Cynopsis: DIGITAL

06/26/08

Good morning, it’s Thursday, June 26, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

Top drawer TV talent continues to dive in headfirst to the web. Oil Press signed a deal with online production house 60Frames to create a series of web and print-based comic books beginning with Men With Guns: Assassin created by Tom Fontana (Oz, Homicide) and Ark from Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah (Freaks and Geeks, the Beverly Hills 90210 redux.) Meanwhile the trailer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Josh Wheaton’s 40 minute internet musical series Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog popped up on Vimeo . It stars Neil Patrick (Doogie Howser) Harris as the baddie.
 

 
Raycom Sports signed a three-year deal with web-based broadcasting service Jacked Inc. to integrate the Jacked SportsTop dashboard within Raycom broadcasts of NCAA ACC and SEC college football and basketball games. Jacked works with pro and college leagues to provide fans with ad supported, up-to-the-minute stats, news and features as a companion to watching live games.
 
As Gay Pride events wrap up across the country this week, MTV’s Logo launched a new site devoted to celebrating Gay Pride, sponsored by Southwest Airlines and NYC & Company. The centerpiece of the site is The Pride Guide, featuring sponsored videos, guides to local events, photo albums and Pride-themed Logo programming. 
 
CNBC.com and CNBC Mobile introduced a new service providing real-time quotes for stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange. NASDAQ quotes became available on both platforms earlier this month.
 
Music Choice launched its first pro-social campaign with Time Warner New York City to drive voter registration and issue awareness. “Live Your Vote” PSAs featuring artists such s Alicia Keys, 50 Cent and Ashlee Simpson will air across a dozen networks driving viewers to rockthevote.com. Messaging will also be embedded in music videos, playlists and original content on Music Choice’s on demand and broadband service.
 
Travel Channel Media announced the beta launch of Travel Channel GO, a free mobile travel application providing access to Travel Channel-exclusive destination content through any web-enabled mobile device. Travel Channel GO (downloadable at go.travelchannel.com/travel) offers a variety of goodies including thousands of destination guides, maps, directions and proximity alerts.

 
Next New Networks announced additional distribution deals with Yahoo, Hulu and Metacafe. Both Yahoo and Metacafe will offer access to NNN’s entire line up of web programming while Hulu will begin with 6 shows including BarelyPolitical, (starring Obama Girl) DIY fashion show Threadbanger and daily car vlog Fast Lane Daily. Check out TubeMogul’s latest top 40 video provider list, which measures views of syndicated online video productions across top video sharing sites. Next New Networks tops the list! 
 
Live audio talk show site BlogTalkRadio closed on a $4.6 million series A financing round led by Scott Sipprelle and The Kraft Group (owners of the New England Patriots.) The company disclosed some impressive usage numbers to go along with the news. BlogTalkRadio, whose guest star list a veritable who’s who of names, has broadcast close to 100,000 shows since launching in the fall of 2006 and now averages more than 3 million unique users/month.
 

 
If any city needs this it’s LA. NBC4 in Burbank partnered with 3rd Dimension to launch a new Traffic Cam service for mobile phone users, providing live feeds of trouble spots from a network of over 270 roadside cameras in LA and San Bernardino County. To download the application, commuters can enter their mobile number by clicking on the NBC Los Angeles Traffic Cam link at KNBC.com or by calling 1-877-NBC-LA04 (1-877-622-5204). A text message is then sent to the user who can follow a link to download and install the application.
 
Vizio, known for its lower-priced HD flat panel televisions, has introduced three new higher performance sets. The XVT Series LCDs feature 1080p resolution, an upgraded 120Hz refresh rate (to reduce motion blur), better video processing and 5.1 virtual surround sound upgradeable to wireless 5.1. The 42″ model is expected to ship in July at a price of $1,499.99 and the 47″ will sell for $1,899.99. Vizio also announced a 1080p 50″ plasma model (with an estimated price of $1,699.99) claiming a contrast ratio of up to 30,000:1, which should produce brighter whites and deeper dark colors.
 

 
Virgin Mobile USA plans to acquire SK Telecom’s Helio phone service and fold it into the pay-as-you-go Virgin Mobile USA brand, according to the Financial Times. That’s good news for Helio’s 200,000 some odd users as rumors have been swirling that the socially-oriented MVNO was about to pack it in. 
 
Yahoo revealed more reasons why it thinks its search outsourcing deal with Google far outweighs a similar proposal from Microsoft in an open letter to shareholders. By succeeding search operations to Google, Yahoo says it will be better able to concentrate on display and convergence advertising (combining display with search functionality.) Microsoft’s latest offer was to acquire Yahoo’s search business in exchange for $1 billion and a share of future ad revenue. But it turns out Yahoo would have had to give Microsoft veto rights on certain future actions, including an outright sale of the company. Shareholders get to decide if they agree with the board’s decision in a proxy vote on August 1.
 

 
As part of its VivaKi initiative (see below) Publicis announced it will create a buying tool compatible with Google’s DoubleClick, Yahoo’s Right Media Exchange, AOL’s Platform-A and Microsoft’s systems to help clients buy individual slices of audiences without having to go to each portal separately. The VivaKi Nerve Center, to be led by Curt Hecht, will be built on an open source platform. 
 
Quattro Wireless signed deals to add a variety of entertainment sites to its mobile ad network. The sites include Cracked.com, Savvy.com, CBS’ TheInsider.com, Comcast’s Fandango.com, Hollywood.com, JoBlo.com and MovieWeb.com.
 

 
NBC signed on to become the first broadcast network to release its show-specific demographic data for the shows it streams online measured through Nielsen Online’s VideoCensus, beginning in July. So far broadcast networks have kept this data close to the vest. While the industry assumes online viewing tends to skew younger, it will be interesting to see the hard data on individual shows.
 
The BBC’s high profile video streaming efforts have helped make online video viewing as common as taking afternoon tea in the UK, according to comScore’s latest Video Metrix report from across the pond. More than 80% of the UK users viewed video in March, watching a combined 172 million hours. BBC sites were second only to Google’s, of course. YouTube UK’s 20.5 million uniques watched nearly 1.7 billion videos (That’s an average of 47.3 videos/user.)
 
Top U.K. Online Video Properties Ranked by Total Unique Viewers – March 2008
Property               Total Uniques (000)    Ave. Videos Per Viewer
Total Internet                 27,406                127.7
Google Sites                   20,727                 81.1
BBC Sites                         6,318                  6.7
Fox Interactive Media        5,450                  5.5
Microsoft Sites                  4,821                  5.2
Yahoo! Sites                     3,720                  5.4
Viacom Digital                  2,272                  6.0
DailyMotion.com               1,773                  8.8
Disney Online                   1,603                  8.7
FACEBOOK.COM               1,560                  3.3
Metacafe                          1,556                  8.4
Source: comScore Video Metrix Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks. Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video.

 
Publicis Groupe announced a major new reorganization geared toward digital media. The new “ViviaKi” initiative is designed to take advantage of the combined operational scale of Digitas, Starcom MediaVest, Denuo and ZenithOptimedia to develop new digital services, tools, and new partnerships. David Kenny, CEO of Digitas will co-manage ViviaKi with Publicis veteran Jack Klues. Laura Lang was promoted to CEO of Digitas, replacing David Kenny. Laura Desmond, Steve King and Rishad Tobaccowala will continue to run Starcom MediaVest, ZenithOptimedia and Denuo, respectively.
 
Dailymotion made a trio of moves in sales, programming and partnership management. Tim Smith, former lead business partner for digital marketing and strategy at Google, was hired as VP/Sales. Colin Parks-Fried, formerly with SpiralFrog and Sony Music, joins as Partnership Manager. Aimee Carlson, former talent and development executive at VH1, was also upped to Creative Director.
 
Tom Gorman, at-large director and 2007 SCTE board president, will serve a second term as Chairman of the SCTE Board of Directors.
 
WFUV (90.7 FM, wfuv.org) today announced the appointment of Jeff Kuprycz as Technical Director for The Alternate Side, the noncommercial station’s forthcoming HD Radio music channel and web stream.
 

 
At first glance the new TidalTV portal looks an awful lot like a cable barker channel. (Coincidentally, TV Guide is one of programming providers.) It turns out this is exactly what co-founder and chairman Scott Ferber is going for. The Advertising.com founder set out to create a more passive, TV-like video experience for web users in the 25-54 demo who may not be the web savviest. The interface provides programmed, linear channels from mostly cable and print publishing brands that are grouped in vertical clusters including news, sports, lifestyle and entertainment. Users can also search for on demand programming, but the emphasis is definitely on a more lean back experience. The initial interface is a little clunky. For instance it takes 3 clicks to pull up a small video player to leave on in the background of your desktop (click on “controls,” then “options,” then finally “mini player.”)  But Scott promises that TidalTV is already working on tweaks to the interface, including additional customization features. And so far the site seems to be resonating with its target demo. He says early usage patterns reveal that 76% of the audience falls into the 25-54 year old range.

Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
06.26.08

Cynopsis Digital Ad Sales:
Jason Cesare – 732-718-0629 / [email protected]
Classifieds – Trish Pihonak- 203-926-9878 / [email protected]

Cynopsis website – Video Resumes, Extended Classified Ads, Archives, and the Cynopsis Daily Video

CableU – Know Networks Better. Pitch Smarter. Click here

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CYNOPSIS MEDIA: TOP TIER

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

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, PROGRAMMING/Sony Pictures/CA: Drive strategic planning of SPTI’s digital & mobile biz. 5-7 yrs in mobile/digital media; tv prod/acquisition exp preferred. Apply: www.sonypicturesjobs.com ID: 10002 (7/3)

JOB OPENING: PROJECT COORD/Discovery/MD: Assist Marketing Mgrs in developing and executing marketing campaigns. 1-3 yrs mark/adv exp. Bachelor degree required. No relo assistance available. www.discovery.com Req#8014 (7/2)

JOB OPENING: SUPERVISING PRODUCER/Nickelodeon/NYC: 10+ yrs exp. producing on-air promos for a network; Exp. in multi modes of production: clip, design & live action; Solid mgt. exp. a must. EOE/M/F/D/AAP apply www.mtvcareers.com (7/2)

JOB OPENING: PROD SUPR/WE tv/NYC: Resp for all original prod contractual deliverables & scheduling. 2+ yrs in TV prod & ops. Exp w/contracts, budgets & tv tech a must.resumes to www.cablevision.jobs ref#6465BR (7/2)

JOB OPENING: PRODUCTION COORDINATOR/HISTORY/A&E Television Networks/NY, NY: Producer support, rights and clearances and general administrative support. Approx. start date: 7/28/08Apply [email protected] (7/2)

JOB OPENING: POST-PROD COORD/HISTORY/A&ETV Networks/NY:Support activity in mult FCP rooms.Will incl: digitizing, duplication, posting digital files, proj clean-up. Approx start date:7/28/08Apply [email protected] (7/2)

JOB OPENING: PRODUCER /HISTORY/A&ETV Networks/Stamford, CT:Seeking exp’d producers w/ both long form prgrmng & promo experience. Strong background in graphics production. Apply [email protected] (7/2)

JOB OPENING: VP, RSRCH & MKTG/The Hotel Networks/NY: Media rsrch & ad sales mktg pro. Proven track record. Super bright self-starter. Exc verbal/written comm skills, 8+yrs exp Cbl , OOH, VOD, Interactive. [email protected] (7/2)

JOB OPENING: ACCT EXEC/AETN/LA: Sell ad time to assigned linear & digital agencies. Inc sales to clients & dev new clients. Heavy client contact. 2+yrs sales exp w/min 2 yrs selling digital req’d. Apply: www.aetn.com/careers.html (7/2)

JOB OPENING: SR MGR,VIDEO PROGRAMMING/MUSIC CHOICE/NY: Oversee dvlpmnt & daily prgrmg of Interactive Video Channel. Implmnt prgrmg strategy. Multi format/Selector/Proj mgmt exp. BA 6-8 yrs music video prgrmg. [email protected] (7/2)

JOB OPENING: TV STATION TRAFFIC MGR/KUTV CBS Affiliate/Salt Lake City: Wide Orbit experience preferred, multi-tasker, manage all traffic functions, detail a must, resume to [email protected] (7/1)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH ANALYST/National CineMedia-NY: Media research & sales support. MRI, Scarborough. Fast, deadline-driven. Strong analytic, computer skills. Bach deg, 1-2 yrs exp. Include salary req. [email protected] (7/1)

JOB OPENING: MGR RESRCH/Vh1 Digital-MTVN: Analyze internal/competitive trends. 4-6 yrs rel media resch exp. BA. Knwl web track (Omniture), syndic resch (comScore, NetRating). MS Excel/PPT/Word. EOE/M/F/D. Apply  www.mtvncareers.com (7/1)

JOB OPENING: VP AFFILIATE MARKETING/ESPN/Bristol CT: Develop marketing and promotional strategies to favorably drive distribution goals. Send resume to [email protected] (6/28)

JOB OPENING: VP-HR/OWN LLC.(Oprah Winfrey Network)/LA: Oversee HR for 160 emp. startup. Counsel/partner with Sr. Mgmt in the creation of people strategies to support org. objectives. www.discovery.com Job#8087 (6/28)

JOB OPENING: ASSOC DIR OF DEVELOPMENT/TV documentary production/Chicago: Superior writing, rsrch & interpersonal skills. BA, creativity & relevant exp. Resumes with “Associate Dir” in subject line to [email protected] (6/28)

JOB OPENING: DIR OF DEVELOPMENT/TV documentary production/Chicago: Seasoned writer, producer & researcher. Extensive industry knwldg, creativity, interpersonal skills & leadership a must. Resumes: [email protected] (6/28)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL ACCT EXEC/Discovery/New York: Sell national interactive advertising across Discovery’s assets- online/broadband, VOD, mobile. 2+ yrs digital sales exp required. Apply: www.discovery.com , Req#7213 (6/28)

JOB OPENING: TRAINING DIR, AD SLS/Fox/NY: Work with P&P, Research, Sales Mgmt & Sales Coordination to meet best practices & system needs. BA/BS, 5+ yrs exp in sales support or P&P. www.foxcareers.com. (FNG12399) (6/28)

JOB OPENING: SHOW RUNNER, AP, PA/ATLAS MEDIA: Medical mystery series Show-Runner (strg managerial/editorial skills, excellent writing) Prod, AP’s, PA’s for a variety of shows (Medical, Clip Show) APPLY: [email protected] (6/28)

JOB OPENING: ACCT MGR/On the Scene Prods/LA/NY/CHI: Highly motivated; solid contacts/relationships PR, dig media &/or ent ind. Proven track record-exceeding rev goals w/client-centric focus. Fast-paced envir. Res: [email protected] (6/28)

JOB OPENING: SVP VIDEO & INTERACTIVE ADV/E-commerce CABLEVISION/NY: Drive growth by leading prod. management & dev.process from concept to launch.Need 10+ yrs.in high-profile / high-scale projs. Res: [email protected] (6/27)

JOB OPENING: EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/Scripps/Knoxville TN: Manages all aspect of original commissioned productions/writing, casting, acquisition and post-production/4+ yrs exp/Apply: www.scrippsnetworks.com (6/27)

JOB OPENING: ASST TV BUYERS (2) & ASST MEDIA PLANNERS (2)/NYC: Established media services company. Recent college grads pref’d. F/T & benefits. Resumes to: [email protected] (6/27)

JOB OPENING: PROD. TECHNICIAN/Cablevision/Fishkill, NY: Min. 2 yrs exp in TV prod. Shoot/edit video for commercials/promos. Must know AVID/ Final Cut Pro. See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req id 6339BR (6/27)

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] .

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

SITUATION WANTED: PROMO, MKTG, TV prof, 15 yrs exp. looking to work remotely for nat’l agency/TV/mktg co. Strategic, strong client exp. Great for companies seeking presence in SE [email protected] (7/3)

SITUATION WANTED: Experienced Music Production Team, specializing in Children’s Media, looking for freelance work. Song writing, Music for video, sound FX, VO etc. Visit www.32central.com or Contact Dan at [email protected] (7/2)

SITUATION WANTED: Hard-working, detail-oriented grad seeking production position in NYC. Experienced in all phases of studio production. Contact at 781-789-6830 or [email protected] (7/1)

E-mail [email protected] for rates and specs for Job Openings.

Interested in posting your Video Resume? Contact [email protected] for more information ….

Are you looking for a job? Post your Situation Wanted Ad here — Email [email protected] for specs.

Cynopsis Media LLC
One Corporate Drive, Suite 724
Shelton, CT 06484
203.926.9878