A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA

Cynopsis: DIGITAL

05/12/09

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, May 12, 2009, and this is your first early morning digital briefing. 

The M&A market is not unlike the real estate market; the credit crunch has made it a fabulous time to buy. Cash-rich, credit worthy Microsoft began selling bonds to investors for the first time, touching off speculation that it is set to hit the acquisition warpath. The company sold $3.75 million in 5-year, 10-year and 30-year bonds, also to help fund a stock repurchase program while its diminished stock price is cheap, per Bloomberg. Redmond also moved up the clock on its planned release of its new Windows 7 OS, promising that it will be ready in time for the holidays.
 

 
On the heels of the Jan. relaunch of its English-language cousin, ESPNDeportes.com goes live today with a redesign of its own. Incorporating a 16:9 HD quality video player, improved search functionality and a streamlined user interface that borrows from ESPN.com, the soccer-focused Spanish language sports portal will also adopt two of the leading web 2.0 trends to help grow its growing user base, according to Carlos Caban, senior director for ESPNdeportes.com. Personalization features will allow users to customize featured headlines around their favorite teams and players (as well toggle on and off the autoplay video long considered a no-no among advertisers.) Upcoming Perfil del Fan social functionality will also enable fans to build their own profiles that will be integrated across the site. “Hispanics spend more time online than their English-speaking counterparts and they also over-index in social media,” says Carlos.
 
ABC News’ Nightline has come up with a two-screen way to capitalize on the popularity of Twitter. Nightline is launching a new “Face Off” styled half-hour digital show on Wednesday to be streamed daily on the Nightline homepage and ABC News Now that will serve as an interactive forum for viewers to chime in on the issues. A new visual application using Pixel touchscreen technology will allow anchor Terry Moran choose tweets to respond to from the show’s popular Twitter feed, which has more than 400,000 followers. The first episode of “Nightline” will tackle the torture debate, streaming and broadcast on Wednesday, May 13th at 12:30pm EST.
 
The “experimentation” honeymoon may be over between Hulu and its parent owners. Despite benefitting by attracting new viewers, News Corp.’s FX demanded that Hulu take down entire seasons of its politically incorrect comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for fear they would eventually undercut ratings and DVD sales, per the LA Times.
 
Sports network Versus has come up with an interactive format for a new opinion show. Fanarchy, premiering June 7 at 11 pm ET but settling into a regular Tuesday night time slot, will feature webcam entries from 7 different vociferous sports fans. The UGC heads will stay on the show until they are eliminated by trash-talking newcomers.
 
Another Comcast network, G4, is ladling up its own version of E!’s Talk Soup also beginning June 7. “Web Soup, hosted by Attack of the Show tech blogger Chris Hardwick, will be the latest (in a long series of) viral video recap shows.
 

 
Online video search optimizer EveryZing received $8.25 million in third round funding from NBC Universal’s Peacock Equity arm and previous investors including Fairhaven Capital, Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners and BBN Technologies.  EveryZing has recently been selected by NBCU to deploy its universal search and publishing solutions across its internet properties. NBC will integrate EveryZing’s full solution suite – including video-to-text and semantic search capabilities – into its Media Works platform. EveryZing will power video search and automated publishing applications for several NBCU business units, starting with CNBC, NBC Digital Networks, and NBC Global Networks.
 
The Revision3 folks premiered their newest show ROFL, as in Roll on the Floor Laughing. Each 12-15 minute weekly episode, (longer than the average Revision3 show) showcases a handful of stand-up performances recorded live in RooftopComedy‘s 20 partner clubs around the world. ROFL is formatted without a traditional show host. Instead, each episode presents a highlights clip via the ROFL dashboard, providing a updated program guide and metadata for each clip.
 

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

 
Despite standardization efforts such as Canoe Ventures and a renewed push from iTV vendors, the advanced TV advertising won’t yield much growth this year, according to new research from Interpublic’s Magna. Ad mediums such as Video on Demand (VOD), requests for information (RFIs), long form showcases, DVR advertising, interactive program guide advertising, addressable advertising, creative versioning and advanced trafficking systems are challenged by “the balkanized nature of the cable and satellite industry’s advertising infrastructure,” concludes Magna, producing a chicken-and-egg quandary around limited media investment without better infrastructure and content. Because of its huge footprint and heavy usage, VOD should prove to be the most fruitful platform in the short term. (Comcast estimates 8 VOD streams per VOD subscriber per month.)
 
Advanced TV Advertising Revenue – 2006-2011
Year       total revenue (millions)
2006           $107
2007           $134
2008           $137
2009           $138
2010           $161
2011           $184
Source: MAGNA
 
ShortTail Media has teamed up with Schematic (a WPP Digital Company) and Visible Measures to develop a new additive video ad platform designed to help advertisers make use of their television commercial creative online. Dubbed the Digital 30 – or D30 – ShortTail’s platform provides a simple way for advertisers to distribute their existing 15- or 30-second spots across a selection of premier websites. The D30 Platform serves video ads as users navigate to sites from search or headline links, creating new ad inventory that does not compete or interfere with existing pre-roll video or display ads on partner websites.
 

 
Online video veteran Sorenson Media unveiled a new plug-and-play Video Delivery Network and hosting service priced for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses wishing to publish videos on the web. The “Sorenson 360” solution allows user to encode videos as Flash or H.264 using the company’s compression software, available for no extra charge. Other features include viewer-tracking, embedded tags with keywords, detailed and dynamic real-time video analytics and data-rate control. Best of all for small publishers, the service is available without a contract obligation.
 
Content delivery network start-up Cotendo launched its advanced Dynamic Site Acceleration (DSA) service for maximizing the performance of dynamic data-based sites and web applications. Cotendo is positioning itself as an interactive services provider to help publishers enhance the delivery of all content on theirs sites, including video.
 
Virgin Mobile upwardly revised earnings projections after posting better-than-expected Q1 Net income of $19.1 million, compared to net income of $4.7 million in the first quarter of 2008 (up 301%.) The company says recent offerings such as its $50 unlimited and “texter’s delight” plans resulted in the acquisition of “high quality” subscribers.
 
The Dallas Cowboys new domed stadium will sport some of the most advanced communications infrastructure offered by vendor CommScope including streaming video distribution to the stadium’s 2,800 TV monitors. CommScope is calling it the world’s largest IPTV installation.
 

 
Landlines continue to go by way of the dodo bird. More than one of every five American homes (20.2%) had only cell telephones during the second half of 2008, according to the National Health Interview Survey, an increase of 2.7 percentage points since the first half of 2008. Among households with both landline and cellular telephones, 24.4% received all or almost all calls on the cellular telephones, based on data for the period July through December 2008. These wireless-mostly households make up 14.5% of all households.
 
The cutback in travel budgets will lead to a spike in video conferencing adoption as companies look for ways to facilitate virtual meet-ups, according to a survey from In-Stat. Some 57% of decision makers said their companies already have formal video conferencing policies. Key competitors in the space include Avaya, Cisco, Hewlett Packard, LifeSize, Microsoft, Polycom, Skype and Tandberg.
 

 
Quick Play Media made its PrimeTime2Go mobile TV service available for BlackBerry Bold and Curve 8900 smartphones. The $7.99/mo. service accessible at BlackBerry’s app world features on demand access to full-length episodes from a variety of broadcast and cable networks including ABC, CBS, NBC, ABC Family, Bravo, Discovery, Disney Channel, ESPN, Sci Fi and USA. The app serves as a sort of Tivo for the mobile, enabling consumers to subscribe to TV series and have new commercial free episodes automatically downloaded to their device soon after the original air date.
 
The NBA and the cable industry may benefit from having a techy ensconced as owner as one of the league’s franchises. Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks is working with Plano, TX-based BIAP to develop a TV widget to deploy on the EBIF iTV platform in time for the 2010 NBA season. The tru2way-compatible set top widget will provide breaking news, real time scores and stats, video highlights and in game play-by-play analysis.
 
Thompson Reuters released pro level mobile news apps for both the iPhone and BlackBerry with a wealth of multimedia features, per MocoNews. The free to download apps provide access to breaking news from multiple categories and are being positioned as a way to generate both subscription and ad revenue in the future (although no subscription model is currently in place.)
 

 
Interactive out-of-home entertainment company TouchTunes Corporation has named former BMG President and COO Charles Goldstuck as its new CEO. He will oversee the distribution and monetization of TouchTunes’ interactive music, games and video entertainment content.
 
Giant Realm named former Imaginova sales executive Tom Koletas as VP/Sales. He will be based in Giant Realm’s New York headquarters and be responsible for overseeing all ad sales and marketing initiatives at the online media company. He reports directly to James Green, CEO of Giant Realm. 
 

 
The Kindle is glamorous but there’s a reason why Amazon (or its publishing partners) never disclose actual numbers regarding the device – it’s a very exclusive club. If papers are going to survive in the digital world they need to reach mass audiences. The New York Times launched a new version of its Times Reader app, this one powered by Adobe AIR instead of Microsoft Silverlight. (The new Adobe platform won out because the Times needed the experience to be seamless across computer platforms – an impossible dream for Mac and Linux users stuck using Microsoft software.) Designed to allow you to download the paper then read it later on your laptop or netbook, it supports Windows, Mac and Linux right out of the gate and features a more intuitive interface that borrows the best from both linear and digital formats. Times Reader was structured more like the website, updating stories constantly and placing single stories in multiple categories. The new Reader behaves more like its print counterpart, providing an easy to navigate, IAB-standardized pages from the day’s paper in attempt to “recreate the news reading experience” according to Rob Larson, VP/Digital Production, NYTimes.com. There’s still some web-like functionality; stories relevant to multiple sections are easily cross-referenced and when connected to the web, news feeds update the app every 5 minutes. The last 7 issues of the paper are accessible from the last time you’ve connected, along with a nicely presented library of video content. There’s even a daily Crossword puzzle contained within the application. Times Reader 2.0 is available for $15/month, and a free version is also available for download offering 4 daily section: Latest News, the Front Page, Business Day and our Most E-Mailed articles.
 
Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
05.12.09

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JOB OPENING: DIR CASTING/DISNEY ABC/LA: Identify new tal, mng mult proj from producer casting session phase thru ntwk test & tal neg phase. Degree, min 5yrs cstg & min 3yrs mng cstg projects. Visit www.disneyabcjobs.com Req 196315 (5/19)

JOB OPENING: EXEC ASSISTANT, CONTENT DEVELOPMENT/MTV/NYC: 2+yrs exp. Exec Assist, Strg org/detail skills, Superior Cust. Service, Strng comm/comp skills, Able to prioritize/Meet deadlines EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvncareers.com (5/19)

JOB OPENING: SR MANAGER, INTEGRATED MARKETING/Nickelodeon/NYC: 5+yrs mrktng/sales exp. in mrktng/ad agency in Ent/Media, Strng Acct Mgmt exp, Stng Project Mgmt/Negotiating/Time Mgmt skills EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvncareers.com (5/19)

JOB OPENING: SHOW PRODUCTION DESIGNER/QVC/WEST CHESTER PA:Conceptualizes/designs/creates overall look & feel of show.Related degree,5+ yrs design exp in b’cast environ, AutoCad. Apply: www.qvc.com/careers (5/15)

JOB OPENING: MGR ONLINE AD SALES OPS/Lifetime TV: Dvlp, evaluate & approve deals to max profit generated by online inv. Demonstrated exp online media ind. BS req’d. Strong MS Excel & analytical skills. 
www.mylifetime.com/about-us/lifetime-networks-internship-program (5/14)

JOB OPENING: NEW MEDIA ASSET COORD/Hallmark Channel/Studio City: Support New Media assets thru online &offline tools. Exp. working w/photo images. Must have Photoshop/CS2/Bridge. See full posting & apply @ www.hallmarkchannel.com (5/14)

JOB OPENING: AE /BBC/LA: Motion Gallery, stock footage & clips. Grow biz w/advrtsng & corp clients who req moving imagery for commercials & corp videos. Biz dev cold calls, acct mngmnt. 2+yrs exp Res: www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp (5/14)

JOB OPENING: AD SALES PLAN’R/BBC/NY: sell ad space on BBC.com. Biz dev, lead gen, strong org & rsrch skills, dev spprt mat’ ls, prep sales mat’l, presentations & team for pitches Res: www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp (5/14)

JOB OPENING: DIR AUD DEV/BBC/NYC: Grow BBC.com news offering in US. Drive traffic, consumer mktg, prtnrshp mngmnt, 3rd party site outreach. Analyze traffic & usage. Mng all mktg & aud dev strat. Res: www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp (5/14)

JOB OPENING: SALES DIR/BBC/NYC: Mng sls team, media licensing exp pref. 5+ yrs mngng sls team, able to coach & direct sell. Implement sales strat, mng projected sales/rev, grow biz. Res: www.bbcamerica.com/employment.jsp (5/14)

J OB OPENING: FREELANCER, AUD RSRCH/MTVNETWORKS/LA: TV rsrch analyst/mgr w/strong skills. Media Math & Nielsen/Star Media sftwr sys skills req’d. Proficiency-synd rsrch (esp. MRI) pref’d. 2+ yrs. exp. TV rsrch. [email protected] (5/14)

JOB OPENING: MGR CONSUMER ADV/A&E TV: Mng consumer directed comm in support of tune-in & branding goals for A&E, Bio & CI HD. 5+yrs mktg and/or promotions exp in tv/cable or brdcst. Please apply via www.aetn.com/careers/html (5/13)

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: PROGRAMMING DEVELOPMENT INTERN/Los Angeles: a television production company is looking for summer interns to help with several projects; be creative, organized and eager to learn. Email resume: [email protected] (5/19)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDIT ONLY:  WEB INTERN/NJ: Assist w/ video streaming of TV news on company website. Open to Comm. majors. Must know HTML, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, FrontPage, Flash. Email resume:  [email protected]  (5/16)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDIT ONLY:  TV RESEARCH/Warner Bros.TV/Burbank:  Monitor Nielsen broadcast schedules, Prog. test scores; Attend focus groups, prep questionnaires/PC/Resumes: [email protected] include “NENT/112425BR” in subject    (5/16)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDIT ONLY: MKTG INTERN/ATL: Assist w/ Consumer & Affiliate Mktg initiatives for The Weather Channel. Must have a basic understanding of Marketing; be creative & eager to learn. Please send resume to: [email protected] (5/15)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDIT ONLY:  AD TRAFFIC Intern/The Hotel Networks, NY: Commercial data entry, updating show titles, copy/logs. Majors: Media/Comm, Mktg, Adv, Bus/Fin– Analytical, PC, Detailed, Customer Service. Resumes: [email protected] (5/14)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDIT ONLY:  FLYP, a new media magazine, seeks a MARKETING & EDITORIAL intern in New York City to assist editors with all our marketing initiatives and do research for feature stories. Resume: [email protected]   (5/14)

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: LINE PRODUCER/POST SUPERVISOR/NYC: Fluent in all platform prod/biz affairs deliverables; draft budgets, schedules, crew hire & post workflow, multiple net credits, very strong w/ clients. [email protected] (5/19)

SITUATION WANTED: PASSIONATE WELL-ROUNDED MKTG PRO seeking an opportunity to grow audience and revenue for the right company. Exp in agency, entertainment brands & general entertainment. E-mail [email protected] for a resume (5/19)

SITUATION WANTED:  WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER  Exceptional and fast writer, client friendly, EPK’s and DVD bonus features, internet pods, video games for Disney, Universal, New Line etc. In LA. Contact Lisa at [email protected]   (5/15)

SITUATION WANTED: MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT 10+ years film/TV experience, extensive production/post production contacts. [email protected]  (5/15)

SITUATION WANTED: RESEARCH DIRECTOR 20+ yrs Media, Nielsen, Hispanic, & Sales experience. National and Local. Email: [email protected] (5/15)

SITUATION WANTED: SHOOTER/EDITOR (LA): HDV and ENG cameras. 2 years News Photog experience. Own Final Cut Pro Suite. Also versed in Avid. Self starter, work on own batteries. [email protected] (5/13)

SITUATION WANTED: REALITY PRODUCER/WRITER/DIR : NBC, TLC, CMT, CNN, E!, Discovery, pilots, sales tapes, internet; I’ll write your reality show treatment and develop your ideas. LA Based; travels well; [email protected] (5/13)

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] (5/13)

SITUATION WANTED: 8+ years experience in TVB-cast & Cable Buying & Supervising (General, DR, and PP). Also, some experience in print, radio, and online.Will move for the right opportunity. [email protected] (5/13)

SITUATION WANTED: TONY NOM. B’WAY PROD/THEATRE CONSULT/ACQUIS. & DEV./NYC 30+ yrs exp. in theatre. Superb theatre/film/TV contacts seeks FT or Consulting Position w/Studio/Prod Co. looking for properties. Contact: [email protected] (5/13)

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