Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Showtime, Television, Arts, Programs, Reality-Based, Real World, Stargate Atlantis, The Real World: Hollywood
The fifth-season premiere of Sci Fi’s “Stargate Atlantis” on Friday night attracted 1.8 million total viewers, a 6% increase over the premiere of its fourth season. The show drew 1.05 million viewers in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic, the fourth-best performance in the demo that night. Multichannel News (7/14)
MTV’s finale of The Real World: Hollywood last Wednesday earned a 2.4 rating among P12-34 which represents a +63% increase over last season’s finale of The Real World: Sydney. Overall, the 20th season of The Real World franchise averaged a 2.3 rating with P12-34 a +19% boost over the prior season. (Cynopsis 7/15)
Showtime has entered into a deal with The Weinstein Co. to exclusively distribute its films for the next seven years. The deal involves about 95 theatricals and is estimated to be worth about $500 million. International Herald Tribune/Associated Press (7/15) , The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (7/15)
HBO has undertaken its most extensive — and unusual — promotional effort ever in support of its upcoming vampire series, “True Blood.” As part of its campaign, the network has engaged horror buffs, who willingly translated mysterious snail-mail letters written in the dead languages of Babylonian and Ugaritic. The New York Times (7/15)
FOX plans to change the way it orders pilots and organizes its development cycle. Because of the recent writers’ strike, FOX has ordered eight pilot projects this summer for potential screenings this December. Rather than keeping a traditional pilot schedule where projects are usually ordered in the spring, Fox Entertainment President, Kevin Reilly said yesterday he hopes the network will split pilots into two time periods. (Cynopsis 7/15)
IFC will debut Automat, its first primetime block of original programming on Tuesday nights from 8 pm in September showcasing some of the original programming IFC.com has been showcasing for the web. Included in the 4-hour block will be outtakes and full-length episodes from Lunchbox, Young American Bodies, Get Hit, Getting Away With Murder and Uploaded. (Cynopsis 7/15)
The FCC called a press conference on Friday to announce it wouldn’t be fining Comcast for throttling P2P traffic, reported B&C, even though it was found guilty of violating the FCC’s open access principles. Kevin Martin did chastise the cable operator for failing to adequately inform users of its practices and warned that subsequent violations by cable operators may result in fines. (Cynopsis 7/15)
Cablevision will begin offering shows from MTV Networks’ Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Noggin, The N and Logo and BET as part of its free video-on-demand service. The deal involves shows such as “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” “Blue’s Clues,” “Exes & Ohs” and “Baldwin Hills.” Broadcasting & Cable (7/14)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Microsoft, Xbox 360, United States, us, Netflix, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Looking to boost its presence in living rooms, Microsoft has announced a deal with movie-rental service Netflix that will allow Xbox 360 users to stream movies over the Internet and download them to the game consoles. Not to be outdone, Sony today is expected to announce its own service for downloading online theatricals to its PlayStation 3 machines. The Washington Post (7/15) , Los Angeles Times (free registration) (7/15) , The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (7/15)
As Digg becomes more mainstream, so are the headlines linked to on its homepage. The once tech-heavy site long ago expanded into other categories such as entertainment, world, and business news. But that change is finally hitting its home page, either because Digg is attracting more mainstream users who are Digging more mainstream stories or it is using other (algorithmic) methods to point its firehouse in the direction of mainstream media. (Comscore shows 15.4 million unique visitors in May, and 6.3 million U.S. visitors in June). (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/15/digg-is-pushing-more-traffic-to-traditional-news-sites 7/15)
MTV Networks signed an exclusive deal to begin producing multimedia digital comic books with a start-up named Gain Enterprises that will give users the chance to participate in the stories. The comic books, containing music and audible dialogue, will contain tools for adding and reciting dialogue to give fans a chance to put their own spin on the tales. The project’s first title, Invincible, will be previewed at Comic-Con next week and will be available on iTunes, Xbox Live and MTV Mobile from Aug. 24. (Cynopsis 7/15)
Google, for the discovery portion of its YouTube unit’s lawsuit with Viacom, will turn over an edited version of its database that does not show individual user information. Maintaining user privacy has been a central concern in the case, in which Viacom is charging YouTube with numerous piracy violations. The Washington Post/Reuters (7/15) , The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (7/15)
ABC.com released some upbeat online viewing data for May from Move Networks, the online video vendor that powers its HD video player. Viewers watched a record 37 million episodes during the month - a 27% increase from April, or a total of 815 million minutes of full-length content (a 53% month-over-month increase.) A total of 400 million episodes have been viewed on the site since the original player launched in 2006. (Cynopsis 7/15)
ABC.com will release its third version of the player this fall, with enhancements including:
- True full-screen viewing, with no browser border
- Closed captioning for the hearing impaired
- Content sharing tools providing users with the ability send and share video links from full episodes with others through email or by embedding links on other sites
- Enhanced navigation and video search capabilities that will allow users to search for series graphically, alphabetically, by genre or popularity
NBC has already sold 85% of its online ad inventory for its expansive Summer Olympics coverage, according to Mediaweek. The network is selling 15 and 30 second pre and mid-roll video spots but no overlays, per International Olympic Committee rules. (Cynopsis 7/15)
A federal court in Manhattan cleared eBay of wrongdoing in a 4-year old suit brought by Tiffany & Co. for facilitating the sales of knockoffs on the site. The decision comes a week after eBay was ordered to pay $60 million to Louis Vuitton in France for violating intellectual property laws. (Cynopsis 7/15)
Microblogging site Twitter has acquired the Summize search engine, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams confirmed to me. The size of the transaction is not being disclosed, although the transaction price was paid “mostly in stock.” (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/15/confirmed-twitter-acquires-summize-search-engine 7/15)
Fox Interactive Media cut into YouTube’s market share of online videos by 1.3 percentage points in May over the previous month, primarily due to the videos it streams on its MySpaceTV portal. It’s the first time in months that YouTube hasn’t increased its share, dropping from a 37.9% to a 34.8% share of all videos viewed during the month. Total online video views grew to over 12 billion in May, recovering from a slight dip in April. Over 74% of the total U.S. internet audience watched online video in May, with the average user watching 228 minutes of video. The duration of the average clip viewed was 2.7 minutes. (Cynopsis 7/15)
Top U.S. Online Video Properties* by Videos Viewed - May 2008
Property Videos (000) Share Of Videos (%)
Total Internet 12,086,273 100.0
Google Sites 4,205,700 34.8
Fox Interactive Media 778,168 6.4
Yahoo! Sites 346,825 2.9
Microsoft Sites 245,899 2.0
Viacom Digital 206,047 1.7
Time Warner (ex.AOL) 145,113 1.2
ABC.com 126,589 1.0
Disney Online 107,876 0.9
AOL LLC 104,681 0.9
Hulu.com 88,284 0.7
Source: comScore Video Metrix
Top U.S. Online Video Properties* by Unique Viewers - May 2008
Property Unique Viewers (000) Ave. Videos per Viewer
Total Internet 141,657 85.3
Google Sites 83,828 50.2
Fox Interactive Media 60,760 12.8
Yahoo! Sites 40,197 8.6
Microsoft Sites 29,471 8.3
Time Warner (ex.AOL) 24,612 5.9
AOL LLC 21,670 4.8
Viacom Digital 21,260 9.7
Disney Online 12,385 8.7
ESPN 8,425 8.9
ABC.com 7,747 16.3
Source: comScore Video Metrix
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Apple, iPhone, Smartphone, Sprint Nextel, Handhelds, iPhone 3G, Palm, Treo
Now, after a weekend of testing, some hard data on battery numbers are starting to trickle in. But the iPhone is such a complex device that your results will very much vary from the numbers above. (http://gizmodo.com/5025309/nine-takes-on-the-iphone-3g-battery-life 7/15)
Palm has introduced a new Treo smartphone aimed at competing with BlackBerry for business users. The smartphone, available through Sprint Nextel, is priced at $249.99, but its debut was overshadowed by the market entry of Apple’s iPhone 3G. Reuters (7/14)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Console Platforms, Games, Microsoft, PlayStation Network, Television program, Video Games, XBox, Xbox 360
Sony just announced at E3 that Playstation Network users now have the ability to rent and purchase moves and TV shows. Like, immediately — the service is getting flipped on tonight. It’s not just Sony content, either: Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, and something called Funimation are signed up from the get-go. Video will be available in both SD and HD, and TV pricing starts at $1.99. Movie purchases will run $9.99 - $14.99, while rentals will be $2.99 - $5.99. What’s more, the content is “portable,” meaning that videos downloaded on your PS3 can be watched on multiple PSPs. It doesn’t look like movies can be purchased in HD, but downloads are progressive so content starts playing a minute after you hit begin the download. (http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/15/playstation-network-gets-single-sign-on-across-devices 7/15)
As expected, Microsoft has cut the price its 20GB Xbox to $299, a $50 discount, ahead of the introduction of a new 60GB model that will retail for $350 when it arrives next month. The prices of the Xbox 360 Arcade and the Xbox 360 Elite will remain the same. 
ClipSyndicate/New York Financial Press (7/14) , Google/Associated Press (7/14)
EA released some details about the upcoming open source Rock Band sequel from Harmonix and MTV Games scheduled for release in September. In addition to over 100 new songs, Rock Band 2 will feature:
- An upgraded World Tour mode, an online community helping users find local gigs, challenges and venues
- A Battle of the Bands mode where users can challenge each other online
- A Disc Export feature enabling owners of the original Rock Band to export most of the songs from the original version to the Rock Band 2 gameplay
EA also announced the original Rock Band will ship to 7 additional countries on July 24 initially on the Xbox 360 platform: Italy, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. (Cynopsis 7/15)
Electronic Arts announced Monday that the latest version of its popular “The Sims” game, “Sims 3,” will debut next year and will feature a “seamless world,” one in which all actions affect everything else in the game. EA also said that id, the company behind “Doom” and “Quake,” had joined the EA Partners program and is developing a new title for EA called “Rage.” CNET (7/14)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Acer, Chunghwa Telecom, Dutch, Liquid crystal display, Liquid crystal display television, Philips, Royal Philips Electronics, Television
TECHNOLOGY
SunBriteTV has introduced its weatherproof LCDs, which feature an anti-reflective, impact- and scratch-resistant exterior that shields the screen from rain, dirt and debris. The TV, which ranges in price from $1,995 to $5,495, also includes water-resistant, detachable speakers. CEPro.com (7/14)
Despite registering an 8% gain in revenue from its television sets, Royal Philips Electronics announced that the company’s overall net was off 54%, to $1.15 billion, in the second quarter. The Dutch firm, the fifth-largest maker of LCD TVs in the world, reported $2.16 billion in revenue from TV sales during the period. ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (7/14) , TVWeek.com (7/14) , BBC (7/14)
Acer is talking with a group of 3G network operators about building 3G capabilities into the company’s Aspire one mini-laptops. According to this article, Acer is hashing out plans with T-Mobile International, Vodafone Group, Orange and Taiwanese telecoms Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Mobile. InfoWorld/IDG News Service (7/14)
