Cynopsis: DIGITAL
09/25/12

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, September 25, 2012, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

As mentioned in yesterday’s Website of the Day, today brings the worldwide premiere of CSI Creator Anthony Zuiker’s new digital film, Cybergeddon. Starring Olivier Martinez and Missy Peregrym, the film follows two special agents and an incarcerated hacker as they try to save the world from a series of cyber-attacks launched by a group of e-terrorists. The film is debuting exclusively on Yahoo in over 25 countries and 10 languages. Adapted to the digital platform, Cybergeddon is broken down into nine chapters, three of which will be released every day over the next three days. The launch includes a custom site that features a series of short films that offer a deeper glimpse into the characters, along with other complementary content like on-set photos, behind-the-scenes clips, and interviews with the cast and crew. While developing the film, the producers brought in Norton by Symantec to consult on the issue of online security. With that brand partnership in mind, the film’s custom site also hosts a special section in which users can learn more about cyber-crime. Cybergeddon is co-produced, distributed, and financed by Dolphin Digital Studios in a deal brokered and packaged by CAA.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

WWE has inked an exclusive, multiyear licensing agreement with Hulu to offer next-day access to all of its TV programming on Hulu Plus. Subscribers can also visit Hulu Latino to watch WWE En Espanol, the company’s Spanish-language digital show that recaps exciting moments from each week. As always, Hulu Plus is available on a multitude of connected devices, including smartphones, tablets, PCs/Macs, connected TVs, and gaming consoles.

Separate Checks is a new web series created by and starring comedians Jay Bois and Katina Corrao that is now available on Funny or Die. The four-episode series follows a divorced couple that used to have a successful food show before they split up. After their individual efforts receive lackluster ratings, the two decide to partner up again to host a new show. Separate Checks is directed, edited, and written by Jamie Greenberg (MTV Spring Break, TV Nation, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?).

Health-based video content provider HealthGuru has announced a new series starring Dr. Jeff Gardere (mental health expert and former host of VH1’s Dad Camp) called “What Were They Thinking?” Launching on October 4, the show will run bi-weekly until November, after which new segments will be produced on a weekly basis by the HealthGuru staff. Each segment will run less than two minutes. “Each video segment will look at three timely and newsworthy topics or events and/or celebrity issues from a mental health angle,” said Rosalie Rung, VP/Content and Programming for HealthGuru.

Redbox and Verizon Communications’ planned Netflix competitor, Redbox Instant by Verizon, will be available by the end of the year, per a Bloomberg report. The service will offer a monthly subscription plan, as well as the ability to digitally rent or purchase movies or get them from any Redbox kiosk at various locations across the country. Consumers will be able to stream the content on multiple connected devices, as the joint venture plans to release mobile apps for the iOS, Android, and other mobile operating systems. The Bloomberg report notes that Redbox and Verizon will pay content providers based on the number of subscribers, rather than Netflix’s practice of paying a fixed amount for streaming rights over a specific time period.

As first reported and then later confirmed by Variety, over 800 hours of A&E and History programming have been removed from the Netflix library. These include non-fiction shows like Pawn Stars, Ice Road Truckers, Storage Wars, Hoarders, and Intervention, among others.

eXelate, a provider of data management services for online publishers, has closed a $12 million round of Series C funding led by NewSpring Capital, with participation from existing investors Carmel Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and Trident Capital. The start-up says its “global data cloud” provides demographic and purchase intent information on over 400 million online unique visitors, taken from a selection of offline partners and directly measured online behavior. It then combines this data with audience modeling algorithms to build marketing and analytics services for agencies and advertisers. The new funding will be directed toward product growth and global expansion. eXelate, which operates offices in NY, Chicago, SF, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, will also “look to explore complementary acquisitions.” The start-up has raised $32 million in VC funding to date.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

RedMas, the digital advertising unit of the Cisneros Group of Companies, has acquired Kontextua, an online advertising company that powers a contextual ad network in Latin America and Spain. The deal is positioned as strengthening Cisneros’ digital presence in the US Hispanic market and Latin America. To that end, RedMas will invest $2 million in Kontextua to create new digital ad platforms and to extend the network’s reach in the US Hispanic market, as well as in Chile, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. Kontextua’s ad network consists of over 12,000 Spanish- and Portuguese-language affiliated sites that it says reaches over 60 million unique viewers per month. The company’s technology scans website content for texts and images that can serve as “anchors” for its contextual ads. Advertisers can then choose from variety of content categories or key words related to their products and services in order to advertise against different audience segments.

ActiveVideo Networks has settled a patent dispute with Verizon Communications over the VOD feature tied to the operator’s FiOS TV service. The companies are not electing to disclose the terms of the agreement, but according to a statement from ActiveVideo President and CEO Jeff Miller, “the parties agreed to cross-license their parents, agreed not to sue each other for a period of years, and Verizon has agreed to pay the $260 million previously ordered by the district court and an additional unspecified amount of money.”

That wasn’t the only patent settlement secured by Verizon yesterday. The company has also come to a resolution with TiVo over a patent dispute concerning the latter’s DVR technology. Per the deal, the two parties have agreed to throw out all pending litigation and will cross-license their patents going forward. Verizon has also agreed to pay TiVo at least $250.4 million ($100 million up front in cash and $150.4 million in quarterly installments through July 2018) and monthly license fees for “each Verizon DVR subscriber in excess of certain pre-determined levels.” Moreover, if the two companies enter into “certain commercial initiatives” prior to December 21, 2012, Verizon will receive a credit of up to $29.4 million. Verizon and TiVo are also discussing a potential partnership that would allow TiVO DVR owners to access Verizon’s upcoming Redbox Instant streaming service.

Bazuca, a subsidiary of Liberty Global’s Chilean cable operator VTR, has selected Avail-TVN to support its OTT video service in Chile and across Latin America. Per the deal, Avail-TVN is providing licensing, content preparation, metadata management, content delivery, and marketing and promotional support, as well as integrating with Bazuca’s CDN and DRM solutions. The OTT service will offer access to new releases and archived titles from the major Hollywood studios, and regional programming thanks to partnerships with local content providers. The content will be available on both a transactional and subscription VOD basis, and will be optimized for streaming to any type of connected device.

How did the Primetime Emmy Awards fare socially? According to data from Trendrr.TV, the telecast generated 1.263 million social interactions, while the Emmys overall racked up 1.568 million social interactions throughout Sunday. In comparison, last year’s Emmys brought in 1.11 million social interactions throughout that Sunday. Additional Trendrr data shows that 54% of the social sentiment was positive, 23% negative, and 23% neutral. Women accounted for 61% of the social activity, and the social public chose to tweet about the event 52% of the time from the web and 48% of the time from mobile devices. The most social moment of the entire show was the Jimmy Kimmel/Tracy Morgan segment during which they told the audience to tweet about it. Overall, while the Emmys telecast cracked the top 10 in terms of most social awards shows of 2012, it did not make the top 10 of the most social “tentpole events” of 2012. Trendrr tracks social interactions across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue, and Viggle.

E! Online’s day-of coverage of the 2012 Emmys generated 9.2 million total digital page views. It adds on to what has been a banner year for the site when it comes to this year’s award season. In fact, E! Online reports that its day-of coverage of the Grammys, SAG Awards, Golden Globes, Oscars, and Emmys this year has led to an average of 741,000 daily uniques (+12% over last year), as well as 42 million page views (+15%) and 3.4 million video views (+77%) on the day of the event.

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Netflix has released an update for its Android smartphone app. The changes to Android smartphone version are the same was the ones made to Netflix’s app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, which was given a facelift last week. These include a row at the top that allows users to resume watching an episode or movie from where they previously left off; access to the user’s top 10 list and personalized recommendations; and the ability to tap any title just once to get additional information on it, and twice to immediately start watching it.

The News Synergy suite of mobile apps from Inergize Digital, Weather Central, and Adpay now support Amazon’s Kindle Fire. The apps are designed to enable local media companies to distribute branded content and information, including news, weather, sports, events, and deals to mobile devices. They already feature support for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. An example of a News Synergy app that is optimized for the Kindle Fire can be found by searching for “NewsChannel 9 WSYR Syracuse” on the device. This particular app is for the WSYR-TV, DMA 84 station in Syracuse, NY. 

In news that will surely not come as a surprise to anyone, Apple said yesterday that it sold over 5 million iPhone 5 devices in the first three days following its September 21 launch. In addition, over 100 million iOS devices have upgraded to iOS 6 (no word on how many of those are complaining about the new Maps app, though). The iPhone 5 is currently available in North America, Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the UK, and is coming to 22 more countries on September 28 and will be available in over 100 countries by the end of the year. Apple said demand exceeded the initial supply, so while a majority of pre-orders have been shipped, the remaining will be sent out in October.

Mobile Content Venture (MCV) has appointed Rajan Mehta as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Dyle Mobile TV, effective immediately. He will lead technology operations for the mobile television service, working with Salil Dalvi and Erik Monero, Co-GMs of the joint venture. Specifically, Mehta will oversee Dyle Mobile Tv’s management responsibilities for content distribution, network operations, and in-market signal coverage, while also leading product design, app development, conditional access, digital rights management, and consumer device deployment. Mehta, who has led technical operations for Dyle since the joint venture was created in 2010, will also remain in his current position as Executive Director/Advanced Technology at NBCUniversal.

bpg Advertising, a full-service creative ad agency that focuses on developing print, online, and broadcast media campaigns for the entertainment industry, has launched a new branding division, which will be led by Creative Director Elaine Cantwell. Her resume includes work with Starz, Showtime, ABC, Disney, and A&E, as well as an award-winning rebranding campaign for Target from 1999.

Business audience marketing company Bizo has hired Annie Wayne to be its new Chief Financial Officer. Wayne will be responsible for the company’s global financial and human resource operations. In addition, the company has brought in Sean Callahan to be its new Editor and Marketing Director. In the newly created role, he will focus primarily on content marketing.

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1. Fast & efficient personalized service

Mass Relevance has teamed up with Turner Sports to launch The 13th Man, a new social/second-screen tool tied to the 2012 Ryder Cup. Available on the tournament’s website, the social tool will allow users to access fan conversations and reactions in real-time during the Cup over the next five days. This includes relevant tweets and Facebook stats updates from fans in the US and across the Atlantic, a spotlighted “Tweet of the Moment,” as well as social updates from both the US and European teams. Other features include a hashtag battle that will pit fans against each other and a leaderboard ranking golfers based on social buzz. Give it a look over this coming week. And it goes without saying, but go US.

Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Associate Editor for Cynopsis Digital
09.25.12

Denise O’Connor: Group Publisher, Media Entertainment
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group

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JOB OPENING: VP SALES/NY: Strong background in network TV/cable (digital sales a plus) emphasizing new product development, and a great opener. This is the big opportunity. Resume to [email protected] (10/2)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR CONSUMER MARKETING/G4/LA: Develop strategic plans to launch new and returning programming initiatives. Minimum 7 years media marketing required; preferably in TV. www.nbcunicareers.com Job#7151BR (10/2)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH ANALYST/Univision/NY: 1+ years TV Nielsen experience. Opportunity to learn advanced research systems and work directly with network management. Strong writing skills a must. [email protected] (9/28)

JOB OPENING: DIR OF PROGRAMMING/Santa Monica: 5-7 yrs. exp. in non-fiction TV & strong contacts. Prev. ntwrk exec exp. a +. Interest in game shows, gaming & international formats. Send resume and cover letter to [email protected] (9/28)

JOB OPENING: WRITER/PRODUCER/EDITOR/ReelzChannel/ABQ: For major network series & movies. We mentor early careers of up and coming talent. Relocation paid to Albuquerque. Apply: [email protected] (9/28)

JOB OPENING: MGR, INTEGRATED AD SALES MRKT/DISNEY/BURBANK: TV & Digital mktg execution, client and project management leader. Strng Knwldg and Experience with Sales Mktg/Branding/Entrainmnt/Agency www.disneycareers.com REQ53615 (9/28)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH ANALYST/BBC AMERICA/NYC: Create ratings reports and analysis for programming/scheduling. 1-3 years TV/media research experience. Proficient in NPower & MyEvnts. [email protected] (9/28)

JOB OPENING: COORD B&L AFFAIRS/TV Guide Network/LA: Handle daily admin activities, mng contracts rights database, process agmts, draft docs & spec projects. Min 3 yr legal exp in Ent. ind. CV & res: [email protected] (9/28)

JOB OPENING: F’LANCE REPORTER/OPRAH.COM/NYC: Exp covering women/lifestyle topics & a demonstrated ability to est rapport w/interview subjects & suss out info that makes tired topics come alive. Apply at: http://careers.own.tv (9/27)

JOB OPENING: F’LANCE MENTAL HEALTH REPORTER/OPRAH.COM/NYC: Exp. covering psychology/well-being. Proven ability to find studies & rsrch that are most meaningful to our aud & present in a clear, voice-y way. Apply: http://careers.own.tv (9/27)
 
JOB OPENING:  F’LANCE WRITER/OPRAH.COM/NYC: Writer w/ability to make familiar topics feel timely. A fresh, intelligent, orig voice is a must (no slick, typical magazine writing! no gooey sentimentalism!). Apply: http://careers.own.tv (9/27)

JOB OPENING: SSE/SALES PLANNER/Current TV/CHI: Seeking exp plan’r to oversee TV & digital sales plan creation. Target new biz, mng your own acct list, actively present/meet w/agencies, mng dvlpmntl acct list. [email protected] (9/27)

JOB OPENING: DIG. VIDEO LICENSING/AMAZON.COM/SEATTLE, LA, LONDON & MUNICH: All experience levels; you will negotiate content deals & mng relationships with studios and cable nets, [email protected] (9/27)

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SITUATION WANTED: Enthusiastic, driven and organized digital/television PRODUCT MANAGER, with over 8 yrs. exp, seeks new role. Strong resume and experience; open to either coast. [email protected] (9/29)

SITUATION WANTED: AFTER CARE THERAPIST: consult with seg prod on guest Red Flags, provide aftercare to guests on Talk/Reality Shows. Line Producer for 15 yrs. Was After Care Prod. on Dr. Drew’s Life Changers. www.jkoegl4therapy.com (9/28)

SITUATION WANTED:  WRITER’S/PRODUCTION ASST: Has worked on The Big Bang Theory, Mike & Molly, etc. Attending UCLA’s TV writing program. Experience as a Page and PA. Proficient in Final Draft. Has BS in Mass Comm. [email protected] (9/28)

SITUATION WANTED: CHILDREN’S/EDUCATIONAL MEDIA: Former Sesame freelancer and Nickelodeon intern looking for position, 5 years exp. in documentary and educational film distribution. [email protected] (9/27)

SITUATION WANTED: Laila Berzins Voice Overs & Antland Production – Audio Production ‘One Stop Shop’ Corporate, Commercial, Narration, E-Learning, Jingles, you name it! www.lailaberzins.com for demos and booking info (9/27)
 
SITUATION WANTED: EXEC ASST: Over 10 yrs exp in Film/TV Prod, from pre to post, as well as subtitling & dubbing. Fluent in 5 languages & skilled inter-culturalist. Seeking Exec Asst position or similar. Contact: [email protected] (9/27)

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