Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

CBS Sports has just released the final tally of their traffic figures for this year’s NCAA March Madness, and the results are pretty impressive. Over the course of the tournament, viewers watched a total of 8.6 million total hours of streamed audio and video (a 75% increase over the 4.92 million last year). 7.52 million visitors used the on Demand video player, versus 4.76 million last year. During the Final Four (semifinal) round and championship games, viewers watched 515,000 total hours of content, which was a 51% increase over last year’s stats. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/09/viewers-flock-to-cbs-sports-for-march-madness-86-million-total-hours-watched 4/9)

Google and Universal Music Group annouced the upcoming launch of VEVO, a site billed as ‘premium online music hub built for consumers, advertisers, and content owners..’. The site, which will launch later this year, will include UMG’s catalog of music videos, and will be powered by YouTube’s technology. The two companies will share advertising revenue generated by the site. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/09/youtube-and-umg-team-for-vevo-premium-music-service 4/9)

Worldwide visitors to Twitter neared 10 million in February, up 700% in a year, reports comScore. Adults 35 and older are leading the trend. Specifically, 45-54 year olds are 36% more likely than average to visit Twitter, as many businesses sign up to use the service. (Iwantmedia 4/9, http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2009/04/twitter-traffic-surging.html 4/8)

Some young people are starting to feel conflicted about staying in constant contact through social media outlets. “With Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo and Twitter, young adults struggle to keep up to avoid the consequences — being left out of the loop or becoming irrelevant.” (Iwantmedia 4/9, http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090408/ap_on_hi_te/tec_sociability_fatigue 4/8)

Showtime is offering Mixed Martial Arts fans a bit of interactivity with the PPV StrikeForce All Access bout on April 11. Fans who pony up $24.95 will have access to a simulcast video streaming interface providing 5 multiple camera angles. They will also be able to talk smack through a Facebook Connect integration. CDNs BitGravity and Episodic are powering the interactive stream. (Cynopsis 4/9)

VERY impressive.  A whole new way to watch a fight with multiple camera angles and side by side Facebook conversations?  Way to inspire a community around the sport.

The new Digg search, which Techcrunch wrote about last week with a screenshot, just went live. Small feature change, but it’ll have a big impact on Digg usability. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/09/new-digg-search-launches 4/9)

In a new comedic Web video, Zac Efron hosts a star-studded pool party that dissolves quickly when his rude uncle arrives. The Disney “High School Musical” star did the video for FunnyOrDie.com, the video site co-founded by Will Ferrell. (Iwantmedia 4/9, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090408/ap_en_ot/people_zac_efron_video 4/8)

Disney CEO Bob Iger and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes are at odds about the model for offering television shows online. Disney, which owns broadcaster ABC, plans to make TV shows available for free; Time Warner, which owns cable channels, supports a pay model. (Iwantmedia 4/9, http://www.nypost.com/seven/04092009/business/cast_aside_profit_163624.htm 4/9)

The Internet will overtake broadcast television as Europe’s most consumed form of media in June 2010 if current growth trends continue, according to research by Microsoft. Internet consumption in 2010 will average 14.2 hours per week, compared to 11.5 hours a week for TV. (Iwantmedia 4/9, http://www.brandrepublic.com/Discipline/Media/News/897321/European-internet-consumption-overtake-TV-14-months/ 4/8)

YouTube is selling advertisements against about 9% of its video views in the U.S., up from just 6% a year ago. In fact, Google’s video site is selling ads against more videos than its nearest competitor — MySpace parent Fox Interactive Media — has total views. (Iwantmedia 4/9, http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=135859 4/8)

The Web’s share of advertising dollars will approach 10% this year and will exceed 15% by 2013, says eMarketer. The Web’s “inherent trackability” is leading marketers to spend more on Internet ads, while spending less on ads in radio, newspapers and magazines. (Iwantmedia 4/9, http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/metrics/e3ic007c2c7c3c565c8ba683cc66ad4389a 4/8)