A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM VIDEONUZE and NATPE

Cynopsis: DIGITAL

03/13/09

Good morning, it’s Friday, March 13, 2009, and this is your first early morning digital briefing. 

Do you know those commercials where football fans check scores while shopping for their wives? Well this year iPhone and iPod Touch users can watch all 63 games of the NCAA hoops tourney live from their devices via a new app from MobiTV and CBSSports.com. The app costs $4.99 and will include real-time in game box scores and player stats presented as an overlay on top of the video – a very thoughtful feature. The one catch is that the app requires a Wi-Fi connection to stream video, but this makes sense – live video over AT&T’s 3G network is not pretty. Of course the games are also available on CBS’ MMOD site as well as for purchase on iTunes for $1.99 a pop the day after they’re played.
 

 
CBS Interactive is also testing a 1080p- quality video gallery on the TV.com portal for folks with a fat pipe (3 Mbps or higher) and a fast processor. Currently there are only 4 video clips but they look amazing. Competitor Hulu upgraded its HD gallery last year to stream videos in 720p.
 
The WB.com has cast Jessica “LonelyGirl15” Rose in a new 18-episode web horror series entitled Blood Cell, per THR, about a woman racing against the clock to stop a psycho killer. The project, first announced last year, was written and directed Eduardo Rodriguez.
 

 
Monetization Rights Management platform FreeWheel and online content monitoring and monetization platform Attributor Corporation announced a strategic partnership combining Attributor’s video content identification and automated policy infrastructure with FreeWheel’s advertising rights and inventory management platform.
 
Revision3 founder and Diggnation producer David Prager found an innovative way to use Twitter and UStream.TV this week as an intruder broke into his home. (Don’t worry, he turned out to be three sheets to the wind.) Is it a real story or a publicity stunt? You be the judge.
 
Call for Content: Online music game Figment, which allows users to try their luck as a music mogul by creating and promoting a fake band, is hosting a contest for best album cover judged by pro British album cover designer John Coulthart. The winner will receive a free copy of Photoshop CS4-Extended courtesy of Adobe, a copy of the album art book “Reasons to be Cheerful: The Life and Works of Barney Bubbles” by Paul Gorman and 1,000 pieces of Lucre, the site’s virtual currency.

 
Mobile ad network Greystripe raised $5.5 million in series C funding led by existing investor Incubic Venture Capital with Steamboat Ventures and Monitor Ventures also participating. Greystripe, which allows advertisers to target iPhone using rich media Flash-based ads, plans to use the funding to integrate its mobile inventory into broadly adopted online media buying software to simplify the process of adopting Flash-based web ads for mobile. Greystripe’s unified ad platform offers web-like campaign management and measurement tools as well as GPS-powered location targeting.
 
Adconion Media Group’s RedLever studio has created a new branded entertainment show Shop Girls of Madison Avenue for sponsor TRESemme, currently being distributed across the Adconion.TV network. The show, co-produced by Third Eye Filmworks, stars Hott 4 Hill creator Taryn Southern as one of four hardcore fashionistas clawing their way to the top of one of New York’s premier online fashion houses.
 

 
Large format film exhibitor IMAX reported a net loss per share of $0.21 for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2008, compared to a net loss per share of $0.25 for Q4 of fiscal 2007. The Toronto-based company says it has successfully launched its IMAX digital product in 46 theaters during the second half of 2008 and has now installed a total of 60 IMAX projection systems. New release Watchman generated $8 million in box office receipts during its first 6 days.
 
VOD and PVR video solutions provider Harmonic has closed its acquisition of Scopus Video Networks, an Israel-based provider of digital video networking products, in a deal worth about $50 million.
 

 
Overall online video usage dropped a bit over Feb. according to Nielsen Online as those with jobs went back to work and those without spent more time networking for leads (our theory).  Streams were down by almost 15% during the month (which, to be fair, is a shorter one in terms of total days.) Meanwhile Hulu climbed over Yahoo! to reach the #2 spot in terms of total video streams.
 
Overall Online Video Usage (U.S.)
                                     Jan-09         Feb-09    Percent Change
Unique Viewers (000)        135,617     127,613        -5.9%
Total Streams (000)     10,457,785   8,897,943      -14.9%
Streams per Viewer              77.1           69.7       -9.6%
Time per Viewer (min)         178.6          169.3       -5.2%
Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus, includes progressive downloads and excludes video advertising
 
Top Online Brands ranked by Video Streams for February 2009 (U.S.)
Video Brand                                            Total Streams (000) Unique Viewers (000)
YouTube                                                           5,158,727             88,136
Hulu                                                                    308,806              9,473
Yahoo!                                                                 250,425            24,085
Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network                         209,465              6,039
Fox Interactive Media                                             194,255            14,376
ABC.COM                                                              187,128             6,716
MSN/Windows Live                                                 162,900            12,198
Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network          125,067             5,961
MTV Networks Music                                               100,076             4,410
CNN Digital Network                                                  99,846             8,377
Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus, includes progressive downloads and excludes video advertising
 
African Americans are slowly but surely closing the so-called digital divide as internet usage grows among the community, according to an analysis from eMarketer. African American internet usage is expected to increase from 46.4% in 2008 to 56.4% in 2013, thanks in part to swift adoption and lifestyle changes from younger users. (Asian Americans remain the most connected demo, with 70.8% of the population now online, expected to increase to 78.9% in 2013.)
 

 
Google finally reintroduced GrandCentral, a unified phone service it acquired over two years ago, as Google Voice. The app sets up a centralized number for your home, work, and mobile phone that e-mails message transcripts, plays personalized greetings, and even allows for making Web-based calls. Chronic texters will like its SMS functionality – use Google Voice to archive and search all of the SMS text messages you send and receive.
 
Fox Soccer Channel has partnered with web game developer Power Challenge to launch Power Soccer, enabling soccer fans to create their own football clubs and personalize and play their own soccer teams in live head-to-head matches with other players around the globe. Users can join their favorite national and Barclays Premier League teams in the Power Soccer Fan Zone, then play cups against other fans to earn trophies for their favorite teams.
 

 
News Corp./NBCU video portal venture Hulu received a nice birthday present yesterday. Exactly one year from exiting private beta, Hulu broke through to the #2 position on Nielsen’s VideoCensus chart (see above) behind only YouTube – a remarkable achievement given the competition in the marketplace and difficulty of generating real loyalty on the web. (That Alex Baldwin commercial gave the site quite a jolt.) CEO Jason Kilar shared some other vital stats on the Hulu blog: Hulu’s library now stocks 40,000 or 7,100 hours of videos from over 130 content partners. The 308 million streams it achieved in Feb. represents a 5x increase during the past 6 months. Perhaps more important, ad partners have grown by similar multiple, from 30 at launch to 175 today. Those sponsors have reached users far and wide as nearly 4 million Hulu players have been embedded across 100,000 sites. Of course all this success means the time has come for Hulu to step up and begin to generate the kind of CPMs online video should be capable of when presented in a quality environment. Part of the venture’s strategy heading into Upfront season is to increase time spent on the site by encouraging users to begin networking around their “cerebral & gelatinizing” shows. The site debuted Hulu Friends yesterday allowing users to share viewing preferences with friends via integrations with Facebook, MSN Hotmail, MySpace and Yahoo Mail. (Interestingly the banished Boxee has a similar feature that has been well received.) “The Scorecard” feature tracks how often users watch videos, how many videos they rate, etc. Hulu also struck a new content relationship with Conde Nast yesterday; the magazine’s new digital division will distribute Hulu video on sites such as Style.com, Vougue.TV and Wired.com in exchange for a share of the ad revenue.

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Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
03.13.09

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JOB OPENING: MKTG MGR/General Electric/NY: Responsible for working w/NBC & msnbc.com’s sales team to dvlp sales prgrms & mktg solutions. Apply: http://appclix.postmasterlx.com/track.html’pid=402881bd1fef2fc6011ff1b1eefe066a&source=ctc (3/20)

JOB OPENING: EXEC ASSISTANT, CONTENT DEVELOPMENT/MTV/NYC: 2+yrs exp. Exec Assist, Strg org/detail skills, Superior Cust. Service, Strng comm/comp skills, Able to prioritize/Meet deadlines EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvncareers.com (3/20)

JOB OPENING: RSRCH PROJECT MGR/CNN/ATL: Supporting Strat Mktg & On-Air Promo w/ ability to translate raw data into useable & actionable insights. Solid media math skills/5+ yrs. brdcst and/or cable TV Apply: [email protected] (3/20)

JOB OPENING: SR. COUNSEL, BUSINESS & LEGAL AFFAIRS/NY: Negotiate production, programming & talent agreements for AMC NETWORK. L.A. Contacts, JD & 8+ yrs ent law experience required / M&A exp a +.  [email protected] (3/19)

JOB OPENING: OFFICE MGR/MGM AD SALES/NY: Mng all aspects of A/R including prep of wkly & monthly accounting reports. Provide sales & admin support to dept. Back up Sales Plan & Traffic Mgrs. Apply www.MGM.jobs #6440 (3/19)

JOB OPENING: TRAFFIC MGR/MGM AD SALES/NY: Resp for proper plcemnt of commercials & copy assgnmnt. Mng prod & reconcil of logs. Liaise betw Ad Agncies, Sls, Mktg & Prog depts to gather fitting copy materials. Apply www.MGM.jobs #6441 (3/19)

JOB OPENING: DEV EXEC/VA: Join team to create and pitch new TV programs, esp character-based. Must have exp in developing factual programs and knowledge of US cable net slates and players. Apply: [email protected] (3/17)

JOB OPENING: VP MARKETING/The Sportsman Channel/Milwaukee WI: Resp for building consumer awareness while overseeing affiliate marketing, media planning & promotions. 7+ yrs exp in TV or digital media. Apply: [email protected] (3/14)

JOB OPENING: ReelzChannel/NYC/ SR TRAFFIC COORDINATOR: Daily log maintenance, prep & delivery 3+ yrs exp. TRAFFIC COORDINATOR: Ensures scheduling commercial materials are executed & trafficked. Both Apply: [email protected] (3/14)

INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here. These ads are always posted for free , and students work for school credit only. For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at [email protected] .

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: MARKETING/Urtak.com: user-generated public opinion site. Resp: Prdct dev, mkt expansion, corp svcs, for innovative startup. Work remotely, w/ few meetings in NYC. ~35hrs/wk. Send cv & CL to [email protected] (3/19)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: PROGRAMMER/Urtak.com: user-generated public opinion site. Resp: prgrm’ing & user interface design for innovative startup. RubyOnRails exp. Work remotely, w/ few NYC meetings. ~35hr/wk. Send cv&CL to [email protected] (3/19)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY:  Doc production co. seeks exp’d, orgnzd & energetic JRS/SRS. Driven to gain exp in fast-paced envir. Pls specify “dvlpmnt” or “prod” in app. Resp. incl office, shoot, & post-prod & dvlpmnt asst. Email [email protected] (3/19)

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SITUATION WANTED: NON-FICTION PRODUCER/WRITER (STORY & FIELD).10+yrs exp. NBC, VH1, CMT, TLC, E!, Disney, CNN, etc.; reality, ent, news, talk, developmt; LA based, will travel. [email protected] (3/18)

SITUATION WANTED: PRODUCER/ ASSOC. PRODUCER (LA) Out-of-the-box thinker, creative, award- winning, all formats, all genres. Budgets, schedules, breakdowns, crewing, casting, post and more. Over 20 yrs. exp. [email protected] (3/18)

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SITUATION WANTED: SR. MARKETING/BRAND MANAGER with home video, TV, animation and indie film experience is seeking a dynamic opportunity with a Los Angeles area studio or agency. E-Mail [email protected] for a resume (3/18)

SITUATION WANTED: Award winning COMEDY WRITER/PRODUCER in L.A. Credits: WB, UPN, TBS, MTV, Discovery etc. Check out pilot, You’re Joking, Right? at www.justjokesentertainment.com Contact email: [email protected] (3/17)

SITUATION WANTED: WRITER. I’ll gladly write/re-write what you don’t want to write! Summaries; reports; proposals, human resource materials; updates; copy; web content; synopses; and more. Contact Bernie. [email protected] (3/17)

SITUATION WANTED: BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT EXPERT/TELEVISION PRODUCER seeks consulting work, long or short term. Over 15 years experience working with brands, multi-media/faceted talent. Contact: [email protected] (3/17)

SITUATION WANTED: GROW YOUR BUS/MAKE IT THRIVE/NYC: MBA w/15yrs int’l exp: turnaround & startup mgmt, strategic partnerships, negotiating, fundraising. Proj/Consult/FT. Contact: [email protected] (3/17)

SITUATION WANTED: STORY DOCTOR: Are your scripts too weak to make it to the bay? Got a rough-cut on life support? 20+ years crafting nonfic series, specials, sizzles and web content. Contact: [email protected] (LA) (3/17)

SITUATION WANTED: WRITER: Children’s writer with exp at various prod co’s & Kids’ CBC. Portfolio in educational & comedic works for kids. Exp. in development, creative consulting, editing. Freelance. Contact [email protected] (3/14)

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