Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

The NBA has introduced a channel on Web-TV platform Joost with highlights from current season games and replays of “Instant Classic” matchups. The NBA already has dedicated Net channels on YouTube and MySpace. (Mediaweek 12/17)

For anyone who thinks that full-length movies on the Web are for downloading only should check out the Watch Now section on BitTorrent (you will need Flash Player 9 installed). Launched quietly on December 5 using its BitTorrent DNA streaming technology, Watch Now offers a few hundred full-length movies and TV shows that you can watch in full-screen that start a few seconds after clicking play. The quality varies based on the original video, but check out The Ring (original Japanese version) to see what is possible. It is not HD. But it is very watchable.  (http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/17/bittorrent-is-now-streaming-movies-with-ads-but-wheres-the-good-stuff/ 12/17)

The dating Web site Match.com, owned by Barry Diller’s InterActiveCorp, plans to launch new features to bring social networking capabilities to its 15 million members. Match’s new Little Black Book feature will link users of the social network Facebook with Match.com daters. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071217/ap_on_hi_te/match_com_facebook 12/17)

A new survey by NPD has found that the 73% of Americans have never heard of Google Docs and other online office applications, but perhaps worst still only 0.5% of respondents have abandoned desktop office applications for an online alternative. 94% of Americans have never tried a web based productivity suite. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/18/majority-of-americans-on-google-docs-what-you-talkin-bout-willis/ 12/18)

The social news site Digg is said to have hired Allen & Company, the private investment firm, seeking to sell itself for at least $300 million. Rumors of a sale have been rampant for months. Digg founder Kevin Rose says: “We never comment on things related to acquisitions.” (http://venturebeat.com/2007/12/17/source-digg-hires-bank-hoping-to-sell-for-300-million-or-more 12/17)

Sometimes reading online product reviews can be a real time sink. There are so many opinions out there—from CNet to Amazon to blogs. It can take a long time and a lot of sifting to figure out what people really think. But now there is another way. If you want a snap shot of popular sentiment about a book, movie, CD, or gadget, type its name into Summize. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/17/summize-a-sentiment-engine-for-the-reviewosphere/ 12/17)

Fresh from the development of Prom Queen, Vuguru, the digital media firm launched earlier in the year by Michael Eisner, plans to produce a new online series following an indie rock band called The All-For-Nots.  Last night, I had the chance to catch their performance at the Mercury Lounge in NYC and was pleasantly surprised.  From their MySpace page, it appears as though the band only has one lead singer: Johnny Hamilton.  But last night, there was another lead singer; this one being one attractive blonde named Farrah.  I’m guessing they’re trying to up their sex appeal.  Best moment of the night: A cover of My Prerogative by Bobby Brown.

Former AOL chief Jon Miller and former Fox Interactive Media head Ross Levinsohn are joining with venture fund ComVentures to form a new group to invest in Internet and media companies. Levinsohn formed News Corp.’s Internet division in 2005 and spearheaded the purchase of MySpace. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119795176668736141.html 12/18)

Hitwise released a report stating that just over half of Wikipedia’s traffic comes directly from Google searches, suggesting the launch of Google Knol could cripple the popular user generated encyclopedia. Google’s announcement has sparked a debate revolving around whether or not its attempt to form a depository of knowledge will lead to conflicts of interest because it will profit from page views of entries.

(Below) An extremely helpful download of the CPM cost across several popular online video sites.

The major online video sites offers a very simple choice when it comes to advertising rates: pay $90 CPMs on the high end or $10 to $20 CPMs on the low end. WebVideoReport provides a comparison price list of eight sites, demonstrating what marketers can expect to pay in general. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-thinking-of-online-video-ads-heres-a-price-list  12/17)

Founders Fund Management, which made its mark as an early backer of Facebook, is raising a second investment round more than four times as large as its first, signaling its growing clout in Silicon Valley. The fund was started in 2005 by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-founders18dec18,1,7240059.story 12/18)

IFC News is embarking upon a multi-tiered election year news venture featuring on air and online programming incorporating several touch points for users and viewers. Digital components of IFC’s “Election Coverage for the Rest of Us”include an election webpage, live blogs, polls and political films from Media Lab’s filmmaker community.