Cynopsis: DIGITAL
6/11/07
Good Morning, it’s Monday, June 11, 2007 and this is your first early morning digital briefing.
England-based Joost has a rival in Ireland. Peer-to-peer client-based TV network Babelgum launched a beta version on Friday, offering a similar business model and user interface to the service started by the founders of Skype. Babelgum is offering content providers half of the revenue generated from advertising placed against their content, with minimum guarantees of $5 for each 1,000 unique views. Programming is a work in progress, beginning with content from National Geographic, Associated Press, Reuters and Spike Lee. Silvio Scaglia, who founded Italian broadband service provider Fastweb, backs the company. He’s investing $475 million from his own pocket and another $175 million from the ISP, according to reports.
~ MULTIPLATFORM CONTENT NEWS ~
Apple is in advanced talks with the major Hollywood movie studios to launch an online rental service geared for AppleTV users, according to Financial Times. So far only Walt Disney and Paramount have signed download-to-own deals to supply movies to iTunes; the other studios remained concerned that digital sales will hurt the DVD market.
MTV launched two new user-generated video sites whose submissions will end up on MTV’s air. YoMomma.tv asks for yo momma stand-up jokes for the return of Yo Momma on June 11 at 6:30 pm ET/PT. (As in, “Yo Momma is so fat …”) ShortCircuitz.tv resurrects a sketch comedy show hosted by Nick Cannon that went off the air earlier this year. The new version, enhanced with homemade TV and music parodies, returns Thursdays at 10:30 pm ET/PT. Both sites feature social networking applications and enable uploaded clips to be embedded on other sites. This is ongoing trend for MTV, and so far so good; the recent Real World online casting call has already resulted in nearly 16,000 submissions.
Submissions on CNN.com‘s user-generated “I-Report” service are up 30% in the weeks following the Virginia Tech Massacre from the start of the year, as more citizens try to contribute breaking news content for use on the site and on CNN’s air. CNN received about 3,000 “usable” I-Report submissions in April and again in May, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
AOL‘ s new ad-based business model will be made to sink or swim by the end of the year, according to comments made at last week’s Merrill Lynch US Media Conference by Time Warner Chairman Dick Parsons. Investors have demanded that Time Warner sell or spin off AOL for years, but so far no one has offered any real value for the company or its parts, he said.
Sony BMG Music Entertainment announced a distribution deal with MobiTV to add more than 2,500 music videos to the mobile entertainment service. Sony will create a series of ad-sponsored channels featuring the original programming of a single artist beginning with Avril Lavigne. Look for long-form concerts, photo galleries and a mobile version of her comic book “Avril’s Make 5 Wishes.”
LG MobileComm USA and Billboard are sponsoring a Mobile Beat contest encouraging fans to try out to be mobile concert critics this summer. Entrants must submit photo mashups of themselves and a brief description of why they want to blog. Up to 30 “critics” will be sent to concerts around the country to create mobile blog entries with the new LG camera phone. Young & Rubicam’s Brand Buzz and Mediaedge:cia’s MECi are handling the promotion.
~ INNOVATORS & START-UPS ~
Four-Eyed Monsters became the first feature-length film posted to YouTube, clocking in at 71:54. The film, directed by Arin Crumley & Susan Buice, was financed entirely by credit cards. The filmmakers are hoping users will help them get out of debt by joining Spout.com, a movie social networking/recommendation site that has pledged up to $100,000 for the project. Spout will give the filmmakers $1 for each new member that sign up from its link. Hurry if you want to see it–it’s only up for a week.
Concerns are surfacing over whether or not the internet is going to be able to handle the video traffic that will arise when Joost launches later this year. It’s proprietary P2P video service delivers data at the rate of 350 MB/hour and is expected to attract millions of users. Companies such as PacketExchange are coming to market with platforms for video, gaming and interactive applications that run alongside of the public internet to provide more stability. P2P applications are currently used by less than 5% of a typical internet service provider’s subscriber base, points out The Economist, but account for over half of the total traffic.
YouTube is launching a Chinese version of its service in the near future, according to comments made by co-founder Steve Chen at an internet conference in Taipei. The company is also looking to make videos available on buses and subways both here and abroad.
Internet content delivery network Limelight Networks raised about $240 million in an IPO on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol LLNW. Limelight handles video streaming for clients such as ABC.com and Netflix. Shares jumped nearly 50% on the first day to end at $22.18 on Friday.
~ TECHNOLOGY DEALS, MERGERS AND SKIRMISHES ~
NAB president and CEO David Rehr sent a letter Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin asking him to give up trying to merge Sirius and XM Satellite Radio, claiming the merger could only benefit investors but not consumers. Karmazin has criticized the NAB publicly for funding studies conducted to show how harmful the proposed merger would be.
Microsoft is faring much better with antitrust officials under the Bush Administration, points out The New York Times. A recent complaint that Microsoft’s new Vista operating system discourages internet surfers from using Google to conduct searches was rejected by a top Justice Department official, even though several state attorneys general seem to think it has merit.
Warner Music Group and online music retailer Anywhere CD settled their differences over sales of MP3 versions of Warner albums without DRM protection. The companies agreed to dismiss lawsuits and end their current relationship on September 30. Until then, Warner albums will continue to be available without copyright protection.
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~ DIGITAL ADVERTISING ~
Bravo named Bertolli as the emerging media sponsor of Top Chef 3 Miami‘s WAP site (wap.bravotv.com) and SMS text campaign. Bombay Sapphire will sponsor a competition enabling consumers to work beside famous chefs and mixologists to create new drinks, to be featured in a mixology blog on BravoTV.com. Breville, Cold Stone Creamery, Evian Natural Spring Water, Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals and Red Robin will also co-sponsor the site.
~ TRENDS, RESEARCH, ETC. ~
Broadband internet connections have surpassed the halfway point now reaching 53% of U.S. households, according to a new survey by Leichtman Research. Broadband services now account for 72% of all internet home subscriptions, up from 60% last year.
ComScore published a white paper confirming that cookie deletion can cause large overstatements in site-server estimates of online audiences. The study addresses key discrepancies between server-based and panel-based data, finding that server-based findings can be inflated up to 2 1/2 times the actual number of unique visitors.
~ EXECUTIVE MOVES ~
Publicis Groupe’s Digitas hired former VP/Global Media Alan Rutherford to be CEO of Digitas Global. He will join the company’s London office from September, charged with leading the agency’s expansion into new markets and leveraging Digitas London and Prodigious Worldwide. Alan’s direct reports will include Corey Torrence, President, Prodigious Worldwide, the digital productions company; Norm Johnston, President, Digitas London, the agency beachhead for the U.K. and Europe; and Greg Green, SVP and head of Digitas’ Media Operations & Technology.
Steven Starr will step down as CEO of video sharing site Revver.com but will remain chairman of the company’s board. COO Kevin Wells was named the new CEO, trying to help the site keep pace in an increasingly crowded field. Two of Revver’s other founders, Ian Clarke and Oliver Luckett, left the company in December.
~ WEBSITE OF THE DAY ~
Finally a site that pays you for watching ads. Adoodle’s TVAdsAgain is an online focus group service paying users to view and evaluate current and future commercials. Each time you watch and submit a survey, you get an Adbuck, which can be used to buy merchandise from the site’s online store or soon from participating retailer sites such as Target.com, Sears.com and BarnesandNoble.com. The site is in beta this month, so it’s offering advertisers and agencies a discount to subscribe, and users double Adbucks during their first month of membership.
A new website will be featured here everyday for you to check out. Some are TV-centric, some creative, some just plain strange, but all have something to do with this crazy business. Email me your suggestions at [email protected] and if I include the site you mention, your name, company and city will be credited. Only one mention per calendar week, to make it fair.
Later — Wayne
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digitals
06.11.07
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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: SALES & RSRCH ASSOC/CableU, Norwalk, CT: Target corps & ind orgs for CableU subscription sales; support analyst team in cable ntwrk rsrch; 4-yr deg. Strong comp. skills & cable TV ind knwldg req. Apply: [email protected] (6/16)
JOB OPENING: RESEARCH ANALYST/Program Partners/Venice CA: Great opportunity! 1+yrs Research & Nielsen. Ratings exp a must. Prior Studio Intern ok. Excel/Word/Outlook/PP critical. Work closely with sales. [email protected] (6/16)
JOB OPENING: FCP EDITOR/PLUM TV/NYC: Must be proficient and work on various commercial projects simultaneously. Must shoot, produce, and edit creatively and quickly. Light and sound exp req. Send resumes to [email protected] (6/16)
JOB OPENING: AFFIL RES MGR/FOX Brdcsting/CA-LA Analyze, present affiliate perf. Strong comm, writing, analytical & PC skills; BA; 3-5+ yrs media/brdcst res; Nielsen/WRAP/SNAP sftwr & MS appl’s prof.
www.foxcareers.com (6/16)
JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, SALES ADMIN/Comcast Ntwrks/NY: 5+ yrs exp w/ strong analytical skills; strategic thinker. Resp for managing pricing, stewardship, revenue analysis, inventory mgmt. Email [email protected] (6/16)
SPACE TO RENT: Two fully functioning Edit Rooms, plus work space if needed, for rent from reputable TV/Web Co. Available now. Both have Final Cut Pro with NTSC Monitors & multiple decks. Turn key(phone, T1). Call Katie 212.242.1400 (6/16)
JOB OPENING: MGR & COORD ONLINE STRATEGIES & PRGRMS (WEBSITE PROPERTIES)2 JOBS) Planned Parenthood: Dvlp/execute website strategy. Reqs BA/BS & related work exp (3-5 yrs-mgr; 2-3 yrs-coord). E-mail: [email protected] EOE (6/16)
JOB OPENING: OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR/ NAMIC, NYC: Operations, project mgmt, web support to diversity org. 3-5 yrs experience required. For full description and to apply: http://www.MyChoiceEngine.com/Role/35788 (6/16)
JOB OPENING: EASTERN REGION DIRECTOR AD SALES/GOSPEL MUSIC CHANNEL/NY: Develop and generate sales for emerging network. Hire and manage sales team. Senior sales candidates contact [email protected] (6/16)
JOB OPENING: MEDIA SUPV/LA: Resp for day to day operations. Acts as primary client liaison in absence of AMD. Supv planners and asst. 6 yrs exp in Media. 2 yrs supv exp. QSR/ TV tune-in exp. req.. Send resume to [email protected] (6/15)
JOB OPENING: INTERACTIVE AMD/LA: Resp. for providing strategic input to dir. Act as liaison btw clients & agency. Manage planning team. 7-10 yrs exp. 3 yrs mgmt exp. Knowledge of media tools. Send resume to [email protected] (6/15)
JOB OPENING: MEDIA AE/LA: Resp for day to day newspaper issues. Knowledge of client bus./newspaper req. Work w/ Mac artist on newspaper ads. 2 yrs AE exp req. Negotiation/analytical skills. Send resume to [email protected] (6/15)
JOB OPENING: MRKTNG DIR/Montgomery Village, MD: BA; 3+ yrs exp in the entertainment ind. TV, Radio, Music, Records, Advertising, Sales and Excellent Analytical & Writing Skills. [email protected] (6/14)
JOB OPENING: SALES PLANNER/AETN, NY: Create Plans, steward accts, designate ADUs&recaps, coord make goods&post analysis prep. 2yrs exp pln’g or buyer.Exc comm skills.Client service mindset. Apply: www.aetn.com/careers.html (6/14)
JOB OPENING: WEBSITE JR CONTENT PRODUCER/Kidzbop.com, NYC: 2+yrs exp. Familiar with Web 2.0, Adobe Photo/Illustrator/Flash, Content Mgmt. Creative. Strong writing skills. Interest inkid’s media. Resume to [email protected] (6/14)
JOB OPENING: INTEGRATED SALES MGR/A & E TVNETS/NY: Looking for your next creative opp? Have a solid undrstndng of media/ratings/mktng? Enjoy writing/presenting to groups? Take next step in career! Apply: www.aetn.com/careers.html (6/14)
JOB OPENING: WEB PRODUCER/Nicktoons Network NY: 3+yrs online exp. Manage & execute multple online projects on time & on bdget. Undrstnding of internet/technlgy/site architctr. Flash knwldg prfd. Apply: [email protected] (6/14)
JOB OPENING: SALES PERSON/LA: Established, growing captioning company searching for exceptional salesperson. Background in captioning, postproduction,or television ideal. Apply through website: www.captionmax.com (6/14)
JOB OPENING: ACCT EXEC/ Warner Bros Domestic Syndication-L.A: Program or Spot TV sales exp pref; extensive travel req’d; degree req’d. Strong presentation skills/Nielsen research. Email: [email protected] RE: UCTC/79243BR.(6/13)
JOB OPENING: COMMUNITY & CONTENT PROD/LA: Responsible for coord’g day-to-day content flow for TOKYOPOP.com & ensure that all activities coalesce around the larger goal of build’g community & driving membership levels. Res: [email protected] .(6/13)
JOB OPENING: SR DIRECTOR PROGRAMMING/COURT TV: Must have 5+ yrs exp in program scheduling with cable network; BA/BS. Exp working with ad sales and other depts internally. Apply online via www.turnerjobs.com , Req# 81112. EOE. .(6/13)
JOB OPENING: NATIONAL ACCT DIR/SCREENVISION/CH: Dev, present & sell integrated media prgrms to clients in the midwest mrkts. Nat’l Sales exp B’cast, Cable, Print ind. a must. Much travel req’d. Email res: [email protected] (6/13)
JOB OPENING: NATIONAL ACCT DIR/SCREENVISION/NY: Dev, present & sell integrated media prgrms to clients in the easternmrkts. Nat’l Sales exp B’cast, Cable, Print ind. a must. Much travel req’d. Email res: [email protected] (6/13)
JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/Univision Online-NYC: 2+ years of media sales experience required, proven and quantifiable track record of success for retention, growth,& new business. Email: [email protected] (6/13)
JOB OPENING: GREAT! Marketing Manager/ Nashville. Passionate about radio & event promotion? Enjoy creative collaboration? Req 2+ years radio or TV promotion experience. Journalism/PR or Marketing degree preferred. [email protected] (6/12)
JOB OPENING: SR. BUYER/Job Share/SPOT TV/Active Int’l Pearl River NY(15 miles from NYC): 3 days-24hours total, 7 yrs+ agency Buying Spot TV exp a must; Resumes to: [email protected] or call 845-732-8943 (6/19)
JOB OPENING: SR. NEGOTIATOR/National Broadcast/Pearl River NY(15 miles NYC): Exp in all areas of Nat’l Broadcast placement. Strong analytical & presentation skills req’d. Resume: [email protected] or call 845 732-8943 (6/19)
JOB OPENING: GROUP BUYING DIR/Spot TV-Active Int’l /Pearl River NY (15 miles NYC): 10 Exp+. in Supervising/Buying TV. Strong negotiating, operations & team bldg skills req’d. [email protected] 845-732-8943 (6/19)
SUMMER INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here. They are 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: Baltimore INTERN needed immediately for doc on waterfront redevelopment. Logging, research, set ups and assist on shoots. Begin immediately work through summer, possibly the fall. [email protected] (6/16)
SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED …
SITUATION WANTED: “Out-of-the box” ADMIN/MGR visionary 20 yrs exp. in Project & Office Mgmt, Medical Ed, & Franchise Retail. Mission driven & customer focused. Takes ownership of outcome. Immediate start [email protected] Resume (6/15)
SITUATION WANTED: Breath-of-Fresh AIR/WRITER EXTRAORDINAIRE: available for long-term relationship with your audience. Proven track record crafting brand voices, concept/copy. Coming to Promax? Let’s meet. Contact [email protected] (6/15)
SITUATION WANTED: PRODUCER/WRITER/FIELD DIRECTOR: Exp. includes: reality, entertainment, talk, news, & docs. 3 Emmy noms; LA based, willing to travel. [email protected] (6/14)
SITUATION WANTED: ASSISTANT PLANNER/Online Media/NYC: Eager to learn field of online media. Creative instincts, diligent, quick ability to learn. Proficient in MS Word, Ppoint, Excel. Resume contact [email protected] (6/14)
E-mail Trish Pihonak for rates and specs for Job Openings.
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