A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES

Cynopsis: DIGITAL

03/20/09

Good morning, it’s Friday, March 20, 2009, and this is your first early morning digital briefing. 

Google and Sony are teaming up to give Amazon a run for its money in the E-reader market. Google is providing Sony’s e-book Reader, which actually predates the Kindle, access to some 500,000 public domain book titles. (Click on the “unearth a classic” link on Sony’s ebook store homepage for a look at what’s available – a download of the eBook Library client is needed.) In return, Google gets to promote its Google Book Search tool. Google has invested millions to scan public domain books from university and research libraries, encoding them in the open source ePub format to enable devices like the Reader to view them.
 

 
Apple expanded its movie offerings on the iTunes Store to include HD downloads of movies available for purchase at $20 a clip or to rent for $5. (HD titles were previously only available to Apple TV owners.) Up there now are titles such as Transporter 3 or Punisher while the newest Bond movie Quantum of Solace is available for pre-order. The iTunes Store now has more than 10 million songs, 40,000 TV episodes and 5,000 movies available for rent and purchase. Apple has sold more than 250 million TV episodes and sold or rented more than 33 million movies to date.
 
The CW has come up with a cool gaming-themed integration for the next episode of One Tree Hill. Next Monday EA‘s The Sims 3 will be seamlessly threaded throughout the storyline; the episode opens in an idealized Sims-style version of One Tree Hill then transitions into the real Tree Hill. As the episode plays out, “Simulated” versions of popular One Tree Hill characters are introduced and then morph into the real-life characters, including Dan (Paul Johannson), Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Peyton (Hilarie Burton). Following the episode, viewers can go to CW.com to download images of The Sims 3 versions of the characters.
 
Fans submitted more than five million entries to ESPN.com‘s 14th annual Men’s Tournament Challenge presented by State Farm and Sprint, surpassing last year’s record of 3.65 million entries by 37%.  At the peak period, fans registered nearly 3,900 entries per minute or nearly 65 entries per second. ESPN is partnering with Adobe this year to offer an interactive PDF that automatically updates your brackets.
 
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.
 

 
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.
 
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.
 

 
Microsoft and ad agency Bradley and Montgomery partnered with cross-platform production and management Generate to create a bunch of funny videos about the history of the internet to mark the launch of MSFT’s Internet Explorer 8 (see below.) Generate was involved in production, and a number of its clients – including Janeane Garofalo, Christian Finnegan, Dave Hill Anjelah Johnson and Baron Vaughn – are in the videos, along with internet celebs Ask a Ninja and Obama Girl. (Note-you need the latest Silverlight plug-in to see them, which hoops fans no doubt have already.)
 

 
Never underestimate the allure of a cool gadget. Cisco Systems ponied up $590 million in stock to purchase Pure Digital, the maker of the miniscule Flip Mino HD camcorder. Pure Digital has sold more than 2 million mini cameras to date.
 
Battered video rental chain Blockbuster announced losses of $360 million for Q4, primarily due to a $435 million writedown to account of the diminishing value of its chain of 7,500 outlets. The company has been trying desperately to restructure its debt in recent weeks and hired a law firm to explore its options.
 
AETN International made a trio of agreements to expand its digital footprint in Asia.

• The company signed a deal with satellite radio service USEN in Japan to license programs for the set-top box VOD service, GyaO NEXT, which has over 75,000 subscribers
• An agreement with Homechoice will provide a History-branded SVOD service, currently available on several IPTV platforms, to cable operators in Korea
• AETN International, AETN All Asia Networks and Multimedia Interactive Technologies teamed up in Malaysia to offer a simulcast of the South East Asian feed of History on the Maxxis mobile TV service

 
Nielsen has acquired Chicago-based strategy consulting firm Cambridge Group. Cambridge Group founder and CEO Rick Kash will report to Nielsen Co. Chairman-CEO David Calhoun.
 

 
The push by MySpace and YouTube to monetize UGC videos by allowing content owners to generate revenue from claimed mash-up content has deep implications for the social media space, according to new study by StrategyEye. By letting content owners ‘acknowledge’ pirated videos, fingerprinting technologies are:

• increasing the number of videos that can be monetized online
• allowing video-sharing platforms to secure valuable professional content, the likes of which advertisers want to advertise against
• providing media companies with the chance to leverage the tremendous reach of social media sites to reconnect with their biggest fans

                                                                                    
Microsoft chose day 1 of March Madness to introduce IE8, the latest incarnation of its industry leading web browser featuring a more visual interface and a slew of new features:

• Web Slices create tabs that track updating data such as eBay Auctions
• Akin to Firebox’s Bookmarks bar, the Favorites Bar allows you to store your favorite sites
• Tabbed browsing is now available allowing you to open multiple links from the same site; as with Apple’s Spaces, one click allows you to shrink all windows to see what’s open
• Accelerators let you map directions, translate words and email your friends
• InPrivate Browsing purposely doesn’t save your history so family members (or bosses) can’t spy

 
Playboy announced the resignation of Bob Meyers, President of Media for Playboy Enterprises, the man hired to help improve the companies multiplatform efforts, effective April 16. Interim Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jerome Kern will assume his duties until a replacement is found.
 
Sunnyvayle, CA-based Video on demand start-up ZillionTV announced its executive management team from across the cable, advertising, entertainment and e-commerce spectrums. Digital imagery expert David Dozoretz, who worked on George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels, will serve as ZillionTV’s Chief Creative Officer. Former HBO head of broadcast and studio operations Charles Cataldo was hired as SVP of the Digital Entertainment Group. Technologist Mike Catalano will serve as CTO. Andrew Robinson was hired as SVP/Operations, joining Patrick Gauthier as SVP/Product Marketing & Strategy. The rest of the team is rounded out by Bonnie Stone, SVP/Advertising and Liz Seidner Davidoff, SVP/Global Marketing.
 
Entertainment Studios announces the hiring of television producer Cat Santarosa as EVP and Executive Producer of its new 24-hour HD television network Recipe.tv, soon to launch on Verizon FiOS TV. She will run all aspects of production.
 

 
Under pressure from competitors such as fast gaining social review service Yelp, IAC’s local search engine Citysearch unveiled a major revamp yesterday. A longtime leader in the local web listings category, Citysearch is placing a renewed emphasis on hyper local search and user generated content – two strengths of Yelp. Pull up your city then drill down to one of 75,000 individual neighborhoods or outlying towns to get editorial content and user reviews on restaurants, shopping, nightlife and salons. The recently added Facebook Connect integration allows you to log on to site via Facebook, allowing your friends to read or share their own reviews. The site has also improved its mobile integrations, adding an iPhone app. Citysearch will have a hard time beating Yelp at the user-generated game – Yelp consists exclusively of user reviews and enjoys a lot of momentum in the space. Where Citysearch can differentiate itself is by utilizing its large editorial staff to maintain a “fair and balanced” approach to its content. Yelp has angered a number of local businesses for not allowing them to respond to scorched-earth reviews. As local businesses increasingly turn to the web to reach consumers, providing a safe haven should prove to be a competitive advantage, given that the right balance is struck.
 
Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
03.20.09

Cynopsis Digital Ad Sales:
Chuck Bolkcom – 646-468-6180 / [email protected]
Mark Bohn- 203-583-1224 / mark@cynopsis. com
Classifieds – Trish Pihonak- 203-926-9878 / [email protected]

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Cyn opsis CLASSIFIEDS – For More classifieds, visit the Cynopsis.com classifieds page here    .
JOB OPENING: SR. DIR, CLIENT DEVELOPMENT/NY/Ent-Media research co: Develop new/expand existing biz for research prod/custom services. Min 3 yrs market research sales exp. http://www.epollresearch.com/corp/aboutus/careers.view (2/27)

JOB OPENING: BET/NY/ ADSALES-EXEC ASST: 5+yrs. exp. Must be det. oriented & have ability to multi-task in fast paced environment. Proficient in MS Word/Excel/PP. Exc oral/written skills. Email: [email protected] (3/25)

JOB OPENING: FREELANCE PROMOTION COORDINATOR, INT’L MKT SVCS /AETN, NY: Coordinating promo materials. Strong communication, flexibility & org skills. Basic editing(Final Cut Pro). Apply: www.aetn.com/careers.html (3/25)

JOB OPENING: VP PRODUCTION/Discovery/MD: Focus on specials and series. Req editorial interest and proven exp from a domestic cable network. 10+ yrs exp in film or video documentary. Apply: www.discovery.com/careers #8845 (3/21)

JOB OPENING: BRAND RESEARCH MANAGER/ DIY NETWORK/ Knoxville, TN: Develops, analyzes, & interprets research. 5 yrs exp in market research at a TV network/ studio. Nielsen exp required. www.scrippsnetwroks.com #388 (3/21)

JOB OPENING: ACCT EXEC, AFFIL SALES/MKTG/WWE/Stamford CT: Seeks for distribution of all products to implement marketing, P.O.S. &community relations campaigns. Must have 3+ yrs experience & willingness to travel www.wwe-careers.com (3/21)

JOB OPENING: DIR AUD DEV/BBC/NY: Grow mkt BBC online news. Dev traf-driving initvs, cons mktg, prtnrshp mngmnt. Anlyz traf & usage pttrns, mng synd rltnshps, up 3rd party links to bbc.com news cont. www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp (3/21)

JOB OPENING: RSRCH ANALYST/BBC/Miami: Rsrch for Programming & ad sales. Maintain rsrch sales systems, track performance of shows, monitor industry trends. 2+ yrs exp. Apply: www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp (3/21)

JOB OPENING: GRP REPORTING MGR/BBC/NYC: Prod, consolidation & reporting for BBCWW. Set acct’g policies, analyze & challenge perf., improve process, ensure fin. control maintained. CPA pref’d. Apply: www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp (3/21)

JOB OPENING: SALES DIR/BBC/NYC: 5+ yrs exp mng sales team, solid sales track record, media licensing exp, direct selling. Est & imp strat, mng sales pipeline, lead team to grow biz. Apply: www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp (3/21)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL NTWRK OPS MGR/BBC/NYC: ensure dig ad campaigns supported & trafficked. Set-up, insert orders & comm discrepancies. Analyze success of campaigns & relay to ad sales team. Apply: www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp (3/21)

JOB OPENING: SR ACCT EXEC/ACCT DIR Out-of Home media sales/NY: 5+ yrs nat’l sales exp w/clients & advrtsng agencies strat. plan’g groups. Proven track rec of new bus/acct dvlpmnt req’d. Exp w/Youth mkt a + Res to: [email protected] (3/21)

JOB OPENING: MGR/SPIKE MOVE STUDIO PRODUCTION/MTV/NYC: Promo production for movie studios. 3-5 yrs exp. in production & mktg. Passion for movies and exp with talent. Dynamic personality, EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvncareers.com (3/21)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED CONTENT & BREAK STRATEGY/MD: Work with Programming/Development, Ad Sales, Marketing& Digital for TLC. 8+ yrs in sales is required. Apply: http://corporate.discovery.com/careers/ #8817 (3/21)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR – OPERATIONS/LA: work with special projects relating to new business development with TLC. 5+ yrs in buds. dev.& production required. Apply: http://corporate.discovery.com/careers/ #8836 (3/21)

JOB OPENING: MKTG MGR/General Electric/NY: Responsible for working w/NBC & msnbc.com’s sales team to dvlp sales prgrms & mktg solutions. Apply: https://sjobs.brassring.com/1033/ASP/TG/cim_jobdetail.asp?partnerid=54&siteid=5346&oreq=1022190   (3/21)

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: MKTG/ON-AIR : Fox Reality Channel-LA – summer intern for mktg & on-air production. 30-40 hrs/wk. Majors: Mktg, Adv, PR/Comm, TV/Film. Skills: Writing & computer; On-Air Pro/Avid a plus. [email protected] (2/27)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Multiplatform media company seeks organized and energetic intern for fast-paced, lifestyle entertainment company, email [email protected] with Intern in subject line. (2/27)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED …  There is no charge for placing your Situation Wanted ad … for more information contact Trish Pihonak at [email protected]

SITUATION WANTED: REALITY EDITOR in L.A. Credits: MTV, VH1, A&E, E!, Oxygen, Style. Avid & FC. Contact email: [email protected] (2/27)

SITUATION WANTED: CREATIVE PRODUCER/NY looking for immed opp-22 yrs exp in series prod for Nick, Animal Planet, Discovery. Proven pro, innovator, skilled, hardworking. Develop, write, produce content for all media [email protected] (2/27)

SITUATION WANTED: Recent graduate educated & experienced in audio, video, & television production. Very passionate and hard working; looking to get my foot in the door. Contact: Griffin Campbell 9082682078/[email protected] (2/27)

SITUATION WANTED: MKTG /ON-AIR: Fox Reality Channel-LA – summer intern for mktg & on-air production. 30-40 hrs/wk. Majors: Mktg, Adv, PR/Comm, TV/Film. Skills: Writing & computer; On-Air Pro/Avid a plus. [email protected] (3/26)
 
SITUATION WANTED: STORY DOCTOR: Is your Post Beast screaming to be fed? Or is it clogged with scripts that can’t be cut? 20+ years crafting nonfic series, specials, sizzles and web content. Contact: [email protected] (LA) (3/26)

SITUATION WANTED: DOCUMENTARY PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, WRITER in L.A. Credits: National Geo, PBS, Discovery, History CH, TLC and MSNBC. Contact email: [email protected] (3/21)

SITUATION WANTED: OFFICE PA OR EXEC ASST /NY: 3 yrs exp in customer service working at CBS. Former intern at film & talent agencies. Working knwldg of media industry. Creative, reliable, and a team player. E-mail: [email protected] (3/21)

SITUATION WANTED: INTERN IN MEDIA/ THEATRE: Seeks work in Film / Theatre in NYC. Theatre and Media Studies at ScrippsCollege. Work experience in communications. Email: [email protected] (3/21)

SITUATION WANTED: MARKETING/PROMOTIONS/Boston: Marketing/promotions professional seeks television, web marketing, social networking focused position. Experienced in international markets. Creative + will travel. [email protected] (3/21)

E-mail [email protected] or call Trish Pihonak at 203.926.9878 for rates and specs for Job Openings.

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