Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

It is not enough to be a destination site anymore. Everyone now wants to become an ad network. MTV Networks today announced that it has expanded its vertical ad network strategy by building ad networks around the service’s core properties. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/15/mtv-launches-ad-network-just-like-linkedin 9/15)

Best Buy announced today that it has acquired Napster for $121 million in cash. The company said that it will keep Napster’s executive team and will leave the Napster service and its estimated 700,000 users in place without changing much in the near-term. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/15/best-buy-puzzles-with-napster-acquisition 9/15)

At a time when most social networks are still trying to figure out how to make money from advertising, one social network is bucking the trend. LinkedIn, the social network for business professionals, has so much demand from advertisers that it will be launching its own ad network on Monday. In conjunction with ad network Collective Media (which targets high-end media sites), LinkedIn will let other select sites target its users when they visit those partner sites. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/14/linkedin-to-launch-its-own-ad-network 9/14)

Comcast is entering deals with ABC, CW, Showtime, HBO and The Food Network to offer free advertising-supported television episodes and clips on its entertainment site, Fancast.com. Comcast recently added an online store to Fancast where consumers can buy or rent video. (Iwantmedia 9/12, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080912/ap_on_hi_te/comcast_web_sites 9/12)

Note to TV syndicators: serialized shows may be more valuable in second runs if online components are used to help keep audiences engaged. Comcast’s G4 and NBCU’s Sci Fi both kick off reruns of Lost with a little help from other platforms. G4 is calling its interactive play Lost in 2.0. Enhancements include facts, character profiles and creators’ commentary appearing on screen with the broadcast and polls, games and chat functionality available online. SciFi.com’s Lost minisite, (not to be confused with the one for miniseries Lost Room) features more of the same. It will be interesting to see how many Lost fans return to cable to relive the experience. G4 is stripping the show M-F at 9 pm while Sci Fi is airing 4 episodes at a time each Monday night beginning at 7 pm/6C. (Cynopsis 9/15)

Online studio Generate struck a distribution arrangement with Vuze for season 2 of its Webby-Award honoree comedy Pink: The Series. (Pink is about a reluctant government assassin who yearns for a more conventional life.) The first of season-two’s 10 webisodes premieres today exclusively on Vuze’s P2P-powered HD platform. The series will also be syndicated across other portals including Blip.tv, Break, Dailymotion, Hulu, iTunes, Joost, Metacafe, MSN, MySpace, Veoh, TheWB.com, Yahoo and YouTube. (Cynopsis 9/15)

Microsoft introduced a new platform that will allow Media Center PC and TV tuner makers to support premium broadcast TV channels. Microsoft’s previous Broadcast Driver Architecture had become outdated as digital content providers now routinely require DRM in order to protect unauthorized broadcasts. The company says it will continue to advance the platform, aiming to make pay TV reception over-the-air possible by next year. (Cynopsis 9/15)

Microsoft also unveiled its Mediaroom Advertising Platform over the weekend at the IBC 2008 conference in Amsterdam. The IPTV platform will allow service providers to insert traditional and new ad formats into programming (including video-on-demand and DVR content) and alongside program guides. Because content is delivered over a two-way internet connection, ads can also be interactive. Mediaroom is currently used to power AT&T’s U-verse service in the U.S. (Cynopsis 9/15)