Cynopsis: DIGITAL

06/24/08

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, June 24, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.
 
After holding back on joining Hulu and largely avoiding syndication of its video content, ABC signed a deal with Veoh Networks to make full episodes of prime time shows available on Veoh.com. Offerings include Desperate Housewives, Lost and Ugly Betty along with originals from ESPN. Users who discover a show on Veoh will actually pull up the Move Networks-powered ABC player to watch the video pre-sold ads, furthering a sort of Trojan Horse strategy centering around control of the delivery platform. (ABC will pay Veoh for the traffic it drives to the site.) Disney is even considering distributing video on Hulu and YouTube in the future, according to The New York Times.
 

 
TNT signed action movie director Dean Devlin to executive produce an 80-minute Rip Van Winkle-themed crime thriller called Blank Slate that will be cut into 20 cliffhanging “microseries” episodes and distributed across multiple Turner platforms. In another DVR-busting move, the clips will air during back-to-back episodes of Law & Order beginning Sept. 8 as well as on TNT.tv. Acura is sponsoring the series. Lisa Brenner, Eric Stoltz and Clancy Brown star.
 
ESPNRadio.com is expanding its network of affiliate web sites to include the Washington D.C., Denver, Cleveland, Milwaukee and West Palm Beach markets. Each affiliate will receive ESPN.com news and information feeds, online development resources, audio, video, scoreboards, local team schedules, polls and widgets from ESPN including the newly-enhanced “Superstream” integrated media player.
 
Anime Network signed a long-term deal to distribute SVOD and Free on demand programming to cable operators using TVN Entertainment‘s VOD platform.
 

 
YouTube officially launched its personalized homepage allowing users to manage subscriptions, connect with other users and view friends’ activities. One of the coolest additions is a Featured Videos section based on videos you’ve favored in the past – an example of how Google’s algorithmic genius is helping to improve the site.
 
Online video conversation platform Seesmic secured $6 million in second round financing led by Omidyar Network and Wellington Partners, doubling its capital investment. Seesmic provides tools to allow users to communicate with each other on blogs and social networks by uploading video straight from their webcams. The start-up plans to use the funding to add mobile functionality and push to international markets.
 
Late Fragment, a groundbreaking non-linear interactive feature film based on a user interface model developed by Lars von Trier, will be released on DVD in Canada on July 8. The movie, written and directed by Daryl Cloran, Anita Doron and Mateo Guez, varies sequentially based on when and how often audiences decide to click “enter” on their remotes.
 

 
Carriers may delay the launches of handsets based on Google’s Android mobile phone operating system to late this year or early next as they struggle to develop and integrate applications for the platform, according to the WSJ. Google is also having trouble getting third party developers to whip up the kind of enthusiasm for Android they have shown in developing apps for the iPhone as the company continues to make last minute tweaks to the operating system.
 
JVC has come up with a Docking Station for families who have multiple iPods and iPhones they want to listen to and charge at home. The JVC NX-PN7 ($149.95 retail) also includes a video output allowing downloaded video content to be played on a television. 
 

 
Comcast’s online movie ticketing service Fandango.com acquired Disney’s entertainment news site Movies.com, once aligned to be the online VOD outlet for Disney feature films.
 
CNET shareholders approved CBS‘ $1.8 billion acquisition of the technology portal. The deal is expected to close during the third quarter.
 

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Google is planning to introduce a new ad buying system today designed to help media planners target specific demographics by placing ads on third party sites, according to The New York Times.
 
Bravo is cutting into consumer awareness with a multiplatform promotional campaign joining Nexxus Salon Hair Care with Season 2 of Shear Genius. Sponsorship of Bravo’s “INFO Frame” live text message voting has been underway during reruns of season one episodes, featuring polls, trivia and interactive Nexxus spots.
 

 
Viewers will be confronted with “a dozen video platforms a day” in the near future as the medium proliferates across devices and surfaces, according to a new report from Forrester Research provocatively entitled How Video Will Take Over the World. Total viewing time will increase from 4 to 5 hours a day by 2013, a majority of it viewed on demand:
 
OmniVideo Viewing Across Platforms, 2008-2013
Video Metric                                 Drivers                                         2008          2013
% viewed on demand            Cable, telco TV/VOD, online video, DVR        20%           45%
% delivered via IP                Online video, IPTV, over-the-top TV            10%           35%
% viewed via mobile device   Phones, personal/dockable media players        8%           15%
% personal video consumed  Cell phone/digital cameras, social net sites      2%           10%
Source: Forrester Research
    
Global entertainment and media revenues will grow at an average rate of 6.6% to reach $2.2 trillion in 2012, according to the latest PwC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook report. Broadband penetration is expected to double to 661 million global households by 2012. While digital distribution of music is projected to surpass physical distribution by 2011, traditional businesses are expected to continue dominating other areas for the foreseeable feature. For instance, digital and mobile revenues will account for just 11% of total E&M spending in 2012, or $234 billion of the $2.2 trillion global market.
 
Viewers to Sony TV and internet properties account for $346 billion in spending power for consumer packaged goods, according to NielsenConnect‘s first consumer behavior study based on combined research from Nielsen’s Homescan panel, national People Meter numbers and Nielsen Online’s NetView panel. 
 

 
TV ad sales solution provider Invision has hired Michael Stoeckel as VP/Digital Products. He will work to adapt the company’s DealMaker tool as a cross-platform system. Michael had been VP/Advertising Innovations & Operations for News Corp’s Fox Interactive Media since 2005.
 

 
That’s inconceivable! Worldwide Biggies is finally ready with The Princess Bride Game, a narrative adventure game created to promote the 20th anniversary of the Rob Reiner classic. (O.K., so it’s only a week late.) At $20 it’s a bit steep but for fans of the cult movie I’m sure it’s worth it. Users choose their favorite characters to play and are given separate tasks to complete in five different games. They must collect inventory along the way necessary to storm the castle, defeat the evil Prince Humperdinck and win the game. Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn and Robin Wright Penn have lent their voices to over 10 minutes of DVD-quality animation powered by Vimeo. It will be interesting to see if the game catches on virally. Worldwide Biggies, founded by former Viacom executive Albie Hecht, has been whipping up support for the release on MySpace, Facebook, Virb, Ning, StumbleUpon and Vimeo with trailer for months. If it does hit we could see more such ambitious casual games tied to entertainment properties come down pike.

Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
06.24.08

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