Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Doctor Who, New York, New York Times, Programs, Sci Fi Channel, Science Fiction and Fantasy, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Sci Fi Channel‘s finale of Doctor Who on August 1 delivered a 1.0 HH rating and 1.26 million total viewers, according to Live + Same Day Nielsen data. In key demos, Dr. Who delivered 695,000 A25-54 and 588,000 A18-49. Overall Season #4 was up over the previous season by 25% in household ratings, and 6% in both key demos. (Cynopsis 8/5)
Coming up next for AMC - a new political thriller, reports THR. The project from Jason Horwitch is about a secret society who is using the political system as its own puppets, and a think tank analyst who realizes his employers are not what he thought they were. Production is scheduled to begin in October. (Cynopsis 8/5)
In a move that could potentially transform the way advanced video services are rolled out to viewers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York ruled Monday that DVRs that operate via a central storage server rather than a set-top storage device do not violate copyright law. Analyst Craig E. Moffett said the decision “means a huge increase in the number of viewing hours per day potentially subject to ad-skipping.” The use of networked technology paves the way for the delivery of interactive and dynamic advertising via recorded programs. The New York Times (8/5) , The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (8/5)
Cablers with 2,500 subscribers or fewer that are not part of larger systems serving 10% or more of national pay-TV subscribers would be able to receive a three-year exemption from the HDTV must-carry rule, according to a proposal backed by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. The exemption, scheduled for an Aug. 22 vote by the commission, in theory would be available to just about every cable company, except Comcast and Time Warner Cable, according to Multichannel News. Multichannel News (8/4) , Broadcasting & Cable (8/4)
Dish Network reported that its subscriber base dipped 25,000 in the second quarter, marking the first time the satellite provider had lost customers in its 12-year history. The company is facing increased competition from cable and telecom providers. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (8/5) , The New York Times/Reuters (8/4)
Insight Communications added 3,800 basic-cable customers during the second quarter, compared with 2,500 a year earlier, while digital additions totaled 9,200, a 3% uptick. The MSO added RGUs in the four key categories as it attracted more high-speed data and voice subscribers than it did in the same period in 2007. OneTRAK (8/4)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Blu-ray Disc, DVD, Intellectual Property, Playstation 3, Sony, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television, Television
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Netflix is testing a service that allows users to order high-definition movies from its Blu-ray library for a premium. Blu-ray discs cost 25% more than standard DVD titles, but offer superior definition. Netflix has not announced how much more a subscription including Blu-ray would cost, but Netflix subscribers report paying an additional $1 to $2 per month for the high-definition discs. InformationWeek (8/4)
Rocketboom, the daily video blog, is turning over its distribution and ad sales to Sony Pictures Television in return for a seven-figure guarantee plus a share of revenues. Rocketboom will be distributed on Sony’s Crackle video site, as well as across other Sony platforms such as the PS3, PSP, and Bravia I-Link TVs. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/05/rocketboom-inks-seven-figure-distribution-deal-with-sony 8/5)
Golf fans will be able to find plenty of complementary coverage of this weekend’s PGA Championship on PGA.com, produced by Turner Sports. The site will host 4 channels of content presented in a new wide-screen format (some 224% larger than the previous player,) including a simulcast of the TNT production. The Playercam follows two select groups during the first two days then one group during the weekend. (Cynopsis 8/5)
Tribune’s TV-themed news and listings service Zap2it has created a handy Olympics widget sponsored by Comcast you can post on your profile page to help keep track of what events are on what channel. (Cynopsis 8/5)
Sundance Channel unveiled its latest web series, the 13-part “Eco-Heroes,” hosted and created by environmental activist Majora Carter, host of The Green. In each two-minute webisode Majora interviews one person who has been an inspiration to her and her work. Sundance Channel will also air episodes of the series as an interstitial on Tuesday nights. (Cynopsis 8/5)
Interactive broadcast application provider Jacked completed an integration with Comcast’s Versus to provide complementary programming around the network’s NHL, College Football and NCAA basketball games. The Jacked SportsTop is an online app that synchronizes with live sportscasts allowing users to customize the interface with a variety of widgets including up-to-the-second stats, video highlights, news and interactive features such as live chat and trivia. (Cynopsis 8/5)
The syndicated entertainment news show “Entertainment Tonight” will provide content to the MSN Web portal in a new deal between Microsoft and CBS. As part of the deal, “ET” will begin 24-hour operations to provide round-the-clock updates. Currently, “ET” operates its own Web site, attracting of late a reported 1.7 million monthly unique users. Broadcasting & Cable (8/4)
Disney Interactive Media is acquiring the parenting advice site Raisingkids.co.uk. The site will be added to the Disney Online portfolio, which also includes the recently launched UKfamily.co.uk. Rasingkids claims more than 100,000 registered users. (Iwantmedia 8/5, http://www.nma.co.uk/Articles/39036/Disney+buys+parenting+advice+site.html 8/5)
Filed under: WIRELESS
Mobile/Broadband TV service MobiTV announced its subscriber base surpassed 4 million subscribers, up from 3 million less than 10 months. MobiTV provides TV programming for 15+ mobile carriers including Sprint, AT&T Wireless and Alltel. (Cynopsis 8/5)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: DVD, Hollywood Reporter, Home theater PC, Redbox
TECHNOLOGY
Of the 83 million U.S. homes with at least one PC, up to 2 million are used to mastermind home theaters. A PC can be configured with a DVD and Blu-ray player, as well as a digital archive for storing movies. PCs also can record television shows, with one hour of HD programming taking up about 6GB, according to this analysis. MSNBC (8/4)
One of HP’s home theater PCs, the Pavilion Elite m9300t, starts at $800. Dell and Sony, as well as other manufacturers, also have home theater PCs on the market.
According to a study by IMS Research, the total number of households with access to HD video programming via broadcast, cable, satellite or IPTV will reach 255 million in 2013. The report also predicts $46 billion in revenue from Blu-ray discs in 2013, with the market growing as more PCs add Blu-ray drives. Broadcast Engineering (8/5)
Blockbuster will begin testing 50 DVD rental kiosks to compete with Redbox, which rents DVDs for $1 per night. Blockbuster plans to roll out 10,000 kiosks over the next 18 months. The kiosks are designed for DVD rentals, but could include digital downloads and sales of movies in the future. The Hollywood Reporter (8/5) , Variety (8/4)
Motorola, joining a growing list of companies in offering software-development kits to cable companies and developers, has made its kit to create interactive-TV applications based on CableLabs’tru2way platform commercially available. The company was mum on the price for the DevPlatform, but asserts that it costs less than similar available products. Multichannel News (8/5)
