FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS TAKE CES
There’s convergence and then there’s Flight of the Conchords. The guys popped by Brian Roberts’ (Comcast) keynote last week at CES for some wideband fun and to perform “Business Time.”
Cable channels such as HBO, FX and AMC cleaned up at the Golden Globes Sunday night, winning all but one award in the TV categories. The sole non-cable TV winner was NBC’s Tina Fey for “30 Rock.” (The Boston Globe/Associated Press 1/13)
Extras on HBO
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association decided to allow all media outlets to carry live coverage of Sunday’s news conference announcing the winners of the Golden Globe Awards. This year’s show was reduced to a half-hour news conference televised by many outlets. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-globes12jan12,0,7064334.story 1/12)
ABC Studios is exercising its force majeure privilege and terminating the contracts of some two dozen writing and non-writing producers who had development deals with Disney-owned outfit. The Hollywood writers strike is having “a significant detrimental impact,” says ABC. (http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=8add473a-ba54-44a5-bd40-e3cef324d12d 1/11)
Incoming Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes has many challenges ahead of him at the sprawling, stalled media conglomerate: the floundering AOL, the “nongrowth” Time Inc., a battered stock price. “If I were Jeff, I would shoot myself,” jokes his predecessor, Dick Parsons. (http://nymag.com/news/features/42831 1/13)
MTV Networks and Bravo have given nods of approval to new series that are being spun off successful reality shows. On MTV, the pampered cast of “Super Sweet 16″ will have to rough it with indigenous tribes around the world in “Exiled!” Meanwhile, Bravo is developing “The Real Housewives of New York” to capitalize on the ratings generated by current hit “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” (Broadcasting & Cable 1/14)
In a move showing increased optimism in the cable industry in general and Comcast in particular, investment firm Dodge & Cox has upped its stake in the country’s top cable company. According to SEC filings, Dodge & Cox now owns 11.4% of Comcast’s Class A shares as opposed to 7.9% last March. (The Hollywood Reporter 1/14)
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Facebook probably won’t go public this year, founder Mark Zuckerberg says in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” But an IPO could come later, he adds. Also, the controversial Beacon advertising program needs work. Still, “there have to be ads because we have to make money.” (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/10/60minutes/main3697442.shtml?source=mostpop_story 1/13)
Watch the entire interview here.
In a change of policy, Netflix will now allow its customers to watch as many downloaded films and TV shows as they want. With perhaps an eye on Apple’s expected move into online movie rentals, Netflix is lifting the limits — at no additional fee — on streaming from the 6,000 titles the company offers online. (The Seattle Times 1/14)
The digital mapping industry, which supplies data to GPS firms whose devices provide not just navigation but traffic information and fuel prices, and helps power online services like Google Maps, is a growing market. Leading firms Tele Atlas and Navteq were each the targets of multibillion acquisitions late last year. (The Wall Street Journal 1/14)
The decision of the music industry and Pepsi to team up with Amazon.com’s music-downloading service instead of Apple’s iTunes for a Super Bowl promotion is a sign that record companies are worried that Apple CEO Steve Jobs wields too much clout. The companies have allowed Amazon to sell songs without digital rights management locks on them, a privilege it has not offered to Apple. (International Herald Tribune 1/14)
Gawker fans are posting comments claiming that the hit news-media gossip site is losing its cultural relevance. Gawker’s traffic fell by some 2 million page views in the last two months of 2007. One observer says: “I don’t get the impression it’s a media insider must-read the way it used to be.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/fashion/13gawker.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 1/13)
News Corp.’s MySpace and 49 U.S. state attorneys general are issuing new guidelines for protecting youths on the Internet with the aim of promoting those principles throughout the industry. The guidelines including calling on social networks to review all images and video uploads. (http://www.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUSN1428328320080114 1/14)
MTV, seeking to reestablish itself as a relevant medium for young people, is dispatching some 50 amateur journalists Monday as part of a pilot program to deliver campaign news. MTV is trying to regain its hip cachet, a role lost in recent years to bloggers and “The Daily Show.” (http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/01/12/mtv_wants_digital_army_to_bring_back_the_buzz 1/12)
Microsoft is working with Plano, Texas-based MediaCart Holdings on a grocery cart-mounted video console that will help shoppers find products in the store, then scan and pay for their items. Microsoft’s aQuantive will serve video ads onto these grocery cart screens. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080114/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_shopping_carts 1/14)
Jenna Jameson, the adult film star, says she will never perform in adult movies again and instead plans to focus on her successful Web ventures. Jameson also is independently wealthy from selling ClubJenna.com to Playboy for undisclosed millions in 2006. (http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/14/jenna-jameson-end-porn-career-to-focus-on-web-ventures 1/14)
A La Mobile will demonstrate a mobile device loaded with a suite of applications based on Google’s new Android operating system. The San Ramon, Calif., startup wants to prove that Android can make it easier and cheaper for cell phone users to access features on their handsets. (USA TODAY 1/13)
