Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

Recent concern over a possible U.S. recession snowballed into fear of a full-fledged global downturn Monday as stock markets across Europe and Asia tumbled — some as low as seen after 9/11. Time Warner, Disney and News Corp. are all trading near 52-week lows. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ie223c6999f82414229f326b803d18cf7  1/22, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117979411.html?categoryid=18&cs=1  1/21) 

Shares in Oprah Winfrey’s new cable television partner, Discovery, are outperforming all other media stocks — including News Corp., Disney and even the mighty Google. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is looking to Winfrey to boost subscriber fees and the cable channel company’s profile. (http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/21/news/companies/discovery_siklos.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008012112  1/21)

News Corp.’s Fox appears best positioned to weather the Hollywood writers strike, while Disney’s ABC may be hurt by it the most. ABC, which has the biggest scripted hits, also has a heavily female audience, which may be most susceptible to being stolen away by Fox’s “American Idol.” (http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/why-the-strike-may-hurt-abc-the-most  1/21)

The timing of the Hollywood writers strike is dealing a serious blow to the traditional programming development season. CBS is trimming its development slate, letting go of about 20 projects, most of them dramas. “Our development needs have changed,” the network says. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ie2ce917e12a453ac3dff90be1498ed5a  1/21) 

Big U.S. advertisers are the “WMDs” that striking writers will use to pressure the Academy Awards, according to a backroom consensus in Hollywood. If major marketers lose access to the Oscar audience, “they will force producers to cut a deal” with the writers’ union. (http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/bwiddicombe/index.html  1/22)

Showtime is sticking with “Brotherhood,” the critically acclaimed but ratings-challenged political drama. The channel has ordered up eight new episodes of the show, which runs after the critically acclaimed and ratings-attracting “Dexter.” (The Hollywood Reporter 1/22)

NBC Universal is paying $150 million for an initial 26% stake in India’s NDTV Networks, the holding company for the entertainment networks operated by broadcaster New Delhi Television. The Indian TV market is expected to grow at 16% annually, notes NBC boss Jeff Zucker. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117979432.html?categoryid=19&cs=1  1/22)

Comcast on Tuesday will begin marketing TiVo’s interface as a premium software upgrade for DVR customers in the Boston area. TiVo wants the partnership with the U.S. cable giant to be a model for other cable deals that offer access to millions of new customers. (http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2008-01-21-comcast-tivo_N.htm  1/21)

Cable and telecom companies are reaping the benefits of a California law that allows them to change local franchise terms with state oversight. Among the companies that received state authorization for their systems in the local market are AT&T, Verizon, Wave Broadband, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Charter Communications. (Multichannel News 1/21)

Verizon has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Cox, alleging infringement on eight patents linked to phone-service delivery through data-communications networks. Verizon is asking for an unspecified amount for damages and for Cox to be barred from using the patents. Verizon last year won a similar lawsuit against Vonage. (Multichannel News 1/22)

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

WPP boss Martin Sorrell says he is close to making a significant acquisition in digital advertising. Industry insiders believe one potential target is Spot Runner, a Web-based agency that aims to make television ads inexpensive for small businesses. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/01212008/business/wpps_chief_to_net_more_for_his_web_720547.htm  1/21)

Apple will have to overcome legal, regulatory and copyright issues if the company hopes to successfully launch its iTunes movie rental service in Europe, given the media landscape there is still run on a country-by-country basis, according to this article. Apple has said it wants to take the service international, but it has yet to outline exact launch dates. (The New York Times 1/21)

Meg Whitman, who has led Internet auctioneer eBay since March 1998, is preparing to retire. A decision about her exit could come within weeks. John Donahoe, whom Whitman recruited in 2005 to become the president of eBay’s auction business unit, is a leading candidate to succeed her. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120097256037505741.html  1/22)

The saga of Scrabulous is nearing an end. The Facebook version of Scrabble raised the ire of Hasbro and Mattel, which jointly own the rights to the game abroad and in the U.S., respectively. They have already asked Facebook to pull Scrabulous, one of the most popular apps on the social networking site.  So why is Scrabulous still up on Facebook? A flurry of behind the scenes deal-making has been going on between Hasbro, Scrabulous, and Electronic Arts, which has the license in the U.S. to the online version of the game. Hasbro is trying to get Scrabulous to sell itself for a song to Electronic Arts, or else shut down completely by the end of the day today. Scrabulous has been trying to shop itself to other buyers as well, but its legal liability is scaring away any potential white knights.  (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/22/as-tonights-deadline-for-scrabulous-shutdown-or-sale-looms-zynga-might-be-next  1/22)

Time Warner is close to a deal with NBC that will see it pay more in license fees for NBC’s cable channels — including CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo and USA — in exchange for a “super-sized” package of digital rights for the Summer Olympics. NBC is said to want a double-digit percentage increase. (http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.main&articleId=57808  1/21)

WIRELESS

Startup Polymer Vision expects its new Readius to help bridge the gap between e-readers and mobile phones when it debuts this year. The device, which touts a 5-inch foldout screen, allows users to read news, blogs or e-mail, and also offers normal mobile-phone functionality. (CNET/Reuters 1/21)

The New York Times will offer its online Web content to AT&T wireless customers at no extra charge to subscribers. “Consumers want immediate access to breaking news, and a wireless handset is a powerful tool for staying informed,” says AT&T exec Mark Collins. (http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2008/01/21/times_online_to_be_available_on_att/2156  1/21)

GAMING

Gaming publisher Activision has announced that its “Guitar Hero” franchise has set an industry record, posting more than $1 billion in North American retail sales in just 26 months. “‘Guitar Hero’ is one of the biggest brands and one of the most powerful distribution platforms in all of entertainment today,” said Michael Griffith, president and CEO, Activision Publishing. (GameDaily BIZ 1/22)

TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft’s decision to allow computer users to run virtualized versions of Vista may help the operating system become more prolific in the industry, according to some insiders. “This move is a good thing for those computer users who aren’t Microsoft customers (like Mac and Linux users) since they now have a cost-effective way to access Windows and its massive software library,” Parallels’ Benjamin Rudolph said. (CNET 1/22)

Supporters of HD DVD have gathered more than 6,000 signatures on an online petition seeking to persuade Warner Bros. to reconsider its decision to abandon the format in favor of Blu-ray. (High-Def Digest 1/21)