Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

Hollywood’s striking writers say they will grant an “interim agreement” to organizers of the Grammy Awards, allowing the ceremony honoring musicians to be written by union members. The CBS telecast of the Feb. 10 event is expected to air in the traditional format. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080129/ap_en_tv/hollywood_labor_grammys  1/29)

Disney’s original movie “Minutemen,” about a trio of high school geeks-turned-time-travelers, pulled in 6.5 million viewers in its premiere Friday. The telepic was the 11th out of 12 Disney Channel original movies to draw at least 5 million premiere viewers since October 2005. (Multichannel News 1/28)

Hollywood’s striking writers and major studios are said to be moving closer to bridging their divide after a week of talks. The outlines of a deal could be reached as early as this week. The parties are believed to be narrowing the gap in key areas, including pay for online distribution. (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-strike29jan29,1,2937606.story?ctrack=2&cset=true 1/29)

Although about 72% of TV viewers continue to screen the same amount of prime-time shows since before the writers strike, many now are watching different shows, according to a survey from media agency Carat. The poll found viewers are trying out different program genres, opting for repeat episodes or channel surfing, as well as looking at other forms of entertainment, including the Web, DVDs, magazines and video games. Multichannel News (1/28)

Starz is developing its first original drama series with a show based on the Oscar-winning film “Crash.” The network has ordered 13 episodes of the series, which will be co-produced with Lionsgate TV. (The Hollywood Reporter 1/29)

Viacom, the owner of MTV and the Paramount film studio, is “recession-resistant,” says chief Philippe Dauman, because consumers continue to go to the movies and watch television during a recession. Internet businesses will become a “larger and more integrated part” of Viacom, he adds. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=arUgJSCk1W2U 1/28)

The struggle between media moguls John Malone and Barry Diller over IAC/InterActive is taking a significant turn, with Malone’s Liberty Media now seeking to wrest the Internet company from Diller’s control. Liberty alleges “misconduct” by Diller; Diller dismisses the charge as “hogwash.” (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/liberty-media-moves-push-diller/story.aspx?guid=%7BDBDC2CAD%2DA9CB%2D42C9%2D8017%2D16796F66F51D%7D 1/28)

Verizon announced Monday that it had drawn more than 1 million customers for its FiOS TV, making FiOS the 10th-biggest cable provider in the U.S., beating Cable One, which has about 700,000 subscribers. (Mediaweek 1/28)

TVN Entertainment Corp. launched a new advanced VOD interactive tool that allows programmers to dynamically update VOD metadata before, during and after asset distribution to VOD servers. Mediacom, Bend Broadband and Lionsgate are among the first TVN clients to participate in the iPRI rollout.

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Facebook announced plans to enable application developers to extend functionality beyond the Facebook URL, meaning third-party sites will have the opportunity to monetize traffic generated by popular widgets such as RockYou and Renkoo. (http://www.allfacebook.com/2008/01/facebook-extends-platform-to-the-web  1/26)

CBS Interactive signed a two-year partnership agreement with The Recording Academy leading up the 50th Grammy Awards on Feb. 10. CBS Interactive will develop online programming, communities and promotions around the Grammy brand and the annual awards show broadcast. CBS will distribute the content across online, wireless and digital platforms including CBS.com, CBS Audience Network, CBS Mobile and Last.fm. (http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=cbs012808.htm 1/28)

NBC Universal’s Local Media Division is acquiring LX.tv, a Manhattan-based broadband television network Web site that produces original video content about entertainment venues around the New York and Los Angeles areas. LX.tv will produce programs for NBC television stations and Web sites. (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080128/FREE/733452814 1/28)

I dig the site.  The content is valuable and the user interface is easy to navigate through.  Add in some location-based functionality and I’m sold.  In other words, I don’t just want to see a line-up of random restaurant reviews.  I would rather see these restaurants laid out on a map with links to the review available from a mapping interface.

As “Super Tuesday” on Feb. 5 approaches, MTV and MySpace.com are announcing the final installment of their “presidential dialogue” series. All candidates from both parties are invited to participate in the Feb. 4 event. So far, Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee have confirmed. (http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9859820-36.html  1/28)

The last time Digg officially announced how many registered users it has was back in March when it passed the one-million mark. Now, programming sleuth John Graham-Cunning extracted registration dates from Digg user profile pages to come up with an estimate of 2.7 million registered Digg users. Some of the key inflection points came in June, 2006 when Digg expanded beyond technology to cover world news and entertainment, and in December, 2006 when it added video links. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/29/digg-nearly-triples-registered-users-in-a-year-says-sleuth-programmer  1/29)

(Below)  I believe in aggregation of my life online.  I really do.  But, honestly, now the number of social networking aggregators is rivaling the number of sites themselves.  Stop the insanity!!!

Jason Calacanis has announced an expansion to the Mahalo social platfrom that allows users to access most major social networking sites within Mahalo itself.The idea of social networking site aggregation or single landing page isn’t new, we’ve covered startups aiming to provide a similar service, such as MyLifeBrand, ProfileLinker and Loopster, but none have really captured the imagination of the broader internet. Mahalo is trying to better these services by becoming the front page destination for those looking to access sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube and others. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/28/mahalo-expands-multiprofiles-one-stop-for-various-social-networking-sites  1/28)

Break.com, a popular Web site for young men, is launching three related sites and forming an advertising network with other Web publishers aimed at 18- to 34-year-old males, a highly-sought-after demo. Break, backed by Lions Gate, offers games and hosts user-posted videos and photos. (http://www.redherring.com/Home/23600 1/28)

(Below) CORRECTION to posted item yesterday.

In what may be the dumbest business move of the year so far, Qtrax announced its free music download service this weekend before bothering to sign contracts with three of the four major labels. Now the music companies are saying, “Wait a second, there is no deal yet. We’re just talking to Qtrax.” Without the labels on board, there is no service. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/28/qtrax-really-blows-its-launch  1/28)

Time Warner Cable will debut a new Web site to help subscribers more easily navigate the plethora of shows and movies available on video-on-demand. The site, www.twondemand.com, lets viewers see what others in their zip code are watching, search with a variety of criteria and preview new movies. (CED Magazine 1/28)

WIRELESS

While mobile programmers still find themselves frustrated by the lack of standards and limited by carriers’ restrictive walled garden environments, hope sprung eternal at the NATPE Mobile ++ event that Google’s new open platform Android system would shake up the industry. More than 7,000 developers have taken Google up on its $10 million challenge to develop new innovative apps for the mobile operating system since submissions began Jan. 2. The company is now thinking of the extending the March 3 deadline to encourage more sophisticated apps, according to Google Director of Mobile Diana Pouliot. Meanwhile handsets running the Android platform are due out during the second half of 2008. Japan’s biggest carrier NTT DoCoMo announced plans to release a line of Android phones yesterday.

According to a new report issued by Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, one million iPhones of the 3.75 million sold have been unlocked to run on non-official networks. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/29/one-million-unlocked-iphones-beautiful  1/29)

ITV developer Zodiac Interactive launched a new mobile content search engine for cable and satellite TV, gaming platforms and next-generation DVD players dubbed Zodigo. It features a discovery/preference algorithm enabling users to find mobile content on multiple platforms and instantly download it to their mobile phones.

Original mobile content creator Intersport will launch the Spanish-language “En Espanol” mobile channel on the Sprint TV platform next month, its 4th channel carried exclusively by Sprint in the U.S. Intersport’s original entertainment, sports and music-themed destinations quickly became the most viewed channels on Sprint TV after launching last September, according to Jason Coyle, President, Digital Media for Intersport.

U.S. Mobile Video Subscribers
Quarter     # of subscribers     % of all mobile subscribers
Q3 2006        5.7 million                       2.6%
Q4 2006        6.9 million                       3.0%
Q1 2007        8.4 million                       3.6%
Q2 2007       11.8 million                      5.0%
Q3 2007       13.2 million                      5.5%
Source: Nielsen Mobile Q3 2007 Mobile Video report

Leading Mobile Video Channels by Monthly Penetration of Mobile Video Subs
Programmer                          % of penetration
The Weather Channel                     30%
NBC                                              29%
Fox News                                      25%
Fox Sports                                     22%
Discovery Channel                          22%
ESPN                                             22%
Comedy Time                                 18%
ABC News                                      17%
CNN                                              17%
MTV                                              16%
Source: Nielsen Mobile Q3 2007 Mobile Video report

GAMING

ESPN.com debuted Game Up, a monthly 30-minute online show devoted to video gaming hosted by ESPN video game analyst Aaron Boulding. Coverage includes game launches and reviews, studio tours, sneak previews, interviews and pro gamer tips.

TECHNOLOGY

Palm, whose sales are expected to fall for the second consecutive quarter, will close all but one of its eight stores as well as its 26 Airport Wireless outlets, the company disclosed Saturday. Palm has been in a losing battle with RIM and Apple for the smartphone market. (The New York Times/Bloomberg 1/28)