A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM ESPN

Cynopsis: DIGITAL
05.13.13

Good morning. It’s Monday, May 13, 2013, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

UK satellite TV provider BSkyB has made an additional $1.9 million investment in Roku. This follows a $10 million investment BSkyB made in Roku last July. The new funds are meant to “provide financing for Roku’s operations and activities,” BSkyB said in a statement. The $10 million BSkyB pumped into Roku last year was part of a larger $45 million round, which included other investors like News Corp. (which owns a 39% stake in BskyB), Menlo Ventures, and Globespan Capital Partners.

Bravo has premiered a companion web series (of sorts) tied to the weekly reality show Tabatha Takes Over. Tabatha Coffey: A Day in the Life follows the business owner and star of the Bravo TV show through a typical day, which can include anything from managing her wig line to getting ready for a red carpet event. The behind-the-scenes show is produced by Shine America and is available on BravoTV.com.

OgilvyEntertainment’s original animated web series, The Cannolis, has added Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos) and Ramona Rizzo (Mob Wives) to its voice cast. The web series follows a fictional Italian-American family that owns a bakery in New York (where else?). As first reported by Deadline, Pastore will voice the role of the family patriarch, Dominic Cannoli, and Rizzo will assume the role of his wife, Theresa Cannoli.
In Other words: This series signals an ongoing shift at OgilvyEntertainment, the branded content studio that is now also (clearly) producing projects not tied to a brand or campaign.

International soccer channel beIN Sport has launched a TV Everywhere service, titled beIN Sport Play. The service, available first to authenticated Time Warner Cable and Bright House Network subscribers across PCs, smartphones, and tablets, will bring live soccer action from several top European soccer leagues. The Play service will also offer content from other international sports, including motor-sports and cycling. beIN Sports says the service will launch on other multichannel video providers “in the coming months.” Among Play’s features: Email notifications 30 minutes prior to kick-offs.

Acorn TV, the streaming service focusing on British programming, is adding several new titles to its library today: Falcon, a “cinematic crime thriller” starring Martin Csokas (The Lord of the Rings) and Hayley Atwell (Captain America). Set in Spain, Falcon follows a smart detective bent on exposing corruption. Other shows joining the Acorn TV library today include Wired, a financial thriller starring Toby Stephens (Jane Eyre, the lead in the upcoming Michael Bay movie Black Sails), and Upstairs, Downstairs spinoff Thomas & Sarah.

The Cheap Life with Jeff Yeager, an original how-to show on AARP’s YouTube channel, has topped 1 million video views. The show focuses on providing tips on spending smart and enjoying life at a fraction of the usual cost. All shows/videos on the YouTube channel are produced in-house by AARP, targeted to boomers and the 50+ demo. AARP offers a bunch of opportunities for brands to reach this audience, including product placements and voice-over messaging. The YouTube channel has surpassed 5 million views in total.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

LA-based creative video agency Whirled is launching an online video campaign in support of ASUS’s new VivoBook Touch ultrabook device. Whirled developed and filmed the video spots, which are meant to pair the VivoBook Touch device with some of life’s most “touching” moments. For example, the first spot, “A Mother’s Touch,” was launched on April 29, in advance of Mother’s Day. Since then, the video has accumulated over 1.3 million views on YouTube. To raise brand awareness for ASUS and its VivoBook Touch during key consumer spending days, the plan is to run each 60-second video spot on YouTube, targeted to men and women ages 18 to 45.

Unruly has acquired Shareifyoulike, a German social video ad firm, for an undisclosed price. This brings Unruly’s global footprint to 11 offices worldwide, including the four it has in the US. “This acquisition not only accelerates our international growth but marks the start of consolidation in the market as social video technology is sitting high on the merger and acquisition agenda of large technology companies,” said Unruly Co-Founder and CEO Scott Button. Per the deal, Shareifyoulike’s Founder and CEO, Martin Drager, will assume the role of Unruly Managing Director in Germany. All staff members in Unruly’s Berlin office have been offered relocation packages.

Spectrum Equity has made a $50+ million investment in Extreme Reach and is taking a minority stake in the technology start-up, which provides a platform to distribute video ads across screens/devices. Spectrum Equity is a growth equity firm “focused on the information economy.” The investment announcement said the funding was “in excess” of $50 million, with the financing going toward Extreme Reach’s “rapid growth and expansion through acquisitions.” Extreme Reach currently has 225 employees across 10 offices in North America. The start-up says more than 3,000 advertisers and ad agencies use its cross-screen ad solutions, including brands such as Coca-Cola and Ford. Per the deal, Spectrum Equity’s Jim Quagliaroli and Jake Heller are joining the Board of Directors at Extreme Reach.

Amazon is developing two new smartphones, including one that would serve up 3D images without requiring users to wear special glasses, according to The Wall Street Journal. This smartphone would use a “retina-tracking technology,” which would make images on the smartphone screen appear as if they’re floating above the screen, said the WSJ, citing sources familiar with Amazon’s plans. This technology could also allow users to interact with the screen by “using just their eyes.” None of this is a done deal, though.
— In other words: Amazon is serious about competing with the likes of Apple, Google, and Samsung in the content-distribution market. That’s why it’s also developing a set-top box, which would reportedly feature Amazon Prime Instant Video more prominently within the user experience. Right now, consumers mainly interact with Amazon content and services via the web. If they are a Prime Instant Video user, then the relationship extends to other devices as well as the Kindle Fire tablets the company already sells. At the end of the day, there’s more money for Amazon if its consumers interact with its content and services on its terms, not someone else’s.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The Social Star Awards is an international event to be held in Singapore later this month (May 23-25) honoring social media stars across all walks of life. The program consists of an awards show on the first night, followed by a concert event on the other two days. Created by social media data aggregator Starcount, the event bills itself as being “supported by YouTube,” which seems consists of a video series in promotion of the event. Produced by digital studio Portal A in collaboration with Starcount and YouTube, the series stars Jesse Heiman (you might remember him as the dude who got controversial with Bar Refaeli on Super Bowl Sunday) and Epic Meal Time’s Harley Morenstein. Heiman enlists the services of Morenstein as he trains to become a YouTube star. The series will bring in a bunch of other big YouTube names, including Ryan Higa, Jenna Marbles, Freddy W, Destorm, and Mystery Guitar Man, among others. This is a nice little follow-up to the biggest thing out of YouTube’s “Brandcast” event during the NewFronts. The company is spotlighting the creators/programmers who have been succeeding on the site, so it’s not surprising that YouTube would throw its support behind an event/festival such as this.

Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Editor for Cynopsis Digital
05.13.13

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