Cynopsis: DIGITAL

01/22/09

Good morning, it’s Thursday, January 22, 2009, and this is your first early morning digital briefing. 

Apple has become subject of an SEC investigation after failing to disclose details about Steve Jobs’ illness to investors in a timely manner, reports the WSJ, following up on a story in Bloomberg. The way the information about his illness was disseminated, first as a “relatively simple” treatment for a nutritional issue, then later as a “more complex” ailment, has raised flags about what Apple knew and when they knew it. On a sweeter note, the company handily beat sales and profit estimates for Q1 ending Dec. 27, surpassing $10 billion in sales for the first time ever. Apple sold an astounding 22.7 million iPods and 2.5 million Mac computers during the quarter. The only device that sold less than expected was the iPhone (4.4 million sold during Q1,) raising questions about whether the App Store-accessible iPod Touch is actually stealing some of its thunder.
 

 
Msnbc.com shattered records for its coverage of the Inauguration of President Obama. On Tuesday, the site logged in a record-breaking 4 million unique visitors in a single hour and more than 16.4 million unique visitors throughout the day, per Omniture. Msnbc.com also recorded a record 9.1 million live streams and 18.2 million total video streams for the day as users watched live and archived coverage of Obama’s address. Msnbc.com’s coverage included a new exclusive Video Explorer tool powered by Nexidia, enabling users to search transcripts from past Inaugural Speeches, find specific passages of video and embed those clips onto their sites and blogs.
 
WNET.org, the parent of New York public television stations Thirteen (WNET) and WLIW21, is launching a new multiplatform UGC feature today enabling viewers to upload videos in response to questions and topics relevant to the program’s international news coverage. Global citizen journalism platform Ground Report, a sort of Wikipedia for news, is powering the Talk To Us tool, the best submissions from which will be used on air.
 
Conde Nast’s Brides.com is working with video streaming service Mogulus on Sky-High Weddings, helping marrying couples share their love on Valentines Day with thousands on the web. Mogulus’ live streaming player will capture the all-day affair live atop the Empire State Building as 14 couples tie the knot.
 

 
Male-focused Heavy announced an exclusive partnership with 3 Mobile, Australia’s first 3G mobile network, to make variety of original Heavy programming available to its 1 million + customer base. Original shows launching on the 3 Mobile network include music review show Behind the Music That S*cks, action spoof Kung Fu Jimmy Chow and Tiny Entourage, a shot-by-shot remake of memorable scenes from the HBO comedy.
 
Bree and her friend will live on in Poland. LG 15 producers EQAL inked a deal with Polish producers Agora and A2 Multimedia to launch a new series set within the LonelyGirl universe, a licensing agreement EQUAL’s founders hope to replicate in other territories. More than 100 episodes of “n1ckola” will produced beginning Jan. 26 with new episodes premiering 4-5 times each week. Series sponsors include Microsoft, Hasbro, Polkomtel and Samsung.

Virtual meeting site MeetingWave has signed a deal to integrate the database of review site Yelp to help users can more easily find a convenient venue at which to meet.

 
Meredith Corp. is launching its own women-targeted online ad network built around its magazine brands and recent minority stake acquisition Real Girls Media Network. The Meredith Women’s Network, which includes the soon-to-launch food themed social network MixingBowl, will reach 15 million monthly uniques. 
 
WPP’s MediaCom Worldwide unit will shutter its Beyond Interaction brand next month and consolidate its digital marketing operations under the MediaCom Interaction brand, reports MediaPost.
 

 
As a parting gift to the cable industry, outgoing FCC chairman Kevin Martin launched a probe into whether or not Comcast is purposely degrading the quality of customers’ independently-owned Voice-Over-IP services. Comcast offers its own broadband-based phone service but typically prices it at a 30% markup of what rivals such as Vonage or Lingo charge.
 
The industry is bracing for bad news to issue from Microsoft tomorrow when the company reports its quarterly earnings. The software giant is expected to miss projected revenue and profit marks and perhaps even announce job cuts (an extremely rare occurrence in Redmond.) Microsoft already disclosed it is selling its 7.3% stake in Comcast, according to an SEC filing, left over from when the company dove headfirst into the cable set top middleware business.
 

 
The mobile phone will become the primary device people use to connect to the internet for most people in world by 2020, according to The Future of the internet III survey of internet leaders by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Usage will increase as devices become more sophisticated, voice-recognition improves, artificial and virtual reality become more embedded in everyday life and the architecture of the internet itself improves. Other interesting predictions for 2020 include:

• transparency of people and organizations will increase, but that will not necessarily yield more personal integrity, social tolerance, or forgiveness
• those working to enforce intellectual property law and copyright protection will remain in a continuing arms race, with the crackers who will find ways to copy and share content without payment
• The divisions between personal time and work time and between physical and virtual reality will be further erased for everyone who is connected, and the results will be mixed in their impact on basic social relations
• Next-generation engineering of the network to improve the current internet architecture is more likely than an effort to rebuild the architecture from scratch

 
Tivo reported a significant spike in “timeshifting” of primetime programming last year, particularly during sweeps periods, in an annual report collating data from its Stop||Watch DVR ratings service. Roughly 54% of primetime programming was viewed on a timeshifted basis during broadcast sweeps in May and October of 2008, demonstrating a correlation between the most highly promoted programming and the amount of Timeshifting among viewers. TiVo also unveiled the Top Commercial and Brand Rankings for 2008 among both Total and Timeshifted viewers.  FOX’s American Idol, the hit reality talent search show, took the Top four most watched commercial spots among Total viewers. Bud, Liberty Mutual VAR Insurance and Bank of America Consumer Services Ranked as the top three least fast-forwarded brands.
 
Broadcast Primetime Timeshifted Viewing – January – November 2008
 Broadcast Month             % Primetime Programs
    2008                                 Timeshifted   
  January                                    45.74
  February                                   49.20
  March                                       49.19
  April                                         52.13
  May                                          54.02
  June                                         39.92
  July                                          41.94
  August                                      36.90
  September                                46.01
  October                                     53.90
  November                                  52.29
Source: Tivo Stop||Watch
 

                                                                                    
Japanese gadget site Gizmine.com has introduced a line-up of weird and wonderful gizmos timed for Valentine’s Day.
 

 
Current Best Buy President and COO Brian J. Dunn will succeed CEO Bradbury H. Anderson when he retires from the electronics giant in June.
 
CBS Films has named a trio of new executives to key marketing posts, responsible for designing and implementing all CBS Films’ creative advertising, media and publicity campaign outreach. Teri Boggess was named SVP/Creative Advertising Content; Cherie Crane joins as SVP/Media and Research; and Maggie Schmidt was hired as SVP/Publicity. All three will report directly to Debbie Miller, EVP/Worldwide Marketing for the company.
 

 
Video is widely recognized as the most compelling and engaging form of content on the web but producing it in any quantity is still expensive for all but deep-pocketed publishers. Video search engine Pixsy is rolling out a new service called “Premium Feed” which aggregates licensed videos from more than 3,000 providers – many with pre-sold pre roll or overlay ads already embedded. Publishers such as Coorliis and Ego TV, the first two companies to sign up for the service, will be able to choose from millions of syndicated clips to feature on their sites and enjoy in a share of the resulting ad revenue, tied to the views they generate. The video search field remains fiercely competitive so it makes sense for Pixsy to branch out into syndication. Success for the content creators, of course, will come down to their own advertising campaign efforts and the effectiveness of their metadata tags – the tagged words which search tools like Pixsy pull from.
 

CYNOPSIS EVENTS AT NATPE 2009

Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
01.22.09

Cynopsis Digital Ad Sales:
Chuck Bolkcom – 646-468-6180 / [email protected]
Mark Bohn- 203-583-1224 / mark@cynopsis. com
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: Hallmark Channel/Studio City/FREELANCE PRODUCER & HOST: Create hosted entertainment pieces. Must write/produce/host See full posting and apply @ www.hallmarkchannel.com (1/28)

JOB OPENING: PRODUCT PLACEMENT PRODUCER/NY: Must have vendor contacts. Neg. & prep contracts for leading prod. co. EM: [email protected] (1/27)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT COORD/BBC/LA: Support cble & dig ad sales team. Admin support, data entry, liaise w/ contacts & agencies. Excellent comm & org skills. www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp. EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V (1/27)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT COORD/BBC/NY: Support cble & dig ad sales team. Admin support, data entry, liaise w/ contacts & agencies. Excellent comms & org skills. www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp. EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V (1/27)

JOB OPENING:SR MGR DIG SYNDICATION/BBC/NY:Mng clients/prgrm supply to dig media synd partners. Create line-up of BBC prgrms, promotion & mktg. Strong knwldg BBC Prgrms. www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V (1/27)

JOB OPENING: MGR TV SALES/DISTRIB/BBC/NY: ID new clients, pitch/conclude deals w/ cbl ntwrks & clients. Take prgrms from library & repckg for sale. Strong negotiation/sales skills. www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp EEO/AA empl M/F/D/V (1/27)

JOB OPENING:  DIRECTOR, PROGRAM PLANNING/Disney Channel/Burbank: Oversee Progrm Planning/Schedlng Disney Ch + Playhouse. Mngmnt exp req. Devl/Implmnt Progrm Stratgy. 7 yrs exp Progrm Plan/Sched. www.disneycareers.com REQ 186232 (1/27)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH MGR/The Golf Channel/Orlando: Responsible for the ratings/rsrch support for programming/marketing needs. Proficient in NPower, StarTrak. 5+ yrs preferred w/ TV/Sports research. Apply at www.comcast.com EEO/AA (1/24)

JOB OPENING: DIR, PRIMARY RSRCH/LA: Mng qualitative/quantitative primary rsrch efforts for E!, Style, G4 & Fearnet incl online & new media efforts. Design/execute studies to meet company objectives. Resume: [email protected] (1/24)

JOB OPENING: SR WRITER/PRODUCER/HGTV/Knoxville: Conceptualize, write, direct and produce high end on-air and off channel marketing campaigns. 6+ yrs exp in cable net or equivalent. College degree required. www.scrippsnetworks.com (1/23)

JOB OPENING: NAT’L SALES MGR/KSBI-TV/DT the new THUNDER TV. Proven success in 3-5 yrs exp w/ reg’l/nat’l accts alongside nat’l rep. firm (MMT). Knwlg Nielsen ratings & effective/creative pckgng strat a must. Res: [email protected] (1/23)

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] .

SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: A fast-paced boutique ent PR firm/NY: Seeks smart, hard-working & reliable self starter. Starts Jan thru spring semester &, possibly, beyond. Jr/Sr only. Resume/cover letter: [email protected] (1/29)

SPRING INTERNSHIP/CREDITS ONLY: LICENSING INTERNS/Licensing Link, Ltd/NYC: Asst President as needed in daily licensing duties. Highly orgnzd & reliable; Must have skills in MS Word/Excel/Powerpoint. Contact: [email protected] (1/29)

SPRING INTERNSHIP/CREDITS ONLY:  INTERN / HGTV & DIY/UNPAID/COURSE CREDIT REQ/NY: Working with Ad Sales MKTG team on projects such as sweepstakes and sponsorships. Full details, http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/careers & select req 213 (1/29)

SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Premiere NYC-based agency is searching for Spring and Summer DIGITAL MARKETING & STRATEGY INTERNS: Must have interest in social networking. Contact [email protected] (1/28)

SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: NEW MEDIA/DIGITAL INTERNS/NBCU/NY: Asst New Media Manager w dig content, mktg & rsrch. Highly innovative & reliable Soph/Jrs/Srs; Excellent Word/PPT/Photoshop/HTML skills.Email [email protected] res & cvr ltr (1/28)

SPRING INTERNSHIP/CREDITS ONLY: ENTERTAINMENT/MKTG & COMM INTERNS/Cynopsis Media/Shelton CT: Asst various depts as needed in advrtsng sales, mktg, & rsrch. Highly orgnzd & reliable Sophomores/Jrs/Srs; Excellent MS Word/Excel skills. Contact: [email protected] (1/27)

SPRING INTERNSHIP/CREDITS ONLY: Razor & Tie Entertainment: Independent music label is looking for qualified interns for Winter/Spring 2009. Internships available in MKTG, PRESS, A&R, NEW MEDIA AND MUSIC PUBLISHING Please mail [email protected] (1/27)

SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: MI APOGEO INC./NY: a social network, magazine & Latino Wiki is searching for Spring and Summer interns. Flex sched & virtual work arrangement possible. Int in U.S. Hispanic culture pref’d. Contact: [email protected] (1/23)

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 [email protected]

SITUATION WANTED: SPONSORSHIP MARKETING/NY: Experience in evaluating and negotiating sponsorships and promotions. All media types- broadcast, outdoor, print, digital, mobile, hospitality, etc. Contact: [email protected] (1/29)

SITUATION WANTED: LIFESTYLE SEGMENT PRODUCER/DESIGNER: Produce /design lifestyle segments for NBC, ABC, Disney, E Martha Stewart Living, and Turner Classic Movies.SAG Member [email protected]  / www.andrewpaulbinder.com (1/29)

SITUATION WANTED:POWER COPYWRITERS– headed up by former broadcast network player,specializing in tv promos & taglines. Credits from Fortune 500 entertainment companies. [email protected] (1/29)

SITUATION WANTED: A WRITER’S WRITER! Not a prod./dir./ed.-turned-writer-b/c-of-the-economy! Written: MTV scripts, nat’l print ads (Pepsi, X-Box), & for NY Post, RS, Vibe. Gen. X, smart, witty, bi-lingual. [email protected] (1/28)

SITUATION WANTED: PRODUCER/WRITER/DIRECTOR (NY) Ultra-creative, award winning, all formats, all genres, all major networks and major cable.  Fast, frugal and fun! [email protected] (1/28)

SITUATION WANTED: TV PROGRAM EXECUTIVE 15 + yrs exp, Creative, great work ethic, knwldgbl, sense of humor, can relocate. See www.linkedin.com/in/joepauly. Looking for next great opp in cable or brdcst TV. Contact [email protected] (1/28)

SITUATION WANTED: DOCUMENTARY PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, WRITER in L.A. Credits include National Geographic, PBS, Discovery, History Channel, TLC and MSNBC. Contact email: [email protected] (1/28)

SITUATION WANTED: NON-FICTION DEVELOPMENT PRODUCER. I will write and develop your pitch & produce and direct a winning sales tape. 3 Emmy noms; unscripted or narrative formats; LA based, will travel. [email protected] (1/27)

SITUATION WANTED: INNOVATIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Award winning and highly creative. Major network & cable experience, all genres: Childrens, Reality, Lifestyle, Documentary. In NY but will travel. View reel & CV: www.kirstynordal.com (1/27)

SITUATION WANTED: Seasoned TALENT ACQUISITION Specialist, HR Generalist (NYC based) w/ significant exp in fashion, PR, marcom & entertainment industries seeks PT, FT, Freelance or Consulting opportunities.Contact [email protected] (1/27)

SITUATION WANTED: FREELANCE DRTV MEDIA BUYER with more than 15 years experience buying national and local cable, syndication, and local broadcast markets seeking FT or PT work from home office. Please contact me at [email protected] (1/27)

SITUATION WANTED: FREELANCE or Full-time MEDIA BUYER w/ over 25 yrs of buying exp. is newly available. Seeking F/T or Freelance wk from your office or my home (New York based) Please contact me @ [email protected] (1/27)

SITUATION WANTED: EXPERIENCED PRODUCER. I’ve worked in talk/reality/game show genres. Produced shows overseas & on location. Hard working, detail oriented, motivated, creative, ready to start today, will travel. Contact: [email protected] (1/24)

SITUATION WANTED: ADMIN OR ASST POSITION WANTED/NYC: 3+ yrs admin exp at well-known companies in exec assistance, licensing, prod development, marketing, with specialization in children’s TV. Creative & professional. [email protected] (1/23)

SITUATION WANTED: DP/VIDEOGRAPHER (NY/NJ) 20+ yrs experience. HD (DVCPRO100), Beta, Mini-DV. Contact: [email protected] (1/23)

SITUATION WANTED: SR. H.R. PRO/NYC:19+ yrs exp seeking short/long-term/perm oppty in media field. Bkgrd incl: Employee Relations, O.D., Recruitment, Training. Call Ray Palen at (631)732-2926 or via email at: [email protected] (1/23)

E-mail [email protected] or call Trish Pihonak at 203.926.9878 for rates and specs for Job Openings.

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