A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM SCRIPPS NETWORKS

Cynopsis: DIGITAL

06/19/08

Good morning, it’s Thursday, June 19, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.
 
Perhaps Microsoft really is over the Yahoo acquisition. Microsoft acquired ad targeting start-up Navic Networks for an undisclosed amount, with an eye toward extending its internet ad platform to television. Navic works with cable companies to provide targeted, addressable ads to about 35 million digital set-tops in North America via its nascent Admira ad network. Combining online, mobile, game console and set-top box-based ad networks would allow Microsoft to place trackable ads across multiple platforms, presumably simplifying things greatly for ad agencies. The heavy lifting involved in integrating interactive campaigns across platforms is often named as the biggest fly in the ointment for the growth of digital brand marketing. Microsoft has been pursuing a television ad strategy since Google announced its EchoStar-integrated Google TV Ads partnership last year.
 

 
Scripps Networks announced a syndication deal with AOL Video to distribute clips of programs from HGTV, Food Network, DIY and Find Living on AOL sites including Food, Home and Slashfood. The deal includes an ad revenue sharing agreement.
 
Mobile entertainment provider Viva Vision announced a strategic partnership with the Sports Illustrated Group to license its proprietary slide show application to produce a SI Swimsuit slideshow for mobile handsets.
 
To drum up hype for the long awaited Spore game this September, Electronic Arts made a free trial version of the Spore Creature Creator available online this week. About a quarter of the creature-making tools that will be released with the full version are available, but anything you make can be imported into the Spore universe.
 
EA also launched Sims Carnival in beta this week, a casual game portal/incubator with social functions and easy to use creation tools.
 

 
Business oriented LinkedIn, the social networking site for grown-ups, raised a whopping $53 million in capital led by Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures and plans to use the funding to expand to overseas markets. The funding round, added to its previously raised $27 million, valuates the company at a cool $1 billion. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn claims to already be profitable. It is also one of the fastest growing sites of its kind; LinkedIn’ s uniques have tripled in the last year to 23 million members, according to Nielsen Online.
 
Ego TV signed a deal to distribute its shows via Clearspring video widgets, beginning with web drama Malibu U., Ego TV’s new series following sorority girls’ lives in trendy Malibu, CA.  Ego TV’s Dream Jobs with Tom Arnold and Anatomy of a Rock Star – Doc McGhee will also be featured.
 
Veoh has imported a series of shorts from Japan featuring the loveable Domo character, a toothy cave dweller who first surfaced as a mascot for NHK in the late 90’s. Veoh will premiere 20 Domo shorts over the next 5 weeks, ending with a “Best of Domo” reel showcasing viewer’s favorites. Domo will also be a featured celebrity host on Veoh.com where he introduces his favorite picks of the Week for different genres of video.
 
Wazoo Sports, which broadcasts high school sporting events on the internet, has received a $2.0 million in equity funding from Meritus Ventures, L.P., a Kentucky based venture capital fund.  The Wazoo network, which broadcast 88 high school basketball games live on the web during this school year, plans to use the new investment to “aggressively expand” its efforts to include various national high school sports opportunities.
 

 
Verizon plans to offer Visual Voicemail (a popular feature on the iPhone revealing a picture of the caller) on a selection of handsets later this summer, including the much-anticipated touchscreen BlackBerry Thunder. 
 
Verizon also announced plans to upgrade its Fios broadband service to accommodate video-happy customers’ need for speed. Rates of 50Mbps down/20Mbps up for $140/month and 20Mbps down/20Mbps up for $65/month will be available across its 16 state footprint beginning next week. Comcast launched its 50Mbp down/5 Mbps up service in Minneapolis in April for $150/month but doesn’t expect to roll it out nationally until 2010.
 
San Diego-based Intercasting and AOL’s Bebo developed a new social mobile app that allows T-Mobile customers to update their profile pages on Bebo and Piczo from their phones. Every time a change is made, T-Mobile sends a text message to friends.
 

 
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the ranking Republican of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote a letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang expressing antitrust concerns about the Yahoo/Google search partnership.
 
TVN Entertainment Corp has entered into a long-term VOD services agreement with Fox Cable Networks to help enhance its own VOD offerings surrounding such core linear brands as Speed, National Geographic Channel and Big Ten Network.
 
Ericcson Group’s Tanberg Television unveiled a new content management system called MediaModeler enabling telco operators to offer online video content to television customers through a single, customized user interface.
 

 
CBS Television Stations is launching a localized ad network to provide local bloggers and social media sites with widgets containing headlines and images with links back to video and text-based stories on CBS station sites. The widgets contain up to 3 banner ads local partner sites will get a piece of. Seevast’s SyndiGO is managing the operation, called the CBS Local Ad Network. AT&T, North Texas Honda Dealers and Liberty Mutual Insurance have already signed on as sponsors.
 
A new mobile ad platform is being developed by digital Sidebar to deliver ad content using the white space that appears when customers dial a number or send and receive SMS messages. Content includes promotions which link to interactive and multimedia entertainment. Sidebar enables targeting of content to users by age, gender, interests, use patterns and day & time.
 
Panasonic has launched a podcast advertising effort, in support of the Panasonic VIERA line of HDTV’s, across a targeted selection of audio programs on the Wizzard Media Network. Each ad is being implemented through Wizzard’s dynamic ad insertion tool and certified through Nielsen Online.
 
Gorilla Nation has been selected to exclusively represent the online ad inventory for pop culture/gossip publisher Gawker Media throughout Canada.
 

 
A new analysis by tubemogul found most online video to have a short shelf life, with 25% of views occurring within the first 4 days from a video is posted. (The test viewing period was capped at 90 days.) More than half of views were made within the first 2 weeks. In other words, if that quirky video you posted on YouTube last month hasn’t gone “viral” yet, it probably ain’t going to happen. Tubemogul statistician Aaron Growitz used his research to actually develop a calculator to help determine how many views a producer can expect to have by the end of the year.
 
Top U.S. Online Video Properties* by Unique Viewers – April 2008
Property                Unique Viewers(000)   Avg. Videos per Viewer
Total Internet                134,471                81.6
Google Sites                   83,720                 49.7
Fox Interactive Media       52,046                10.7
Yahoo! Sites                    37,323                 9.4
Microsoft Sites                 29,908                 9.0
Time Warner – Excl. AOL   20,627                 6.7
Viacom Digital                  19,367                10.3
AOL LLC                           19,115                 5.0
Disney Online                   10,805                 9.1
ESPN                                 9,026                 9.2
CBS Corporation                 7,993                 7.1
Source: comScore Video Metrix
 

 
Jason Coyle, President of Digital Media for Chicago-based mobile programming firm Intersport, is leaving the company to start a new venture.

 
Since Google coughed up $1.65 billion for YouTube the site has struggled to prove it is more than just a place to watch stupid pet tricks. Last night YouTube unveiled a new feature called Screening Room, showcasing longer form shorts and features by polished independent filmmakers from around the world. (For instance Miguel Artega of Chuck and Buck fame has a trio of dialogues up there now called Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody, written by Miranda July (Me And You And Everyone We Know) and starring John C. Reilly, Mike White, Miranda and Chuy Chavez.  Creators can try to sell their clips as DVDs or digital downloads from the site or offer them for free with ads. A panel of experts will sour film festivals and work with partners such as the Sundance Channel to find worthy candidates. There are a ton of sites out there that offer online distribution for filmmakers, but none with the 82 million strong user base of YouTube. Perhaps with quality content, quality advertisers will follow.

Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
06.19.08

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