DROP IT LIKE ITS HOT: THE COCO PHONE
Sexy no?
Meet the Chanel concept phone as designed by Fred de Garilhe. The phone slides apart to reveal a numeric keypad and display as so:
Kick it to the curb iPhone. Mama’s got a brand new bag. . .
THE CINEMAX 300C BACK AGAIN
So, if you’ve been following along, you may remember that I compared NBC’s updated KITT with Cinemax’s tricked out 300C. The 300C popped up today near Bryant Park on 42nd Street and 6th Avenue. Luckily, I was there to get all paparazzi on the situation.
Just four years after the Lord of the Rings film trilogy brought in over a billion dollars into the coffers of New Line Cinema the forty-year old independent film company will be taken over by Warner Bros. and become a much smaller entity. New Line’s Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne have elected to leave the studio, but are in discussions about possible future business relationships with the company. Under Warner Bros. New Line’s projects will include horror, comedy and urban flicks. (http://www.cnbc.com/id/23396229 2/28)
The recently resolved writers’ strike, which created a dearth of new episodes on broadcast networks and a slew of network-to-cable converts, helped propel Viacom profits up 16% in the fourth quarter. The parent of MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and BET announced earnings of $559.5 million, or 86 cents a share, on revenue of $4.25 billion during the period. (The New York Times/Associated Press 2/29)
NBC pulled the plug on quarterlife after just one episode. The online series-turned drama, which drew just over 3 million viewers in its TV debut on Tuesday night at 10 pm (with a 1.3 rating among 18-49 year olds), will now find a home on Bravo according to reports – where the threshold for success is not quite so high. Co-creator Marshall Herskovitz predicted as much on Wednesday at a media conference at the Harvard Business School, calling the show “too specific” for network television. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i0055cabe5256398ae1dddcc9dc1c3f36 2/28)
They might not purchase Weather.com with a $5 billion price tag, but execs at NBC Universal say the company will increase its investment in the Peacock Equity Fund to $1 billion from an initial $250 million. The fund has already made investments in digital media outfits Adify and Popsugar. (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/FREE/928321058 2/28)
NBC is crying foul over reports that “Scrubs” is leaving the network and jumping to ABC. The sitcom is produced by ABC Studios. “NBC has a license agreement with ABC Studios, which includes a right of first negotiation and first refusal,” says NBC exec Marc Graboff. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117981634.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 2/28)
The future potential of network news lies with cable outlets such as MSNBC and its online counterpart, MSNBC.com, and not with the traditionally omnipotent broadcast networks like NBC, according to Jeff Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal. “We are just living in an incredibly different world,” he said. “The definition of NBC News is really changing. And it’s becoming more MSNBC and MSNBC.com.” (Broadcasting & Cable 2/28)
Two new projects have been ordered by Fox, both based on UK formats, says Variety. Outnumbered from MRC and Hat Trick, is about a family of three unusually bright kids and the trials and tribulations of raising such a brood. Spaced from Wonderland Sound and Vision with Warner Bros. TV and Granada, is about a two people who pose as a couple in order to win the lease on an inexpensive apartment.
Oxygen’s “The Bad Girls Club,” a reality series focusing on a pack of promiscuous, battling ladies, gave the NBC Universal channel its best rating in eight years during its Tuesday 10 p.m. time slot. The episode attracted 1.17 million total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, and averaged a record-setting 603,000 women viewers 18 to 49. (Mediaweek 2/28)
James Dolan, the CEO of Cablevision, declined to quell rumors of an imminent sale of Rainbow Media, the company that houses channels such as IFC, AMC and WE TV. “We don’t comment on speculation in the marketplace,” Dolan said. “We feel strongly about our programming services. They’re doing very well, particularly with the new programming that we’ve added, so they should work very well.” (Variety 2/28)
Liberty Media is posting lower operating profits at its key QVC shopping channel due to weakness overseas and a shift to consumer electronics, and says it was eyeing e-commerce acquisitions. Liberty is said to be most interested in companies that could be promoted on QVC. (http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSN2862873320080228 2/28)
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
News Corp. could come out ahead in a deal with Yahoo because it would help the beleaguered Web firm fend off advances from Microsoft. “While unlikely, a News Corp. white knight scenario for Yahoo offers little downside,” says analyst David Bank of RBC Capital. (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/news-corp-cant-lose-yahoo/story.aspx?guid=%7BC9733110-1F7E-45FE-9019-90ED24FDCC1F%7D 2/28)
More Hollywood talent is jumping to the online world, reports NewTeeVee.
It’s been a busy week for MySpace on the programming front as MySpaceTV gears up to compete with YouTube and the plethora of online video portals. New launches include:
A task force is being formed in hopes of finding ways to protect children from predators online, spearheaded by News Corp.’s MySpace and headed by Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Also participating: Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080228-harvard-myspace-spearhead-internet-safety-task-force.html 2/28)
Google’s YouTube will begin supporting live video before the end of this year, says co-founder Steve Chen. “Live video is just something that we’ve always wanted to do. We’ve never had the resources to do it correctly. But now with Google, we hope to actually do it this year.” (http://newteevee.com/2008/02/28/steve-chen-youtube-to-add-live-video/ 2/28)
Glad to see YouTube jumping on the live video bandwagon. Also glad to see Steve Chen in this night vision video reminiscent of my other favorite night vision video. . .
A new site called MovieHatch launches today which turns entertainment fans into armchair producers by asking them to vote on video pitches of professional film and TV projects before they’re actually made. Its first offering is short film competition conducted with the 2008 Jackson Hole Film Festival. Beginning March 1, users can vote thumbs up or down on a number of live action, documentary or animation clips. Fan favorites will then be evaluated by industry experts to see which will be screened at this year’s Jackson Hole Film Festival in Wyoming in June.
Multiplatform entertainment producer Ripe Digital unveiled a slate of more than 20 new original series at its “INFront” presentation to advertisers yesterday. New shows included Model Dating, from the writing/producing team of The Simple Life, Ross McCall and Aaron Peters; Are You In?, a viewer-controlled online reality game show; and The One, an interactive competition to find the next “it girl.” Ripe distributes its shows on Time Warner Cable and Comcast’s on demand platforms, through mobile and on broadband via RipeTV, OctaneTV and FlowTV.
Five unique music video podcasts featuring exclusive footage from NBC’s Heroes will be available for free download on Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace beginning today to promote the release of the Heroes Television Soundtrack on March 18.
MTV is teaming up with Metacafe to launch a Virtual Dance Off contest that will allow fans to create their own user-generated dance moves.
Online video search engine Blinkx signed new content partnerships with The BBC, CBS and The Weather Channel.
Former NFL star and ESPN anchor Joe Theisman is among the angel investors who have invested $3 million into Dragonfly, another online content delivery network enabling HD video streaming. Joe speaks about how the company helps users move “effortlessly” through the internet in a promotional video on the site.
CBS’ Last.fm launched a new section called Build.last.fm to showcase third-party applications users have built to extend the music discovery’s site’s experience across the web.
Take that Pandora.
ESPN plans to get more ambitious in its use of Web video, with more Web-exclusive content and possibly long-form video. “We are going to launch a number of new, original shows only on ESPN.com,” says network exec Ed Erhardt. “We think there’s a huge opportunity.” (http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/02/29/espn-web-video-biz-media-cx_lh_0229bizespn.html 2/29)
While this year’s ABC Academy Awards telecast drew the lowest ratings on record, the Web didn’t fare a whole lot better. Celebrity Web sites reported an increase in traffic, but those who reported news from the event fared better than sites that simply uploaded red-carpet photos. (http://www.wwd.com/memopad/article/123046 2/29)
Google won’t sell advertisements to support Google Health, its forthcoming Internet service that stores personal medical data, says CEO Eric Schmidt, about a venture that is raising privacy concerns. “Trust, for Google, is the most important currency on the Internet.” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080228/ap_on_hi_te/google_health 2/28)
Craig Newmark says he is content with Craigslist and doesn’t have any big plans to change its format. Asked whether he plans to incorporate social networking, the classifieds site founder says he doesn’t see a need: “We do one thing pretty well, so we don’t want to screw it up.” (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2008/02/what_has_craig_newmark_been_up.html 2/28)
Nearly 70% of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news, according to a We Media/Zogby Interactive online poll. More than half of those age 18 to 29 get most of their news and information online. (http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN2824760420080229 2/29)
Top Visited US Broadcast Network TV Show Sites (Week ending Feb. 23, 2008)
Rank Network Website Market Share of Visits
1 FOX American Idol 24.31%
2 NBC Deal or No Deal 9.18%
3 CBS NCIS 5.24%
4 ABC Dancing With The Stars 5.09%
5 FOX America’s Most Wanted 3.79%
6 ABC Lost 3.47%
7 CBS Survivor: Micronesia 3.21%
8 NBC American Gladiators 1.97%
9 The CW America’s Next Top Model 2.12%
10 The CW One Tree Hill 1.76%
Source: Custom report from Hitwise
