Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

March Madness continued its record setting pace over the weekend, according to CBSSports.com, as live video and audio streaming already surpassed totals for the entire 2007 tourney. (Cynopsis Digital, 3/26)

• Daily unique visitors totaled 3.3 million (+129% from ‘07)
• Live video & audio streaming equaled 3.7 million hours (+36% over the entire ‘07 event)
• 3.6 million fans are playing CBS Sports bracket games on sites like Facebook (+62%)
• So far the Georgia/Xavier game on 3/20/08 had the largest # of total hours of consumption, a record 376,000 for a single game.

Engadget and Gizmodo are ranked as two of the most popular blogs in the world, pulling in an average 4.1 million and 3.4 million unique visitors a month, respectively. Both sites routinely break news. As a Samsung spokesperson puts it: “Blogs are the future of the world for us.” (Iwantmedia 3/26, http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/magazine/16-04/mf_gadgetblogs 3/24)

Chris Mascari, Adrian Covert, and Brian Lam (from left) at Gizmodo’s San Francisco HQ, which doubles as Lam’s apartment.
Photo: Joe Pugliese

Time Warner’s AOL unit is aiming to transform from an Internet service provider into a full-service digital-advertising business. To that end, it has spent about $1 billion to buy seven ad-technology firms. AOL’s future is seen to hinge on the success of knitting them all together. (Iwantmedia 3/26, http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120649623563164451.html 3/26)

Citigroup has raised its Yahoo price target to $34/ share based on their belief that Microsoft will revise its takeover offer.Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney said in a research note that “We believe that a Yahoo sale to Microsoft — at a price higher than the initial $31 bid is the most likely outcome” and that the limited combined market share of the combined companies would raise no significant issues with Government regulators. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/25/citigroup-raises-yahoo-target-to-34-based-on-revised-microsoft-bid 3/25)

Netflix, the movie-rental service, has mailed surveys to subscribers gauging their interest in streaming films through Microsoft’s Xbox platform, Reuters reported. Netflix declined to comment, but the company has been quoted as saying it would like to stream more movies to its customers, and with HD DVD out of the picture, it is speculated that Microsoft may want films for its Live Video Marketplace. (GameDaily BIZ 3/25)

HBO, in coordination with interactive promotional agency ePrize, has created an online sweepstakes to compliment its 7-part miniseries entitled John Adams. Users can enter the sweepstakes by inputing a code located within tagged video assets found on HBO on Demand, HBO.com, HBO on Broadband, Affiliate Broadband Video Players, YouTube and iTunes.

Starz Entertainment and Manga Entertainment signed a deal to distribute a selection of original entertainment titles through the iTunes store. Look for episodes of Head Case and Hollywood Residential from Starz and anime titles Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Tactics from Manga Ent. (Cynopsis Digital, 3/26)

Joel Madden on Head Case

Carmaker Mercedes-Benz is launching its own music show on its own Internet-based television station. The new “Mixed Tape Music Magazine” is an online show featuring video clips by artists such as Jennifer Lopez. The marketing drive mirrors the migration of advertising to the Web. (Iwantmedia 3/26, http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120649040498764019.html 3/26)

Mixed Tape Music Magazine

Playlist sharing facilitator Imeem became the latest social media site to release a software development kit for programmers, joining fellow OpenSocial members Bebo and MySpace. The idea is to entice developers to tap into imeem’s licensed library of songs from major labels to create original music apps. (Cynopsis Digital, 3/26)

Here’s a video match made for the Web. Revision3, the video playground of Digg founders Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson, is teaming up with Blip.tv to syndicate all of its shows. That includes Diggnation (shown above with hosts Alex Albrecht and Rose), the GigaOm Show, Web Drifter, and Tekzilla. Some of these shows are already popular, especially Diggnation. And they are distributed in many ways—through Revision3″s Website, through iTunes, as embedded videos. By signing this deal, Revsion3 expands its reach to Blip.tv’s audience. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/25/revision3-strengthens-bliptvs-roster-with-syndication-deal 3/25)

The network relies on users for its content, why not its ads? Al Gore-backed Current launched a user generated ad messaging campaign in the UK for Telefonica division 02. Viewers are encouraged to create a 60-second spot for O2’s “Bluebook: Nothing is Lost” campaign. Creators whose commercials are selected to run on the network or current.com receive 1,000 British pounds and up to 25,000 if utilized elsewhere. (Cynopsis Digital, 3/26)

Northstar Media acquired worldwide television, VOD, mobile, and broadband rights to a package of 21 IMAX films including Into The Deep and Blue Planet, marking the first time that all 21 titles have been made available for these outlets. (Cynopsis Digital, 3/26)

Advertisers and marketers, struggling to keep up with changing consumer habits, are about to make massive investments in new digital and out-of-home media platforms, according to a forecast by PQ Media. Companies will spend $160.8 billion in 2012 — up 82% from 2008. (Iwantmedia 3/26, http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2008-03-25-alternative-media-ad-spending_N.htm 3/25)