Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
Starz will debut two original comedies on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 10 pm ET/PT, also slated to appear on the Bongo broadband service later next year. Head Case chronicles celebrity therapy sessions with clients including Jeff Goldblum and Rosanna Arquette. Hollywood Residential is a fictional and faltering home improvement show featuring makeovers of celebrity abodes.
Head Case
Last season, hypothetical couch sessions with Dr. Goode included a rant from Andy Dick and Jason Priestley in drag. Very funny stuff.
The Television Critics Association press tour is the latest casualty of the Hollywood writers strike. “The machinations that forced this outcome were outside our control,” says TCA head Dave Walker, citing “the current woeful state” of the negotiations. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i0236d573642f4e0d997c7aca6edafcc2 12/11)
The breakdown between TV producers and writers could set up wide-reaching changes in the industry, according to this article. (The Wall Street Journal 12/10)
NBC is reimbursing advertisers for its ratings disappointments, because commercials didn’t reach the projected number of viewers. The Hollywood writers strike is “compounding the problem.” Brad Adgate of Horizon Media notes: “It’s very usual for the networks to do this.”
Since NBC Universal purchased Oxygen last month, the cable network has added 180,000 new subscribers and is currently available to almost 74 million homes. New systems scheduled to launch Oxygen next month are Comcast in North Santa Barbara County, CA, Farmington, NM, Chattanooga, TN; Telecom Cable in Fulshear, TX; Bend Broadband in Bend, OR; and Buckeye Cablevision in Toledo, OH.
Hundreds of freelancers working for Viacom, which owns MTV Networks, walked out Monday to protest the terms of their new contracts, which cut benefits. Viacom says in a statement: “We respect the rights of our freelance and temporary employees to express their opinions.” (http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/MTV_walkout/11057.html 12/11)
In the first of what could be a series of joint programming moves from Viacom’s cable networks and DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon and DreamWorks have approved “The Penguins of Madagascar,” a computer-generated comedy based on the 2005 film “Madagascar” from DreamWorks. The order calls for 26 episodes, and the series could debut in 2009. (Mediaweek 12/10)
The Harlem Globetrotters are back on broadcast television for the first time in 14 years in a new special on MyNetworkTV January 30 at 9p. The Globetrotters will be joined by the Washington Generals, their long-time rivals, returning after a 12-year hiatus. The special will be packed with play and interviews with current players and memories from the past 80 years.
Next year will “represent a tipping point” for incumbent media companies, predicts Bear Stearns analyst Spencer Wang. The digitization of media, “long tail” economics and broadband Internet rivals “will start to more directly slow growth for entertainment firms.” (http://www.euro2day.gr/articlesfna/50969361 12/10)
Sundance Channel will release an exclusive VOD package for cable affiliates next month, featuring 10 “Festival Favorites” that have screened at previous Sundance Film Festivals, 4 of which will be available in HD. Longtime Sundance Festival Director Geoff Gilmore will introduce each movie. Sundance also announced a new year-long partnership with Stella Artois. The brewer will sponsor the channel’s multiplatform “31 Days of Sundance” package of programming in January.
Cox has a New Year’s resolution for digital subscribers in Arizona: Video-on-demand service will begin rolling out in the state in January. The service, which will be free of charge, will begin in the Scottsdale area and expand beyond that in subsequent months. (The Arizona Republic (Phoenix) 12/11)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
YouTube unveiled an expanded version of its Partners Program that will let some smaller producers in on its revenue sharing model. Creators with a “significant audience” on YouTube (as measured by video views, subscribers, etc.) who “consistently comply with YouTube terms of use” are invited to apply this time around. YouTube was taken to task for leaving out the kind of creators that helped make it famous when it first introduced the program, which shares revenue from in-video ads and AdSense video syndication. There are currently 100 accepted partners, from celebrity blogger PerezHilton (2.5 million + views) to BBC World News (25,000+ views.)
HD-quality video streaming site Vuze acquired distribution rights for the anime series Neko Rahmen, a hit last year on Yahoo! Japan’s video streaming site. Vuze will make the 13-episode series available for free with ads and add Spanish, German and French subtitles next year.
Digitally savvy German supermodel Heidi Klum launched a “Real Celebrity” page on girls virtual site Stardoll.com. Users can use their Stardollars to enhance their MeDoll’s wardrobe with items from the Heidi Klum Runway Collection.
I’ve said this once but it begs repeating: If I was a young girl, I would be on stardoll.com continuously. I find my enjoyment level playing around on the site a bit scary. And oh yeah, I designed the look you’re seeing below. I thought the red feather band was a little too Pocahontas over the top.
Microsoft will become the exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising for CNBC.com. The agreement takes effect immediately, with Microsoft delivering contextual ads, which are based on what the user is viewing, for CNBC.com later this month. (http://www.news.com/Microsoft-does-ad-deal-with-CNBC/2100-1024_3-6222175.html 12/10)
The NBA became the latest major online content player to commit to the Microsoft Silverlight platform. The PC and Mac compatible software plug in will power video and rich media apps on NBA.com, WBNA.com and NBADevelopmentLeague.com with plans to switch the sites’ video player itself to Silverlight next year. The NBA says video streaming increased 95% in Nov. over the previous year, with the site delivering more than 38 million streams.
Disney’s venture-capital arm Steamboat Ventures is investing $6 million in EdgeCast Networks, an Internet infrastructure firm, in a sign of interest by big media companies in content delivery. EdgeCast transports music downloads and streaming videos through its network infrastructure. (http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2007/12/10/daily5.html 12/10)
Leaders from Google and Wikipedia plan to urge Congress to require federal agencies to make their Web sites and databases more accessible. Basic government information often does not show up in results provided by search engines run by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask.com. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/10/AR2007121001663.html 12/11)
Hoping to establish itself as the Internet’s least intrusive search engine, Ask.com is empowering people to prevent their search requests from being deposited in data banks. A new privacy control, called “AskEraser,” purges a user’s search requests from Ask.com’s computers within hours. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_hi_te/ask_privacy_protection 12/11)
Vivid Entertainment, a leading producer of adult content, is filing a lawsuit against a knockoff of YouTube, alleging that it profited from piracy by allowing its users to post videos that include copyrighted material. Vivid chief Steven Hirsch says: “We will go after all the free sites.” (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-vivid11dec11,1,2232727.story?ctrack=1&cset=true 12/11)
The Weather Channel Interactive launched three new ad products on weather.com. A map-based geo targeting application enables advertisers to customize creative and target users based on their weather map navigations. Advertisers can also sponsor points of interest on the map such as retail locations.
Clearspring, a company that syndicates online microsites called widgets for publishers such as cable and broadcast TV networks, has launched an advertising service to help companies monetize their online initiatives with widgets. Media companies that have signed on to use the so-called Widget Ad Network include Fox Television, The Huffington Post and IDG. (E-Commerce Times 12/10)
More connected consumers (65%) watch professionally produced TV programming on PCs and digital devices than they do user generated fare (39%), according to a new ChoiceStream study conducted by MarketTools. A third of viewers who watch TV on alternative devices reported watching at least 4 hours per week. Twenty percent of respondents said they plan to watch more TV on PCs and mobile devices in the next 6 months, and 55% of these viewers said the increase will come at the expense of traditional TV viewing.
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Research in Motion opened its first BlackBerry storefront Monday as part of a deal with retailer Wireless Giant in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills. The outlet — which a Wireless Giant executive termed a “concept” store — will sell BlackBerry equipment and add-on software and activate wireless accounts for AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless. (The Detroit News 12/11)
News Corp.’s London tabloid The Sun is linking print to mobile phones, in an effort to make the newspaper more interactive and enable more efficient measurement for advertisers. The system uses barcodes to grant users access to Internet content on their cell phones. (http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3627820 12/10)
GAMING
“Mass Effect,” Bioware’s exclusive role-playing game for Microsoft’s Xbox 360, has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide since its November launch, according to an Xbox executive. Microsoft also said that “Halo 3″ sales had topped 5 million. (GameDaily BIZ 12/10)
Mass Effect Game Trailer
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
Vudu is releasing a high-definition version of Universal’s “The Bourne Identity” through its Web site today, in a day-and-date distribution setup with the online and DVD markets. Users must pay $399 for a box to watch the films, and Vudu is working with studios — it has deals with Lionsgate Entertainment and Paramount Pictures — to plan more day-and-date releases. Studios are experimenting with digital distribution, a platform that is not affected by the HD DVD/Blu-ray format war. (Yahoo!/Associated Press 12/11)
Matsushita, the maker of Panasonic brand products, has announced that it will package Blu-ray players with plasma TVs at some major retailers beginning next week. The promotion may help garner more consumer attention for Blu-ray technology, which Matsushita supports. (The Wall Street Journal 12/11)
