Monday, July 28th, 2008

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM SCRIPPS NETWORKS

Sunday at Scripps Networks. A Prime Time for “Star” Gazing.

·         Next Food Network Star Ranks #1 in Program Engagement with Upscale Audiences.
·        Next Food Network Star Anchors the Highest Rated Primetime Week in Our History.
·        HGTV Design Star Achieves Highest Premiere Ratings in Our History.
·        HGTV Design Star Ranks #5 in Program Engagement with Upscale W25-54.
·        Tune in Sunday, 8/3 at 9p ET for the Season Finale of HGTV Design Star.

Source: IAG and Nielsen Media Research. For details, visit http://scrippsnetworksadsales.com

Cyn opsis: DIGITAL

07/28/08

Good morning, it’s Monday, July 28, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

Are you ready for some football … online? The NFL and NBC Sports will announce a deal today to stream 17 regular season (mostly Sunday night) match-ups live on NBC.com beginning with the season opener on Sept. 4, reports The WSJ. The move, brought by the league to NBC, is being described as an experiment to lure new viewers and engage current fans with interactive elements including multiple live camera angles and up-the-minute fantasy stats. The NFL, careful to protect broadcast contracts that will earn more than $3.7 billion this year, has been the last of the major U.S. sporting leagues to embrace the web as a distribution medium.

Premiering Tonight in HD:
MOJO HD: A Shot At Glory at 8p

~ MULTIPLATFORM CONTENT NEWS ~

Hulu is attacking that sizeable segment of the market that’s never heard of the service by unveiling a new Widget Gallery to help spread the word and remind loyal users to check back often for new shows. A selection of embeddable players allow users to queue and track featured, recently added or most popular videos from a number of environments including Facebook, Netvibes and Piczo. Hulu.com also began streaming its first soap opera – Guiding Light – on July 25 and will debut two other TeleNext Media shows As The World Turns today and Another World on July 29. An initial 18 episodes of each show will be made available with 3 additional episodes to be added each week.

To promote the latest collection of short stories by Stephen King CBS Corp.’s Simon & Schuster is introducing a series of daily animated shorts on iTunes and Amazon.com today produced by Marvel Entertainment. A season pass for the Stephen King’s N, one of the stories in the Just After Sunset anthology, can be had for the economical price of $3.99 for 25 episodes. Click here to download an embeddable widget that will automatically deliver an ad-supported version of each episode for free.

Exclusive games aren’t the only thing that will drive users to a gaming platform. Microsoft is working with producer Peter Safran (Scary Movie, Meet The Spartans) to create a series of comedic shorts for free distribution on the 12 million member Xbox Live platform, directed by leading horror film directors including James Wan (Saw) and Marcus Nispel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre.) The 10-minute shorts, which will also be available on MSN and Zune, are actually pilots that could be developed into full blown online series, according to Microsoft.

After a decidedly wait and see approach on HD video streaming, CBS Interactive unveiled a new CBS HD Gallery on CBS.com containing clips and a few full episodes from a dozen of its prime time shows. You can check out clips from 6 new fall shows: The Mentalist, Eleventh Hour, Worst Week, Harper’s Island, The Ex List and Gary Unmarried there as well. Intel is sponsoring the offering to promote its Centrino mobile technology. Meanwhile CBS.com and the CBS Audience Network have added to their collection of classic TV show offerings. Seasons 1 & 2 of Dynasty and season 1 of Beauty and the Beast and Have Gun-Will Travel are now available.

The NBC Digital Health Network added four new multiplatform distribution partners who will feature the site’s instructional video content. Wellness Wireless will distribute clips on mobile devices

National Cable Communications, the ad firm jointly owned by Comcast, Cox and Time Warner Cable, will launch a new free VOD channel MyLife in November
Digital Marketing firm eTAGZ will feature the content in retail stores
Interactive direct marketer Family Marketing will also make use of the video

Jimmy Fallon, who will take Conan O’Brien’s place on NBC’s Late Night next year after Jay Leno leaves The Tonight Show, will hone his skills online in 5-10 minute segments beginning in the fall, reported the New York Times.

Emboldened by Optimedia’s new Power Ratings survey that combines TV, streaming, iTunes purchases, and mobile viewing, The CW has changed its mind and decided to once again stream episodes of Gossip Girl on its web site. Gossip Girl ranks as the #15 on TV when factoring in multiple platforms and other intangibles.

NBCU’s Sci Fi Network announced a slate of new online programming (including another series of ten Battlestar Galactica webisodes) as well as a new stand-alone entertainment site based on the entertainment news section SCI FI WIRE, expected to launch during Q4. Sci Fi also plans to launch a new social network in the fall based around Ghost Hunters where users can share their favorite ghost stories and gear. The recently redesigned SciFi.com just finished its best quarter ever in terms of uniques (3.4MM), visits (5.7MM), page views (36.8MM) and video streams (5.2MM).

~ INNOVATORS & START-UPS ~

Finally – there’s a creative anime engine for the rest of us. A new website called GoAnimate.com launched at Comic-Con enabling novice users to create their own cartoons using a simple menu-based interface. A new deal will also allow users to create reels with characters under the Entertainment Rights umbrella of licenses including Underdog, Richie Rich and Mr. Magoo. To kick things off (and attract talented animators) GoAnimate is hosting a contest looking for original creations, dangling $5,000 for the top-judged entry and $2,500 for the most popular entry.

Online news clipping service Redlasso announced it has suspended blogger access to its beta site. The decision comes hours after NBC, Fox News Channel and Fox Television Stations filed a lawsuit to stop Redlasso from profiting from unauthorized usage of the media company’s content. The company says it will continue to offer its B-to-B services allowing content creators to track and clip content for internal use.

Online animation portal MyToons secured second round financing led by Syncom Venture Partners and Barshop Ventures.

~ GADGETS & APPS ~

As part of its 75th anniversary the October issue of Esquire will be the first magazine ever to embed a revolutionary digital technology – electronic paper – into a mass-produced print product. When the issue appears on newsstands in September, words and images will scroll across the flexible electronic paper display cover developed in partnership with the Ford Flex Crossover and electronic paper display creator E Ink Corporation. Ford will feature its Ford Flex on the inside cover utilizing the same E Ink Vizplex flexible display technology in a double-page advertisement. E Ink, which also worked on Amazon’s Kindle eBook, will produce a run of 100,000 issues with the special cover.

Here’s another app to help linear TV benefit from web 2.0 technologies. A new Facebook app from LiveHive Systems called tvClickr peppers audiences with predictions, trivia and polling questions during live telecasts of shows such as American Gladiators, So You Think You Can Dance, Big Brother and WWE Friday Night Smackdown. As players answer questions correctly they move up into higher achievement levels and eventually win awards.

~ TECHNOLOGY DEALS, MERGERS AND SKIRMISHES ~

In its first sign of solidarity in months SAG members voted unanimously to reject the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers‘ latest new media proposal on Saturday, presented to the actors guild as a “final offer” earlier in the month. The AMPTP issued a statement in response saying the refusal means actors will continue to have to work indefinitely under the previous contract – expired as of June 30 – which includes no residuals for ad-supported streaming, made-for-new media programs or reuse of clips online.

Microsoft strengthened its ties with Facebook in a new deal to provide web search services and ads to the social network in a new program expected to start by year end. Microsoft’s Live Search box will appear on the profile pages of each of Facebook’s 29 million + users.

Success spawns lawsuits as well as imitation. Hasbro, maker of Scrabble, filed suit against the creators of the wildly popular Facebook app Scrabulous for infringement of intellectual property. Hasbro launched an online version of Scrabble earlier this month with partner Electronic Arts, but the game has failed to attract much attention.

With gas prices soaring who wants to drive to the video store? Online DVD rental service Netflix reported revenue of $337.6 million during Q2, up 11% from a year ago, thanks to 168,000 new customers. Netflix ended June with 8.4 million total subscribers.

Time Warner Cable selected thePlatform to manage online video for its Road Runner portal. Seattle-based thePlatform has also signed deals with Cox, Charter and Cablevision, making it the CDN darling of the cable industry.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM NATPE LATVFest

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~ DIGITAL ADVERTISING ~

Facebook did it, why not an ad network? From the indefatigable vertical women’s online network Glam Media comes the Glam Application Platform, aka “Atako,” designed to allow developers to build apps and share in revenue generated when their apps are used by Glam’s 77 million monthly readers. For instance the GlamTV app lets publishers embed video accompanied by brand advertising, revenue from which is shared between publisher, video provider and content owner. The open source platform, currently in private beta, even has its own embeddable Glam Apps Store.

HP is sponsoring the web series “Dorm Storm” with Broadband Enterprises debuting today to promote back to school items. During each episode, students from universities across the U.S. are surprised with dorm makeovers full of HP gadgets and equipment. Barely Political starlet Sena Khoda hosts.

~ TRENDS, RESEARCH, ETC. ~

Short form videos still dominate online viewing, according to a new study conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates & Metacafe. The online survey, which looked at the habits of 2,000 users aged 12-64, identified Comedy (37%), music videos (36%), UGC (33%), news (31%) and movie trailers (28%) as the top 5 short form categories. Other findings include:

50% of respondents watch online video weekly
11% watch online video daily
28% of those who watch online videos report watching less TV as a result
19% of online video users report regularly sharing a link to a video with someone else

Facebook, LinkedIn and Imeem were the big gainers in Nielsen Online’s latest social networking rankings. Facebook added over 12 million new users during the last year, but it still trails industry leader MySpace by 20 million users, whose growth was almost perfectly flat.

Top 10 Social Networking Sites – June 2008
Site                  June-08 UA (000)    June-07 UA (000) YOY Growth
Myspace.com             59,482               59,722                  0%
Facebook                   29,226               16,547                77%
Classmates Online      15,451               11,589                33%
LinkedIn                      9,566                 3,335              187%
Windows Live Spaces    8,546                 7,825                 9%
Reunion.com                7,481                 4,098                83%
AOL Hometown             5,539                 6,847               -19%
Club Penguin                4,347                  4,218                 3%
Flixster                        3,662                  2,626                39%
Imeem                        3,558                  1,603               122%
Source: Nielsen Online

~ EXECUTIVE MOVES ~

Gregory Schmidt, LIN TV‘s EVP/Digital Media since 2006, is leaving the company effective August 15, 2008 to become CEO of Global Translation, Inc., a company in which LIN TV has an investment. Greg joined LIN TV in 1995 as VP/New Development, General Counsel and Secretary. LIN TV SVP and CFO Bart Catalane is also leaving the company in August to become CFO of webloyalty.com. President and CEO Vincent Sandusky will take over CFO duties during the interim as a replacement is sought.

Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital appointed Andrea Ching to the newly-created position of VP/Marketing and Promotions, Entertainment Digital. She reports to Walker Jacobs, SVP/Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Ad Sales. Andrea will be based in New York.

NBC Universal named Dan Bethlahmy to Director, Wireless Marketing, in the Digital Distribution group; Tracy Kim as Manager, Digital Products; and Emily Powers as Manager, Business Development. Each will oversee aspects of the company’s digital distribution efforts for properties including Bravo, Chiller, CNBC, CNBC World, MSNBC, mun2, NBC Weather Plus, Oxygen, SCI FI Channel, ShopNBC, Sleuth, Telemundo, Universal HD and USA Network.

~ WEBSITE OF THE DAY ~

Randy Pausch, the acclaimed Carnegie Mellon Computer Science professor who delivered his last lecture to students in Sept. 2007 after being diagnosed with fatal pancreatic cancer, finally succumbed to the disease on Friday. The lecture, part of a series the University put together as hypothetical final talks to inspire professors to share what is most important to them, is about living life to its fullest by finding good in others, working to break through barriers and giving generously. It inspired people throughout the world after it was posted on YouTube, and led to the best seller, The Last Lecture. Randy’s legacy will also live on through the Entertainment Technology Center he co-founded to bring technologist and laymen together to create new storytelling tools, processes and interfaces. For more of his lectures (in much more digestible lengths) check out this tribute page put together by colleague Gabriel Robins.

Later — Wayne
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
07.28.08

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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CYNOPSIS MEDIA: TOP TIER

What would a year be without something new from Cyn opsis? Introducing …

Cynopsis Media: Top Tier
Executive Search Division

High level executive search, candidates fully screened and vetted, meeting precisely your criteria.

For more information, call Trish Pihonak 203.926.9878
if you’re looking to make an executive change, or are looking for a change of scenery yourself.
[email protected]
www.cynopsis.com/toptier .

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

B OPENING: MKTG PROD MGR/DISCOVERY/LA: Resp for overseeing elements for cross promotional opportunities for TLC. 3-5 yrs exp in on-air promo/mktg/ prod. Ad sales exp a +. Full posting and apply: www.discovery.com Job number 8109 (8/2)

JOB OPENING: SR ANALYST NICKELODEON FINANCE: Mnthly analysis for kids & family group. Report variances, monthly reporting incl. all P&L analysis. Apply via site: www.mtvncareers.com E/O/E (8/2)

JOB OPENING: SR. RESEARCH ANALYST w/ABC-TV/NY: 1-2 years experience in Research,College degree {BA},experience with Nielsen systems. Contact: [email protected] (8/2)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, MULTI PLATFORM PROGRAMMING/SOAPnet/ABC Burbank: BA, 7yrs TV, Nielsen Exp, SIMS scheduling, Digital media development, scheduling, manage teams, collaborate www.disneycareers.com (REQ id 170791) (8/2)

JOB OPENING: SR. RESEARCH PROJECT MANAGER/CNN/ATL: Design/manage/present web analyses and primary research projects for CNN Digital businesses. 5+Yrs research/online analytics/Masters pref’d. Apply: [email protected] (8/2)

JOB OPENING: MNGR INTEGRATED MKTG/Fuse/NY: Write proposals. Develop & execute multi-platform opp’s for Ad Sales clients. 5 yrs exp in digital/promos/integrated mktg. Rez to: [email protected] “Intg Mktg Mngr” in sub (8/1)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR ON-AIR PROMO/Nickelodeon/NYC: 10+ yrs exp. producing on-air promos for a network; Exp. in multi modes of production: clip, design & live action; Solid mgt exp. a must. EOE/M/F/D/AAP apply www.mtvcareers.com (8/1)

JOB OPENING: PROMO COORD w/ USA Network- NBC UNI/NY: Min 1 year in Mrk/Promo. BA in Comm/Film/TV or related exp. www.nbcunicareers.com keyword job #835194 (8/1)

JOB OPENING: TRADE MKTG COORD/WE tv/NYC: Provide day-day oper & org support to Ad/Affiliate Mktg team on Ad Sales sponsorship. 1-3 yrs Admin/ops exp in trade/Ad Sales mktg, advtg, prod, creative. res www.cablevision.jobs ref #6682BR (8/1)

JOB OPENING: AD SALES ACCT EXEC/NYC/iaTV, America’s first 24/7 Asian Pop Culture TV network: will be responsible for generating advertising revenue for iaMedia properties. Min 2 yrs sales exp required. www.iaei.tv/v2/careers.php (7/31)

JOB OPENING: SALES PLANNER/Hallmark Channel/NY: 2 yrs exp in Sales planning or buying; or 3 yrs Sales Asst exp. See full posting and apply at www.hallmarkchannel.com (7/31)

JOB OPENING: Seeking freelance FINAL CUT PRO EDITORS for short term/ongoing day shifts. 5+ years experience. Please send resume and reel to [email protected] Must be willing to work in Stamford, CT (7/31)

JOB OPENING: PROGRAMMING ACQUISITION ANALYST/DIRECTV/El Segundo/CA: Negotiate, analyze, administer, and track programming acquisitions contracts for PPV/VOD content, with all major studios. Send resume to: [email protected] (7/31)

JOB OPENING: CONTENT DIRECTOR, SCI FI/NBC Universal/NY: Devel content strategy for expanding SciFi brand. Integrate content on new & existing sites. BA degree w/ 5 yrs exp. www.nbcjobs.com #827774 (7/31)

JOB OPENING: MGR, MEDIA RELS/Disney Channel/LA: U.S. press liaison for kids/tweens TV progrmng; pitch, secure press coverage; top writing skills; 5+ years publ exper; rapport w/TV press. Apply www.disneycareers.com Req #170422. (7/30)

JOB OPENING: MEDIA PLAN’G COORD/SOAPnet/Burbank: PLAN’G/SCHED’G ON-AIR PROMO; 2+ yrs exp brdcst/cable mktg/adv. Detail-oriented a must; strategic thinker. Encoda, Grip-it! Filemkr Pro a +. Apply www.disneycareers.com Req # 168063 (7/30)

JOB OPENING: INTERACTIVE PROD MGR/Taunton/Newtown-CT: Lead cross-functional team to develop online social networking tools & distributed media capabilities for various digital efforts. Apply: careers.taunton.com (7/30)

JOB OPENING: SR RESEARCH ANALYST/Scripps/Knox TN: in support of interactive 4 all Scripps sites. to apply direct: http://www2.recruitingcenter.net/Clients/scripps/PublicJobs/controller.cfm?jbaction=JobProfile&Job_Id=10227&esid=az
or www.scrippsnetworks.com (7/30)

JOB OPENING: RECRUITER : NYC Entertainment Executive Search Firm/media or recruiting experience req’d/motivated/research skills/excellent communication skills/computer proficiency/self-starter [email protected] (7/29)

JOB OPENING: SENIOR PRODUCER-GAMES/LIFETIME NY: Lead the planning and execution of all Lifetime branded and non-branded games across myLifetime.com or partner sites. Apply at: http://www.mylifetime.com/about/jobs.html (7/29)

SPRING AND SUMMER 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] .

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

SITUATION WANTED: Organized, responsible and enthusiastic Admin./Coordinator with over 10 years of experience and writing, research and production skills seeks Exec. Asst. or Coord. position at network or prod. co. [email protected] (8/1)

SITUATION WANTED: Baltimore Bound with Mkting/Product Dev/Event Planning experience. Manage advertising & mktg comm. efforts; direct catalog photography/act as stylist; oversee event budgets/timelines/logistics. [email protected] (7/30)

SITUATION WANTED: STORY EDITOR/DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT: Story/content developer w/ major prod. co. exp. seeks full/part-time, also projects. Unusually strong background in analysis, coverage, story notes. 917-620-6502 (7/29)

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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