Filed under: Feature | Tags: Children and Youth, Holidays, Home, People and Society, Programming, Reality-Free, Television, Thanksgiving
HAPPY THANKSGIVING: TURKEY DAY FREAK-OUT MOMENT
There is no Daily Marauder edition tomorrow Thursday November 27th or Friday November 28th. In honor of this Thanksgiving, I bring you the top Thanksgiving meltdown moment as offered up from Cast TV’s Marie DeOrio. I know it looks like Aliens-meets-chicken, but I assure you, it’s a turkey. Happy gobble day all.
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Screen Actors Guild, Telepictures, Television, Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Television Distribution
With Screen Actors Guild saying it might strike by mid-January, the threat is causing studio executives to produce broadcast network pilot projects under AFTRA contracts, per Variety. So far, SAG has not said when it will send members a strike authorization which would take approximately three weeks to complete and need a 75% approval of those members voting. Many actors are members of both SAG and AFTRA and if SAG does go on strike, those actors would be legally required to work on shows produced under an AFTRA contract. In July, AFTRA ratified a new three-year primetime agreement, despite strong opposition from SAG. (Cynopsis 11/26)
Nearing the end of their three-year commitment, Discovery Communications and former “Nightline” host Ted Koppel have decided to go their separate ways. In announcing the move, Discovery said that the parting was “amicable” and that its Discovery Channel “continues its focus on long-running series and specials in the … core nonfiction genres and emphasizes nonnews content that has a longer shelf life and appeals to audiences around the world.” Mediaweek (11/25)
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution reupped TMZ, produced by Telepictures Productions through the 2010-2011 season on the Fox Television Stations. The entertainment magazine show will air on all of FOX O&Os including WNYW/New York, KTTV/Los Angeles and WFLD/Chicago. Currently season to date TMZ delivers separate 1.4 ratings among W18-34, W18-49 and W25-54. (Cynopsis 11/26)
The NBA and iTV enabler Jacked have entered into a partnership to produce interactive pregame, in-game and post -game sportscasts on team, regional sports networks and local telecaster sites. Jacked will provide its SportsTop widgets directly to NBA teams to offer through team sites, regional sports networks and local telecasters sites. Jacked will geo-manage and serve national, regional and local contextual ads from the platform. Content includes NBA video, photos, statistics, news, ticketing, merchandise, games, as well as live interactive blogs and chat. (Cynopsis 11/26)
BET founder Robert L. Johnson and ION Media are teaming up for a new cable TV channel devoted to black-themed, urban programming. Johnson and ION believe the channel, to be called Urban Television, will qualify for must-carry status under a “share-time” license. TVNewsday (free registration) (11/25) , Multichannel News (11/25)
In a follow up to Tuesday’s story about Alan Colmes departing Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes program after 12 years, according to the New York Times, Sean Hannity will become the sole host of the political debate show. The network has not confirmed this report and Colmes will continue with announced plans to remain with the network as a commentator, develop a possible new weekend program and host his weekday radio show. (Cynopsis 11/26)
Ashton Kutcher’s production company Katalyst Films has two projects in development for The CW, cites Variety. The first is an ensemble drama about the dark side of the modeling industry called The Beautiful Life about male and females models living together in New York City. The second project is the 60m Chloe Gamble based on the upcoming book The One about a young beauty queen from Texas who moves to Hollywood with her family looking for fame and fortune. Both shows will be produced by CBS Paramount TV where Katalyst Films has an overall deal for scripted TV projects. (Cynopsis 11/26)
CBS is developing a spinoff of its successful series NCIS, reports EW.com. The network has plans to introduce new characters this season that will then spin off into a new show perhaps by next fall. (Cynopsis 11/26)
The business unit of Cox Communications is on track to bring in about $855 million in revenue in 2008, and it is looking to break the $1 billion revenue threshold by 2010, according to Phil Meeks, vice president of Cox Business. Meeks said the company, which has relied on small firms in the past, would branch out with midsize enterprises in the next few years. Light Reading (11/25)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Adobe Flash Player, Hulu, Joost, Sling Media, Slingbox, Television channel, Television program, Twitter
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Sling Media
, the company behind the popular Slingbox TV-streaming hardware devices, has opened the gates to its video portal Sling.com. The site pits Sling directly against Joost and Hulu (though Hulu is a Sling partner), allowing users to stream a variety of television shows and movies for free through an intuitive Flash player. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/25/sling-opens-up-its-hulu-competitor-to-the-public 11/25)
About three weeks ago, Facebook and Twitter ended several weeks of serious talks, in which Facebook was offering to acquire Twitter for $500 million of its stock, which also included a cash component. (http://kara.allthingsd.com/20081124/when-twitter-met-facebook-the-acquisition-deal-that-fail-whaled 11/24)
Hulu began adding full-length, high-definition movies, TV shows and other content to its gallery this week in its “Hulu for The Holidays” campaign. Episodes of “30 Rock,” “The Office” and “Heroes” are among the first programs Hulu has put up. Broadcasting & Cable (11/25)
ffwd (pronounced “fast forward”) released an application allowing microbloggers to post videos found on any website directly to Twitter using a bookmarklet. Posted videos are also now available as passive recommendations in a Twitter-like stream on the user’s ffwd channel page. Once a user adds their Twitter account to their ffwd profile, they can then post to Twitter – essentially creating a virtual television channel based on videos they’ve shared, saved, and tweeted, as well as any ffwd channels they’ve subscribed to. (Cynopsis 11/26)
Universal Music Group entered into an agreement to provide music videos from bands such as The Killers and Ludacris to social communication company’s Meebo‘s MediaBar ad platform. Meebo users will be able to view videos from the artists to promote their new albums. To augment the promotions, UMG will embed Meebo Rooms on official artist pages to enable real-time social interactions among fans. (Cynopsis 11/26)
Mad Men it ‘aint, but it is full of hilarious Madison Avenue flavor. MyDamn Channel launched its newest series Agency of Record from You Suck at Photoshop’s Matt Bledsoe and Troy Hitch. Matt and Troy play Dave and Rick, associate creative directors of WTF Worldwide. (Cynopsis 11/26)
The consumer electronics and entertainment media businesses may suffer a setback in sales this Christmas as 6 out of 10 consumers say they will cut back spending on both categories, according to a new survey from management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. The reasons for not buying vary depending on the item. Consumers prefer to delay purchasing many gadgets that have upgrades planned rather than buy cheaper versions now. Subscriptions including broadband Internet access, mobile phone plans, pay-TV and content subscriptions such as Netflix are the most insulated from the economic downturn. 63% of respondents expect their spending to be about the same next year as it was this past year, and 9% plan to spend even more. (Cynopsis 11/26)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Bathroom, Dynamism, Gizmine, Japanese language, Language, Laptop, Linguistics, Social Sciences
TECHNOLOGY
Looking for the poking box? A bathroom speaker shaped like a bloody tear? A Mir:ror? You are totes in luck because the boys who brought you Dynamism, the number-one source for cool little Japanese laptops, are pleased to offer Gizmine, the number-one source for crazy Japanese design. (http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/11/26/gizmine-all-the-crazy-japanese-crap-you-could-want-in-one-sexy-website 11/26)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Alan Colmes, Fox News, Fox News Channel, Hannity & Colmes, National Football League, Sean Hannity, Steven Seagal, Television
When the National Football League broadcasts next week’s San Diego-Oakland game to theaters in three cities, it will mark the first time that the league has used 3-D technology during a live event. The game will be shot using special cameras and broadcast via satellite. CNET (11/24)
ABC Family on Dec. 5 begins a three-day marathon featuring the first four “Harry Potter” movies. The programming stunt, all part of the network’s 25 Days of Christmas event, includes an extended edition of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” as well as a first look at this summer’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” Multichannel News (11/24)
The CW Network announced its new official Sunday evening schedule starting November 30: first season episodes of Everybody Hates Chris at 5p and The Game at 530p; two second season back-to-back episodes of The Drew Carey Show from 6-7p; first season episodes of Jericho at 7p; and MGM movies at 8p. Film titles from MGM include The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course on November 30 as well as Spaceballs, Carrie, Throw Momma From the Train, Mr. Mom and many others. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Alan Colmes, the liberal co-host of Hannity & Colmes for 12 years will exit the show at the end of 2008. Colmes said in a statement he wants to “develop new and challenging ways to contribute to the growth of the network.” He will continue to be a left-leaning commentator for Fox News and host his Fox radio show. The network has not announced Colmes’ replacement to sit opposite Sean Hannity. (Cynopsis 11/25)
A&E Network began production on a new reality series Steven Seagal: Lawman based on the action movie star’s nearly twenty year on/off stint as a New Orleans crime fighter. The series will follow Seagal as he works as a fully-commissioned deputy with the Jefferson Parish County Sheriff’s Office. A&E will roll out the new show late next year. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Despite the growth on online video, Americans watch an average of 8 hours and 18 minutes of television each day, according to a study from Nielsen. That’s up substantially from a decade ago — before Internet video was part of the culture — when Americans watched an average of 7 hours and 15 minutes each day. Los Angeles Times (free registration) (11/25) , The New York Times/The Associated Press (11/24)
Comcast will launch The Comcast Network by the end of the year in the Philadelphia/Pittsburgh and Washington/Baltimore markets as a way to concentrate on more targeted public affairs and sports programming. The Comcast Network will take the place of CN8, a multiregional channel launched in 1996 that reaches more than 9 million households along the East Coast. Broadcasting & Cable (11/24)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Bryan Singer, Facebook, Google, Market share, Search, Search Engines, Social network service, Television
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ComScore released its October search-engine market share figures for the U.S. last night. Overall search volume grew 20.1 percent year-over-year to 12.6 billion queries, a decline in growth from the 25.5 percent pace we saw in September, but still quite healthy. Correspondingly, the annual growth in Google’s U.S. search volume slowed from 38.6 percent in September to 29.6 percent in October. Google still managed to eke out an overall market share gain of 0.2 point to 63.1 percent. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/25/google-gains-us-search-market-share-in-october-but-growth-slows 11/25)
Blockbuster has started offering customers a small box made by 2Wire that, when attached to a TV set, can play the company’s videos once they’ve been downloaded over a broadband line. The move, according to this report, is an attempt to blunt the success of competitors such as cable companies, with their vast on-demand offerings, and Netflix. The Washington Post/The Associated Press (11/25) , Reuters (11/25)
The production arm of Warner Home Video – Warner Premiere – will produce a series of original live action webisodes with top-shelf Hollywood director Bryan Singer, reports THR. The two parties are in talks to develop the cyberpunk sci-fi thriller “H+,” which picks up after a terrorist fries the brains of a segment of the population “jacking” into the net. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Facebook sees a bleak economy as all the more reason to press ahead with growth plans. The social-networking site is said to be gearing up to make acquisitions. Options could include sites in Brazil, Germany, India or Japan, where Facebook is yet to have a strong presence. (Iwantmedia 11/25, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_48/b4110084423202.htm 11/20)
YouTube has apparently changed all videos on its site to play in widescreen format. Because most videos on the site were originally uploaded in a ratio closer to 4:3 (the standard size used on non-HD televisions), most videos are playing with horizontal black bars on the side. Some videos (like this one
) are taking advantage of the full space, but are shrunk down to the normal size when they’re embedded elsewhere. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/24/youtube-goes-wide 11/24)
Online entertainment portal No Good TV christened its own new television production arm with the 8-part VH1 Classic One Hit Wonders. Hosted by NGTV’s own Carrie Keagan, the show re-imagines the well-worn countdown format with irreverent touches, high-end animation and innovative visual effects. VH1 Classic will premiere two new episodes each night beginning Dec. 1. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Fox Interactive Media’s gaming-themed IGN.com announced a series of production and distribution agreements with nearly a dozen publishers to distribute original IGN video productions across their sites including Black20 Digital Studios, Machinima.com, CollegeHumor, ScrewAttack.com, g-NET and Comedy.com. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Video online and on mobile devices remain additive to the overall pie as total viewing hours continue to rise across all available platforms, according to Nielsen‘s Q3 A2/M2 report. Television remained the dominant choice for video consumption as viewers watched more than 142 hours/month – 5 hours more than last year. The amount of hours audiences spent watching timeshifted TV rose by 34% year-over-year as DVR penetration increased to 27%. Major online events such as the Olympics, Major League baseball and political conventions contributed dramatically to the growth of online video usage. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Monthly Time Spent in Hours: Minutes – 3Q 2008
K2-11 T12-17 A18-24 A25-34 A35-44 A45-54 A55-64 A65+
Watching TV in the home* 108:34 110:59 108:36 133:00 134:51 159:23 175:18 196:23
Watching Timeshifted TV* 5:25 4:55 4:36 10:04 8:15 7:19 6:32 3:44
Using the Internet** 5:38 12:48 12:59 28:40 37:56 35:24 35:05 26:39
Watching Video on Internet** 2:05 2:55 3:57 3:21 2:44 2:17 1:37 1:07
Mobile Video Subscribers n/a 4:20 3:15 4:20 3:37 2:10 2:53 n/a
Watching Video on a
Mobile Phone
Video Audience Composition by Age – 3Q 2008
K2-11 T12-17 A18-24 A25-34 A35-44 A45-54 A55-64 A65+
On TV* 11% 7% 7% 13% 14% 17% 14% 17%
On the Internet** 7% 9% 8% 15% 19% 20% 6% 7%
On Mobile Phones n/a 18% 15% 32% 20% 10% 6% 1%
Video Audience Composition by Gender – 3Q 2008
F2+ M2+
On TV* 54% 46%
On the Internet** 55% 45%
On Mobile Phones 40% 60%
FOOTNOTES FOR ALL CHARTS:
Source for all charts: The Nielsen Company Check the Nielsen blog for footnote references
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Apple, iPhone, m.tivo.com, Mobile phone, Nokia, Samsung Electronics, TiVo, YouTube
TiVo is introducing a mobile site at m.tivo.com (warning: link may not be live yet) that will let subscribers with Internet-connected DVRs schedule their TiVo’s remotely from their phones, just like they can today via their laptops. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/11/24/program-your-tivo-from-your-cell-phone 11/24)
Samsung Electronics has reached an accord with InterDigital over the latter’s patent for 3G-network technology for which the company has earned a total of $1.5 billion in licensing fees from companies including Apple and Research in Motion. The agreement, which came just as the International Trade Commission was set to decide whether Samsung should be allowed to import its Instinct and Blackjack II 3G-equipped cell phones, means that Nokia remains the only major phone maker without a licensing deal with InterDigital. The Wall Street Journal (11/25)
Apple’s iPhone infringes on a patent EMG Technology holds for navigating the Web over cell phones, EMG claims in a suit filed in a Texas federal court Monday. EMG argues that its patent refers to an “apparatus and method of manipulating a region on a wireless device screen for viewing, zooming and scrolling Internet content,” and includes 76 individual claims. Macworld (11/24)
Online video network Blip.tv added support for the iPhone enabling users to view blip videos directly from their phones. Blip.tv’s new embed code now allows show creators to utilize the same embeddable player code they use for delivering videos to desktop PCs. This opens up the hottest new video platform for independent producers who go reach beyond bite size clips. Outside of Apple’s integration with YouTube, distributing web video shows to the iPhone has been impossible because the platform still doesn’t support Adobe’s Flash format. (Cynopsis 11/25)
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