Cynopsis: DIGITAL
12/12/08
Good morning, it’s Friday, December 121, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.
The BBC, UK broadcaster ITV and telecom giant BT Group announced a proposal to jointly create open source standards for broadcasting television to broadband-connected digital receivers. The IPTV devices, which could be ready in 18 months, would be subscription free and carry terrestrial channels as well as a vast selection of on demand shows, movies and interactive content in both standard and high definition formats. BT has already been experimenting with on demand television over broadband this year, offering a stripped down version of BBC’s iPlayer referred to as BBC Replay. The BBC also unveiled a plan to share its web video iPlayer technology with other broadcasters to help speed the distribution of television content online.
CBS Sports will stream select games from its 2008-09 SEC College Basketball schedule live on CBSSports.com beginning on Saturday, Dec. 13 (4p ET) with Indiana at Kentucky. A total of 12 games will be streamed live and free of charge on the site, concluding with the SEC Championship Game on Sunday, March 15. The games can also be accessed through a link on the websites of all CBS affiliates.
MTV Networks’ Nickelodeon launched a new environmentally-themed online multiplayer game to get kids interested in green practices. In Big Green Help kids have to “green” the last three pollution-free cities on the planet, choosing from 4 Nicktoon characters – SpongeBob SquarePants, Back at the Barnyard’s Otis, The Fairly OddParent’s Timmy Turner and Avatar’s Aang. Players can partner with up to three teammates to face-off against CO2-spewing monsters. The game will be available in more than 15 Nickelodeon markets.
Bravo launched Top Chef: Tour De Force, a mobile tournament in which the cast of Top Chef 5: New York competes in a series of challenges designed to test their speed, taste and culinary imagination. Challenges range from speed dicing mangos to distinguishing organic and artificial cereal. The mobile game will be available on Verizon VCast, AT&T, CV Video and on MobiTV and will run through the end of season 5.
Palo Alto-based Accel Partners, one of the VC firms behind Facebook, raised an astonishing $1 billion for two new separate funds. Accel’s 3rd London fund will target European technology companies. The $480 million Accel Growth Fund will fund late-stage companies rather than start-ups, a first for Accel.
Microblogging service Tumblr closed on a $4.5 million series B round of financing led by Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital.
Customizable video/image interface site uvLayer added a number of new features including access to YouTube favorites and playlists, integration with photo sharing site Flickr and streamlined sharing with multiple platforms including the ability to share with IM Networks (MSN, Yahoo! GaduGadu) and iPhone/YouTube enabled phones.
U.S. ad expenditures fell by 1.7% overall during the first 9 months of 2008 according to TNS Media Intelligence, despite boosts from election and Olympics spending. Internet display ads were up only 7% during the period, less than half their growth rate during the same 9 months of last year. Newspaper ad revenue plunged by 10% during the first 9 months of 2008.
Percent Change in Measured Media Ad Spending
Jan-Sept 2008 vs. Jan-Sept 2007
Media Type % CHANGE
(Sectors and types listed in rank order of spending)
TELEVISION MEDIA 2.1%
Network TV 3.0%
Cable TV 3.7%
Spot TV -2.6%
Spanish Language TV 0.3%
Syndication – National 9.0%
MAGAZINE MEDIA -3.9%
Consumer Magazines -3.8%
B-to-B Magazines -6.9%
Sunday Magazines 0.3%
Local Magazines -6.5%
Spanish Language Magazines 4.9%
NEWSPAPER MEDIA -10.0%
Local Newspapers -10.2%
National Newspapers -8.9%
Spanish Lang. Newspapers -12.7%
INTERNET 7.0%
RADIO MEDIA -8.8%
Local Radio -8.8%
National Spot Radio -11.1%
Network Radio -2.6%
OUTDOOR -0.5%
FSIs 0.9%
TOTAL -1.7%
Source: TNS Media Intelligence
Nielsen reported that the penetration of high definition television (HDTV) reached 23.3% of all U.S. television households as of Nov. 30. Washington, DC had the highest penetration rate with 31.1%, followed by Boston/Manchester N.H. with 30.5% and New York with 30.2%.
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 garnered the largest share of online buzz among the top game consoles, with 41.6% of the messages mentioning Xbox, Wii or Playstation between Nov 1 and Dec. 9, according to Nielsen Online’s BuzzMetrics blog mention measurement service. The Wii and PlayStation ranked No. 2 and 3 with 29.8% and 28.6% of game console messages, respectively. Among selected gift ideas, TV-related terms dominated buzz with 52.5% of gift-related messages, followed by DVDs and Toys.
CBS Interactive is shedding a number of jobs as it continues to merge operations with CNET after acquiring the tech portal for $1.8 billion this past summer, reported paidContent. The CBSNews.com and CNET newsrooms will be merged into a single until.
Washington Post Co.’s Newsweek plans to cut staff as part of a major editorial makeover, per the WSJ. The magazine also plans to cut back on the number of copies it publishes and look into reducing its cover price.
Dipchard Nishar became the latest prominent executive to depart Google, joining professional social networking site LinkedIn as VP of Products.
Washington Post CEO Donald E. Graham is joining the Facebook Board of Directors next month.
David Eastman was hired by New York-based marketing agency JWT as Worldwide Digital Director. In this newly created role, David will report to directly to CEO Bob Jeffrey and will be responsible for the strategic oversight and management of the digital discipline within JWT, RMG and all subsidiary companies. Mr. Eastman will also join the JWT Worldwide Executive Committee.
[212]Media announced its appointment of Gary R. Lewis to VP/Integrated Sales, a newly created position. Gary was formerly CMO of Vibe Media and is now based out of [212]Meida’s New York City office.
Ascent Media Group announced that two of its boutique visual effects studios, Riot and Method Studios, will unite operations under the Method Studios name on January 1, 2009. Method, which recently added artists Andy Boyd, Aron Hjartarson and Matt Hackett, will also open a new, state-of-the-art facility in New York City in the spring. Method’s LA operation will be located at the former Riot facility, with Andy Boyd serving as the new Head of 3D at Method LA.
UK-based broadcast technology company ionoco announces today the addition of two senior executives. Will Arrowsmith joins as Developer and Rachel Charlton as Finance Manager. Will developed game show and iTV software with Microsoft and retailer Torex. Rachel has been Finance Manger for a UK law firm.
Sony finally rolled out the initial version of PlayStation Home yesterday, its Second Life-inspired virtual world available to PS3 console users that has been in development since 2005. More ambitious than Nintendo’s Mii interface or Xbox’s minimalistic avatars, Home users can create their own 3D identities and decorate their own lavish “HomeSpaces” with posters and trophies won from gaming tournaments. Invite your friends over and chat with them using a USB keyboard or a Bluetooth headset. Previously-announced features such as a Home Theater option, where you can invite friends over and watch videos stored on your PS3, are not yet ready for prime time. Yet the interface is a quantum leap in terms of user interaction. Sony has high hopes that Home will help the company attract a wave of brand advertisers and some of the casual gaming crowd that has been so enamored with the Wii. Game publishers and movie studios are already here in force. But the “wow” factor will rub off in a hurry – gamers are quickly bored. The quality of games such as Bowling Alley (in which you can bowl a frame with random people) will have likely have to be better if the platform is going to take off.
Later — Wayne
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
12.12.08
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