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Cynopsis: DIGITAL
05/27/09
Good morning, it’s Wednesday, May 27, 2009, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone responded to reports in Variety and THR that the microblogging site was partnering with Reveille and Brillstein Entertainment to produce its own “official” unscripted TV show. “We have a lightweight, non-exclusive, agreement with the producers which helps them move forward more freely,” Biz said of the project, which is based on a concept pitched by novelist, screenwriter and One for the Table publisher Amy Ephron. Multiple projects are in the works incorporating the hot micro-blogging service, of course, including MTV’s The Alexa Chung Show also co-produced with Reveille.
Distributors and Rights holders of major music catalogs are close to reaching an agreement to license songs across the entire European Union, reports Dow Jones. Currently licensing deals must be struck on a country-by-country basis.
SciFi.com is stepping up its casual gaming line-up with the release of four new browser-based massively multiplayer online titles. The casual gaming titles include the May launches of Humans vs. Robots: Hockey Warz and Planet 9 Prospector, which join 5 MMOG titles already available.
Online content syndication service Mochilla struck a deal to distribute multimedia offerings from Investor’s Business Daily’s Investor.com. A group of 14 charter sites have signed on to pick up the investment management-themed content including Tribune’s broadcaster and newspaper sites and Belo’s Austin-based KVUE.com.
Seattle-based local station group Fisher Communications signed on with WorldNow for management its online video platform. WorldNow also announced it has renewed its contracts with Raycom Media, Barrington Broadcasting and Drewry Broadcasting.
Facebook took London and Moscow-based Digital Sky Technologies up on its offer receiving $200 million in capital in exchange for preferred stock representing a 1.96% stake in the company. (The deal values Facebook at $10 billion.) DST has also indicated that it is planning to offer to purchase at least $100 million of Facebook common stock from existing common stockholders including current and former employees. DST holds interests in Russian and Eastern European sites such as Mail.ru, Forticom and vKontakte. The company claims that its main assets account for over 70% of all page views in the Russian-speaking internet.
Following the launch of its URL shortener and DiggBar app, Digg unveiled some new sharing options allowing users to Tweet, email or share on Facebook stories they find interesting. The sharing features replace Digg’s “shout” option.
USC’s Marshall School of Business and Really Useful Information will launch a new program his summer to address how technology innovations are transforming the entertainment industry. The 3-part online program will focus on three major components of creating and implementing a successful digital strategy: the process of monetizing digital content, how to use streaming media effectively, and which distribution platforms work best.
Dailymotion has a hit on its hands with The Hunt for Golllum, the crowdsourced fan film made by 100 amateur filmmakers as a tribute to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The 40-minute film, two years in the making, generated over 1.2 million views during its exclusive 1-week run on the Dailymotion site.
Open source online technology provider OpenX closed on a $10 million round of series C financing led by DAG Ventures with participation from existing investors Accel Partners, Index Ventures, Mangrove Capital, First Round Capital and Jonathan Miller – the company’s board Chairman. OpenX, which is led by former Yahoo SVP Tim Cadogan and has raised $30.8 million to date, recently launched OpenX Market, an online ad auction platform that brings together ad buyers and sellers to facilitate fair market value for impressions.
iPhone users are nearly three times as likely to recall a mobile web ad than typical mobile web users, according to research from Brightkite and Gfk NOP, sourced by eMarketer. Some 28.4% of iPhone users recalled mobile web ads compared to 10.7% of non-iPhone users. In fact, iPhone users scored higher rates of recall from all measured types of mobile ads than nonusers, including mobile display, standard text message (SMS), audio, picture or video messages (MMS) and mobile TV and video ads.
Following through on a promise to step up efforts to enhance cybersecurity, President Obama plans to appoint a new “cyber czar” to oversee the nation’s government-run and private computer networks, reports the Washington Post. He (or she) will likely be a member of the National Security Council and report to the National Security Adviser as well as the Senior White House Economic Adviser.
Edgeware, provider of server systems for network-deployed on-demand TV, announced a partnership and reseller agreement with German-based cable and IPTV equipment maker Teleste. Edgeware’s servicers enable advanced TV services including VOD, time shifted live TV and video over-the-web.
Nokia launched its worldwide version of the App Store yesterday and experienced problems right out of the gate. Due to spikes in traffic, The Ovi Store went offline several times for users in the U.S. and Europe. The company said it is addressing the issue by adding additional servers.
With sponsorship revenue and technology giveaways harder to come by these days, the forward-thinking Seattle International Film Festival had to pull back on its video streaming ambitions this year. But locally-based interactive agency Pop, whose President Bill Predmore sits on the SIFF board, did put together a useful SIFF iPhone app pro bono, helping users “sift” thorough, comment on and purchase tickets for the festival’s 392 film and 600+ screenings. The app’s reporting engine, which ties in the SIFF.net’s backend, generates purchasing reports on the fly to help festival organizers determine which screenings are most heavily attended, according to Mr. Predmore. Meanwhile last year’s online short film showcases with Babelgum, RealNetworks and IndieFlix will inform SIFF’s digital strategy going forward, according to Artistic Director Carl Spence. “We’re working to develop a test model to help filmmakers distribute and monetize their work that we can retain ownership of ourselves,” he said.
The Weather Channel, makers of one of the most highly used free apps on the iPhone platform according to research firm Compete, is rolling out a premium version of the application. “Weather Channel Max,” available for $3.99, features a full library of video content and additional bells and whistles including the company’s proprietary TruPoint mapping technology which reveals projected weather patterns for up to 6 hours in the future.
Interactive developer Artificial Life launched a new iPhone app that presents 4 mini games built around the new BMW Z4 Roadster.
Kate Wheatley has been hired as Senior Partner, Digital Group Director for MediaCom‘s West Coast operation. Her primary responsibilities include overseeing MediaCom’s Warner Home Video business, specifically their digital and online marketing programs. She will also assist in developing new digital and online opportunities across the agency.
Borders Group announced two appointments within its IT group: Scott Laverty joins as Chief Information Officer, effective immediately, and Paul Devitt, who became Director, e-Commerce Systems on May 18.
LGBT print and online publisher The Advocate named former JCK Publishing Group Publisher Variety Associate Publisher Mark Smelzer as its new Publisher.
Social gaming company Turbine hired Nate Jones as VP/Corporate and Business Development. He will be responsible for overseeing worldwide content and licensing partnerships, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions for the Westwood, MA-based company.
Former People.com sales executive Geoff Schiller is joining the Hearst Magazines Digital Media team as the group’s new National Sales Director. He will report to Kristine Welker, VP/Sales & Marketing.
Todd Asher will serve as NYC Media Group‘s new COO, effective immediately. Todd will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the group’s broadcast, DTV and cable television channels; its website; and its FM radio station.
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today the addition of Brian Seth Hurst, CEO of The Opportunity Management Company and Tarif Sayed, Owner and Managing Director of Dubai based production company The FRAME to its Ambassador program, bringing the total of Ambassadors to fifteen.
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Highly customizable homepage interfaces such as Netvibes and iGoogle may still trail behind the large portals in terms of numbers of users but they’re clearly leading the charge in offering web surfers more control of how they interact with the web. This is a trend the portals have picked up on. Yahoo announced it has begun to tweak its Yahoo!, MyYahoo and mobile website interfaces to offer more customization options to users. Akin to Netvibes’ widgets, users can now choose from a library of apps to embed as “My Favorites” on the left side of the homepage providing syndicated content from partners such as eBay, MySpace, the USA Today and NPR. “Social Pulse” is Yahoo’s way to integrate social networking postings, allowing users to update their Twitter feeds or Facebook status from both the homepage and mobile site. But the Yahoos of the world must be careful when they introduce new features that they don’t upset or confuse their longtime users – a lesson learned by Facebook the hard way. “We recognize that many of you like your homepage just the way it is, thank-you-very-much,” notes Tapan Bhat SVP/Integrated Consumer Experiences for Yahoo in a blog posting, “so the overall look and feel of the page will be familiar.”
Later — Wayne
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
05.27.09
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