Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Bravo, Christian Siriano, Heidi Klum, Lifetime Television, NBC Universal, Project Runway, Tim Gunn, Weinstein Company
Fans of the reality competition series Project Runway will turn to Lifetime Television starting November 2008, as the series moves to the female-targeted network with the opening of season six. Lifetime Networks and The Weinstein Company made a five year agreement for the series, and supermodel/host Heidi Klum and mentor to the contestants, Tim Gunn will remain with the series. One more season will air on Bravo before the series moves to Lifetime and launches there in November 2008. (Cynopsis 4/8, The New York Times 4/8, The Wall Street Journal 4/8)
Christian Siriano, a contestant, with a model in the “Project Runway” final show at Fashion Week in New York in February.
Jennifer Graylock/Associated Press
On the heels of this announcement, NBC Universal, which retains the rights for the show’s fifth season and encore airings, filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against The Weinstein Company. NBC contains it had the right to meet or beat any offer by a competing network; Weinstein Co lawyers deny NBC had that right, and that NBC had turned down the same deal Weinstein Company ultimately struck with Lifetime. (Cynopsis 4/8, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=akJ62RV9xvjs 4/7)
Season two of NFL Network’s NFL’s Top 10 starts April 15 at 8p with the first of a two-part look at college football. The weekly countdown series focuses on a variety of NFL topics with commentary from network analysts, sports journalists, players, coaches and NFL insiders. (Cynopsis 4/8)
E! is developing a new reality series that will spotlight Pamela Anderson, the former leading lady of TV shows, a Playboy centerfold, three short marriages and an online sex tape. The show, tentatively titled “Pamela,” is set to launch this summer. (MSNBC/Reuters 4/7)
CBS is said to have held talks with Time Warner about a deal to outsource some of its news-gathering operations to CNN. The talks include reducing CBS’s news-gathering capacity while keeping top personalities like anchor Katie Couric. Also: CBS News says it has no plans to outsource to CNN. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/business/media/08cbs.html 4/8, Variety 4/7, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/07/national/main4000535.shtml 4/7)
As soon as April 21, Verizon will begin switching off analog FiOS TV channels in New York in preparation of next year’s digital switchover, reports Multichannel News. FiOS customers can go to Verizon.com/godigital for more info. (Cynopsis 4/8, CED Magazine 4/7)
Although 83% of teenagers like to watch their favorite shows on television, 44% say they also view programs on a desktop computer and 24% tune in with a laptop, according to a new study from the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing. CTAM will host a webcast Thursday to provide “an in-depth look at the next generation of viewers.” (Multichannel News 4/7)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Harry Potter, HBO, Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal, News Corporation, Steve Ballmer, Warner Bros., Yahoo
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Traffic on Hulu.com, the new site created by News Corp. and NBC Universal to offer network television content, has already sold out its advertising inventory, according to NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker. Advertisers don’t want to be next to a video of “a cat on a skateboard,” he says. (Iwantmedia.com 4/8, http://adage.com/article?article_id=126228 4/7)
Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and Chairman Roy Bostock reiterated their position that Microsoft’s $31/share offer is too low in a reply to Steve Ballmer’s strongly worded letter. Yahoo gives several reasons to justify the stance, including recently reaffirmed Q1 guidance, shareholder support and a fading Microsoft stock price, which lowers the market value of the original offer. (Cynopsis 4/8)
France Telecom is billing Orange as the first premium television service available on all platforms. The Orange cinema series, launching this fall, will offer 6 channels of exclusive full-length films, series and specials from HBO, Warner Bros. International Television, Gaumont and Fidelite Films to customers for viewing or downloading via Orange’s VOD, online or mobile platforms. Titles include WB’s Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, HBO’s John Adams and Fidelite’s De l’Autre Cote du Lit. (Cynopsis 4/8)
ESPN signed its first online video syndication deal with AOL, providing the AOL Video and AOL Sports portals with highlights from games, original programming and the twice-daily “SportsCenter Right Now” rundown. Users can access the content via an embeddable branded video player on a new ESPN channel on AOL. (Cynopsis 4/8, http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=80130 4/8)
At some point, AOL should probably think about bringing their page design into the 21st century. It looks like someone threw up some content on a page with an ad dribble on the side.
Google is teaming up with the New York Times to allow users to track the news geographically in a layer on Google Earth. Users can follow the news by location and by section. The partnership marks the first time Google has worked with a news organization to offer news in real time. (Iwantmedia.com 4/8, http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/04/07/google-earth-adds-new-york-times-layer 4/7)
Facebook is close to settling its long-standing legal skirmish with competing site ConnectU. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/technology/08facebook.html 4/8)
Clear Channel, the largest U.S. radio broadcaster, is linking all of its digital FM music stations to Apple’s iTunes store, giving listeners a way to buy songs they’ve heard. The deal allows Clear Channel to share in revenue from iTunes, the biggest retailer of digital music, while luring listeners. (Iwantmedia.com 4/8, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=avKDjO9bHgFo 4/7)
Snocap, the online music service co-created by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, has been acquired for an undisclosed amount by social network Imeem. The deal could be a sign that Imeem wants to add music and content sales to its site, according to this article. (Los Angeles Times 4/8)
NBC’s multiplatform Kentucky Derby coverage this year will include a live simulcast of the race on NBCSports.com and NBC2Go and an interactive online/txt messaging contest, asking viewers to pick the winner from the increasingly crowded field of entrants. (Cynopsis 4/8)
Internet video delivery and services provider Brightcove announced syndication deals with social media sites and application providers Bebo, Meebo, RockYou, Slide and Veoh, contributing a combined 300 million monthly users. (Cynopsis 4/8)
Fox Networks, an advertising network run by News Corp.’s Fox International Channels, is acquiring a majority stake in utarget, a European ad network specializing in online video. The unit will be rebranded utarget.Fox and is expected to boost News Corp.’s efforts in online advertising. (Iwantmedia.com 4/8, http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-24336249.htm 4/8)
In another testament to the format’s growing popularity, Vimeo reports that 13% of the 70,000+ video uploads it received in March were in HD. (Cynopsis 4/8)
Overall Online Video Consumption for February 2008
Category Jan-08 Feb-08
Unique Viewers (000) 116,745 115,799
Total Streams (000) 5,987,475 6,333,326
Streams per Viewer 51.3 54.7
Time per Viewer (min) 124.4 130.7
Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus, (U.S., Home and Work)
Top 10 Online Video Destinations ranked by Total Video Streams for February 2008
Video Web Brand Total Streams (000) Unique Viewers (000)
YouTube 2,918,799 70,222
Fox Interactive Media 405,996 21,028
Yahoo! 244,784 21,220
MSN/Windows Live 163,812 9,323
Nick Kids & Family Network 155,961 5,769
Google 122,948 18,638
Disney Online 121,933 9,606
Turner Ent New Media Network 96,991 6,850
ESPN 84,053 4,464
AOL Media Network 81,537 11,469
Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus, U.S. Home & Work
Online spending is expected to jump 17% in 2008 despite the slow economy, according to a Shop.org study conducted by Forrester. Web retail sales, excluding travel, will grow to $204 billion from $174.5 billion in 2007, according to projections. “With the U.S. economy struggling, it’s interesting to see that online retail is taking on a larger share of the retail industry,” Shop.org’s Ellen Davis said. (Reuters 4/8, USA TODAY/Associated Press 4/8, Financial Times 4/8, The Wall Street Journal 4/8, STLtoday.com 4/8)
The Internet will usurp television as the biggest advertising medium in Britain by the end of 2009, according to a new report by the Internet Advertising Bureau, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the World Advertising Research Center. The outlook for online advertising is described as “rosy.” (Iwantmedia.com 4/8, http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSL0762361420080407 4/7)
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: WIRELESS, Mobile phone, Business, High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, Brandweek, Smallville, Telecommunications, Sprint Nextel
The CW is delivering a second round of mobile animated shorts from next week, adapted around the Smallville character to Sprint TV customers. The stories will parallel plotlines of the linear Smallville, according to Brandweek. Sprint is also sponsoring the mobisodes as part of a larger brand integration deal. (Cynopsis 4/8)
Devices that use and support 3.5G products have been appearing in the market at a faster rate than other cellular technologies, with HSDPA-based devices growing at 150% a year, according to a new study. Statistics show that nearly half of the 637 high-speed downlink packet access products on the market are cell phones, with laptops and PC datacards the next largest market segment. (BusinessWeek/Silicon.com 4/7)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Electronic Arts, Games, Playstation 3, Rock Band, Sharp AQUOS, Sony, Video game, Xbox 360
With more grown-ups playing video games than ever, makers of HD sets, including Sharp, Sony and Samsung, are trying to cash in by promoting TVs specifically geared for gamers. According to this article, the HDTVs are wrestling with ways to improve the gaming experience, including dealing with “gaming lag.” (Forbes 4/7)
Sharp AQUOS - 32-inch LCD
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 will enjoy an exclusive window for the May 23 “Rock Band” release in Europe, according to Harmonix, MTV Games and EA, who said other platforms would gain access to the game in late summer. The European version includes the 58 songs from the North American release as well as nine new songs from Germany, France and the U.K. (VideoGamer.com 4/8)
Disney Interactive Studios plans to buy Chinese company Gamestar, as the U.S. entertainment giant expands in China. The acquisition will contribute to Disney’s “global growth plans” and new products, says Graham Hopper, general manager for Disney Interactive. (hIwantmedia.com 4/8, ttp://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080408/china_disney_video_games.html 4/8)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD, Hollywood, Intellectual Property, Liquid crystal display television, Ryoji Chubachi, Sony, Sony Electronics
Sony will introduce a wider range of Blu-ray electronics, including an integrated HD LCD TV with the ability to record, in an effort to increase the technology’s market share from 20% to 50% by the end of the year, Sony Electronics President and CEO Ryoji Chubachi said at a news conference. He said Blu-ray sales should grow even faster as more top Hollywood studios released movies on the discs. (Pocket-lint.co.uk 4/7, Electronic House 4/7)
