Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

ABC had nine out of the top ten most viewed television series for the month of February according to Nielsen VideoCensus (Which, it’s important to note, doesn’t track visits to Hulu.) Lost proved to be a juggernaut with 2.5 million unique viewers, up 41% over January. Lost also ranked number one in total streams with 48 million ­- up 20% from January. Dancing with the Stars (1.5 million unique viewers), Grey’s Anatomy (1.3 million), The Bachelor (962,000), Brothers & Sisters (801,000), Desperate Housewives (793,000) and Scrubs (655,000) ranked 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, respectively. (Cynopsis 3/16)

Yahoo is abandoning its forays into television-style online productions. Instead, the Internet company is focusing on producing brief, niche Web shows. Yahoo execs say they have found a sustainable model for making original video online, in part by not competing with TV. (Iwantmedia 3/16, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/technology/internet/16yahoo.html?_r=1 3/16)

Ali Landry is the hostess of “Spotlight to Nightlight,” a series on celebrity mothers.

Analysis: More television viewers are flocking to Web streaming, but the broadcast networks aren’t getting anywhere near the revenues that they would earn from traditional TV commercials. If too many people switch to services like Hulu, TV’s business model “could collapse.” (Iwantmedia 3/16, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001234.html?categoryid=2522&cs=1 3/13)

Facebook unveiled some new targeting filters on its ad platform last week allowing advertisers to now target users by language and geographical location including individual metro areas made up of multiple cities. Previously in order to target based on language, advertisers were forced to specify countries they wanted to target. (Cynopsis 3/16)

A panel of comedians and tech execs at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, contend that online video is still a long way from destroying traditional television. “Everyone is still trying to figure out” webisodes, says B.J. Novak of NBC’s “The Office.” (Iwantmedia 3/16, http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/03/15/sxsw-web-video-isnt-killing-tv/ 3/15)

B.J. Novak, who plays Ryan Howard on NBC

Steven Johnson, author of “Everything Bad is Good for You,” says during an appearance at SXSW that he sees a bright future for news. Consumers will benefit from the new “ecosystem of news” — encompassing Digg, Twitter, Facebook, as well as professional journalists. (Iwantmedia 3/16, http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10196386-93.html 3/13)

Tim Armstrong’s jump from Google to AOL could create a challenge for the Internet search giant in its effort to win big advertisers. Google’s exiting top ad exec has a rep for building strong client relationships. His sales team at Google will find their jobs “more difficult without him.” (Iwantmedia 3/16, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123715363111434391.html 3/16)

The hiring of Google’s Tim Armstrong to run AOL is prompting speculation that a long-awaited separation of the troubled Internet unit from Time Warner is finally near. An announcement is expected “in the next 12 months.” Ultimately, Armstrong will “run a public company.” (Iwantmedia 3/16, http://www.smartmoney.com/news/ON/?story=ON-20090313-000813-1348&hpadref=1 3/13)

AOL’s People Networks division has today announced the launch of social networking site Bebo, which it acquired almost exactly one year ago, in several key European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/16/aol-rolls-out-bebo-in-several-european-countries/ 3/16)

Vancouver-based web 2.0 movie fan site MovieSet, a portal that allows users to track the development and creation of feature films, is gearing up for its first live streaming event. MovieSet will be streaming live from the set of mixed martial arts movie Death Warrior beginning today providing embeddable interviews with the filmmakers and actual footage from the set. (Cynopsis 3/16)

If you can’t beat ‘em (Hulu, that is), turn to other content providers. Socially-oriented online entertainment platform Boxee has added Blip.tv shows to its line up. (Cynopsis 3/16)

U.S. visits to Facebook grew 149% in February compared with the same month a year earlier, according to Hitwise. That pushed Facebook’s market share among users in the United States visiting social networking sites to 36% last month – still behind MySpace, which enjoys a 52% market share despite a 28% percentage drop. MySpace also continues to lead in time spent among the top 5 social networking sites with an average 29:38 per users per month. (Cynopsis 3/16)

Market share of U.S. Internet visits to top five social networking Web sites
Rank   Name          Feb. 2008  Jan. 2009 Feb. 2009 Y/Y percent change
1     MySpace         72.92%      57.08%     52.21%          -28%
2     Facebook        14.46%      31.15%     36.03%          149%
3     Tagged             0.65%       2.33%       2.47%          280%
4     MyYearbook      1.17%       1.67%       1.63%            39%
5     Classmates       1.03%       0.80%       0.82%           -20%
Source: Hitwise

Average U.S. time spent among top five social networking Web sites
Rank Name     February 2008     February 2009    Y/Y percent change
1       MySpace          30:07                29:38                   -2%
2       Facebook         21:00                22:12                     6%
3       Tagged            24:56                26:22                     6%
4       MyYearbook     31:35                25:22                  -20%
5       Classmates      10:19                11:14                     9%
Source: Hitwise