Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Microsoft will announce a new search advertising model tomorrow at the Advance08 Conference in Bellevue, Washington – some parts of the site are already live on Microsoft now (see screen shots below). The core of the new service will be a new set of 18 new vertical search offerings that will give users cash back on any purchases made from advertisers. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/20/microsoft-to-offer-cash-back-to-search-engine-users 5/20)

CBS content will find its way on the Hulu portal after all, sort of. The venture announced a wave of new distribution partners including TVGuide, Break.com, Zap2it, BuddyTV, Flixter, myYearbook and the CBS/CNET-owned TV.com.  Nielsen Online’s April video streaming numbers made Hulu #1 among TV station sites where users watched 63.2 million videos and spent an average of 129.3 minutes per month. The fact that it got to #1 isn’t surprising – having the advantage of two network suppliers instead of one is quite an advantage – but the speed it got there is impressive, as April was its first full month in operation to the public. (Cynopsis 5/21, http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/20/hulu-shares-usage-stats-expands-distribution-network 5/20)

Carl Icahn, pressing Yahoo to rekindle takeover talks with Microsoft, is winning support from fellow shareholders as the Internet company weighs new proposals from its former suitor. Yahoo investor T. Boone Pickens, chairman of BP Capital, says: “Icahn is a smart guy.” (Iwantmedia 5/21, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aqQxzOAEAi00 5/20)

MySpace may once again start to take action against third party applications that disrupt the user experience (or their revenue streams), it seems. Back before MySpace Platform this was limited to the occasional widget provider that got out of line. But third parties now have a broad arsenal of features to attack users and get additional installations and clicks. Messaging users is among the most effective, and most annoying. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/20/myspace-moves-to-limit-spammy-applications-just-like-facebook-did 5/20)

Comcast’s Fancast.com signed a deal with Viacom to begin streaming full episodes of MTV Networks and BET Networks fare including Comedy Central’s South Park, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. As part of the agreement Comcast VOD customers will receive more HD and standard def content from MTVN and BET. The MSO also plans to launch linear HD channels from both entities later this year. (Cynopsis 5/21)

The Daily Show

CBS dusted off a bunch of classic TV shows for distribution on the CBS Audience Network including season 1 of The Love Boat and Family Ties, seasons 1 & 2 of Twin Peaks and seasons 1,2 & 3 of Beverly Hills 90210. (This joins the previously announced classics line up announced in Feb.) (Cynopsis 5/21, http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121133269674008457.html 5/21)

Google is adding its constantly updated Google News aggregator of stories from 4,500 news sources to its Google Earth offering, allowing users to retrieve local headlines from around the world. Google Earth now displays a “world of human activity as chronicled by reporters worldwide. (Iwantmedia 5/21, http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2008/05/extra-extra-now-you-can-discover-worlds.html 5/20)

More details on Steven Spielberg’s upcoming ghost and UFO based social network, which Techcrunch first wrote about in early March and followed up with additional details a week later. The site will reportedly be called “Rising” or “The Rising” (our understanding is that they have acquired both .com domain names). (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/21/steven-spielbergs-the-rising 5/21)

Skype has partnered with Jaman, an internet movie service, to provide users with thousands of embeddable film scenes that can be added to their chats, profiles, and “mood messages”. The service is still in development, and Skype plans to have it available within the next couple of months. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/20/skype-adds-movies-to-the-conversation-with-jaman 5/20)

IFC has added Amazon’s Unbox to its list of available platforms to access its film library via download. “This partnership with Amazon reinforces our commitment to creating the widest possible audience for independent films using multiple media platforms,” said Lisa Schwartz, IFC Entertainment’s senior vice president of sales and business development. (TVWeek.com 5/20)

NBC Universal — home to cable networks such as Sci Fi, Bravo and Oxygen — has selected OpenTV’s Participate system for advanced interactive services. The deal will enable NBCU to build interactive initiatives across a number of platforms, including TV, online and mobile, according to this report. (RTT News 5/20)

OpenTV’s Participate Demo

Facebook is publishing new photos and descriptions of its impending profile redesign. The new design will be centered on tabs, broken into five separate areas: Feed, Info, Wall, Photos, and Applications. Users are expected to have the ability to add tabs of their own. (Iwantmedia 5/21, http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9949175-7.html 5/20)

Sugar Inc., the company behind PopSugar and a number of other blogs geared towards women, has acquired StarBrand Media. StarBrand provides an online marketplace for a number of major television shows, allowing viewers to purchase the clothes and props they see on TV.Los Angeles based StarBrand will help expand Sugar’s ShopStyle, an ecommerce site that they acquired last September. StarBrand’s current partners include CBS, Warner Bros., The CW, Showtime, Alcon, and Lionsgate. The company will continue as a standalone property, and will now feature a destination site that combines their ecommerce offerings with Sugar’s editorial and community assets. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.  (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/20/sugar-inc-acquires-starbrand-media 5/20)

Wireless industry exec Peter Adderton is joining with William Morris Agency to create a hybrid firm, dubbed Agency 3.0, to help content providers and advertisers navigate the digital landscape and develop new products. William Morris is taking an undisclosed stake in Agency 3.0. (Iwantmedia 5/21, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wmmorris21-2008may21,0,6276505.story 5/21)

Online TV Viewership at Network-owned portals in April
Company       Total Streams (millions)  Unique viewers (millions)
Hulu                      63.2                            2.4
ABC.com                60.8                            5.9
NBC.com                51.6                            2.3
FOX Broadcasting    21.9                            4.0
CBS Television        18.5                            3.3
Source: Nielsen Online, via WSJ

Hulu also broke into the top 10 of overall online video sites in Nielsen Online’s April report. YouTube continues to run circles around the competition, however, delivering more than 4 billion streams to 73.5 million users last month. (Cynopsis 5/21)

Top 10 Brands by Total Video Streams for April 2008 (Excludes Video Advertising)
Brand                          Total Streams (000)       Unique Viewers (000)
YouTube                           4,052,984                        73,537
Fox Interactive Media            328,974                        20,855
Yahoo!                                221,600                        22,179
Nick Kids & Family                 151,828                          6,323
MSN/Windows Live                149,684                          9,873
ESPN                                  125,327                          5,477
Disney Online                         93,649                          7,219
CNN Digital Network                84,782                          5,681
Turner Ent. New Media            81,586                          6,513
Hulu                                    63,228                          2,428
Source: Nielsen Online