Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
Jamie Lynn Spears’s pregnancy prompted Viacom to issue a statement saying it respected her “decision to take responsibility.” However, the media giant is likely to eventually sever ties with the 16-year-old Nickelodeon star. (http://www.thestreet.com/_tscnav/video/index.html#1348315277 12/19)
The Writers Guild of America is pursuing agreements with several small independent producers that would allow at least some of its members to begin returning to work. The agreements would address writers’ demands to be compensated for work that appears on the Internet. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iE0uIqtrdPXiNMr1qniAIsCAa0fwD8TKN7N81 12/19)
Despite a growing cadre of viewing alternatives like the Web, people are still watching television, according to a new survey by Integrated Media Measurement. The 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. block retained its audience in recent weeks, despite the loss of the late-night talk shows. (http://www.forbes.com/business/media/2007/12/19/television-writers-strike-biz-media-cx_lr_1219viewers.html 12/19)
AMC, which received several Golden Globe nominations for its “Mad Men” series, is pursuing an aggressive dramatic slate, but will not push too many new series at one time. “We’re not in the volume business,” said Christina Wayne, vice president of scripted series and miniseries for the network. “At most, three series at a time will be on our channel. We’re purposely not doing five shows at once so that we can really get involved in the production of the shows.” (Variety 12/19)
CBS says it will broadcast the People’s Choice Awards as scheduled on Jan. 8 but will change the format because of the strike by Hollywood writers. Instead of a live ceremony with presenters giving statuettes out to honorees, the show will consist of taped pieces. (http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/env-peoplechoicecancelled-19dec19,0,7478304.story 12/20)
MTV is launching a “Street Team” of 51 young amateur journalists to cover the 2008 election and emphasize issues important to the younger generation. Reports will appear on digital venues including a new mobile site and the Associated Press online video network. (http://www.news.com/the-social/8301-13577_3-9836325-36.html 12/19)
Domenico Nesci, one of the suitors on MTV’s “A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila,” is getting his own show. In a rare spinoff of a competition series, 15 women will vie for Nesci’s attention in “That’s Amore,” scheduled to premiere in March. (The Hollywood Reporter 12/20)
Cox and Gemstar-TV International have agreed to a contract extension that gives the cable company access to Gemstar’s Passport interactive program guide and its My TV Guide, which allows viewers to access their DVRs. The deal also allows Cox to use the Open Cable Applications Platform version of the Passport IPG. (Multichannel News 12/19)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Can Google succeed where Facebook fell flat on its face? It’s been chasing Facebook with OpenSocial, its own platform for social networking applications (which still has a long way to go). But now, we’ve learned, it might be trying to incorporate parts of Facebook’s controversial Beacon program into OpenSocial. Remember, that’s the one that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to apologize for the way it was initially rolled out because of privacy concerns. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/19/google-poaching-beacon-partners-for-universal-activity-stream 12/19)
MySpace is launching a channel called PrimeTime, a hub that will integrate Hulu content with offerings from MySpace TV. The page will present episodes and movies that also are available on the stand-alone site for Hulu, the joint online video venture between NBC Universal and News Corp. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3i791a7e20e195349c0320001873b04cc7 12/20)
IAC signed a wide-ranging agreement with Brightcove making it the video provider for a range of IAC sites including Ticketmaster.com and Citysearch. IAC sites will use the Brightcove platform to power, syndicate and distribute video as well as integrate advertising and promotional campaigns. IAC has been a minority shareholder in Brightcove since 2006.
Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! were fined a combined $31.5 million to resolve claims they promoted illegal online gambling. Microsoft and Yahoo have both agreed to fund a campaign to educate younger people on the illegality of online gambling. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-microsoft-google-and-yahoo-to-pay-315-million-fine-over-gambling-ads 12/19)
Apple Computer has been in a long battle with ThinkSecret.com, a site that discloses details about unreleased company products. Apple is now settling its lawsuit with site founder/college student Nick Ciarelli. “As part of the confidential settlement, ThinkSecret will no longer be published.” (http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/12/20/think-secret-settles-apple-lawsuit-shuts-down 12/20)
Veoh Networks announced its online audience grew from 2.5 million to 21.5 million unique monthly users in 2007. Users viewed a total of 30 million hours of content in November with each viewer averaging more than 80 minutes of usage per month. Veoh also reported its beta VeohTV application has been downloaded an average of 900,000 times per month over the past two months.
The newly announced advertising and content deal between media conglomerate Viacom and Microsoft signifies the intent of both companies to aggressively compete with Google, according to this article. Under the deal, Viacom will end its relationship with Doubleclick — whose acquisition by Google is expected to close soon — and turn to Microsoft-owned Atlas to handle most of its online ad serving. (The Wall Street Journal 12/20)
Despite opposition from Microsoft and AT&T, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is approving Google’s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick, clearing the way for a formidable combination in online advertising. The transaction still faces substantial antitrust scrutiny in Europe. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gChCbzOCKyZbb0qHjKzOFGw1DHcgD8TL7I780 12/20)
BSkyB, the British satellite broadcaster controlled by News Corp., should cut its stake in broadcaster ITV to below 7.5% because it reduces competition in television, says the British Competition Commission. The recommendation is seen as a blow to BSkyB’s strategy. (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article3076956.ece 12/20)
The Motion Picture Association of America won a lawsuit against the operators of TorrentSpy.com, with the judge ruling in favor of the MPAA because the Web site operators tampered with evidence. TorrentSpy “is a one-stop shop for copyright infringement, the MPAA asserts. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/12/18/MPAA-wins-copyright-case-against-TorrentSpy_1.html 12/18)
MP2P Technologies unveiled a new P2P file sharing service named Omemo, which creates a virtual hard drive in which users may save files on remote-based servers instead of their own computers. Founded by file sharing guru Pablo Soto, the ad supported system cobbles together a network by borrowing unused portions of anonymous users’ hard drives.
I’ll share my pen, my notebook, some shoes, even my iPod, but my hard drive space?!! Not likely.
Turner signed a deal with Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder to produce a 20-webisode original series to debut on comedy portal SuperDeluxe.com. The series, dubbed The Super Rumble Mixshow, will premiere in January and have a little of every format thrown in, including short skits, mocumentaries, lectures and music performances.
Ticketmaster signed an agreement to power an online ticket resale service for the NHL. The service will serve as StubHub-type platform for fans to buy and sell seats to hockey games, accessible from both Ticketmaster.com and NHL.com.
Web videos are now twice as likely to be uploaded by teen boys as teen girls, according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The finding surprised researchers because teen girls are more active users of other social media: Girls are much more likely to be bloggers. (http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=73083&Nid=37609&p=918739 12/20)
Filed under: GAMING
Nintendo’s gaming rivals are starting to introduce controllers that are supposedly simpler to use than traditional ones. Sony and Microsoft have released new devices, for PlayStation 2/PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 respectively, that can be used with a handful of software and are modeled after television remotes, much as the Nintendo Wii was. (The New York Times 12/20)
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
NBC is hoping that corporate synergy will help it to weather the ongoing strike by television writers. The network will begin broadcasting episodes of “Monk” and “Psych,” two popular series from its sister USA cable network. Both programs are produced by Universal Media Studios. (http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/nbc-to-repurpose-usas-monk-and-psych 12/18)
For full episodes, click the links below.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live,”‘ the late- night talk show on ABC, will produce new episodes in January without writers, following NBC’s decision to bring back “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” New episodes of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” will begin airing Jan. 2. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aXxeN0ifL7Po 12/18)
The Hollywood writers strike is so far having virtually no impact on the broadcast networks outside of late night. Ratings are in fact down but not because of the strike. Driving the declines are factors such as increased DVR recording and normal audience erosion. (http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Television_44/So_far_strike_hasn_t_hurt_the_networks.asp 12/18)
Cooking phenomenon Rachael Ray of The Food Network will debut a prime-time series Jan. 12 titled “Rachael’s Vacation,” in which she delves into culinary treasures around the world. The network also announced that it would produce 60 new episodes of “30 Minute Meals,” Ray’s daytime show. (Google/Associated Press 12/18)
USA got a strong performance from its “WWE Raw” wrestling series Dec. 10 to finish first in last week’s prime-time race among basic-cable channels. USA averaged a 1.2 during the week, according to Nielsen Media Research, and was closely followed by ABC Family and the Disney Channel, both of which averaged a 1.1 rating in prime time. (Multichannel News 12/18)
Showtime’s “Dexter,” one of the hottest shows on TV this season, attracted 1.4 million total viewers to the 9 p.m. showing of its season-two finale Dec. 10. A follow-up televising at 10 p.m. brought in an additional 382,000 viewers. (Yahoo!/Reuters/Hollywood Reporter 12/19)
VH1′s Monday night season finale of I Love New York 2 (9p) delivered 3.6 million A18-49 viewers, earning a 3.2 A18-49 rating. The final episode also drew in 5.4 million total viewers.
Highlights From the Finale
Just 28% of DVR users account for 72% of the time-shifting that is going on in TV land, according to a new study from Interpublic’s Magna Global. The finding suggests that most people with DVRs usually watch shows in real time and are not recording programs for later viewing. (MediaPost Communications 12/18)
Tribune Entertainment has closed its syndication distribution unit, though it will continue with its ad sales services, per Variety. For the shows the distribution arm had been handling including American Idol Rewind, the Dreamworks movie package, Ag Day and Soul Train, new distributors will be named for each of these shows. Earlier this year, Family Feud was moved to Debmar-Mercury.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is approving rules that allow publishers to own both newspapers and broadcast stations in the biggest U.S. cities and that limit growth for cable-television companies. The media marketplace is now “considerably different,” says chief Kevin Martin. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=a9yU_ngJaKH8 12/18)
TVN Entertainment Corp. and Illusion TV formed a new multiyear, multiplatform partnership to launch and distribute Illusion On-Demand. TVN will distribute the free VOD network to 22 partner outlets including AT&T U-verse, RCN and Verizon. Programming on Illusion On-Demand consists of action series, news, talk, anime and movies in the sci-fi, fantasy and comic book genres.
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Viacom is entering a five-year, $500 million deal with Microsoft that involves advertising, online games, shows and movies. Microsoft will help place ads on Viacom’s Web sites and will license Viacom programming for the MSN portal and the Xbox 360 game system’s online network. (http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSWNAS491320071219 12/19)
Barry Diller’s IAC/Interactive Corp is signing a deal with online video syndication service Brightcove to supply video services to its properties, beginning with Ticketmaster, Citysearch and news satire site 23/6. IAC, an investor in Brightcove, will handle advertising sales. (http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3627924 12/19)
The striking Writers Guild of America is expected to be taking time off for the holidays. When the Christmas truce expires in early January, the WGA plans to open StrikeTV.com, a site that will collect online videos and other media supporting the walkout. (http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2007/12/wga-to-write-st.html 12/19)
(Below) Next up, Google List. Google knows what you’re getting for Christmas before you do. Type in your name under the Google List search function to find out what you’re getting now. Yup. . .sarcasm indeed.
Google has announced a flight tracking service that provides up-to-date information for those flying over the Christmas/ New Year break.The service delivers details as to whether a flight is on time or delayed as well providing the estimated departure and arrival times. Using the service is as simple as typing in the flight number into Google, and the flight details will be delivered as the first search result (airline and flight number, or use an abbreviated version with a space between the airline code and flight number.) The service competes in part with Orbitz’s Traveler Update service, although Orbitz does offer associated airport information as well. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/18/google-knows-how-late-your-flight-is-running 12/18)
The signs are everywhere that a revolution is taking place in music. DRM is history, the price of music is falling towards zero (and sometimes even free isn’t enough to slow piracy), and even big music sites like Yahoo are beginning to break ranks with the RIAA and labels.But Amazon may be doing more than anyone else to change the way music is discovered, promoted and sold. Not only do they have a music store that only sells DRM-free music, but they are experimenting with startups who are trying to break the stranglehold that labels have on discovering, promoting and marketing new artists. These startups are giving artists a different path to find their fans. And Amazon is helping them. Today Amazon announced that it is partnering with a European startup called SellABand and will sell music from SellABand artists. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/19/amazon-helping-to-change-the-business-of-music 12/19)
Click the image below for an introduction video on the site’s main page.
PBS launched a channel on Joost featuring episodes of original series such as History Detectives and Scientific American Frontiers, as well as specials from PBS’ award-winning “Empires” collection.
National Lampoon signed a deal to distribute comedic video clips on social networking/entertainment site Capazoo.com via a dedicated channel. The subscription-based Capazoo shares revenue with its members by rewarding cash redeemable “Zoops” for music, videos and photos they upload or for friends they bring in.
The results of Hey! Nielsen‘s “Best Music Blog” contest are in, determined by more than 1,200 user votes. Rock Island, IL-based daytrotter.com took first among 99 sites evaluated.
Daytrotter (daytrotter.com)
Rock Sellout (rocksellout.com)
BBQ Chicken Robot (bbqchickenrobot.com)
Adam’s World (adambernard.blogspot.com)
The World Forgot (theworldforgot.com)
Daytrotter
BitTorrent-based video distribution service Vuze, which we last covered in June and was previously known as Azureus, has raised $20M in a Series C round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and joined by existing investors Redpoint Ventures, Greycroft Partners, BV Capital, and Jarl Mohn. The round brings Vuze’s investment total to $34M after a Series A of $2M with BV Capital and a Series B of $12M with Redpoint, Greycroft, BV Capital, and Mohn. As part of this Series C, TiVo co-founder Mike Ramsay is joining Vuze’s board of directors. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/18/vuze-raises-20m-more-in-series-c-brings-aboard-tivo-co-founder-ramsay 12/18)
Filed under: WIRELESS
There are still plenty of cell phone users who don’t want to take pictures or listen to music, but just make and receive calls. Here is how two new mobile phones, built specifically for that simple purpose, compare. The Wall Street Journal (free content) (12/19)
Verizon Wireless has rolled out the Palm Treo 755p, which runs on the Palm OS and features EVDO, a full Qwerty keyboard, a 1.3-megapixel camera and a mini-SD slot for cards up to 4GB. The device, which is an update to the Treo 700p, also sports a preinstalled version of Google Maps. (Yahoo!/Newsfactor.com 12/17)
Zumobi has launched an initial version of its widget interface for smartphones operating Windows Mobile 5 and 6. “The technology is highly innovative, though not unique as there are any number of startups focused in the broad U/I, on-device portal, widget, applications framework layer space,” Yankee Group wireless analyst John Jackson said. “But Zumobi’s proposition should find favor with brands seeking low-cost, high quality, rapid time to market access to the mobile space for their properties.” (TechNewsWorld 12/17)
Zumobi Beta Launch Video
Web telephony service Kadoink has integrated with Bebo’s Open Application Platform, allowing Bebo users to leave live and recorded voice and text messages on widgets that reside on friends’ pages.
Google is one of 266 potential bidders in a highly anticipated airwaves auction scheduled to begin in January. Of the 266 applications received by the FCC, Google’s was one of 96 that was deemed “accepted for filing.” The next step is to submit a payment before a Jan. 4 deadline. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iyVJ1qW6rZpN-bPn8lQ-8uEWYpawD8TK7CMO0 12/18)
Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and a majority shareholder in Charter, will be a bidder in the Jan. 24 wireless auction, according to this report. Allen’s Vulcan Spectrum will join other bidders, including Google, AT&T and Verizon Wireless. (The Boston Globe/Reuters 12/18)
Mobile marketing firm SinglePoint reported that it processed 35 million interactive TV transactions initiated by mobile text message users on the AT&T Mobility, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless carriers in Q3 of 2007. SinglePoint’s services include mobile message connectivity and applications such as voting, polling, sweepstakes, contests, alerts, coupons clips and tips.
Filed under: GAMING
Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer behind “Pirates of the Caribbean,” is entering a deal with MTV Networks to create a new incubation studio that will develop game titles to be distributed by MTV Games. The properties “will hopefully migrate to other media,” says MTV exec Van Toffler. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/12192007/business/bruckheimer_gets_into_a_new_game_693803.htm 12/19)
