Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Flip Video, High-definition television, Pure Digital, Pure Digital Technologies, San Francisco California, Super Bowl, Television, Video camera
San Francisco based Pure Digital Technologies
, the seven year old company behind the Flip Video line of video cameras, is considering a sale of the company, multiple sources have confirmed. One interested buyer is rumored to be Cisco. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/06/pure-digital-flip-video-in-acquisition-discussions-cisco-may-be-buying 3/6)
The average price of an HDTV had been falling since May 2008, but not so in February, when price tags jumped 10%, according to an analysis by Retrevo. The company said that retailers discounted HDTVs during the holidays and around the Super Bowl — two big sales periods for TVs — but that stores now are looking for higher, more sustainable price points. CEPro.com (3/6)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Bethany McLean, Friday Night Lights, Jon Stewart, NBC Universal, Super Bowl, Super Bowl advertising, Television, Television advertisement
Super Bowl commercials cost several million dollars, but Hulu received 60 seconds on NBC for free. When the online video hub launched, it received credits to run ads on the properties of co-parents NBC Universal and News Corp., but had not cashed any in until Sunday night. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=99574 2/2)
Super Bowl spot buy: $0. Very nice.
This year’s Academy Awards telecast, to be hosted by actor Hugh Jackman, will “take many risks, some bold.” The 2008 broadcast, hosted by comedian Jon Stewart, hit a record low of 32 million U.S. viewers. Still, the show remains a top-rated program on U.S. television. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE51206G20090203 2/2)
NBC Universal is looking for an outside partner that would allow it to bring its “Lipstick Jungle” series back on the air. One potential partner is Comcast, which unsuccessfully bid on NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” and has said it was interested in participating in similar deals in the future. Broadcasting & Cable (2/2)
I say, let it die. But then again, I would have said that after watching the first episode. It’s no Friday Night Lights…
HBO has secured the TV rights to a book being written about the story behind the 2008 financial crisis. The book, expected in January 2010, is being written by New York Times business writer Joe Nocera and Vanity Fair writer Bethany McLean, the woman who co-authored a book about the Enron scandal that later was turned into an Academy Award-nominated documentary. Variety (2/2)
Ad-supported cable channels are averaging a 35.3 household rating during prime time, more than 10 points higher than broadcast’s 24.4, for the first 18 weeks of the current TV season, according to the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau. The CAB attributed the disparity in cable’s favor to the fact that original programming has increased 153% since 2002, to 1,837 shows. Mediaweek (2/2)
(Below) I debated with a friend about this one because this struck me as the kind of brand spot that only belongs on the channel. No where in the ad was any reference to the shows being mentioned while the characters were on screen. So, apart from the USA logo at the end, why would someone feel compelled to watch these unnamed shows?
With a single spot that ran right after the Super Bowl on NBC, USA Network promoted seven of its shows, including “Burn Notice” and “In Plain Sight.” “We debated how to do it: Do we promote one show or take a big shot across the bow?” said Chris McCumber, executive vice president of marketing at USA. “We decided to showcase seven shows and 10 characters in a way that was linear and entertaining.” The Hollywood Reporter (2/2)
CBS handed a series order to the producers of Top Chef, Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth of Magical Elves, on a docu-reality series titled Marriage centered on arranged marriages, cites THR. The series follows four single adults age 25-45, all eager to marry, who allow their friends and family to select their marriage partners. The couples marry for real and the series watches their marriages unfold. (Cynopsis 2/3)
Hit with a downgrade to a sell rating by Natixis Bleichroeder, and tarred by worries about consumer spending patterns, shares of Disney fell 3% Monday. U.S. consumer spending fell in December by a full percentage point — a steeper downturn than had been forecast. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2009/02/02/disney-hit-with-downgrade-consumer-data 2/2)
Comcast, the largest U.S. cable-television provider, says that some Super Bowl viewers in Tucson, Ariz., were inadvertently exposed to adult content during the final minutes of the game. Comcast is investigating to determine how it happened, says a spokeswoman. “We are mortified.” (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aw6hD3abaUHw 2/2)
The House of Representatives on Wednesday is scheduled to vote a second time on whether to delay the transition to all-digital TV signals from Feb. 17 to June 12. On Monday, influential Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rick Boucher, D-Va., chairman of the House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee, threw their support behind a delay. Broadcasting & Cable (2/2)
Top cable providers are poised for strong cash-flow growth, in part, because they will be spending less on deploying new set-top boxes and DVRs, according to industry analyst Craig Moffett. He predicts companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable will offer investors 9% to 15% increases in free-cash-flow-yield per share in 2009. Reuters (2/3)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Arts, General Electric, NBC, Sarah Palin, Super Bowl, Television, USA Today, VideoSurf
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
President Obama’s Jan. 20 inauguration marked the first time that online viewers outnumbered television-watchers. The TV industry is moving slowly toward the Internet, analysts say, but the “flawed but efficient” 70-year-old TV model continues to bring in more revenue than online. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSTRE5115HB20090202 2/2)
Living without a cable subscription may soon become possible for even hardcore TV fans. Netflix sent out an email survey to a handful of subscribers over the weekend asking them if they would be interested in paying an additional $9.95 for streaming access to original shows and premium movies from HBO via the company’s Watch Instantly feature. HBO has been cautious in developing a digital distribution strategy. Netflix has been pushing to license more content for instant streaming. Its first deal with a premium programmer was struck with Starz last fall to allow members to access the Starz Play broadband movie service as part of their subscription. (Cynopsis 2/3)
NBC‘s foray into the world of 3D broadcasting will also extend to the online world of Chuck. NBC.com began streaming the episode “Chuck vs. The Third Dimension” in both 2D and 3D for free beginning this morning at , complete with a full range of interactive options including live invitation-only viewing rooms, casual games and a 360 degree virtual tour of the Chuck set. (Cynopsis 2/3)
With online video viewing becoming increasingly popular, companies such as VideoSurf are helping a new wave of Webizens enjoy a more satisfying and targeted experience, according to this report. VideoSurf’s product, for example, uses facial-recognition software in its searches that has the ability to distinguish between Sarah Palin and Palin impersonator Tina Fey. USA TODAY (2/2)
This year’s game may have been unusually thrilling, but the fact of the matter is that most people tune in to watch the Super Bowl for the ads (and an excuse to gorge on beer and chips). For this year’s event a number of groups tapped into Twitter to try to get a real-time perspective on how each ad fared. One of the more impressive reports was put together by SocialMedia
, an advertising network that focuses on social networks. Their report, called the TweetBowl, plots the number of tweets relating to each commercial over time, allowing us to easily see which commercials were the most popular, and which had the most staying power. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/02/tweetbowl-taps-into-twitter-to-find-the-super-bowls-real-winners-the-ads 2/2)
PepsiCo’s Sobe and Doritos ads dominated online chatter following the game accounting for almost 40% of the top 10 conversations (both positive and negative), according to social measurement service Collective Intellect. Coke managed to grab 12% of the Top 10 share-of-voice, despite its ads being pushed to the second half of the game by Pepsi’s purchase of the first half. Of the five brands with the highest online activity, Audi had the highest “brand affinity/loyalty” association. (Cynopsis 2/3)
Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching. Fortunately, Animoto has you covered. The site has put together a new Valentine’s Day card that allows you to submit a handful of photos of you and your loved one to automatically a generate a great looking video-slideshow set to the music of an appropriately sappy love song. It only takes a few minutes to put together, but to anyone who hasn’t been exposed to Animoto before it’s pretty impressive – at least, it’ll buy you enough time to run down to the store and grab something a bit more tangible. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/03/animoto-launches-the-perfect-last-minute-valentines-gift 2/3)
Dell’s Twitter experiment seems to be working. After making $1 million during the holidays by alerting Twitter followers to sale items, Dell is now offering discounts exclusively to the 11,844 people who follow @DellOutlet. For instance, here is a Tweet with a link to a 30-percent-off deal on an XPS laptop. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/03/dell-starts-offering-exclusive-discounts-through-twitter 2/3)
Video sharing site Bablegum has opened up voting for its 2nd Annual Babelgum Online Film Festival, the jury of which will once again be led by Spike Lee. More than 600 professionally-produced entries are available for free viewing online and via 3G enabled mobile devices. The top vote recipients are vying for top cash prizes of 20,000 Euros each. (Cynopsis 2/3)
Members of the Association of Downloadable Media reached an agreement to support a set of standards for podcast ad formats and audience measurement. Among the 25 creative options outlined in the charter are standardized pre, mid and post roll insertions, guidelines for product placement within shows as well as rules for in-show host endorsements of products. The standards were drawn up last summer and have been at least partially adopted by more than 25 digital media players including Burst Media, NPR, KCRW and Revision3. Conspicuously missing from the list of supporters is Apple, the dominant distributor of podcasts and a founding member of the ADM. (Cynopsis 2/3)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE, Feature | Tags: 30 Rock, Advertising, Alec Baldwin, Bob Dylan, Careerbuilder, Castrol, Huluwood, MacGruber, MacGyver, Pepsi, Pepsuber, Sports, Super Bowl, Super Bowl advertising, Teleflora, Terry Tate, will.i.am
SUPER BOWL 43: THE BEST OF TIMES AND THE WORST OF TIMES
Photo: Barton Silverman/The New York Times
For me, the Super Bowl is less about this (above) and more about this (below).
This year, I was even more excited for the ads as 2 of them were to be screened in 3D. But then, why did the commercial breaks come and go leaving me feeling like the day after a bad New Year’s party? Overall, this Super Bowl was a general dud in the ad department but a gleaming diamond in terms of the game. Even I, who generally spends the game wondering what the hell is going on, was screaming as The Steelers turned it all around in the final moments.
But back to the ads. There were some Rubik’s Cubes in the rough. I have to leave out the two 3D ads as my local CVS didn’t have the glasses. Shocker. Click here or on the Super Bowl ad image above to watch all of the ads from the Super Bowl and rate on Hulu.
The Good
Pepsi: Pepsuber
My favorite commercial is one part, popular SNL skit MacGruber and one part, Pepsi commercial. For final flair, MacGyver makes a cameo in the spot. Jazz hands.
Hulu: Alec in Huluwood
Alec Baldwin can do no wrong and his comedic genius comes through yet again in this spot. Baldwin takes you into the Hollywood sign for a rare look inside Huluwood. I think perhaps the spot was reaching a bit only at the end. Loving it, loving it, loving it, wha?!
Pepsi: Refresh Anthem
Way to stick it to Coke and tug at my heart strings simultaneously. And modeling your new logo after Obama’s campaign logo? Ingenious.
The Ugly
Careerbuilder.com: Tips
For an American population with general lack of focus, perhaps they thought the redundancy angle was a good one. But really, the repetition in this commercial just made me want to hurl my television out my 8th floor window. If you hate your job and this commercial, blame Careerbuilder. By far, the worst commercial of the night.
Teleflora: Talking Flowers
So, I’m trying to envision the marketing meeting where it was decided that this commercial was a good idea. Flowers = Feeling bad about myself. Genius. The flowers this woman receives berate her while all of her co-workers watch. Way to SUCK the fun out of Valentine’s Day Teleflora. Debbie Downer, party of one? Debbie Downer.
Castrol Oil: Edge Monkeys
One world: Creepy.
The Best of the Best
Terry Tate: Office Linebacker aired during the Super Bowl in 2003. This Reebok ad is still the best ad for me in terms of storyline. If you ask Reebok though, it wasn’t a success. Apart from being a hysterical commercial with a fantastic storyline, the ad lacked a direct call-to-action and ended up doing nothing for Reebok’s bottom line. Still, you kill the joe, you make some mo’. I pour one out for Terry Tate…
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arizona Cardinals, Danity Kane, NBC Universal, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, Super Bowl, USA Network
NBC’s broadcast of the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII was seen in 42.1 percent of U.S. television homes, below the 43.1 rating in the 2008 game. Last year’s teams, the New York Giants and New England Patriots, have larger fan bases. (Iwantmedia 2/2, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSF8HlY3jTo0 2/2)
NBC revealed its sold-out advertising inventory within Super Bowl XLIII broke all previous Super Bowl records totaling $206 million, though the total for the entire Super Sunday ticked up to $261 million. Spots within the Big Game went for $3 million apiece, while spots in the pregame went for $44,500 per spot during the first hour (noon-1p) and up to $1.6 million for those placed in the 15-minute window prior to kick-off. NBC tallied a total of 32 advertisers and their commercials can be viewed online via NBC.com, Hulu.com and Superbowl.com. (Cynopsis 2/2)
Last Thursday’s episode of USA Network‘s “Burn Notice” attracted 5.38 million viewers and, in what is believed to be a first, beat out corporate cousin NBC during the 10 p.m. hour, which aired a rerun of “ER.” “Burn Notice” also put up a 2.0 rating among adults 18 to 49 — its best showing yet in that demo. TVWeek.com (1/30)
MTV is bringing back a fourth installment of Making The Band, picking up the story of Danity Kane, Day 26 and Donnie Klang where the last season ended. Making The Band 4 premieres February 12 at 9p and this Thursday at 9p, fans of the series can watch a third season re-cap special titled Damaged: A Making The Band Special. Bad Boy Entertainment produces the franchise. (Cynopsis 2/2)
Universal Cable, the production company for NBC Universal cable nets USA and Sci Fi, has put together its first deals: a two-year overall agreement with “Psych” creator/executive producer Steve Franks and a one-year, first-look pact with director Jace Alexander. According to this article, the moves reflect a growing trend toward so-called “showverall deals” as more studios move away from development deals toward bargains with creators, showrunners and directors of in-family hits. The Hollywood Reporter (2/2)
The Obama administration said late last week that it expected lawmakers to pass legislation that would delay the transition to all-digital TV signals from Feb. 17 to June 12. A DTV delay measure has twice been passed in the Senate and this week is expected to come up for another vote in the House. Reuters (2/1) , Broadcasting & Cable (1/30)
ABC okayed two comedy pilots: The New Twenty from writer/executive producer Tad Quill (Scrubs) and ABC Studios about two forty-ish friends who are at different junctures in life; and Let It Go starring Lauren Graham (The Gilmore Girls) as a talk show host who is dumped by her boyfriend and having a hard time “letting it go”. (Cynopsis 2/2)
On Friday, ABC picked up three additional drama pilots: Limelight, inspired somewhat by musician/hip-hop producer Pharrell Williams’ youth spent at a performing arts school, is about kids and faculty set at a similar performing arts school in New York. The second drama pilot is an untitled Jerry Bruckheimer 60m crime project from Warner Bros. Television about amateur crime solvers, though internally it is called “The Unknown.” (Cynopsis 2/2)
CBS consented to three drama pilots all produced by CBS Paramount Network Television: the first is titled Back about a man who disappeared during the 9/11 terrorist attacks and remarkably shows up eight years later and tries to reconnect with his family. CBS next approved the hour-long pilot Washington Field set inside the FBI’s Washington field office about a team of agents handling top-priority cases. The third project is an untitled legal drama from Frank Military (The Unit) about a group of federal prosecutors based in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan. (Cynopsis 2/2)
The Comcast Programming Group, the Comcast division that includes networks such as E!, Style, G4 and the Golf Channel, isn’t likely to acquire any new channels in 2009, according to President Jeff Shell. “Brian [Roberts, the Comcast chairman] and Steve [Burke, Comcast's chief operating officer] will tell me if they ever want to make [the group] bigger,” Shell said. “My job right now is to run with what we’ve got.” Multichannel News (2/2)
ABC Family issued 10-episode pickup orders to three new female-focused series — “Ruby and the Rockits,” “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Perfect 10.” The network also announced renewals for a third season of “Greek” and a fourth season of “Lincoln Heights,” but said it would cancel “Kyle XY.” The Hollywood Reporter (2/1)
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Filed under: Feature, TECHNOLOGY | Tags: 3D, Concurrent Versions System, DreamWorks, inTru3D, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Lionsgate, Monsters vs. Aliens, My Bloody Valentine, NBC, PepsiCo, Real3D, RealD, South Beach Beverage Company, Super Bowl
3D FILM AND TV: THE HOTNESS OR THE WACKNESS?
Last night, I headed out to Union Square in NYC to catch My Bloody Valentine, the horror re-make of a 1981 Canadian film of the same name. This film is the first R-rated film to be projected in Real 3D technology. 3D film used to require 2 projectors to create the visual. Real 3D only uses 1 projector. My Bloody Valentine 3D was released on 1,033 screens nation-wide, the highest number of screens in distribution of a Real 3D film. It was released both in 3D and its standard format although viewers have chosen so far 6:1 to see it in 3D. So, people seem to dig this 3D stuff.
But the question still remains, is it really the hotness? The film and television studios sure think so.
This Sunday, during the Super Bowl, viewers who remembered to pick up their nifty glasses at one of these retail locations will be able to watch 2 ads in 3D. The first is a trailer for the animated DreamWorks film Monsters vs. Aliens debuting in March in theatres. The second is an ad for PepsiCo‘s SoBe LifeWater energy drinks. Both will feature inTru3D’s technology which features a high-powered chip from Intel. The difference between Real 3D and inTru3D? DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg would say that this technology provides more vibrant colors than others. Katzenberg is so dedicated to this new technology that he has proclaimed (yes like God) that all feature films from DreamWorks will be authored in 3D this year. You tell it Katz…
And here I thought I was being slick by keeping my RealD glasses from last night to use for Sunday. Yahhhh…turns out they won’t work. Awesome. I can’t wait to walk into my local 1st Avenue CVS and calmly ask for some 3D glasses. Keep in mind that on former occasions at this same pharmacy, employees weren’t sure where the cotton balls were. Great.
And finally, keep those inTru3D glasses you painstakingly located at CVS after a heated discussion surrounding their existence, for the season premiere of Chuck coming to NBC Monday night at 8. Check out the preview below.
Now, I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty excited to see what 3D looks like at home on my own television. But the jury’s still out for me on whether this will be cool for a minute in theatrical time or go the distance. From what I saw last night from My Bloody Valentine, it’s intriguing but not enough for me to pay extra for. Yup, that’s right. I didn’t really answer the question. That’s just how I roll.
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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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