Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: 1984 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics, Dara Torres, NBC Universal, Olympic Games, Olympics, Showtime, Sports
NBC Universal announced it will offer more than 3,600 hours of coverage from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics which includes spotlighting all 34 Olympic sports in some fashion. Approximately 2,900 of those hours will be presented live and coverage of the Olympic Games will be distributed over the company’s stable of networks and various platforms presented in three blocks: afternoon, primetime and late-night, starting with opening ceremonies beginning at 8p on August 8. (Cynopsis 7/9)
Showtime is developing “Exterminators,” an adult animated series based on the comic books by the same name. Sara Colleton, the executive producer of Showtime’s “Dexter” series, also will work on “Exterminators.” (The Hollywood Reporter 7/9)
Cablevision-owned Fuse announced plans for three original series that will focus on aspects of the music world. The shows, expected to premiere in the fourth quarter, are “Redemption Song,” about 10 women vying for a record deal; “Rock Bottom,” a look at band members helping their mates overcome problems; and “Tour Me a New One,” which involves a quest to find the most passionate music fans on the planet. (Variety 7/8)
The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) voted in favor of ratifying the primetime agreement, effectively quashing SAG’s efforts to have the contract voted down. The terms in the AFTRA deal, passed by 62% of voting members, echo those signed previously by the WGA and DGA. SAG’s interest in seeing this deal crash and burn was to give it more leverage in its deal with producers, while arguing actors should get better terms in the areas of new media, DVD residuals and salary minimums. AFTRA contends that approving the contract keeps people employed, and it offers increases in salaries and new media without rollbacks or concessions. (Cynopsis 7/9)
For the first time, AT&T, Verizon Communications and Qwest are joining forces to keep residential business in the telecom family. The three said that when customers relocate, service agents will advise them to go to a Web site called Movearoo.com, which has information on telecommunications firms … but not cable companies. (Chicago Tribune/Bloomberg 7/9, CNNMoney.com/Dow Jones Newswires 7/8)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Carl Icahn, Facebook, Google, Second Life, Social network service, Wall Street Journal, World Wide Web, Yahoo
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
The pitched battle between billionaire investor Carl Icahn and Yahoo for control of its board could hinge on whether Icahn can convince the company’s two largest institutional investors to vote for his alternate slate of directors. Those two investors are Gordon Crawford of Capital Research and Bill Miller of Legg Mason. As of May 7, they each controlled 16 percent and 6.7 percent of Yahoo stock, respectively. Icahn owns at least 4 percent. That’s more than a quarter of the voting shares between the three of them. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/09/legg-masons-miller-to-icahn-put-up-or-shut-up 7/9)
Google is getting into another me-too service, and about a year or so after the Second Life bubble burst: it has launched Lively, its virtual world/avatar service, with the twist being users can embed these avatar and worlds into their own blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-google-tries-to-go-lively-with-its-own-virtual-world-effort 7/8)
As YouTube struggles to make money on advertising, according to a story today in the Wall Street Journal, and reportedly may resort to pre-roll ads (which consumers hate, but advertisers love), maybe they should take a look at some of the innovative ad units coming out of VideoEgg. Today, VideoEgg is launching five new kinds of Web video ads. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/09/videoegg-launches-new-video-ad-units-maybe-youtube-should-pay-attention 7/9)
Online ad tracking service NebuAd is being called before a panel of Senators today to address privacy concerns regarding its targeting methods. The hearing, which will also call officers and lawyers from Microsoft, Google and Facebook, is the result of vociferous complaints from groups such as The Center for Democracy and Technology and the FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau, which will also testify at the hearing. (Cynopsis 7/9)
The Office junkies will be pleased to know the second series of original webisodes will go live from tomorrow at 3 pm ET on NBC.com. This season, sponsored by Comcast, Sony Electronics and Priceline, will revolve around Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) as he tries innovative ways to pay back his looming gambling debts. (Cynopsis 7/9)
Independent video sharing site Dailymotion saw unique visitors increase by 18% month-over month in May to 5.7 million uniques, according to ComScore. (Cynopsis 7/9)
Viewers are consuming more video than ever before thanks to the proliferation of content on multiple screen and devices, according to data released from Nielsen, the first time the company has compared viewing across TV, the internet and mobile. Instead of one platform suffering, they all seem to be benefiting. The average user (2+) is watching more TV than ever before (4% more compared to May of last year.) A small but growing number of internet and mobile phone users are watching video online (2 hrs, 19 min per month), as well as on their cell phones (3 hrs, 15 min per month). (Cynopsis 7/9)
- 220 million Americans have internet access at home and/or work and 73%, or 162 million went online in May
- 119 million unique viewers watched 7.5 billion video streams in May 2008
- As of Q1 2008, 91 million Americans (36% of all mobile phone subscribers in the U.S.) owned a video-capable phone
Time Spent in Hours: Minutes Per User 2+, Per Month
May 08 May 07 % Diff
Watching TV in the home* 127:15 121:48 4%
Watching Timeshifted TV* 5:50 3:44 56%
Using the Internet** 26:26 24:16 9%
Watching Video on internet** 2:19 n/a n/a
Watching Video via Mobile Phone 3:15 n/a n/a
* TV includes live viewing plus any playback viewing; Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but including playback on services like Start Over as well as playback from a DVD recorder.
** Internet figures are from home and work. Hours:minutes are based on the universe of persons who watch online video.
Source: Nielsen
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: 3G iPhone, Apple, David Pogue, iPhone, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Walt Mossberg, Walter Mossberg
A pair of influential newspaper tech columnists have weighed in on Apple‘s new 3G iPhone, due to be released on Friday. And they see many of its new features quite a bit differently. (
The Wall Street Journal 7/9, The New York Times 7/9, The Wall Street Journal 7/9)
In essence, both Mossberg and Pogue aren’t as excited about this release in comparison to last year’s release for two main reasons: 1) Battery life & 2) Monthly Wireless Plan Price. On the battery life issue, I’m in agreement especially in reference to the iPhone as Enterprise solution. My BlackBerry gets me through days of service. The 3G iPhone will struggle to get through one unless plugged in. On the monthly plan cost, I would be in completely agreement but given that I have the first release iPhone, I’m grandfathered into my existing plan cost (whew!) if I choose to pay the unsubsidized price for the phone (boo). I’m still pretty excited about this next release if only as it executes on progress. Will I buy one? Maybe eventually. For now, I’ll rock the 2.0 upgrade with pride.
Walt Mossberg From the WSJ on the 3G iPhone
David Pogue from the NYTimes on the 3G iPhone
Apple is set to reap as much as $1 billion in income with the introduction of its new iPhone 3G on Friday, according to the research firm iSuppli, which estimated that Apple makes $499 for every phone it sells. In the U.S., Apple and AT&T plan to open their stores two hours early on Friday, the companies said. (InformationWeek 7/8)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Apple, Characters of Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy IV, Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, Unsung Heroes, Video game
Square Enix, the maker of such hit video games as “Final Fantasy” and “Kingdom Hearts,” has launched its initial iPod title, “Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes,” a role-playing game designed exclusively for the Apple platform, the company said Tuesday. Also, Flair has created “iNo,” a quiz game that uses the music stored on the device as the basis for the questions. (The New York Times/Reuters 7/8, Pocket-lint.co.uk 7/8)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Business, Consumer Goods and Services, Contrast ratio, High-Definition Multimedia Interface, Klipsch, Liquid crystal display, Models, Recreation
TECHNOLOGY
Sharp has introduced three AQUOS LCDs, 19-inch, 32-inch and 37-inch monitors, with the latter two coming from the AQUOS XL8E series with full 1080p images. The LC-19D1E, designed as a second set to fit smaller rooms, contains PC and HDMI inputs, a 7500:1 contrast ratio and 1366 x 768 panel resolution. (Pocket-lint.co.uk 7/8)
Klipsch‘s Palladium series will expand to seven models with the company’s addition of six speakers to its P-39F flagship floor model: a pair of floorstanders, center channel, surround, bookshelf and subwoofer products. The high-end line ranges from $3,500 for the P-27C center channel model to $12,000 a pair for the P-38F floorstander. (ElectronicHouse.com 7/8)
