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Cynopsis: DIGITAL
02/20/09
Good morning, it’s Friday, February 20, 2009, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.
Mobile ads served on the iPhone platform have been extremely effective in terms of response rates – particularly those that take advantage of the device’s GPS capabilities, according to research from Limbo and GfK NOP quoted by eMarketer. About one half of iPhone users who were served ads responded to them compared to a 33% non-iPhone response rate. Recall among iPhone users came it at 41% compared to 33% for other users. iPhone users are more than twice as likely as non-iPhone users to browse the mobile Web on their phone and more than three times as likely to use location-based services, including maps, restaurant locators and friend finders.
~ MULTIPLATFORM CONTENT NEWS ~
CBSNews.com launched another weekly webcast, this one about medical issues and health news. Doc Dot Com, premiering every Thursdays at 2 pm ET, is hosted by CBS News Medical Correspondent Jonathan LaPook, M.D. with help from CBS News Correspondent Richard Schlesinger and a variety of health specialists.
Meanwhile CBS Interactive’s TheInsider.com, operated jointly with CBS’s syndicated show The Insider, is launching Inside Dish with Ross Matthews, a daily web talk show combining breaking news with community features allowing fans to join in on the conversation about Hollywood and celebrities. The show officially launches today at 4 pm PT.
~ INNOVATORS & START-UPS ~
It’s probably not the best time to look for bridge financing but the rubber may hit the road for several online video ventures this year. Online video network ManiaTV has put itself on the block and needs to find a buyer very soon in order to keep the lights on, reports TVWeek. The company has retained investment bank Updata Advisors to help look for suitors. Home of shows such as Dave Navarro’s Spread TV and The Chuck Norris Show, ManiaTV has been around since 2004 and has been averaging about 80 million minutes of videos viewed per month.
FlipGloss Media chose Fashion Week to announce the beta launch of the glossy FlipGloss.com, an ad-supported lifestyle site featuring fashion, design and travel with an emphasis on vivid photography. Attempting to bridge the gap between flashy women’s magazines and lifestyle sites, FlipGloss is headed by co-founder and CEO Kerry Trainor and has a number of prominent advisors behind it including Tim Forbes, COO, Forbes Media.
Next New Networks launched its latest entertainment network, $99 Music Video, dedicated solely to that genre of programming that once drove MTV (the company that NNN co-founder Fred Siebert helped start.) Consisting of music videos and making-of videos produced in less than 24 hours for under $100, the micro-network hopes to capitalize on the huge popularity of the music video genre on the web (one that drives a large percentage of traffic on YouTube.) Verizon has signed with a “pretty significant” sponsorship commitment as exclusive launch partner, says Tim Shey, co-founder and head of entertainment for NNN. Next up for the web production outfit is to develop a mobile optimized site for all its properties, according to Mr. Shey. NNN content is already available on the iPhone via iTunes subscriptions.
Up and coming blogging discovery platform Tumblr pulled a reversal of its own this week, reinstating content from 5 blogs that primarily occupy themselves by dumping on other bloggers. Tumblr had made changes to its content policy to outlaw “accounts with the sole or primary purpose of repeatedly harassing or abusing specific members or groups,” which resulted in the immediate removal of five snark-infested blogs. But after users worried about the impact of the move on the larger culture of the site, Tumber decided to reinstate the blogs. Instead a new blocking feature will allow users to filter content from the post notes and dashboard features.
Are you on the fence about going to your class reunion this year? Online funnyman Thomas J. Kelly (aka The Little Merman) has identified some reasons you might want to go in a new posting on Funny or Die.
~ DIGITAL ADVERTISING ~
YouTube is beginning to attract some big marketers to its in-stream video ad program, according to a new report from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster sourced in paidcontent.org. A recent look at the top 100 weekly clips on YouTube found a bounce back from the holiday rush identifying 29% with an ad versus 25% in January and 30% in December. Some 72% of the ads were in-video ads versus 52% in January and 63% in December. Sponsors included Adidas, Chevy, Disney, Kraft, Verizon, and Xbox.
Celebrating its fifth anniversary in the search business, Yahoo added several new features to its integrated search engine including photos and video entries with its text search. Some paid search ads also include localized elements. Similar to Google’s Universal Search product, Yahoo hopes Rich Ads in Search will help drive higher click-through revenues as the banner ad market continues to decline.
Video advertising network Tremor Media has raised $18 million in Series C financing from Meritech Capital Partners and previous investors Canaan Partners, Masthead Venture Partners and European Founders Fund, bringing its total funding to just over $40 million. Tremor, which focuses on premium online video, now claims a network of 1,400 publisher partners delivering an aggregate 135 million unique users.
The ill-fated Bud.tv, which launched to great fan fare during Super Bowl 2007, finally pulled the plug after investing more than $15 million on the site, per AdAge. Bud.tv stumbled out of the gate by forcing users to verify their ages.
~ TECHNOLOGY DEALS, MERGERS AND SKIRMISHES ~
Affordable flat panel TV maker Vizio increased sales year-in-year by 52% over the holiday season positioning itself as the #2 HDTV shipper in the U.S. market with over 1.2 million units shipped during Q4 2008. Vizio is the latest manufacturer to drop production of plasma displays to focus on the more profitable LCD technology.
~ TRENDS, RESEARCH, ETC. ~
Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL each grabbed a small slice of Google’s U.S. search market share in January but the latter company still enjoys a dominant share with 63% of all searches, according to the latest ComScore figures. Yahoo sites accounted for 21% of the market (up half a percent vs. Dec.) while Microsoft and AOL increased their shared by only 0.1%.
comScore Core Search Report January 2009 vs. December 2008
Core Search Entity Share of Searches (%)
Dec-08 Jan-09 Point Change
Jan-09 vs. Dec-08
Total Core Search 100.0 100.0 N/A
Google Sites 63.5 63.0 -0.5
Yahoo! Sites 20.5 21.0 0.5
Microsoft Sites 8.3 8.5 0.2
AOL LLC 3.8 3.9 0.1
Ask Network 3.9 3.7 -0.2
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
The only thing more certain than unemployment these days is taxes. The top-gaining category for unique visits was tax in January, according to comScore as users began to prepare for tax season. The category witnessed a 176% gain to 24.7 million visitors. Job Search, Government and travel-related sites also experienced strong gains.
comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by % Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)
January 2009 vs. December 2008
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Dec-08 Jan-09 % Change
Total Internet: Total Audience 190,650 191,863 1
Business/Finance – Taxes 8,935 24,703 176
Travel – Ground/Cruise 8,942 13,028 46
Career Svs: Job Search 18,826 26,702 42
Career Svs: Career Resources 38,911 48,900 26
Retail – Computer Software 30,186 37,545 24
News/Information – Politics 11,992 13,710 14
Travel – Hotels/Resorts 26,671 29,976 12
Government 80,564 89,662 11
Travel – Online Travel Agents 35,565 38,973 10
Business/Finance – Online Trading 10,758 11,743 9
Source: comScore Media Metrix
A measure of the top 10 gaining properties year-over-year in Jan. pulled up two entertainment properties: Oprah.com, which recently launched its content on iTunes, and ABC.com, which has received quite a boost from the return of new episodes of Lost.
comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by % Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)
January 2009 vs. December 2008
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Dec-08 Jan-09 % Change Rank
by Uniques
Total Internet: Total Aud. 190,650 191,863 1 N/A
TaxACT 549 5,883 972 205
H&R Block 1,611 6,073 277 196
IRS.GOV 4,313 14,663 240 69
Intuit 6,139 16,172 163 60
Oprah.com 2,539 5,077 100 232
Gamevance.com 6,644 12,170 83 91
Usmagazine.com 3,117 5,057 62 234
ABC.com 5,496 8,760 59 126
ED.gov 4,469 7,080 58 163
Indeed 5,167 7,541 46 157
Source: comScore Media Metrix
Ranking based on the top 250 properties in January 2009.
~ EXECUTIVE MOVES ~
Producers Cary Glotzer and Michael Yudin have formed a new joint venture called MY-Tupelo Entertainment, combining the interests of their existing companies MY Entertainment Company and Tupelo-Honey Productions, which is owned by SCP Worldwide. MY-Tupelo will continue focus on producing programming for televisions and the web. Cary and Michael will serve as co-Presidents of the New York-headquartered multiplatform production outfit.
~ WEBSITE OF THE DAY ~
Web video recommendation sites are not new but a new concept called eGuiders is adding a couple of new elements to the mix. First the new site, founded by seasoned new and old media producers Marc Ostrick and Evangeline Morphos, is launching with a star-studded list of guest curators. Names such as Lost show runner Damon Lindelof, comedy director John Landis and The Shield creator Shawn Ryan should lend weight (or at least star power) to their selections. And unlike many Silicon Valley-steeped services, eGuiders is targeting an older demo, according to Mr. Ostrick – folks that don’t have time to keep up with what’s hot on the web. Much web video discovery happens virally through social networking, etc., so the value of such a service on the web may be a tough sell. But we see potential here in establishing a brand to recommend web content on other platforms such as Tivo, which lacks an intelligent recommendation engine beyond its algorithms (famously called out for sexual-orientation profiling by WSJ’s David Cohen in 2002.)
Correction: Yesterday’s entry about FYI’s Warner Bros. sponsorship deal incorrectly spelled The Retributionists. The show, an examination of self-absorption about producer Stephanie Scott’s quest to confront people who have wronged her, is actually called The Retributioners. We regret the error.
Later — Wayne
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
02.20.09
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JOB OPENING: CONSUMER PRODUCT LICENSING LAWYER/Cookie Jar Ent/CA: Draft & negotiate contracts and handle contract admin; Manage CPL Paralegals; manage disputes; negotiate; supervise litigation. Apply: www.thecookiejarcompany.com (2/27)
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JOB OPENING: DIR, BUS PLNG & DEVL/Disney Channel Worldwide/LA:Work w/Sr mgmt to devlp growth strat for int’l Kid’s media; fin/bus modeling, proj mgmt; 5+ yrs media exp; MBA; exp TV/prod pref’d. www.disneycareers.com , Req ID#186360 (2/27)
JOB OPENING: DIGITAL AD SALES ASST/NY: Entry level position, prefer industry internships, enthusiastic multi-tasked & detail oriented individual. Full details www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/careers & select req 272 (2/21)
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SPRING/SUMMER INTERNSHIP/CREDITS ONLY: 2 PROD INTERNS: Needed for NY Production Co. Interns will help develop new shows and existing projects. Great networking opportunities. If interested, please send your resume to [email protected] (2/27)
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SITUATION WANTED: NON-FICTION PRODUCER/Reality/Ent/Docs. Prism Award; Field and Post; NBC; CBS; Dis; TLC; E!; Story Driven,Runs on Batteries. LA based. [email protected] (2/27)
SITUATION WANTED: ASSOCIATE/FIELD/SEGMENT PRODUCER seeking position with a show or network in NYC. Additional experience as a Coordinator/AD/Art Director. [email protected] (2/27)
SITUATION WANTED: Veteran AFFILIATE SALES PROFESSIONAL: 20+years experience in cable TV/media sales. Home office based, Start-up network/company specialist. Seeking full-time or consulting opp. Contact [email protected] (2/27)
SITUATION WANTED: TRAFFIC MANAGER/SPECIALIST: Exp Traffic professional with over 6 years of experience in both cable and broadcast television. Exp with various traffic programs. [email protected] (2/27)
SITUATION WANTED: COMMERCIAL OPS/TRAFFIC EXPERT: 12+ years experience, knowledge of multiple traffic systems and much more. Recently returned to NYC and ready to start work immediately. Please contact me at [email protected] (2/26)
SITUATION WANTED: I’ve delivered proposals dressed as Sparky the dragon, and had my life threatened by an 11 year old while dressed up as Santa. Looking for MARKETING work. Resume available. Contact: [email protected] (2/25)
SITUATION WANTED: NEW MEDIA/GAMING EXECUTIVE Cross-Functional Skills in Marketing and Product Development. Experience from Start-ups to Microsoft and Yahoo! [email protected] (2/25)
SITUATION WANTED: GOT RESEARCH? Ph.D. AND ex-Professor seeking P/T research work from my home. I can find and report on almost anything! Contact me @ [email protected] (2/25)
SITUATION WANTED: Experienced LOGGER seeking transcription work. Can transcribe interview, B-Roll, and show footage. Will come to you to pick up media. Email [email protected] (2/25)
SITUATION WANTED: EXECUTIVE/ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT for 30 plus years. Worked in Production for Executive Producers, Writers, Directors and high level executives. Excellent skills … email: [email protected] (2/24)
SITUATION WANTED: FREELANCE DP/SHOOTER (NE Corridor, NY based): HD, Betacam or DV. Full Production Services. 20+ year pro. From sports, magazines, and docs to testimonials, no job is more important than yours. [email protected] (2/24)
SITUATION WANTED: FREELANCE DEVELOPMENT PRODUCER (LA): creative exec in reality/doc seeks development gig for creating, developing, or expanding series proposals, formats, and materials. all genres. [email protected] (2/24)
SITUATION WANTED: CAREER COACHING for media professionals seeking to make a job change or to reposition their career. 15+ years exp in industry working with execs. contact: [email protected] (2/24)
SITUATION WANTED: LA Based, AWARD WINNING “PREDITOR” From cutting edge promos to breakthrough reality, I do it all. Specializing in Story Producing/Editing, I can make the AVID sing! Freelance or Permanent gig. [email protected] (2/24)
SITUATION WANTED: DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE Currently working Los Angeles based television development executive seeks new platform. I created/sold twelve series in the past four years and currently have six on the air. Email: [email protected] (2/21)
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