountering an error. Weak.

Microsoft and Reliance Communications, India’s second-largest mobile-phone operator, are entering a $500 million deal to offer Internet television services in India. The contract allows Reliance to expand beyond mobile services, tapping the expanding global Internet TV market. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aqjd3GBEnXtw 11/5)

Guardian Enterprises Group is launching a multicast digital broadcast network called the .2 (”dot two”) Network with licensed programming from Sony Pictures Television and other studios. The “Network-in-a-Box” solution will provide interested stations with a template on which to add local news, traffic and weather programming to help fill out multiple digital multicast channels.

Video search engine blinkx added online anime site Gong to its video index. Gong offers US and European users a variety of Japanese anime genres viewable online or on mobile phones and MP3 devices, including full-length titles, trailers, wallpapers, news, alerts and free podcasts.

The net neutrality debate will intensify as consumers turn to IPTV services for their video content and cable companies reserve more bandwidth for networked-based programming offerings such as the nPVR (network Personal Video Recorders), Start-Over, and time-shifting, according to a new ABI Research report. Any expansion of the bandwidth dedicated to broadband will be that much less bandwidth used for revenue-generating video services setting the stage for a battle of warring interests, according to ABI.

The Web sites for the popular television shows “Dancing with the Stars,” on ABC, and “Deal or No Deal,” on NBC, consistently receive a large share of visitors, according to Hitwise. The runners up: NBC’s “Heroes,” CBS’s “CSI: NY,” and NBC’s “The Office.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/business/media/04count.html 11/4)