Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
Sunday’s broadcast of the Academy Awards ranks as the smallest U.S. television audience for the Oscars since 1974, when viewer totals first became available. The weak ratings come as no surprise given that many of this year’s honored films generated little enthusiasm among moviegoers. (http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN2521078720080226 2/26)
According to a test by NBC Universal, television viewers still remember the commercials — even when they’re watching at up to six times the speed of regular live TV. Viewers speeding through ads are said to be paying more attention to the screen than live TV viewers. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120398730105292237.html 2/26)
CBS’ fourth-quarter profit fell 15% after election advertising buoyed year-earlier results. “With roughly 70% of their revenues tied to advertising,” says one analyst, “they’re in a tough macro environment.” Also: CBS insists it wasn’t hurt by the economy or the writers’ strike. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aisnVGeuZkd8 2/26, http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSWEN411220080226 2/26)
(Below) As a consumer, I would much rather purchase the movie on Movies on Demand with the option to buy the movie on DVD if I like it enough. From my limited knowledge of Popcorn Entertainment, I believe this was their original proposition. The thing I’m not quite clear on is whether you make the decision to purchase the movie after watching on demand or before watching. That subtle difference seems to change the entire value proposition for me. From physical media to digital doesn’t seem to make much sense to me.
TVN Entertainment was selected by on demand DVD feature film distributor Popcorn Entertainment to distribute bundled VOD and DVD purchases of Hollywood movies the day they are released on DVD. Customers who purchase a movie will be able to watch it on cable for 24 hours before the DVD arrives in their mailbox.
ABC struck an “unprecedented arrangement” with its affiliates to expand ad-supported, fast-forward disabled VOD offerings to multiple cable, satellite and telco distributors. Each affiliate will get one local 30-second avail for each 30-minutes of programming, twice what they receive from streaming shows on their website. ABC has been testing the service in Cox’s Orange County system and is more than convinced viewers are happy to put up with ads in exchange for the ability to time shift their favorite shows. (Research conducted by Knowledge Networks/Statistical Research said 93% of viewers agreed to the trade off, with 20% saying they preferred ad supported VOD to a DVR.) The deal also removes previous repurposing restrictions, which should open the door to distributing ABC shows on additional platforms beyond current distribution partners such as iTunes and Xbox.
The sixth-season finale of “Monk” on Friday night attracted 6.87 million viewers, a record for the USA show. The episode put up strong numbers in the key demographic groups as well, with 2.66 million adults 18 to 49 and 3.08 million adults 25 to 54 tuning in, according to Nielsen Media Research live-plus-same-day figures. (Mediaweek 2/25)
Click the image below for full episodes.
ESPN on March 16 and 17 will televise a two-part documentary titled “Black Magic,” which will chronicle the civil rights movement and its impact on basketball players who attended black colleges and universities at that time. The movie, which will be presented commercial-free, will be underwritten by Russell Athletics/Spalding and State Farm. (Mediaweek 2/25)
Comcast and Bresnan Communications are the first cable firms to sign up with CBS Sports to offer high-definition, video-on-demand coverage of the upcoming NCAA March Madness tournament. The content will be free the companies’ subscribers and will include customized highlights of 63 games. (Mediaweek 2/25)
U.S. regulators are approving a long-pending deal allowing News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch to swap his controlling interest in DirecTV for a larger stake in his own company. News Corp.’s stake goes to former cable exec John Malone and his holding company Liberty Media. (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/fcc-approves-news-corp-liberty-media/story.aspx?guid=%7B2E04F994-14AD-4B1D-A54B-36C586C4DD40%7D 2/25)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
“Free,” a forthcoming book by Chris Anderson, editor of Conde Nast’s Wired magazine, asserts that media companies can make money from free content. Wired’s March issue, which offers a preview, is available for free. “Send us your address,” says Anderson. “We’ll send you an issue free.” (http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free 2/25)
Everyone should stop what they’re doing and read this article right away.
Shares of Google fell nearly 7% Tuesday morning following the release of data that shows a continued decline in the number of Web surfers clicking on ads — how the search giant generates most of its revenue base. Google’s shares dropped to the lowest price in nearly a year. (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/google-shares-fall-data-show/story.aspx?guid=%7B08EEEC9A%2DB80F%2D4F98%2D9CD0%2D1F5DEA5B4B0F%7D 2/26)
Yahoo is unveiling a Digg-like news site, at buzz.yahoo.com, allowing users vote on online articles, guiding which ones get prominent billing. More than 100 news sites — including USA Today and the Wall Street Journal — will place Yahoo “Buzz Up” buttons next to their articles. (http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2008/tc20080225_462851.htm 2/26)
Advertisers shouldn’t run television-like spots on Web videos, warns Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu.com, the joint video venture from NBC Universal and News Corp., speaking at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s annual meeting in Phoenix. Web video site Hulu is “not like watching TV.” (http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003715331 2/26)
MySpace TV has ordered up a hidden camera series called Special Delivery where special delivery folks get the candid camera routine. Per THR, each episode is 3 minutes long, and MySpace TV has ordered 18 eps. The series was created by Avalon TV, and will be fully sponsored by Frito-Lay/Cheetos.
Mario Lavandeira, better known as the celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton, is negotiating a deal that would provide him with his own imprint at Warner Brothers Records. Lavandeira has also long used PerezHilton.com to rave about his favorite new music. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/arts/music/26pere.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 2/26)
Congressman Ed Markey (D, MA.), sponsor of the new net neutrality bill, warned the FCC to closely examine ISPs’ bandwidth management policies in a packed public hearing held on the issue at Harvard. He made the point that if P2P services are responsible for slowing down network traffic, then it’s time to reexamine broadband policies in order to foster more competition. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin seemed open to ISP regulation, suggesting the agency may have to take action to ensure operators conduct business in an “open and transparent” way.
Internet service providers can’t “arbitrarily” block consumers from using lawful Internet activities in the name of providing better service, says Kevin Martin, chief of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, speaking at a public hearing focused on Comcast’s limits on BitTorrent. (http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/02/26/fcc_chief_says_net_providers_cant_block_access_arbitrarily 2/26)
Microsoft plans to test a new way to measure the effectiveness of Internet advertising in a challenge to the industry standard used by Google and others. The software giant’s “Engagement Mapping” attempts to take into account all Internet interactions that lead a consumer to buy a product. (http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSWNAS219120080226 2/26)
Avenue A | Razorfish’s annual digital outlook guide provided a snapshot of current online ad spending trends. It reported that vertical sites accounted for 39% of spending in 2007, followed by 31% of spending in search, only 19% in portals and 11% in ad networks. The agency more than doubled the number of sites it bought ads on, from 863 to 1,832, including entertainment sites, user generated video sites, gaming portals, music destinations and social networks.
Zinio.com, the online magazine provider, is opening a “global newsstand” Web site where consumers can buy nearly 1,000 magazines from around the world. Customers can buy the latest editions of magazines or subscribe to their favorite titles, often at a reduced price. (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article3434035.ece 2/26)
Glam Media, which operates Web sites geared toward women and serves ads on a network of over 400 partner sites, is raising almost $85 million — $64.6 million from investors led by Hubert Burda Media. Glam plans to use the money to expand internationally and make more acquisitions. (http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9877914-36.html 2/25)
Online advertising revenues exceeded $21 billion for the first time in 2007, according to data compiled by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. By most accounts, however, the Internet still represents less than 10% of all U.S. ad spending, meaning there is room for more growth. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080225/ap_on_hi_te/internet_advertising 2/25)
Filed under: WIRELESS
Mobile media messaging company Zannel will launch an open API program on March 3rd to allow third party developers to create rich media applications, widgets and mashups for the platform. Zannel also expanded its list of export feeds, enabling users to instantly publish mobile video, picture, and text updates to Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Myspace and Blogger, among others.
People watching TV on their mobile phones are 300% more likely to interact with contextually based ads than the typical direct-response campaign, according to a new study from MobiTV, which offers its 3 million subscribers 50 live TV channels as well as digital-music stations. “This year will see mobile video ads become significant to the small-screen medium, answering many of mobile advertising’s challenges,” said Jack Hallahan, vice president of advertising and brand partnerships at MobiTV. (CED Magazine 2/25)
okia has developed a phone thin and flexible enough that users can literally wrap it around their fingers. The Morph handset is part of the handset maker’s ongoing nanotechnology research group. (The Guardian (London) 2/25)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
Because only about 25% of U.S. households have HDTV sets, drastic price drops are unlikely, at least for now, according to this article. However, the sets are getting thinner and more decorative, and they are being bundled with new features such as speakers, cabinetry and PC network and Internet connectivity. (PCWorld 2/25)
Best Buy has lowered the price of its Xbox HD DVD player from $129 to $50, joining other consumer-electronics retailers who are dropping prices on their supplies of the endangered format. Microsoft announced last week that it would no longer produce the external HD DVD player for its gaming console. (InformationWeek 2/26)
Lenovo’s ThinkPad X300 is lighter than Apple’s MacBook Air, which, according to this article, gives it the distinction of being the lightest and thinnest notebook on the market. The ThinkPad X300 has three USB drives, a DVD burner and weighs 2.93 pounds without add-ons. (Yahoo!/InfoWorld 2/26)
