Filed under: Feature, ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Adam Sandler, app, Butterball, Chef's Timer, Communities, Epic Change, Facebook, Flickr, Football, Gary Vaynerchuk, Gary Vee, iHost, iPhone, iVillage, Martha Stewart, NFL, Online Communities, Social media, Social network, Socialvibe, Tanzania, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Song, Turkey, Tweetsgiving, Twitter, Wine Library TV, YouTube
THANKSGIVING JUST GOT A BIT MORE SOCIAL
Making the Tasty Treats
The first year my mother tried to make a turkey, she apparently over-stuffed the bird and a turkey powder keg blew a hole through the oven door exploding precious white meat all over the wall of our kitchen. Being that I had heard this story on numerous occasions, my first attempt at bird making was very well planned.
Here are a few sites to help get you started using language even the most beginner chef can understand. As an added bonus, after several years of trial-and-error, the Marauder kitchen recommends sage butter (and lots of it) underneath the skin. Also, when attempting to brine, soaking a bird in the crisper overnight is probably not the best idea…
How-Tos:
Videos to impress the giblets out of your friends:
Amazing recipes itemized by course:
Wine Pairing
Gary Vaynerchuk from Wine Library TV offers 12 wine selections to pair with the bird, a somewhat more difficult wine-pairing item.
Giving Thanks
Tweetsgiving
Last year, Epic Change launched Tweetsgiving raising $11,000 for charity in 48 hours. Those donations were used to build a classroom in Tanzania. How’s that for giving thanks? This year, the bar has been raised to $100,000. While many are returning for their third plate of stuffing, Tweetsgiving will be raising awareness across social networks from YouTube to Twitter asking users what they are thankful for. Follow @tweetsgiving on Twitter and tweet about what you’re thankful for from now until the 27th using the hashtag “#tweetsgiving” at the end of your tweet.
Socialvibe
Socialvibe donates to charity by marketing brands such as Kraft, Timberland, and Powerbar. Every time a brand is successfully marketed, charity benefits. At first, I thought this sounded a little sleazy. But really, marketers scream for your attention on a daily basis. At least in this case, charities benefit somewhere along the line.
Download the Thanksgiving Feast App to play. Every time you add a meal to the table, a real meal is provided through the UN World Food Programme.
Setting the Mood: Best Thanksgiving Song
Sure, this song is old but no has yet to top Adam Sandler on the joys of Thanksgiving.
Talking Tryptophan
Yet again this year, you can get your thanks on via many of your favorite social networks.
Get real-time cooking advice from the Butterball team either on their Twitter feed or Facebook page.
What to do when mom locks herself in the bathroom because your 35-year old brother insists on making fart noises at the table? Butterball may not have the answer for that one…
Get your spirit on with 23,000 of your other friends on the Thanksgiving fan page.
Mobile App Fun
iHost: Thanksgiving
Developed by a Rhode Islander (big-ups to my home state), iHost helps you get organized from menu, shopping list to budget. Their most recent update supposedly added recipes from local Newport, RI chefs. A little Rhode Island flavor has come to southern California. Very nice.
Chef’s Timer
If you’ve cooked with your iPhone in tow, as I always do, you know the device only has one timer. In most situations, that works just fine. But, what about situations where you have three side dishes and a turkey crammed into your tiny NYC oven while your friends stare at your assortment of tiny snacks in disdain? Yup…there’s an app for that.
Thanksgiving = Football
For those of you who know me, you understand why this comes last in the list. I know next to nothing about football. I do know that the grunting emanating from living rooms countrywide leads me to believe that you all care. This year, the NFL is offering a central portal for all 3 Thanksgiving games.
From Marauder’s home to yours, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Related articles by Zemanta
- The TwitterKids of Tanzania (epicchangeblog.org)
- Thanksgiving Wine Picks: A Trainwreck of Love (dirtysouthwine.com)
- How To Cook A Turkey: 7 Tips From Butterball University (huffingtonpost.com)
- Turkey tips from experts at Butterball University (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Brine Your Thanksgiving Turkey for Juicier Results [Food] (lifehacker.com)
- Recipes for a Vegan Thanksgiving (well.blogs.nytimes.com)
- How To Carve a Turkey (howcast.com)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: AlMichaels, Jennifer Jason Leigh, JohnMadden, Madden NFL, Mary-Louise Parker, NBC Sunday Night Football, NFL, Phil Keoghan
30-year NFL broadcaster and Hall of Fame coach, John Madden announced his retirement from broadcasting. Madden has been the game analyst for NBC Sunday Night Football since 2006 and according to B&C, Cris Collinsworth will immediately step into Madden’s place in the booth working alongside Al Michaels. (Cynopsis 4/17)
I tried to find the scariest picture I could find of him and I think this one wins. Speaking of winning, Madden’s winning percentage continues to be the best of any head coach in the NFL’s history.
CBS’ The Amazing Race will be back for a 15th cycle this fall. Host Phil Keoghan found out about the renewal while biking cross-country and broke the scoop through his “Phil Keoghan Rides Across America” Twitter site. CBS will follow with the official announcement soon, even though the pick up was expected. Amazing Race will likely have 15 new episodes for its 15th run. (Cynopsis 4/17)
Showtime tapped Jennifer Jason Leigh for the recurring role as Nancy’s sister on the comedy series Weeds from Lionsgate TV. Nancy, played by Mary-Louise Parker has been on the outs with her older sister, Jill (Leigh) until she sends her son Shane to live with her in the suburbs to keep him away from danger. Season five of Weeds opens in June and Leigh is expected to appear in at least two episodes. (Cynopsis 4/17)
DirecTV is to pay $2.3 million and Comcast $900,000 to settle charges of violating the U.S. “do not call” law. The satellite-television provider and the largest U.S. cable-TV concern were accused of having employees call consumers who told the companies not to call them again. (Iwantmedia 4/17, http://www.smartmoney.com/news/ON/?story=ON-20090416-000987-1540 4/16)
The latest figures from Nielsen show that 3.2% of U.S. households — 3.6 million of them — remain totally unprepared for the switch to all-digital TV signals on June 12, which represents a slight improvement over data released earlier this month. While the Providence, R.I.-New Bedford, Mass., and Hartford-New Haven, Conn., TV markets lead the country in DTV readiness, according to Nielsen, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, N.M., and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, are the worst. TVWeek.com (4/16) , Mediaweek (4/16)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arizona Cardinals, Bob Costas, Howie Mandel, Matt Lauer, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, Raymond James Stadium, Super Bowl
NBC presents a full-day of events this Sunday surrounding the Big Game match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL: At 9a, NBC’s Today will open the network’s coverage with a special two-hour program and at noon, Bob Costas will lead the pregame coverage with Road to the Super Bowl. Finally, Matt Lauer will interview President Obama in his first interview since becoming president an hour before kick-off. (Cynopsis 1/30)
DIRECTV kicks off its Third Annual Celebrity Beach Bowl on Saturday at 230p EST where more than 30 NFL All-Star players and Hollywood celebrities compete in a game of flag football. The special is preceded by a Pre-Game Show presented by Showtime and Inside the NFL at 130p and followed by a Post-Game Concert at 330p. The event will be simulcast on DIRECTV’s The 101 Network and WGN America. (Cynopsis 1/30)
NBC wants more of Howie Mandel on Friday nights as the network ordered 12 more episodes of the unscripted 30m comedy prank show Howie Do It. In its initial three weeks, the show averaged a 1.9/6 among A18-49 viewers equal to a 64% increase in the time period compared to last year. (Cynopsis 1/30)
“Clone Wars,” the animated, “Star Wars”-related series from George Lucas that has performed heroically on Cartoon Network, will begin doing double-time on sister network TNT, beginning Feb. 14. TNT will get episodes from the show’s first season, which premiered on Cartoon Network last October with close to 4 million viewers. Variety (1/29)
CBS confirmed it will present its annual upfront presentation on May 20 at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. CBS also said it will stick with a traditional upfront presentation, making no major changes this year. ABC will also have its upfront presentation in New York at Lincoln Center on Tuesday during upfront week. FOX though will move its presentation from Thursday that week to Monday and The CW will remain on Thursday. NBC will continue being the “early bird” network, unveiling some of its 2009-2010 season programming plans to ad buyers and clients at its Universal Studios in Orlando as part of “super-front” during Super Bowl weekend. NBC also will host another “in-front” a few weeks prior to the normal upfront week in May however NBC has not finalized plans for the actual upfront week. (Cynopsis 1/30)
HBO approved a new 30m television pilot starring Ellen Barkin who will also executive produce the yet-to-be-named project, reports Variety. Shauna Cross will write the script about a high-profile woman in her early 50s who divorces, enters the singles market again and develops a close yet platonic relationship with the 24-year old son of her ex-husband. (Cynopsis 1/30)
Looking to give the House of Representatives another chance at delaying the switch to all-digital TV signals, the Senate on Thursday voted a second time to move the date from Feb. 17 to June 12. The House, which shot down a related measure earlier this week, could take up the matter again as early as Tuesday. The Washington Post (1/29) , The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (1/29)
Niche networks and the commercials running on them are getting a disproportionate amount of DVR viewing vs. live viewing, according to new research released yesterday from Google TV Ads. A new agreement with Dish Network enables Google TV Ads, which serves ads on a number of cable channels via Dish set tops, to cull data from each and every active Dish Network DVR. Google is making the data available for free to Google Adwords TV advertisers. (Cynopsis 1/30)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: American Broadcasting Company, Barack Obama, HBO, NBC, NFL, Rock Of Love Bus With Bret Michaels, Television, Television program
HBO has secured exclusive rights to televise the inaugural kickoff ceremonies for Barack Obama on Jan. 18. The cable network said it would make the 90-minute event free to all cable and satellite subscribers, not just those who receive HBO. Variety (1/6)
Rock Of Love Bus With Bret Michaels series debut on VH1 last Sunday at 9p posted a 1.4 rating among A18-49 and drew in 2.1 million total viewers. Also the same night, Confessions Of A Teen Idol premiered at 8p with a 0.6 A18-49 rating and tallied another 0.6 rating with A18-49 viewers for its encore airing at 1030p. (Cynopsis 1/7)
What will it take to make this series die?
American TV viewers continue to be infatuated with the NFL. Based on a report from Nielsen, 225 million Americans tuned into NFL regular season games last year. Other football TV watching stats include: 13 of the 15 most-watched television programs from all programming this fall included NFL games; NFL games were the highest-rated programs locally at a record 88%; and in 2008 NFL games airing on CBS, FOX and NBC averaged 16.6 million viewers which equates to 89% over the 8.8 million average primetime viewership among the four major networks: ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. (Cynopsis 1/7)
AMC has started streaming old-school episodes of “The Prisoner” on its Web site, AMCTV.com. The episodes from the 1960s spy thriller are a prelude to a series remake that is expected to debut on AMC in November. Mediaweek (1/6)
With rival Netflix breathing down its neck, Blockbuster now says it’s looking to hook up with telecom providers such as Verizon and AT&T to offer advanced video services to the home. “As we move toward video-on-demand and pay-per-view, Blockbuster is well-positioned not only to compete on our own, but also to partner with others,” said Jim Keyes, the company’s chief executive officer. Reuters (1/7)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: American, Football, National Football League, NFL, NFL Network, Nielsen Media Research, Roger Goodell, Sports
E! announced a season two renewal for the 30m reality series Denise Richards. New episodes will begin production early next year and will follow the actress as she gets into physical shape for movies, pilots and other acting projects all the while surrounded by her supportive family and friends. (Cynopsis 10/30)
Sci Fi Channel is developing a new reality series with a working title of “GameQuest,” in which 12 top-notch video gamers battle one another’s best scores to win prizes, including $100,000. The show is scheduled to debut in the first quarter of 2009. Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter (10/30)
Nickelodeon on Nov. 8 will premiere “True Jackson, VP,” a comedy starring 15-year-old Keke Palmer as a girl who serendipitously becomes a top design executive at a major fashion company. The show should get plenty of sampling: Its lead-in that night will be the new “iCarly” movie, “iGo to Japan.” TVWeek.com (10/29)
A strong third-quarter showing by Scripps Networks Interactive‘s Food Network pushed SNI’s Lifestyle Media channels — which also include HGTV, Fine Living and DIY — to $144 million in profit, 5.1% higher than the comparable period in 2007. According to Nielsen Media Research, the Food Network averaged about 900,000 viewers each night in prime time during the period, a high-water mark for the 15-year-old channel. Mediaweek (10/29) , Variety (10/29)
Several U.S. Senators, headed by Arlen Specter (R-PA) delivered a letter to Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner late Tuesday, calling out the League for airing specific games only on the NFL Network starting November 6 and saying the NFL Network is showing an “interest in moving toward a pay television model.” In response to the Senator’s letter, the NFL Network issued a statement assuring Sen. Specter of its goal to provide NFL games to a national audience. (Cynopsis 10/30)
A&E Network introduces a new reality crime show with Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force premieres December 9 at 10p. Viewers will follow agents of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force NY/NJ Division based in New York City as they ferret out the most violent criminals. (Cynopsis 10/30)
VH1 Classic debuts a new series taking a look at the heavy metal music genre over the last 40 years. The Metal Show opens November 15 at 11p, and features three hosts Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson as well as special guests who will all debate about which bands remain on top of the pack and which have gone by the wayside. (Cynopsis 10/30)
Millennials are more likely than baby boomers to use DVRs, watch TV outside the home, switch channels during prime-time commercials and watch programs with other people, according to a new Knowledge Networks study. Use of DVRs has increased from 27% in 2004 to its current 38%, with 48% of the survey respondents indicating they turn on the TV when they intend to watch a particular show. TVWeek.com (10/29)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Baseball, College Football, ESPN Major League Baseball, iPhone, iPod Touch, Major League Baseball, National Football League, NFL
ESPN‘s casual gaming portal ESPN Arcade recently launched Cameraman – the network’s first downloadable game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Find and tap on the differences between two nearly identical photos taken from the Olympics, the NFL, Major League Baseball, College Football, soccer and other sports. EpicTilt developed the game. (Cynopsis 10/28)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, HBO, NBC Sports, NBC Sunday Night Football, NFL, NFL on NBC, Sports, Steve Rubell
The NFL and NBC Sports will announce a deal today to stream 17 regular season (mostly Sunday night) match-ups live on NBC.com beginning with the season opener on Sept. 4, reports The WSJ. The move, brought by the league to NBC, is being described as an experiment to lure new viewers and engage current fans with interactive elements including multiple live camera angles and up-the-minute fantasy stats. The NFL, careful to protect broadcast contracts that will earn more than $3.7 billion this year, has been the last of the major U.S. sporting leagues to embrace the web as a distribution medium. (Cynopsis 7/28)
Tell Me You Love Me from HBO Entertainment and Pariah will not return to HBO for a second after Cynthia Mort, the show’s creator/executive producer said the show is having problems finding its direction. The first season of ten episodes ran last fall and HBO quickly picked up a second season after the fourth episode aired in October. (Cynopsis 7/28)
A new scripted drama series is coming to Showtime – Studio, produced by MRC, is a fictional drama set in the 1970s at the infamous Studio 54 nightclub in NYC. The only character in the show based on a real person will be that of the club’s founder, Steve Rubell. According to THR, the show begins in the months leading up to the club’s opening in April 1977. (Cynopsis 7/28)
In its first sign of solidarity in months SAG members voted unanimously to reject the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers‘ latest new media proposal on Saturday, presented to the actors guild as a “final offer” earlier in the month. The AMPTP issued a statement in response saying the refusal means actors will continue to have to work indefinitely under the previous contract – expired as of June 30 – which includes no residuals for ad-supported streaming, made-for-new media programs or reuse of clips online. (Cynopsis 7/28)
A restructuring by General Electric left the global conglomerate with four distinct business segments, but the corporate construction of NBC Universal was left unchanged. NBCU, which owns several top cable networks, has been the subject of growing speculation that GE would try to sell the company soon after the Summer Olympics. (
ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg 7/25, Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg 7/26, Broadcasting & Cable 7/26)
The 15 largest ad-supported cable networks are having “a normal, solid cable summer,” said Mediavest’s John Spiropoulos, “and the premieres of many of their major scripted series have exceeded last year’s numbers.” USA Network’s “Monk,” for instance, recently premiered with 16% more viewers than last summer, and TNT’s “The Closer” debuted with 500,000 more people watching. (Mediaweek 7/28)
The Comcast Media Center has announced the addition of 14 high-definition channels from eight programming groups to the company’s HITS service. The new channels include History, Animal Planet, ABC Family, Lifetime Movie and USA. (Multichannel News 7/27)
According to an offer from Comcast, newcomers to the company’s “Triple Play” of digital cable, VOIP service, and high-speed internet will also be able to bag an honest-to-goodness Nintendo Wii on their way out the door. Sure, you’ve got to sign a two-year contract (à la mobile telco policy), but you’ll also walk away with a console that still can’t be found on a lot of store shelves. (http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/28/comcast-offering-a-free-wii-to-new-triple-play-subscribers 7/28)
