Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Chris Albrecht, HBO, Shopping, Spike, Television, Television program, The Wall Street Journal
Former HBO chief Chris Albrecht, in his current role as head of global media at IMG, is working around the clock to develop and market a new sport called SlamBall, a high-flying mix of basketball, rugby and trampolines. In 2002 and 2003, the sport made a brief appearance on Spike TV, but Albrecht thinks it could have potential: “This [is] not just a sport that would be fun to watch, but it’s a business that we can build.” (The Wall Street Journal 4/18)
It’s like basketball on gymnastics crack. I agree with Albrecht on this one. I found the video pretty damn exciting to watch and as a female with a general aversion to sports of all kinds (except soccer), that’s saying something.
SlamBall
Oxygen’s Tuesday night debut of Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love (1030p) scored the highest viewing audience ever for an Oxygen series premiere. The opening episode drew in viewers numbers such as 438,000 among A18-49; 334,000 with W18-49; and 579,000 total viewers. (Cynopsis 4/18)
Wednesday night’s Democratic presidential debate on ABC (8-10p) between Senators Clinton and Obama was the most-watched verbal contest of this current political season. The debate which was presented by ABC News, the National Constitution Center and WPVI/Philadelphia and moderated by Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, averaged 10.7 million total viewers and a 3.5/9 with A25-54 and a 2.7/7 among A18-49. (Cynopsis 4/18)
China wants CNN to make a “sincere” apology for remarks made by commentator Jack Cafferty, who called the nation’s leaders “goons and thugs.” China’s Foreign Ministry says: “This despicable scheme will not dupe the Chinese people.” A Web site has been set up called anti-cnn.com. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aVIfJJeTKWMc 4/17)
Now this is interesting. The site wasn’t created to bash CNN but to speak to the “propaganda” distributed by the western media. Particular consideration is given to the topic of freeing Tibet. Check out the video from the French senator and his views on theocracy in Tibet; a perspective which I haven’t heard before at least.
News Corp. shares have been Wall Street favorites in recent years, but in recent days a couple of analysts have cut their rating and/or price target on the media conglomerate’s stock, citing growth concerns, particularly at its online assets, led by MySpace. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3iaeef0c1a4b682082b7f73c92222e32d5 4/18)
“Code Monkeys,” an animated comedy about video game developers on Comcast-owned G4, will officially kick off its second season June 1. The series will present a sneak-peak episode, “Code Monkeys: The Story of 4/20,” this Sunday at 5 p.m. (Multichannel News 4/17)
Viacom’s Logo will present a live concert by the band Scissor Sisters on Thursday. The event is notable, channel executives say, because it will be the first time a gay-themed TV network has televised in high definition. (Multichannel News 4/17)
Comcast customers in New Jersey can now order a movie through video-on-demand, watch the first half on one TV and finish on another TV in the house. The AnyRoom On Demand service currently is available only to those with Motorola digital set-top boxes, but Comcast said it would roll out the free offering to New Jersey residents with Scientific Atlanta boxes — as well as other markets — later this year. (CED Magazine 4/17)
The so-called “addressable advertising” test that Comcast will conduct in Baltimore later this year will involve about 80,000 subscribers, far larger than a recently concluded trial in Huntsville, Ala. “It will be a much bigger trial, much more massive in terms of the total number of households and set-top boxes that will be involved,” said Paul Woidke, senior vice president of technology at Comcast Spotlight. “We can expect to have greater learning with broader demographic groups than we had before.” (Light Reading 4/17)
Executives of the NFL Network say they will file a formal complaint with the FCC against Comcast’s decision to place the cable channel on a sports tier and not on basic cable. Comcast, however, maintains it has the right to put the channel on a sports tier so that customers can opt out if they want. (Broadcasting & Cable 4/17, TVWeek.com 4/17)
Cable companies should not be burdened with excessive and costly regulation as they expand their roles as broadband providers, FCC Commissioners Deborah Tate and Robert McDowell said during Thursday’s meeting on net-neutrality issues in California. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, usually a vocal critic of the cable industry, said ISPs should be allowed to manage the traffic on their networks, as long as the process is made transparent to users. (The Washington Post/paidContent.org 4/18, Reuters 4/18)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Google, Microsoft, News and Media, Search Engines, Searching, Wall Street, Yahoo
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Google is posting a first-quarter profit that soundly beats Wall Street’s estimates, driven by strong global sales. Many on Wall Street had expected a weaker report due to fears that the slowing economy was weighing on sales. Google’s net income rose 30% to $1.31 billion. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/17/news/companies/google_earnings/index.htm 4/17)
Yahoo hopes the threat of a search deal with Google and the prospect of strong first-quarter earnings next week will force Microsoft to raise its offer before going fully hostile. Microsoft insiders expect Yahoo to somehow beef up its earnings to defend itself against a takeover. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://www.nypost.com/seven/04182008/business/yahoo__sets_up_msoft_defense_107043.htm 4/18)
Yesterday, Yahoo made a significant change to its advertising bidding system by removing the minimum bid for sponsored search keywords. The minimum bid used to be $0.10 per keyword. Now, the minimum bid will be set more dynamically based on two factors: the quality of the advertiser and the value of the keyword. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/18/yahoo-tweaks-its-advertising-algorithm 4/18)
“88 Minutes,” a thriller starring Al Pacino, opens in theaters on Friday. But that hasn’t stopped SurfTheChannel.com from already playing it 51,000 times. SurfTheChannel, which uses an Internet service to hide its location, is seen as “the beginning of what happened to the music industry.” (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aMUkXLjdEcfI 4/18)
A year ago Wednesday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt promised to roll out a system that would mean the end of piracy at YouTube. Today, the video-sharing site’s filtering technology is nowhere near perfect. Countless clips from feature films and TV shows continue to be available. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9921916-7.html 4/18)
NBC Universal became the latest TV studio to unveil a purely digital production outfit. Based in Burbank and led by VP Cameron Death, the NBC Universal Digital Studio formed a flagship strategic partnership with OMG Digital to line up sponsors for its shows right out of the gate. Multiplatform Sci Fi conspiracy series Gemini Division will be the studio’s first release coming this summer, developed with Sony Pictures Television International. It stars Rosario Dawson as a New York City cop who uncovers an underworld of “genetically fabricated life forms,” produced with Electric Farm Entertainment (the team behind Afterworld.) Woke Up Dead, also from Electric Farm, is the studio’s next project about a college student who wakes up one day as a zombie. NBC Universal Digital Studio retains domestic distribution rights for both series while SPTI retains all international rights including television, theatrical and DVD releases, internet, digital sell-through, gaming and mobile rights. (Cynopsis 4/18, http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6552456.html 4/17)
Gemini Division
While most networks are hastening to get their shows up online as quickly as possible, The CW has decided to discontinue streaming for the final 5 episodes of Gossip Girl, returning on Monday at 8 pm ET. The CW promises past episodes and other exclusive content around the show will still be available, including contests, trailers and character-based widgets. (Cynopsis 4/18, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gossip18apr18,1,1364751.story 4/18)
Yah. . .I don’t get it either.
Gossip Girl
YouTube figured prominently in Hulu CEO Jason Kilar’s presentation at the National Association of Broadcasters conference. Kilar displayed the video-sharing site to illustrate how unauthorized clips aren’t good for content owners. His message: Hulu is a better video host than YouTube. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9921354-7.html 4/17)
I personally applaud Kilar for having the intelligence to include Felicity in his presentation.
Universal’s Blu-ray announcement comes on the back of a new study by consulting firm Oliver Wyman suggesting studios can wrangle $7-$9 for high def VOD and online day-and-date rentals, $4 more than the current going rate. The study suggests consumers are also willing to pay up to $5 more for digital ownership with interoperability and storage issues worked out. The firm sees HD VOD and online rentals as a $5 billion growth opportunity overall. (Cynopsis 4/18)
Silicon Valley high-tech entrepreneurs at an off-site hearing told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that there needed to be more oversight of phone and cable companies. None of the largest ISPs — Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner — attended the hearing. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/17/AR2008041704136.html 4/18)
AOL plans to launch a new women’s lifestyle site skewing toward a younger demographic than its existing AOL Living property. The new site is part of a broader plan by AOL to launch a dozen niche sites by August. Yahoo recently launched its own women’s portal, Yahoo Shine. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=80916 4/18)
Music blogs are finding partners in Universal Music and print magazines like Fader and Paste. Rcrd Lbl, an advertising-supported indie music downloading site from Engadget founder Peter Rojas, is partnering with music mag Fader, with clients such as Puma and Virgin America in tow. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=126499 4/17)
I recommend Bishop Allen’s clickclickclickclick for a spring day with a glass of Sangria in hand.
Rumors about the acquisition of Farecast are accurate – in a very brief blog post CEO Hugh Crean says they’ve been acquired by Microsoft. SeattlePI, which first broke the rumor last week, says the price tag was $115 million. While the two companies are an understandable fit given their proximity and partnership over MSN Travel, SeattlePI reports that Farecast entertained multiple offers before accepting Microsoft’s. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/17/microsoft-acquires-farecast-for-115m 4/17)
(Below) I fully support anyone who wants to pay me more.
Bloggers tend to be young, have a lower income and are better educated than the general population, says a survey by BIGresearch. They also use most forms of new media more than the average market. Conventional media often trigger bloggers’Internet searches, led by magazines. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1686 4/18)
As if Blockbuster didn’t have enough problems trying to justify its existence by making an ill-conceived buyout offer for Circuit City. Now, it is being sued for privacy violations related to its Beacon ads on Facebook. The plaintiff is a woman in Texas, who is suing under that law and seeking class-action status. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/17/first-facebook-beacon-lawsuit-hits-blockbuster 4/17)
Facebook nearly doubled its U.S. unique user base in the last year, according to the latest social networking metrics from Nielsen Online, increasing from 12.6 to 24.9 million users. The site still trails MySpace by a wide margin, however, which registered over 60 million uniques in March. (Cynopsis 4/18)
Top 10 Social Networking Sites for March 2008 (U.S., Home and Work)
Site Unique Audience Unique Audience %
(000) Mar-08 (000) Mar-07 Change
MySpace.com 60,398 55,937 8%
Facebook 24,940 12,622 98%
Classmates Online 13,599 12,991 5%
LinkedIn 7,877 1,878 319%
Windows Live Spaces 7,852 9,076 -13%
Reunion.com 5,940 5,217 14%
AOL Hometown 5,785 9,246 -37%
Club Penguin 4,623 3,482 33%
AOL Community 3,229 4,640 -30%
Buzznet.com 2,717 1,822 49%
Source: Nielsen Online
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Business, Global Positioning System, GPS, Telecommunications
GPS-enabled handsets are expected to total more than half a billion worldwide in five years, Berg Insight predicts. To date, on a global basis, 175 million handsets support GPS technology. (The Boston Globe 4/17)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Armani, Arts, Europe, High-definition television, Organic light-emitting diode, Russia, Sony, Television
The Armani/Samsung 100Hz Full HDTV features styling from Giorgio Armani, who already has collaborated with the electronics company on a mobile phone. The sets are scheduled to make their initial commercial debut in Europe, Korea and Russia. (Yahoo! 4/17)
What am I missing? Looks just like another TV to me with a higher price tag I’m sure. Marauder thumbs down on this one.
Sony unveiled a new OLED television at an expo in Japan measuring a mere 2 millimeters in depth. A new model of its XEL-1 TV sported a 0.3mm panel, a full 1.1 millimeters thinner than its predecessor. (Pocket-lint.co.uk 4/17)
Filed under: MISC | Tags: Alicia Keys, Beverly Hills, California, Clive Davis, Incredible Hulk, RCA Records, United States, Whitney Houston
Clive Davis, the renowned hitmaker, is giving up his corporate role as head of Sony’s BMG division and control of its RCA Label Group, in a shake-up that reflects the new realities of the music business. Davis, 76, is making way for Barry Weiss, a younger exec known for controlling costs. (Iwantmedia 4/18, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/business/18music.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 4/18)
Clive Davis at his traditional pre-Grammy party in February in Beverly Hills, with Alicia Keys, left, and Whitney Houston. Mr. Davis is celebrated for his ability to deliver best-selling albums. Vince Bucci/Getty Images
Universal Studios Home Entertainment took the wraps off of the studio’s first slate of movies and TV shows produced for the Blu-ray format, to be released day-and-date with standard DVD editions. Season 2 of Heroes on Aug. 26th will mark the first global Blu-ray release, followed by a pack of Universal feature films including The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Hellboy II and the latest Mummy movie. (Cynopsis 4/18)
Heroes 2
