Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Hulu CEO Jason Kilar insists that the video site doesn’t cannibalize cable television. “The reality is actually different.” In fact, pay TV customers are increasing, he says. Also, Hulu has lured 49% more viewers since co-parent NBC began promoting it with commercials. (Iwantmedia 4/22, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aULJwPCFWsgE 4/22)

No more speculation or leaks, it’s official. As Techcrunch wrote yesterday, MySpace cofounder Chris DeWolfe will shortly be leaving the company. He’ll remain on board as a strategic advisor. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/22/confirmed-myspace-ceo-chris-dewolfe-steps-down/ 4/22)

Times are tough in the online advertising space. Yahoo reported a 78% drop in net income, which totaled $118 million for Q1 compared to $537 million a year earlier. Revenue dropped 13% to $1.58 billion, down from $1.8 billion Q1 2008. Double digit declines in display advertising and revenues from affiliated sites didn’t help. Even search revenue on the company’s owned-and-operated sites dropped by 3% year-over-year to $399 million. (Cynopsis 4/22)

Twittering actors and industry bloggers are threatening the role of the once mighty Variety as the premier source for Hollywood news. Nikki Finke’s blog is “the one to beat right now.” Still, actors, directors and producers are bypassing the press — and blogs — via Twitter feeds. (Iwantmedia 4/22, http://www.observer.com/2009/media/get-me-rewrite-once-variety-ruled-holywood-press-twittering-stars-and-cutthroat-blogs-hav 4/21)

The Public Broadcasting Service is launching its own video site, allowing online viewers to stream many of its top shows, including “Masterpiece Theater,” for free. PBS is joining the ranks of Hulu and YouTube — places for consumers who aren’t wedded to watching TV on a TV. (Iwantmedia 4/22, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-pbs22-2009apr22,0,5015075.story 4/22)

The real-time web is all the rage, with FriendFeed widely deploying live feeds earlier this month and Facebook working hard on bringing real-time streams to its homepage. Now YouTube is looking to get in on the action, and is currently testing a new feature dubbed ‘YouTube RealTime’, which allow users to see which of their friends are currently online, the videos they’re watching, and comments they’ve left. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/22/youtube-starts-experimenting-with-real-time-feeds/ 4/22)

Google is introducing Profiles, a service that allows people to create personal profiles that will turn up during Web searches for their name. The service is seen as Google’s attempt to take on Facebook and Twitter. “This improves Google’s relevancy in people search.” (Iwantmedia 4/22, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-04-21-google-profiles-smiths-search_N.htm 4/21)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the software maker isn’t interested in buying Yahoo and will focus on gaining market share in Internet search through innovation. Microsoft, however, is believed to be stepping up talks with Yahoo about a partnership to challenge Google. (Iwantmedia 4/22, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ap.6RXsXVGmE 4/22)

Global recorded music sales fell by more than 8% in 2008 to $18.42 billion, led by a sharp drop-off in the United States, according to the world music trade body IFPI. The music industry is facing the transition by consumers to cheaper digital song formats and rampant piracy. (Iwantmedia 4/22, http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE53K5VY20090421 4/21)