Good morning, it’s Monday, December 6, 2010, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.  If you would like to read this or any other Cynopsis edition online, click here. 

In a bid improve the efficiency of its video streaming efforts, Google acquired streaming video DRM and optimization provider Widevine for an undisclosed amount. The company also backed off its talks to acquire popular couponing site Groupon for more than $5 billion after concerns arose that the company’s business model could be easily (and already has been, for that matter) copied, reports the WSJ.
 

 
Verizon Wireless will be a key integrated sponsor of Univision‘s new interactive variety game show “El Gran Show” (The Big Show), which premiered last night at 8pm ET/PT. The game board of “El Gran Show’s” set mirrors the design of a Verizon Wireless phone – including lighting, animation and sound – and Verizon will sponsor weekly challenges to give contestants use various apps and Droid handsets to aid them in winning the games. Viewers will also be able to interact via their mobile handsets during each show.
 

 
Tech-themed internet show producer Revision3 has added one of the longer running online news shows to its line-up in The Young Turks, founded and hosted by the indefatigable Cenk Uygur. The show has produced more than 7,000 videos, 300 million total video views and 23 million monthly viewers on YouTube.
 

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM THE LUSTGARTEN FOUNDATION

 
Viacom filed an opening brief in its appeal of its $1 billion lawsuit against Google on Friday. A federal judge in Manhattan threw out the case in June, stating that it would be an improper use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to find YouTube liable for simply having a “general awareness” that illegally obtained videos were being posted to the site.
 
Now from the interesting timing department, Google‘s legal team announced a commitment to make more of an effort to enforce copyright violations on YouTube, promising to:

• Act on copyright takedown notices within 24 hours
• Prevent terms associated with piracy from appearing in its Autocomplete search service
• Improve AdSence’s piracy review methods
• Experiment to make authorized preview content more readily available is search results

 
Microsoft unveiled the 5th generation of Its Silverlight video development platform featuring enhanced speed for H.264 video and new features for developers including the ability to play, rewind and fast-forward video at different speeds and the support of remote-controls options for media playback. Silverlight 5, due out in its full version by the middle of 2011, also enables developers to create out-of-browser applications that can play video from managed libraries on the desktop.
 
Digital media services provider Encompass Digital Media has agreed to acquire the global content distribution business of Ascent Media Corp. for approximately $120 million, including $113 million in cash and the assumption of some $7 million in debt. The deal will expand Ecompass’ geographic footprint by combining its LA and Atlanta operations with Ascent’s CDN facilities in the U.S., London and Singapore.
 
The National Coalition of African-American Owned Media (NCAAOM) took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post this morning expressing outrage over the Obama administration’s failure to deliver on diversity in media ownership regarding the Comcast/NBC merger.
                                      

 
The availability of free television programs on demand increases viewer loyalty, helps consumers discover new shows and actually increases viewing when shows air live, according to a new survey of 1,700 viewers conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates. Some 63% of those surveyed said that having TV episodes available on-demand makes them more likely to watch those shows on a regular basis. Nearly 30% said that they had discovered new shows through on-demand, and now watch them regularly when they air on linear TV. VOD availability also impacts show selection, according to a quarter of VOD users who report they are more likely to watch shows on television that they know are also available to watch on-demand for free. Just over 20% say they are bigger fans of shows they know they can watch on-demand.  The VOD survey was sponsored by Avail-TVN.
 
Android continues to gain market share over Apple’s iOS and RIM’s BlackBerry platforms in leaps and bounds, according to ComScore, with the Google platform gaining an overall 6.5 percentage points over the past 3 months ending in Oct. Over 60 million people or 1 out of every 4 mobile users are now using smartphones in the U.S., up 14% from the previous period.
 
Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2010
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+
                                            Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers                                
                                                Jul-10    Oct-10    Point Change
Total Smartphone Subs                100.0%    100.0%        N/A
RIM                                              39.3%     35.8%       3.5
Apple                                           23.8%     24.6%        0.8
Google                                          17.0%     23.5%        6.5
Microsoft                                       11.8%      9.7%         2.1
Palm                                               4.9%      3.9%       -1.0
Source: comScore
 
802.11n-based Wi-Fi technology is quickly becoming ubiquitous in wireless local area networks (WLAN) in the U.S. and the number of Wi-Fi enabled devices (including smartphones, Blu-ray players, e-readers and televisions) will increase from over 550 million in 2009 to nearly 1.7 billion in 2015, according to a new whitepaper from In-Stat.
 

 
Former CNN Audience Interaction Producer Eric J. Kuhn is leaving the cable network to join United Talent Agency as their first Agent to focus exclusively on social media.
 

                                                       
Infamous anonymous political leak site WikiLeaks.org (good luck visiting the site this week) remains under siege from both hackers and web infrastructure giants including Amazon and PayPal, who seem determined to put it out of business. After releasing a series of brutally frank U.S. diplomatic cables last week, the site was bombarded by “denial of service” attacks, booted off Amazon’s hosting site, then cut off from PayPal – eliminating a chief method of collecting donations from users. (PayPal explained in a blog post that the move was prompted by WikiLeaks’ violation of its service provider’s policy, which states that the payment service cannot be used to “encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity.” Many on the web including founder Julian Assange are crying censorship and government conspiracy. Yet it turns out Mr. Assange, who managed to keep the site going on several foreign domains including WikiLeaks.de in Germany, WikiLeaks.fi in Finland and WikiLeaks.nl in the Netherlands, could have kept the U.S. site running if only he had paid for a more sophisticated DNS data-storage provider instead of relying on a free one. Granted he must be stretched thin, under legal pressure in several foreign countries for his online and offline actions. But making sure your servers are bulletproof has got to be priority one if you’re trying to change the world using the web.
 
Later —
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis Digital
wayne@cynopsis.com
12.06.10

Cynopsis Ad Sales:
Mike Farina – VP/Business Development & Sales – 203-218-6480 / mike@cynopsis.com
Classifieds – Trish Pihonak- 203-381-9096 / trish@cynopsis.com

Member of Interactive Advertising Bureau (iab)

To subscribe to any Cynopsis edition(s) click here .
To unsubscribe , click the button at the end of this email.

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

ATTENTION JOB RECRUITERS FOR THE TELEVISION AND ADVERTISING INDUSTRY – send us your contact information so we can begin to build a database for referrals.  We get people all the time around the country asking us for names of local recruiters.  Help us out – send us your contact information, name, company, address, phone, email and fax.  NY and LA are great, but we also need names of firms in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, DC, and elsewhere.  We have people to send you!   Email your info to Trish@cynopsis.com.

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, AFFILIATE SALES/ Current TV/NYC: 5+yrs sales, marketing and acct. mgmt in affiliate distribution. Strong acct. relationships with top 10 MSO’s a +. Travel req’d. Resumes to: khilbert@current.com (12/11)

JOB OPENING: ASSOCIATE DIR PRIME & ASSOC DIR NEWS/ABC TV/NYC: Create, maintain, implement Ad-Sales related marketing efforts for all Prime/News related assets of network 5+ yrs exp in media disneycareers.com Reqs: 272120 & 272118 (12/11)

JOB OPENING: TRAFFIC COPY/LOG COORD-NY: Willing to learn, good attitude, attn to detail in fast paced- enviro. Steward air for continuity, accuracy.Work w/AEs & Agencies.Train to back up log editor. Humanresources@ovationtv.com (12/11)

JOB OPENING: SUPERVISOR, ONLINE PROGRAMMING/iNDEMAND/NYC: Handles all content info and programming for storefronts + supplier relationships. Degree+2-3 yrs cable/online media. Apply: resume@indemand.com (12/11)

JOB OPENING: MANAGER, VOD PROGRAMMING/iNDEMAND/NYC: Programming, scheduling & negotiating for content. Degree + 5 years in programming/scheduling/cable. Heavy Excel. Apply: resume@indemand.com (12/11)

JOB OPENING: HBO DIRECTOR, INT’L DISTRIBUTION  Latin American Sales/NYC: Min 3 yrs exp in licensing feature films, TV series & movies to broadcasters in Latin America. Fluency in Spanish req’d. Apply: http://bit.ly/g3kMdP (12/11)

JOB OPENING:  CREATIVE DIR/SR COPYWRITER/TBS/TNT/ATL, GA: Creative Director/Copywriter TV marketing/promos req., innovative, cutting edge, strong writing skills Resumes: Kathleen.Rouse@turner.com ; www.turnerjobs.com Ref. #120534BR (12/10)

JOB OPENING:  MKTG & PRODUCT MGR/NatGeo/DC: Optimize Home Ent bus. (pkgd media & digital) across int’l mkts. Asst w/ negotiation of distr. agreements. 5 yrs exp in int’l mkt/bus pref’d. Apply: nationalgeographic.com/jobs   ID 4373 (12/10)

JOB OPENING  DIR SALES OPS/NBC/NYC: Collaborate w/ Pricing/Plan’g, IT, Sales& external partners to design/deploy func reqs& logic of1stx-platform ad ind sales& reporting sys. Apply: nbcunicareers@nbcuni.com ID: 1283541 (12/10)

JOB OPENING  MGR, AD SALES MKTG/NYC/Multimedia Co:  Ideation, proposal writing & execution of integrated sponsorship programs. Strategic, creative thinker, can juggle multiple projects. 4+yrs exp, incl. digital. Talentr1@gmail.com  (12/10)

JOB OPENING:  ANALYST, PROGRAMMING RESEARCH/TV Land/MTV Networks/NYC: Ratings analysis, 1 yr TV research exp. Analytical/numeric/detail/data interpretation skills/Knowledge Nielsen systems. EOE/M/F/D/AAP www.mtvncareers.com (12/10)

JOB OPENING:  VP SALES DVLPMNT & MRKTNG/NYC/ ABC TV: dev strtgy & presentation materials to drive adv & promo sales efforts of ABC’s assets 10+ yrs media biz digital exp a must Please apply disneycareers.com Req: 272119 (12/9)

JOB OPENING:   ONLINE ADV ACCT MGR/ ABC TV/NYC: Coord spnsrshp/ media campgns, proj mgmt, anlyze perf rprts, test creative assets 1+ yrs of exp Please apply: disneycareers.com req: 266583 (12/9)

JOB OPENING:  TRAFFIC COORD/Comcast Networks/NYC:  2+ yrs exp req. Prepare com’l spots & logs for air. VCI exp pref. www.ecentralmetrics.com/url/?u=1683482366-335 (12/9)

JOB OPENING:  VP, Digital Sales/The Hub/NYC: Must have strong digital sales and mgt experience, preferably at broadcast net and/or major cable net. Apply at http://thehub.catsone.com/careers (12/9)

JOB OPENING: CONTENT SALES MGR (3)/Thought Equity Motion/NY LA CHI: World leader in video licensing. Expert ideation, consultative & relationship sales exp. More info: http://corporate.thoughtequity.com/ Res: jobs@thoughtequity.com (12/8)

JOB OPENING:  DIGITAL PLANNER/NEW YORK: Support Digital AE’s thru Ad Sls PP&I in efforts to maximize ad revenues. Apply: www.aetn.com/careers https://www.abso.com/jobboard/Default.aspx?JOBBOARDID=618&JobDetail=84079 (12/8)

JOB OPENING:   DIGITAL RSRCH MGR (E!/Style/G4/)LA: Analyze & track online & mobile properties. Distill data into meaningful analyses. 4yrs analytics exp & degree pref’d. Omniture Site Catalyst a must. Apply: resumes@comcastnets.com   (12/7)

JOB OPENING:  DIRECTOR, TALENT/Nickelodeon/NYC:  5+yrs Talent Booking Exp, Est. contacts w/in Ent Biz for booking, Knowledge of NICK brand/popculture/current trends, EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvnetworkscareers.com (12/7)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED MARKETING/NEW BUSINESS/Nickelodeon/NYC: 6+yrs marketing brand creative exp, Knwlge all media plats, Partnership/Brand Mgmt/Entertainment exp A+, EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvnetworkscareers.com (12/7)

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 trish@cynopsis.com.

SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: ON-AIR Dept/iN DEMAND/NYC: seeking interns to help in in-house edit facility  logging, viewing reels, tape dup. Apply: resume@indemand.com (12/11)

SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: MARKETING & PR Depts/iN DEMAND/NYC: seeking intern to support marketing activities and publicity for movies, sports and events. Apply: resume@indemand.com (12/11)

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: PROD INTERNS/NBC STUDIOS/NYC:  completion of at least two yrs of college level courses related to field of interest is pref’d  Proficient PC skills good organizational skills a must. Resume to: Gillian.Speers@gmail.com (12/10)

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY:  Development Company seeking part time intern in Times Square area. Looking for smart, funny and reliable person for research on new shows. Good writing skills a plus. Contact sloane@sloanecooperdevelopment.com (12/7)

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY:  MARKETING INTERNSHIP/Univision Sales/NYC provides practical experience in the communications industry and teaches daily operations within sales and marketing for Univision.com. Send resumes to kosborne@us.univision.com (12/7)

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY:   MARKETING/OUTREACH INTERN/WordWorld/NYC: Write marketing documents and assist with admin needs. Desired skills: strong written and verbal communication, creativity, tech savvy. Res/cov ltr to lisa@wordworld.com (12/7)

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 trish@cynopsis.com

SITUATION WANTED: ADMIN ASST/NY: American U.grad w/4+ yrs admin exp., large exp. w/ client interaction, strong organizational skills, proficient knowledge of all MS Office 03 & 07 & can work on Macs. Email Jen @ jrw0903@gmail.com (12/11)

SITUATION WANTED:  Dedicated & Experienced in Ad Sales (cable), Marketing & PR. Chicago. Develop media plans, special projects, press releases. Full time & contract work needed. Serious inquiries only. Email delta3dsme@yahoo.com (12/10)

SITUATION WANTED:  MEDIA SALES/MKTG STRATEGIST/NY: Extensive exp in all forms of media. print/OOH/digital. Smart consultative seller. Can identify new niche markets and profitably re-purpose content. Contact: stevelehman7@gmail.com (12/10)

SITUATION WANTED: EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT position film/tv (NY) 10 years experience: Interned for a President, Executive Assistant to SVP/VP/film director/celebrity petermichael0809@hotmail.com (12/9)

SITUATION WANTED: Dedicated & Experienced ADV. SALES PLANNER (NY) Sales proposals, resolving client discrepancies, quarterly post analysis, special sales service projects, expert computer skills. Contact-  runelyon@aol.com (12/7)

SITUATION WANTED:  RESEARCH DIR/SALES STRATEGIST – 20+ yrs media, Nielsen, Hisp, research, sales, and presentation experience. Email: ericadlerresearch@gmail.com (12/7)

E-mail Trish@cynopsis.com or call Trish Pihonak at 203.381.9096 for rates and specs for Job Openings.

Are you looking for a job? Post your Situation Wanted Ad here — Email Trish@cynopsis.com for specs.
 

Cynopsis Media LLC
One Corporate Drive, Suite 724
Shelton, CT 06484
203.926.9878

All outgoing e-mails are scanned and sent out virus free. Copyright Cynopsis 2010

To unsubscribe from future mailings, please click here.