Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Adobe Flash Player, Hulu, Joost, Sling Media, Slingbox, Television channel, Television program, Twitter
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Sling Media
, the company behind the popular Slingbox TV-streaming hardware devices, has opened the gates to its video portal Sling.com. The site pits Sling directly against Joost and Hulu (though Hulu is a Sling partner), allowing users to stream a variety of television shows and movies for free through an intuitive Flash player. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/25/sling-opens-up-its-hulu-competitor-to-the-public 11/25)
About three weeks ago, Facebook and Twitter ended several weeks of serious talks, in which Facebook was offering to acquire Twitter for $500 million of its stock, which also included a cash component. (http://kara.allthingsd.com/20081124/when-twitter-met-facebook-the-acquisition-deal-that-fail-whaled 11/24)
Hulu began adding full-length, high-definition movies, TV shows and other content to its gallery this week in its “Hulu for The Holidays” campaign. Episodes of “30 Rock,” “The Office” and “Heroes” are among the first programs Hulu has put up. Broadcasting & Cable (11/25)
ffwd (pronounced “fast forward”) released an application allowing microbloggers to post videos found on any website directly to Twitter using a bookmarklet. Posted videos are also now available as passive recommendations in a Twitter-like stream on the user’s ffwd channel page. Once a user adds their Twitter account to their ffwd profile, they can then post to Twitter - essentially creating a virtual television channel based on videos they’ve shared, saved, and tweeted, as well as any ffwd channels they’ve subscribed to. (Cynopsis 11/26)
Universal Music Group entered into an agreement to provide music videos from bands such as The Killers and Ludacris to social communication company’s Meebo’s MediaBar ad platform. Meebo users will be able to view videos from the artists to promote their new albums. To augment the promotions, UMG will embed Meebo Rooms on official artist pages to enable real-time social interactions among fans. (Cynopsis 11/26)
Mad Men it ‘aint, but it is full of hilarious Madison Avenue flavor. MyDamn Channel launched its newest series Agency of Record from You Suck at Photoshop’s Matt Bledsoe and Troy Hitch. Matt and Troy play Dave and Rick, associate creative directors of WTF Worldwide. (Cynopsis 11/26)
The consumer electronics and entertainment media businesses may suffer a setback in sales this Christmas as 6 out of 10 consumers say they will cut back spending on both categories, according to a new survey from management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. The reasons for not buying vary depending on the item. Consumers prefer to delay purchasing many gadgets that have upgrades planned rather than buy cheaper versions now. Subscriptions including broadband Internet access, mobile phone plans, pay-TV and content subscriptions such as Netflix are the most insulated from the economic downturn. 63% of respondents expect their spending to be about the same next year as it was this past year, and 9% plan to spend even more. (Cynopsis 11/26)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Facebook, Google, Television, Search Engines, Social network service, Search, Bryan Singer, Market share
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ComScore released its October search-engine market share figures for the U.S. last night. Overall search volume grew 20.1 percent year-over-year to 12.6 billion queries, a decline in growth from the 25.5 percent pace we saw in September, but still quite healthy. Correspondingly, the annual growth in Google’s U.S. search volume slowed from 38.6 percent in September to 29.6 percent in October. Google still managed to eke out an overall market share gain of 0.2 point to 63.1 percent. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/25/google-gains-us-search-market-share-in-october-but-growth-slows 11/25)
Blockbuster has started offering customers a small box made by 2Wire that, when attached to a TV set, can play the company’s videos once they’ve been downloaded over a broadband line. The move, according to this report, is an attempt to blunt the success of competitors such as cable companies, with their vast on-demand offerings, and Netflix. The Washington Post/The Associated Press (11/25) , Reuters (11/25)
The production arm of Warner Home Video - Warner Premiere - will produce a series of original live action webisodes with top-shelf Hollywood director Bryan Singer, reports THR. The two parties are in talks to develop the cyberpunk sci-fi thriller “H+,” which picks up after a terrorist fries the brains of a segment of the population “jacking” into the net. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Facebook sees a bleak economy as all the more reason to press ahead with growth plans. The social-networking site is said to be gearing up to make acquisitions. Options could include sites in Brazil, Germany, India or Japan, where Facebook is yet to have a strong presence. (Iwantmedia 11/25, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_48/b4110084423202.htm 11/20)
YouTube has apparently changed all videos on its site to play in widescreen format. Because most videos on the site were originally uploaded in a ratio closer to 4:3 (the standard size used on non-HD televisions), most videos are playing with horizontal black bars on the side. Some videos (like this one
) are taking advantage of the full space, but are shrunk down to the normal size when they’re embedded elsewhere. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/24/youtube-goes-wide 11/24)
Online entertainment portal No Good TV christened its own new television production arm with the 8-part VH1 Classic One Hit Wonders. Hosted by NGTV’s own Carrie Keagan, the show re-imagines the well-worn countdown format with irreverent touches, high-end animation and innovative visual effects. VH1 Classic will premiere two new episodes each night beginning Dec. 1. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Fox Interactive Media’s gaming-themed IGN.com announced a series of production and distribution agreements with nearly a dozen publishers to distribute original IGN video productions across their sites including Black20 Digital Studios, Machinima.com, CollegeHumor, ScrewAttack.com, g-NET and Comedy.com. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Video online and on mobile devices remain additive to the overall pie as total viewing hours continue to rise across all available platforms, according to Nielsen’s Q3 A2/M2 report. Television remained the dominant choice for video consumption as viewers watched more than 142 hours/month - 5 hours more than last year. The amount of hours audiences spent watching timeshifted TV rose by 34% year-over-year as DVR penetration increased to 27%. Major online events such as the Olympics, Major League baseball and political conventions contributed dramatically to the growth of online video usage. (Cynopsis 11/25)
Monthly Time Spent in Hours: Minutes - 3Q 2008
K2-11 T12-17 A18-24 A25-34 A35-44 A45-54 A55-64 A65+
Watching TV in the home* 108:34 110:59 108:36 133:00 134:51 159:23 175:18 196:23
Watching Timeshifted TV* 5:25 4:55 4:36 10:04 8:15 7:19 6:32 3:44
Using the Internet** 5:38 12:48 12:59 28:40 37:56 35:24 35:05 26:39
Watching Video on Internet** 2:05 2:55 3:57 3:21 2:44 2:17 1:37 1:07
Mobile Video Subscribers n/a 4:20 3:15 4:20 3:37 2:10 2:53 n/a
Watching Video on a
Mobile Phone
Video Audience Composition by Age - 3Q 2008
K2-11 T12-17 A18-24 A25-34 A35-44 A45-54 A55-64 A65+
On TV* 11% 7% 7% 13% 14% 17% 14% 17%
On the Internet** 7% 9% 8% 15% 19% 20% 6% 7%
On Mobile Phones n/a 18% 15% 32% 20% 10% 6% 1%
Video Audience Composition by Gender - 3Q 2008
F2+ M2+
On TV* 54% 46%
On the Internet** 55% 45%
On Mobile Phones 40% 60%
FOOTNOTES FOR ALL CHARTS:
Source for all charts: The Nielsen Company Check the Nielsen blog for footnote references
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, TechCrunch, will.i.am, Britney Spears, Roger Waters, Bon Jovi
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Britney Spears has just released her new album Circus exclusively on imeem
, where you can stream the album in its entirety for free (you’ll also be able to embed the album playlist anywhere you’d like). The downloadable/physical version of the album won’t be available until December 2nd, but you can currently pre-order it through imeem and a number of other stores. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/24/britneys-back-new-album-circus-debuts-on-imeem 11/24)
Musicians and web celebrities gathered en masse for YouTube’s first-ever live webcast on Saturday including Michael Buckley, will.i.am and of course Obama Girl. The concert attracted a less-than stellar 700,000 concurrent viewers at its peak according to a TechCrunch analysis of streaming partner Akamai’s active stream data. (MSN’s Live Earth concert reached more than 10 million during its last event, by comparison.) Incidentally Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am will also appear in the next Live Earth concert on Dec. 7 at Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai India, along with Bon Jovi, Roger Waters and a variety of Indian stars. (Cynopsis 11/24)
HBO Pay-Per-View has developed an innovative Facebook application to whip up excitement over the Dec. 6 boxing match between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. The online app is called “Dream Fight,” and it allows Facebook users to do virtual battle in an online ring. TVWeek.com (11/21)
On Friday, judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose, California, awarded Facebook $873 million in damages against Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital under the CAN-SPAM act. (Ruling embedded below). It is the largest award under the act ever granted, topping the $234 million award MySpace won against spammers last May. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/24/facebook-wins-an-873-million-judgment-against-spammers-that-it-will-never-collect 11/24)
Sony is set to announce a re-launch of video entertainment network site Crackle today, with a roll-out of a number of new web shows including sketches by L.A. comedy troupe “The Groundlings”, a video game show called “The Jace Hall Show” and a five-minute talk show dubbed “Anytime with Bob Kushell” hosted by a Hollywood writer. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/24/sonys-crackle-adding-web-shows-more-professional-content-comes-directly-to-the-web 11/24)
Virgin America invited celebrities and tech bloggers on a free flight to the YouTube concert to promote the beta launch of the Gogo WiFi Inflight internet service, scheduled to launch fleet-wide during the Q2 2009. The service will offer a 3.6 Mbps downstream connection and 1.8 Mbps up, charging $10 for flights under 3 hours and $13 for longer flights. (Cynopsis 11/24)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Apple, CBS, iTunes, ITunes Store, EMusic, CharlieHunnam, Victoria's Secret, KurtSutter
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Will the music subscription business ever grow beyond its current niche? It looks increasingly doubtful. Today, eMusic announced that since it launched its current music subscription service in 2003, customers have downloaded 250 million songs. Apple’s iTunes, by comparison, has sold more than 5 billion songs 
since it opened the iTunes Store in April, 2003. That makes eMusic one twentieth the size of iTunes. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/20/emusic-250-million-songs-downloaded-itunes-5-billion 11/20)
CBS will extend the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show event to multiple platforms. The special will be televised on CBS December 3 at 10p yet can be previewed prior on the special dedicated website at www.cbs.com/victoria with videos, photos and more. CBS.com will also host a Social Viewing Room where the complete fashion show can be viewed following the broadcast at www.cbs.com/socialviewing. In addition, CBS Mobile is working with MediFLO USA allowing a Victoria’s Secret TV channel on FLO TV. (Cynopsis 11/20)
Multiplatform men programmer RipeTV has teamed with Ultimate Fighting Champion creator Art Davie to come up with an entirely new sport created exclusively for digital: XARM fighting. XARM combines arm wrestling with boxing and various martial arts. The winner of the XARM tournament will earn the title of “XARM Heavyweight Champion” and take home a $10,000 prize. (Cynopsis 11/20)
Fancast.com will be hosting a live forum with Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam and series creator Kurt Sutter on Monday, Nov. 24, two days prior to the FX show’s season finale. The hour-long live chat will start at 2 pm ET and will be available to embed live on third party sites. Email Fancast’s Derek Collins at
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var addy59815 = ‘Derek_Collins’ + ‘@’ + ‘Comcast’ + ‘.’ + ‘com’;
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Derek_Collins@Comcast.com to arrange a live embed. (Cynopsis 11/20)
Yahoo appears to be quite serious about openness and promoting third party content and applications on their massively visited home page. Today they’re announcing the addition of an eBay widget to the new Yahoo home page, which is still being tested with just a subset of Yahoo users. The widget will be added to the My Applications dashboard area on the left. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/20/yahoo-continues-to-embrace-this-openness-thing-ebay-widget-on-yahoo-home-page 11/20)
The Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers just released their quarterly report on U.S. online advertising revenues. For the quarter, they estimate online advertising revenues were almost $5.9 billion ($5.865 billion, to be exact), which is an 11 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago and a 2 percent increase from the second quarter of 2008. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/20/iab-reports-us-online-advertising-reaches-59-billion-in-the-third-quarter 11/20)
Platform-A led ComScore’s October Ad Focus rankings reaching 91% of the 190.6 million Americans online. Yahoo! Network followed reaching 86% and Google Ad Network captured the third position reaching 83% of Americans online. ValueClick Networks moved up one position to #4 reaching 82% of online users and Traffic Marketplace rose one position to #8 reaching 74%. (Cynopsis 11/20)
Top Visited US Top Visited US Broadcast Network TV Sites (Week ending Nov. 15, 2008)
Rank Network Website Market Share of Visits
1 ABC www.abc.com 29.60%
2 NBC www.nbc.com 24.10%
3 CBS www.cbs.com 22.25%
4 FOX* www.fox.com 14.92%
5 The CW www.cwtv.com 8.36%
6 MNTV www.mynetworktv.com .78%
Source: Custom report from Hitwise, *includes traffic aggregated from stand alone websites americanidol.com, amw.com, familyguy.com, thelot.com and thesimpsons.com.
Top Visited US Broadcast Network TV Show Sites (Week ending Nov. 15, 2008)
Rank Network Website Market Share of Visits
1 NBC Heroes 6.41%
2 NBC Deal or No Deal 5.86%
3 ABC Dancing With The Stars 5.70%
4 FOX America’s Most Wanted 4.67%
5 NBC The Office 4.35%
6 CBS Survivor 3.71%
7 NBC The Biggest Loser 4.29%
8 FOX American Idol 3.21%
9 ABC Grey’s Anatomy 2.70%
10 CBS Ghost Whisperer 2.33%
Source: Custom report from Hitwise
Top Visited US Cable Network TV Show Sites -Excluding Children’s Programming (Week ending Nov.15, 2008)
Rank Network Website Market Share of Visits
1 Comedy Central South Park 6.74%
2 Food Network Paula’s Home Cooking 4.95%
3 Comedy Central The Daily Show 2.92%
4 Discovery Channel Dirty Jobs 2.91%
5 MTV The Hills 2.67%
6 BET 106 & Park 2.64%
7 Fox News O’Reilly Factor 2.63%
8 Bravo Real Housewives of Atlanta 2.51%
9 Food Network 30 Minute Meals 1.99%
10 MSNBC Countdown with Keith O. 1.98%
Source: Custom report from Hitwise
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