Filed under: Feature | Tags: Art, Brooklyn Museum, Contemporary art, Good Morning, Graduation, Kanye West, Louis Vuitton, MOCA, Murakami, Takashi Murakami
ONLINE VIDEO OF THE WEEK: KANYE + MURAKAMI = AWESOME
Takashi Murakami directed this music video from Kanye West’s latest album. Why does it feel old? Because it is. This song, Good Morning, is off of West’s album Graduation which released last year around this time. This video originally premiered last year in the Los Angeles at the Museum of Contemporary Art but never received an official release. So, here you have it.
If you’re not familiar with Murakami, he is a very talented Japanese artist and animator. He designed the cover art for Graduation along with this music video.
Most recently, his artwork was showcased over the summer at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
But, you may remember him best for his collaboration with Louis Vuitton on a line of popular handbags. Whatever you remember him for, he’s one amazing animator. Peep this.
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: NBC Universal, Time Warner Cable, Olympic Games, 2008 Summer Olympics, Summer Olympic Games, 2004 Summer Olympics, 1996 Summer Olympics, Sport
CNN’s coverage of the opening night of the Democratic National Convention attracted 3.7 million viewers Monday, while Fox News tallied 3.02 million viewers of its own, both of which were about 85% higher than the opening night of the 2004 Democratic convention. MSNBC, with 2.15 million, showed an 88% gain. The Wall Street Journal (free content) (8/27)
Animal Planet scored record viewership totals for the premiere of “Animal Witness,” which spotlighted the rehabilitation of dogs owned by former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who is in federal prison for his involvement in dog fighting. The Sunday night premiere pulled in 1.1 million viewers, making it Animal Planet’s most-watched series debut ever. Multichannel News (8/26)
NBC Universal tallied 214 million total viewers for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing over 17 days, solidifying it as the most watched event in U.S. TV history, according to Nielsen. This tops the 1996 Atlanta Olympics at 209 million viewers and the 2004 Athens Games at 203 million. (Cynopsis 8/27)
TBS and “House of Payne” star Tyler Perry are developing a new sitcom based on Perry’s “Meet the Browns” movie. The series, which will be executive-produced by Perry, is expected to debut in January with an initial 10-episode order that will run over five weeks in back-to-back installments. Chicago Sun-Times (8/26) , The Hollywood Reporter (8/26)
With the start of the college football season right around the corner, Charter Communications, like several other cable providers, is closing in on a carriage deal with the Big Ten Network, according to this report. Comcast and Time Warner Cable recently finalized pacts with the network. The Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Minn.) (8/26)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Warner Bros., Hulu, Television program, WB, The WB Television Network, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, TheWB.com
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Earlier this month LonelyGirl15, one of the most successful examples of viral web marketing to date, aired its last episode. Today, the company has released a number of details concerning its new show, LG15: The Resistance, which launches on September 20. As part of the new series, LG15.com
will be relaunching as a hybrid blog/social network designed to further the level of viewer immersion. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/27/eqal-shares-details-on-lonelygirl15-followup 8/27)
Warner Brothers has resurrected its defunct WB television network as TheWB.com, a hub for its television shows that launches tomorrow. While a number of networks have offered ad-supported streaming shows for some time, TheWB.com is significantly more feature-rich than its competitors, offering an advanced search engine and allowing users to mashup selected clips from each show. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/the-wb-rises-from-the-ashes-as-a-hulu-competitor 8/26)
I wouldn’t agree with Techcrunch that WB.com poses any significant competition to a site like Hulu. While WB.com does offer some unique functionality for a vertical site: (cough) mash-ups (cough cough), the site still only offers WB video unlike Hulu which attempts to aggregate as much professionally-produced video as possible. The quantity of content more than kills it. To read more critique on the WB.com, click here.
Most of the big movie studios and many online movie retailers are preparing to to launch a new initiative tentatively called Open Market, first proposed last year by Sony Pictures, we’ve learned. All of the major studios besides those associated with Walt Disney are already on board and will be part of the announcements made next month. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/movie-labels-to-launch-new-open-market-play-anywhere-scheme-as-last-ditch-effort-to-save-drm 8/26)
News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media, which owns social-networking site MySpace, is overtaking struggling Internet giant Yahoo as the top U.S. display advertising property. “Eyeballs are going to other places on the Internet,’ analysts say. Time Warner’s AOL is ranked No. 3. (http://www.smartmoney.com/breaking-news/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20080826-000640-2159 8/26)
America’s Finest News Source has launched Decider, a local entertainment site that includes interviews, event information, and restaurant reviews. The site is initially launching with content for Chicago, with plans to support more cities over the next few months. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/no-joke-the-onion-launches-citysearch-competitor 8/26)
Bucking what has become a digital industry standard The BBC announced beginning Sept. 13 it will extend the shelf life of its shows on its ad supported iPlayer service beyond the original 7-day limitation to help expose them to a broader audience. Also certain shows will now be made available as entire seasons. The iPlayer relaunched earlier this summer adding a larger viewing window and stereo BBC radio programs. (Cynopsis 8/27)
Online movie service Jaman.com added Lionsgate titles to its catalog including classics like Reservoir Dogs, The Bank Job and Gods and Monsters. Jaman rents movies on demand for $2.99-$3.99 per title. The company has also signed licensing deals in recent months with Paramount, First Look and Magnolia. (Cynopsis 8/27)
Online video platform Animoto emerged from beta yesterday offering a range of tools for amateur video producers. The site has built a reported 4 million member user base by integrating with platforms such as Facebook and YouTube and rolling out new programs including a music submission program and MP4 video compatibility. Animoto’s latest ventures have been aimed at educators and businesses. (Cynopsis 8/27)
I’ve made several Animoto videos since learning about the service at SXSW. Easy to use and professional-looking results. Love love love.
Blogger network Technorati acquired blog community Blogcritics.org, an amalgamation of sites devoted to anything from music to politics to technology, with an aggregate monthly audience of about 1 million users. Technorati will incorporate the group into its Technorati Media ad network. (Cynopsis 8/27)
The appointment of Joe Biden as VP and the lead up to the Democratic National Convention drove BarackObama.com’s share of visits to its second highest total in the past year, according to Hitwise, increasing to 53% vs. 46% for JohnMcCain.com. BarackObama.com was also beating JohnMcCain.com in terms of time spent by a margin of almost 2 minutes per user as of Aug. 23. (Cynopsis 8/27)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Europe, HTC, iPhone, Nokia, Wall Street Journal, Wi-Fi, Windows, Windows Mobile
Analysts reacted favorably Tuesday to Nokia’s release of two new multimedia phones, the N79 and N85, after months of few new high-end lines emanating from the global hardware leader. The devices, which Nokia will ship in October, include 5-megapixel cameras and pre-loaded games, although at $662, the N85 will cost about $150 more than the N79. The Wall Street Journal (8/27) , Reuters (8/26)
Nokia N85
Taking aim at RIM’s BlackBerry, HTC debuted a Windows Mobile-based smartphone Tuesday with a variety of features designed to appeal to a mobile professional. The HTC S740 — set for September release in Europe and elsewhere at a later date — is armed with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, assisted GPS, a 2.4-inch screen, MicroSD slot and downloading options that include 3G and EDGE technologies. InformationWeek (8/26)
AT&T just announced two new data plans for iPhone users who travel abroad and one of them costs as much as the phone itself. Option one gives subscribers 100 megabytes of data usage for $100. Option two comes with 200 MB for $200. You can sign up for then drop the service, but the minimum service option is for one month. (Cynopsis 8/27)
Emerging markets helped fuel handset sales in the second quarter, according to Gartner, which expects revenue to show gains in the second half of the year, but at a slightly lower rate. “We expect mobile handset sales to exhibit 11% growth in 2008 and the growth in revenue will be slightly lower at 9% as increased competition and a tougher economic environment negatively impact average selling prices,” analyst Carolina Milanesi said. CNNMoney.com/Dow Jones Newswires (8/27) , Reuters (8/27)
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