A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM WE tv
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Cynopsis: DIGITAL
03/12/09
Good morning, it’s Thursday, March 12, 2009, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.
Google announced it will finally begin offering behavioral ad targeting, a move that has been expected ever since the company acquired DoubleClick for $3.1 billion nearly two years ago. A beta test of new “interest-based” ads launched yesterday on partner sites and on YouTube, associating categories of interest such as sports, gardening, cars, pets with users’ browsers, based on the types of sites they visit and the pages they view. The interest categories will then be cross-referenced to serve relevant text and display ads. The company is walking a tightrope here to try and avoid the fate of behavioral ad firms like NebuAd, which attracted the ire of privacy advocates and the FTC alike. (The FTC’s issued a report last month outlining self-regulatory principles for online advertisers.) Google is clearly trying to offer users a modicum of control; for instance, the Ad Preferences Manager allows users to check themselves to see how Google is categorizing their interests.
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Comedy Central‘s digital properties benefitted greatly this week from Jon Stewart’s 8+ minute rant again CNBC after network reporter Rick Santelli “bailed out” on his scheduled appearance on The Daily Show. (Jon took issue with some of Jim Cramer’s infamous stock misses, among other things.) Traffic to TheDailyShow.com had its best week ever with a 65% spike in weekly uniques, total video streams for comedy central video were 18% higher than average and embedded video views increased more than 3 times from the first week of March.
MSNBC.com has turned to Transpera to add video to its mobile site including on demand clips from Today, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Meet the Press, Dateline, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and The Rachel Maddow Show.
Movie trailers continue to drive huge web traffic. The new trailer for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, featured on Heroes on Monday night, had more than 1.8 million downloads during its first 24 hours as an exclusive on Apple.com. It has gone on to be the most popular HD download ever on the site with more than five million downloads in its first five days.
Facebook began rolling out its new look yesterday including improved enhanced navigation, improved filtering and, most notably, Twitter-busting real-time updates. The new design also includes a renewed emphasis on sharing media and links with friends – the “What are you doing now?” query on the homepage has been replaced with Facebook’s “Publisher” interface enabling users to share status updates, photos and links, as well as content from their Facebook apps.
Content delivery network Contendo has raised $7 million in its second round of funding courtesy of Sequoia Capital and Benchmark Capital. Rather than focus on video delivery, the San Carlos, CA-based company is targeting mid-size publishers with a content suite designed to enhance performance to save money on server costs. For instance, its CDN Balancer product manages flow between CDNs such as Akamai or Limelight and a publisher’s own servers to help clients save on bandwidth costs during non-peak times.
Online video management and advertising start-up Auditude has raised an additional $10.5 million in funding led by Redpoint Ventures with existing investor Greylock Partners. Auditude’s platform, used by clients such as MTV Networks, Warner Bros. Entertainment and MySpace, combines a content fingerprinting technique with a targeted ad-management platform, allowing content owners to monetize inventory when its video is uploaded on UGC sites. Auditude claims its video index covers more than 1.3 billion minutes of videos.
Psst – keep this under your hat. San Francisco-based tween social gaming start-up SuperSecret has secured $10 million in Series A funding led by Opus Capital. The company is set to launch its flagship virtual site in the coming weeks, aimed at kids who are too old for Club Penguin but too young for the violence of World of Warcraft.
Koldcast.TV is launched another comedy series from Tom Konkle and David Beeler – creators of science show send-up Invention. The 12-episode Safety Geeks:SVI, starring Tom, David and longtime collaborator Brittney Powell as “accident inspectors,” takes advantage of an ambitious selection of visual effects for a web series. It will be streamed to full effect exclusively in HD on the Koldcast.TV portal beginning in April.
It seems that online ad revenue is finally following online eyeballs. CBS Corp. said it expects a 30% increase in revenue from online advertising for March Madness On Demand this year, per Bloomberg. Online ad revenue will be about $30 million, up from $23 million a year ago, as internet ad inventory is almost sold out according to Jason Kint, SVP/GM for CBSSports.com. GM, AT&T and Coca-Cola are among the sponsors.
Bravo signed a multiplatform sponsorship deal with Maybelline New York providing brand exposure through exclusive in-show product integrations as well as on-air and online sponsorships. Maybelline New York and Garnier Fructis will have a presence on BravoTV.com in weekly webisodes; sponsor online video providing custom fashion, beauty and hair tips for the site; and present the “Make Me A Supermodel” Fantasy Game.
BBC.com, the BBC’s international website outside of the UK run by its commercial arm BBC Worldwide, announced it will be enabling advertising on its international mobile site for the first time.
At least one of eBay‘s big acquisitions is making money. At its annual investors conference the online auction house says its PayPal online payment business continues to grow at an impressive clip and that the division will eventually become bigger than its core auction product. PayPal currently handles about 5% of online payments globally, and its share will more than double by 2011 according to eBay.
Looking to attract more developers to the Windows Marketplace for Mobile app storefront launched last month, Microsoft unveiled a new program to help streamline the process of submitting applications that run on Windows Mobile phones. Microsoft is offering developers in 29 countries a 70/30 split of the revenue – the same as Apple – and says that creators can set the price for their apps.
AOL announced its second major round of layoffs this week amid the weakening online ad market. The Time Warner division will cut another 10% of its workforce by the end of the month, including 700 domestic jobs.
Online gaming via consoles and portable devices is growing fast accounting for 25% of all videogame activity so far this year – up from 19% in 2008, according to the NPD Group. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 enjoys a 50% market share of online console games, followed by Nintendo’s Wii with 29%. Teens ages 13 to 17 are the fastest growing online gaming demo, increasing from 17% of the market in 2008 to 22% in 2009. The percentage of adult online gamers has slipped year-to-year across several systems.
Mobile TV is poised for continued growth in the U.S. but cost remains a central concern to users, according to the results a survey from research firm MarketTools on behalf of Toronto-based mobile TV and video solution provider QuickPlay Media. The survey found that while slightly less than a quarter of consumers are using a multimedia-enabled phone (24%), these devices will play a critical role in enticing consumers to watch TV and video on their mobile phone. Other findings include:
- 55% of respondents stated they are interested in mobile TV and video
- 46% are aware that their carrier offers a mobile TV and/or video service, up from 35% in 2008
- 38% said that if they were considering swapping carriers, their ability to offer the latest multimedia- enabled PDA/smart phone would impact their decision
- 41% stated that they would be more likely to watch TV and videos on their phone if they owned a multimedia-enabled PDA/smart phone
Apple introduced a new version of its iPod Shuffle music player that is half the size of the previous model – it’s about the size of a thumbdrive – and holds twice as many songs. To make up for the lack of a display screen, a new feature called VoiceOver can, at the push of a button, speak the song and artist name. The tiny MP3 player features a 4GB hard drive and will retail for $79.
CBS Interactive’s TheInsider.com launched Celebrity Agent, a social fantasy game app on Facebook allowing fans to play the role of a celebrity agent by managing and recruiting celebrities. Invite friends to play along so you can chat or steal their talent.
Video entertainment site Metacafe launched a cool mashing app powered by Kaltura – The Last House on the Left Horror Remixer. It features video clips, audio tracks and special effects that enable Metacafe viewers to create their own trailer for the Rogue Pictures’ redux of the Wes Craven horror classic.
ION Media Networks announced the creation of an integrated distribution organization to manage the company’s relationships with multichannel operators, broadcast affiliates, and industry policy leaders. The Distribution Relations team will be overseen by John Lawson, EVP/ION Media Networks, who also has been nominated to represent ION on the boards of the NAB and Maximum Service Television. Steve Friedman, ION Media Network’s current President of Network Distribution, will depart ION to pursue personal business ventures, but will remain senior advisor on strategic multichannel distribution matters.
Oxygen Media named former MTV publicist Jessica Nicolas as Director of Corporate and Digital Communications. She reports to Julie Rothman, VP/Communications in New York.
Disney hopes to capitalize on the digital media boom with a new site that offers content and collectibles for all ages. Positioned as a kind of online fan club, D23, will offer a full range of entertainment content to deliver on the “ultimate Disney Fan Experience,” including news, interviews with creators and theme park executives, interactive exhibitions, celebrity appearances and advance screenings of Disney films. Much of the exclusive content, such as access to the Walt Disney Archives or the online merchandise outlet Boutique 23, is available only to D23 members who pay an annual $75 subscription fee. To promote D23 (named after 1923, the year Walt Disney founded the company,) Disney will host a D23 Expo September 10-13 at the Anaheim Convention Center. D23 is also the name of new quarterly glossy publication chock full of articles and interviews about the Disney empire. The site is beautifully designed and die hard fans of the “Mouse House” won’t hesitate to fork over $75 for a deeper connection to the cult that Walt built. But most online consumers – accustomed to finding online content for free – may hesitate to fork over a hefty fee for what is ostensibly a marketing vehicle. (This includes parents who already pay $58/year for each of their kids to access Club Penguin.)
Housekeeping Note: As we have in 2000, 2005 and 2007, once again we are conducting a survey to get your feedback on the Cynopsis editions and how we might make them better and more relevant for you. Please take a few minutes to click on this link and fill out the survey – your comments are greatly appreciated!
Later — Wayne
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
03.12.09
Cynopsis Digital Ad Sales:
Chuck Bolkcom – 646-468-6180 / [email protected]
Mark Bohn- 203-583-1224 / mark@cynopsis. com
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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CTAM
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Cyn opsis CLASSIFIEDS – For More classifieds, visit the Cynopsis.com classifieds page here .
JOB OPENING: SR. COUNSEL, BUSINESS & LEGAL AFFAIRS/NY: Negotiate production, programming & talent agreements for AMC NETWORK. L.A. Contacts, JD & 8+ yrs ent law experience required / M&A exp a +. [email protected] (3/19)
JOB OPENING: OFFICE MGR/MGM AD SALES/NY: Mng all aspects of A/R including prep of wkly & monthly accounting reports. Provide sales & admin support to dept. Back up Sales Plan & Traffic Mgrs. Apply www.MGM.jobs #6440 (3/19)
JOB OPENING: TRAFFIC MGR/MGM AD SALES/NY: Resp for proper plcemnt of commercials & copy assgnmnt. Mng prod & reconcil of logs. Liaise betw Ad Agncies, Sls, Mktg & Prog depts to gather fitting copy materials. Apply www.MGM.jobs #6441 (3/19)
JOB OPENING: DEV EXEC/VA: Join team to create and pitch new TV programs, esp character-based. Must have exp in developing factual programs and knowledge of US cable net slates and players. Apply: [email protected] (3/17)
JOB OPENING: VP MARKETING/The Sportsman Channel/Milwaukee WI: Resp for building consumer awareness while overseeing affiliate marketing, media planning & promotions. 7+ yrs exp in TV or digital media. Apply: [email protected] (3/14)
JOB OPENING: ReelzChannel/NYC/ SR TRAFFIC COORDINATOR: Daily log maintenance, prep & delivery 3+ yrs exp. TRAFFIC COORDINATOR: Ensures scheduling commercial materials are executed & trafficked. Both Apply: [email protected] (3/14)
JOB OPENING: PUBLICIST/SR PUBLICIST/MTV/NYC: 3+yrs exp. in TV PR including pitching/story placemnt, events, knwlg online press; Progrming focused; Strng writ/oral comm. skills, EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvncareers.com (3/13)
JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/FISHKILL NY: Seeks AE for local ad sales.1-3 yrs ad sales exp. pref cable tv, radio, e-media adv. Valid NY DL. See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req 8247BR (3/13)
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] .
SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: MARKETING/Urtak.com: user-generated public opinion site. Resp: Prdct dev, mkt expansion, corp svcs, for innovative startup. Work remotely, w/ few meetings in NYC. ~35hrs/wk. Send cv & CL to [email protected] (3/19)
SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: PROGRAMMER/Urtak.com: user-generated public opinion site. Resp: prgrm’ing & user interface design for innovative startup. RubyOnRails exp. Work remotely, w/ few NYC meetings. ~35hr/wk. Send cv&CL to [email protected] (3/19)
SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Doc production co. seeks exp’d, orgnzd & energetic JRS/SRS. Driven to gain exp in fast-paced envir. Pls specify “dvlpmnt” or “prod” in app. Resp. incl office, shoot, & post-prod & dvlpmnt asst. Email [email protected] (3/19)
SUMMER INTERNSHIP/CREDITS ONLY: BLOGGER /Picture Earth/NY:Writer(s) sought for EarthFromAboveUSA.com‘s blog, launching April. Relevant degree or experience required. For school credit and/or bylines.Apply: [email protected] (3/13)
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: NON-FICTION PRODUCER/WRITER (STORY & FIELD).10+yrs exp. NBC, VH1, CMT, TLC, E!, Disney, CNN, etc.; reality, ent, news, talk, developmt; LA based, will travel. [email protected] (3/18)
SITUATION WANTED: PRODUCER/ ASSOC. PRODUCER (LA) Out-of-the-box thinker, creative, award- winning, all formats, all genres. Budgets, schedules, breakdowns, crewing, casting, post and more. Over 20 yrs. exp. [email protected] (3/18)
SITUATION WANTED: Top-tier agency ACCOUNT MANAGER/SUPERVISOR seeks full-time employment in LA area. If your agency needs a professional w/ multi-platform technology, entertainment or interactive experience, e-mail [email protected] (3/18)
SITUATION WANTED: SR. MARKETING/BRAND MANAGER with home video, TV, animation and indie film experience is seeking a dynamic opportunity with a Los Angeles area studio or agency. E-Mail [email protected] for a resume (3/18)
SITUATION WANTED: Award winning COMEDY WRITER/PRODUCER in L.A. Credits: WB, UPN, TBS, MTV, Discovery etc. Check out pilot, You’re Joking, Right? at www.justjokesentertainment.com Contact email: [email protected] (3/17)
SITUATION WANTED: WRITER. I’ll gladly write/re-write what you don’t want to write! Summaries; reports; proposals, human resource materials; updates; copy; web content; synopses; and more. Contact Bernie. [email protected] (3/17)
SITUATION WANTED: BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT EXPERT/TELEVISION PRODUCER seeks consulting work, long or short term. Over 15 years experience working with brands, multi-media/faceted talent. Contact: [email protected] (3/17)
SITUATION WANTED: GROW YOUR BUS/MAKE IT THRIVE/NYC: MBA w/15yrs int’l exp: turnaround & startup mgmt, strategic partnerships, negotiating, fundraising. Proj/Consult/FT. Contact: [email protected] (3/17)
SITUATION WANTED: STORY DOCTOR: Are your scripts too weak to make it to the bay? Got a rough-cut on life support? 20+ years crafting nonfic series, specials, sizzles and web content. Contact: [email protected] (LA) (3/17)
SITUATION WANTED: WRITER: Children’s writer with exp at various prod co’s & Kids’ CBC. Portfolio in educational & comedic works for kids. Exp. in development, creative consulting, editing. Freelance. Contact [email protected] (3/14)
SITUATION WANTED: 5 PRIME TIME EMMYS/ DOC. PROD, DIR., WRITER in L.A. Credits: National Geo, PBS, Discovery, History CH, TLC and MSNBC. Contact email: [email protected] (3/13)
SITUATION WANTED: MEDIA/CABLE/INTERNET ATTORNEY: Broad in-house experience in content production& distribution, operations, affiliate & ad sales. Available for project/consultant/full-time. Contact [email protected] (3/13)
SITUATION WANTED: MARKETING/PROMOTIONS/Boston: Marketing/promotions professional seeks television, web marketing, social networking focused position. Experienced in international markets. Creative + will travel. [email protected] (3/13)
E-mail [email protected] or call Trish Pihonak at 203.926.9878 for rates and specs for Job Openings.
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