The Entertainment Development & Programming Weekly - November 25th Edition

Here are the most interesting articles that came across this week…

The Vidder

Luminosity is the best fan that shows like Friday Night Lights, Highlander, Farscape, and Buffy ever had—but she can’t use her real name in this interview for fear that their producers will sue her. As a vidder—a director of passionate tributes and critiques of her favorite shows—Luminosity samples video in order to remix and reinterpret it, bending source material to her own purposes. “Much of contemporary remix culture falls back on parody,” explains MIT professor Henry Jenkins, author of Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, “but these fan videos seek to convey the emotional intensity [that they feel]. They communicate more if you know the shows on which they are based but they can stand alone as mood poems or character sketches.” We emailed with Luminosity about her meticulously crafted videos, including Women’s Work, her loving critique of violence in Supernatural, and Vogue/300, her hysterical riff on those hunky Spartans.

http://nymag.com/movies/features/videos/40622/

The Google Set-Top Box (Think Android For TV)

Deep in the Googleplex there is an engineering team thinking about how to extend Google’s reach into your TV. Its work goes way beyond the Google TV ads currently being tested by EchoStar (and targeted with help from Nielsen). It even goes way beyond the development of a Google set-top box, which has been hinted at in the past. In fact, Google may very well want to do to the set-top box what it is trying to do to the mobile phone with its Android operating system—create an open-source hardware platform and attract developers to build applications on top of it. At least that is the unconfirmed rumor I’ve heard from two knowledgeable industry sources.

“That’s been a persistent rumor, yeah,” says Peter Barrett, chief technology officer for Microsoft TV (and the only source willing to be attributed by name). “You would have to ask them about whether they are doing anything like that and whether it is a good idea or not,” he adds. So I put the question to Vincent Dureau, the head of Google’s TV technology team and the former chief technology officer at OpenTV, who was hired by Google two years ago. “There are rumors about what Google does all the time,” he says. “We have been totally focused on advertising so far.” Google’s policy is not to comment on future products. But Dureau never denies the rumor outright. He couches his response with phrases like “so far” and “at this stage.” And, when pressed, he does allow that there is “a lot of potential” for turning the TV set-top box into a platform for applications, but insists, “I have no insights as to what form of applications will be deployed on those set-top boxes or not.” Perhaps. Or perhaps he just doesn’t have any insights he is willing to share with us. Fair enough.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/20/the-google-set-top-box-think-android-for-tv/

The Secret Strategies Behind Many “Viral” Videos

Have you ever watched a video with 100,000 views on YouTube and thought to yourself: “How the hell did that video get so many views?” Chances are pretty good that this didn’t happen naturally, but rather that some company worked hard to make it happen – some company like mine.

When most people talk about “viral videos,” they’re usually referring to videos like Miss Teen South Carolina, Smirnoff’s Tea Partay music video, the Sony Bravia ads, Soulja Boy - videos that have traveled all around the internet and been posted on YouTube, MySpace, Google Video, Facebook, Digg, blogs, etc. - videos with millions and millions of views.

Over the past year, I have run clandestine marketing campaigns meant to ensure that promotional videos become truly viral, as these examples have become in the extreme. In this post, I will share some of the techniques I use to do my job: to get at least 100,000 people to watch my clients’ “viral” videos.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/22/the-secret-strategies-behind-many-viral-videos/

I’m not dating your cookie

But, of course, they are doing this the wrong way — trying to make us come to them, and for a stupid reason — and they’re measuring the wrong thing — the act of coming to them: the clickthrough. Yes, that’s how all advertisers measure their the performance, the return on investment, the value of their marketing (whether or not they pay on clicks, they measure the value on clicks).

But now we move past the internet-as-a-bunch-of-sites to the internet as a place where people connect. Sorry, cookie company, but the people do this just fine without you and your silly advice. In fact, the internet always has been a place where people connect, only we — and I include me — in media and marketing were to egotistical to see that. So rather than trying to make people come to you and rather than trying to make them go to media sites where your brand is associated with the content there, you now need to go to where your customers are and not to irritate them with advertising but to help them with service, not to barge in but to be invited in. That’s what makes Facebook’s new recommendation advertising engine so intriguing: once you see your friends like something, what better advertising than that? Why click through; that’s already ad nirvana, right?

http://www.buzzmachine.com/2007/11/21/im-not-dating-your-cookie/

Think Disruptive

The XBD phenomenon is something separate from the more familiar pattern of startups forging industry change in steps. Clayton Christensen described that process in his book The Innovator's Dilemma. In Christensen’s scenario, a small company penetrates an industry by first establishing a position in the least demanding portion of it and then progressing into more-demanding segments. Christensen shows how minimills entered the U.S. steel industry in the 1970s by concentrating on the low-margin area of the market that the established players had largely given up on. The new companies grew until they were strong enough to attack larger and larger market segments. By 2000, these minimills had increased their production to almost 50 percent of the raw-steel market.

Cross-boundary disruption is different. I’m talking about established giants seeking to transform markets other than their own. It's Apple jumping into music. It’s Wal-Mart entering health care. Or as my email to Immelt urged, it could be G.E. building an electric car and taking on the energy industry. These are companies big and powerful enough to solve intractable, industrywide problems and produce lasting change.

http://www.portfolio.com/views/columns/2007/11/15/Innovation-At-Big-Companies

The Web starts gunning for TV ads

Other Internet video services, including Joost, Blinkx and Babelgum, have started or are planning television-like offerings from a variety of sources. YouTube, the Google-owned firm that popularized home movie clips, has been adding video material from established television providers, even as it tries to fend off allegations of copyright infringement from the American media company Viacom.

Social networking sites, which have some of the largest and fastest-growing audiences on the Internet, are also trying to get in the picture and make a grab for the ad revenue. Bebo, a social network popular in Britain among teenagers and young adults, last week introduced a service that lets content partners show their videos, and ads, to Bebo users.

"The Internet is at an interesting stage - it's getting both more and less interactive," said John Barrett, research director at Parks Associates, a firm that studies the use of digital technology.

"At one end of the spectrum, you've got things like social networking. At the other end, there's more video that people just click, download and watch. The passive end of the spectrum gets more like radio and TV every day, and that's an environment that advertisers are comfortable with."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/18/business/video19.php?WT.mc_id=rsstechnology

NewTeeVee Live: MTV exec proposes antidote to piracy

Ty Ahmad-Taylor, vice president of product development at MTV Networks, said he thinks the best antidote to piracy is making your content widely available. Apparently, not everyone at MTV’s parent company Viacom shares that exact view, since Viacom’s filed a $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube.

That doesn’t seem to deter Ahmad-Taylor though. He believes that companies, including his own, who don’t make their content easily available to their customers are sending a message to users to steal the stuff. Which is one of the reasons MTV created a Facebook app to allow fans to watch videos and dedicate them to friends on the platform — i.e. where they are.

http://www.last100.com/2007/11/14/newteevee-live-mtv-exec-proposes-antidote-to-piracy/

‘Battlestar’ Goes Boldly Into the DVD Universe

Fans of the television series “Battlestar Galactica” are familiar with the frightening chrome mechanical monsters known as Cylons, seemingly bent on the destruction of humanity. But the force behind a two-hour episode on the Sci Fi Channel this Saturday night is the DVD, the equally shiny disc.

The episode, “Razor,” marks yet another step in the complex, fast-changing relationship between DVD sales and cable broadcast. The episode would not exist except for the promise of selling it on DVD just days after it is shown on television.

The move is part of a trend. Already there have been instances of DVD sales reviving canceled television series, like Fox’s “Family Guy,” which sold so well that it was put back on the air. And “24,” also on Fox, began selling DVDs of its four-episode season premiere earlier this year, the day after it concluded. But such tactics are still rare.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/arts/television/21batt.html?ex=1353387600&en=514357e28c5a1904&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Web Video: Move Over, Amateurs

One after another, online video sites that have long showcased such fare as skateboarding dogs and beer-drenched parties are scaling back their focus on user-generated clips, often in favor of professionally produced programming. "People would rather watch content that has production value than watch their neighbors in the garage," says Matt Sanchez, co-founder and chief executive of VideoEgg, a company that provides Web video tools, ads, and advertising features for online video providers and Web application developers.

On Nov. 13 social networking site Bebo said it would open its pages to top media companies in hopes of luring and engaging viewers. "As more and more interesting content from major media brands becomes available, [online viewers] are going to share that more and more because those are the brands they identify with," says Bebo President Joanna Shields.

Another site, ManiaTV, recently canceled its user-generated channels altogether (BusinessWeek.com, 10/22/07). The 3,000 user-generated channels simply didn't pull in enough viewers, ManiaTV CEO Peter Hoskins says. Roughly 80% of people were watching the professional content produced by celebrities such as musician Dave Navarro and comedian Tom Green. "What we found out is, we don't need the classical user-generated talent when we have the Hollywood talent that wants to work with us," Hoskins says. Sony's (SNE) Grouper in July relaunched as Crackle, sans user-generated content. Its only fare: professional-grade programming.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2007/tc20071119_701831.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech

Struggles of a Mad Man

For most of the 20th century the so-called creatives ruled the industry. They didn't worry about where or how an ad ran. They didn't analyze market niches. They were about Big Ideas that would connect a brand, emotionally, with millions of consumers.

Today, you might say, the Small Idea is ascendant. Ads are targeted at individuals or communities of consumers. That's because the media universe is so fragmented--into blogs, social networks, television, magazines, and so on--that finding the right medium is fast becoming more important than the message itself. And the people on Madison Avenue who may be best equipped to deal with this new world are not the creative agencies but the direct marketers and media buyers, which both won more autonomy during a 15-year industry consolidation.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_49/b4061060.htm?chan=search

Google and Other People's Content

This idea, of course, runs wholly counter to Google's reigning ethos. Its stated goal is to organize the world's information, not buy it. Google-ites will tell you the culture is allergic to owning content. And companies begun, and defined, by programmers have struggled to navigate the byways of media, as many failed initiatives from AOL and Microsoft attest. (Don't recall Microsoft's Sidewalk online city guides? You're not alone.) Google intimates also say that the company's we'll-partner-with-everyone approach would be hurt by owning content, given the incentives to favor what one owns.
But Google already owns sites traditional media outlets view as rivals, like Google News and YouTube, and few partners have fled. As long as Google's ad network delivers the goods, traditional players won't opt out. (Giving up a few million dollars a year from Google is not an option these days.) Google's defenders say it's more likely to invent new lines of business, as it's trying to do with Android and OpenSocial, among others, to stoke growth. But as generations of past companies have discovered, there comes a time when it's easier to buy a way out of a bind than to invent one.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_49/b4061083.htm?chan=search

Researchers Stymied by Wide-Open Video Distribution

Is Hulu working? Are Web users watching shows like The Big Bang Theory on AOL or Joost or wherever, as the CBS Audience Network initiative promises?
Right now, nobody can answer those questions—and, it appears, they may not be able to for some time. As digital-media executives have evangelized the concept of wide-open distribution for online video, most media companies are not yet equipped to provide reliable audience numbers. And the industry’s top third-party researchers—comScore Media Metrix and Nielsen Online—are still playing catch up.
“No one has a solution for us right now,” said Patrick Keane, executive vp, chief marketing officer at CBS Interactive. “All of these measurement services are scrambling.”
Keane said CBS plans to release some information on how its audience network is fairing based on internal data. But right now, that requires combining streaming data from its own video player with data from multiple partners using different methodologies. “That data is not as clean as we’d like it to be,” Keane said. “We’d be doing a disservice to our advertisers.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003674077

Jack Myers’ Think Tank: Writers on Strike — Industry Execs Side With Writers

The ironic reality of the writers’ strike is its irrelevancy. Digital media is disrupting the economic models of an industry whose models have been broken for years. Today, fewer than one network television series in twelve breaks through to profitability. This one program in twelve has to support the enormous operating overhead of those who risk capital to develop and produce the programs. It is a business of failure, not success. The Writers Guild of America wants a piece of that American Dream — the ability to fail time and time and time again, and ultimately have a profitable business. Networks and studios prefer to hold onto their right to fail upward for as long as they can. Writers are rewarded now for their failures; they want a bigger slice of the action in those rare instances they succeed. Whether the strike ends soon or continues into the new year, there’s a new business model in town. Whatever deal is brokered, writers will no longer be the beneficiaries of a model that pays for failure.

The bet now is that the two sides will find common ground in the next six weeks, maybe even during post-Thanksgiving negotiations, and reach an interim settlement. If talks fail, and the strike continues into mid-2008, write the epitaph for the current development model that funds the writing of hundreds of scripts each season. And for both sides of the strike issue, that’s not such a terrible thing.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/tv_board/?p=210

TV and Broadband: Who's Morphing into Whom?

Does TV programming beget broadband video programming or is it the other way around?

If you were expecting a simple answer, recent evidence suggests that none will be forthcoming. Step away from the relatively straightforward model of streamed or downloaded TV episodes, and the question of how original video content will be produced and distributed between broadband and TV is whole lot more complicated. Layer on the writers' strike and the world only fogs up further.

For those who see broadband as a pathway to TV, Quarterlife's deal announced last Friday with NBC to bring their new Quarterlife series to the network following its run on MySpace offers encouragement that Internet programming can move to the TV (bear in mind that Quarterlife was originally pitched as a TV series however).

http://www.videonuze.com/blogs/details.php?id=259

The Entertainment Development & Programming Weekly - November 18th Edition

Here are the most interesting articles that came across this week…

Celebrities Chat With Athletes, in Reebok Gear

In creating “Framed,” Reebok, a unit of Adidas, joins a lengthening list of marketers that are branching into what is known as branded entertainment — programming that sells in ways meant to be more subtle than the typical interruptive TV commercial.

The tactic, evocative of the sponsored shows that ran during the so-called golden ages of radio and television, is being embraced by brands like Axe, Jack Daniel’s, Fireman’s Fund, Grey Goose, Krups, Match.com, Meow Mix, Stolichnaya, Sunsilk and Toyota.

Branded entertainment is intended to make the presence of marketers “zap proof” — that is, less likely to be fast-forwarded through — by embedding their products and brands in the plots of shows.

“With the whole landscape of media changing, campaigns are not the only way to reach people,” said Todd Krinsky, vice president for sports and entertainment marketing at Reebok in Canton, Mass.

The preference is increasingly for “original content that entertains the consumer,” Mr. Krinsky added, “and is also a vehicle to communicate our brand values.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/business/media/13adco.html

Google Has Even Bigger Plans for Mobile Phones

The company is gearing up to make a serious run at buying wireless spectrum, a chunk of the airwaves that can be used to provide mobile phone and Internet services, in a Federal Communications Commission auction in January. Google is prepared to bid on its own without any partners, say people familiar with the matter. It is working out a plan to finance its bid, which could run $4.6 billion or higher, that would rely on its own cash and possibly some borrowed money.

Google, meanwhile, already is running a test version of an advanced wireless network at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, gaining operating experience that could come in handy if it wins the spectrum and decides to run a full-scale national mobile carrier, according to people familiar with the matter.

The behind-the-scenes moves illustrate just how serious the Internet giant is about trying to reshape the wireless world. Its push could potentially expand the availability and decrease the cost of high-speed mobile Internet access to consumers and broaden the wireless applications they can use.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119517445580795065-email.html

J Allard: Microsoft’s Plan to Be King of All Media

Video will be a key part of this service.

What I want to do at E&D [the entertainment and devices division] is build an entertainment service that can connect, that has a screen and buttons and a speaker, so you can watch what you want, where you want, how you want.

Maybe the business model for you is rental. God bless you. Maybe you want to download and own it. Maybe you are a physical goods guy. You want to prove you have physical goods, and watch on the seatback while you fly to New York. Say you like the phone. Maybe you are a commuter, and what you are all about is ESPN. I’ll give you ESPN your way. You like Formula One, downhill mountain biking and ice hockey, I will show you a SportsCenter designed for you.

Content providers like ESPN, in this vision, will need Microsoft to handle the technical details and marketing of selling their products.

We go in as a platform company and say to ESPN that we can offer preference information so you can curate programs in a way that has never been done before. And you don’t have to worry about multiple formats; we do it all for you on the back end. And you can reach all these eyeballs without lifting a finger.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/16/j-allard-microsofts-plan-to-be-king-of-all-media/?ref=technology

Google turns to X Factor's Fuller for push into TV

Internet giant Google is in secret talks with Simon Fuller, the British entrepreneur behind the Spice Girls, about a joint venture that could change the way TV is watched over the internet.

News of the collaboration will prompt speculation that Google's plans for the TV market include generating original content and competing with major broadcasters.

Executives from the £229bn internet giant have been in discussions with Fuller, who invented Pop Idol, the world's most successful TV franchise, for about a year. Although details of the deal are a closely guarded secret, sources close to Fuller say it could revolutionise the way entertainment and music are distributed.

'It's a big idea on a global scale,' he said. 'It will change television in much the way iTunes changed the way music is disseminated.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/11/mediabusiness.google

Write to strike

So then, why aren't the companies willing to consider this eminently fair, even modest, proposal? Well, aside from the not entirely preposterous notion that fairness and modesty have absolutely no meaning to them, I've heard two theories that sound plausible. I can't say I know either is right.

The first is that the companies are being so insanely intransigent only in order to assure that the strike will last six weeks, after which they can legally declare the strike to be a force majeure that would free them from any contracts they have signed (particularly those with production companies) that they'd like to get out of. Since this timeframe would coincide with the holidays, it would, presumably, put more pressure on the by-then penniless writers to fold. So, this analysis suggests, once the holidays are over, the companies will be ready to come back to the bargaining table and negotiate seriously.

The other theory is that the companies see the internet as a whole new form of production, one that enables them to start fresh without unions to contend with. In other words, they see this as an opportunity to break the union. And I don't just mean the writer's union. As of now, not only do they not have to pay one cent to writers, actors, or directors for anything shown on the internet, they don't have to hire union writers, actors, or directors for anything made for the internet. This, for them, is virgin territory, and it's reasonable to think that they view it the way, say, a sneaker manufacturer views China or Indonesia. And if we don't win, you can be certain that all down the line, an even bigger share of the pie will go exclusively to those on top.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jeremy_pikser/2007/11/write_to_strike.html

Glam: The success of the network

Glam, represented by the larger circle on the left, is a network. You’ll see clusters made up of smaller circles, representing their content areas: fashion, beauty, fashion, lifestyle, celebrity, teen. Inside each of those clusters, if you squint, you’ll see a small yellow circle. Those are Glam’s O&O (owned and operated) sites. All the many purple circles around those in each cluster represent outside, independent blogs and sites in Glam’s network. That is the secret to Glam’s quick growth without the cost and risk of doing everything itself.

Glam finds the good blogs and creates a relationship. It features good content from them on Glam and also sells ads on the blogs, sharing revenue with and supporting those bloggers. It now has about 400 publishers creating about 600 sites and Arora said that some make multiple six figures a year. They’ve fired only one.

Glam exploded by being a network. It asked the question, WWGD? What would Google do? Google, by the way, earns about 30 percent of its revenue through its O&O properties, Arora said. [LATER: See Capn Ken in the comments for more complete figures.] Glam earns 20-25 percent through its O&Os. Arora claims an advertising CPM of $15-35 for the O&Os and $8-15 for the network ($50-120 for the dreaded advertorial). Arora brags that they are “100 percent transparent” in their ad network, unlike someone else we know.

http://www.buzzmachine.com/2007/11/12/glam-the-success-of-the-network/

Meet the Virtual Generation

The latest group, dubbed Generation Virtual, or V, is made up of people from multiple demographic age groups who make social connections online - through virtual worlds, in video games, as bloggers, in social networks or through posting and reading user-generated content at e-commerce sites like Amazon.com, said Adam Sarner, senior analyst at Gartner.

The V generation is made up of people who are drawn to the Internet's "flat meritocracy" where people can gain status and acknowledgement through ways - like providing advice or recommendations or excelling at a video game - not generally available in the physical world. Basically, Generation V is made up of people who replace physical experience with an online experience, Sarner added.

The online distinction is important, he noted, because companies looking to sell products and services to this generation of consumers can no longer rely on traditional demographic data like name, age and address to tailor marketing messages. Generation V is more likely to interact with marketers anonymously - through an online persona made up of all their online behaviors, Sarner said.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139748-c,researchreports/article.html

Facebook Is Marketing Your Brand Preferences (With Your Permission)

“Increasingly,” he continued, “as the studios want you to come to them with a script, with stars, with attachments, with financing, the question becomes, what’s the value added? That question will be asked, more and more frequently, and more and more loudly. Big Media’s refusal to bargain and end this strike only assures that this question will continue to be asked — until some brave and imaginative soul answers it. Loudly.”

His advice to daring writers and Internet financiers who would rise to the challenge? “DIY!” he wrote. He pointed to a witty pro-WGA YouTube video that turns the corporate owners’ words against them. “Take a look at this: created with no more resources than you or I already have on our desktops.” (For myself, I’d point to someone like Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Felicia Day, who did that very thing months before the strike, creating a series that’s so popular online, the show’s fans willingly finance it with donations.)

For more resources, Howard pointed to Variety’s compilation of screenwriter blogs, and another at Huffington Post, where Howard is a contributor. For that matter, read more from Howard in a group interview I’m currently hosting on The Well, the legendary online community now owned (to tie this post up nicely) by Salon.com.

http://newteevee.com/2007/11/15/screenwriters-diy/#more-2507

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a37uqd5vTw

IBM: ‘End of Advertising as We Know It’

The report observes four change drivers tipping the advertising industry balance of power: control of attention, creativity, measurement, and advertising inventories:

• Consumers have tired of interruption advertising and are increasingly in control of how they interact, filter, distribute, and consume their content, and associated advertising messages.
• Half of DVR owners watch 50% or more of programming on replay; moreover, traditional video advertising doesn’t translate online: 40% of respondents found ads during an online video segment more annoying than any other format.
• Amateurs and semi-professionals are increasingly creating low-cost advertising content that threatens to bypass creative agencies, while publishers and broadcasters are broadening their own creative roles.
• Advertisers are demanding accountability and more specific individual consumer measurements across advertising platforms.
• Self-service advertising exchanges are attracting revenues that were once exclusively sold through proprietary channels or transactions.

http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/ibm-end-of-advertising-as-we-know-it-2329/?camp=newsletter&src=mc&type=textlink

Web Videos Stealing TV Viewers, and Marketers

As broadband service becomes more available at home, the growing prevalence of video programming on the Internet is catching the attention of consumers — not to mention marketers and media companies.

“Video has been liberated” from the TV set, Beth Comstock, president for integrated media at NBC Universal, said last week at a panel at the Ad:Tech conference in New York.

“If you’re in the video business,” she added, referring to companies like her employer, the NBC Universal division of General Electric, “it’s exciting to see where it’s going.”

One direction online video is going is toward the creation of scripted episodic shows that are made expressly for Web sites. Many online video programs, sometimes called Webisodes, emulate television in one respect in that they are released at the same time each day or week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/16/business/media/16adco.html?_r=1&ref=media&oref=slogin

Davies, Fluorescent build game show 'Empire'

"It was like revealed truth," Davies said. "I've been waiting for someone to crack the multiplatform game show for a decade, and this is far beyond what I could have imagined. It is young, visual, dynamic and frankly, revolutionary."

"Empire" is a live quiz show that would allow hundreds of thousands of viewers to play simultaneously via cell phone, land line or the Internet. Unlike other reality series, where viewer participation is mostly limited to voting, "Empire" will have players "projected" into the studio of the show. Participants will be presented through their Internet profile or live video through Fluorescent's proprietary participation technology Phoenix, which bridges broadcast TV, online, mobile and telephony. (Phoenix has been used on a number of shows, including GSN's "QuizNation" and PlayMania.")

"We are creating a gigantic social gaming contest across the nation, set within the venue of a live TV studio," Fluorescent managing director Carolyn Maze said. "Technologically and creatively, this show is pushing boundaries; it's a new category of game show."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i26138003c343f1a12bd0f11dc05df7c8

INTERVIEW: Google's Vice President of Content Partnerships David Eun

"We don't know exactly how the online video space is going to evolve," admits Eun. "It's still very, very early. The entire marketplace is about a $200 million market, so it's still very small. Because we don't have a lot of data or comparables, there's justifiably a lot of questions and anxiety out there."

He continues: "When you get into a space like content and you come at it from a technical perspective, what we haven't focused on as much and something that I'm trying to do is really explain, in English, what it is we aspire to do with partners and what, frankly, our objectives are. I guess the headline here would be we really are a tech company. We're a search company, we make money primarily through providing advertising and search services on Google.com. We have a business called AdSense which essentially is an outsource advertising provider for thousands and thousands of Web sites around the world.

http://www.natpe.org/memberresources/natpenews/articles/story.jsp?id_string=200477:1Qdn6DmC8jlZNf$DXVFrig**

The Entertainment Development & Programming Weekly - November 11th Edition

Here are the most interesting articles that came across this week…

Virtual Fun And Games

Hype has never deterred a big company from jumping on a real world trend, and that's proven true in the virtual world too. Viacom's MTV recently launched several virtual worlds based on its television shows, like Pimp My Ride, and Laguna Beach. Sony is slated to soon launch a Second Life-like world called PlayStation Home for its PlayStation 3 gamers. This virtual world will act as a lobby for gamers to meet up, watch videos, play mini-games and visit each others’ virtual apartments. Groups of gamers can head off and engage with a multiplayer PlayStation 3 console game together. Google and Microsoft are rumored to launch their own virtual worlds within the next year.

"By next year, you'll probably know more about why I'm up here," said Microsoft general manager of entertainment devices, Daniel Schiappa, on stage at a virtual worlds conference in San Jose in October. Students at Arizona State University have been targeted by an unnamed large Internet company to participate in a trial of software related to 3D, social networking and videogames. All signs point to Google.

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/11/08/virtual-world-games-technology-cx_rr_1108world.html

Google Makes Its Entry Into the Wireless World

The technology is expected to provide cellular handset manufacturers and wireless operators with capabilities that match and potentially surpass those using smartphone software made by Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, Research in Motion and others. In contrast to the existing competitors, Google’s software will be offered freely under “open source” licensing terms, meaning that handset manufacturers will be able to use it at no cost and be free to add new features to differentiate their products.

As speculation about Google’s efforts trickled out over the last several months, expectations that the company would build what has been called a Google Phone or GPhone have mounted.

But for now at least, Google will not put its brand on a phone. The software running on the phones may not even display the Google logo. Instead, Google is giving the software away to others who will build the phones. The company invested heavily in the project to ensure that all of its services are available on mobile phones. Its ultimate goal is to cash in on the effort by selling advertisements to mobile phone users, just as it does on Internet-connected computers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/technology/05cnd-gphone.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

I Want My iTV

But what's holding up the transition from network TV to networked TV is that any company with a little piece of control in the way things work today is unwilling to jeopardize its power and revenues until it becomes clear how the new model will pay. Every time you hear about some product that sounds great but just has one strange limitation, follow the money to understand why. Hollywood worries digital downloads could lead consumers to stop buying $24 billion of DVDs annually, and broadcasters are nervous about the fate of the $185 billion-per-year TV advertising kitty. So studios and networks alike limit how long programs are available on Web sites or restrict the shows that play on various devices.

Cable and satellite providers worry that they will lose customer loyalty to the Web, so they impose tight controls on what content you see and have moved painfully slowly to offer advanced TV services. The people who make electronics gear fret that if they don't lock up agreements for exclusive music or videos, consumers won't pay top price. "You've got device manufacturers, content providers, service providers, networks, software makers, security providers all trying to sort out how big their piece of the pie should be," says former Comcast (CMCSA ) executive Kip Compton. He is now senior director and general manager of video and content networking at Cisco Systems (CSCO ), which is trying to merge TV and the Web.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_47/b4059401.htm

Dailyshow.com: Third-Party Distribution Isn't an Either/Or Decision

It's pretty apparent that MTVN/Comedy Central is coming down on the side of heavily emphasizing direct-to-consumer as its broadband video strategy when you combine Viacom's ongoing lawsuit against Google/YouTube, MTVN EVP Erik Flannigan's comment ("People should be reacting to 'The Daily Show' on its own site...God bless them for doing it everywhere else, but this should be the epicenter of it") and a company spokesman's comment ("that a few selected clips could become available on sites through syndication deals").

Count me among those who think this is both the wrong approach and one that will ultimately under-optimize the value of the Daily Show and other franchises in the broadband era. Quite simply, building out a strong direct-to-consumer presence like Dailyshow.com is NOT an either/or decision relative to also developing strong third-party distribution relationships.

In fact, the reality is that strong third-party distribution is essential in the Internet era, because Internet usage is both highly distributed among millions of web sites and also concentrated at a few large portals. Media companies' goal should be to proliferate their content (under the right deals of course) into all the nooks and crannies of the Internet while also striking deals with big portals to maximize exposure, usage and ad revenue.

http://www.videonuze.com/blogs/details.php?id=227

Writers’ Strike Roundup

If you live in a hermetically-sealed, media-free bubble, then you might not be aware that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) made good on its threat and went on strike this morning.

We’ve followed the story extensively, but here’s a quick roundup of other coverage currently happening around the web:

The LA Times is blogging about the strike, with continuous updates, such as this one:

The strikers marched behind metal barricades set up on 49th Street in front of the phalanx of U.S. flags that flank the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink and iconic gold statue and water fountain. “Writers want fair share!” they chanted under the watchful gaze of several security guards and New York police officers, as the strains of Andrea Bocelli floated up from the skating rink, where skaters coasted around the ice.

TV Decoder confirms that fans of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will have to sit through repeats.

The New York Times notes that unlike other industries that go on strike, different WGA members make vastly different salaries, making this more of a hardship for some than it is for others.

http://newteevee.com/2007/11/05/writers-strike-roundup/

Facebook Rolls Out Highly Targeted Viral Ad System

At its core, Facebook Ads has three primary components (all of which launch tonight). The first is straight forward enough -- businesses are now able to create Facebook profiles. Not much of a surprise here, but there's a twist. Along with serving as a hub for the business' brand, the profile can also serve as the spring board for viral apps (the second component). These can manifest themselves as anything from brand-stamped casual games, or even e-commerce apps that track purchases on partner websites.

The real kicker is the third component. It essentially collects the data from the first two components (keeping user info anonymous, of course) and provides it to a given business to assist in its targeted advertising objectives. For instance, a user who goes to Coke's page and interacts with or installs its viral app ("Sprite Sips") can pretty much expect to become a shill -- inserting all sorts of branding messages and endorsements into friends' News Feeds.

http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/11/facebook-rolls-.html

What About a Google Gaming OS?

Since all three consoles are drastically different, Linux only runs on PlayStation 3, right? Not exactly. See, the Wii, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 all run on the same PowerPC processor technology from IBM. Macs used the same technology before Apple embraced Intel's CoreDuo chips. So while Microsoft and Nintendo try hard to ensure that no other OS runs on their proprietary consoles, it is possible.

If Google were to get Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony to join a console alliance that allowed players to run a single OS on all their upcoming consoles, imagine the implications. While all three do offer different graphics chips (this is where the PS3 wins for sure), theoretically game developers could design a single video game console that would either scale to each platform (lower graphics for Wii for instance) and allow those console makers to invest more time in creating better games. Currently, all three console makers lose money on their consoles but make money on their software. Imagine creating a TiVo or email or social networking program that worked on your game console or your phone or even your PC?

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/nov2007/id2007117_273646.htm?chan=innovation_game+room_top+stories

Is Web Video Really Hurting TV?

The Wharton economist Joel Waldfogel (who has a new book out, The Tyranny of the Market) examines this issue in a new working paper, “‘Lost’ on the Web: Does Web Distribution Stimulate or Depress Television Viewing?” He tries to measure the effects of online TV clips, both authorized and unauthorized, on television viewing between 2005 and 2007, using a survey of viewers’ tendencies. To isolate the typical Web viewer (i.e., young people), he restricted his subjects to 287 people on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Here’s what he found:

While I find some evidence of substitution of web viewing for conventional television viewing, time spent viewing programming on the web — 4 hours per week — far exceeds the reduction in weekly traditional television viewing of about 25 minutes. Overall time spent on network-controlled viewing (television plus network websites) increased by 1.5 hours per week….

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/is-web-video-really-hurting-tv/

Who needs reality TV? Web sites turning shows' viewers into stars.

One reason for this may be ManiaTV, which can be watched only on the Internet. In September 2004, ManiaTV became the first 24-hour online TV site, with programs ranging from music videos to Hollywood gossip to celebrity-hosted talk shows. Three years later, approximately 8 million viewers a month visit the site to request songs and chat in real time with hosts like musician Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Christy Kruzick.

ManiaTV leads other online video sites, such as No Good TV ( www.ngtv.com) and Funny or Die ( www.funnyordie.com), not just because it makes good on its promise of original, interactive entertainment, but also because it has a decent revenue stream: Blue-chip advertisers such as Honda and Wrigley are interested in ManiaTV's 5 million 18- to 34-year-olds in search of the latest fashion trends, hip musicians and cool gadgets.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/05/DDSVT2TR5.DTL

TiVo Serves Up Portrait of the Ad-Zappers

Facing increased competition from cable operators and phone companies that offer digital video-recording services, TiVo is making a bigger grab at a different source of revenue: the pile of money that marketers are throwing at companies that promise fresh insights into TV-viewing habits.

TiVo, a provider of digital video recorders, about a year ago began selling advertisers second-by-second ratings of programs and commercials based on the viewing habits of its subscribers. Today, the company plans to announce that it will soon add demographic data about the viewers themselves, such as age, income, marital status and ethnicity.

http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=111916019

Nothing But The Truth

Scheduled for general release on November 23, Nothing But The Truth is Nike’s foray into total branded feature films. Described as ‘the script and director only skateboarding movie’, it tells the story of the Nike SB team on and off their boards. Each of the 12 pro and 4 amateur skaters have individually written, produced and starred in a film interpretation of their lives.

Filmed by Belgian director duo Lionel Goldstein and set to an original soundtrack by Mark Mothersbaugh, it looks a little bit Jackass; lots of stunts, lots of girls and some very bizarre personal experiences, however this apparently really is The Truth as seen through the eyes of Nike SB Pictures.

Check out the trailer at nikeskateboarding.com

http://www.psfk.com/2007/11/nothing-but-the-truth.html

TV could be hit hard

Latenight talkers, daytime sudsers and primetime multicam laffers will feel the pinch first, once TV writers hit the picket lines.

But should scribes and producers not hammer out a deal quickly, network and studio execs warn that much of pilot season could be tossed. And some even say that may not be a bad thing.

Meanwhile, once the last batch of hastily written scripts is shot -- or deemed unproduceable -- and the final notes are given on pilot scripts (which will then collect dust on someone's desk), tube execs may suddenly have a little more time on their hands. Some may even be enlisted to help out on the reality side, where activity will be frenzied as nets look to fill the scripted void.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975370.html?categoryid=2821&cs=1