A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM ESPN

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Cyn opsis: DIGITAL

09/19/08

Good morning, it’s Friday, September 19, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

A random sampling of less than 1% of Yahoo‘s users got to sample a newly redesigned front page yesterday. Like AOL’s new homepage, the portal will allow users to view email accounts from third parties, part of a dashboard of refreshable preview applications designed to improve stickiness. Meanwhile Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg tried to assuage the frustrations of an increasingly vocal subset of users who prefer his site’s old look. Change can be traumatic for some …

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After upgrading John Stewart’s site Comedy Central has finally gotten around to updating Colbert Report’s web address. Colbertnation.com is chock full of more videos – more than 2,800 are now archived stretching back to the show’s inception in 2005 – as well as a more visual community interface. Message boards have been replaced with a network of personal profiles where the initiated can upload photos and videos and alert each other of their activities.
 
CBS’ newly acquired CNET began streaming a 3-minute sneak peak of Survivor: Gabon – Earth’s Last Eden in HD format to show off the site’s newly launched video player. CNET will also feature several exclusives from the show, including a behind-the-scenes look at the HD technology used to produce the show, and segments from host Jeff Probst who shares his insights on the castaways and gives a tour of this season’s Tribal Council location.
 
Bebo launches its latest interactive series, Meet the Freshers this morning at 12 noon ET/9 am PT – a documentary series in which Hollyoaks on the Streets star Tom Thurlow travels to 16 universities in the UK to chat up students about what life is really like on campus. The social network’s entertainment division seems to be faring well under its new owners. Bebo’s August premiere, The Secret World of Sam King, has generated over 2.5 million views since launching 6 weeks ago, according to AOL.
 

 
Hollywood Interactive Group (HIG) raised $5 million from VC firm BlueRun Ventures to support the continued development of women-targeted MyHollywood.com, an entertainment news/ gossip site with a casual gaming element where users can earn points to improve the look of their avatars. In other news HIG signed Joan and Melissa Rivers to host an Emmy Red Carpet Fashion Wrap-up show for the site that will go up on Sunday shortly after Awards show begins.
 
SNL comedienne Amy Poehler is producing a new digital TV show for young girls called Smart Girls at the Party, slated to launch at Austin, TX-based On Networks this October 2008. The program is designed to celebrate girls for being themselves and encourage them to use their talents to follow their dreams and make an impact on the world. Each episode will also be available for viewing and download via On’s AllScreen syndication partners including iTunes, Adobe Media Player, Verizon FiOS and Tivo. Meredith Walker, head of talent for SNL, and recording artist Amy Miles are co-creators.
 
Congrats to the 2008 winning applicants of the Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellowship Program. Each fellow is working on a transformative solution to a global challenge in categories such as sustainable energy, human rights, education, economic development, healthcare and civic engagement. 
 
Contest reminder: The CEA and NAB are still accepting entrants to the Rabbit Ears Pioneers contest launched to raise awareness for the digital transition. The idea is to submit a photo and short essay about someone you know who still watches TV using an analog antenna. Monthly winners will receive new converter boxes and antennas, along with a chance at state-of-the-art entertainment centers. We hear two lucky Cynopsis: Digital readers Cara Lustik of HIT Entertainment and her friend Tracey Huffman have already made it to the semi-finalist stage.
 

 
Yahoo added full-length music tracks to its search results. Search for a song title or artist name and you can play up to four tracks from Yahoo’s recently revamped media player directly from the page. User can play up to 25 songs per month for free or subscribe to RealNetwork’s Rhapsody service for unlimited streaming.
 
MySpace unveiled MyDebates.org, a new set of tools launched with the Commission on Presidential Debates that engages users with a personalized issue scorecard designed to point them toward the candidate who best represents their point of view on the issues. Once they’ve taken the quiz, users can download a personalized embeddable app that provides a summary of the user’s stance on the issues. It also features on-demand playback functionality and issue-based tracking, allowing users to track a candidate’s stance on issues they care about throughout the debate series.
 
Sanyo announced a new ultra-high contrast LCD movie projector that is the first to feature a 5:5 “pull down” mode for producing truer to life images. The PLV-Z3000, due out in Dec. for around $3,200, deploys a technology that predicts motion differences between frames and generates 5 interpolated images to fill in the gaps. It also boasts 1200 ANSI lumens (that’s brightness) and an amazing 65,000: 1 contrast ratio.
 

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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM THE WEATHER CHANNEL

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A new deep-pocketed player entered the competitive world of content delivery as Amazon announced it is launching a new developer and business-targeted CDN service later this year. The online book and merchandise distributor promises to deliver popular, publicly readable content at transparent rates.( Unlike competitors who often lock in clients to long-term contracts, Amazon says it will charge on a pay-as-you-go basis.)
 
T-Mobile, the last of the major U.S. carriers to upgrade it network, announced plans to deploy 3G wireless broadband service in 21 markets by mid-October and 27 markets by the end of the year. T-Mobile plans to release the first Android-powered handsets next month that will run off the HSDPA network, which can deliver download speeds of up to 1 Mbps.
 

 
Nineties sitcom star Jerry Seinfeld is absent from the new Microsoft spot that premiered last night – the next phase of the company’s $300 million ad campaign launched to rehabilitate its nerdy image. The ad begins with an homage to (or a defense of) the Mac series of commercials when a real-life Windows engineer made up to look like John Hodgman declares “I’m a PC and I’ve been made into a stereotype.” This time a more contemporary collection of celebrities – Eva Longoria, Tony Parker, Pharrell Williams and Deepak Chopra – are enlisted to reassure users there are plenty of cool folks that actually do use PCs. (The choice of Seinfeld was questioned by some because the comedian is a self-confessed Apple fan.)

 
Overall ad spending declined slightly for the first half of 2008 compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary figures released by Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Despite a continued softening of the economy, several media and companies actually showed healthy growth: Advertising on Cable TV saw the largest growth, with an increase of 8.1% over the first half of 2007 while network TV was down 6% over the same period. Internet banner advertising (not including paid search, pre-rolls, messenger apps performance-based campaigns etc.,) also dropped by 6%.
 
U.S. Ad Spending First Half 2007 vs. First Half 2008
Media Category                      % Change      
Cable TV                                   8.1%   
Syndication TV                          7.2%   
National Sunday Supplement     7.2%  
Spanish Language TV                4.5%   
FSI Coupon                               2.9%   
Spot TV 101-210 DMAs              2.9%  
Spot TV Top 100 DMAs              2.6%   
Network Radio                          2.1%  
Outdoor                                   1.1%           
Local Magazine                         0.3%   
National Magazine                    -3.1%  
African American Television      -5.1%  
Internet                                   -6.0%  
Network TV                              -6.0%  
Local Newspaper                      -7.3%  
B2B Magazines                          -8.0%  
National Newspaper                   -8.1% 
Local Sunday Supplements         -9.7%  
Spot Radio                              -10.1% 
Total Advertising Spending         -1.4%  
Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus (Jan.-June 2007 and Jan.-June 2008)
 
Nielsen expanded its suite of out-of-home media measurement services to cover the $1.3 billion advertiser-based video network business. Nielsen On Location Media will provide syndicated reporting for advertiser-backed video networks in health clubs, gas stations, hotels, retail outlets, amusement parks, arenas, on airplanes, and other commercial locations, estimated to have combined revenues of $1.3 billion.
 

 
The recently formed Nickelodeon Kids and Family Games Group announced several new key management appointments. David Bergantino has been upped to VP/Premium Games Production; Shaan Kandawalla will take the role of VP/Retail and Licensed Games; and Pete Banks becomes VP/Engineering. The team will continue to report to Dave Williams, SVP and GM of Nickelodeon Kids and Family Games Group.
 

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If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. The much ballyhooed (then highly disappointing) Joost went live yesterday with a new and improved interface. (The site was loading at a snail’s pace for most of the day, so be patient.) New social functionality allows you to see you’re your friends are watching, unless they activate the player’s stealth mode. The search interface is also much improved. Joost’s massive library is now divided into three format categories: shows, music and film and several genre subcategories such as anime and drama/docs/reality TV (isn’t that three?) Each subcategory also has its own genres. The current version doesn’t require a client download, but it does require a 2MB P2P plug-in to enable live and HD streaming. However next month Joost will launch a standard version that will be entirely Flash based. Even with its broad range of content, eliminating all such barriers for users will be the only way Joost can compete with the likes of Hulu.

Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
09.19.08

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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CYNOPSIS MEDIA: TOP TIER

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Cyn opsis CLASSIFIEDS – For More classifieds, visit the Cynopsis.com classifieds page here    .

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JOB OPENING: PRODUCTION ACCOUNTANT/Little Airplane Productions/NYC: Oversee all aspects of finance and payroll on several broadcast productions. Must have knowledge of Vista software: [email protected] (9/26)

JOB OPENING: EDITORIAL DIR/Bravo Digital/NBCU/NY: Lead execution of editorial aspects of BravoTV.com, develop content concepts, supervise writing & editing of copy. BA & 5 yrs editorial exp. www.nbcjobs.com , job# 847495 (9/26)

JOB OPENING: VP/DIRECTOR FP& A/MTVN/Harmonix: Responsible for the FP&A, reporting and analysis for MTV’s Harmonix division. Apply: www.mtvncareers.com EOE (9/26)

JOB OPENING: Busy NYC reality TV prod co seeks SR DEVEL EXEC to create/devel new shows. Reports to owners of company. 4+ yrs devel experience–ideally reality/unscripted–& proven track record. Send resumes to [email protected] (9/26)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, PROJECT MNGMNT: Project Dir is needed for creative services dept. of Versus TV ntwrk in Philadelphia, PA. 5 yrs’ exp. and Bachelor’s degree req. Apply online: www.ecentralmetrics.com/url/?u=250554487-261 EOE (9/26)

JOB OPENING: CNS SALES PLANNER/ NY: Will create sales proposals & generate plan’g costs for TV ntwrks. 2 yrs exp. Agency Plan’g or Cable/Brdcst Ad Sales/Sales Support req. Apply: www.ecentralmetrics.com/url/?u=634054621-261 EOE (9/26)

JOB OPENING: ONLINE AE /Stardoll.com: Min 2 yrs online ad sales; Gen rev by cold calls, marketing, relationships for girls fashion, entertainment, social network in LA. [email protected] (9/25)

JOB OPENING: DIR ONLINE SALES/Stardoll.com: Min 5 yrs online ad sales leader; drive team rev, estab territory, strat partners for girls fashion, entertain social network in NYC. [email protected] (9/25)

JOB OPENING: DIR, ONLINE BRAND/Stardoll.com: Min 3 yrs in brand mktg role in online media; prior kid entertainment exp. Dev, manage consumer mktg efforts for girls fashion, entertain, social network in LA. [email protected] (9/25)

JOB OPENING: VP LAW/ RAINBOW MEDIA/NY: Negotiate agreements between networks (e.g. AMC, IFC) and affiliates  e.g. Cable/Mobile Cos. Needs JD and exp. with affiliate agreements. Resume: [email protected] (9/25)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, PRINT + DIGITAL PRODUCTION/BRAVO TV/NY: Manage dept, work flow, team, budget + planning.Strong comm + org skills. Work well under pressure. Previous Network exp req’d. Fill ASAP. Apply nbcjobs.com #846952 (9/23)

JOB OPENING: AFFILIATE RELATIONS MANAGER/iN DEMAND/NYC: Secure carriage, manage accts & relationships. Marketing bkgnd & min 4 yrs cable exp. 40% travel. Reply: [email protected] (9/23)

JOB OPENING: PROJECT MGR/AND COMPANY/LA: Entertainment adv agency seeks strong candidate to manage client comm, deadlines, creative dev. Industry exp req’d, sports mktg exp a plus. BS/BA+min 3-5 yrs exp. Resume to [email protected] (9/23)

JOB OPENING: MEDIA BUYER / WPB, FL: In-house automotive agency, Degree & min 5yrs exp. Knowledge of NSI, ARB, Scar & SmartPlus. Competitive salary & benefits. Resumes: [email protected] (9/23)

JOB OPENING: DIR. PARTNERSHIPS/LIFETIME TV/NY: resp. for utilizing Lifetime assets to lead the Part. division in the dev. & exec. of customized sponsorship packages Apply at: http://www.mylifetime.com/about/jobs.html (9/20)

JOB OPENING: NATL SLS ASST/UNIVISION COMM/NY: Provide support for AE’s, act as liaison w/ stations/clients. Highly orgnz’d, det oriented & proactive w/ exc comm. skills. All MS & Donovan skills req’d. Res: [email protected] (9/20)

SUMMER/FALL 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] .

FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: AD SALES INTERN /Oxygen/NBCU:Assists ad sales dept w/researching prospective clients&sending out client materials.Great opportunity! Semester-long, unpaid, must receive credit.post [email protected] (9/26)

FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: CNBC Research Intern : Provides reporting & strategic insights & supports internal functions, incl. prgrmng, editorial, mktg, & BD. Provide reporting & analysis. Semester-long, unpaid. [email protected] (9/24)

FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: CNBC Intern: CNBC gives students real world exp & exposure to a world leader in business news. Enrolled in BS/MS w/ sophomore standing or above. Semester-long, unpaid, for-credit internship [email protected] (9/24)

FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Lightworks/NY: TV dist. co. needs contract admin intern. Focus on rights mgt, prod. agts, sales licensing agts. Know contract law. LAW STUDENTS ONLY! For credit. Send resume to [email protected] (9/24)

FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: SOCIAL MEDIA/MARKETING INTERN/NYC: Need hard-working, web-savvy college student for assisting in the execution of online marketing programs for TVGuide.com. Res: [email protected] (9/20)

FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: EDITORIAL/MARKETING INTERN/NYC: Need hard-working, web-savvy college student for assisting in the execution of online editorial and marketing initiatives for TVGuide.com. Res: [email protected] (9/20)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED … Interested in posting your Video Resume? Contact [email protected] for more information ….

SITUATION WANTED: EXECUTIVE/ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT for 30 plus years. Worked in production for Exec. Producers, Writers, Directors and high level executives. Excellent skills … email [email protected] (9/26)

SITUATION WANTED: ADMIN OR ASST POSITION WANTED / NYC: 3+ yrs admin exp at well-known companies in exec assistance, licensing, prod development, marketing, with specialization in children’s TV. Creative & professional.  [email protected] (9/23)

E-mail [email protected] for rates and specs for Job Openings.

Interested in posting your Video Resume? Contact [email protected] for more information ….

Are you looking for a job? Post your Situation Wanted Ad here — Email [email protected] for specs.

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