Cynopsis: DIGITAL
10/03/08

Good morning, it's Friday, October 3, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

It looks as though the iTunes store will stay open after all. The three-member Copyright Royalty Board voted yesterday to freeze the rate that digital music stores are required to pay to music publishers. The decision keeps royalty rates at 9.1 cents/track instead of raising it to 15 cents/track, a 66% increase. With an estimated 70 cents of every 99 cents song going to music labels the increase would have decimated the already razor thin profit margin Apple makes off the sales of online music.
 

~ MULTIPLATFORM CONTENT NEWS ~

 
Nokia's all you can listen to "Comes with Music" bundle added EMI tracks to its offering. The service, which will sell for 130 pounds ($230) 12 months in the UK from Oct. 16, allows subscribers to download unlimited Universal, Sony BMG and Warner Music tracks and allows customers to store the songs on their phone during the subscription period. Nokia also unveiled a new phone that will work with the service, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic - its first touchscreen model. The handset, not expected to be available in the U.S. until next year, will ship with an 8GB microSD card, surround sound speakers, Wi-Fi capabilities, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a 3.2 megapixel camera.
 
TheWB.com will debut three new original series this month beginning with High Drama: Against All Oz on Oct. 6, a behind-the-scenes look at a high school production of The Wizard of Oz. Rich Girl, Poor Girl, a new unscripted series from the creators of Laguna Beach, will also debut October 20, along with small town soap Downers Grove premiering in mid-October.
 
Missing the Olympics already? UniversalSports, the jv between NBC Sports and InterMedia (formerly known as WCSN), has added some new content from the 2008 Beijing games including an 8-part spread dedicated to Michael Phelps. The site's business model, formerly subscription based, is still under discussion but as right now everything is available for free. Upcoming live events include the FINA Swimming World Cup and the Chicago and New York Marathons.
 
U.S. Hispanic service V-me launched a mobile service designed to complement the channel's linear programming. Planned services include SMS voting and polling, subscription content services, ringtones and video. Up-Mobile is powering the offering.
 

~ INNOVATORS & START-UPS ~

 
EchoStar's Sling Media is getting ready to test its Sling.com video portal. The site will provide access to a library of TV shows, movies and made-for-the-web videos, along with social functionality and live television feeds via a connected Slingbox. The company sent out an email yesterday to those who signed up as beta testers One of the cooler features expected here will be the ability to create customized playlists and mashups to share with friends.
 
Interactive video tool provider Ved.io is putting its two-screen video & text solution to work providing additional facts, analysis, quotes and historical perspective to the presidential debates. The supplemental information box loads alongside the video stream. The service itself is in closed beta but anyone can check out the debate content.
 

~ GADGETS & APPS ~

 
A version of EA's Spore Origins created for the iPhone is getting rave reviews for its playability and relative affordability (it's $10 instead of $50 - what the PC game is going for.) Tilt, turn, and twist your way through the primordial ooze with your motion-sensing accelerometer. The game features customizable skins, two modes (Evolution and Survival) and 30 different levels. Games continue to dominate paid Apps on the platform, particularly ones that utilize the accelerometer.
 
Top 10 Paid Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch (As of Oct. 2.)

1. Cro-mag Rally (games)
2. 300 Bowl (games)
3. Solebon Solitarie (games)
4. The Stone of Destiny (games)
5. Line Rider iRide (games)
6. PocketGuitar (music)
7. Koi Pond (entertainment)
8. Crash Banidcoot Nitro Kart 3D (games)
9. Air Hockey (games)
10. Jewel Quest II (games)

Source: Apple
 
Broadband-based movie service Vudu unveiled a new higher quality format that will deliver a selection of HD-quality movies to the Vudu set top. HDX movies, which can be ordered on an a la carte basis online or from the Vudu box, will play back in 1080p at 24/frames per second but will require a 3-4 hour download.
 

~ TECHNOLOGY DEALS, MERGERS AND SKIRMISHES ~

 
Eastman Kodak is the first digital cinema vendor to (indirectly) benefit from the multi-studio financing pact struck this week as Paramount now turns its attention toward smaller theaters. The studio signed an agreement with the Rochester, NY-based company to pay for digital upgrades in theaters not covered under the DCIP agreement. Paramount will pay a virtual print fee (about $1,000/film) every time one of its movies screens on a Kodak system.

 
~ DIGITAL ADVERTISING ~

 
Msnbc.com is adding self-service online display advertising to the mix via a partnership with AdReady. The service offers local retailers and business a way to design their own customized ads to run on the msnbc.com within a limited geographical footprint for as little as $50 per day. Seattle-based AdReady provides tools to build effective creative and measure performance of the campaigns.
 
Avowed supporter of overlay video ads, YouTube is succumbing to an industry trend by testing post-roll video ads, notes NewTeeVee.

 
~ TRENDS, RESEARCH, ETC.  ~

 
ABC took the top spot this week among Hitwise's ad supported broadcast network website rankings, edging out NBC and easily besting CBS, which held the top spot most of the summer. Hitwise also factored in PBS Online in a separate ranking for the first time and the site drew a 36% share of the broadcast-related traffic for the week - nearly double that of its closest competitor ABC - as Americans turned to site for news on the political race and the financial crisis. Dancing with the Stars was the #1 ranked TV show site following its premiere while NBC's Heroes jumped up to the #3 spot from #10. On the cable side CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight was tops among the cable networks (adult only) moving up from #7 the previous week.
 
Top Visited US Top Visited US Broadcast Network TV Sites (Week ending Sept. 27 2008)
Rank                Network Website    Market Share of Visits
   1  ABC             www.abc.com                         28.77%
   2  NBC           www.nbc.com                          28.62%
   3  CBS            www.cbs.com                         21.52%
   4  FOX*           www.fox.com                         13.13%
   5 The CW      www.cwtv.com                            6.85%
   6 MNTV   www.mynetworktv.com                     1.11%
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 Sept. 27, 2008)
Rank   Network       Website                      Market Share of Visits
   1          ABC          Dancing With The Stars       15.01%
   2          NBC          American's Got Talent           8.84% 
   3          NBC          Heroes                                 6.37%     
   4          NBC          The Biggest Loser                  4.26%
   5          ABC          Grey's Anatomy                     3.32%
   6          FOX          Terminator: Sarah Connor      3.30%
   7          FOX          America's Most Wanted          3.25%     
   8          NBC          The Office                             3.15%
   9          NBC          Deal or No Deal                     2.39%
  10         CBS          NCIS                                     2.30%
 
Source: Custom report from Hitwise
 
Top Visited US Cable Network TV Show Sites - Excluding Children's Programming (Week ending Sept. 27, 2008)
Rank   Network                   Website                   Market Share of Visits
  1    CNN                       Lou Dobbs Tonight             5.06% 
  2    Comedy Central       South Park                        4.97%
  3    Fox News                O'Reilly Factor                   4.30%
  4    Comedy Central       The Daily Show                 3.66% 
  5    BET                        106 & Park                        3.64%
  6    MTV                        The Hills                           2.97%
  7    Food Network          Paula's Home Cooking        2.36%
  8    Fox News                Hannity & Colmes              2.21%
  9    MSNBC                    Countdown w/Keith O.       2.07%
 10   Bravo                      Project Runway                 1.96%               
Source: Custom report from Hitwise
 

~ WEBSITE OF THE DAY ~

 
With the incredible amount of content now available online, discovering new sources and deciding what to watch is becoming paramount for web users. TVGuide.com's Online Video Guide has put together a wonderfully visual interface to identify shows that originate from TV networks. Sites like Hulu and Joost are great portals for professionally produced fare and increasing selection of indie web shows. But what about all the other stuff? Check out OVGuide.com for the web's most comprehensive database of video sites and services from all around the globe, sortable by type, genre, popularity, rating, etc. Interested in finding a new politically-themed site? There are over 50 to choose from here. OVGuide also indexes various aggregators such as Streamick, a user-built website that provides links and direct feeds to free English language web TV services available on the internet with 238 currently active feeds listed. OVGuide currently indexes more than 2,500 destinations and that number is growing daily.

Later -- Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
10.03.08

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