Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Al Gore, Barack Obama, Billy Ray Cyrus, Current Media, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus
With an audience-retention rate of nearly 100% since its premiere Oct. 20, freshman comedy “Rita Rocks” already has proved to be a buzz-worthy hit on Lifetime’s Tuesday-night schedule. The network has rewarded that performance by ordering seven more episodes, which brings the show’s first-season episode total to 20. TVWeek.com (11/10)
Barack Obama’s two daughters have been invited to appear on the Disney Channel kids show “Hannah Montana,” said actor Billy Ray Cyrus, the father of “Hannah” star Miley Cyrus. The show has asked Malia, 10, and Sasha Obama, 7, to take part in an episode around April. (Iwantmedia 11/11, http://www.accesshollywood.com/malia-and-sasha-obama-to-visit-hannah-montana_article_12106 11/11)
Discovery Channel showcases new episodes of Man vs. Wild beginning late January with adventurer Bear Grylls at the helm. Eight new hi-def episodes will follow Bear to challenging locations such as Transylvania, Turkey, Belize, the Yukon Peninsula, Dominican Republic and the Bandlands of Oregon. These new episodes, produced by Diverse Productions, continues season three which began last August. (Cynopsis 11/11)
History unveiled its new series Shadow Force last Friday at 10p, delivering 585,000 A18-49 viewers, 616,000 A25-54 viewers and 1.1 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 11/11)
There have been layoffs at Current Media, the cable network co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. A source close to Current told CNET News on Tuesday that 20 percent of the staff has been cut, and that some of the layoffs will take place now and others in January. Current had announced less than a day ago that it had partnered with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. to bring its network to Canada. (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10094101-36.html?tag=rtcol;relnews 11/11)
The notion that General Electric would like to sell NBC Universal has circulated for years. But the credit crisis has suddenly changed prospects of selling the unit. Analysts now don’t see the point in dumping NBC at a time when other GE businesses are struggling. (Iwantmedia 11/11, http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE4A92OC20081110 11/10)
The MLB Network secured carriage on Verizon’s FiOS TV service as part of a multi-year agreement. Verizon will add MLB to its Essentials and Extreme HD package when it debuts on Jan. 1 2009. Verizon will also offer the MLB Extra Innings package of out-of-market games to its subscribers. (Cynopsis 11/11)
The MGM HD channel has secured carriage through AT&T’s U-verse IPTV system. U-verse TV customers can receive MGM HD as part of the service’s HD Premium package, a new tier which can be added to an HD service subscription for an additional $5/month. (Cynopsis 11/11)
The FCC said it would seek additional information on the so-called “quiet period” being suggested around retransmission-consent agreements leading up to and following the country’s transition to all-digital TV signals. Cable companies have asked the commission to impose a quiet period that would start at the end of the year so that negotiations would not add to the confusion of the DTV switchover. Broadcasting & Cable (11/10)
Insight Communications turned in a stellar third-quarter performance, adding 9,300 basic-cable subscribers, 14,400 digital-cable customers, 20,500 high-speed data homes and 19,200 telephony subscribers. That solid growth in revenue-generating units helped the company earn $220 million in revenue during the quarter, a 17% improvement over the same period a year earlier. OneTRAK (11/10) , CED Magazine (11/2008)
Dish Network reported another bad quarter losing about 10,000 subscribers to end the quarter with 13.78 million overall subs. The company’s Q3 net income was $92 million – down 54% from Q3 2007. Like its competitor DirecTV, Dish warned it is likely to suffer from the loss of AT&T as distribution partner net year. AT&T subs accounted for around 17% of its gross subscriber additions so far in 2008. (Cynopsis 11/11)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: FremantleMedia, Google, Google Video, Hulu, Sesame Street, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Television program, YouTube
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
To encourage customers who may prefer digital downloads vs. hard copies, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) is shipping the DVD and Blu-ray of Pineapple Express with a code consumers can redeem on iTunes for a free digital copy of the film. While some previous SPHE titles have included digital copies playable on a PC or PSP, Pineapple Express marks the first release to include a download on iTunes, viewable on the ubiquitous iPod device. (Cynopsis 11/11)
Sesame Street is following young kids to digital platforms. The non-profit educational programmer announced new distribution points on iTunes, YouTube and Hulu: Twelve full-length episodes from Sesame Street’s record 35th season are now available on iTunes for $1.99/each; the show’s YouTube channel offers more than 100 clips; and a new channel on Hulu also offer 100+ clips including over 30 celebrity segments. In addition, the Workshop was awarded a Google Grant – a donation program awarding free AdWords advertising to select charitable organizations. When Google users search on keywords related to Sesame Workshop an ad will appear next to relevant search results. (Cynopsis 11/11)
“American Idol” producer FremantleMedia plans to produce programs to be shown exclusively on YouTube and to split the revenues with the Google video-sharing site. (Iwantmedia 11/11, http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE4A957620081110 11/10)
MGM entered into a deal with YouTube to stream full-length TV shows and films from its catalog in exchange for ad revenue generated from the content. The first of several planned channels is Impact, featuring action films that Comcast has been rotating on its VOD service including Bulletproof Monk, Ronin and The Magnificent Seven, along with vintage shows such as American Gladiators. Part of the appeal for MGM is to provide a repository users can upload copyrighted clips to, which the studio can, for once, benefit from financially. (Cynopsis 11/11)
With magazines, radio shows, online video and good-old TV, ESPN has done a masterly job of exporting its brand to as many media vehicles as possible. Now the company is stepping into the arena of original Web series with “Mayne Street,” which stars “SportsCenter” anchor Kenny Mayne. Advertising Age (11/10)
News Corp.’s MySpace has introduced Profile 2.0, allowing users to take control of several aspects of their presence on the online social network. A new drag-and-drop interface lets members rearrange entire profile modules in just about any way they please. (Iwantmedia 11/11, http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/11/10/myspace-launches-new-profile-options 11/10)
Facebook is testing a new ad format called “engagement ads” that blurs the line between marketing and social networking. The new ads prompt a user to do something within the ad. If the user completes the action, Facebook shares a notice about what the user has done with their “friends.” (Iwantmedia 11/11, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122637098500816351.html 11/11)
Google is adding voice and video chat to Gmail today, all in one fell swoop. When you are having an instant message conversation with someone over Gtalk, a video and voice option will appear (after you download this plugin
). (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/11/google-adds-voice-and-video-chat-to-gmail 11/11)
When she wasn’t busy helping to elect a president or deciding on the fate of her syndicated show, Oprah found time to lend her name to a theOprahstore.com, a digital version of her outlet for Harpo Studios-branded apparel and other goodies. (Cynopsis 11/11)
London based uberVU is about to launch a discussion-tracking product that will aggregate comments, Twitters, FriendFeed comments, trackbacks and other information about any URL (like a blog post) on the Internet. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/11/backtype-to-clean-up-the-blogtwitterfriendfeed-conversation-mess 11/11)
Dish Network announced an agreement with INVIDI Technologies to use the company’s Advatar technology to deliver addressable, targeted national and local television advertising to subscribers. Dish’s more advanced receivers support targeted advertising delivery, dynamic commercial insertion and reporting on broadcast television and cable networks. (Cynopsis 11/11)
British Sky Broadcasting is launching a service that will allow people to pay for and watch its satellite television content online, even if they are not subscribers. Opening up the online service is said to underscore former CEO James Murdoch’s mantra that “content is king.” (Iwantmedia 11/11, http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/sky-to-offer-content-to-online-subscribers-483387 11/10)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: AIM, AOL Instant Messenger, Apple, Facebook, iPhone, Myspace, Social network, Social network service
Loopt, one of a handful of location-aware iPhone social networks, is currently (meaning over the recent period, undefined by Apple) the 20th most popular free iPhone application, and is being downloaded more often than both Facebook and MySpace. Facebook is no. 25, and MySpace is no. 43. This is despite the fact that MySpace and Facebook heavily promote their iPhone apps to their 100 million plus users. Loopt doesn’t have that deep base of existing users to market to. All time, Loopt is the fourth most popular iPhone social networks after Facebook, MySpace and AIM. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/11/loopt-jumps-ahead-of-facebook-and-myspace-on-iphone-told-you 11/11)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Games, Microsoft, Netflix, Rock Band, Video game, XBox, Xbox 360, XBox Live
Microsoft on Nov. 19 will debut a completely new look for its Xbox Live gaming platform, which will include customizable avatars, an iPod-like display and easier viewing of Netflix downloads. Marc Whitten, general manager for the device, said the upgrades were meant to turn a somewhat static user interface into “a social media entertainment hub.” USA TODAY (11/10)
My interest from the media perspective is in the upgrade to the video marketplace (See below). If you’re an Xbox Gold member, you will instantly have access to over 12,000 movies to watch instantly via Netflix. I wonder how this will cannibalize Xbox’s existing video content available for points.
Viacom will pay the creators of the “Rock Band” video game bonuses exceeding $300 million as part of the 2006 acquisition of their company. “We may not have anticipated the payment would be that high,” said a Viacom spokeswoman. “But it’s based on what they have achieved.” (Iwantmedia 11/11, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a2SYAQng5w7U 11/10)
Lifetime is increasing its focus on casual gaming acquiring South Korean tween site Roiworld for an undisclosed amount, operator of the top digital dress-up site in Korea. The company will power a new Roiworld.com site for the U.S. in early 2009 and lend its expertise to the Lifetime Game Studios Korea to be headquartered in Seoul. (Cynopsis 11/11)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Apple, AppleTV, Best Buy, Circuit City, Consumer electronics, Dell, Netflix, New York Times
TECHNOLOGY
Blockbuster, which is facing competition from the likes of Netflix and AppleTV in the online-movie space, has announced that it is developing its own set-top box. The device, which will stream Blockbuster’s Web-based MovieLink service, is expected to be available for the holiday season. Electronista (11/10)
Circuit City‘s bankruptcy filing may be good news for rival Best Buy, which will face diminished competition for consumers’electronics dollars. But, according to this article, it is not good news for consumer-electronics manufacturers, who now will have less leverage with retailers such as Best Buy. The New York Times (11/10)
MyFC is a fuel cell company that is showing prototypes of fuel cells that could be built into cases a la the Mophie. The cells run on small hydrogen packs and can fold over surfaces. They could even be embedded inside cellphone bodies. (http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/11/11/bendable-ultra-thin-fuel-cells-coming-soon 11/11)
The consumer-spending forecast may be lackluster for this holiday season, but among those who are looking to make CE purchases, more shoppers are leaning toward Dell and Apple products, according to a ChangeWave Research survey. “It’s not easy to increase market share in one of the worst spending environments in years,” said research director Paul Carton, although Apple is drawing attention from consumers, with one-third of respondents saying they plan to buy an Apple laptop in the next 90 days, which is up from 29% in September. CNNMoney.com/Fortune (11/10) , CNET (11/10)
Reports of Dell’s developing a digital music player apparently were greatly exaggerated. In a blog posting, the company put the kibosh on the rumor, adding that “our strategy focuses on content offerings and delivery platforms that mix Zing software, remote access and pre-configured media bundles across all of our devices, including licensing agreements with entertainment distributors.” Reuters (11/11)
BlueKey Wireless Technologies has introduced the BK-UNV01 module, a device that allows Bluetooth-equipped cell phone users to control home electrical systems. The unit, which retails for just under $500, features seven programmable relays that can control nearly any low-voltage device. CEPro.com (11/10)
Blu-ray will be on an upward swing in the U.S. over the next two years, at which time 50% of households will own a Blu-ray player, according to Singulus Chief Executive Officer Stefan Bauster, who does not expect Germany to reach the same penetration level until 2011 or 2012. Blu-ray sales are on pace to reach $409.4 million in 2010. CEPro.com (11/10)
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