Cynopsis: DIGITAL
12/23/10

Good morning, it’s Thursday, December 23, 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. 

The FCC and Dept. of Justice have delayed approval of the Comcast/NBC Universal merger until January, according to a statement released on Wednesday by the Government Communications office. But rest assured the deal will get approved next month. “We believe the regulatory review puts us on track for a closing in January 2011,” wrote Sena Fitzmaurice in a statement. “We are appreciative of the hard work by the FCC and DOJ staff and by our own transition teams, and look forward to completing the process early next year.”
 

 
Looking to compete with entrenched players such as Spotify and Pandora, Sony launched its cloud-based subscription music service “Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity” on Wed. in the U.K. and Ireland with a catalog of some 6 million songs. Paying subscribers can access streamed music across a variety of broadband-connected Sony devices including the PlayStation3, Sony Vaio computers and Bravia TVs. Look for it to come to the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and New Zealand sometime next year. The company is charging £3.99/month for a basic version of the service.
 
Can’t make to New York for New Year’s Eve? This year there’s an iPhone app for watching all 6 hours of the festivities in Times Square, as well as an online webcast and embeddable widget. The webcast, powered by Livestream and capped by a live rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine” from Taio Cruz, is produced by Countdown Entertainment and the Times Square Alliance.

 
Revision3 struck a partnership with The Onion’s audio podcast the A.V. Club to bring A.V. Talk to its network as a 12-15 minute weekly video round-up about audio and video releases and other pop cultural matters. The first episode is a two parter covering the top movies of 2010 with new episodes premiering every Friday hereafter.
 

 
Internet ad company Solve Media, which launched its TYPE-IN ad system to replace hard-to-read CAPTCHA authentication systems with a logo or video, is announcing that it has extended its platform to include 15-second video ads users have to watch through to the end to receive their security code. (See it in this TYPE-IN ad for Universal’s recent DVD release “Devil,” co-written by M. Night Shyamalan.)
 

 
Facebook now refers more video streams than Yahoo according to an aggregate media sample of Brightcove customers taken by online video analytics firm TubeMogul. This marks the first time the social platform has surpassed the search engine/content portal, with Facebook accounting for 9.6% of all referrals, making it second only to Google in terms of volume. Other interesting trends included:

• Newspapers saw significant growth in the number of titles uploaded (+51%), surpassing broadcasters in total minutes streamed for the first time this quarter. The trend suggests that broadcasters post fewer but longer titles, while newspapers are producing many more, but shorter titles on a more regular basis  
• Online media properties (including pure-play Web properties and blogs) also had a strong growth quarter in player loads (+127%) and titles uploaded (+23%)
• Completion rates for brand marketers (47%), broadcasters (44%), and online media properties (45.9%) continued to rise quarter to quarter, reaching new highs in Q3
• Gaming consoles lead in ave. viewing time, suggesting that lean-back environments are the most engaged of the three screens

 
Amazon has never publicly disclosed how many Kindles it has sold but a report claiming the company has sold 8 million of the e-readers has emerged from Bloomberg, citing inside sources. The number far exceeds analysts’ estimates, who predicted an average of 5 million units this year.
 
Still no word yet about a streaming video app, but Verizon FiOS has introduced a free iPad app that acts as a virtual remote for the service, allowing you to browse current and future programming, program your DVR and set parental controls and bookmarks.
 
CBS Mobile launched a mobile game for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch adapting the classic tic-tac-toe TV game show Hollywood Squares, featuring the comedy talents of Kathy Griffin, Brad Garrett, Martin Mull and Jeffrey Tambor revealed in video answers to the questions posed in the game. The iPhone version retails for $2.99 while the iPad version sells for $4.99.
 
Inc. magazine released its Mozine business advice mobile app developed by Thumb Media Group, available for both the iPhone and Android. The app culls editorial content from the magazine and website, including breaking news, online feeds, slideshows, blog posts, social networking components and Inc. TV clips, selling for a subscription fee of $2.99/month.
 

 
Mark Peterson has joined Meredith Corp. as VP/Newsstand for the Meredith National Media Group. He will oversee Meredith’s strategic relationships with major retailers, wholesalers and distributors, replacing David Algire, who left to take the role of President of Source Interlink Distribution.
 
Digital ad management tool provider eXelate announced that the company’s Chief Revenue Officer Mark Zagorski has stepped up to take over as CEO of the company, replacing founding CEO Meir (Iri) Zohar, who is returning to his native Israel.
 
AboveNet Communications’ Lloyd Jarkow has been named CFO of transatlantic high-bandwidth connectivity provider Hibernia Atlantic, reporting to CEO Bjarni K. Thorvardarson.

 
If your looking for some last minute holiday meal ideas, you might want to check out The Spanfeller Media Group’s new food vertical site called The Daily Meal, officially exiting beta this morning under the editorial guidance of former Saveur editor and Gourmet columnist Colman Andrews. Five sections – Eat, Drink, Cook, Entertain and Travel – lend a bit of lifestyle flavor to the cooking content but there’s plenty of recipes and how-to videos to tap into. The site does a good job of profiling dishes and cocktails from some of the hottest restaurants around the country, like the BLT Cocktail (Basil, Lemon and Tomato, that is) from Portland’s Gilt Club. It does actually have a hint of bacon, accomplished with a bacon salt rim.
 
Later –
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis Digital
12.23.10

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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: WEB METRICS COORDINATOR/Lunchbox Studios/LA: Entry level, Execute tracking, reporting, analysis of website data to understand behavior of customers & site visitors. More info @ www.lbox.com Apply: resumes@lbox.com (1/6)

JOB OPENING:  DIRECT CLIENT SOLUTIONS/HGTV/Knoxville TN:  Develop innovative client offerings, working in collaboration with Ad Sales Mktg & Programming, to drive both ratings & revenue. Full info/ apply: www.scrippsnetworks.com (1/6)

JOB OPENING: SYNDICATION AE/Sony Pictures TV/Chicago: 38 Midwest markets. Heavy travel. Strong sales & TV background a must. Apply: www.sonypicscareers.com (1/6)

JOB OPENING: DIR PR/IFC tv/NY: 6+yr Agncy/Corp PR exp in TV/Cble indstry. Launch scrptd ent in media, execute premieres/screengs/pres junkets/film festvls. Creatve w/excllt comm skills/Media contcts. Rez: ssy@rainbow-media.com (1/6)

JOB OPENING: TELEVISION AD SALES MANAGER/NYC: 10yrs+ TV Ad Agency or Sales exp. Minimum 5 yrs DRTV & Per Inquiry Sales Exp. Send resume & salary req’s to: adsalesmanagementexec@gmail.com (1/5)

JOB OPENING: SALES ASSISTANT/AMC & WEtv/Chicago: 2+yr admin exp in sales envmt of Cble/Tv/Ent indstry. Assts VP & AEs w/daily sales & clients. Handls high call vol. Excllnt comp/comm/orgztnl skilz. Rez: www.cablevision.jobs/12945 (1/4)

JOB OPENING: MANAGER II RESEARCH/Discovery Communications/SS: Directs primary rsrch efforts; analyzes Nielsen data & other syndicated info dvlpmnt, prod, prgrm, schd, & mrktng strtgy. www.discovery.com (req 2997) (1/4)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL ACCT EXEC/Discovery Communications/NY: AE w/5+ yrs digital ad sales exp a must to sell national advertising for Discovery’s Digital properties including web, mobile, VOD and podcasting. www.discovery.com (2795) (1/4)

JOB OPENING: SR. Web RSRCH ANALYST/TRAVEL CHANNEL/ CHEVY CHASE MD: 3 + yrs media/web research. Strong analytical/data interpretation skills. Media Research/team player a must. Apply, www.scrippsnetworks.com/careers & select 2049 (12/25)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR OR MANAGER, COMMERCIAL CLEARANCES/The Hub/NYC: Must have strong background in commercial standards, within kids TV/content highly desired. Apply at http://thehub.catsone.com/careers (12/24)

JOB OPENING: DIR, INT’L MERCHANDISING/NY: Mng SKU dvlpmnt from a creative & fiduciary point of view. Dvlp overall product mix 7-10+ merch exp working in retail/wholesale envir. Lots of travel. Resume: sfields@marvel.com (12/24)

JOB OPENING:  MGR, PROGRAM RESEARCH/Oxygen/NYC:  Min 4 yrs exp in media research. Supports mgmt, programming, development, scheduling, press/publicity, marketing & pricing/finance. Apply to researchjobs@nbcuni.com (12/24)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL ACCOUNT EXEC/NY: Sell AETN’s digital advertising w/ assigned territory to agencies & clients. www.aetn.com/careers.html Apply: https://www.abso.com/jobboard/Default.aspx?JOBBOARDID=618&JobDetail=85513 (12/24)

JOB OPENING: FRONTLINE ASSISTANT ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/WGBH/Boston: FRONTLINE Assistant Account Executive (Social Media & Promotions). AEEF, FT 52 Weeks. Job Req # 4878 Please apply online at http://careers.wgbh.org/ (12/24)

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WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY:  START ASAP: RESEARCH INTERNS/TWO CATS PRODUCTIONS/NYC: Interns wanted to research and develop new TV show ideas. Please send resumes robyn@twocatstv.com (1/5)

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Bynum Artist Management/LA: Looking for an unpaid intern to manage actor submissions. Approx. 3 to 4 hours/work day. Respond to allabouteve4u@yahoo.com and include “Manager Intern” in subject line. (1/4)

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Intern will learn Production Assistant duties at the same time honing their writing, producing, and editing skills with Creative Directors. Should have major related to television/film. betintern@yahoo.com (12/24)

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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 (1/4)

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