Filed under: Feature | Tags: Barack Obama, Debate, John McCain, Katie Couric, Sarah Palin, Saturday Night Live, SNL, Television, Tina Fey, VP
VP DEBATE MAGIC: TWITTER ON
The excitement over the VP debate is palpable. Some would say, the interest in this debate should supersede the interest in the presidential debate. I am one of those people.
If Tina Fey’s portrayal of Sarah Palin has taught us anything, it should be that there is a whole lot of interest in Palin and less in McCain and Obama. If I take the latest SNL as any indication of American sentiment (and I almost always want to), the Sarah Palin/Katie Couric skit launched at the top of the show whereas the Obama/McCain skit was buried throughrout the middle. And seriously, it’s a sad state of affairs at SNL when you can’t even find someone the same color to play Obama. . .
. . .but I digress. In essence, you care. I know you care. Now, here’s your platform to say something while it’s happening. Log on to twitter, say something, and your tweets will be broadcast over the live linear feed of the debate on Current TV.
Old school: The opinion pages of your newspaper.
New school: Hack the debate via twitter.
The 411
If you know how to get your basic twitter on, just add #current to the end of a tweet. As an example, if you’re Diddy, a possible tweet could be, “Sarah Palin scares me #current.” For more background, check out the video below. And then, go get your twitter debate on. The debate is on at 9 EST (6 PST) live on Current TV. Don’t know which channel Current is? Click here.
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: DC Comics, Diablo Cody, Lifetime Television, Rocco DiSpirito, Steven Spielberg, Toni Collette, United States of Tara, Warner Bros.
Bravo takes a bite out of the Big Apple for the fifth season of Top Chef premiering November 12 at 10p. Seventeen new contestants will cut, chop and create culinary delights to impress the judges headed by Tom Colicchio, chef/owner of Craft Restaurants and Gail Simmons of Food & Wine Magazine, along with new judge Toby Young, food critic/author. Padma Lakshmi will once again host and throughout the season celebrities such as Martha Stewart, Foo Fighters, Jean-Georges, Eric Ripert, Rocco DiSpirito, Wylie Dufresne, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Natasha Richardson will make appearances. Magical Elves produces Top Chef: New York. (Cynopsis 10/2)
The network announced a Jan. 18 launch for “The United States of Tara,” a 30-minute series starring Toni Collette as a woman with multiple personalities. Diablo Cody, of “Juno” fame, wrote the pilot based on a Steven Spielberg concept. Variety (10/1)
Lifetime Television is going ahead with the launch of “Blush: The Search for the Next Great Make-Up Artist,” despite the holdup in getting “Project Runway” on its slate. Actress Vanessa Marcil will be the hostess of the new reality-competition series in which the winner gets $100,000, a contract with Max Factor and the opportunity to do the makeup for an In Style magazine spread. Broadcasting & Cable (10/1)
The CW gave a put pilot commitment for The Graysons, a one-hour series about the early days of Dick “DJ” Grayson before he becomes Batman’s sidekick Robin, reports Variety. This project is the next franchise from DC Comics produced for TV by Warner Bros. TV. (Cynopsis 10/2)
HBO is teaming with TV veteran Norman Lear on a drama series project tentatively titled Everybody Hurts set in the 1970s about a family running a pro wrestling company in New York, according to THR. (Cynopsis 10/2)
MTV and HBO are among the nominees for this year’s Public and Community Service Emmy, which will be awarded in November. The nominations are in recognition of the networks’ campaigns to promote awareness of the Holocaust and STD testing. Multichannel News (10/1)
General Electric plans to sell $3 billion of shares to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and offer another $12 billion in shares to the public. The sales will improve GE’s liquidity and give it the option of more acquisitions at a time of market turmoil, says the parent of NBC Universal. (Iwantmedia 10/2, http://www.cnbc.com/id/26977845 10/1)
Warren Buffett
Dealmaking prospects for a media industry in transition are dwindling as the outlook darkens for the U.S. economy, analysts say. Among the deals possibly in limbo are those related to Time Warner’s AOL, CBS’s radio stations and Cablevision’s cable networks. AOL is “a toxic asset now.” (Iwantmedia 10/2, http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20081001-710631.html 10/1)
The cable company has teamed up with the Iowa Department of Education, community colleges and state TV for a test run of a service that allows subscribers to study remotely for the General Education Development certificate. Nearly 300,000 people in the state could benefit from the program that offers material equivalent to that taught in high schools. Multichannel News (10/1)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: iTunes, Katie Couric, Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live, Sling Media, Sarah Palin, Copyright Royalty Board, Amy Poehler
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
CBS Labs
, which has been testing new HD streaming products, has also rolled out a labs version of a new product called Social Viewing Room. The idea is that you show up to the site, pick a show that’s on right now, and watch it with your friends or whoever is there. You can comment, LOL or take quizzes for points. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/02/cbs-testing-social-viewing-room-watch-stuff-with-strangers-and-talk-during-the-show 10/2)
So far, the player is barely functional but interesting strategy none the less.
The Copyright Royalty Board has set rates that companies like Apple and Amazon must pay music publishers for each digital track they sell. And the rates, drum roll please, . . are the same as they were before: 9 cents per song. So everyone can breathe easy. iTunes won’t shut down! (Not that it ever was going to shut down, but it was a good story). (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/02/the-copyright-royalty-board-does-nothing-itunes-rates-remain-the-same 10/2)
Sling Media, the creators of a hardware device that lets users stream their home television signal to an Internet connected device anywhere (with a software download), is preparing to launch their new video portal, Sling.com. The company first mentioned the new portal earlier this year but has been quiet since then. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/01/slingmedia-prepares-to-launch-their-video-portal-at-slingcom 10/1)
More than half of the viewers for NBC “Saturday Night Live’s” recent skits with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin watched the sketches on the Web, says a survey by Solutions Research Group. About 51% of viewers who have seen at least one of the skits are watching on the Internet. (Iwantmedia 10/2, http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/10/snl_palin_skits_seen_more_on_w.php 10/1)
NBC asked YouTube to pull a mashup ad yesterday from the Obama campaign, according to reports, that combines NBC and MSNBC news footage to imagine a future where John McCain wins the election in November. NBC also asked the campaign to quit using the ad, which has been posted on VoteForChange.com and has been racking up thousands of views on political sites such as DailyKos as an embed. (Cynopsis 10/2)
PBS is distributing its election special The Choice 2008 for free across multiple platforms the day after it airs on the Network on Oct. 14. It will be up on iTunes, available in segments on YouTube’s PBS channel or viewable on the Frontline page of PBS.org as well as local affiliate station sites. Meanwhile PBS’ Boston affiliate WGBH has agreed to allow Comcast to carry today’s VP debate (and each subsequent presidential debate) On Demand for New England customers. Finally a new tie-up between BBC World News and PBS will bring co-branded digital offerings to local PBS affiliate sites including video and audio news summaries. (Cynopsis 10/2)
For a lighter look at the simmering election coverage check out a new jointly run destination on FunnyorDie.com put together by the satirist at FunnyorDie, HuffingtonPost and 236.com. (Cynopsis 10/2)
MSNBC.com launched a new application for Windows Media Center users (which comes bundled with Vista Home Premium or Ultimate) designed to provide an immersive news experience. It aggregates video and graphic coverage of the latest Election news, top stories, and U.S. weather by zip code. It also enables users to build customized video playlists, browse by genre or search for video by keyword. (Cynopsis 10/2)
National Public Radio launched its own social network dubbed the NPR Community. It provides a forum for both users and NPR editors to expand upon stories they are working on, allowing members to view popular stories and comment on posts. Create a public profile to help attract similar-thinking friends by featuring your favorite NPR shows, music, movies or books. (Cynopsis 10/2)
The Hollywood Reporter says AOL Money & Finance will use Bloomberg video clips daily through a new deal brokered by Time Warner. The Hollywood Reporter (10/1)
NBC.com claims September was a record-breaking month for the site with nearly 25 million uniques, shattering the previous record of 17.4 million according to Omniture data. The site also posted a record 28.8 million short-form video streams, besting the previous high of 22.4 million. (Cynopsis 10/2)
Disney.com and DisneyChannel.com scored record online traffic following Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life on Deck” weekend premiere event, which used on air promotions to drive viewers to the sites. Viewers tuned into part one on Sept. 26 at 8p on Disney Channel and were then directed to go to Disney.com to watch part two, available exclusively online prior to its on-air debut the following night. During the period nearly 800,000 The Suite Life on Deck videos were streamed at Disney.com, which drew a record 4.2 million daily unique visitors on Sept. 27. (Cynopsis 10/2)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: iPhone, Google, Nokia, Warner Music Group, Android, Sony BMG, AppStore, Universal Music Group
Nokia announced their Comes With Music program last month, a media download offering with backing from Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, and Universal Music Group. The system, along with the Nokia Music Store, has about 5 million tracks currently available and Nokia has announced the Music PC client for easy downloads. You can drag CDs into the application for immediate ripping. Comes With Music streamlines that process by offering unlimited over-the-air downloads your first year of phone ownership - provided you own a CWM handset - and the music remains in your possession after your contract is up. The contract lasts from 12 to 18 months and you enable the service by entering a code that will come with your new phone. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/10/02/nokias-comes-with-music-on-the-5800-nokias-attempt-to-out-itunes-itunes 10/2)
Qik has announced that its video streaming software will come pre-installed on Nokia’s just-launched 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen phone - the first deal of its kind for the still-young startup. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/02/qik-to-come-pre-loaded-on-new-nokia-phone 10/2)
Google has posted some more information about how search has been integrated into the first Android-powered phone, the T-Mobile G1, which goes on sale October 22. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/02/is-search-the-best-user-interface-for-mobile 10/2)
News is in the eye of the beholder. CBS is catching flak over inappropriate content users are uploading via its new citizen journalist iPhone app CBSeyemoblie, reports AdAge. The COO of BrandContent, the ad agency which powers advertising on the service, discovered multiple photos and videos of various unsavory acts. CBS promises to redouble its effort to police the uploads. (Cynopsis 10/2)
In iPhone news, Adobe is ready to finally release a version of Flash for the iPhone if it passes the App Store screening process, according to AppleInsider. (Cynopsis 10/2)
Who needs a Nintendo Wii when you’ve got an iPhone? The Social Gaming Network, which released a Wii-like golfing game for the iPhone two weeks ago, has now followed up with a bowling game. As with iGolf (which has already been downloaded more than 900,000 times), iBowl uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to detect a player’s swing. You can twist your wrist to give the ball spin or direct it to the pins. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/02/from-the-makers-of-igolf-comes-ibowl-just-dont-drop-that-iphone 10/2)
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