Filed under: Feature | Tags: Arts, Entertainment, Hulu, Television, The Simpsons, The WB Television Network, Video, WB.com
THE WB.COM: A LOT TO LIKE BUT A LITTLE TOO LATE
Finally got access to the WB.com site and am overjoyed by endless hours of OC watching. Californiaaaa…
Above, is the video player screen which allows full screen mode, clipping, mash-ups, and sharing.
Here’s what I like:
- Access to The OC, and some other WB shows
- Searchable video directory
- A link to TMZ for celebrity photos/videos with a highlight on the stars from the WB-showcased shows.
- Easy, simple and fun-to-use interface (A+ here)
- And best of all: media-mash-ups allowing remixing of your favorite shows to come (below)
In Short
Here’s a vertical site that seems to be doing most things right. I still don’t think vertical sites will win in the end. Users want a consolidated place to find all of their online content needs (could be Hulu) rather than separate destinations per series. Still, a great site with really simple and fun functionality.
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Janet Jackson, Matthew C. Perry, Matthew Perry, The Hollywood Reporter, TV News, Wilmer Valderrama, Z List
The third-season premiere of “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood” on Wednesday attracted 667,000 total viewers and a 0.7 household rating, making it the most-watched season opener ever for an original series on Oxygen. The reality show also drew 450,000 adults 18 to 49 and 356,000 women 18 to 49. (Multichannel News 6/18)
MTV and Janet Jackson are developing a music competition series with 25/7 Productions, says Variety. The untitled project has begun casting and Janet would be mentor to singer and dancer hopefuls with the goal of finding the next Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake or Usher. (Cynopsis 6/19)
Showtime has greenlighted a pilot for “The End of Steve,” which is described as a dark comedy with former “Friends” star Matthew Perry in the title role. Perry will also help write and executive produce the show with Peter Tolan, the executive producer of “Rescue Me,” a drama series on FX. (The Hollywood Reporter 6/19)
FOX nodded its approval for a one-hour pilot project The Emancipation of Ernesto starring That ’70s Show actor Wilmer Valderrama, reported THR. The single-camera comedy from 20th Century Fox Television is about a naive guy (Wilmer) who journeys around Los Angeles trying to find his father. (Cynopsis 6/19)
U.S. television networks are bracing for a possible actors strike that could delay the upcoming fall TV season. The broadcast networks are said to be quietly considering a postponement of the traditional September launch of the next season as a “last resort” should a strike materialize. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN19291320080619 6/19)
Comcast has set early December as the launch date for high-definition service of its Versus, Golf Channel and E! networks. The country’s largest cable provider recently completed construction on a new HD production facility for Versus in Stamford, Conn. (Mediaweek 6/18, Broadcasting & Cable 6/18)
CEA and other industry observers are skeptical about the long-term prospects for the cable industry’s proposed tru2way platform that has received support from a number of CE manufacturers. CEA said tru2way — which would eliminate the need for set-top boxes in transmitting two-way programming — could still fall to alternative technologies, while analysts pointed to the ill-fated CableCard, which only confused most buyers, according to CE retailers. (The Wall Street Journal 6/18)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Google, Jerry Yang, LinkedIn, NBC Universal, New York Times, Time Warner, Yahoo Inc, YouTube
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Google‘s YouTube is starting to test longer videos that are potentially more attractive to advertisers. Short-form video is why people visit YouTube, says a company spokeswoman. “But as we test full-length content, we are starting to see that the audience is potentially there.” (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/17/technology/youtube_long_videos.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008061804 6/17)
YouTube is primarily using these longer videos to attract indie filmmakers rather than for the average upload of you and me.
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo surpass Time Warner and News Corp. in accessing audiences on the Internet, according to a compilation based on Nielsen figures. Should NBC Universal acquire Weather.com, the move would push the New York Times out of the Top 10. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://seekingalpha.com/article/81900-the-new-top-10-media-companies 6/19)
1. Google / 128 million unique visitors
2. Microsoft / 123 million
3. Yahoo / 116 million
4. Time Warner / 108 million
5. News Corp. / 79 million
6. eBay / 66 million
7. InterActiveCorp. / 65 million
8. Wikimedia Foundation / 57 million
9. Amazon / 55 million
10. NBC Universal / 51.2 million (estimated unduplicated audience after Weather.com acquisition)
Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang is visiting U.S. Senate and House leaders to discuss the Internet company’s search advertising pact with Google. Lawmakers have antitrust concerns about the proposed union. Combined, Yahoo and Google will account for 80% of all U.S. search ad revenue. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/yahoo-ceo-visits-capitol-hill/story.aspx?guid=%7BE27F5A19-F082-4C34-89B4-0086716BD47F%7D 6/18)
Business oriented LinkedIn, the social networking site for grown-ups, raised a whopping $53 million in capital led by Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures and plans to use the funding to expand to overseas markets. The funding round, added to its previously raised $27 million, valuates the company at a cool $1 billion. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn claims to already be profitable. It is also one of the fastest growing sites of its kind; LinkedIn’ s uniques have tripled in the last year to 23 million members, according to Nielsen Online. (Cynopsis 6/19)
Following LinkedIn’s success and recent $1 billion valuation, Facebook is also said to have its eye on “professional networking” as a future area for development and revenue. LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, raised $53 million in its latest round of investment. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/facebook-hatches-its-own-plans-for-professional-networking–395469 6/19)
Beginning this summer, as soon as next month, wireless Internet access will arrive in the passenger cabins of some commercial U.S. airliners. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20080619/internet-a-gogo-airlines-to-offer-in-flight-access 6/19)
For a consolidated chart of in-flight Wi-Fi services updated with information from this article, click the image below:
Walt Mossberg on In-Flight Wi-Fi Services From Aircell
TMZ, the celebrity gossip site and syndicated television show owned by Time Warner, is getting traction with online live streaming. A live video of a parking lot where performer Britney Spears was expected grabbed thousands of viewers for nearly two hours. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://www.beet.tv/2008/06/tmz-exploring-l.html 6/17)
SocialMedia, one of the leading advertising platforms for social network applications, announced today that they’ve paid out over $8 million to developers since the platform’s launch last year. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/19/socialmedia-pays-out-8-million-to-facebook-app-developers 6/19)
Veoh has imported a series of shorts from Japan featuring the loveable Domo character, a toothy cave dweller who first surfaced as a mascot for NHK in the late 90′s. Veoh will premiere 20 Domo shorts over the next 5 weeks, ending with a “Best of Domo” reel showcasing viewer’s favorites. Domo will also be a featured celebrity host on Veoh.com where he introduces his favorite picks of the Week for different genres of video. (Cynopsis 6/19)
If you haven’t seen Domo before, now should be that time.
Music sales fell 8% last year, to $19.4 billion globally, representing at least a 10-year low as piracy and steep declines in CD and DVD purchases overshadowed gains in digital content, according to a report. Disc sales dropped 13% to $15.9 billion, compared with a 34% jump in downloaded songs and cell phone ringtones, which accounted for only $2.9 billion in revenue, the report said. (International Herald Tribune/Bloomberg 6/18)
Further legislative action during this session of Congress in relation to network neutrality or a la carte programming is highly unlikely, according to Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida, the ranking Republican on the House Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee. That news elicited cheers from a group of cable executives visiting Washington during an NCTA-sponsored day on Capitol Hill. (Broadcasting & Cable 6/18)
Verizon also announced plans to upgrade its Fios broadband service to accommodate video-happy customers’ need for speed. Rates of 50Mbps down/20Mbps up for $140/month and 20Mbps down/20Mbps up for $65/month will be available across its 16 state footprint beginning next week. Comcast launched its 50Mbp down/5 Mbps up service in Minneapolis in April for $150/month but doesn’t expect to roll it out nationally until 2010. (Cynopsis 6/19)
A new analysis by tubemogul found most online video to have a short shelf life, with 25% of views occurring within the first 4 days from a video is posted. (The test viewing period was capped at 90 days.) More than half of views were made within the first 2 weeks. In other words, if that quirky video you posted on YouTube last month hasn’t gone “viral” yet, it probably ain’t going to happen. Tubemogul statistician Aaron Growitz used his research to actually develop a calculator to help determine how many views a producer can expect to have by the end of the year. (Cynopsis 6/19)
Top U.S. Online Video Properties* by Unique Viewers – April 2008
Property Unique Viewers(000) Avg. Videos per Viewer
Total Internet 134,471 81.6
Google Sites 83,720 49.7
Fox Interactive Media 52,046 10.7
Yahoo! Sites 37,323 9.4
Microsoft Sites 29,908 9.0
Time Warner – Excl. AOL 20,627 6.7
Viacom Digital 19,367 10.3
AOL LLC 19,115 5.0
Disney Online 10,805 9.1
ESPN 9,026 9.2
CBS Corporation 7,993 7.1
Source: comScore Video Metrix
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Apple, AT&T Inc, iPhone, Smartphone, Sprint Nextel, Sprint Nextel Corp, Verizon, Visual Voicemail
As of tomorrow (June 20th), Sprint Nextel Corp. will be taking on the iPhone with a lower price for its own touch-screen smart phone, the Samsung Instinct. The carrier said Wednesday that the Instinct will cost $129.99. That compares with $199 for the cheapest model of the new iPhone, which goes on sale July 11 with AT&T Inc. as the carrier. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hIpc0e1gbOvATmcFsYv9VqfL3eIgD91CL3901 6/18)
My favorite part is the Instinct/iPhone comparison. Click below to get you some. In this comparison, they are clearly comparing the current iPhone model to the Instinct. As of July 11, the faster internet and GPS superiority will be nullified. That said, the Instinct will still be able to present live TV, offer music downloads without Wi-Fi and record video which the iPhone won’t be able to do. Oh yeah, and the Instinct is cheaper and looks pretty damn good…because it pretty much looks exactly like an iPhone.
Verizon plans to offer Visual Voicemail (a popular feature on the iPhone revealing a picture of the caller) on a selection of handsets later this summer, including the much-anticipated touchscreen BlackBerry Thunder. (Cynopsis 6/19)
Filed under: GAMING
To drum up hype for the long awaited Spore game this September, Electronic Arts made a free trial version of the Spore Creature Creator available online this week. (Cynopsis 6/19)
EA also launched Sims Carnival in beta this week, a casual game portal/incubator with social functions and easy to use creation tools. (Cynopsis 6/19)
Take-Two Interactive Software again turned down Electronic Arts’ $2 billion takeover offer even after EA had extended its deadline for the second time to allow federal regulators to approve the deal. Take-Two, the maker of the “Grand Theft Auto” series, said the bid significantly undervalued the company. (Los Angeles Times 6/18, PC Magazine/Reuters 6/17)
Global revenues from the sale of video games will jump from $42 billion in 2007 to more than $68 billion by 2012, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ latest entertainment and media industry outlook. PwC slated 7% annual growth for console games to nearly $35 billion, but said the fledgling online and wireless games will outshine all the sectors in terms of growth with annual gains of 17% and 20%, respectively. (Mediaweek/The Hollywood Reporter 6/18)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: 1080p Mini Player, 1080p Player, Blu-ray Disc, DVD, High-definition television, JVC, Kaleidescape, us
JVC unveiled several new lines of LCD HDTV models and three small HD Everio camcorders with a built-in hard drive at a New York presentation. The company exhibited four new models of its P-Series LCDs that carry docks for viewing iPod video content; its new 899 Series line that carries what JVC calls Clear Motion Drive III, which represents the company’s most advanced HD technology; and a line of LCDs in its Procision Series that will be only 1.5 inches wide on screens of 42 and 46 inches. (ElectronicHouse.com 6/18)
Consumers don’t have to exchange their DVDs for Blu-ray discs, Kaleidescape says in rolling out a pair of 1080p DVD players that use an upconversion process that the company maintains will provide a picture just as good as ones Blu-ray players provide to all but the most trained eyes. The company, which has plans to introduce a Blu-ray machine in 2009, unveiled its $4,295 1080p Player and $2,995 1080p Mini Player, both of which work within Kaleidescape’s system rather than as stand-alone units. (ElectronicHouse.com 6/18)
Sharp will introduce a 108-inch LCD model in the U.S. in September, the third-largest set in the world, that will feature 6.21 million pixels, a contrast ratio of 1200:1 and a response speed of 6 ms, the company said. The LB-1085 TFT, which will probably cost in the range of $100,000, will feature a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution and a 176-degree viewing angle. (CEPro.com 6/18)
Filed under: MISC | Tags: Arts, Ben Stiller, DreamWorks, DreamWorks SKG, Eddie Murphy, Paramount Pictures, Steven Spielberg, Viacom
With a divorce looming between DreamWorks SKG and Viacom’s Paramount Pictures, one big issue is who will get “custody” of their movie projects, talent and producers. Untangling the rights to various assets and people, including Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy, could be tricky. (Iwantmedia 6/19, http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-dreamworks19-2008jun19,0,813105.story 6/19)
