Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Arts, CNBC, Jim Cramer, Jon Stewart, Television, TheStreet.com, Time Warner Cable, us
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Twitter is the No. 1 fastest growing U.S. “member community destination,” says a survey from Nielsen. From February 2008 to February 2009, the microblogging service clocked in a growth rate of 1,382%. Also, Twitter counts the 35-to-49 age demo as its biggest. (Iwantmedia 3/20, http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10200161-36.html 3/19)
Apple has started offering feature films in high definition at its iTunes online store. The service currently has about a dozen movies, but Apple says that in the future it will serve up new films in HD about 30 days after their DVD releases. InformationWeek (3/19)
Have you ever sent an email, and just as it was going on its merry way, you realize you misspelled something or you sent it to the wrong person. This happens to me a lot on Gmail because sending an email is not always instant. And you have more chances to experience email regret as you are waiting for one to send. Well, now you can take advantage of that delay to “undo” the message
. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/19/gmail-gets-a-panic-button 3/19)
Playboy is putting 53 back issues of the magazine on the Web for free at PlayboyArchive.com. The issues cover the years 1954 through 2007. “This is a great way to allow a whole new generation to easily explore the magazine,” says founder Hugh Hefner. (Iwantmedia 3/20, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343502,00.asp 3/20)
Amazon’s IMDB.com announced plans this week at SXSW to vastly increase the amount of video streaming it offers (some 2,000 movies and 14,000 TV shows are currently available on the site) as well as begin offering made-for-the-web shows. (Cynopsis 3/20)
Market news site TheStreet.com, co-founded by CNBC analyst (and Jon Stewart punching bag) Jim Cramer, eliminated 18 staff positions in a move to try and save $2.4 million. (Cynopsis 3/20)
The market for deploying IPTV services to multiple-dwelling units such as apartment buildings and hotels will be more than $6 billion by 2013, according to new research from In-Stat. Cable providers Time Warner Cable and RCN have recorded recent new-business wins at MDUs. CED Magazine (3/2009)
Coverage of the Oscars, The Grammys and the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident helped AccessHollywood.com achieve its best month ever in Feb. across all key metrics including unique visitors (+286%), page views (+656%), visits (+262%) and video streams (+253%), according to Nielsen. AccessHollywood.com, which supplies content to Yahoo’s omg! celebrity portal, also attracted its most monthly video streams to date, with 3.3 million, according to Nielsen VideoCensus data. (Cynopsis 3/20)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: ChocolateNews, CNN, David Alan Grier, MSNBC, NBC Universal, Television, Time Warner Cable, Tom Brokaw
SCI FI Channel‘s season five debut of Ghost Hunters at 9p explored Betsy Ross’ House in Philadelphia, unleashing 1.6 million A18-49 viewers, 1.7 million A25-54 viewers and 2.7 million total viewers as well as a 1.9 HH rating. (Cynopsis 3/13)
All is not sweet for David Alan Grier as his Comedy Central series Chocolate News was not picked up for renewal by the network, reports The New York Times. The show, which ran for ten episodes, was not so much a news parody but more of a sketch comedy series where Grier portrayed fictitious characters to the poet Maya Angelou. Fans of Grier, though, can catch the comedian on this season’s Dancing with the Stars on ABC. (Cynopsis 3/13)
MTV introduces viewers to young, inspiring performers in a new reality musical series Taking The Stage, opening next Thursday at 10p. The series, over ten one-hour episodes, will follow five students who attend the School For Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) in Cincinnati. (Cynopsis 3/13)
CNN’s Anderson Cooper will file recession-related reports from five U.S. cities in an upcoming special package dubbed “Road to the Rescue: A CNN Survival Guide.” Separately, Tom Brokaw will file similar dispatches for NBC Universal properties USA, MSNBC and NBC. Variety (3/12)
At 8 p.m. Thursday, Time Warner Cable‘s spinoff from Time Warner became official. The transaction, first announced last May, received regulatory approval last month. The cable company’s stock closed 61 cents higher Thursday at $8.33. Multichannel News (3/12)
Despite the ailing economy, cable TV remains a necessity for most people, which, according to Comcast Chief Operating Officer Steve Burke, cannot be said for some of the industry’s rivals. “As the economy has gotten worse and worse, very few people are disconnecting their cable television service,” he said. “Far more people are cutting the cord on their phone service. The telephone companies are losing about 10% of their phone customers every year, and about half of those go to the cable companies … .” TechFlash (3/12)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: ABC Family, American Broadcasting Company, John Martin, Kelsey Grammer, Secret Life of the American Teenager, Television, Time Warner Cable, Warner Bros.
Kelsey Grammer will headline a new 30m comedy, this time a pilot ordered by ABC produced by Good Humor TV and Warner Bros. Television, reports Variety. This multi-camera comedy has Grammer playing a corporate tycoon who after losing his job tries to reconnect with his family. (Cynopsis 1/8)
ABC Family’s second season premiere of The Secret Life of the American Teenager on Monday at 8p attracted 1.2 million A18-34 viewers, 1.9 million A18-49 viewers, 2.8 million P12-34 viewers and 4.4 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 1/8)
Time Warner is “very optimistic” that it will complete the divestiture of its 85% stake in Time Warner Cable in the first quarter, according to John Martin, Time Warner’s chief financial officer. Martin said the deal should be closed shortly after the Obama administration names a new chairman of the FCC, who will ultimately sign off on the transaction. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (subscription required) (1/7)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Bright House Networks, Clearwire, Comcast, Google, Motorola, Sprint, Time Warner Cable, WiMAX
AT&T will release a new Motorola handset next Tuesday, the Tundra VA76r, whose clamshell design can withstand the toughest of environmental conditions, according to the companies. They said the Tundra would feature 3G network support, AT&T’s Push to Talk service, and a navigator for advanced tracking and location services at a price of $200 with a rebate and contract. RTT News (1/6)
Fitness video publisher PumpOne has packaged 20 popular interactive fitness programs for the iPhone covering multiple disciplines including Strength, Cardio, Flexibility, Sports, Yoga, Pilates and Physical Therapy. Prices for the “iPump 20” range from free to $2.99/each. (Cynopsis 1/7)
Wireless internet service provider Clearwire initiated its newly-branded 4G Clear internet service in Portland, OR yesterday – the second major market in the U.S. to offer true WiMAX broadband following the launch of Sprint’s Xohm service in Baltimore last Oct. Clear, the result of a new joint venture between Clearwire and Sprint with cash investments from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Intel and Google, is offering download speeds of up to 6 Mbps for about $50/month for unlimited downloads. The service can be used on the go by PC users by connecting via Clear’s USB modem powered by Motorola, on sale for $49.99. (Cynopsis 1/7)
VOD measurement firm Rentrak signed a multi-year deal with NBC Universal to use its Mobile Essentials service it has been trialing since early 2008. The mobile measurement tools analyze trends and track massive amounts of data in hard-to-aggregate formats including video clips, SMS messaging, ring tones, video games, wallpapers and other mobile content. Media giants have struggled to count and adequately monetize audiences on multiple screens due to the challenges associated with defining and combining separate measurement services. (Cynopsis 1/7)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Cable television, Collins Stewart, Comedy Central, Television, Time Warner Cable, Time Warner Cable and Viacom, Viacom
Going into overtime, NBC Sport’s Wild Card Playoff game last Saturday night posted an 18.3/30 in the overnights from 815-1145p while peaking during overtime with a 21.6/37 at 1130p. The Colts-Chargers game also earned NBC a 17.3/28 during regular primetime hours of 8-11p. (Cynopsis 1/5)
Analyst Thomas Eagan of Collins Stewart says the new retransmission deal between Time Warner Cable and Viacom is a win-win situation. Viacom, he wrote in a research note, gets higher fees from Time Warner Cable, and the cable distributor may get improved access to Viacom shows for its video-on-demand platform. TVWeek.com (1/2)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: HBO, Kelly Macdonald, Leslie Moonves, MarkWahlberg, MartinScorsese, Steve Buscemi, Time Warner Cable, Tom Brokaw
Buoyed by the Presidential election and its aftermath, the Sunday morning news shows all posted increases during the November Sweep and according to Nielsen, NBC’s Meet the Press led overall and had its best November performance in four years with veteran Tom Brokaw at the helm. (Cynopsis 12/2)
Steve Buscemi may headline Boardwalk Empire, the Martin Scorsese directed drama pilot for HBO chronicling Atlantic City in the 1920s, reports THR. Buscemi’s character Nucky Johnson, is a smart businessman and a bootlegger on the side. Scottish actress, Kelly Macdonald is also discussing taking on a co-starring role in the project playing Margaret, an Irish immigrant who married the wrong man to escape her family home. Executive producers on the project include Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Terrence Winter who also wrote the script based on a book by Nelson Johnson. (Cynopsis 12/2)
Showtime’s penchant for off-beat, sometimes aberrant, main characters in shows such as “Dexter,” “Weeds” and “Californication” is adding up to big business for the pay-cable channel. According to this article, the network, a unit of CBS Corp., will report that its operating income has risen 20% this year, to $400 million. “It’s clearly the original programming,” said Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS. Los Angeles Times (12/2)
Sci Fi Channel has approved the production of “Caprica,” the prequel to the network’s highly successful “Battlestar Galactica.” “Caprica,” set for an early 2010 launch sequence, is set 50 years before the alien attack that doomed the world, but gave birth to a great TV show. Variety (12/1)
Time Warner is asking its shareholders to approve a reverse-stock split that could double or triple the share price. The company believes the move will improve liquidity following the spinoff next year of Time Warner Cable, which could cause Time Warner’s shares to fall. (Iwantmedia 12/2, http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081201/time_warner_split.html 12/1)
Cablevision this week will begin offering NBC Universal-owned Bravo, CNBC, Sci Fi Channel and USA in high definition. The cable provider also will launch two other NBCU channels — Chiller and Sleuth — in standard definition. Multichannel News (12/1)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Bright House Networks, Clearwire, Google, iPhone, iPhone App, Sprint, Time Warner Cable, WiMAX
148Apps
, which tracks and reviews iPhone Apps, says 10,000 applications have now been released on the iPhone App store (the site is named after the fact that you can add up to 148 applications to an iPhone or iPod touch). A tribute page shows a mini icon for every application. And it also gives some interesting data. About 24% of apps are free; 35% cost $.99. The average cost is $3.12, including free apps. About 34% are games or entertainment, and there are 49 weather related apps for the iPhone despite the fact that a weather app is built in. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/29/10000-iphone-apps 11/29)
The deal to combine Clearwire and Sprint’s mobile WiMax internet network officially closed on Friday, clearing the way for the build out of the nation’s first true WiMax wireless broadband network. Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks have collectively invested $3.2 billion in the new company, which will retain the Clearwire name and be based in Kirkland, WA. (Cynopsis 12/1)
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