THE DOWNLOAD ON THE WRITER’S STRIKE
Photo Credit: Ashmi Dang
As the WGA writer’s strike hits the one month mark, let’s take a quick look at the impacted TV skeds and their digital distribution. Just as both sides resumed talks earlier this week, Starcom released a report estimating that the ad revenue generated from online video doubled from ’06 and could reach over $1 billion dollars. Not surprisingly, most of it went to the networks. The hot button topic of the strike? The lack of contract language in place for digital distribution – streaming or download. Judge for yourselves. The list below paints an interesting picture of what could bring sweeping changes to your TiVo and the new media landscape.
Digital Platforms (excluding peer 2 peer):
CBS.com, iTunes, & Amazon Unbox
Current Content Status:
CSI – on hold
Two and a Half Men – on hold
How I Met Your Mother – on hold
Late Night with David Letterman – on hold
Cane – benched, in jeopardy
The Unit – benched, in jeopardy
12/10 Democratic Debate – cancelled
Dexter (Showtime) – coming in as replacement program
Weeds, Tudors and Californication, Brotherhood (Showtime) – potential replacements
Big Brother – first in-season run, 3 nights a week 2/12
Survivor – season 16 premieres 2/7
Power of 10 – summer series, returns1/2
48 Hours Mystery – Sunday series regular, Tuesdays beginning 1/22
Jericho – returns midseason after cancellation (unrelated) 2/12, in jeopardy
The New Adventures of Old Chrstine – midseason return, production halted
Cold Case – on hold
Digital Platforms (excluding peer 2 peer):
NBC.com (Including NBC Direct), Hulu.com, Amazon Unbox, & Netflix.com
Current Content Status:
30 Rock – on hold
The Office – on hold
Heroes – early season finale aired 12/3
Tonight Show with Jay Leno – on hold
Late Night with Conan O’Brien – on hold
My Name is Earl – on hold
SNL – on hold
Law & Order – returns to Wednesdays 1/2 10p
Law & Order: Criminal Intent – rescued off basic cable net TNT to 9pm Wednesdays
The Celebrity Apprentice – premieres 1/3
American Gladiators – premieres 1/6
The Biggest Loser – returns
Chuck – on hold
Life – on hold
Bionic Woman – on hold/in jeopardy
Journeyman – on hold/ in jeopardy
Burn Notice – potential off basic cable move
Digital Platforms (excluding peer 2 peer):
Foxondemand.com, Hulu.com, Amazon Unbox, and iTunes
Current Content Status:
24 – on hold, 2008 season in jeopardy
Prison Break – on hold
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – early series premiere 1/13
Back To You – on hold
Digital Platforms (excluding peer 2 peer):
ABC.com, iTunes, & Amazon Unbox
Current Content Status:
Lost – on hold, 2008 season tbd
Jimmy Kimmel Live – on hold
Brothers & Sister – on hold
Grey’s Anatomy – on hold
Private Practice – on hold
Desperate Housewives – on hold
Ugly Betty – on hold
Feature Writer: Ashmi Elizabeth Dang
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
Three nights of Tin Man miniseries, on Sci Fi and produced by RHI, has earned “most watched miniseries in Sci Fi history” status with 5.3 million viewers over the three nights, 2.7 million A18-49 and 2.9 million A25-54, according to Nielsen’s live + same day data. In total viewers, Tin Man surpassed both Dune (4.6 million viewers) and Taken (5.0 million viewers).
Watch full episodes by clicking the image below.
Sci Fi Channel has ordered up a new reality project called Run for Money, based on a Japanese format from Fuji Television, reports THR. Basically, the contestants are fulfilling challenges in a variety of locations, all the while being “hunted”. The contestants earn dollars for every second they remain “alive”, and as you might imagine, and the game winds on, the playing field shrinks and the number of hunters are increased. The project is from Mess Media for Buena Vista Prods andcar Fujisankei Communications International.
ESPN made a bit of TV history earlier this week: Its telecast of the New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens game on Monday attracted 17.5 million viewers, the most ever for a cable TV program. The undefeated Patriots not only bested the Ravens, but also the 17.2 million people who watched the premiere of “High School Musical 2″ in August on The Disney Channel. (Variety 12/5)
IFC will debut a new original series Framed created by Reebok Entertainment where a Hollywood celebrity works as a first-time director to “frame” a sports figure and tell their story. The first of six, half-hour episodes begins December 14 with the pairing of NBA All-Star Baron Davis and television and movie star Emmanuelle Chriqui.
The striking Writers Guild of America says it is looking forward to a response to its counter-offer for streaming content. The union wants payments to rise with the number of times a program is seen, which would “protect the writer even if all television reuse migrates to new media.” (http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Entertainment/2007/12/05/wga_awaiting_amptp_response/5321 12/5)
Comcast’s video-on-demand service has eclipsed the 6-billion-views mark in less than four years and is currently racking up about 250 million views per month and 100 views per second, the company said. Comcast added that its VOD service was outpacing Apple’s iTunes by about a 2-1 ratio. (Multichannel News 12/5)
Comcast officials are predicting slower cash-flow growth this year, according to this story. The country’s largest cable company is now anticipating a 13% increase in cash flow as opposed to an earlier forecast of 14%. (STLtoday.com 12/6)
Verizon has launched high-definition VOD service in parts of Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia via its FiOS platform. The telecom anticipates offering the service to the remainder of its FiOS area by the end of next year. (Broadcasting & Cable 12/5)
Executives from Cablevision said Wednesday that the company had filed suit in federal court to turn back a recent FCC ruling that would extend program-access rules for five more years. The rule requires that all cable companies sell networks they receive via satellite to competitors such as DirecTV, Echostar and AT&T. (Multichannel News 12/5)
Younger adult TV viewers are far more likely to embrace “time-shifting” television offerings such as DVRs, VOD and online video, according to a new study from Nielsen. More than half of respondents 18 to 34 years old — 56% — said they were likely to use new technologies to watch shows they missed compared with just 21% of those older than 55. (CED Magazine 12/5)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Apple, Beacon, Broadband consumption, Facebook, Gaia Online, Grammys, Lacos, Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft, MTV, Music Choice, Nielsen, OurChart, Reelzchannel
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized for the Beacon fiasco with a posting on his blog. He promised to go all the way this time and offer users a privacy control option to disable the feature completely – a move critics have been calling for since the system was announced nearly a month ago. (http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/05/technology/kirkpatrick_facebook.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007120514 12/5)
I am more than impressed with Zuckerberg’s blog post which demonstrates his frustration with the roll-out of Beacon and the subsequent slow response after user backlash. If only every CEO could be quite this candid. Well done. See below for the new global opt-out option available on a Facebook page near you. To Facebook I say, thank you.
Kanye West leads the field for the 2008 Grammy Awards with eight nominations each, followed by Amy Winehouse with six and the Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and T-Pain, each of whom got five nods. iTunes is partnering with the Grammys this year to provide samples of the nominated songs in a password-protected area, presumably for voters to listen to the songs. Additionally, Delta Airlines is debuting a Grammy-branded plane as part of its fleet for the next three years. The ceremony started with a showing of the commercial celebrating the Grammys’ 50th anniversary. The spot produced by Chiat/Day is part of the Grammys’ marketing campaign for this banner year. The Chiat/Day partnership, said Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, is intended to “disrupt expectations and help establish a fresh, exciting campaign for the Grammys. Indeed, the next 50 is here.” (http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/genre/e3i3743c78b6de09e1ea3fa45d280c8cef3?imw=Y 12/6)
Big THANK YOU to Mary Cunningham from the Grammys for providing the video below. If she remains so gracious, I’ll have screengrabs of the password-protected iTunes section and pictures of the Grammy-branded plane soon enough.
Beliefnet just found a new corporate home with News Corp. But what of the myriad Web 2.0 outfits still rumored to be in acquisition talks? Flixster has been in on-again, off-again discussions with InterActiveCorp; News Corp. has been rumored to be eyeing Digg since November 2006. (http://www.forbes.com/business/media/2007/12/04/news-corp-beliefnet-tech-cx_wt_1204newscorp.html 12/4)
Apple will not be able to dominate the video-distribution industry as it has the music business because the company’s success is limited by what content the movie industry is willing to make available, according to James L. McQuivey of Forrester Research. Media executives “shouldn’t let a lessening Apple threat cause them to slow the pace of innovation. As we know from fickle audiences in the past, if you do not serve them, they will wander,” McQuivey said. (CNET 12/5)
Multiplatform music network Music Choice completed an integration with Tivo, allowing broadband connected Tivo DVRs to access thousands of music videos and original programming via TivoCast. Music Choice also announced it landed on MetroCast’s VOD service.
Lesbian-leaning social networking site OurChart.com will host the online premiere of the 5th season of The L Word on Dec. 30, a week before it premieres on Showtime on Jan. 6.
Brazilian author Adriana Falcao won YouTube’s first ever Project Direct film competition for Lacos. She will spend nine days at a major film festival of her choice courtesy of HP, receive a $5,000 debit card and get her short placed prominently on 7 international YouTube sites.
Teen-focused virtual world Gaia Online signed deals with Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros. to offer pay-per-view and free ad supported programming in its virtual online interactive theaters. Sony and Warner Bros. will provide feature films with the former adding TV content, Minisode Network titles and channels sourcing AXN and Funnybones content. Sony Pictures also made an investment in the start-up in a series B round of financing.
From the image below, note that 112 people are watching The Matrix on Gaia right now. Suffice to say, not a tremendous audience.
Viacom’s MTV, formerly known as a music video channel, is announcing German and Asian partnerships with 10Tacle Studios to create a virtual world. The multi-user 3D online space will give Internet users access to MTV content, as well as a large number of online games. (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2007/12/05/mtv_starts_own_virtual_world.html 12/5)
Mass-market adoption of IPTV hinges on making the technology easy to use, a Microsoft executive said. “If we ever want to get IPTV to a mass market … it (IPTV) has to fundamentally be one of the easiest things to use,” said Sal Arora, Microsoft’s senior director of product management of Microsoft TV. (ZDNet 12/5)
Nielsen and Digimarc Corp. joined the rush to provide protection against digital piracy. The Digital Media Manager, set to roll out next year, will provide digital fingerprinting to enable studios to monitor usage of their content across social networking sites, user generated video portals and peer-to-peer sharing sites. Nielsen says it has already encoded 95% of national TV shows as part of its new ratings system. It is also in the process of building a huge database of DVDs, movies, games and other licensed content that can be used to authorize online delivery.
Broadband video consumption is on the rise, according to a new Horowitz Associates study. Sixty-one percent of internet users watch online video at least once a week (up from 45% a year ago,) while 86% do so at least once a month. News and user generated content were the most popular genres, followed by movie trailers, music videos and TV clips. However weekly viewing of full TV shows doubled this year with 16% of respondents claiming the habit. Other tidbits:
- NBC.com and ABC.com were mentioned most frequently as destinations
- Grey’s Anatomy was the show most often mentioned
- 70% of users who watched TV online said they did so because they missed it on air
Reelzchannel premiered a new series called Movie Mob, described as “the first user generated TV show powered by video bloggers.” G4 Attack of the Show technologist Layla Kayleigh hosts a collection of cyber reviews submitted by armchair film critics from across the country
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Web telephony start-up Kadoink launched a new publishing platform allowing music acts such as Death Cab For Cutie and Third Eye Blind to distribute songs as voicemails or through mobile channels. Artists can use the platform, which includes widgets embeddable on social networking sites, to update fans on upcoming tours and releases.
(Below) It’s simple and efficient but like all Safari-based applications, annoying when not in Wi-Fi range.
Google is releasing a new application for Apple’s iPhone that combines the Web giant’s services such as e-mail, search and calendar into a single interface. Google says it is also working to develop new mobile technologies that are faster, easier to use and available on more devices. (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0561278320071205 12/5)
Bravo partnered with LimeLife Inc. to launch the Top Chef Challenge mobile game, available as a download or monthly subscription from multiple carriers today. The game poses culinary-themed reflex, memory and trivia challenges to users, peppered with commentary by Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi.
In another sign that the mobile Web is going mainstream, the Drudge Report is launching a mobile version, called iDrudge Report. Matt Drudge’s Web site has been credited with accelerating numerous online media trends, including online content aggregation and blogging. (http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/drudge_report_g.html 12/5)
Nokia’s chief technology officer predicts that the video quality on mobile phones will improve greatly over the next few years to the point of reaching HD levels. The company this year began selling phones that can record video with quality equal to television. (Yahoo!/Reuters 12/5)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
It may look like a mini transistor radio, but Motorola’s new H12 Bluetooth headset is all about keeping the noise down for cell phone conversations. The company said the headset’s ear cushions effectively cut the clatter on both sides of the conversation by better taking the size and shape of the human ear into account with its design. (The New York Times 12/6)
Shoppers are snapping up HDTVs because of the sharp picture quality these sets offer and less for unique HD content, according to Frank N. Magid Associates. The research also found that 13% of consumers are “very likely” to buy an HDTV in the next 12 months. (Multichannel News 12/5)
Samsung insists that its new dual-format HD disc player will reach the market by mid-to-late December even though Amazon.com lists the BD-UP5000 as coming out in mid-January. Citing “recent activities in the marketplace,” the company has cut the player’s list price by $200 to $799. (Dealerscope 12/5)
