Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Business, NBC, News Corporation, Philippe Dauman, Sumner Redstone, Time Warner Cable, Viacom, Weather Channel
TV viewers will see more of Al Roker on weekday mornings as he signed on to host a new program for The Weather Channel called Wake Up With Al. The 60m program, with TWC’s Stephanie Abrams as co-host, will begin each weekday at 6a starting this summer. Wake Up With Al will offer an in-depth look at the day’s weather and Roker will appear in the studio, chatting with guests and viewers as well as in the field, reporting on weather where it happens. (Cynopsis 4/30)
NBC picked up another season of The Celebrity Apprentice slated for Spring 2010 from Mark Burnett Productions in association with Trump Productions LLC. Currently, this season The Celebrity Apprentice is averaging a 3.5/9 among A18-49 with 8.6 million overall viewers. (Cynopsis 4/30)
Viacom says its first-quarter profit fell 34%, hurt by falling advertising and entertainment revenue. But CEO Philippe Dauman is pointing to signs of an ad turnaround, a critical factor for the company’s cable assets. “Over the past few weeks we have seen the ad market stabilize.” (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090430/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_viacom 4/30)
Sumner Redstone says he has no plans to step down anytime soon or give up his controlling positions in CBS or Viacom. “I have no intention of dying.” Also, newspapers are one business “I’d never be in.” (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE53S9C520090429 4/29)
Peter Chernin is keeping his cards close to his vest about his post-News Corp. plans, but dismisses talk that he is being wooed by Viacom. “Nothing, no conversations,” says News Corp.’s president and COO. (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/04/panel.html 4/29)
Time Warner Cable during the first quarter beat analysts’ expectations by adding 36,000 basic-video subscribers, 121,000 digital-video customers, 225,000 high-speed Internet subscribers and 166,000 phone lines. The country’s second-largest cable provider reported that revenue was up 5%, to $4.4 billion, but net profit fell to $164 million. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (4/30) , OneTRAK (4/29) , Reuters (4/29)
Powered by its “Waking the Baby Mammoth” special, National Geographic Channel recorded its best April performance during prime time. From March 30 to April 26, the network averaged 445,000 total viewers as well as a 0.28 rating in the 25-to-54 demographic group, the latter of which was a 17% gain. Multichannel News (4/29)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Apple, Hulu, iPhone, ITunes Store, News Corporation, Providence Equity Partners, Software release life cycle, Twitter
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
As Hulu continues its spectacular rise (it is the No. 3 video site in the U.S. and is closing in on No. 2), it just got major buy-in from yet another major media company. Disney is now an investor, joining News Corp and NBC (along with private equity firm Providence Equity Partners). Each of the three media companies now reportedly own 27 percent 
of Hulu. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/30/disney-buys-into-hulu-youtube-should-be-worried/ 4/30)
A future version of iTunes, which was included in the beta version of an iPhone software update sent to developers, included a reference to Blu-ray playback in the “About iTunes” section, according to reports. The news indicates that Apple is preparing to make its applications and hardware compatible with Blu-ray, although the company has not released any statements to verify this speculation. InformationWeek (4/30) , Digital Trends (4/29
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes says his company is working with several distributors on its TV Everywhere concept and will begin testing it sometime during the second half of the year. TV Everywhere, theoretically, will allow subscription-paying cable customers to watch their favorite shows on a number of other media platforms, including those that are mobile. Reuters (4/29)
Twitter has rolled out search functionality in a more prominent area of the site: the right nav bar. The functionality was originally only available to select users but now has been rolled out to everyone. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/30/twitter-brings-search-to-all/ 4/30)
To build buzz for MTV‘s Justin Timberlake-produced reality show The Phone, Fanscape has launched an interactive Twitter-based game on MTV’s Twitter page. Similar to the popular kids’ game “Telephone,” Fanscape tweets MTV’s audience weekly with abstract messages, asking them to change one word and retweet the message to create progressively funnier conversations. (Cynopsis 4/30)
Google has just announced that it has become the default location provider service in Firefox, which means beginning in the latest Firefox Beta (available here) users will be able to update their location from their web browser without having to install an extra plugins or programs through Google. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/30/google-becomes-default-location-provider-for-firefox/ 4/30)
Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp says it is in talks to buy Yahoo’s online-dating business, after posting a first-quarter loss due to advertising woes. “We would love to have Yahoo Personals,” Diller says. IAC already owns Match.com, the Web’s largest online personals service. (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124100716278968323.html 4/30)
Sony is making more of its films available for free on Crackle.com, the company’s online movie and television video site, adding “Spider-Man 2″ and other titles as it looks to attract more viewers and advertisers. The latest additions specifically target younger males. (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002988.html?categoryid=1237&cs=1 4/29)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, App Store, Apple, Blackberry, iPhone, Microsoft, Smartphone, Verizon Wireless
Microsoft is denying reports that it is working on a smartphone for Verizon Wireless to rival the Apple iPhone. “Microsoft is not going into the phone hardware business,” says a spokesman for the software giant. “We’re deepening our relationship with our hardware partners.” (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217200733 4/29)
Good news, BlackBerry users! Never again will you need to kludge around in your browser just to dig up a number or determine who’s behind the number that just called. Following the success of their iPhone and Android applications, WhitePages will soon be announcing the upcoming availability of a native BlackBerry application. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/04/30/whitepages-bringing-their-mobile-app-to-blackberry-devices/ 4/30)
Yesterday, Techcrunch talked a bit about how some companies are clearly trying to capitalize on the Swine Flu craze that is sweeping the nation. Naturally, someone just had to make an iPhone app. And the winner is IntuApps, which has Swine Flu Tracker, waiting for approval from Apple before it’s released into the App Store. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/30/want-to-avoid-swine-flu-theres-an-app-for-that-too/ 4/30)
We’ve reported in the past on how Apple has not only been late on payments to iPhone app developers, but has also neglected to pay some developers for their app sales at the store entirely. We thought that perhaps our post might call Apple’s attention to the problem. Apparently, developers complaints have gone unheard at Apple and now they are so upset that some of them are threatening to sue Apple for breach of contract. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/30/iphone-app-developers-threaten-to-sue-apple-over-late-payments/ 4/30)
Acer hopes to bring a smartphone to market this year, one of several devices the computer maker is building using Google’s Android open-source operating system, CEO Gianfranco Lanci said Wednesday. Lanci added that it was “too early to say” if Acer would install Android in a netbook, although he did term the software “very, very good for communication and Web access and so on.” PCWorld/IDG News Service (4/29)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Business, Facebook, Games, Sarah Lacy, TechCrunch, Twitter, United States, Zynga
Zynga, the online gaming publisher, is making a ton of money. Just how much? Well, earlier reports put revenue at something around $50 million, but some new numbers obtained by Sarah Lacy suggests that it’s closer to $100 million. And clearly, it’s accelerating. We’re hearing that the run rate for 2009 may even be well above that. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/29/zynga-pushing-nine-figures-in-revenues-thanks-to-micro-transactions/ 4/29)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Apple, Business, Digital television, Home automation, Recession, Semiconductor, Semiconductor industry, Wall Street Journal
In a major shift from industry norms, Apple has begun creating an in-house chip-design team, hiring engineers and other experts from the semiconductor industry. The company hopes that by taking control of its own silicon designs, it will be better able to introduce new features and keep details of its technologies secret from outside chip suppliers. The Wall Street Journal (4/30)
Home-automation systems, a 237,000-unit market in 2007, will grow to 2.8 million by 2011 and on to 4 million by 2013, according to ABI Research. In fact, ABI said that the only segment of the home-automation market that will be significantly affected by the recession is the relatively mature luxury portion, in which systems can go for $50,000 or more. CEPro.com (4/29)
LG is introducing 19- and 22-inch versions of the new M7WD digital-TV monitors. The displays, available only in the U.K., feature 1920 x 1080 resolution, 20,000:1 contrast ratio, a 170-degree viewing angle and the company’s signature red detailing. Pocket-lint.co.uk (4/29)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: ESPN, Federal Communications Commission, Fox Broadcasting Company, National Football League, NFL Network, Simpsons, Supreme Court of the United States, United States
Football fans flocked to watch the 2009 NFL Draft, with the NFL Network, ESPN and ESPN2 gauging a record 39 million viewers, based on data from Nielsen. This year’s viewership number equates to approximately 2.5 million more tuning in from the previous year and also breaks the 2007 record of 38 million viewers. (Cynopsis 4/28)
Beginning next week, FOX is moving its newer animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up out from under The Simpsons‘ shadow on Sundays to 7p followed by reruns of American Dad at 730p. The final episodes of King of the Hill’s last season will fill the 830p time period following The Simpsons. (Cynopsis 4/28)
(Below) It’s official. I’m outside the target demo age range. Now, I officially feel bad for watching The Hills…
MTV serves up a variety pack of new programming covering different genres such as reality, fashion, sports, comedy, animation as well as a live afternoon show. MTV continues to aim its programming to the millennial generation, those born between 1980-2000, with shows that are “aspirational, escapist and optimistic.” Nine new series join MTV’s lineup. (Cynopsis 4/28)
Despite a strong push by TNT with its coverage of the NBA playoffs, USA Network maintained its dominance in the weekly ratings race among ad-supported cable nets. For the week that ended April 26, USA averaged 3.18 million total viewers; TNT finished with 2.93 million viewers and finished No. 1 in the 18-to-34, 18-to-49 and 25-to-54 demographic groups. Mediaweek (4/28)
The U.S. Supreme Court says that the Federal Communications Commission may penalize even the occasional use of certain expletives on the air. The court’s ruling says the FCC — prompted by Cher’s use of the F-word during a 2002 live broadcast — is justified in fining broadcasters. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/04/28/ST2009042801819.html 4/29)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Facebook, Facebook Connect, Mark Zuckerberg, Myspace, News Corporation, Sheryl Sandberg, Social network, Twitter
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
More than 60% of Twitter users stop using the microblogging service a month after joining, according to Nielsen Online. “Twitter has enjoyed a nice ride over the last few months, but it will not be able to sustain its meteoric rise without establishing a higher level of user loyalty.” (Iwantmedia 4/29, http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090428/tc_afp/usitcompanyinternettwitternielsen 4/28)
Bravo is tapping into the hottest social networks to help fans participate in The Real Housewives of New York City finale. On Tuesday, May 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, fans can utilize Twitter, Facebook Connect and live mobile chat integrations on BravoTV.com to interact directly with their favorite Housewives live and the ladies will respond in kind during the finale. (Cynopsis 4/29)
MTV is joining forces with both Facebook and Twitter for its new “The Alexa Chung Show.” The show will be similar in format to MTV’s former “TRL.” Audiences — whether on the set or watching from home — will be asked to tweet their reaction to guests while the show is on the air. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002926.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1 4/28)
IAC/InterActiveCorp CEO Barry Diller is stockpiling cash and says he aims to “spend it intelligently.” Speaking at the USA Today CEO Forum, he says Facebook is “the real deal.” However, “nobody can buy Facebook now.” Also, Web video will evolve “just like the movie business did.” (http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2009-04-28-diller-ceo-forum_N.htm 4/29)
Facebook is on a “clear path to be cash-flow positive next year,” says COO Sheryl Sandberg. One indication that 2009 is an important year: Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s 24-year-old founder and CEO, has committed to wearing a tie everyday to the office, she adds. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aKLGItgfmt48 4/28)
With its new management team, News Corp.’s MySpace “looks more like a media and entertainment portal,” observers say. If MySpace comes to define itself that way, the site could incorporate social networking like Facebook, but with a focus on “consuming entertainment.” (http://www.thewrap.com/article/2736 4/28)
Network’s digital arms are beginning to get serious about monetizing their content. NBC.com will launch a series of targetable segments starting in Q2 2009 enabling advertisers to target groups of users using a menu style selection matching their target to NBC audience clusters or custom segments. The network also unveiled a whole new suite of ad delivery solutions and products geared toward attracting premium brand ad dollars. (Cynopsis 4/29)
One way to possibly track the spread of the swine flu is to look at where spikes in search activity around related terms is occurring. Google already does this with its Google Flu Trends
, and has now extended that analysis on an experimental basis to Mexico with a site it just put up called Experimental Flu Trends For Mexico. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/29/searching-for-the-swine-flu/ 4/29)
The U.S. District Court for Massachusetts set aside a prior jury verdict against content delivery network Limelight, stating that Limelight doesn’t in fact infringe upon Akamai‘s CDN patents. Limelight hopes to reverse expenses of about $66 million saved for potential damages and interest in the case. Akamai promised to appeal the ruling. (Cynopsis 4/29)
Top U.S. Online Video Properties by Videos Viewed -March 2009
Property Videos (000) Share (%) of Videos
Total Internet 14,468,345 100.0
Google Sites 5,919,530 40.9
Fox Interactive Media 437,098 3.0
Hulu 380,102 2.6
Yahoo! Sites 334,724 2.3
Microsoft Sites 288,239 2.0
Viacom Digital 277,753 1.9
CBS Interactive 191,686 1.3
Turner Network 167,323 1.2
Disney Online 125,248 0.9
AOL LLC 105,237 0.7
Source: comScore Video Metrix, Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks. Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video
Top U.S. Online Video Properties by Unique Viewers – March 2009
Property Unique Viewers Average Videos
(000) per Viewer
Total Internet 149,410 96.8
Google Sites 100,382 59.0
Fox Interactive Media 55,156 7.9
Yahoo! Sites 42,524 7.9
Hulu 41,564 9.1
CBS Interactive 35,400 5.4
Microsoft Sites 32,194 9.0
Viacom Digital 27,168 10.2
AOL LLC 22,349 4.7
Turner Network 19,644 8.5
Disney Online 12,965 9.7
Source: comScore Video Metrix, Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks. Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video
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