Cynopsis: DIGITAL
10/28/08
Good morning, it’s Tuesday, October 28, 2008, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.
After fellow cable operators scrapped plans to enter the mobile business Cox Communications confirmed plans to launch its own 3G cell phone network by next year. Cox will bundle mobile with digital cable, high-speed internet and phone service for customers in its own footprint and contract with Sprint to handle calls outside of Cox’s wired base. The cable TV MSO has already invested more than $500 million in wireless spectrum within its cable markets including New Orleans, San Diego, Omaha, Las Vegas, Kansas, New Mexico and Atlanta.
~ MULTIPLATFORM CONTENT NEWS ~
MTV returned to its musical roots launching MTVmusic.com, a straight-forward ad supported consumer site chock full of music videos dating back to the network’s salad days. Warner Music and Universal Music contribute heavily to the initial offerings. Appropriately Dire Straits “Money For Nothing” ranked as the most viewed video during the site’s first day of operation.
Horror and Fantasy maestro Sam Raimi and partners Rob Tapert and Joshua Donen will executive produce Starz‘ next scripted project slated for release in the summer of 2009 – a 13 episode retelling of the Spartacus epic. Given Raimi’s fondness to push the technology envelope and Starz’ multiplatform approach, we can expect plenty of ambitious digital components.
Nickelodeon will utilize multiple platforms to promote iGo to Japan, a TV movie premiering Nov. 8 inspired by hit series iCarly. An ad-free mini-site features screensavers, wallpaper, buddy icons, avatars and a new movie-based game called Sushi Madness. Virtual world Nicktropolis is hosting screening parties and three iCarly themed rooms. Comcast is offering advanced screenings of the movie throughout the month of November. Both iCarly and iGo to Japan will also be available on iTunes following their premieres.
PBS, which has been successful this fall reaching new audiences through its web-based Election portal and YouTube videoyourvote citizen journalism project, added a Twitter component to its election coverage.
Hallmark Channel announced it is offering the second season of its original show Adoption on Hallmarkchannel.com beginning Nov. 1. Four episodes will be made available initially with two additional episodes to be added each week. Season one will remain on the site as well.
Call for Content: Adult Swim is teaming up with Burger King Corp. for an online nationwide casting call kicking off on Nov.3. Adult Swim and BK will encourage those who look like (or know someone who looks like) the Carl character from Aqua Teen Hunger Force to try out to play the role in next year’s first-ever live-action special episode. Adult Swim will drive viewers to check out AdultSwim.com for complete casting call details and to upload a video that demonstrates they are worthy to play the role. The live-action episode scheduled to air in 2009.
~ INNOVATORS & START-UPS ~
There’s been more downsizing in the start-up space (TechCrunch’ s Layoff Tracker counts 573 tech start-up layoff so far) and cost-cutting moves have begun to hit the creative side of the business. Web studio Revision3 announced a wave of layoffs and is shutting down production on Pixel Perfect, PopSiren and Internet Superstar. Revision3 also said it will cease distributing EPIC FU and Wine Library, both of which are produced by independent studios. EPIC FU producer Smashface followed with the news it was forced to lay off three members of its production team.
Hayden’s Black alter ego Abigail interviews “Uncle” Kato Kaelin in the latest surreal edition of Abigail’s Teen Diary. (OJ former houseguest isn’t actually related to Abigail, but these two are oddly compatible.) Hayden’s self-produced, self-promoted video diary continues to build its audience via word of mouth and generous press notices, he tell us, with the twice-weekly podcast averaging over 1.5 million views. Hayden is close to finalizing deals for two new comedy series for the web and VOD and will be sharing his secrets on how to survive as a web producer in today’s economy in a keynote at the one-day OMMA conference in LA this week. (Hint: Build your own community and keep it well fed.)
Online video platform TidalTV, which launched in beta last June, added news updates and long form shows from CNBC to its line up.
~ GADGETS & APPS ~
Mac users rejoice – Netflix has finally updated its “Watch Instantly” movie streaming service to integrate with Macs. Netflix is rolling out a 2nd-generation media player powered by Microsoft’s Silverlight platform. Not only is it (Intel-based) Mac compatible, but the player also features a new navigation feature that vastly improves the FF and rewinding of video. Netflix is planning to deploy the new player gradually beginning now through the end of the year.
Mobile streaming video service Qik introduced a version of the app for the latest generation of BlackBerrys including the Blackberry Bold. Users can download the free application to stream live “Qiks” from their handsets, which can be shared and interacted with by users from more than 150 countries on the web. Qik is also planning to add support for the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl Flip in the coming weeks. So far Qik is not available for the IPhone or Android-powered G1, although there are reports of “jailbroken” iPhones accessing the service.
ESPN’s casual gaming portal ESPN Arcade recently launched Cameraman – the network’s first downloadable game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Find and tap on the differences between two nearly identical photos taken from the Olympics, the NFL, Major League Baseball, College Football, soccer and other sports. EpicTilt developed the game.
M.C. Hammer’s DanceJam launched a new application on Bebo allowing users to watch and rate dance videos, enter online auditions and contests, and interact with fellow dance fans.
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~ TECHNOLOGY DEALS, MERGERS AND SKIRMISHES ~
Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska Rep.) was found guilty on 7 counts of lying on Senate disclosure forms by failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts from an ail industry executive. Stevens, head of the Senate Commerce Committee when Net Neutrality legislation was first introduced, is perhaps best remembered for referring to the internet as a “ series of tubes.”
~ DIGITAL ADVERTISING ~
Mobile ad platform SinglePoint introduced the SingleBrand Ad Marketplace, the first real-time mobile advertising marketplace for SMS and MMS ad campaigns generated by popular interactive TV shows on major networks. Advertisers and brands can browse available inventory, buy ads, submit creative and monitor campaign results via the web-based interface.
This one’s right out of a Sci Fi movie . Out-of-home media firm TruMedia has developed a measurement system to equip retail screens or other ad locations with webcams to take a picture of every man, woman or child who watches what’s on the screen. Video analytics software developed for Israeli homeland security compiles the data and determines demographic info of who’s watching breaking statistics down by age, race and gender.
Out-of-home video advertising company IdeaCast singed a deal to provide ads on JetBlue Airways flights. IdeaCast has previous deals in place with Continental and Frontier Air.
~ TRENDS, RESEARCH, ETC. ~
Discovery Channel’s website registered weekly traffic records for the week ending Oct. 18according to the company with over 1.8 million unique visitors (a 68% increase over the prior 6-week average). Each visitor spent an average of 8.83 minutes on the site. Discovery benefited from the launch of the new on air show Time Warp and the return of Storm Chasers, as well as from referrals from MSN and Yonkis.com.
Top 10 Search Providers for September 2008, Ranked by Searches (U.S.)
Provider Searches (000) YOY Growth Share of Searches
All Search 8,089,226 9.4% 100.0%
Google Search 4,825,556 20.8% 59.7%
Yahoo! Search 1,464,478 1.5% 18.1%
MSN/Windows Live 953,504 7.1% 11.8%
AOL Search 335,187 -24.6% 4.1%
Ask.com Search 178,217 12.1% 2.2%
My Web Search 53,825 33.4% 0.7%
Comcast Search 51,935 -13.1% 0.6%
AT&T Worldnet Search 30,086 237.7% 0.4%
NexTag Search 17,775 -29.3% 0.2%
Dogpile.com Search 17,574 -5.3% 0.2%
Source: Nielsen Online, MegaView Search
~ EXECUTIVE MOVES ~
National Geographic officially named John Caldwell President of National Geographic Digital Media (NGDM). John had been serving as acting president of the group since last May, overseeing the launch of the Japanese-language edition of Nationalgeographic.com with Broad Media, as well as the rolling launches of Nationalgeographic.com in India, Australia and other international markets. He reports to Ted Prince, COO of National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and executive vice president of operations for National Geographic Global (NGGM).
Former Site Director of HGTV.com Freddy P. James has been promoted to SVP/Program Development and Production for the HGTV Programming Group. Former site director at FineLiving.com Jillian St. Charles will take his place overseeing HGTV.com. She will manage the user content experience at the site, reporting to Jody Jones, SVP/SN Digital. Both executives will be based in Scripps’ Knoxville, TN headquarters.
comScore appointed Pat Pellegrini to VP/Research for International Operations. He will be responsible for the design and implementation of statistical measurement methodologies for existing and future syndicated comScore audience measurement products across international markets, based in ComScore’s Toronto office.
Bridget Scanlan has been named European Product Manager for Adicio, heading up the company’s new European operation from Amsterdam. Bridget most recently served as Senior Product Manager for Adicio’s Careers platform at their Carlsbad, California corporate headquarters in the U.S.A.
~ WEBSITE OF THE DAY ~
When satellite-powered virtual earth program Google Earth was first released in 2005 it immediately ushered in a wave of amazing applications as developers began harnessing its power to render 3D images of sites from around the world. But it was always a bit tricky to navigate using a mouse. Well, check out the new Google Earth app at the iTunes App Store. (It works best with a WiFi connection.) Now you can fly around a 3D view of the world from the handheld device. The accompanying touchscreen and accelerometer interface allows you to navigate what you’re looking at by tilting the iPhone at various angles and sliding your fingers across the screen. In a word, its mindblowing, particularly when you begin to drill down and discover the GPS-based information that can be accessed. Tap the button in the lower left hand corner to find your current location. The Panoramio layer reveals millions of geotagged photos. “W” icons appear at street level as geographically relevant Wikipedia entries. Google Earth’s built in Google Local Search engine allows you to find locations of cities, streets and businesses around the globe.
Later — Wayne
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
10.28.08
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