Filed under: GAMING | Tags: EA, Electronic Arts, Nintendo DS, Personal computer game, Playstation 3, Rock Band, Wii, Xbox 360
CBSSports.com launched a new version of their free College Fantasy Football game, allowing users to recruit a team of college football players from any of the 120 Division I programs or customize their player pool to include any conference they choose. CBS gained permission to use actual player names in the game for the first time this year. (Cynopsis 7/30)
Games appealing to broad audiences are proving to be little engines that could pull media companies through uncertain times. While ad revenue at Viacom was mostly flat during Q2, revenues from Rock Band and other ancillary streams were up 62% to $307 million, helping the company beat Wall Street estimates. Meanwhile game publishing giant Electronic Arts reported narrowed losses as revenue doubled to $809 million during the quarter. EA executives expect the turnaround to continue with a variety of releases planned for later this year on multiple platforms, from Spore on the PC to Dead Space on the PS3 and Xbox 360 to MySims on the Wii and Nintendo DS. (Cynopsis 7/30)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Evil Dead, International Olympic Committee, IOC, Iraq, National Olympic Committee, Sam Raimi, Summer Olympic Games, Summer Olympics
TECHNOLOGY
Saying it delivers “the most realistic home theater performance in the world,” Meridian has unveiled its new 810 Reference Video System, a video-projector and scaler combo that produces a resolution of 10 megapixels. The 810 Reference Video System costs $185,000. ElectronicHouse.com (7/30)
A company is now selling what it calls the “world’s cheapest laptop,” which at $130, is not a bad deal if you can bear some hardware limitations. (http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/28/Worlds_cheapest_laptop_now_available_1.html?source=NLC-MOBILEHARDWARE&cgd=2008-07-30 7/28)
Not since Sam Raimi strapped a camera to a flying eyeball in Evil Dead have we seen such technical innovation with cameras. NBC camera guru Garrett Brown and colleagues have come up with a few whiz-bang inventions to enhance coverage of the Summer Olympics, reports The AP. (Cynopsis 7/30)
- Tiny HD “lipstick cams” will be placed on the athletes themselves to provide POV shots
- The submerged “Dive Cam” will shoot down a plastic tube to capture the point of impact from the high dive
- The “Sky Cam” will capture rowers and kayakers from far above the water course
- GPS and digital course maps will be deployed to help viewers keep track of athletes progress on longer events
Shanghai United Optical Disc has completed the initial production run of a disc that the company hopes can compete against the now-entrenched Blu-ray technology. The so-called China Blue High-definition Disc is based on Toshiba’s HD-DVD format and is expected to be cheaper to manufacture than Blu-ray discs. The Hollywood Reporter (7/29)
Filed under: MISC | Tags: Federal Communications Commission, Gary Parsons, Kevin Martin, Mel Karmazin, Satellite radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, Sirius XM Radio Inc, XM Satellite Radio
After nearly a year and a half of regulatory debate, the Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio merger was finally approved. Sirius XM says the new company will embrace an “a la carte” programming strategy, (Kevin Martin‘s long enduring dream for the cable industry), allowing consumers to mix and match which channels they like instead of forcing them to pay for shows they’re not interested in. The company will be based in New York with Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin serving as CEO and XM Chairman Gary Parsons taking the role of Chairman. (Cynopsis 7/30)
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: George Lopez, George Lopez Show, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon, Nielsen Media Research, Television
A lot of people were waiting for the Season Two premiere of AMC hit “Mad Men” on Sunday night … about 1.95 million of them, according to Nielsen Media Research’s fast nationals data. The show, about advertising in the 1960s, attracted young and old alike: 996,000 adults 25 to 54 tuned in, and 955,000 viewers 18 to 49 watched the show. Los Angeles Times (free registration) (7/28) , Mediaweek (7/28)
Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon‘s prime-time and overnight block, gained more than 400,000 viewers during the second quarter. The ratings rebound, according to this article, is in no small part due to programming decisions at the channel that have replaced golden oldies such as “I Love Lucy” with more contemporary offerings such as “The George Lopez Show.” The New York Times (7/29)
Building on the success of “The George Lopez Show,” Nick at Nite is adding more original programs to attract viewers whose parents were weaned on Nickelodeon. Among the new shows is “Glenn Martin D.D.S.,” an animated family comedy show about a dentist who takes his family on a cross-country trip.
MGM has launched THIS TV network, a 24/7 ad supported linear channel designed for the US broadcast marketplace and available to local broadcasters as a turn-key solution for generating revenue in the digital arena. MGM is targeting the local broadcasters newfound digital channels which will become a significant priority when the analog transmissions are turned off in February 2009. (Cynopsis 7/29)
Cox Communications said that triple-play subscribers were up 17% in the second quarter of this year and that HD customers had risen almost 50%, compared with the same period a year earlier. The privately held company does not reveal specific quarterly earnings figures, but CEO Pat Esser predicted that revenue from commercial services in 2010 would hit $1 billion. OneTRAK (7/28)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Microsoft, NBC Universal, Olympic Games, Olympics, Silverlight 2, Video on demand, Windows Media Center, Zune
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
NBC Universal unveiled a detailed description of how its ambitious digital coverage of the Olympic games will play out online, on mobile devices, on VOD and via interactive television systems (Cynopsis 7/29):
- NBCOlympics.com on MSN will be the hub for news, results, schedules and 2,200 hours of live streaming broadband coverage. Also look here for tutorials on how to connect to mobile, gaming, VOD and other outlets
- The Olympics will be a major coming out party for partner Microsoft‘s Silverlight 2 video platform, powering 20 different concurrent streams of 25 different sports. Functionality includes picture-in-picture and quad-screen viewing
- An online viewing guide will detail complete coverage across NBCU broadcast and cable outlets with localized listings and athlete news sourced by zip code
- A full complement of widgets will keep web surfers updated on news, video, athletes, metal counts, results and tune in schedules. (Digital agency partner 360i has been spreading the word about these across the blogosphere)
- Two-screen companion games will challenge viewers to answer trivia questions, polls and other games while watching the telecasts
- NBCU Olympics Mobile will offer on demand news, video coverage and breaking news alerts. A WAP site will feature a scaled down version of much of what’s on the main site
- Olympics content will be downloadable via Amazon’s Unbox and Microsoft’s Windows Media Center and Zune player
ESPNU will launch an HD simulcast network on Aug. 28 just in time for College Football season. The collegiate sports network, ESPN’s 4th HD net, expects to broadcast more than 70 live College Football games and over 200 overall events during its first year. Go to ESPNU.com for a schedule of this year’s televised football matchups beginning with Vandy at Miami (Ohio) on Aug 28. (Cynopsis 7/29)
Since its debut on iTunes on July 14, the full seasons of MOJO HD‘s Wall Street Warriors, seasons #1 and #2, have been the number one and number two most downloaded TV series on iTunes in the reality TV category. The series, which launched on MOJO HD in late 2006 and aired its second season earlier this year, is a behind-the-scenes look into the high pressure world of financial investors. (Cynopsis 7/29)
I watched only 30 seconds but I’m already into it.
Amie Street, the indie music store that prices songs by their popularity, has pre-released The Walkmen’s new album You & Me three weeks before its scheduled launch date. The entire album is available for $5, with all proceeds going to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as part of the site’s “Download To Make a Difference” campaign. You can download the album here. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/28/get-the-walkmen-album-early-help-charity-on-amiestreet 7/28)
Hewlett Packard, Intel and Yahoo announced the Cloud Computing Test Bed this morning. Executives from the three companies are holding a 9 am PST conference call to discuss the new venture. Participating are Prith Banerjee, Senior Vice President, Research, HP and Director, HP Labs; Prabhakar Raghavan, Head of Yahoo! Research; and Andrew Chien, Vice President, Corporate Technology Group, Intel and Director, Intel Research. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/29/cloud-computing-test-bed-live-notes-from-the-conference-call 7/29)
Long outplayed by two Indian brothers, Hasbro finally delivers a massive counter blow to Scrabulous, one of the most loved games on Facebook. Scrabulous fans in North America will see the below message when they try to play the game. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/29/endgame-scrabulous-gets-wiped-off-facebook 7/29)
Newly formed media-buying group Mediabrands will buy at least $1 million in ads from cable providers under a new partnership with Microsoft-owned Navic Networks, whose interactive ad-buying technology mimics the process of buying online ads. A part of the Interpublic Group, Mediabrands is composed of four agencies that will each assign employees to explore Navic’s technology. The Wall Street Journal (free content) (7/28)
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: iPhone, Mac OS X, Mobile phone, Playstation 3, Sony, Sony BMG, Sony Ericsson, Wall Street Journal
Copy and Paste has long been one of the most requested features on the iPhone, and its continued absence has been both frustrating and confusing for many. How can it be that the iPhone – running a finely tuned version of Mac OS X – is unable to perform functions that have been included in text editors since the 80’s? (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/28/copy-and-paste-finally-coming-to-the-iphone-sort-of 7/28)
A deep slump at its Sony Ericsson cell phone partnership played a heavy part in driving Sony’s net income down 47% as the company also sliced its full-year forecast in releasing quarterly earnings today. Earlier, the unit reported a 98% crash in pretax income as consumers have opted for less pricey models from rivals over Sony Ericsson’s high-end handsets. Bloomberg (7/29) , The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (7/29) , Financial Times (7/29)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Directories, Games, National Geographic Channel, Nintendo, Tokyo District Court, United States, Video game console, Video Games
National Geographic Channel joined the booming casual games arena launching a branded gaming channel powered by Real Networks. Games like Habitat Rescue, developed by New York-based Rebel Monkey, are designed to dovetail with NGC programming genres including Animals & Nature, Science & Technology and History & Events. (Cynopsis 7/29)
Consumer-electronics manufacturer Nintendo has filed suit against five Japanese companies, alleging that they imported and sold games that can illegally be played on Nintendo’s DS gaming console. The company said it filed its suit, along with more than 50 other Japanese software makers, in Tokyo District Court today. The Washington Post/Reuters (7/29)
Lifetime Games announced a new strategic partnership with Vivity Labs’ FitBrains.com to expand the online game offerings of myLifetime.com. Brain fitness games testing memory, concentration, language, logic, reasoning and visual-spatial skills are its specialty. (Cynopsis 7/29)
Nickelodeon is after more serious gamers with Avatar: Legends of the Arena, an upcoming global online multiplayer game that will serve as a prequel to the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender show. The 3D online arena game will take place simultaneously in 81 markets and 10 languages. In time-tested MTVN cross-promotion tradition, Nickelodeon will offer fans hints to the game if they tune into episodes of the show on Friday nights in Sep. and Oct. (Cynopsis 7/29)
