A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM POLITICO.COM .

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*Nielsen Online Custom Analysis May 2008

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Cynopsis: DIGITAL

07/17/08

Good morning, it’s Thursday, July 17, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

Amazon.com is launching a new video on demand streaming service to a limited number of invited customers today, reports The New York Times, separate from the underwhelming Unbox store/rental outlet. About 40,000 movies and TV shows will be available to watch seconds after ordering. Here’s the catch. The video is only viewable on TV only through Sony’s $300 Bravia Internet Video link device designed to connect wirelessly to Bravia televisions. Amazon says it is pursuing similar deals with other platforms before rolling out the service to the public later this summer. Let’s hope so. So far Amazon’s video initiatives have failed to include wide swaths of users. For instance the Unbox/Tivo integration still only works on PCs.
 

 
All indications are that Warner Bros.’ latest Batman feature The Dark Knight, opening in midnight shows at 12:01 tonight in on 2,500+ screens, will pull off the opening of the summer.

• It’s opening on 9,200 screens overall – a record for Warner Bros.
• In terms of presale tickets, it’s outselling the top 10 movies of all time on MovieTickets.com with more than 500 performances already sold out
• The Dark Knight currently accounts for 90% of all ticket sales on Fandango.com
• Many IMAX theaters are staying open 24-hours on Friday and Saturday to meet demand

Heck, it may even give the third Spider Man installment a run for its money. Spidey 3 grossed $59 million on its opening Friday and $151 million in its first three days on an estimated 10,000 screens. (Keep in mind Spiderman opened in May against slim competition. The Dark Knight has Mamma Mia and Space Chimps to contend with this weekend.)
 
ABC Family is launching the web series Meet Me in California to document the recording of Grammy-nominated Plain White T’s second major album, scheduled for release on Sept. 23. The band broke through after being featured on ABC Family’s original show Greek. The site will introduce a new episode each Wednesday beginning July 30.
 
CBSSports.com is also providing live and on demand coverage of the British Open beginning this morning. Coverage includes live action from holes 16, 17 and 18 during the first two rounds as well as on demand video of course flyovers, ’07 reviews, ’08 previews and highlights during all four rounds.
 

 
You know your web show is a success when enough fans log on to crash the server. The first installment of Josh Whedon and his brothers’ web musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog was supposed to go live on Tuesday, but too many requests overloaded the server. There was a silver lining to this for the show’s producers. Act 1 downloads of the 14-minute satire were available on iTunes for $1.99, which many fans were forced to pay for. (Dr. Horrible hovered around the top spot on most of the day on Tuesday and Wednesday.) Look for Act 2 today and the final Act 3 on Saturday.
 
Video Search engine Blinkx is trying out a new strategy, transitioning from being a portal to more of private label video search engine that will power larger destinations such as MSN UK, Brazil’s Elo and Russia’s Rambler.ru. Blinkx sells text ads and video overlays against the search engine, splitting revenue with distributors. Interested sites can embed the Blinkx search engine for free. The white label business has always been a sidelight for Blinkx, which also powers video search for Ask.com and Real Networks.
 
Web 2.0 learning platform for kids and parents Kidthing announced an agreement to offer a collection of classic children’s songs and musical videos from the Wee Sing collective, created by Authors Pam Beall and Susan Nipp.
 
Call for Entries: Beginning today Metacafe and Microcinema International are accepting short film submissions of 10 minutes or less for the MetaFest online/offline Film Festival, in a variety of genres. A jury of curators will select the most compelling entries to be showcased on Metacafe and screened in front of a live audience in San Francisco in November and subsequent “microcinema” events through the first half of 2009. Entries will also be eligible for Metacafe’s Producer Rewards program, which pays filmmakers a $5 royalty for each 1,000 views they achieve.
 

 
The folks at iRiver have come out with a sleek tiny new portable media player, the Lplayer Multifunctional MP4 Player, featuring a 2 inch-wide TFT LCD screen and a FM Tuner. It supports most popular formats including MPEG, MP2, WMA and WMV9 and runs about $110 for the 4GB version and $160 for 8GB model. It even comes in pink.
 

 
Comcast’s video services provider thePlatform acquired assets of social media application provider Chirp Interactive and plans to absorb key personnel from the Bay-area start-up. The Seattle-based broadband video company also announced it will open a branch office in Silicon Valley to help attract more technical talent.
 
iVillage struck a partnership with women’s blogging community BlogHer giving the NBCU portal access to BlogHer’s network of 2200 blogs. In exchange iVillage, Oxygen.com and BravoTV.com will feature select BlogHer content on their sites. NBCU & GE’s Peacock Equity fund will make a $5 million series B investment in the platform as part of the deal. NBCU also announced the formation of a female-targeted digital ad sales network as part of the company’s Women@NBCU content/marketing initiative.

 
Since it began extending its reach to other areas besides tech news, content discovery site Digg has been successful in directing traffic to mainstream entertainment sites, according to a new Hitwise analysis. Visits from Digg to news and media websites were up 16% year-on-year in June. The print sub-category received the largest share of visits to News and Media sites from Digg, receiving 9% of Digg’s traffic, up 47% year on year. YouTube and Flicker have benefited in particular, according to Hitwise analyst Heather Hopkins.
 

 
Citing the high costs of keeping big newsrooms going, The Wall Street Journal is laying off 50 editors then reallocating the resources to add 95 journalists in the coming months. The move is part of an initiative to expand the national and international web operations of The Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, according to an internal email.
 
On the same day The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said it would cut its overall workforce by 8% or 189 jobs. On the bright side the paper said traffic to AJC.com and AJC mobile are on the rise, both surpassing 1 million page views in June.
 
Nancy Borowicz has joined podcasting network Wizzard Media as Western Ad Sales Account Manager, a new position, reporting to Jim Else, VP/Advertising Sales. She will be based in San Jose.
 
Downloadable media ad network VoloMedia Inc. hired Ellen Farber as East Coast Director of Advertising Sales. She will be based in New York City, reporting to CEO Brian Steel.
 
Paul Murphy has joined DMI Music & Media Solutions as VP/Strategic Marketing and Business Development. He will be based in the company’s Pasadena, CA headquarters.
 

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The Warner Bros. marketing team has done some inspired work on The Dark Knight web campaign. First of all, they designed a site splendidly simple and uncluttered, placing its focus on the high quality trailer. Then bloggers and fanzines were given some juicy backstories to mull over, helping to move the buzz meter. Over the past few weeks the Dark Knight trailer has been intermittently “hacked” into by The (computer-savvy) Joker on this and several other sites, who doodles over characters’ faces and adds rude comments. (Here is an example of the hacked version on YouTube.) There was also that spirited but ultimately rejected Dark Knight script reputedly penned by Michael Bay that popped up first on Spill.com. While you’re at it check out marketing partners Verizon and Nokia‘s creepy “ Commit Your Friend” promotion, powered by Oddcast. Log on and upload an image of your friend to see them confined in a straight jacket in the Arkham Asylum.
 
And a reminder — Cynopsis editorial staff are all on vacation all next week which means no editions for the week.  We will be returning on Monday, July 28.  With that said, however, our Sales and Marketing staff will be available to you all week long, as usual!
 
Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
07.17.08

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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CYNOPSIS MEDIA: TOP TIER

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

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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 (7/24)

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 (7/24)

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 (7/24)

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] (7/24)

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 (7/24)

JOB OPENING: LINE PRODUCER/Little Airplane Productions/NYC: Track costs/budgets for multiple productions. Track/administer contracts and coordinate deliverables. Animation exp. Not mandatory but preferred. [email protected] (7/30)

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)

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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)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, PUBLICITY/NBC UNI/New York, NY: Resp. for generating max positive press for Sci Fi programming, develop PR strategy & campaign plans. 7 years publicity experience. www.nbcjobs.com keyword #813464 (7/19)

JOB OPENING: MKTG MGR/Showtime/NY: Mng program promotion, approval, co-branding of SNI mktg tactics. Track/analyze results of key acct mktg initiatives. Org’d, multitask, exc comm. Apply: www.sho.com/site/about/careers.do Job #187BR (7/19)

JOB OPENING: SR ASSOC/PBS/Crystal City/Arlington, VA: Work with the Ecommerce Product Data Mngmnt team in mngng the product life cycle within the PBS Product Database. Job description & to apply: please visit www.pbs.org/jobs (7/19)

JOB OPENING: Director/On Air Promotion/FOOD NETWK/NY: 7yrs broadcast or cable netwk. Manage teams on tune-in & brand campaigns, writing, producing w/internal depts. on messaging & content. To apply: www.scrippsnetworks.com (7/19)

JOB OPENING: SR RESEARCH ANALYST/Turner/ATL: Corp level pos. working w/all Turner Props. Ent/Kids/News/Sports. Present findings to Execs/TW Corp. Solid media math skills/3-5 yrs.Apply: [email protected] (7/19)

JOB OPENING: NAT. AD SALES ACCT MGR/NYC: Develop new & grow existing business for satellite radio selling multiple formats @client & agency levels, prior exp in national media sales needed – apply @ www.siriusradio.com/careers (7/19)

JOB OPENING: PER INQUIRY MEDIA BUYER/Chicago: Advertising agency is seeking experienced TV PI buyer, ideally locally based. Require at least 2 yrs experience with pertinent data base skills. Send resume to: [email protected] (7/19)

JOB OPENING: INTERACTIVE PRODUCER, PROJ. MGR-NEW MEDIA/BRAVO/NBCU/NY:  Dvlp & lead iTV events, gaming, wireless initiatives. Seeking motivated, creative superstar w/ passion for 1st to mkt innovation. Apply:  www.nbcjobs.com #832071 (7/19)

JOB OPENING:  SR FINANCE ANALYST/ IFC Entertainment/NYC: Budget, forecasting, analysis and planning. 5+ yrs finance exp in cable/TV/ent pref’d. BS/BA req’d. Apply to req ID 6590BR at www.cablevision.jobs (7/19)

JOB OPENING: MGR SALES SRVCS/Fuse/NY: Resp for managing Nat’l inventory for Sales. Oversee Stewardship process. Create Sales selling schedules, Inv reporting and analysis. Gabriel, a plus. Rez to: [email protected] “MSS” in sub (7/18)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH MGR/NYC/GSN, the Network for Games: Resp incl. recurring & ad hoc TV & online reports for ad sales. 5 yrs research exp in cable TV. BA/BS. Resume/Cover: [email protected] (7/18)

JOB OPENING: MEDIA BUSINESS ANALYSTS/(2)/ NYC: Exp. w/Digital Asset Mgmt. systems required. Process modeling exp. required. Use case exp. a plus. Apply to: [email protected] (7/18)

JOB OPENING: DIR PRINT DESIGN/Fuse/NY: Lead dev & design for all print needs. Must be prof in Mac OSX, Avid, Final Cut Pro, Combustion, HD Camera, Green screen shooting and Flash. Rez to: [email protected] “DPS” in sub (7/18)

JOB OPENING: ASST TO PRESIDENT/THE HOTEL NETWORKS NY: Key position w/ growing co. Strong verbal/written comm & PC skills. Word, Excel, PPT. Detailed & orgnzd, self starter, multi tasker; Resume to: [email protected] (7/17)

JOB OPENING: BOOKKEEPER (PT)/New York TV Production Company: Knowledge of QuickBooks for MAC. Accounts payable, receivable, Payroll. Please have references and good attitude. Resume to [email protected] (7/17)

JOB OPENING: INTERNATIONAL CORD/CBS TV Network/NY: Maintain & track programs thru video facility. 2+ yrs customer service exper at a TV Distribution/Post Prod/Editing facility. Apply: www.CBSCorporation.com/careers (Req #2526) (7/17)

JOB OPENING: VIDEO PRODUCER (Freelance)/Lifetime Networks (LA): Produce web videos from existing and original content. 5+ yrs producing exp., including web content. Apply to: [email protected] (7/17)

SPRING AND 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] .

FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY:  A fast-paced boutique ent PR firm/NYC seeks smart, hard-working & reliable self starter for unpaid/for credit internship. Start mid Aug.thru fall semester &, possibly, beyond. Jr/Sr only. [email protected] (7/19)

FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY:  Documentary film production company in DUMBO, Brooklyn is looking for fall interns to help with several projects. email cover letter & resume to Amanda: [email protected] (7/19)

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

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)

SITUATION WANTED: Seasoned Ent Creative Dir avail for freelance or contract projects. Focus on strategy, creative solutions and great design for specialty, print, premium, broadcast or integrated marketing projects.  [email protected] (7/19)

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