Cynopsis: DIGITAL

11/25/09

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, November 25, 2009, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

TiVo has joined forces with Google to provide second-by-second viewership data to advertisers using the Google TV Ads platform. Launched two years ago with some 3.6 million Dish Network set-tops, Google TV Ads allows advertisers to bid on available commercial time using auction-style software. Providing second-by-second measurement gives even more granular data to participating clients. The pact could also help open up a vibrant market for pods placed just before the end of commercial breaks, which tend to have higher viewership numbers. Google TV Ads has served some 100 billion television ad impressions on its partner cable channels to date, including CNBC, MSNBC, Hallmark Channel, GSN and Syfy. Google says about 30% of those purchasing inventory are advertisers buying TV ad time for the first time.
 

 
Canadian cable MSO Rogers’ online division is launching an ad-supported online video service at the end of the month, offering online access to an initial 15 cable channels which it at least partly owns and operates including Citytv, Rogers Sportsnet, A&E Canada, Bio and G4 Canada, per THR. Warner TV and Michael Eisner’s web studio Vuguru have also agreed to supply content to the authentication-required portal. A mobile app enabling remote full episode viewing is also planned for the second half of 2010.
 
To cut down on overlap, CBS local television and radio stations in Philadelphia are combining resources to create the market’s first “digital newsstands.” CBS 3 (KYW-TV), The CW Philly 57 (WPSG-TV), KYW Newsradio 1060, 98.1 WOGL, 94 WYSP, SportsRadio 610 WIP and talk station 1210AM WPHT will team up with closed-circuit technology company Center City Direct to launch a street-level news network for the Philly market, sharing news, weather and sports updates on air, online and via mobile devices.
 

 
Online content network Adconion Media Group announced it has acquired the remaining assets of Joost, the online video portal from the founders of Skype that went from media darling to bankruptcy in less than two years. Adconion plans to keep Joost alive as a content destination as well as integrate its online video ad solutions.
 
Irreverent news aggregator and social networking news site Fark.com has struck a content sharing deal with USA Today to provide the newspaper site with tech-flavored bits and bytes. USA Today will also be sponsoring Fark’s Geek Tab, aggregating weird and notable tech news from across the Web.
 
Broadband enabled digital entertainment service Vudu has added a search feature enabling viewers to pull up entries from Wikipedia directly from the on screen menu. Navigate from a movie, to its Wikipedia article, to the Wikipedia article of an actor in that movie, to that actor’s filmography.
 

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The FCC put out a request for comment yesterday asking for input on whether or not broadband service providers are sufficiently transparent when describing, measuring, marketing and pricing their residential and small business services. The commission is also asking what tools ISPs should provide to allow customers to monitor their performance and what data should be reported. One of the lingering complaints consumers have is the discrepancy between advertised “up to” speeds and the speeds which folks can expect on a daily basis.
 
Tivo signed a deal with Virgin Media in the UK to power both the middleware and the user interface of Virgin’s next generation HD set-top boxes, set to run on a converged television and broadband platform. Virgin Media will also become the exclusive distributor of TiVo services and technology in the UK.  Virgin’s standard def boxes currently run on Seachange’s Liberate middleware platform.
 

 
Online retail spending for the November–December holiday period will reach $28.8 billion according to ComScore, a 3% bump versus a year ago. This modest growth rate represents a 6% swing compared to last season when sales dropped by 3%, but remains well off the fat and happy growth rates of 20% or higher seen in previous years.
 
Part of that increase may be due to online Black Friday madness. A custom category of Black Friday advertising websites tracked by Hitwise increased 87% for the week ending Nov. 21, 2009. Visits to Black Friday Websites are already up by 4% compared with the same week in 2008. These sites drive users to retail sites and these are the ones that have benefitted most:
 
Top Websites to receive downstream traffic from Black Friday Websites
Rank          Name             Market share of visits      Weekly percentage change
1            Wal-Mart                        13.34%                        77%
2               Target                          4.12%                       -27%
3             BestBuy                          4.04%                      -20%
4               Sears                           3.28%                         -4%
5         TOYS ‘R’ US – USA              2.52%                        63%
6            Kmart.com                      2.34%                        17%
7            Kohls.com                        1.40%                      -35%
8           JC Penney                         1.36%                    1229%
9           RadioShack                       0.96%                       65%
10        Amazon.com                      0.87%                      -44%
Data is for the week ending Nov. 21, 2009, and is based on the Hitwise sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users.
Source: Experian Hitwise
 

 
With Black Friday upon us here are a few tips for folks looking to get a head start on their gadget shopping:

• Apple.com is having a one day sale and a leaked flyer is floating around showing iPod touches from $178, Apple TVs from $208 and MacBook Pros starting at $1098
• Amazon.com has Black Friday deals on pocket video camera’s, GPS navigators, Universal remotes, etc.
• Vizio’s Black Friday deals already seem to be in effect at Wal-Mart, Costco and Sam’s Club ­– get a Vizio Blu-ray player with a free HDMI cable for $100

 
Don’t give Chad OchoCinco any ideas…Tweetbookz is a new online self-publishing service that allows you to immortalize your tweets in $30 hardcover books or $20 paperbacks. The site currently offers four cover and design styles and books can be printed in English, Spanish, French and Hebrew. And yes Chad, there are bulk order discounts.
 
eBay launched a holiday deal-themed iPhone app yesterday, eBay Deals, allowing you to search for, bid on and pay for items directly from the handset. Featured deals are showcased such as items with no bids, no reserve price, free or fixed-rate shipping and less than four hours remaining to bid.
 
Amazon sent a Christmas present to eBook readers by extending the battery life of its newest Kindle by 85% over previous versions and finally adding a native PDF reader to the device.
 

 
Disney Channel’s Latin America SVP and CMO Carolina Lightcap has been named President of Disney Channels Worldwide, succeeding Rich Ross, who was recently tapped to head Walt Disney Studios. Carolina will relocate from Buenos Aires to Burbank and report directly to Anne Sweeney, Co-chair, Disney Media Networks and President, Disney/ABC Television Group. Meanwhile, Gary Marsh will assume the new title of Chief Creative Officer in addition to his current title of President, Entertainment, Disney Channels Worldwide, remaining in charge of all program development, creative and production, reporting to Ms. Lightcap.
 
Microsoft announced that CFO Chris Liddell is resigning his post at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Peter Klein, the current CFO of Microsoft’s Business Division. Chris had held the position of CFO for the past four years, overseeing the company’s recent aggressive cost-cutting efforts.
 
Dan Harrison has been named Senior Vice President, Strategic Development, CBS Corp. effective Jan. 4, reporting to Martin D. Franks, EVP, Planning, Policy and Government Affairs, CBS Corp. Dan will assist in the development of new business models across the full range of the Company’s operations as they pertains to new technology and emerging distribution channels.
 
Gannett has named Andy Jacobson VP/Sales for Gannett Digital. He joins Gannett from Email Data Source, where he served as SVP/Sales. Andy will report to Chris Saridakis, SVP and Chief Digital Officer for the multiplatform media company.
 
Innovative Artists has tapped David Tochterman to spearhead the company’s growth in comedy, digital media and television literary.
 

 
Because we can all use some fun and games this season, Infogrames Entertainment’s old school video game label Atari is relaunching Atari.com as a free arcade and casual gaming portal. Log on and play “Asteroids,” “Battlezone,” “Lunar Lander” or “Yars Revenge” to your heart’s content while the company markets geek-tested merchandise and more current console games such as “Ghostbusters: The Video Game” or MMMO game “Champions Online.” Speaking of multiplayer games, Atari is also collaborating with MMO gaming site OMGPOP to launch a new version of Missile Command, slated for release early next year. Oh, and for a little twisted holiday cheer, check out Adult Swim’s new Christmas-themed version of its hit zombie game.
 
Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
11.25.09

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