Cynopsis: DIGITAL

07/03/08

Good morning, it’s Thursday, July 3, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

This deal was supposed to be kaput but the market wants what the market wants. Microsoft has been talking to some major media players this week including Time Warner and News Corp. as it prepares to take another pass at Yahoo, reports the Wall Street Journal. This time Microsoft would be bidding only for its search business and partners would buy the rest, effectively breaking up Yahoo into pieces. Yahoo has also circled back to Time Warner regarding a potential merger with AOL. Meanwhile The Justice Department opened a formal antitrust inquiry into Yahoo‘s search outsourcing deal with Google and all indications are they plan to take a hard look at the deal, per The Washington Post.
 
Premiering Sunday in HD: Moon Machines on Science Channel HD at 9p, pt. 1 of Space Week
 

 
The LA Times continued marching toward a leaner future announcing a 15% reduction in print pages and 250 job cuts to be made this summer including a massive 150 to editorial departments including digital. (The editorial cuts will amount to about 17% of the company’s 876 member staff.) In a note to staffers editor Russ Stanton touched on the double edged sword of the internet, noting that it has brought more readers than ever before but at the same time has given advertisers more choices. In another memo publisher David Hiller outlined plans for the future including a redesigned latimes.com, more targeted products and a combined multimedia newsroom that can produce for both print and online.
 
History.com introduced some exclusive content on its Ice Road Truckers minisite, including full episodes (doled out in segments), history of the arctic, trivia, interviews and maps of journeys featured on the show. Check out the Background Builder app. It enables you to select a photo from the series then modify the weather conditions before downloading it to use as wallpaper for your desktop.
 
KidsCo, the joint venture channel owned by NBC Universal, DIC Entertainment and Corus Entertainment, launched an international ecommerce store for kids featuring games, video and downloads. The store is launching in the local language in each territory the channel has a presence.
 

 
Ten-year-old open source initiative Mozilla officially broke its own download record, according to the Guinness World Records, registering 8,002,530 downloads of Firefox 3 on June 18. Congrats! That’s a lot of bits. Since that time over 28 million users have downloaded the browser.
 

 
Here’s an update on Roku, the $100 device that ports Netflix digital downloads to your TV set. The company has increased its production capabilities in Asia to meet rising demand and is working on a software plug in to allow downloads from other “big name” content providers, reports Forbes.
 
The first CBS News content showed up on CNET TV just two days after the merger closed. It’s video footage from the Early Show containing a report on California’s new law requiring hands free mobile devices. CNET editor Natali Del Conti makes a guest appearance, offering tips on various in dash, in stereo and earphone Bluetooth devices. The new Jawbone earpiece looks promising – it employs noise cancellation technology.
 

 
Blockbuster officially withdrew its offer to buy ailing Circuit City for $1-$1.3 billion. The video chain had talked about using Circuit City stores as a distribution point for both digital content and devices.
 
Content Delivery specialist Hiro Media is partnering with managed P2P provider Pando Networks to offer broadcasters a new centrally managed online video solution. The service combines Hiro’s secure DRM solution with Pando’s bandwidth-saving P2P architecture. 
 
Civil liberties groups the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government seeking records under the Freedom of Information Act related to the government’s use of mobile phones as tracking devices, according to The Washington Post.
 
Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman completed its acquisition of Seattle-based stock photo agency Getty Images for $2.4 billion, taking the company private. Hellman & Friedman other media investments include DoubleClick and Nielsen.
 

 
The iTV industry has been waiting for decades for true interoperability among set-tops but it looks like it’s going to have to continue to wait. Only about half of U.S. cable subscribers will have access to OCAP or “Tru2way” receivers by 2013, according to a new ABI Research study. The company expects continued bureaucratic and operational resistance from both set top box vendors and cable operators, who feel swapping out all those old boxes is too expensive and overkill for lower end customers.
 
Hitwise performed an analysis of top search terms that drove traffic to both Barack Obama and John McCain’s websites and found some common denominators including Health Care, Global Warming, Education and Immigration. Traffic to Barackobama.com received 79% of U.S. online visits in a custom category of both candidate websites. But traffic to John McCain’s site has been rising in recent weeks. McCain’s traffic increased 42% in June 2008 compared to May 2008 and 24% compared to June 2007.
 
Market Share of U.S. Visits among Custom Category of Presidential Candidate Websites
Rank     Name               Domain                    June-08         May-08          Apr-08
   1      Barack Obama barackobama.com         79.25%          85.38%          84.07%
   2      John McCain     johnmccain.com          20.75%          14.62%          15.93%
Source: Custom report from Hitwise
 

 
Stan Scoggins has been upped to SVP/Worldwide Digital Asset Management for Universal Studio‘s creative services group, according to Variety. Stan developed Solar, the company’s online publicity and ad materials repository for its film and TV titles. He will continue to report to Dan Wolfe, EVP/Worldwide Creative Operations.
 

 
NBCOlympics.com is promising to deliver 2,200 hours of live video action during the Beijing Olympics next month as well as over 3,000 hours of on-demand video including highlights, interviews and replays of events. WPP Digital’s Schematic has created the site’s video player, based on Microsoft’s Silverlight 2 platform. The player will enable up to 4 live streams from the same event at once and offer picture-in-picture functionality as well as the ability to toggle overlaid commentary on and off during the action. I know traditionalists worry NBC is giving away the store here but audiences are going to increasingly demand this kind of interactivity once they get a taste of it. And the network is careful to drive traffic back to the mothership. The site has you enter in your zip code, local cable provider and local NBC station to customize TV listings and direct users to coverage of their affiliate’s hometown competitors. The site began broadcasting live trials this week so check out the interface; it features nice big thumbnail images and a side menu of all the Olympic sports. However don’t bother yet if you’re on a Mac. (The site promises Mac support “soon,” but given that MSN is actually powering the site, one has to wonder.)

Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
07.03.08

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JOB OPENING: DIR, CONTENT DVLPMNT & PROD, SHORT FORM/History/NY: Oversee dvlpmnt/prod of video prgrmng for multi-platform dist.10 yrs Long form & Promo prod exp; Team leadership& editorial skills essential.Apply: www.AETN.com (7/11)

JOB OPENING: MGR., AD SALES PARTNERSHIPS/LIFETIME NY: Develop integrated proposals for advertisers interested in partnering with Lifetime across our various properties/ Apply at: h ttp://www.lifetimetv.com/about/jobs.html (7/11)

JOB OPENING: DIR. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT/LIFETIME NY: Source, structure & implement deals to grow Lifetime traffic and digital business. Min. 8 yrs of business development exp. Apply at: http://www.lifetimetv.com/about/jobs.html (7/11)

JOB OPENING: VP, BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS/ Active Int’l in Pearl River, NY (15 miles from NYC): Min 12 yrs exp. Acct. Mgmt/Sales & team leadership. Resumes to: [email protected] or call 845-732-8943 (7/10)

JOB OPENING: ASSOC RESEARCHER/WGBH/Boston: Assisting in Gathering and analyzing research. BA in Communications, Business or Marketing. www.wgbh.org/careers Job Req # 4362 (7/10)

JOB OPENING: SALES/REPRESENTATION/EDITIONAL EFFECTS (EENYC)/ NYC: Production/Post-Production co. seeks representation/sales person. Company offers editorial, design, audio and production. Start ASAP. Resumes to: [email protected] (7/9)

JOB OPENING: SR MOTION DESIGNER-MUSIC CHOICE-NY: Exp’d animator needed to develop high-energy motion graphics (After Effects, Maya) for original shows. BA/BS 3+ yrs prjct mgmt exp post-production environment. [email protected] (7/9)

JOB OPENING: ASSOC MNGR, BRAND MARKETING/MUSIC CHOICE-NY: Brand development & mktg promotion for Hispanic genre. Read,write Spanish. Prjct mgmt exp nec. BA/BS 4+ yrs cnsmr mktg exp w/12-24 Hispanic demo. [email protected] (7/9)

JOB OPENING: PRODUCTION MGR-DIGITAL MEDIA/Sesame Workshop/NYC: Handle all proj budgets/financials, assist w/ prod plan’g & mng prod trafficking issues. 3+ yrs web content prod exp req’d. [email protected] (7/9)

JOB OPENING: VP DIGITAL MEDIA MKTG/NYC/Bdcstg Co: Strong marketer! series websites, ecom, wireless, social networks, iTV, etc branding exp-Film a+ 6 figures +bonus Resume: [email protected] (7/8)

JOB OPENING: SCHEDULER/ DISCOVERY/NY: Responsible for scheduling/tracking programs for network. 2-4yrs exp in scheduling, programming. No relo assistance provided. Apply: www.discovery.com ID: 8095 (7/8)

JOB OPENING: VP BUS. AFFAIRS-LEGAL/DISCOVERY/LA: Prep offers to talent, handle negotiations, drafting docs for lead/supporting talent (e.g. hosts, experts, narrators, celebrities, etc. Apply: www.discovery.com # 8052 (7/8)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL AD SALES MKTG MGR/A&E TV Nets/NY:Work with Nat’l sales teams to dev & execute sponsorships for AETN digital properties. Min.3yrs exp Online/Media Mktg. TV/Mobile exp a +.Apply: www.aetn.com/careers.html (7/8)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, CONTENT DVLPMNT/SPIN MASTER’S NEWLY LAUNCHED ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY/TORONTO: Manage the development slate. 3 yrs exp in similar role. Full job details on www.spinmaster.com Resumes to: [email protected] (7/4)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH ANALYST/ Disney*ABC Dom TV/LA: Support synd/ABC Studios. 1 yr Broad/Cable TV or research intern, BA, strong writing/analytical skills. Knowledge of Nielsen software a +. Apply www.disneycareers.com (req.168214) (7/4)

JOB OPENING: SR SALES AE, TV Dir. Resp/NY: Dvlp/target leads in mult cust segs; Work w/Operations & Client Services Teams to deliver innovative solutions. 5+ yrs exp dvlpng relations in media. Pkg/6figs. Res: [email protected] (7/4)

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] .

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Television Production facility in suburban Philadelphia. Nancy Glass Productions. 610-668-1668 or email Director of Production, Cathy Moss. email: [email protected] (7/11)

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SITUATION WANTED: Associate/Segment/Field Prod: 8 yrs exp in Film/Television/Commercials. Currently seeking challenging & rewarding position in NYC area. Resume & Graphics Portfolio available upon request. [email protected] (7/9)

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