Here are the most interesting articles that came across this week…
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Because of the slow entry into the digital realm of Viacom, Comedy Central’s parent, and an almost crippling deal point in Mr. Stone’s and Mr. Parker’s contract, the lewd, rude, crudely animated and mordantly funny series — one that began with a viral video before the term even existed — has barely had a presence as an avalanche of user-generated entertainment hit the Web. Meanwhile, sites like YouTube met the demand for free “
Now, however, Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker and their bosses at Comedy Central, a unit of Viacom’s MTV Networks, are attempting to leapfrog to the vanguard of
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/business/media/27south.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Cellphones look to gain a greater voice in an Internet world
The cellphone world, dominated by giant telecommunications corporations, is colliding head-on with the Internet, where hackers abound and a good idea can grow into a Google - spawning a full-fledged mobile media industry.
The intersection of the wireless world with the Internet's openness has long been anticipated, but it is edging closer to reality as new technologies, devices and consumer behavior finally chip away at the telephone's long legacy as a device used for talking.
The high-profile iPhone launch cast a media spotlight on a device that is more hand-held computer than phone. Google sparred last month with wireless carriers over the rules governing the upcoming auction of the radio spectrum, used to carry calls and data. Sprint plans to build its highly anticipated wireless broadband service, called WiMax, in 2008.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/30/business/cell.php
Public Display Of Expressions
These studies can arm you with some great facts:
-The younger audience plays more games online.
-Almost all digital youth prefer IM to email.
-Tweens heading toward teen years begin and continue to download music.
-More than a third of youth ages 12 - 14 frequent MySpace.
Most own a mobile phone.
Some 71% of online teens and tweens visit social-networking sites weekly, and more than half of all teens -- and nearly half of all online 9-17 year olds -- reported participation in advertiser-branded interactive activities in the previous month, according to findings from an Alloy Media + Marketing white paper, reports MarketingCharts.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=66374
Apple Boots NBC Off iTunes
There is a game of corporate chicken going on. Hours after NBC decided that it was going to pull its shows from the iTunes store at the end of this year, Apple (AAPL) trumped them and will not sell shows from the upcoming TV season on iTunes, the largest online music and video store,
Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99. Apple’s agreement with NBC ends in December. Since NBC would withdraw their shows in the middle of the television season, Apple has decided to not offer NBC TV shows for the upcoming television season beginning in September. NBC supplied iTunes with three of its 10 best selling TV shows last season, accounting for 30 percent of iTunes TV show sales.
http://newteevee.com/2007/08/31/apple-boots-nbc-off-itunes/
NewCo finally gets a name: Hulu
News Corp. and NBC Universal have finally announced the name for their much talked about NewCo online video effort: Hulu. CEO Jason Kilar explains the reasons why they picked the name.
Why Hulu? Objectively, Hulu is short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and rhymes with itself. Subjectively, Hulu strikes us as an inherently fun name, one that captures the spirit of the service we’re building. Our hope is that Hulu will embody our (admittedly ambitious) never-ending mission, which is to help you find and enjoy the world’s premier content when, where and how you want it.
The company is going to go into a private beta in October 20078. Starting today, however, you can sign up for the private beta. The company recently raised $100 million in investment from private equity firm of Providence Equity Partners. (Also, Center Networks has more information.)
http://newteevee.com/2007/08/29/newco-finally-gets-a-name-hulu/
New media, new ideas tout shows for fall
In addition to free previews, another recently introduced strategy for marketing TV series is on the rise this year. The networks are relying more heavily than ever on creating all sorts of original content around their series and distributing it as widely as possible on the Web.
"Our advertising becomes content that people want to see in shortform," CBS Marketing Group president George Schweitzer said. He declined to provide specifics on the content the network is producing but said music videos and video mashups of the "CSI" franchise were examples of the type of content CBS would be distributing on its Interactive Audience Network, which he said reaches 90% of the people online. "We're taking our content to where the eyeballs are," he said.
The CW is creating "Gossip Girl" widgets that will play clips from the show and run real-life gossip news via an RSS feed supplied by People.com. The widgets will be available on cwtv.com and in CW banner ads through other sites.
The story so far... millions are hooked by online soap
They are the kind of viewing figures advertisers and traditional broadcasters would kill for as they grapple with tumbling audiences.
Online interactive teen drama KateModern has achieved some 3m hits in the three weeks since it began airing - despite zero promotional spend. At this year's Edinburgh TV Festival delegates crammed in to hear how the show came into being and how the people behind it are stealing their precious advertising revenues.
KateModern is screened in two-minute episodes five days a week on Bebo, the social networking site that has 36m users, including 10.7m young people in
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/27/cnsoap127.xml
DVRs in One Out of Five
New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. based on a survey of 1,300 households throughout the United States, found that over one in every five households in the United States now have a Digital Video Recorder, up from about one in every thirteen households just two years ago.
Other key findings include:
- The mean household income of DVR owners is 33% above average
- 53% of DVR owners say that they have an HDTV set
- 45% of DVR owners record five or fewer programs per week
- 84% of DVR owners rate the ability to skip commercials as very important
- Only 8% of DVR owners say it is the greatest benefit of having a DVR
http://www.centerformediaresearch.com/cfmr_brief.cfm?fnl=070831
Global Findings Show Decline of TV as Primary Media Device
- Advertising agencies going beyond traditional creative roles to become brokers of consumer insights
- Cable companies evolving to home media portals
- Broadcasters and publishers racing toward new media formats
- Marketers forced to experiment and make advertising more compelling
http://www.centerformediaresearch.com/cfmr_brief.cfm?fnl=070828
New Web Sites Aim for TV Experience
These new sites, all of which are ad-supported and transmit video with peer-to-peer technology, are seeking to move beyond YouTube by improving video quality, attracting professionally produced content and expanding the viewing experience -- which is to say: to be more like TV.
Babelgum's slogan is: "TV experience, Internet substance." Veoh touts: "VeohTV makes watching Internet as simple as watching television." Joost simply states: "The new way of watching TV."
Each of the three work nearly the same way. You download the application from the respective Web site. When that's finished, you have a desktop icon that will launch the application. It then fills your screen with an on-demand-style choice of videos arranged in near broadcast-quality channels.
http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/sns-ap-bigger-online-video,0,4405971.story?coll=cl-tv-features
'Family' ties into Xbox Live
Noting the popularity of "Family" among males 18-34 -- which also happens to be the sweet spot for the gaming industry -- he added, "It's about as perfect a demographic fit as we can get."
Xbox 360 owners will be able to purchase each of the episodes from the first two seasons as well as the straight-to-DVD film "Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" for 160 Microsoft points, or about $2, which is comparable with the pricing of TV episodes on iTunes and other VOD platforms.
In addition to being its initial foray into Xbox, this also is first time the Seth MacFarlane-created series about the irreverent
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ia4622155e545932cda78083c20bd0969
Disney makes cable history
The top-10-rated networks during the summer (May 28 through Aug. 26) with the best year-to-year performances were eighth-place Discovery, which rose by 11%, and ninth-place A&E, which shot up by 18%.
The other cable networks in the top 60 that grew by double digits this summer, in order of their overall finish, are: Court TV (14th place; up 37%), History Channel (16th; up 11%), TLC (20th; up 20%), Bravo (29th; up 15%); MSNBC (32nd; up 44%) and CNN Headline News (35th; up 32%).
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971019.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
Web's Niche TV Programs Win Sponsors
Marketers are finding it hard to buy enough space on traditional TV networks' Web sites, which stream some network prime-time programs. Ad space is available alongside the user-generated videos that draw millions of visitors to video-sharing sites like YouTube, but advertisers are wary about sponsoring videos that might be embarrassing or risqué. YouTube's new ad format, unveiled last week to intense advertiser interest, limits ads to videos from selected partners.
As a result, niche Web programs like "Geek" -- and others on subjects ranging from comic-book news to fast cars and fashion -- are attracting the attention of some big marketers. While their audiences are tiny -- Geek Entertainment TV says it averages 10,000 to 20,000 viewers a show, though its most popular shows attract as many as 100,000 viewers -- their viewers are loyal.
Such programs also provide content of a consistent quality, in advertisers' eyes. "Marketers are very careful about their brands, and some of those user-created videos can be pretty raunchy...but brands are willing to experiment more with higher-quality videos," says Martin Reidy, chief executive of Publicis Modem and Publicis Dialog, digital-marketing units of ad holding company Publicis Groupe.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118826244105210468.html?mod=dist_smartbrief
“Where Are The Joneses?”
Mighty impressive considering that it’s Ford, and the first time a global brand is using a Creative Commons open license on a commercial media project. But not surpising, since the mastermind behind the idea was David Bausola of Zero Influence.
This interview with Baby Cow, the production company behind “Where’s the Joneses?” shows some of the spontaneity and flexibility required to execute this idea. Big brands often lose in their flirtation with authentic media because of the tight corporate controls they impose. But kudos to Ford for letting this concept flourish and develop organically.
http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/where-are-the-joneses.html
Offbeat Thrills Now, Big Money Later?
Audiences for novel athletic endeavors in the
"At one time you would watch these sports for the 'wow' factor. Now people are consuming them more and more as competitive sports," says Wade Martin, general manager of an action sports competition sponsored by Mountain Dew. "They're appealing from an athletic standpoint, and they have an individualistic nature, which rings true to the younger generation."
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_37/b4049077.htm?chan=search
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