Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: DVD, National Basketball Association, NBA League Pass, Paramount Pictures, Tapan Bhat, Turner Sports, Viacom, Yahoo
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Reaching out to the more price sensitive, The NBA retooled its NBA League Pass broadband offering, offered with Turner Sports’ NBA Digital, to give fans of a few teams the lower-priced option to follow up to 7 teams for just $99.95 for the season. Access to all out-of-market games goes for $149.95. The premium package also feature the live-game DVR functionality with an extended game archive to view games on-demand up to 48 hours after they air. (Cynopsis 10/28)
Paramount Pictures has found a new way to generate more revenues from its films and the DVD market. The Viacom studio has made an inexpensive film called “Circle of Eight” and is premiering on MySpace. The idea is to create buzz, then rent or sell the film through Blockbuster. (Iwantmedia 10/28, Business Week 10/27)
Remember when Yahoo started to roll out its new homepage last summer? It’s been live for all users for about three months now, and today Yahoo’s annual Analyst Day, senior vice president Tapan Bhat gave an overview of how the redesigned homepage is performing. In the past three months, pageviews are up 9 percent, and time spent on the homepage is up 20 percent. (Techcrunch10/28)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Basketball, Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, National Basketball Association, NBC, Orlando Magic, Song Remains the Same, Warner Bros.
The continued popularity of the National Basketball Association was good news for TNT, which on Sunday night attracted 8.97 million viewers to the playoff matchup between the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers. For the week ending May 24, TNT averaged 3.32 million total viewers, including four of the top 10 shows of the week. Mediaweek (5/27)
Classic rock fans will have a front row seat to VH1 Classic’s 100 Concerts in 100 Days beginning July 6. The network will air concerts performed by such rock legends as Led Zepplin: The Song Remains the Same, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Live in NYC, Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon, Iron Maiden: Somewhere Back in Time and Live Aid: The Day the Music Changed the World. (Cynopsis 5/28)
I had to go with a seventies shot of Led Zeppelin. Mc Lovin it.
John Lithgow will play a serial killer, joining the cast of Showtime’s Dexter. Lithgow’s character, Walter Simmons (aka the Trinity Killer), will appear in all 12 episodes of the drama’s fourth season set to open in September. (Cynopsis 5/28)
Sister cable networks TBS and TNT have signed a major rights deal with Warner Bros. for a total of 13 titles, including three upcoming releases. The recent films covered by the deal include “Terminator Salvation,” which could run on TNT as early as late 2011, as well as “Watchmen” and “Gran Torino.” The Hollywood Reporter (5/27)
Bravo sizzles in South Beach this summer as it debuts Miami Social on July 14 at 10p. The series follows four friends who are successful young professionals by day and party hounds at night. Pink Sneakers produces the series for Bravo. (Cynopsis 5/28)
NBC is setting a low-water mark of historic proportions for television viewership. Last week the network averaged 4.4 million prime-time viewers, the smallest-ever audience outside of the summer doldrums. NBC hasn’t had such a small audience since the early days of TV. (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/NBC-makes-history-in-the-apf-15363388.html 5/27)
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman says that the company’s MTV network is lagging in ratings because it largely lost touch with young male audiences as it pursued programming for young women, such as “Laguna Beach.” Says Dauman: “We expect to see results” at MTV. (http://www.smartmoney.com/news/ON/?story=ON-20090527-000813-1456 5/27)
Media companies are joining forces with unions to lobby for tougher action against piracy, as rising unemployment focuses their attention on the threat to jobs from copyright infringement. Fighting piracy “is a jobs issue,” says NBC Universal general counsel Rick Cotton. (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d52152fa-4ae6-11de-87c2-00144feabdc0.html 5/27)
ESPN is shedding around 100 positions in a cost-reduction move as a result of the slumping economy. The job cuts are expected to be across a wide variety of levels, from production assistants up to executive roles. ESPN says: “Most of the jobs are being repurposed.” (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/277167-ESPN_Goes_Forward_With_Restructuring_Plans.php 5/27)
Despite the depressed economic conditions, Standard & Poor’s has upgraded its outlook on Comcast from “stable” to “positive.” The credit agency said that Comcast will remain the top cable, broadband and telecommunications provider in most of its service areas for some time. The Wall Street Journal (5/27)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Cartoon Network, Gordon Ramsay, JayLeno, Kitchen Nightmares, National Basketball Association, National Football League, NBA, NBC
Hoping for input into Jay Leno‘s fall primetime program, the NBC affiliates board is conducting a study to keep local newscasts from suffering due to the network’s decision to move “Leno” to 10 p.m. The study will help reveal, for example, the ideal length of Leno’s monologue. (Iwantmedia 3/24, http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/190391-NBC_Affils_Launch_Study_to_Shape_Leno_.php 3/23)
In a sign that media rights for major sports may defy the recession, the National Football League is entering a four-year extension with DirecTV valued at $4 billion — a 43% increase over the current deal. The league will soon seek new deals with broadcasters. (Iwantmedia 3/24, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123786503490122053.html 3/24)
Lifetime’s latest adaptation of a Nora Roberts novel, “Northern Lights,” attracted 4.5 million viewers in its premiere on Saturday night. The movie scored 1 million women between the ages of 18 and 49 and 1.2 million in the 25-to-54 group. Variety (3/23)
Hmmm…could their affair have anything to do with it? Don’t know what I’m talking about. Grab an Us Weekly or check out your favorite gossip blog.
Fox has ordered up a second season of Kitchen Nightmares feature Gordon Ramsay‘s visits and fixes of restaurants in dire need of help. (Cynopsis 3/24)
Turner is expanding its 25-year relationship with the National Basketball Association with a number of projects in development for the television, online and mobile platforms. First up is a short-form TV series about the kids of NBA players titled “My Dad’s a Pro,” which is slated to debut on Turner’s Cartoon Network this fall. The Hollywood Reporter (3/23)
A year ago, the smart money was on GE dropping NBC Universal, but the media company has shed its “black sheep” image and is a cash-contributing asset, according to this report. GE’s overall profits were down 22% in 2008, but NBC Universal, with cable assets such as USA and Bravo, saw profits increase 1%. The New York Times (3/23)
AT&T’s U-verse IPTV service is expanding its ethnic programming line-up adding international channels to serve Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese and Korean viewers in the U.S. New offerings include Mandarin-language based ET News and ET Global; Hindi-based STAR India PLUS, added to the South Asian package for no extra charge; Korean drama and variety channel MBC America; and the Vietnamese-dubbed TVBV drama channel. (Cynopsis 3/24)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: ESPN.com, Google, Google Trends For Websites, Michael Beasley, National Basketball Association, NBA, NBA Draft, News and Media
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
MLB.com continues to set the standard for live online streaming delivering between 1 and 1.5 million games over the internet each day and racking up between 50-60 million unique visitors a month during baseball season, per Variety. More than a third of all MLB tickets sold online, more than any other sport. (Cynopsis 6/23)
Google has just introduced Google Trends For Websites, a new tool that lets users take a peek at the traffic data from sites around the web. The new feature pits Google against a number of well-established players in the traffic data space, including Compete, Comscore, Alexa, and a host of others. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/20/google-faces-off-with-compete-alexa-comscore-quantcast-brings-nothing-new 6/20)
ESPN launched its latest online exclusive series giving fans an “all access” look at Kansas State basketball star Michael Beasley, expected to be one of the top 2 picks in the NBA draft on June 26. Ten 3-5 minute webisodes will premiere on ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile TV throughout the summer. (Cynopsis 6/23)
YouTube is said to be paying creators a fee to license films for its new indie short-film destination. A YouTube spokesperson says: “We are experimenting with a variety of limited promotional sponsorship programs.” Still, YouTube is “not getting into the acquisitions business.” (Iwantmedia 6/23, http://newteevee.com/2008/06/21/youtube-paying-upfront-for-content 6/21)
Disney’s ABC is expected to announce that episodes of prime time shows like “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives,” along with short clips and game highlights from ESPN, will be accessible through indie video site Veoh.com. Veoh is backed by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. (Iwantmedia 6/23, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/business/media/23veoh.html 6/23)
Disney is selling Movies.com to Comcast’s Fandango.com, the online ticketing service. Disney once envisioned Movies.com as a video-on-demand platform, but the joint venture with Fox never got off the ground, and the site remained an entertainment news repository. (Iwantmedia 6/23, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117987926.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1 6/22)
While Barry Diller’s IAC plans to divide its myriad Internet outfits into five separate public business units, the company is pooling them with an advertising-sales and targeting system that will marry data from across all its assets to sell “audience cubes.” (Iwantmedia 6/23, http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=127899 6/23)
PBS announced it is streaming the entire 11-part Election Day series on the P.O.V. website, beginning at 11:30 pm ET on July 1 – the night it airs on PBS. The series, shot from dawn until the wee hours of Nov. 2, 2004, examines the political process through the eyes of group of citizens who struggle to get their voices heard. (Cynopsis 6/23)
Efforts by television networks to make their programs available for free on the Internet are “absurd,” says Liberty Media boss John Malone. NBC’s online coverage of the Beijing Olympics will be a “flop.” Expensive events won’t “have adequate underwriting through advertising.” (Iwantmedia 6/23, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/67e0a1e2-3eed-11dd-8fd9-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1 6/20)
(Below) Now, here’s an interesting theory. This is like blaming the retail store because you’re product just isn’t selling. Lame at best.
The Apple iPod is partly to blame for the collapse of the music industry, according to a report from eMarketer. The Mac maker helped set the tone for a “rat’s nest of restrictions and incompatibilities” that led to consumer confusion and stalled the growth of digital music. (Iwantmedia 6/23, http://www.redherring.com/Home/24370 6/20)
Top Visited US Broadcast Network TV Websites (Week ending June 14, 2008)
Rank Network Website Market Share of Visits
1 ABC www.abc.com 27.92%
2 FOX* www.fox.com 26.03%
3 CBS www.cbs.com 23.97%
4 NBC www.nbc.com 15.07%
5 The CW www.cwtv.com 6.73%
6 MyNetworkTV www.mynetworktv.com .27%
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 June 14, 2008)
Rank Network Website Market Share of Visits
1 FOX American Idol 11.00%
2 NBC Deal or No Deal 8.64%
3 FOX American’s Most Wanted 7.35%
4 FOX So You Think You Can Dance? 6.54%
5 ABC The Bachelorette 5.78%
6 NBC Last Comic Standing 2.97%
7 CBS NCIS 2.87%
8 NBC The Office 2.01%
9 ABC The Mole 1.94%
10 ABC Lost 1.91%
Source: Custom report from Hitwise
