http://odeo.com/channels/2103513-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer no Daily Videos featuring news you can use about Technology, Media & Entertainment hosted by Shelly Palmer Daily Videos featuring news you can use about Technology, Media & Entertainment hosted by Shelly Palmer Daily Videos featuring news you can use about Technology, Media Entertainment presented by Shelly Palmer and the staff of Media 3.0 en 40 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:23:40 -0700 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:23:40 -0700 ©Shelly Palmer Business, Entertainment, News, gadgets, Tech, Mediabytes, Shelly Palmer Technology Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/25267114-FTC%E2%80%99s-Blogger-Endorsement-Rules-Regs-Not-Really-Needed On the subject of blogger endorsement guidelines, the FTC said: “The commission disagrees with those who suggest that including in the guides examples based on these new media would interfere with the vibrancy of these new forms of communication, or that the commission should, instead, defer to industry self-regulation,” the commission wrote. “The guides merely elucidate the commission’s interpretation of [the FTC Act] but do not expand (or limit) its application to various forms of marketing.” Want to have a really good time? Try getting through the other 81 pages of the “Federal Trade Commission, 16 CFR Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” It’s a page-turner!!! If this wasn’t the driest document I have ever forced myself to read, and, if this document didn’t illustrate one of the biggest problems that brands and consumers are going to face in the 21st Century, it would actu... On the subject of blogger endorsement guidelines, the FTC said: “The commission disagrees with those who suggest that including in the guides examples based on these new media would interfere with the vibrancy of these new forms of communication, or that the commission should, instead, defer to industry self-regulation,” the commission wrote. “The guides merely elucidate the commission’s interpretation of [the FTC Act] but do not expand (or limit) its application to various forms of marketing.” Want to have a really good time? Try getting through the other 81 pages of the “Federal Trade Commission, 16 CFR Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” It’s a page-turner!!! If this wasn’t the driest document I have ever forced myself to read, and, if this document didn’t illustrate one of the biggest problems that brands and consumers are going to face in the 21st Century, it would actually be funny. Let’s review. Five years ago, including VHF, UHF, Low Power, Cable, Radio, etc. there were about 25,000 broadcasters in the United States. Today, let’s pick a number … there are ~55,000,000 entities and organizations that, at the touch of a button, can broadcast a message worldwide. You will now push back and say that there are really only six major media companies that can broadcast worldwide, and the best everyone else do is make their content available to a worldwide audience. I’m fine with that distinction. It will not have any impact on the thesis of this writing. The currency of the advertising business is attention. We “pay” attention to things that interest us and we “receive” attention from things that are interested in us. You do not need to use any complex mathematics to illustrate that the number ~55,000,000 is much larger than the number 25,000. Even if every individual only pays a little attention to something other than the original 25,000 broadcast entities, the shift in their attention will be very large. This is the simplest way to describe what has happened to communications in the 21st Century, but the impact is being felt in much more subtle ways across all of the related disciplines. For advertisers and marketers, consumers seem to be more in control than ever before. For broadcasters and advertisers, audiences now seem atomized rather than fragmented. For consumers, there is simply too much to choose from, too much to pay attention to. The FTC has noticed that people are paying attention to lots of different things. They have also noticed that they are not really set up to deal with ~55,000,000 purveyors of information. It’s not just a problem for the FTC, it is an endemic problem of our time. They have a mission. They work for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. But the tools to deal with this in the information age simply do not exist. Let’s say I’m a blogger, a micro-blogger, someone with 5,000 Facebook friends, a large group of LinkedIn contacts, a huge MySpace or Twitter following and I get a free camera from a CE manufacturer … shouldn’t I have to disclose the freebee? Would a new, young mother seeking advice from a semi-professional mommyblogger think more or less of the information she gets about a particular brand of stroller if she knew that the mommyblogger was getting paid to tout its virtues? Wouldn’t it be great if everyone (because there is now absolutely no distinction between professional and amateur journalists) that wrote about stuff had to make a full disclosure as to their particular motivations? It would also be great if there really was a Santa Claus. The FTC guidelines are wonderful. So is the Golden Rule. But that doesn’t mean people will apply them. There is absolutely no way that this problem gets fixed; in fact, there is no probable future where it doesn’t get worse. How much worse? We are witnessing the very beginning of a metaphoric tectonic plate shift unlike any thing we have ever experienced. “I know of scarcely anything so apt to impress the imagination as the wonderful form of cosmic order expressed by the ‘Law of Frequency of Error.’” Said Sir Francis Galton (Natural Inheritance, 1889) as he went on to describe the Central Limit Theorem. “The law would have been personified by the Greeks and deified, if they had known of it. It reigns with serenity and in complete self-effacement, amidst the wildest confusion. The huger the mob, and the greater the apparent anarchy, the more perfect is its sway. It is the supreme law of Unreason. Whenever a large sample of chaotic elements are taken in hand and marshaled in the order of their magnitude, an unsuspected and most beautiful form of regularity proves to have been latent all along.” Central Limit Theorem or Law of Large Numbers, which ever one you like to apply to this kind of problem, you’re going to get the same general result. The millions of random bloggers and neuvo-broadcasters can create as chaotic a world as they like, but the trend is going to come out in the wash — more attention will be spent on lots of little things and less attention will be spent of few big things. One probable outcome of this trend is the self-assembling of small trust circles around individuals who can pay and receive attention only to known entities that have earned and kept their trust. Can big media play a roll? Can big brands? Can big anything work its way into your trust circle? No regulatory agency is going to be able to govern this explosive amount of widely distributed information. But that’s OK, it will truly take care of itself. Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Awards). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net For information visit www.shellypalmer.com On the subject of blogger endorsement guidelines, the FTC said: “The commission disagrees with those who suggest that including in the guides examples based on these new media would interfere with the vibrancy of these new forms of communication, or that the commission should, instead, defer to industry self-regulation,” the commission wrote. “The guides merely elucidate the commission’s interpretation of [the FTC Act] but do not expand (or limit) its application to various forms of marketing.” Want to have a really good time? Try getting through the other 81 pages of the “Federal Trade Commission, 16 CFR Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” It’s a page-turner!!! If this wasn’t the driest document I have ever forced myself to read, and, if this document didn’t illustrate one of the biggest problems that brands and consumers are going to face in the 21st Century, it would actually be funny. Let’s review. Five years ago, including VHF, UHF, Low Power, Cable, Radio, etc. there were about 25,000 broadcasters in the United States. Today, let’s pick a number … there are ~55,000,000 entities and organizations that, at the touch of a button, can broadcast a message worldwide. You will now push back and say that there are really only six major media companies that can broadcast worldwide, and the best everyone else do is make their content available to a worldwide audience. I’m fine with that distinction. It will not have any impact on the thesis of this writing. The currency of the advertising business is attention. We “pay” attention to things that interest us and we “receive” attention from things that are interested in us. You do not need to use any complex mathematics to illustrate that the number ~55,000,000 is much larger than the number 25,000. Even if every individual only pays a little attention to something other than the original 25,000 broadcast entities, the shift in their attention will be very large. This is the simplest way to describe what has happened to communications in the 21st Century, but the impact is being felt in much more subtle ways across all of the related disciplines. For advertisers and marketers, consumers seem to be more in control than ever before. For broadcasters and advertisers, audiences now seem atomized rather than fragmented. For consumers, there is simply too much to choose from, too much to pay attention to. The FTC has noticed that people are paying attention to lots of different things. They have also noticed that they are not really set up to deal with ~55,000,000 purveyors of information. It’s not just a problem for the FTC, it is an endemic problem of our time. They have a mission. They work for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. But the tools to deal with this in the information age simply do not exist. Let’s say I’m a blogger, a micro-blogger, someone with 5,000 Facebook friends, a large group of LinkedIn contacts, a huge MySpace or Twitter following and I get a free camera from a CE manufacturer … shouldn’t I have to disclose the freebee? Would a new, young mother seeking advice from a semi-professional mommyblogger think more or less of the information she gets about a particular brand of stroller if she knew that the mommyblogger was getting paid to tout its virtues? Wouldn’t it be great if everyone (because there is now absolutely no distinction between professional and amateur journalists) that wrote about stuff had to make a full disclosure as to their particular motivations? It would also be great if there really was a Santa Claus. The FTC guidelines are wonderful. So is the Golden Rule. But that doesn’t mean people will apply them. There is absolutely no way that this problem gets fixed; in fact, there is no probable future where it doesn’t get worse. How much worse? We are witnessing the very beginning of a metaphoric tectonic plate shift unlike any thing we have ever experienced. “I know of scarcely anything so apt to impress the imagination as the wonderful form of cosmic order expressed by the ‘Law of Frequency of Error.’” Said Sir Francis Galton (Natural Inheritance, 1889) as he went on to describe the Central Limit Theorem. “The law would have been personified by the Greeks and deified, if they had known of it. It reigns with serenity and in complete self-effacement, amidst the wildest confusion. The huger the mob, and the greater the apparent anarchy, the more perfect is its sway. It is the supreme law of Unreason. Whenever a large sample of chaotic elements are taken in hand and marshaled in the order of their magnitude, an unsuspected and most beautiful form of regularity proves to have been latent all along.” Central Limit Theorem or Law of Large Numbers, which ever one you like to apply to this kind of problem, you’re going to get the same general result. The millions of random bloggers and neuvo-broadcasters can create as chaotic a world as they like, but the trend is going to come out in the wash — more attention will be spent on lots of little things and less attention will be spent of few big things. One probable outcome of this trend is the self-assembling of small trust circles around individuals who can pay and receive attention only to known entities that have earned and kept their trust. Can big media play a roll? Can big brands? Can big anything work its way into your trust circle? No regulatory agency is going to be able to govern this explosive amount of widely distributed information. But that’s OK, it will truly take care of itself. Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Awards). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net For information visit www.shellypalmer.com tag:odeo.com,2009-10-10,25267114 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:23:40 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Blog Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/24764802-Michael-Jackson%E2%80%99s-Funeral-Expected-to-Strain-Internet-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-7-2009 If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Web sites are rapidly preparing for a big day today, as coverage of Michael Jackson’s funeral is expected to strain servers. The ceremony is expected to start at 9:30 am PST at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be streamed live online via Hulu. The memorial service will also be broadcast on network and cable television, including CNN, E! Entertainment, MSNBC and ABC. Here’s a link to Hulu.com’s stream of the Michael Jackson Memorial. You can watch it here live. ABC has finally begun streaming content on Hulu months after it’s parent company, Disney, became part of the News Corp, NBCU joint venture. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, one of its most popular programs, was the first to stream on the popular online video site. ABC is set to begin streaming shows like Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty in the near future. The Department of Justice is reviewing the Apple, ... If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Web sites are rapidly preparing for a big day today, as coverage of Michael Jackson’s funeral is expected to strain servers. The ceremony is expected to start at 9:30 am PST at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be streamed live online via Hulu. The memorial service will also be broadcast on network and cable television, including CNN, E! Entertainment, MSNBC and ABC. Here’s a link to Hulu.com’s stream of the Michael Jackson Memorial. You can watch it here live. ABC has finally begun streaming content on Hulu months after it’s parent company, Disney, became part of the News Corp, NBCU joint venture. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, one of its most popular programs, was the first to stream on the popular online video site. ABC is set to begin streaming shows like Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty in the near future. The Department of Justice is reviewing the Apple, AT&T exclusivity deal for the iPhone. While it has yet to become a full fledge investigation, the DoJ is putting increased pressure on similar deals, claiming that exclusivity with larger carriers hurts competition. Under their current deal, the AT&T-Apple iPhone exclusivity agreement ends in 2010. Netscape Founder Marc Andreesen and business partner Ben Horowitz have started a new VC firm dubbed Andreesen Horowitz. The new firm, which has already raised $300 million in seed capital, will invest in cloud computing, virtualization and consumer electronics, amongst other new tech businesses. The firm plans on investing in roughly 70-80 new software companies, before making larger investments in the future. NBC’s coverage of the Wimbledon finale on Sunday was the fifth highest in Wimbledon men’s championship history. The epic battle between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick drew a 4.2/12 overnight rating, which despite, being high, was not able to eclipse last year’s Federer/Nadal final in ratings. Wimbledon’s highest ratings occurred in 2000, when Pete Sampras won his final championship. Sampras was the last American to win the men’s championship. If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Web sites are rapidly preparing for a big day today, as coverage of Michael Jackson’s funeral is expected to strain servers. The ceremony is expected to start at 9:30 am PST at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be streamed live online via Hulu. The memorial service will also be broadcast on network and cable television, including CNN, E! Entertainment, MSNBC and ABC. Here’s a link to Hulu.com’s stream of the Michael Jackson Memorial. You can watch it here live. ABC has finally begun streaming content on Hulu months after it’s parent company, Disney, became part of the News Corp, NBCU joint venture. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, one of its most popular programs, was the first to stream on the popular online video site. ABC is set to begin streaming shows like Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty in the near future. The Department of Justice is reviewing the Apple, AT&T exclusivity deal for the iPhone. While it has yet to become a full fledge investigation, the DoJ is putting increased pressure on similar deals, claiming that exclusivity with larger carriers hurts competition. Under their current deal, the AT&T-Apple iPhone exclusivity agreement ends in 2010. Netscape Founder Marc Andreesen and business partner Ben Horowitz have started a new VC firm dubbed Andreesen Horowitz. The new firm, which has already raised $300 million in seed capital, will invest in cloud computing, virtualization and consumer electronics, amongst other new tech businesses. The firm plans on investing in roughly 70-80 new software companies, before making larger investments in the future. NBC’s coverage of the Wimbledon finale on Sunday was the fifth highest in Wimbledon men’s championship history. The epic battle between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick drew a 4.2/12 overnight rating, which despite, being high, was not able to eclipse last year’s Federer/Nadal final in ratings. Wimbledon’s highest ratings occurred in 2000, when Pete Sampras won his final championship. Sampras was the last American to win the men’s championship. tag:odeo.com,2009-07-07,24764802 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:33:02 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/24381327-Video-Distribution-Strategies-in-a-Broadband-centric-Future The following is an excerpt from a White Paper I recently wrote for Cisco. You can download the entire document here. There’s a short video presentation as well. The idea behind this paper was to explore some of the issues that will face service providers (like cable and IPTV) as the world becomes more broadband-centric. 1. Billy’s Mom While 11-year-old, Billy R. from Rock Hill, SC played soccer, his mother was just settling down to watch an on-demand movie at home. The coach gave the kids a break and told them that practice would end an hour earlier than usual. Billy sent his mom a text message that instantly showed up as an overlay on the flat-screen in the Living Room. Billy’s mom grabbed her handheld to answer. Ten minutes later, she jumped in her car to pick up her son. Arriving a few minutes early, she continued to watch her movie on her handheld device—right from where she paused it back in her Living Room. hen they arrived home, Billy headed straight for th... The following is an excerpt from a White Paper I recently wrote for Cisco. You can download the entire document here. There’s a short video presentation as well. The idea behind this paper was to explore some of the issues that will face service providers (like cable and IPTV) as the world becomes more broadband-centric. 1. Billy’s Mom While 11-year-old, Billy R. from Rock Hill, SC played soccer, his mother was just settling down to watch an on-demand movie at home. The coach gave the kids a break and told them that practice would end an hour earlier than usual. Billy sent his mom a text message that instantly showed up as an overlay on the flat-screen in the Living Room. Billy’s mom grabbed her handheld to answer. Ten minutes later, she jumped in her car to pick up her son. Arriving a few minutes early, she continued to watch her movie on her handheld device—right from where she paused it back in her Living Room. hen they arrived home, Billy headed straight for the flat-screen to play a quad-split first-person shooter with three kids from other countries. Mom finished watching her movie in the kitchen—full screen on her PC. This is one of a thousand use-cases cited by the proponents of the “What I want, where I want, when I want” media consumption future. WiwWiwWiw (pronounced wee-wee-wee) foretells a time, in the not too distant future, when everyone will live in a broadband-centric, interoperable, on-demand content universe. Service Providers (SPs) have a tremendous amount of opportunity in a broadband-centric universe. There are at least three potential revenue streams: subscription services, advertising and transactions. Plus, SPs will benefit from the power of wireless networks, the value of location-based services and the true convenience (and behavioral changes) technology will afford connected consumers. 2. Consumer Media Consumption Paradigm Globally, each market has a unique media consumption focus. Parts of Asia are mobile phone-centric; others favor PCs; still others are predominantly populated by television viewers. In Europe, satellite and cable are much more evenly split than they are in the US. South America has a remarkably small paid-television consumer base. But, no matter where you look, no matter what market you visit–where there is broadband connectivity–the media consumption paradigm has changed. Over the past few months, consumers have demonstrated preferences for various types of vide consumption, including: “video snacking”, “download-to-own,” “online video,” and video applications. The adoption of these preferences combined with the advent of technology has helped the Internet quickly evolve into a media-centric environment. 2.1 Consumer Video Experiences 2.1.1 Video Snacks Video snacks are a new art form which evolved in parallel with the social networking phenomenon. In general, video snacks are short and low resolution. They are extremely inexpensive to produce, or have been appropriated completely free of charge by the person who wishes to share them over the Internet. The short durations of video snacks make them difficult to monetize with traditional television advertising units. Consumers generally will not watch :15 seconds of advertising for each :45 seconds of online content. 2.1.2 Internet Television Internet Television is a television-like experience over the public Internet. You can find examples of Internet Television at abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com, and fox.com. In fact, almost every major television network offers some kind of online viewing experience for their most popular shows. Many believe that the limitations of the public Internet are simply antithetical to the distribution of high-quality, emotionally satisfying images to millions of simultaneous users. They are wrong! Live streaming capacity over the public Internet is equal to all but the very biggest shows in primetime. John Edwards, CEO of Move Networks, thinks that 10 million simultaneous users are easy and that we can expect capacity of 20 million simultaneous streams in the near future. Although, there is a clear distinction in terms of video consumption behavior between video snacking and Internet Television, there is a fairly homogenous continuum between both. Video content comes in a plethora of subjective and objective quality levels, resolutions, lengths and subjects. This video content does not have a name that everyone agrees upon. Most people just call it “broadband video” or “online video.” For our purposes, which is simply to silo a piece of video content to a particular value chain, we can take short form videos and call them “video snacks” and longer form pieces (which can be advertiser or subscription supported) and call them “online” or “Internet” television. The important issue is not what to call the content, the issue is how the content is monetized now or may be monetized in the future with the advent of technology. 2.1.3 Download-to-Own Download-to-own is a well-understood consumer behavior. iTunes, Amazon-On-Demand and other download-to-own (or rent) services operate under the assumption that consumers will be willing to pay for files, download, store, and then view them. Of course, digital files are hard to protect from piracy. People with more money than time, buy and people with more time than money, pirate. Download-to-own is often spoken of as “the” form factor that will replace DVDs for long-form and evergreen video content. This may well be the case. The question is, “when?” 2.1.4 Video On-Demand (VoD) Whether it is video snacking, Internet Television or download-to-own, recent observations of the changes in video consumption lead to one overwhelming conclusion—consumers like to consume video content and, most importantly, they like to be in control of their media consumption experiences. This consumer trend shows significant inclination towards on-demand consumption. So, for SPs, VoD has the potential to be the “killer app.” However, it must evolve. It is worth noting here that the technology used for the first generation VoD product was poorly designed from a business perspective. The idea that people would rather press a button and watch a movie than go to a video store was good—but the value chain was flawed. The market price for a PPV movie was too low for Studios and too high for consumers. And, without an intelligence layer, the system could not evolve to deliver television-on-demand or even help promote appropriate content based upon viewer behavior. 2.1.5 Video Applications Lastly, it is important to consider video applications that are also having a significant impact on consumers (webcams) and businesses (video conferencing). As travel becomes more and more difficult and expensive, you can expect two-way video applications to approach ubiquity in broadband environments. Video is everywhere and it is being produced and consumed at record levels. Video is becoming more personal, more interactive and more social. Both production and consumption are trending upwards and will continue to do so indefinitely. You can download the entire document here. Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press) and the upcoming, Get Digital: Reinventing Yourself and Your Career for the 21st Century Economy (2009, Lake House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Awards). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.netFor information about Get Digital Classes, visit www.shellypalmer.com/seminars The following is an excerpt from a White Paper I recently wrote for Cisco. You can download the entire document here. There’s a short video presentation as well. The idea behind this paper was to explore some of the issues that will face service providers (like cable and IPTV) as the world becomes more broadband-centric. 1. Billy’s Mom While 11-year-old, Billy R. from Rock Hill, SC played soccer, his mother was just settling down to watch an on-demand movie at home. The coach gave the kids a break and told them that practice would end an hour earlier than usual. Billy sent his mom a text message that instantly showed up as an overlay on the flat-screen in the Living Room. Billy’s mom grabbed her handheld to answer. Ten minutes later, she jumped in her car to pick up her son. Arriving a few minutes early, she continued to watch her movie on her handheld device—right from where she paused it back in her Living Room. hen they arrived home, Billy headed straight for the flat-screen to play a quad-split first-person shooter with three kids from other countries. Mom finished watching her movie in the kitchen—full screen on her PC. This is one of a thousand use-cases cited by the proponents of the “What I want, where I want, when I want” media consumption future. WiwWiwWiw (pronounced wee-wee-wee) foretells a time, in the not too distant future, when everyone will live in a broadband-centric, interoperable, on-demand content universe. Service Providers (SPs) have a tremendous amount of opportunity in a broadband-centric universe. There are at least three potential revenue streams: subscription services, advertising and transactions. Plus, SPs will benefit from the power of wireless networks, the value of location-based services and the true convenience (and behavioral changes) technology will afford connected consumers. 2. Consumer Media Consumption Paradigm Globally, each market has a unique media consumption focus. Parts of Asia are mobile phone-centric; others favor PCs; still others are predominantly populated by television viewers. In Europe, satellite and cable are much more evenly split than they are in the US. South America has a remarkably small paid-television consumer base. But, no matter where you look, no matter what market you visit–where there is broadband connectivity–the media consumption paradigm has changed. Over the past few months, consumers have demonstrated preferences for various types of vide consumption, including: “video snacking”, “download-to-own,” “online video,” and video applications. The adoption of these preferences combined with the advent of technology has helped the Internet quickly evolve into a media-centric environment. 2.1 Consumer Video Experiences 2.1.1 Video Snacks Video snacks are a new art form which evolved in parallel with the social networking phenomenon. In general, video snacks are short and low resolution. They are extremely inexpensive to produce, or have been appropriated completely free of charge by the person who wishes to share them over the Internet. The short durations of video snacks make them difficult to monetize with traditional television advertising units. Consumers generally will not watch :15 seconds of advertising for each :45 seconds of online content. 2.1.2 Internet Television Internet Television is a television-like experience over the public Internet. You can find examples of Internet Television at abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com, and fox.com. In fact, almost every major television network offers some kind of online viewing experience for their most popular shows. Many believe that the limitations of the public Internet are simply antithetical to the distribution of high-quality, emotionally satisfying images to millions of simultaneous users. They are wrong! Live streaming capacity over the public Internet is equal to all but the very biggest shows in primetime. John Edwards, CEO of Move Networks, thinks that 10 million simultaneous users are easy and that we can expect capacity of 20 million simultaneous streams in the near future. Although, there is a clear distinction in terms of video consumption behavior between video snacking and Internet Television, there is a fairly homogenous continuum between both. Video content comes in a plethora of subjective and objective quality levels, resolutions, lengths and subjects. This video content does not have a name that everyone agrees upon. Most people just call it “broadband video” or “online video.” For our purposes, which is simply to silo a piece of video content to a particular value chain, we can take short form videos and call them “video snacks” and longer form pieces (which can be advertiser or subscription supported) and call them “online” or “Internet” television. The important issue is not what to call the content, the issue is how the content is monetized now or may be monetized in the future with the advent of technology. 2.1.3 Download-to-Own Download-to-own is a well-understood consumer behavior. iTunes, Amazon-On-Demand and other download-to-own (or rent) services operate under the assumption that consumers will be willing to pay for files, download, store, and then view them. Of course, digital files are hard to protect from piracy. People with more money than time, buy and people with more time than money, pirate. Download-to-own is often spoken of as “the” form factor that will replace DVDs for long-form and evergreen video content. This may well be the case. The question is, “when?” 2.1.4 Video On-Demand (VoD) Whether it is video snacking, Internet Television or download-to-own, recent observations of the changes in video consumption lead to one overwhelming conclusion—consumers like to consume video content and, most importantly, they like to be in control of their media consumption experiences. This consumer trend shows significant inclination towards on-demand consumption. So, for SPs, VoD has the potential to be the “killer app.” However, it must evolve. It is worth noting here that the technology used for the first generation VoD product was poorly designed from a business perspective. The idea that people would rather press a button and watch a movie than go to a video store was good—but the value chain was flawed. The market price for a PPV movie was too low for Studios and too high for consumers. And, without an intelligence layer, the system could not evolve to deliver television-on-demand or even help promote appropriate content based upon viewer behavior. 2.1.5 Video Applications Lastly, it is important to consider video applications that are also having a significant impact on consumers (webcams) and businesses (video conferencing). As travel becomes more and more difficult and expensive, you can expect two-way video applications to approach ubiquity in broadband environments. Video is everywhere and it is being produced and consumed at record levels. Video is becoming more personal, more interactive and more social. Both production and consumption are trending upwards and will continue to do so indefinitely. You can download the entire document here. Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press) and the upcoming, Get Digital: Reinventing Yourself and Your Career for the 21st Century Economy (2009, Lake House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Awards). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.netFor information about Get Digital Classes, visit www.shellypalmer.com/seminars tag:odeo.com,2009-03-29,24381327 Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:52:20 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Blog Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/24262949-Chris-Brown-Charged-with-Two-Felonies-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-March-6-2009 If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Chris Brown has been charged with 2 felonies over the alleged beating of girlfriend and pop star Rihanna. While Brown is free on $50,000 bail, his charges include assault with intent to cause bodily harm, as well as making criminal threats. Viacom and Harmonix will release “The Beatles: Rock Band” on September 9th, 2009. The game, which will retail for $250 with instruments and $60 without, has been in the works for years as MTV Games and the Beatles record label Apple Corp have been in negotiations. “The Beatles: Rock Band” will be the first time the legendary band’s music will be available in a digital format of any kind. Amazon launched a used video game marketplace yesterday that allows gamers to trade in old games for store credit. The move puts video game giant GameStop, who has had a lock on the used video game market for quite sometime, right in Amazon’s c... If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Chris Brown has been charged with 2 felonies over the alleged beating of girlfriend and pop star Rihanna. While Brown is free on $50,000 bail, his charges include assault with intent to cause bodily harm, as well as making criminal threats. Viacom and Harmonix will release “The Beatles: Rock Band” on September 9th, 2009. The game, which will retail for $250 with instruments and $60 without, has been in the works for years as MTV Games and the Beatles record label Apple Corp have been in negotiations. “The Beatles: Rock Band” will be the first time the legendary band’s music will be available in a digital format of any kind. Amazon launched a used video game marketplace yesterday that allows gamers to trade in old games for store credit. The move puts video game giant GameStop, who has had a lock on the used video game market for quite sometime, right in Amazon’s cross-hairs. On the news, GameStop’s stock fell 14%, despite being up almost 26% so far this year. Investors might be missing the point here, these are two completely different customers. A gamer who wants instant cash or likes shopping for a new game while his old one get inspected is not going to use Amazon’s new service. President Barack Obama named Vivek Kundra the first Chief Information Officer of the White House. Kunda, who held the title of Chief Technology Officer for the District of Columbia, plans on expanding the government’s use of cloud systems, as well as creating a data.gov site that will make information available to the public. Barnes and Noble purchased e-book retailer Fictionwise for $15.7 million in cash. The move comes as the company prepares to open its own e-book store. Barnes and Noble has not sold e-books since 2003, however, with Amazon’s Kindle receiving a lot of press, the decision to re-enter the marketplace is not surprising. If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Chris Brown has been charged with 2 felonies over the alleged beating of girlfriend and pop star Rihanna. While Brown is free on $50,000 bail, his charges include assault with intent to cause bodily harm, as well as making criminal threats. Viacom and Harmonix will release “The Beatles: Rock Band” on September 9th, 2009. The game, which will retail for $250 with instruments and $60 without, has been in the works for years as MTV Games and the Beatles record label Apple Corp have been in negotiations. “The Beatles: Rock Band” will be the first time the legendary band’s music will be available in a digital format of any kind. Amazon launched a used video game marketplace yesterday that allows gamers to trade in old games for store credit. The move puts video game giant GameStop, who has had a lock on the used video game market for quite sometime, right in Amazon’s cross-hairs. On the news, GameStop’s stock fell 14%, despite being up almost 26% so far this year. Investors might be missing the point here, these are two completely different customers. A gamer who wants instant cash or likes shopping for a new game while his old one get inspected is not going to use Amazon’s new service. President Barack Obama named Vivek Kundra the first Chief Information Officer of the White House. Kunda, who held the title of Chief Technology Officer for the District of Columbia, plans on expanding the government’s use of cloud systems, as well as creating a data.gov site that will make information available to the public. Barnes and Noble purchased e-book retailer Fictionwise for $15.7 million in cash. The move comes as the company prepares to open its own e-book store. Barnes and Noble has not sold e-books since 2003, however, with Amazon’s Kindle receiving a lot of press, the decision to re-enter the marketplace is not surprising. tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24262949 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:10:42 -0800 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23732717-Congress-Says-FCC-Chair-Abused-Power-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-December-10-2008 If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. The House Energy and Commerce Committee released a scathing 110 page report titled “Deception and Distrust: The Federal Communications Commission under Kevin J. Martin.” The report claims Martin manipulated findings on FCC reports on “a la carte” channels, as well as reports on the state of competition in the cable market. Electronic Arts announced that it expects its fiscal 2009 report to fall short of its prior expectations. While EA had already lowered estimates due to a delay with the latest Harry Potter game, analysts are predicting EA will take in $5.06 billion in sales, which had been predicted to be as high as $5.3 billion. For the upcoming fiscal year, EA plans to cut costs by laying off 6% of its employees, while investing in marketing hit game franchises. AOL is ready to share Bebo with the world. Bebo, the popular European social networking site AOL purchased for ... If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. The House Energy and Commerce Committee released a scathing 110 page report titled “Deception and Distrust: The Federal Communications Commission under Kevin J. Martin.” The report claims Martin manipulated findings on FCC reports on “a la carte” channels, as well as reports on the state of competition in the cable market. Electronic Arts announced that it expects its fiscal 2009 report to fall short of its prior expectations. While EA had already lowered estimates due to a delay with the latest Harry Potter game, analysts are predicting EA will take in $5.06 billion in sales, which had been predicted to be as high as $5.3 billion. For the upcoming fiscal year, EA plans to cut costs by laying off 6% of its employees, while investing in marketing hit game franchises. AOL is ready to share Bebo with the world. Bebo, the popular European social networking site AOL purchased for $850 million in March, has yet to gain a following in the States, and is losing its grip in the UK to Facebook. TW CEO Jeff Bewkes called Bebo the “riskiest acquisition” Time Warner had in 2008. comScore says 13.5 billion online videos were viewed in October, a 45% increase year-over-year. While an increase in viewing is no surprise, the amount of time viewers spent watching an individual grew to 3 minutes, a sign users are more willing to watch longer video snacks. Plus, today’s consulting question, “NDP Group says that Black Friday sales were down 8% year-over-year, was that because of Cyber-Monday?” Shelly has the answer on today’s MediaBytes. If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. The House Energy and Commerce Committee released a scathing 110 page report titled “Deception and Distrust: The Federal Communications Commission under Kevin J. Martin.” The report claims Martin manipulated findings on FCC reports on “a la carte” channels, as well as reports on the state of competition in the cable market. Electronic Arts announced that it expects its fiscal 2009 report to fall short of its prior expectations. While EA had already lowered estimates due to a delay with the latest Harry Potter game, analysts are predicting EA will take in $5.06 billion in sales, which had been predicted to be as high as $5.3 billion. For the upcoming fiscal year, EA plans to cut costs by laying off 6% of its employees, while investing in marketing hit game franchises. AOL is ready to share Bebo with the world. Bebo, the popular European social networking site AOL purchased for $850 million in March, has yet to gain a following in the States, and is losing its grip in the UK to Facebook. TW CEO Jeff Bewkes called Bebo the “riskiest acquisition” Time Warner had in 2008. comScore says 13.5 billion online videos were viewed in October, a 45% increase year-over-year. While an increase in viewing is no surprise, the amount of time viewers spent watching an individual grew to 3 minutes, a sign users are more willing to watch longer video snacks. Plus, today’s consulting question, “NDP Group says that Black Friday sales were down 8% year-over-year, was that because of Cyber-Monday?” Shelly has the answer on today’s MediaBytes. tag:odeo.com,2008-12-10,23732717 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:34:33 -0800 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23457347-Google-Yahoo-to-Delay-Search-Ads-Deal-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-October-6-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. GOOGLE and YAHOO have delayed their search advertising deal. Both companies, whom agreed to delay implementing the deal until October, have decided to postpone the deal a little more while they work with the Department of Justice. The search ads deal, which has been unpopular with advertisers and search competition, has come under DoJ and EU scrutiny as the pairing counts for over 82% of the search ads business. DREAMWORKS and PARAMOUNT announced a separation agreement on Sunday. The former team will divide up its 200 projects amongst each other, while remaining partners on nearly 30-40 projects. The split comes as Dreamworks head Steve Spielberg is in the process of starting a new company with $550 million in equity from India’s Reliance BIG Entertainment and another $700 million, poss...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. GOOGLE and YAHOO have delayed their search advertising deal. Both companies, whom agreed to delay implementing the deal until October, have decided to postpone the deal a little more while they work with the Department of Justice. The search ads deal, which has been unpopular with advertisers and search competition, has come under DoJ and EU scrutiny as the pairing counts for over 82% of the search ads business. DREAMWORKS and PARAMOUNT announced a separation agreement on Sunday. The former team will divide up its 200 projects amongst each other, while remaining partners on nearly 30-40 projects. The split comes as Dreamworks head Steve Spielberg is in the process of starting a new company with $550 million in equity from India’s Reliance BIG Entertainment and another $700 million, possibly from JP Morgan Chase & Co. FACEBOOK co-founder Dustin Moskovitz is leaving the company. Moskovitz, along with star engineer Justin Rosenstein, one of the first employee’s Facebook scooped from Google, will concentrate on a new startup. Moskovitz and Rosenstein are the latest Facebook higher-ups to jump ship before the company begins allowing employees to sell portions of their Facebook shares at Facebook’s internal accounting valuation. In another instance of “don’t-believe-everything-you-read-on-the-internet”, Steve Jobs was not rushed to the hospital the other day, complaining of chest pains. The rumor began on CNN’s iReport site, a video site for citizen journalists, which claimed that Jobs had been rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack. The story gained traction on DIGG and TWITTER, and others, like Silicon Valley Insider, picked it up as both an important story and an important indicator of the power of citizen journalism. Well, it ended up being neither, just another internet hoax, debunked by Apple’s spokesperson. Just another reminder, don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Plus, today’s consulting question, “How serious are Misty May’s injuries and do you really think Dancing with the Stars will bring back Kim Kardashian?” Shelly has the answer on today’s MediaBytes. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. GOOGLE and YAHOO have delayed their search advertising deal. Both companies, whom agreed to delay implementing the deal until October, have decided to postpone the deal a little more while they work with the Department of Justice. The search ads deal, which has been unpopular with advertisers and search competition, has come under DoJ and EU scrutiny as the pairing counts for over 82% of the search ads business. DREAMWORKS and PARAMOUNT announced a separation agreement on Sunday. The former team will divide up its 200 projects amongst each other, while remaining partners on nearly 30-40 projects. The split comes as Dreamworks head Steve Spielberg is in the process of starting a new company with $550 million in equity from India’s Reliance BIG Entertainment and another $700 million, possibly from JP Morgan Chase & Co. FACEBOOK co-founder Dustin Moskovitz is leaving the company. Moskovitz, along with star engineer Justin Rosenstein, one of the first employee’s Facebook scooped from Google, will concentrate on a new startup. Moskovitz and Rosenstein are the latest Facebook higher-ups to jump ship before the company begins allowing employees to sell portions of their Facebook shares at Facebook’s internal accounting valuation. In another instance of “don’t-believe-everything-you-read-on-the-internet”, Steve Jobs was not rushed to the hospital the other day, complaining of chest pains. The rumor began on CNN’s iReport site, a video site for citizen journalists, which claimed that Jobs had been rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack. The story gained traction on DIGG and TWITTER, and others, like Silicon Valley Insider, picked it up as both an important story and an important indicator of the power of citizen journalism. Well, it ended up being neither, just another internet hoax, debunked by Apple’s spokesperson. Just another reminder, don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Plus, today’s consulting question, “How serious are Misty May’s injuries and do you really think Dancing with the Stars will bring back Kim Kardashian?” Shelly has the answer on today’s MediaBytes. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-10-06,23457347 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:40:27 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23373251-Nielsen-says-U-S-Ad-Spending-Down-1-4-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-September-19-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on the latest in U.S. ad spending and how the numbers don’t tell the full truth. EBAY is selling off STUMBLEUPON . eBay, which acquired StumbleUpon for $75 million in May of 2007, has hired Deutsche Bank to assist in finding a buyer. Analysts are worried that StumbleUpon, which has grown slowly, may not be able to fetch its original price in the slumping economy. Amidst rumors that MICROSOFT was dumping Jerry Seinfeld, MSFT debuted “I’m a PC” ad, a direct response to APPLE’s “Pc vs. Mac” series. According to Redmond, “I’m a PC” is only the second phase of its new $300 million ad campaign. A faction of disgruntled SAG members have won control of the organizations national board. Actors Amy Brenneman and...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on the latest in U.S. ad spending and how the numbers don’t tell the full truth. EBAY is selling off STUMBLEUPON . eBay, which acquired StumbleUpon for $75 million in May of 2007, has hired Deutsche Bank to assist in finding a buyer. Analysts are worried that StumbleUpon, which has grown slowly, may not be able to fetch its original price in the slumping economy. Amidst rumors that MICROSOFT was dumping Jerry Seinfeld, MSFT debuted “I’m a PC” ad, a direct response to APPLE’s “Pc vs. Mac” series. According to Redmond, “I’m a PC” is only the second phase of its new $300 million ad campaign. A faction of disgruntled SAG members have won control of the organizations national board. Actors Amy Brenneman and Adam Arkin led Unite for Strength, a group of dissident members, which seeks to push negotiations with the studios. SAG, which is in its third month of a work stopage, was previously run by the Membership First group. AMAZON unveils file-shipping business. The content delivery initiative’s goal is to help businesses sen files of all shapes and sizes around the globe through a cloud computing infrastructure. The service is a logical step for Amazon, who has been focusing on cloud computing by way of its S3 service. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on the latest in U.S. ad spending and how the numbers don’t tell the full truth. EBAY is selling off STUMBLEUPON . eBay, which acquired StumbleUpon for $75 million in May of 2007, has hired Deutsche Bank to assist in finding a buyer. Analysts are worried that StumbleUpon, which has grown slowly, may not be able to fetch its original price in the slumping economy. Amidst rumors that MICROSOFT was dumping Jerry Seinfeld, MSFT debuted “I’m a PC” ad, a direct response to APPLE’s “Pc vs. Mac” series. According to Redmond, “I’m a PC” is only the second phase of its new $300 million ad campaign. A faction of disgruntled SAG members have won control of the organizations national board. Actors Amy Brenneman and Adam Arkin led Unite for Strength, a group of dissident members, which seeks to push negotiations with the studios. SAG, which is in its third month of a work stopage, was previously run by the Membership First group. AMAZON unveils file-shipping business. The content delivery initiative’s goal is to help businesses sen files of all shapes and sizes around the globe through a cloud computing infrastructure. The service is a logical step for Amazon, who has been focusing on cloud computing by way of its S3 service. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-09-19,23373251 Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:41:57 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23351649-LinkedIn-to-Launch-LinkedIn-Audience-Network-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-September-15-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. LINKEDIN will launch the LinkedIn Audience Network today. Using LinkedIn’s profile-based targeting technology the LinkedIn Audience Network helps marketers efficiently reach specific audiences of influential and affluent professionals across hundreds of high quality brand-name publishers. ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: ERTS) has dropped its bid for TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE (NASD: TTWO). EA has abandoned its $2 billion takeover bid, which had been pending for 8 months, on the basis that the company wouldn’t be able to merge before the Holiday season. At its peak offer, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that EA’s bid of $25.74 a share undervalued T2. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ) is scheduled to make an announcement today that could unveil the new BlackBerry Storm . The Storm is BlackBerry’s first t...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. LINKEDIN will launch the LinkedIn Audience Network today. Using LinkedIn’s profile-based targeting technology the LinkedIn Audience Network helps marketers efficiently reach specific audiences of influential and affluent professionals across hundreds of high quality brand-name publishers. ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: ERTS) has dropped its bid for TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE (NASD: TTWO). EA has abandoned its $2 billion takeover bid, which had been pending for 8 months, on the basis that the company wouldn’t be able to merge before the Holiday season. At its peak offer, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that EA’s bid of $25.74 a share undervalued T2. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ) is scheduled to make an announcement today that could unveil the new BlackBerry Storm . The Storm is BlackBerry’s first touch screen and is touted as its iPhone killer. Stay tuned for more information. A massive collection of companies are apparently teaming up to develop a DRM “ecosystem” that will set industry standard. BEST BUY (NYSE: BBY), CISCO (NASD: CSCO), COMCAST (NASD: CMCSK), FOX (NYSE: NWS), HP INTEL (NYSE: HPQ), LIONS GATE (NYSE: LGF), MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT), NBC U (NYSE: GE), PARAMOUNT, PHILIPS, SONY (NYSE: SNE), TOSHIBA, VERISIGN (NASD: VRSN) and WARNER BROS. (NYSE: T) have all signed up and plan to unveil their platform at CES in January. An industry standard is necessary to create a DRM scheme that is effective and doesn’t drive piracy. EA’s computer game SPORE has already sold 2 million copies, but the game could also become the most pirated game of all time with 500,000 downloads on BitTorrent. With 2,016 one-star ratings out of the 2,216 reviews on AMAZON (NASD: AMZN), the most common complaint is the bundled DRM, which restricts how many computers the game can be loaded to. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. LINKEDIN will launch the LinkedIn Audience Network today. Using LinkedIn’s profile-based targeting technology the LinkedIn Audience Network helps marketers efficiently reach specific audiences of influential and affluent professionals across hundreds of high quality brand-name publishers. ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: ERTS) has dropped its bid for TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE (NASD: TTWO). EA has abandoned its $2 billion takeover bid, which had been pending for 8 months, on the basis that the company wouldn’t be able to merge before the Holiday season. At its peak offer, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that EA’s bid of $25.74 a share undervalued T2. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ) is scheduled to make an announcement today that could unveil the new BlackBerry Storm . The Storm is BlackBerry’s first touch screen and is touted as its iPhone killer. Stay tuned for more information. A massive collection of companies are apparently teaming up to develop a DRM “ecosystem” that will set industry standard. BEST BUY (NYSE: BBY), CISCO (NASD: CSCO), COMCAST (NASD: CMCSK), FOX (NYSE: NWS), HP INTEL (NYSE: HPQ), LIONS GATE (NYSE: LGF), MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT), NBC U (NYSE: GE), PARAMOUNT, PHILIPS, SONY (NYSE: SNE), TOSHIBA, VERISIGN (NASD: VRSN) and WARNER BROS. (NYSE: T) have all signed up and plan to unveil their platform at CES in January. An industry standard is necessary to create a DRM scheme that is effective and doesn’t drive piracy. EA’s computer game SPORE has already sold 2 million copies, but the game could also become the most pirated game of all time with 500,000 downloads on BitTorrent. With 2,016 one-star ratings out of the 2,216 reviews on AMAZON (NASD: AMZN), the most common complaint is the bundled DRM, which restricts how many computers the game can be loaded to. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-09-15,23351649 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:16:36 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23252547-NFL-Begins-Online-Streaming-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-September-5-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. THE NFL and NBC SPORTS kicked off their live online streaming efforts last night, offering the Giants’ victory over the Redskins live on NBCSports.com. The game had picture-in-picture functionality, 4 selectable camera angles and live commentary. Unfortunately, NBC chose Flash for the streaming format, which provided a lower quality than MOVE NETWORKS brought to the online Olympics. In other NFL news, this Sunday on “NFL Countdown” ESPN will debut EA Sports Virtual Playbook, a new technology developed by ELECTRONIC ARTS. Virtual Playbook will let commentators interact with virtual athletes, allowing them to illustrate plays and simulate game situations. If the technology is a hit, expect to see it offered on more ESPN programming. SARAH PALIN drew over 37 million viewers on ...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. THE NFL and NBC SPORTS kicked off their live online streaming efforts last night, offering the Giants’ victory over the Redskins live on NBCSports.com. The game had picture-in-picture functionality, 4 selectable camera angles and live commentary. Unfortunately, NBC chose Flash for the streaming format, which provided a lower quality than MOVE NETWORKS brought to the online Olympics. In other NFL news, this Sunday on “NFL Countdown” ESPN will debut EA Sports Virtual Playbook, a new technology developed by ELECTRONIC ARTS. Virtual Playbook will let commentators interact with virtual athletes, allowing them to illustrate plays and simulate game situations. If the technology is a hit, expect to see it offered on more ESPN programming. SARAH PALIN drew over 37 million viewers on Wednesday night, according to NIELSEN. The self-described “pit-bull in lipstick” trounced Joseph Biden’s draw by 13 million and approached Barack Obama’s record-setting 38.4 million viewers. It’s likely that the fiery hockey-mom beat McCain’s numbers for Thursday night. Stay tuned. DISH NETWORK will bring an interactive element to the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards. Viewers will be able to answer on-screen pop-quiz questions during the broadcast. The feature will be sponsored by Pepsi and utilize software from Ensequence. MICROSOFT launched its new $300 million “stop hating us” ad campaign last night, starring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and company founder Bill Gates. The series of spots is Microsoft’s response to the mockery it receives in Apple’s Mac vs. PC commercials. The first spot featured Seinfeld running into Gates at a discount shoe store….and was about as funny as you’d expect a Microsoft ad to be. You can view a high-quality version of the ad on Microsoft.com or a lower quality version that was posted on YouTube. COMCAST has filed suit to overturn the FCC’s decision to bar it from selectively throttling Internet traffic. In the meantime, the company will comply with FCC mandates for increased disclosure of its network practices. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. THE NFL and NBC SPORTS kicked off their live online streaming efforts last night, offering the Giants’ victory over the Redskins live on NBCSports.com. The game had picture-in-picture functionality, 4 selectable camera angles and live commentary. Unfortunately, NBC chose Flash for the streaming format, which provided a lower quality than MOVE NETWORKS brought to the online Olympics. In other NFL news, this Sunday on “NFL Countdown” ESPN will debut EA Sports Virtual Playbook, a new technology developed by ELECTRONIC ARTS. Virtual Playbook will let commentators interact with virtual athletes, allowing them to illustrate plays and simulate game situations. If the technology is a hit, expect to see it offered on more ESPN programming. SARAH PALIN drew over 37 million viewers on Wednesday night, according to NIELSEN. The self-described “pit-bull in lipstick” trounced Joseph Biden’s draw by 13 million and approached Barack Obama’s record-setting 38.4 million viewers. It’s likely that the fiery hockey-mom beat McCain’s numbers for Thursday night. Stay tuned. DISH NETWORK will bring an interactive element to the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards. Viewers will be able to answer on-screen pop-quiz questions during the broadcast. The feature will be sponsored by Pepsi and utilize software from Ensequence. MICROSOFT launched its new $300 million “stop hating us” ad campaign last night, starring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and company founder Bill Gates. The series of spots is Microsoft’s response to the mockery it receives in Apple’s Mac vs. PC commercials. The first spot featured Seinfeld running into Gates at a discount shoe store….and was about as funny as you’d expect a Microsoft ad to be. You can view a high-quality version of the ad on Microsoft.com or a lower quality version that was posted on YouTube. COMCAST has filed suit to overturn the FCC’s decision to bar it from selectively throttling Internet traffic. In the meantime, the company will comply with FCC mandates for increased disclosure of its network practices. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-09-05,23252547 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:38:09 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23240649-Obama%E2%80%99s-DNC-Speech-Highest-Rated-TV-Event-of-2008-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-September-2-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on BARACK OBAMA netting 38.4 million viewers during his DNC speech and how MOVE NETWORKS technology is bringing the convention to the masses. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) will launch Chrome today, its own Internet browser. Chrome, which will directly compete with MICROSOFT’s (NASD: MSFT) Internet Explorer and MOZILLA’s FIREFOX for a share of the market, will also be available on mobile devices. Google is counting on its open source foray into web browsing to diversify its interests, while disrupting Microsoft’s grasp on browsing. Broadband providers are cutting costs as new subscribers decline. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) both announced that they are slashing and bundling the cost of DSL service. Expect tactics to become aggressive as ca...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on BARACK OBAMA netting 38.4 million viewers during his DNC speech and how MOVE NETWORKS technology is bringing the convention to the masses. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) will launch Chrome today, its own Internet browser. Chrome, which will directly compete with MICROSOFT’s (NASD: MSFT) Internet Explorer and MOZILLA’s FIREFOX for a share of the market, will also be available on mobile devices. Google is counting on its open source foray into web browsing to diversify its interests, while disrupting Microsoft’s grasp on browsing. Broadband providers are cutting costs as new subscribers decline. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) both announced that they are slashing and bundling the cost of DSL service. Expect tactics to become aggressive as cable companies and teleco’s battle for the roughly 40% of U.S. households that have yet to get high speed internet. WILMINGTON, NC will begin broadcastingDigital Television next Monday, September 8th. The coastal city will turn off analog signals and broadcast in digital, potentially leaving thousands of TV screens blank. Wilmington was chosen as the first city to switch to a totally digital signal. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on BARACK OBAMA netting 38.4 million viewers during his DNC speech and how MOVE NETWORKS technology is bringing the convention to the masses. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) will launch Chrome today, its own Internet browser. Chrome, which will directly compete with MICROSOFT’s (NASD: MSFT) Internet Explorer and MOZILLA’s FIREFOX for a share of the market, will also be available on mobile devices. Google is counting on its open source foray into web browsing to diversify its interests, while disrupting Microsoft’s grasp on browsing. Broadband providers are cutting costs as new subscribers decline. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) both announced that they are slashing and bundling the cost of DSL service. Expect tactics to become aggressive as cable companies and teleco’s battle for the roughly 40% of U.S. households that have yet to get high speed internet. WILMINGTON, NC will begin broadcastingDigital Television next Monday, September 8th. The coastal city will turn off analog signals and broadcast in digital, potentially leaving thousands of TV screens blank. Wilmington was chosen as the first city to switch to a totally digital signal. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-09-02,23240649 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:44:14 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23212795-Are-Apple%E2%80%99s-Problems-Bad-to-the-Core-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-August-25-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary on APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) recent woes and the future of its brand on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on NBC’s (NYSE: GE) failure to successfully monetize online video. NBCOlympics.com received over 1.2 billion hits, and 72 million video streams through Saturday. While NBC used exclusive video rights to take in 4.3 million uniques a day, YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) took advantage of broader, more traditional avenues to draw 4.7 million uniques a day. Expect these numbers to skyrocket at the next games. OBAMA’S running mate has sketchy tech past. JOE BIDEN, whose anti-privacy legislation help create the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), received a low score of 37.5% from the CNET (NYSE: VIA.B) Technology Voter Guide of 2006. Biden has been instrumental i...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary on APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) recent woes and the future of its brand on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on NBC’s (NYSE: GE) failure to successfully monetize online video. NBCOlympics.com received over 1.2 billion hits, and 72 million video streams through Saturday. While NBC used exclusive video rights to take in 4.3 million uniques a day, YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) took advantage of broader, more traditional avenues to draw 4.7 million uniques a day. Expect these numbers to skyrocket at the next games. OBAMA’S running mate has sketchy tech past. JOE BIDEN, whose anti-privacy legislation help create the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), received a low score of 37.5% from the CNET (NYSE: VIA.B) Technology Voter Guide of 2006. Biden has been instrumental in protecting the RIAA and MPAA and going after P2P networks, including recently proposing to use $1 billion tax dollars to police P2P networks. FACEBOOK is launching Engagement Ads which encourage users to connect with brands and share them with friends. Facebook VP of Media Sales Mike Murphy believes that the reason social network as have been unsuccessful is because users don’t want to be pulled or taken away from their networks. Facebook’s goal is to create “ad products that users can interact with in the same way they do with other things on Facebook.” Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary on APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) recent woes and the future of its brand on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on NBC’s (NYSE: GE) failure to successfully monetize online video. NBCOlympics.com received over 1.2 billion hits, and 72 million video streams through Saturday. While NBC used exclusive video rights to take in 4.3 million uniques a day, YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) took advantage of broader, more traditional avenues to draw 4.7 million uniques a day. Expect these numbers to skyrocket at the next games. OBAMA’S running mate has sketchy tech past. JOE BIDEN, whose anti-privacy legislation help create the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), received a low score of 37.5% from the CNET (NYSE: VIA.B) Technology Voter Guide of 2006. Biden has been instrumental in protecting the RIAA and MPAA and going after P2P networks, including recently proposing to use $1 billion tax dollars to police P2P networks. FACEBOOK is launching Engagement Ads which encourage users to connect with brands and share them with friends. Facebook VP of Media Sales Mike Murphy believes that the reason social network as have been unsuccessful is because users don’t want to be pulled or taken away from their networks. Facebook’s goal is to create “ad products that users can interact with in the same way they do with other things on Facebook.” Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-08-25,23212795 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:58:47 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23200340-Apple-Slapped-with-3G-iPhone-Lawsuit-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-August-21-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) will enlist JERRY SEINFELD for a new advertising campaign. The campaign seeks to divert attention from the popular “Mac vs. PC” commercials and universal panning of Windows Vista. Microsoft will spend $300 million on the campaign, which will also feature Bill Gates. APPLE (NASD: AAPL) was slapped with a lawsuit over defective 3G iPhones. Jessica Alena Smith of Alabama filed the suit claiming that the 3G iPhone’s performance is subpar, with dropped calls and slow speeds replacing supposed high speed net use and a broader network. Due to widespread complaints from users all over the country, a motion has been filed to upgrade the lawsuit to Class Action status, as tens of thousands of customers could be adversely affected by the flakey iPhone. YAHOO (NAS...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) will enlist JERRY SEINFELD for a new advertising campaign. The campaign seeks to divert attention from the popular “Mac vs. PC” commercials and universal panning of Windows Vista. Microsoft will spend $300 million on the campaign, which will also feature Bill Gates. APPLE (NASD: AAPL) was slapped with a lawsuit over defective 3G iPhones. Jessica Alena Smith of Alabama filed the suit claiming that the 3G iPhone’s performance is subpar, with dropped calls and slow speeds replacing supposed high speed net use and a broader network. Due to widespread complaints from users all over the country, a motion has been filed to upgrade the lawsuit to Class Action status, as tens of thousands of customers could be adversely affected by the flakey iPhone. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) and INTEL (NASD: INTC) are teaming to bring widgets to television sets. Intel recently revealed a “system on a chip” that would provide set-top boxes and digital TV’s with interactive applications. The widget system is scheduled to roll out in 2009, with widgets from companies like Blockbuster, eBay and Twitter, among others. INTEL (NASD: INTC) has developed technology that can wirelessly recharge gadgets. The chip manufacturer will demonstrate its magnetic field technology at its Developer Forum today, which can reportedly deliver 60 watts of power from 2-3 feet away, using only 25% of the power in transmission. Intel envisions a system where you can place your laptop on your counter and have the counter recharge the battery, without any wires. In other news, YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) has beaten NBC (NYSE: GE) in Olympics coverage on the web 8 of 11 days since the games started. All this despite NBC having the exclusive rights to video from Beijing. The FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION has approved a potential ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: ERTS), TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE (NASD: TTWO) merger, paving the way for a deal. The DISH NETWORK (NASD: DISH) got its stock rating cut by an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co, who believes the satellite provider will lose even more customers in the next quarter. And finally, today is the day IAC (NASD: IACID) will spin off the Home Shopping Network, Interval Leisure Group, Ticketmaster and Tree.com. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) will enlist JERRY SEINFELD for a new advertising campaign. The campaign seeks to divert attention from the popular “Mac vs. PC” commercials and universal panning of Windows Vista. Microsoft will spend $300 million on the campaign, which will also feature Bill Gates. APPLE (NASD: AAPL) was slapped with a lawsuit over defective 3G iPhones. Jessica Alena Smith of Alabama filed the suit claiming that the 3G iPhone’s performance is subpar, with dropped calls and slow speeds replacing supposed high speed net use and a broader network. Due to widespread complaints from users all over the country, a motion has been filed to upgrade the lawsuit to Class Action status, as tens of thousands of customers could be adversely affected by the flakey iPhone. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) and INTEL (NASD: INTC) are teaming to bring widgets to television sets. Intel recently revealed a “system on a chip” that would provide set-top boxes and digital TV’s with interactive applications. The widget system is scheduled to roll out in 2009, with widgets from companies like Blockbuster, eBay and Twitter, among others. INTEL (NASD: INTC) has developed technology that can wirelessly recharge gadgets. The chip manufacturer will demonstrate its magnetic field technology at its Developer Forum today, which can reportedly deliver 60 watts of power from 2-3 feet away, using only 25% of the power in transmission. Intel envisions a system where you can place your laptop on your counter and have the counter recharge the battery, without any wires. In other news, YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) has beaten NBC (NYSE: GE) in Olympics coverage on the web 8 of 11 days since the games started. All this despite NBC having the exclusive rights to video from Beijing. The FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION has approved a potential ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: ERTS), TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE (NASD: TTWO) merger, paving the way for a deal. The DISH NETWORK (NASD: DISH) got its stock rating cut by an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co, who believes the satellite provider will lose even more customers in the next quarter. And finally, today is the day IAC (NASD: IACID) will spin off the Home Shopping Network, Interval Leisure Group, Ticketmaster and Tree.com. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-08-21,23200340 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:11:32 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23182968-T-Mobile-First-To-Offer-Phone-with-Google%E2%80%99s-Android-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-August-15-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on T-MOBILE becoming the first to offer a phone withGOOGLE’s (NASD: GOOG) Android software and how it will affect mobile communication. APPLE (NASD: AAPL) is working on a software repair that will help fix the 3G iPhone’s tendency to drop calls. The mobile device has had a problem with slow 3G speeds and dropped calls, which Apple believes are related to a chip malfunction. Apple hopes its software update will remedy the situation, which could turn consumer evangelists into bad press mongers. Former APPLE (NASD: AAPL) General Counsel Nancy Heinen will pay $2.2 million to settle her backdated stock charges with the SEC. Heinen was one of several former employee’s named in the 2006 SEC backdating scandal, which accused dozens of companies of bac...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on T-MOBILE becoming the first to offer a phone withGOOGLE’s (NASD: GOOG) Android software and how it will affect mobile communication. APPLE (NASD: AAPL) is working on a software repair that will help fix the 3G iPhone’s tendency to drop calls. The mobile device has had a problem with slow 3G speeds and dropped calls, which Apple believes are related to a chip malfunction. Apple hopes its software update will remedy the situation, which could turn consumer evangelists into bad press mongers. Former APPLE (NASD: AAPL) General Counsel Nancy Heinen will pay $2.2 million to settle her backdated stock charges with the SEC. Heinen was one of several former employee’s named in the 2006 SEC backdating scandal, which accused dozens of companies of backdating stock options. Heinen falsified documents in 2001 and 2002 relating to the backdating of stock options, which helped her gain a considerable amount of personal wealth. HARBINGER CAPITAL has accumulated a 4.9% stake of CABLEVISION (NYSE: CVC). After acquiring its share, Harbinger filed a motion explaining that it could take a larger share of the cable provider. Harbinger, who successfully gained two seats on the NEW YORK TIMES Board of Directors this year, could be setting itself up for a proxy battle with the Dolans. Over the past week NETFLIX(NASD: NFLX) has experienced debilitating shipping set backs that affected 2.8 million subscribers. A major technical issue caused Netflix not to ship DVD’s Tuesday and Thursday, with partial a few shipments made Wednesday. Netflix still doesn’t know the root of the error, but will give customers who experienced problems a 5% discount on their monthly bill. The release date for HARRY POTTER and the HALF BLOOD PRINCE has been pushed back to July, 17, 2009. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on T-MOBILE becoming the first to offer a phone withGOOGLE’s (NASD: GOOG) Android software and how it will affect mobile communication. APPLE (NASD: AAPL) is working on a software repair that will help fix the 3G iPhone’s tendency to drop calls. The mobile device has had a problem with slow 3G speeds and dropped calls, which Apple believes are related to a chip malfunction. Apple hopes its software update will remedy the situation, which could turn consumer evangelists into bad press mongers. Former APPLE (NASD: AAPL) General Counsel Nancy Heinen will pay $2.2 million to settle her backdated stock charges with the SEC. Heinen was one of several former employee’s named in the 2006 SEC backdating scandal, which accused dozens of companies of backdating stock options. Heinen falsified documents in 2001 and 2002 relating to the backdating of stock options, which helped her gain a considerable amount of personal wealth. HARBINGER CAPITAL has accumulated a 4.9% stake of CABLEVISION (NYSE: CVC). After acquiring its share, Harbinger filed a motion explaining that it could take a larger share of the cable provider. Harbinger, who successfully gained two seats on the NEW YORK TIMES Board of Directors this year, could be setting itself up for a proxy battle with the Dolans. Over the past week NETFLIX(NASD: NFLX) has experienced debilitating shipping set backs that affected 2.8 million subscribers. A major technical issue caused Netflix not to ship DVD’s Tuesday and Thursday, with partial a few shipments made Wednesday. Netflix still doesn’t know the root of the error, but will give customers who experienced problems a 5% discount on their monthly bill. The release date for HARRY POTTER and the HALF BLOOD PRINCE has been pushed back to July, 17, 2009. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-08-15,23182968 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:54:58 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23175528-Best-Buy-To-Sell-3G-iPhone-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-August-13-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on BEST BUY (NYSE: BBY) being the first national retailer to sell APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) 3G iPhone. CNN is set to double the number of journalists in domestic cities. The journalists will work from borrowed office space, utilizing mobile devices and the internet, instead of expensive bureau offices, to communicate the news. CNN’s move is notable as it mimics many of the tools bloggers use to produce daily content. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) is expected to name two new board members on Friday. In compliance with its deal with Carl Icahn, Yahoo will likely give Frank Biondi and former Nextel CEO John Chapple seats on Yahoo’s Board of Directors. Icahn and his cronies have a lot of work to do to get Yahoo’s stock back up to $33. Former HBO CEO CHRIS A...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on BEST BUY (NYSE: BBY) being the first national retailer to sell APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) 3G iPhone. CNN is set to double the number of journalists in domestic cities. The journalists will work from borrowed office space, utilizing mobile devices and the internet, instead of expensive bureau offices, to communicate the news. CNN’s move is notable as it mimics many of the tools bloggers use to produce daily content. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) is expected to name two new board members on Friday. In compliance with its deal with Carl Icahn, Yahoo will likely give Frank Biondi and former Nextel CEO John Chapple seats on Yahoo’s Board of Directors. Icahn and his cronies have a lot of work to do to get Yahoo’s stock back up to $33. Former HBO CEO CHRIS ALBRECHT has suddenly resigned from his job at IMG. Albrecht, who held the newly created Head of Media and Entertainment position at IMG, was in charge of raising money for media acquisitions, a job which was never fully realized. IMG blames the credit collapse for the lack of funding and Albrecht’s subsequent departure. L’OREAL’s lawsuit against EBAY (NASD: EBAY) has been dismissed by a Belgian court. The suit, which charged eBay with selling counterfeit goods, was thrown out on the premise that eBay’s procedure for removing fake goods was well within the law. The decision comes a month after eBay won a similar injunction from Tiffany & Co. and will secure eBay’s stance against counterfeit goods. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on BEST BUY (NYSE: BBY) being the first national retailer to sell APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) 3G iPhone. CNN is set to double the number of journalists in domestic cities. The journalists will work from borrowed office space, utilizing mobile devices and the internet, instead of expensive bureau offices, to communicate the news. CNN’s move is notable as it mimics many of the tools bloggers use to produce daily content. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) is expected to name two new board members on Friday. In compliance with its deal with Carl Icahn, Yahoo will likely give Frank Biondi and former Nextel CEO John Chapple seats on Yahoo’s Board of Directors. Icahn and his cronies have a lot of work to do to get Yahoo’s stock back up to $33. Former HBO CEO CHRIS ALBRECHT has suddenly resigned from his job at IMG. Albrecht, who held the newly created Head of Media and Entertainment position at IMG, was in charge of raising money for media acquisitions, a job which was never fully realized. IMG blames the credit collapse for the lack of funding and Albrecht’s subsequent departure. L’OREAL’s lawsuit against EBAY (NASD: EBAY) has been dismissed by a Belgian court. The suit, which charged eBay with selling counterfeit goods, was thrown out on the premise that eBay’s procedure for removing fake goods was well within the law. The decision comes a month after eBay won a similar injunction from Tiffany & Co. and will secure eBay’s stance against counterfeit goods. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-08-13,23175528 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:32:29 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23162138-NBC%E2%80%99s-Coverage-of-the-Beijing-Olympics-Starts-Today-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-August-8-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on NBC’s (NYSE: GE) coverage of the Beijing Olympics and whether or not the ratings will prove to be worth the investment. WARNER MUSIC GROUP (NYSE: WMG) CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. wants to increase the licensing fees for music used in interactive music games like ROCK BAND and GUITAR HERO. Bronfman wants higher royalty fees and a share of sales of digital downloads purchased through video game consoles. While games like Guitar Hero have become essential marketing tools for record companies, Bronfman says WMG will not continue to license songs to games unless they agree to pay increased rates for content. CLEARWIRE’s (NASD: CLWR) second quarter numbers were crushed by its plans to merge with SPRINT NEXTEL (NYSE: S). Clearwire, who is waiting on a $3.2 b...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on NBC’s (NYSE: GE) coverage of the Beijing Olympics and whether or not the ratings will prove to be worth the investment. WARNER MUSIC GROUP (NYSE: WMG) CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. wants to increase the licensing fees for music used in interactive music games like ROCK BAND and GUITAR HERO. Bronfman wants higher royalty fees and a share of sales of digital downloads purchased through video game consoles. While games like Guitar Hero have become essential marketing tools for record companies, Bronfman says WMG will not continue to license songs to games unless they agree to pay increased rates for content. CLEARWIRE’s (NASD: CLWR) second quarter numbers were crushed by its plans to merge with SPRINT NEXTEL (NYSE: S). Clearwire, who is waiting on a $3.2 billion infusion of capital to roll out its WiMax network, reported a net loss of $199.1 million, compared to a net loss of $118.1 million the year before. Clearwire’s fate is currently tied to its deal with the beleaguered Sprint and whether or not WiMax will live up to its billing. In a related story, SPRINT (NYSE: S) canceled a $3 billion stock sale intended to reduce its debt. A spokesmen said that Sprint would’ve had to pay interest between 4.75% and 5.25% and that the company didn’t need the money that badly. The convertible sale of stock would have gone directly towards parring down the companies mounting debt. DIRECTV (NASD: DTV) announced solid second quarter numbers, with profit up 1.6%. CEO Chase Carey noted the companies expanded HD programming as the reason for its steady growth. Unlike the Dish Network, DirecTV took in 129,000 new customers during the second quarter. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on NBC’s (NYSE: GE) coverage of the Beijing Olympics and whether or not the ratings will prove to be worth the investment. WARNER MUSIC GROUP (NYSE: WMG) CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. wants to increase the licensing fees for music used in interactive music games like ROCK BAND and GUITAR HERO. Bronfman wants higher royalty fees and a share of sales of digital downloads purchased through video game consoles. While games like Guitar Hero have become essential marketing tools for record companies, Bronfman says WMG will not continue to license songs to games unless they agree to pay increased rates for content. CLEARWIRE’s (NASD: CLWR) second quarter numbers were crushed by its plans to merge with SPRINT NEXTEL (NYSE: S). Clearwire, who is waiting on a $3.2 billion infusion of capital to roll out its WiMax network, reported a net loss of $199.1 million, compared to a net loss of $118.1 million the year before. Clearwire’s fate is currently tied to its deal with the beleaguered Sprint and whether or not WiMax will live up to its billing. In a related story, SPRINT (NYSE: S) canceled a $3 billion stock sale intended to reduce its debt. A spokesmen said that Sprint would’ve had to pay interest between 4.75% and 5.25% and that the company didn’t need the money that badly. The convertible sale of stock would have gone directly towards parring down the companies mounting debt. DIRECTV (NASD: DTV) announced solid second quarter numbers, with profit up 1.6%. CEO Chase Carey noted the companies expanded HD programming as the reason for its steady growth. Unlike the Dish Network, DirecTV took in 129,000 new customers during the second quarter. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-08-08,23162138 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:21:36 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23157766-Time-Warner-Cable-Over-200-000-New-Subscribers-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-August-7th                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on TIME WARNER CABLE’s (NYSE: TWC) large increase in subscribers and the ongoing broadband battle between cable company’s and teleco’s. TIME WARNER’s (NYSE: TWX) second quarter earnings are down 26% due to declining AOL subscribers and lower ad revenue at Time. AOL remains a key source of frustration for TW, whose revenue was up at its film, cable and network television divisions. CEO Jeff Bewkes emphasized that TW plans to sell AOL, or spin it off into its own business by 2009. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer may buy back $20 billion in stock to help boost Microsoft’s stock. Microsoft’s stock is down 17% since February and is trading at the lowest price earnings ratio in its 22 years public. With the $45 billion YAH...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on TIME WARNER CABLE’s (NYSE: TWC) large increase in subscribers and the ongoing broadband battle between cable company’s and teleco’s. TIME WARNER’s (NYSE: TWX) second quarter earnings are down 26% due to declining AOL subscribers and lower ad revenue at Time. AOL remains a key source of frustration for TW, whose revenue was up at its film, cable and network television divisions. CEO Jeff Bewkes emphasized that TW plans to sell AOL, or spin it off into its own business by 2009. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer may buy back $20 billion in stock to help boost Microsoft’s stock. Microsoft’s stock is down 17% since February and is trading at the lowest price earnings ratio in its 22 years public. With the $45 billion YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) deal all but finished, analysts believe Ballmer’s buy back could help boost Microsoft’s stock up nearly 50% in the next year. SPRINT (NYSE: S) lost 776,000 subscribers last quarter and expects to lose morein the coming quarter. On the news the struggling mobile provider’s stock fell $1.21 to $7.34, already down 44% in 2008. CEO Dan Hesse plans to raise $3 billion to help pay off debt. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on TIME WARNER CABLE’s (NYSE: TWC) large increase in subscribers and the ongoing broadband battle between cable company’s and teleco’s. TIME WARNER’s (NYSE: TWX) second quarter earnings are down 26% due to declining AOL subscribers and lower ad revenue at Time. AOL remains a key source of frustration for TW, whose revenue was up at its film, cable and network television divisions. CEO Jeff Bewkes emphasized that TW plans to sell AOL, or spin it off into its own business by 2009. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer may buy back $20 billion in stock to help boost Microsoft’s stock. Microsoft’s stock is down 17% since February and is trading at the lowest price earnings ratio in its 22 years public. With the $45 billion YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) deal all but finished, analysts believe Ballmer’s buy back could help boost Microsoft’s stock up nearly 50% in the next year. SPRINT (NYSE: S) lost 776,000 subscribers last quarter and expects to lose morein the coming quarter. On the news the struggling mobile provider’s stock fell $1.21 to $7.34, already down 44% in 2008. CEO Dan Hesse plans to raise $3 billion to help pay off debt. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-08-07,23157766 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:14:17 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23148377-Dish-Loses-25-000-Subscribers-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-August-5-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on DISH (NASD: DISH) losing 25,000 subscribers and how the teleco, cable company, satellite wars are only heating up. US Appeals Court in NY ruled that networked digital video recorders do not violate copyright law. The DVR in question runs on a central server, far removed from the in house set-top box. Network DVRs could open a new door for advertisers, who could customize targeted ads to appear at certain times during certain shows. STEVE JOBS (NASD: AAPL) admits MobileMe is “not up to Apple’s standards.” In a company wide email, Job says Apple should have rolled out MobileMe gradually, instead of at the same time as the 3G iPhone, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store. While MobileMe has been a disappointing so far, Job’s has given Ed...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on DISH (NASD: DISH) losing 25,000 subscribers and how the teleco, cable company, satellite wars are only heating up. US Appeals Court in NY ruled that networked digital video recorders do not violate copyright law. The DVR in question runs on a central server, far removed from the in house set-top box. Network DVRs could open a new door for advertisers, who could customize targeted ads to appear at certain times during certain shows. STEVE JOBS (NASD: AAPL) admits MobileMe is “not up to Apple’s standards.” In a company wide email, Job says Apple should have rolled out MobileMe gradually, instead of at the same time as the 3G iPhone, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store. While MobileMe has been a disappointing so far, Job’s has given Eddy Cue, who worked on iTunes, who will run all Internet-related services at Apple. CAPITAL RESEARCH and MANAGEMENT, YAHOO’s (NASD: YHOO) bigger institutional shareholder, claims the Yahoo board miscounted its votes during its annual shareholder meeting. Despite gaining approval by a landslide, Jerry Yang and Roy Bostock are still under fire by influential shareholders like Gordon Crawford, who has been vocal about his disdain for Yang. Stock holders are likely not to forgive Yang and Co until the stock, currently at $19.38, gets back up to $33. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on DISH (NASD: DISH) losing 25,000 subscribers and how the teleco, cable company, satellite wars are only heating up. US Appeals Court in NY ruled that networked digital video recorders do not violate copyright law. The DVR in question runs on a central server, far removed from the in house set-top box. Network DVRs could open a new door for advertisers, who could customize targeted ads to appear at certain times during certain shows. STEVE JOBS (NASD: AAPL) admits MobileMe is “not up to Apple’s standards.” In a company wide email, Job says Apple should have rolled out MobileMe gradually, instead of at the same time as the 3G iPhone, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store. While MobileMe has been a disappointing so far, Job’s has given Eddy Cue, who worked on iTunes, who will run all Internet-related services at Apple. CAPITAL RESEARCH and MANAGEMENT, YAHOO’s (NASD: YHOO) bigger institutional shareholder, claims the Yahoo board miscounted its votes during its annual shareholder meeting. Despite gaining approval by a landslide, Jerry Yang and Roy Bostock are still under fire by influential shareholders like Gordon Crawford, who has been vocal about his disdain for Yang. Stock holders are likely not to forgive Yang and Co until the stock, currently at $19.38, gets back up to $33. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-08-05,23148377 Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:15:15 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23127551-Senator-Ted-Stevens-Indicted-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-30-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Alaskan Senator Ted Steven’s indictment and his famous Internet tubes speech. Page Six is reporting that NBC’s (NYSE: GE) summer ratings are so bad, co-chairman Ben Silverman’s could be out of a job if his Fall lineup doesn’t catch on. One insider was quoted as saying “It the fall is as bad as the summer, someone will have to take the blame, and it won’t be Jeff Zucker.” This is a classic example of why managing for margins is lethal to the entertainment industry. LIVE NATION (NYSE: LYV) may be outsourcing the distribution of its 360-deal artists back to the record labels. The New York Post is reporting that CEO Michael Rapino wants to license artists back to labels to cut down on overhead. If true, Live Nation could...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Alaskan Senator Ted Steven’s indictment and his famous Internet tubes speech. Page Six is reporting that NBC’s (NYSE: GE) summer ratings are so bad, co-chairman Ben Silverman’s could be out of a job if his Fall lineup doesn’t catch on. One insider was quoted as saying “It the fall is as bad as the summer, someone will have to take the blame, and it won’t be Jeff Zucker.” This is a classic example of why managing for margins is lethal to the entertainment industry. LIVE NATION (NYSE: LYV) may be outsourcing the distribution of its 360-deal artists back to the record labels. The New York Post is reporting that CEO Michael Rapino wants to license artists back to labels to cut down on overhead. If true, Live Nation could license marketing, promotion and distribution of records to the WARNER MUSIC GROUP, where 360-signees Madonna and Nickelback defected from. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO), INTEL (NASD: INTC) and HEWLETT-PACKARD (NYSE: HPQ) announced plans for a cloud computing research initiative. The plan is to open 6 data centers across the world, each with 1,400 to 4,000 processors. The deal caters to written applications but will also focus on distributed management, networking and operating systems. AMAZON (NASD: AMZN) will now offer its payment plan to other online retailers. Checkout by Amazon will work like OpenId, allowing the 81 million customers who’ve given their shipping and credit card info to Amazon, to access it on third party sites. Amazon also introduced Amazon Simple Pay, which is similar to PayPal. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Alaskan Senator Ted Steven’s indictment and his famous Internet tubes speech. Page Six is reporting that NBC’s (NYSE: GE) summer ratings are so bad, co-chairman Ben Silverman’s could be out of a job if his Fall lineup doesn’t catch on. One insider was quoted as saying “It the fall is as bad as the summer, someone will have to take the blame, and it won’t be Jeff Zucker.” This is a classic example of why managing for margins is lethal to the entertainment industry. LIVE NATION (NYSE: LYV) may be outsourcing the distribution of its 360-deal artists back to the record labels. The New York Post is reporting that CEO Michael Rapino wants to license artists back to labels to cut down on overhead. If true, Live Nation could license marketing, promotion and distribution of records to the WARNER MUSIC GROUP, where 360-signees Madonna and Nickelback defected from. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO), INTEL (NASD: INTC) and HEWLETT-PACKARD (NYSE: HPQ) announced plans for a cloud computing research initiative. The plan is to open 6 data centers across the world, each with 1,400 to 4,000 processors. The deal caters to written applications but will also focus on distributed management, networking and operating systems. AMAZON (NASD: AMZN) will now offer its payment plan to other online retailers. Checkout by Amazon will work like OpenId, allowing the 81 million customers who’ve given their shipping and credit card info to Amazon, to access it on third party sites. Amazon also introduced Amazon Simple Pay, which is similar to PayPal. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-30,23127551 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:16:05 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23123728-Verizon%E2%80%99s-FiOS-Growth-Slowed-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-29-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on VERIZON’s (NYSE: VZ) slowed FiOS growth and how it may be a reflection of the struggling economy. AT&T (NYSE: T) has banned subscribers from using file sharing programs on their mobile devices. Subscribers caught using P2P applications by AT&T will have their service terminated. Like Comcast who was caught throttling broadband traffic, AT&T claims that “a small number of users of P2P file sharing applications served by a particular cell site could severely degrade the service quality enjoyed by all customers.” ALCATEL - LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) posted a net lose of $1.7 billion. The enormous lose is nearly double what Alcatel-Lucent posted for the second quarter of 2007, a $586 million euro lose. As a result, CEO Patricia Russo and...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on VERIZON’s (NYSE: VZ) slowed FiOS growth and how it may be a reflection of the struggling economy. AT&T (NYSE: T) has banned subscribers from using file sharing programs on their mobile devices. Subscribers caught using P2P applications by AT&T will have their service terminated. Like Comcast who was caught throttling broadband traffic, AT&T claims that “a small number of users of P2P file sharing applications served by a particular cell site could severely degrade the service quality enjoyed by all customers.” ALCATEL - LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) posted a net lose of $1.7 billion. The enormous lose is nearly double what Alcatel-Lucent posted for the second quarter of 2007, a $586 million euro lose. As a result, CEO Patricia Russo and Chairman Serge Tchuruk will both step down by the end of the year, in order to make room for a new management model. SONY’s (NYSE: SNE) profit is down 39% for the quarter. Sony has been greatly affected by rising production costs and a failing deal with mobile phone manufacturer ERICSSON. As of Monday, SONY’s stock was down almost 30% since the start of 2008. NBC NEWS (NYSE: GE) has named Mark Whitaker the new D.C. Bureau Chief. Whitaker, a Senior VP at the Peacock and former journalist, will take over Tim Russert’s former job effective immediately. NBC News head Steve Capus noted that Whitaker was an “ideal candidate for the job.” Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on VERIZON’s (NYSE: VZ) slowed FiOS growth and how it may be a reflection of the struggling economy. AT&T (NYSE: T) has banned subscribers from using file sharing programs on their mobile devices. Subscribers caught using P2P applications by AT&T will have their service terminated. Like Comcast who was caught throttling broadband traffic, AT&T claims that “a small number of users of P2P file sharing applications served by a particular cell site could severely degrade the service quality enjoyed by all customers.” ALCATEL - LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) posted a net lose of $1.7 billion. The enormous lose is nearly double what Alcatel-Lucent posted for the second quarter of 2007, a $586 million euro lose. As a result, CEO Patricia Russo and Chairman Serge Tchuruk will both step down by the end of the year, in order to make room for a new management model. SONY’s (NYSE: SNE) profit is down 39% for the quarter. Sony has been greatly affected by rising production costs and a failing deal with mobile phone manufacturer ERICSSON. As of Monday, SONY’s stock was down almost 30% since the start of 2008. NBC NEWS (NYSE: GE) has named Mark Whitaker the new D.C. Bureau Chief. Whitaker, a Senior VP at the Peacock and former journalist, will take over Tim Russert’s former job effective immediately. NBC News head Steve Capus noted that Whitaker was an “ideal candidate for the job.” Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-29,23123728 Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:43:35 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23108829-Yahoo%E2%80%99s-Stock-Continues-to-Fall-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-23-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on YAHOO’s (NASD: YHOO) slumping stock price and its future with Carl Icahn. TechCrunch is reporting that GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) is once again in negotiations to buy DIGG. Google will reportedly pay roughly $200 million for the social news aggregator. If the deal goes through, Digg’s ad deal with MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) would be terminated. More FCC obstacles are facing the XM (NASD: XMSR) - SIRIUS (NASD: SIRI) merger. While FCC chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioner McDowell voted in favor of the merger, commissioner Michael Copps voted against the deal. The veto wasn’t a surprise but it was another slap in the face to a deal which has been held in regulatory purgatory for over a year. NBC (NYSE: GE) will continue to offer upfront ads to advertis...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on YAHOO’s (NASD: YHOO) slumping stock price and its future with Carl Icahn. TechCrunch is reporting that GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) is once again in negotiations to buy DIGG. Google will reportedly pay roughly $200 million for the social news aggregator. If the deal goes through, Digg’s ad deal with MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) would be terminated. More FCC obstacles are facing the XM (NASD: XMSR) - SIRIUS (NASD: SIRI) merger. While FCC chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioner McDowell voted in favor of the merger, commissioner Michael Copps voted against the deal. The veto wasn’t a surprise but it was another slap in the face to a deal which has been held in regulatory purgatory for over a year. NBC (NYSE: GE) will continue to offer upfront ads to advertisers. The Peacock announced that it would continue to inform media buyers about programming schedules in April, months before most broadcast networks. NBC execs believe the untraditional move gives them a competitive advantage. LINKEDIN and the NEW YORK TIMES (NYSE: NYT) have partnered to bring users targeted news. The news, which will be selected by profession, will link relevant news headlines to users. Data on the number of click thru’s will ultimately be the most important gained to come from this partnership. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on YAHOO’s (NASD: YHOO) slumping stock price and its future with Carl Icahn. TechCrunch is reporting that GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) is once again in negotiations to buy DIGG. Google will reportedly pay roughly $200 million for the social news aggregator. If the deal goes through, Digg’s ad deal with MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) would be terminated. More FCC obstacles are facing the XM (NASD: XMSR) - SIRIUS (NASD: SIRI) merger. While FCC chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioner McDowell voted in favor of the merger, commissioner Michael Copps voted against the deal. The veto wasn’t a surprise but it was another slap in the face to a deal which has been held in regulatory purgatory for over a year. NBC (NYSE: GE) will continue to offer upfront ads to advertisers. The Peacock announced that it would continue to inform media buyers about programming schedules in April, months before most broadcast networks. NBC execs believe the untraditional move gives them a competitive advantage. LINKEDIN and the NEW YORK TIMES (NYSE: NYT) have partnered to bring users targeted news. The news, which will be selected by profession, will link relevant news headlines to users. Data on the number of click thru’s will ultimately be the most important gained to come from this partnership. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-23,23108829 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:55:22 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23087796-NBC%E2%80%99s-Ben-Silverman-Managing-for-Margins-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-17-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on NBC’s Ben Silverman and his decision to manage for margins. JULIE ROEHM will be a judge on the new Mark Burnett reality show “Jingles.” The CBS reality show, which also features Gene Simmons, has contestants write and perform jingles for a variety of products. The show, which was originally scheduled to air this month, has been pushed back a few months due to lack of promotion. EBAY’s (NASD: EBAY) stock is up 4.5% on news that the company’s profit is up 22%. Despite lawsuits and a botched deal with Buy.com, eBay is riding high on fees. The surcharges for auction listings and PayPal are at an all time high. AMAZON (NASD: AMZN) will launch an online store for movies and TV shows. Amazon Video on Demand will serve 40,000 movies and...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on NBC’s Ben Silverman and his decision to manage for margins. JULIE ROEHM will be a judge on the new Mark Burnett reality show “Jingles.” The CBS reality show, which also features Gene Simmons, has contestants write and perform jingles for a variety of products. The show, which was originally scheduled to air this month, has been pushed back a few months due to lack of promotion. EBAY’s (NASD: EBAY) stock is up 4.5% on news that the company’s profit is up 22%. Despite lawsuits and a botched deal with Buy.com, eBay is riding high on fees. The surcharges for auction listings and PayPal are at an all time high. AMAZON (NASD: AMZN) will launch an online store for movies and TV shows. Amazon Video on Demand will serve 40,000 movies and TV shows on a streaming server, which users will be able to watch without downloading. Unlike APPLE’s iTunes store, the videos available at Amazon will all be streaming, rather than downloads. NINTENDO, MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) and SONY (NYSE: SNE) each announced similar plans at the E3 convention. Each plans to unveil more games, more networked interactivity and more ways for gamers to use their systems for things unrelated to video games. Also, both Microsoft and Sony will be lowering the price of their systems. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on NBC’s Ben Silverman and his decision to manage for margins. JULIE ROEHM will be a judge on the new Mark Burnett reality show “Jingles.” The CBS reality show, which also features Gene Simmons, has contestants write and perform jingles for a variety of products. The show, which was originally scheduled to air this month, has been pushed back a few months due to lack of promotion. EBAY’s (NASD: EBAY) stock is up 4.5% on news that the company’s profit is up 22%. Despite lawsuits and a botched deal with Buy.com, eBay is riding high on fees. The surcharges for auction listings and PayPal are at an all time high. AMAZON (NASD: AMZN) will launch an online store for movies and TV shows. Amazon Video on Demand will serve 40,000 movies and TV shows on a streaming server, which users will be able to watch without downloading. Unlike APPLE’s iTunes store, the videos available at Amazon will all be streaming, rather than downloads. NINTENDO, MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) and SONY (NYSE: SNE) each announced similar plans at the E3 convention. Each plans to unveil more games, more networked interactivity and more ways for gamers to use their systems for things unrelated to video games. Also, both Microsoft and Sony will be lowering the price of their systems. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-17,23087796 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:39:25 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23067579-Senate-Approves-Teleco-Immunity-Bill-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-10-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on the SENATE approving the " target="_blank" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/2008-07-10/_immunity');"surveillance bill which gives teleco’s immunity for cooperating with federal wiretapping of their customers. COMCAST (NASD: CMCSA) will work with VONAGE (NYSE: VG) to ensure that Vonage’s VOIP runs smoothly over its broadband network. There has long been speculation that Comcast, which also offers a VOIP service, had been throttling the quality of Vonage’s service. Comcast’s announcement came as the FCC is investigating whether or not ISP’s are using control of their networks to undermine the competition. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) will team with a group of search start-ups in hopes of slowing the GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) machine. ...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on the SENATE approving the " target="_blank" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/2008-07-10/_immunity');"surveillance bill which gives teleco’s immunity for cooperating with federal wiretapping of their customers. COMCAST (NASD: CMCSA) will work with VONAGE (NYSE: VG) to ensure that Vonage’s VOIP runs smoothly over its broadband network. There has long been speculation that Comcast, which also offers a VOIP service, had been throttling the quality of Vonage’s service. Comcast’s announcement came as the FCC is investigating whether or not ISP’s are using control of their networks to undermine the competition. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) will team with a group of search start-ups in hopes of slowing the GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) machine. Yahoo will open multiple search technology and data centers today, which will allow other companies to help build customized search engines without the massive investments needed to work from scratch. Yahoo is hoping this semi-open access service will help build niche queries and that accompanying search ads will boost their 20% market share. NIELSEN’s first “three-screen” report noted that Americans are watching more TV, while also spending more time online and watching videos on mobile devices. Average home TV viewing was up to 127 hours per month, while internet use hit 26 hours per month. Nielsen estimates that 119 million people watched viral videos during May, an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes per person. THE NEW YORK TIMES (NYSE: NYT) was pounded by a LEHMAN BROTHERS analyst Craig Huber, which led to NYT’s stock sinking to a $14.01, a ten year low. Huber urged the Times to cut their $1.05 billion debt, in order to counteract its high stock price. Huber claims the Times is entirely too expensive and that Wall Street estimates are too high for the ailing newspaper. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on the SENATE approving the " target="_blank" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/2008-07-10/_immunity');"surveillance bill which gives teleco’s immunity for cooperating with federal wiretapping of their customers. COMCAST (NASD: CMCSA) will work with VONAGE (NYSE: VG) to ensure that Vonage’s VOIP runs smoothly over its broadband network. There has long been speculation that Comcast, which also offers a VOIP service, had been throttling the quality of Vonage’s service. Comcast’s announcement came as the FCC is investigating whether or not ISP’s are using control of their networks to undermine the competition. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) will team with a group of search start-ups in hopes of slowing the GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) machine. Yahoo will open multiple search technology and data centers today, which will allow other companies to help build customized search engines without the massive investments needed to work from scratch. Yahoo is hoping this semi-open access service will help build niche queries and that accompanying search ads will boost their 20% market share. NIELSEN’s first “three-screen” report noted that Americans are watching more TV, while also spending more time online and watching videos on mobile devices. Average home TV viewing was up to 127 hours per month, while internet use hit 26 hours per month. Nielsen estimates that 119 million people watched viral videos during May, an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes per person. THE NEW YORK TIMES (NYSE: NYT) was pounded by a LEHMAN BROTHERS analyst Craig Huber, which led to NYT’s stock sinking to a $14.01, a ten year low. Huber urged the Times to cut their $1.05 billion debt, in order to counteract its high stock price. Huber claims the Times is entirely too expensive and that Wall Street estimates are too high for the ailing newspaper. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-10,23067579 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:44:21 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23064243-The-Future-of-Targeted-Online-Advertisements-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-9-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on the future of targeted online advertisements. NBCU (NYSE: GE) CEO Jeff Zucker is expected to be a popular man at the Allen & Co. media conference this week in Sun Valley, Idaho. One source noted that “Zucker’s made it pretty clear that he’s looking to do deals and remake NBC’s overall approach.” Rumor has it that Zucker could be in talks with TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes and LIBERTY MEDIA’s (NASD: LCAPA, LCAPB) John Malone about a selling NBC. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) and GETTY IMAGES (NYSE: GTI) announced that they have teamed up to combine FLICKR with GETTY’s search function. Getty editors will search Flickr, an online photo community, for relevant photos and invite photographers to join the Getty program...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on the future of targeted online advertisements. NBCU (NYSE: GE) CEO Jeff Zucker is expected to be a popular man at the Allen & Co. media conference this week in Sun Valley, Idaho. One source noted that “Zucker’s made it pretty clear that he’s looking to do deals and remake NBC’s overall approach.” Rumor has it that Zucker could be in talks with TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes and LIBERTY MEDIA’s (NASD: LCAPA, LCAPB) John Malone about a selling NBC. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) and GETTY IMAGES (NYSE: GTI) announced that they have teamed up to combine FLICKR with GETTY’s search function. Getty editors will search Flickr, an online photo community, for relevant photos and invite photographers to join the Getty program and legally license photos. Over time the deal could legitimize thousands of Flickr amateur photographers. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) is trying to raise ad revenue at YOUTUBE by selling more video and display ads. While Google experiments with the proper advertising format for the online video community, Google CEO Eric Schmidt noted that Google still hasn’t figured out the best way to monetize YouTube. As of right now, Google expects YouTube to make roughly $200 million by the end of the year. WALL STREET JOURNAL’s (NYSE: NEWS) Walt Mossberg reviewed APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) new 3G iPhone and noted two significant draw backs; cost and battery life. Mossberg noted that the battery on the new 3g iPhone drained much quicker than the battery on the original iPhone, while the rising cost of AT&T’s data plan significantly increased the total cost of the phone. On the positive, Mossberg notes that the email function is 3 to 5 times faster than that on the original iPhone. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on the future of targeted online advertisements. NBCU (NYSE: GE) CEO Jeff Zucker is expected to be a popular man at the Allen & Co. media conference this week in Sun Valley, Idaho. One source noted that “Zucker’s made it pretty clear that he’s looking to do deals and remake NBC’s overall approach.” Rumor has it that Zucker could be in talks with TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes and LIBERTY MEDIA’s (NASD: LCAPA, LCAPB) John Malone about a selling NBC. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) and GETTY IMAGES (NYSE: GTI) announced that they have teamed up to combine FLICKR with GETTY’s search function. Getty editors will search Flickr, an online photo community, for relevant photos and invite photographers to join the Getty program and legally license photos. Over time the deal could legitimize thousands of Flickr amateur photographers. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) is trying to raise ad revenue at YOUTUBE by selling more video and display ads. While Google experiments with the proper advertising format for the online video community, Google CEO Eric Schmidt noted that Google still hasn’t figured out the best way to monetize YouTube. As of right now, Google expects YouTube to make roughly $200 million by the end of the year. WALL STREET JOURNAL’s (NYSE: NEWS) Walt Mossberg reviewed APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) new 3G iPhone and noted two significant draw backs; cost and battery life. Mossberg noted that the battery on the new 3g iPhone drained much quicker than the battery on the original iPhone, while the rising cost of AT&T’s data plan significantly increased the total cost of the phone. On the positive, Mossberg notes that the email function is 3 to 5 times faster than that on the original iPhone. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-09,23064243 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:41:53 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23060315-Icahn-and-Microsoft-Team-Up-Against-Yahoo-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-8-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Carl Icahn and MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) teaming up against YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) and Yahoo’s desperate need for leadership. ALCATEL-LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) is back in Federal Court with MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) over a billion dollar patent infringement verdict. Alcatel-Lucent is seeking to get a $1.53 billion verdict reinstated after a district-court judge ruled Microsoft wasn’t in violation of Alcatel-Lucent’s patent. Alcatel-Lucent is keen on defending its intellectual property rights to mp3’s, which were originally filed by its former parent company Bell Labs in the mid-nineties. NBC’s (NYSE: GE) coverage of WIMBLEDON received its highest ratings in eight years. NBC scored a 4.5 rating/12 share during the Nadal-Federer final, which John ...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Carl Icahn and MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) teaming up against YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) and Yahoo’s desperate need for leadership. ALCATEL-LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) is back in Federal Court with MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) over a billion dollar patent infringement verdict. Alcatel-Lucent is seeking to get a $1.53 billion verdict reinstated after a district-court judge ruled Microsoft wasn’t in violation of Alcatel-Lucent’s patent. Alcatel-Lucent is keen on defending its intellectual property rights to mp3’s, which were originally filed by its former parent company Bell Labs in the mid-nineties. NBC’s (NYSE: GE) coverage of WIMBLEDON received its highest ratings in eight years. NBC scored a 4.5 rating/12 share during the Nadal-Federer final, which John McEnroe called the greatest match he had ever seen. The Wimbledon ratings peaked after the second rain delay, hitting upwards of a 6.5 rating/15 share. According to the National Venture Capital Association, for the first time in 30 years there were no IPOs during the second quarter. While only 5 venture capital funded companies went public in Q1, 43 went public during the first half of 2007. The lack of IPOs highlights a “markets crisis” for start-ups. ACTIVISION (NASD: ATVI) is expected to merge with VIVENDI GAMES (PSE: VIV) today. The merger of the two gaming giants, whose properties include both World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero, would create a new top dog in the gaming industry. The deal also hurts ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: EA), who has been reporting losses and has had a hard time acquiring Grand Theft Auto manufacturer TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE (NASD: TTWO). Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Carl Icahn and MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) teaming up against YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) and Yahoo’s desperate need for leadership. ALCATEL-LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) is back in Federal Court with MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) over a billion dollar patent infringement verdict. Alcatel-Lucent is seeking to get a $1.53 billion verdict reinstated after a district-court judge ruled Microsoft wasn’t in violation of Alcatel-Lucent’s patent. Alcatel-Lucent is keen on defending its intellectual property rights to mp3’s, which were originally filed by its former parent company Bell Labs in the mid-nineties. NBC’s (NYSE: GE) coverage of WIMBLEDON received its highest ratings in eight years. NBC scored a 4.5 rating/12 share during the Nadal-Federer final, which John McEnroe called the greatest match he had ever seen. The Wimbledon ratings peaked after the second rain delay, hitting upwards of a 6.5 rating/15 share. According to the National Venture Capital Association, for the first time in 30 years there were no IPOs during the second quarter. While only 5 venture capital funded companies went public in Q1, 43 went public during the first half of 2007. The lack of IPOs highlights a “markets crisis” for start-ups. ACTIVISION (NASD: ATVI) is expected to merge with VIVENDI GAMES (PSE: VIV) today. The merger of the two gaming giants, whose properties include both World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero, would create a new top dog in the gaming industry. The deal also hurts ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: EA), who has been reporting losses and has had a hard time acquiring Grand Theft Auto manufacturer TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE (NASD: TTWO). Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-08,23060315 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:27:29 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23046376-Obama-Changes-Stance-on-Telecom-Immunity-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-3-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Obama’s shifting stance regarding Telecom immunity and his understanding of the broadband environment. After MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) began talks seeking partners for a YAHOO deal, YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) has decided to strike back by pursuing the same partners. Yahoo has been in talks with TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX) and NEWS CORP (NYSE: NEWS) . With Yahoo’s search ads deal with GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) in regulatory purgatory, Yahoo is in dire need of a partner who can help boost its crumbling stock price. CIRCUIT CITY’s (NYSE: CC) lead director resigned yesterday. Director Mikael Salovaara and another board member jumped ship after BLOCKBUSTER (NYSE: BB) pulled its billion dollar bid for the retailer. Circuit City is still looking to explore a sale or m...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Obama’s shifting stance regarding Telecom immunity and his understanding of the broadband environment. After MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) began talks seeking partners for a YAHOO deal, YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) has decided to strike back by pursuing the same partners. Yahoo has been in talks with TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX) and NEWS CORP (NYSE: NEWS) . With Yahoo’s search ads deal with GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) in regulatory purgatory, Yahoo is in dire need of a partner who can help boost its crumbling stock price. CIRCUIT CITY’s (NYSE: CC) lead director resigned yesterday. Director Mikael Salovaara and another board member jumped ship after BLOCKBUSTER (NYSE: BB) pulled its billion dollar bid for the retailer. Circuit City is still looking to explore a sale or merger that could stabilize its finances. CLEAR CHANNEL’s (NYSE: CCU) Premiere Radio Networks has signed Rush Limbaugh to a $400 million contract extension that runs through 2016. Valued at $38 million a year, with a $100 million bonus, the deal is a quasi-360 deal that means Premiere Radio Networks will share profits from Limbaugh’s daily radio show, newsletter, website and subscription service. The deal is the largest in the history of terrestrial radio. A Federal judge denied VIACOM’s (NYSE: VIA) request to force GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) and YOUTUBE (NASD: GOOG) to turn over the algorithm behind their search function. Viacom had requested the code be turned over in their billion dollar copyright-infringement case against Google’s YouTube. Google claims its search algorithm is a trade secret which couldn’t be disclosed without the risk of losing business. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Obama’s shifting stance regarding Telecom immunity and his understanding of the broadband environment. After MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) began talks seeking partners for a YAHOO deal, YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) has decided to strike back by pursuing the same partners. Yahoo has been in talks with TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX) and NEWS CORP (NYSE: NEWS) . With Yahoo’s search ads deal with GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) in regulatory purgatory, Yahoo is in dire need of a partner who can help boost its crumbling stock price. CIRCUIT CITY’s (NYSE: CC) lead director resigned yesterday. Director Mikael Salovaara and another board member jumped ship after BLOCKBUSTER (NYSE: BB) pulled its billion dollar bid for the retailer. Circuit City is still looking to explore a sale or merger that could stabilize its finances. CLEAR CHANNEL’s (NYSE: CCU) Premiere Radio Networks has signed Rush Limbaugh to a $400 million contract extension that runs through 2016. Valued at $38 million a year, with a $100 million bonus, the deal is a quasi-360 deal that means Premiere Radio Networks will share profits from Limbaugh’s daily radio show, newsletter, website and subscription service. The deal is the largest in the history of terrestrial radio. A Federal judge denied VIACOM’s (NYSE: VIA) request to force GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) and YOUTUBE (NASD: GOOG) to turn over the algorithm behind their search function. Viacom had requested the code be turned over in their billion dollar copyright-infringement case against Google’s YouTube. Google claims its search algorithm is a trade secret which couldn’t be disclosed without the risk of losing business. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-03,23046376 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:51:43 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23046377-Microsoft-Seeking-Partners-To-Go-After-Yahoo-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-2-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on MICROSOFT’s (NASD: MSFT) " target="_blank" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/2008-07-02/_microsoft');"ever evolving pursuit of YAHOO (NASD: YHOO). The Justice Department has upgraded its review of the GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG)-YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) search deal to a formal investigation. Currently, anti-trust issues plague the deal, which could dwell in regulatory uncertainty for more than a few months. APPLE (NASD: AAPL) will sell a ‘no-contract-required’ iPhone. The new no-contract 3G iPhone will be available for $599/699, $400 more than AT&T’s (NYSE: T) subsidized price.The big news is that the contract-less iPhone will still be limited to the AT&T network. BLOCKBUSTER (NYSE: BBI) has called off its merger with CIRCUIT C...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on MICROSOFT’s (NASD: MSFT) " target="_blank" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/2008-07-02/_microsoft');"ever evolving pursuit of YAHOO (NASD: YHOO). The Justice Department has upgraded its review of the GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG)-YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) search deal to a formal investigation. Currently, anti-trust issues plague the deal, which could dwell in regulatory uncertainty for more than a few months. APPLE (NASD: AAPL) will sell a ‘no-contract-required’ iPhone. The new no-contract 3G iPhone will be available for $599/699, $400 more than AT&T’s (NYSE: T) subsidized price.The big news is that the contract-less iPhone will still be limited to the AT&T network. BLOCKBUSTER (NYSE: BBI) has called off its merger with CIRCUIT CITY (NYSE: CC). The video-rental chain decided to abandon the $1 billion deal after reviewing Circuit City’s books, which the electronics retailer reluctantly gave Blockbuster access to. AT&T (NYSE: T) will terminate its contract with the DISH NETWORK (NASD: DISH) at the end of the year. While AT&T will stop selling satellite TV services from Dish, it has not ruled out selling satellite service via a new deal with Dish, or competitor DIRECTV (NASD: DTV). Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on MICROSOFT’s (NASD: MSFT) " target="_blank" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/2008-07-02/_microsoft');"ever evolving pursuit of YAHOO (NASD: YHOO). The Justice Department has upgraded its review of the GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG)-YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) search deal to a formal investigation. Currently, anti-trust issues plague the deal, which could dwell in regulatory uncertainty for more than a few months. APPLE (NASD: AAPL) will sell a ‘no-contract-required’ iPhone. The new no-contract 3G iPhone will be available for $599/699, $400 more than AT&T’s (NYSE: T) subsidized price.The big news is that the contract-less iPhone will still be limited to the AT&T network. BLOCKBUSTER (NYSE: BBI) has called off its merger with CIRCUIT CITY (NYSE: CC). The video-rental chain decided to abandon the $1 billion deal after reviewing Circuit City’s books, which the electronics retailer reluctantly gave Blockbuster access to. AT&T (NYSE: T) will terminate its contract with the DISH NETWORK (NASD: DISH) at the end of the year. While AT&T will stop selling satellite TV services from Dish, it has not ruled out selling satellite service via a new deal with Dish, or competitor DIRECTV (NASD: DTV). Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-02,23046377 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:52:38 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23041768-Anti-Obama-Bloggers-Blocked-By-Google-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-July-1-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary “What Does Quality Online Video Look Like?” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) blocking several Anti-Obama blogs. EBAY (NASD: EBAY) has been fined $63.2 million for selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton items on the web. In addition to fining eBay, the judge ruled that eBay was guilty of unauthorized sales of fragrances, whose distribution is limited to authorized dealers and stores. The decision will likely force eBay to begin blocking counterfeit goods. LIVE NATION (NYSE: LYV.N) will sign singer Shakira to a $70 million all inclusive deal. The deal comes just days after a boardroom brawl which sent Michael Cohl packing. In Shakira, Live Nation gets an international star whose numbers are much higher around the globe tha...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary “What Does Quality Online Video Look Like?” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) blocking several Anti-Obama blogs. EBAY (NASD: EBAY) has been fined $63.2 million for selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton items on the web. In addition to fining eBay, the judge ruled that eBay was guilty of unauthorized sales of fragrances, whose distribution is limited to authorized dealers and stores. The decision will likely force eBay to begin blocking counterfeit goods. LIVE NATION (NYSE: LYV.N) will sign singer Shakira to a $70 million all inclusive deal. The deal comes just days after a boardroom brawl which sent Michael Cohl packing. In Shakira, Live Nation gets an international star whose numbers are much higher around the globe than in the US, while reassuring employees that 360 deals are advantageous for the promoter. SAG’s contract has officially expired. The contract expired at midnight, however, the AMPTP made a late night offer, which SAG has decided to mull over for a day. Meanwhile, film production has been “virtually shut down”. ROCK BAND 2 will debut exclusively on MICROSOFT’S (NASD: MSFT) Xbox this September. The second edition of HARMONIX (NYSE: VIA) , ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASDL ERTS.O) and MTV’s (NYSE: VIA) interactive game will include more instruments and more songs. Rock Band 2 will predate rival Guitar Hero’s new offering by months. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary “What Does Quality Online Video Look Like?” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) blocking several Anti-Obama blogs. EBAY (NASD: EBAY) has been fined $63.2 million for selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton items on the web. In addition to fining eBay, the judge ruled that eBay was guilty of unauthorized sales of fragrances, whose distribution is limited to authorized dealers and stores. The decision will likely force eBay to begin blocking counterfeit goods. LIVE NATION (NYSE: LYV.N) will sign singer Shakira to a $70 million all inclusive deal. The deal comes just days after a boardroom brawl which sent Michael Cohl packing. In Shakira, Live Nation gets an international star whose numbers are much higher around the globe than in the US, while reassuring employees that 360 deals are advantageous for the promoter. SAG’s contract has officially expired. The contract expired at midnight, however, the AMPTP made a late night offer, which SAG has decided to mull over for a day. Meanwhile, film production has been “virtually shut down”. ROCK BAND 2 will debut exclusively on MICROSOFT’S (NASD: MSFT) Xbox this September. The second edition of HARMONIX (NYSE: VIA) , ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASDL ERTS.O) and MTV’s (NYSE: VIA) interactive game will include more instruments and more songs. Rock Band 2 will predate rival Guitar Hero’s new offering by months. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-07-01,23041768 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:21:32 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23038583-MTV-Opening-Digital-Music-Store-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-June-30-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary “What Does Quality Online Video Look Like?” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on MTV’s (NYSE: VIA) decision to open up a DRM-free digital music store through its Rhapsody offering. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) will stop selling Windows XP today. Despite protests from users looking to avoid using Microsoft’s Vista operating system, Redmond will not offer the XP system for purchase at most computer retailers. Users looking to avoid Vista will now have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then downgrade the operating system to XP. SAG’s contract with Hollywood studios will expire Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. SAG could negotiate an extension, which would continue talks, or they can begin the strike authorization process, which take...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary “What Does Quality Online Video Look Like?” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on MTV’s (NYSE: VIA) decision to open up a DRM-free digital music store through its Rhapsody offering. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) will stop selling Windows XP today. Despite protests from users looking to avoid using Microsoft’s Vista operating system, Redmond will not offer the XP system for purchase at most computer retailers. Users looking to avoid Vista will now have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then downgrade the operating system to XP. SAG’s contract with Hollywood studios will expire Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. SAG could negotiate an extension, which would continue talks, or they can begin the strike authorization process, which takes two-weeks. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) and FAMILY GUY creator Seth MacFarlane are teaming to distribute a new web show via Google’s AdSense. The innovative distribution platform would syndicate “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy” to thousands of predetermined sites for targeted audiences. The concept is simple; rather than placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a video clip. QUALCOMM (NASD: QCOM) is entering the computer chip market. The cellphone chip manufacturer recently unveiled the new Snapdragon microprocessor, which can fully power HD video on a handset using half the amount of power of the competing INTEL (NASD: INTC) X86 chip. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary “What Does Quality Online Video Look Like?” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on MTV’s (NYSE: VIA) decision to open up a DRM-free digital music store through its Rhapsody offering. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) will stop selling Windows XP today. Despite protests from users looking to avoid using Microsoft’s Vista operating system, Redmond will not offer the XP system for purchase at most computer retailers. Users looking to avoid Vista will now have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then downgrade the operating system to XP. SAG’s contract with Hollywood studios will expire Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. SAG could negotiate an extension, which would continue talks, or they can begin the strike authorization process, which takes two-weeks. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) and FAMILY GUY creator Seth MacFarlane are teaming to distribute a new web show via Google’s AdSense. The innovative distribution platform would syndicate “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy” to thousands of predetermined sites for targeted audiences. The concept is simple; rather than placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a video clip. QUALCOMM (NASD: QCOM) is entering the computer chip market. The cellphone chip manufacturer recently unveiled the new Snapdragon microprocessor, which can fully power HD video on a handset using half the amount of power of the competing INTEL (NASD: INTC) X86 chip. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-30,23038583 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:35:58 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23031886-Sony-To-Offer-In-Set-Movie-Downloads-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-June-27-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on SONY’s (NYSE: SNE) decision to offer movie downloads on a multitude of electronic consoles. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) is shifting their product development strategy. Yahoo President Susan Decker aligned the strategy, which seeks to centralize development in hopes of increasing global revenue. The goal is to tap into the world market. The ICANN organization approved the proposal to create an unlimited number of TLD’s. Organizations will now be able to apply for specific TLD’s to use as suffixes in domain names. Registering a new TLD, like .paris for the city of Paris, will cost between $100,000 and $150,000 a year. CHRYSLER (Buenos Aires: DCX.BA) parts manufacturer MOPAR announced that Wi-Fi will soon be available in Chrysler vehicles. “Uconn...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on SONY’s (NYSE: SNE) decision to offer movie downloads on a multitude of electronic consoles. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) is shifting their product development strategy. Yahoo President Susan Decker aligned the strategy, which seeks to centralize development in hopes of increasing global revenue. The goal is to tap into the world market. The ICANN organization approved the proposal to create an unlimited number of TLD’s. Organizations will now be able to apply for specific TLD’s to use as suffixes in domain names. Registering a new TLD, like .paris for the city of Paris, will cost between $100,000 and $150,000 a year. CHRYSLER (Buenos Aires: DCX.BA) parts manufacturer MOPAR announced that Wi-Fi will soon be available in Chrysler vehicles. “Uconnect Web” will run on cellular spectrum and will cost about $29 a month. The WiFi option will be available starting in August. Today is Bill Gates last day as a full-time employee at MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT). Instead of being a permanent fixture in Redmond, Gates will now concentrate mainly on the philanthropic interests of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on SONY’s (NYSE: SNE) decision to offer movie downloads on a multitude of electronic consoles. YAHOO (NASD: YHOO) is shifting their product development strategy. Yahoo President Susan Decker aligned the strategy, which seeks to centralize development in hopes of increasing global revenue. The goal is to tap into the world market. The ICANN organization approved the proposal to create an unlimited number of TLD’s. Organizations will now be able to apply for specific TLD’s to use as suffixes in domain names. Registering a new TLD, like .paris for the city of Paris, will cost between $100,000 and $150,000 a year. CHRYSLER (Buenos Aires: DCX.BA) parts manufacturer MOPAR announced that Wi-Fi will soon be available in Chrysler vehicles. “Uconnect Web” will run on cellular spectrum and will cost about $29 a month. The WiFi option will be available starting in August. Today is Bill Gates last day as a full-time employee at MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT). Instead of being a permanent fixture in Redmond, Gates will now concentrate mainly on the philanthropic interests of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-27,23031886 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:48:05 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23028418-EMI-Starts-Lay-Offs-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-June-26-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on EMI’s attempt to trim the fat and get back in the black. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is considering expanding the amount of URL suffixes. The new guidelines could create new suffixes such as .lat for Latin countries, as well as suffixes in native languages. The ICANN overhaul would be the first large scale change in the internet’s address system since its creation. INTEL (NASD: INTC) has decided not to upgrade its system to operate on MICROSOFT’s (NASD: MSFT) Vista. An Intel staffer noted that Intel “found no compelling case for adopting to Vista.” RESEARCH IN MOTION’s (NASD: RIMM) profit and revenue more than doubled in the last year. RIM earned $482.5 million during the first quarter, ...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on EMI’s attempt to trim the fat and get back in the black. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is considering expanding the amount of URL suffixes. The new guidelines could create new suffixes such as .lat for Latin countries, as well as suffixes in native languages. The ICANN overhaul would be the first large scale change in the internet’s address system since its creation. INTEL (NASD: INTC) has decided not to upgrade its system to operate on MICROSOFT’s (NASD: MSFT) Vista. An Intel staffer noted that Intel “found no compelling case for adopting to Vista.” RESEARCH IN MOTION’s (NASD: RIMM) profit and revenue more than doubled in the last year. RIM earned $482.5 million during the first quarter, compared with $232.2 million a year ago. RIM added 2.3 million new subscribers in the first quarter, bringing its total subscribers to over 16 million. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) will name BELL CANADA exec Patrick Pichette as its new CFO as former CFO George Reyes steps down. Under Reyes tenure at Google the company’s revenue increased from $439.5 million to $16.6 billion in five years. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on EMI’s attempt to trim the fat and get back in the black. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is considering expanding the amount of URL suffixes. The new guidelines could create new suffixes such as .lat for Latin countries, as well as suffixes in native languages. The ICANN overhaul would be the first large scale change in the internet’s address system since its creation. INTEL (NASD: INTC) has decided not to upgrade its system to operate on MICROSOFT’s (NASD: MSFT) Vista. An Intel staffer noted that Intel “found no compelling case for adopting to Vista.” RESEARCH IN MOTION’s (NASD: RIMM) profit and revenue more than doubled in the last year. RIM earned $482.5 million during the first quarter, compared with $232.2 million a year ago. RIM added 2.3 million new subscribers in the first quarter, bringing its total subscribers to over 16 million. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) will name BELL CANADA exec Patrick Pichette as its new CFO as former CFO George Reyes steps down. Under Reyes tenure at Google the company’s revenue increased from $439.5 million to $16.6 billion in five years. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-26,23028418 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:28:55 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23020684-Google-Search-Data-Used-in-Obscenity-Trial-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-June-24-2008                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) search data being used in an obscenity trial. GOOGLE News is showing little growth. The news site recorded 11.4 million hits in May, far behind number one ranked YAHOO News, which received 35.8 million visitors in May, according to Nielsen Online. Like most things Google, Google News is run entirely on an algorithm. CIRCUIT CITY (NYSE: CC.N) will hold its annual stockholder meeting tomorrow. Investors are looking to gain insight into the retailers future, as the company seeks a possible buyout. Circuit City reported a loss of $164.8 million for the three months ending May 31st. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) will introduce an internet audience measurement initiative at the Advertising Research Foundation media conference today. Event information was...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) search data being used in an obscenity trial. GOOGLE News is showing little growth. The news site recorded 11.4 million hits in May, far behind number one ranked YAHOO News, which received 35.8 million visitors in May, according to Nielsen Online. Like most things Google, Google News is run entirely on an algorithm. CIRCUIT CITY (NYSE: CC.N) will hold its annual stockholder meeting tomorrow. Investors are looking to gain insight into the retailers future, as the company seeks a possible buyout. Circuit City reported a loss of $164.8 million for the three months ending May 31st. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) will introduce an internet audience measurement initiative at the Advertising Research Foundation media conference today. Event information was pulled from the conference’s web site, but because of Google Cache the page is still accessible. PARAMOUNT (NYSE: VIA) CEO Brad Grey has some serious problems to deal with. Not only did Dreamworks end its relationship with Paramount, but the studio also lost its television deal with Showtime. Rumors are circulating that if things aren’t positive at Paramount, Grey’s job maybe in jeopardy. REAL D is increasing the number of 3-D movie theaters from 1,000 to 5,500 in the next 18 months. If a consortium known as the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners can bankroll an overhaul of projection systems, Real D could potentially reach its goal of 20,000 screens in five years. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) search data being used in an obscenity trial. GOOGLE News is showing little growth. The news site recorded 11.4 million hits in May, far behind number one ranked YAHOO News, which received 35.8 million visitors in May, according to Nielsen Online. Like most things Google, Google News is run entirely on an algorithm. CIRCUIT CITY (NYSE: CC.N) will hold its annual stockholder meeting tomorrow. Investors are looking to gain insight into the retailers future, as the company seeks a possible buyout. Circuit City reported a loss of $164.8 million for the three months ending May 31st. GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) will introduce an internet audience measurement initiative at the Advertising Research Foundation media conference today. Event information was pulled from the conference’s web site, but because of Google Cache the page is still accessible. PARAMOUNT (NYSE: VIA) CEO Brad Grey has some serious problems to deal with. Not only did Dreamworks end its relationship with Paramount, but the studio also lost its television deal with Showtime. Rumors are circulating that if things aren’t positive at Paramount, Grey’s job maybe in jeopardy. REAL D is increasing the number of 3-D movie theaters from 1,000 to 5,500 in the next 18 months. If a consortium known as the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners can bankroll an overhaul of projection systems, Real D could potentially reach its goal of 20,000 screens in five years. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-24,23020684 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:28:32 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23017909-MediaBytes-with-Shelly-Palmer-June-23-2008-Google%E2%80%99s-Android-Pushed-Back                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s open letter to Senator Barack Obama entitled “Please Don’t Trade Space Exploration For Education” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on GOOGLE’s (NASD: GOOG) Android mobile platform, which has been pushed back to a fourth quarter release. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) has been ordered to pay ALCATEL-LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) $512 million for patent infringements. The legal battle, which has been raging for 5 years, was over Microsoft’s violation of patents held by Alcatel-Lucent used in software and stylus tablet computers. Microsoft plans to appeal the decision. comScore (NASD: SCOR) reports that online video viewing has stayed rather flat so far this year. However, while the number of videos being watched is only slightly higher, the amount of t...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s open letter to Senator Barack Obama entitled “Please Don’t Trade Space Exploration For Education” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on GOOGLE’s (NASD: GOOG) Android mobile platform, which has been pushed back to a fourth quarter release. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) has been ordered to pay ALCATEL-LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) $512 million for patent infringements. The legal battle, which has been raging for 5 years, was over Microsoft’s violation of patents held by Alcatel-Lucent used in software and stylus tablet computers. Microsoft plans to appeal the decision. comScore (NASD: SCOR) reports that online video viewing has stayed rather flat so far this year. However, while the number of videos being watched is only slightly higher, the amount of time people spend watching viral videos has jumped 44.3%. The FCC will auction off free wireless spectrum this week. The deal, which includes a provision that will filter out obscene content, could potentially provide wireless broadband access to half the country by 2012. Comedian George Carlin passed away Sunday. The 71 year old comic known for his irreverent humor was famous for his infamous “7 Dirty Words”. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s open letter to Senator Barack Obama entitled “Please Don’t Trade Space Exploration For Education” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on GOOGLE’s (NASD: GOOG) Android mobile platform, which has been pushed back to a fourth quarter release. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) has been ordered to pay ALCATEL-LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) $512 million for patent infringements. The legal battle, which has been raging for 5 years, was over Microsoft’s violation of patents held by Alcatel-Lucent used in software and stylus tablet computers. Microsoft plans to appeal the decision. comScore (NASD: SCOR) reports that online video viewing has stayed rather flat so far this year. However, while the number of videos being watched is only slightly higher, the amount of time people spend watching viral videos has jumped 44.3%. The FCC will auction off free wireless spectrum this week. The deal, which includes a provision that will filter out obscene content, could potentially provide wireless broadband access to half the country by 2012. Comedian George Carlin passed away Sunday. The 71 year old comic known for his irreverent humor was famous for his infamous “7 Dirty Words”. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-23,23017909 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:22:03 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/23003485-2008-06-18-MediaBytes-DREAMWORKS-RELIANCE-LINKEDIN-MICROSOFT-LIL-WAYNE-IPHONE                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on DREAMWORKS deal with Indian media conglomerate RELIANCE and the evolution of the Hollywood economy. LINKEDIN, the preferred social network of the professional set, will receive a $53 million infusion of capital. LinkedIn, whose average user is 41 and has an average income of $109,000, is valued at $1 billion. LinkedIn investors include Bain Capital, Seqoia Capital, Greylock Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) will acquire interactive TV ad network NAVIC for an undisclosed sum. Navic’s platform provides advertising and interactive television applications on over 35 million set-top boxes on COMCAST (NASD: CMCSA), COX (NYSE: CXR), TIME WARNER CABLE (NYSE: TWC) and CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS (NASD: CHTR) networks. Navic helps adverti...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on DREAMWORKS deal with Indian media conglomerate RELIANCE and the evolution of the Hollywood economy. LINKEDIN, the preferred social network of the professional set, will receive a $53 million infusion of capital. LinkedIn, whose average user is 41 and has an average income of $109,000, is valued at $1 billion. LinkedIn investors include Bain Capital, Seqoia Capital, Greylock Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) will acquire interactive TV ad network NAVIC for an undisclosed sum. Navic’s platform provides advertising and interactive television applications on over 35 million set-top boxes on COMCAST (NASD: CMCSA), COX (NYSE: CXR), TIME WARNER CABLE (NYSE: TWC) and CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS (NASD: CHTR) networks. Navic helps advertisers broaden their reach by tailoring ads to demographics and other viewer characteristics. Rapper LIL WAYNE is expected to top the BILLBOARD charts this week with over 1 million copies of The Carter III sold this week. Lil Wayne’s stats are significant as the last artist to sell a million copies in a week was 50 Cent in 2005. The Carter III’s success comes as record sales continue to fall, already down 11% this year, compared to 15% last year. Analysts believe the iPhone could drive a third of APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) revenue in 2009. With a lower price tag on the iPhone, Morgan Stanley expects Apple to sell 27 million units in 2009, which at $200 a phone would generate roughly $5 billion in revenue. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on DREAMWORKS deal with Indian media conglomerate RELIANCE and the evolution of the Hollywood economy. LINKEDIN, the preferred social network of the professional set, will receive a $53 million infusion of capital. LinkedIn, whose average user is 41 and has an average income of $109,000, is valued at $1 billion. LinkedIn investors include Bain Capital, Seqoia Capital, Greylock Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) will acquire interactive TV ad network NAVIC for an undisclosed sum. Navic’s platform provides advertising and interactive television applications on over 35 million set-top boxes on COMCAST (NASD: CMCSA), COX (NYSE: CXR), TIME WARNER CABLE (NYSE: TWC) and CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS (NASD: CHTR) networks. Navic helps advertisers broaden their reach by tailoring ads to demographics and other viewer characteristics. Rapper LIL WAYNE is expected to top the BILLBOARD charts this week with over 1 million copies of The Carter III sold this week. Lil Wayne’s stats are significant as the last artist to sell a million copies in a week was 50 Cent in 2005. The Carter III’s success comes as record sales continue to fall, already down 11% this year, compared to 15% last year. Analysts believe the iPhone could drive a third of APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) revenue in 2009. With a lower price tag on the iPhone, Morgan Stanley expects Apple to sell 27 million units in 2009, which at $200 a phone would generate roughly $5 billion in revenue. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-18,23003485 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:03:49 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22619918-2008-06-17-MediaBytes-VERIZON-TIGER-WOODS-NBC-ADOBE-EA-TAKE-TWO-BRIGHTCOVE-MOVE-NETWORKS                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on VERIZON’s (NYSE: VZ) decision to block access to the Usenet hierarchy. Tiger Wood’s helped NBC (NYSE: GE) receive the highest overnight ratings for the US Open in six years. The golfer, whose quest for the US Open spilled over into Monday, is responsible for a 21% increase over last years ratings, as well as the third best for a Sunday in U.S. Open history. ADOBE’s (NASD: ADBE) second quarter " target="_blank" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/2008-06-17/_adobe');"profit rose 41%. The software manufacturer reported $272.7 million of income compared to $223.3 million a year ago. Adobe’s profit is a result of a demanding world market, which makes up roughly half of Adobe’s consumers. ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: ERTS) deadlin...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on VERIZON’s (NYSE: VZ) decision to block access to the Usenet hierarchy. Tiger Wood’s helped NBC (NYSE: GE) receive the highest overnight ratings for the US Open in six years. The golfer, whose quest for the US Open spilled over into Monday, is responsible for a 21% increase over last years ratings, as well as the third best for a Sunday in U.S. Open history. ADOBE’s (NASD: ADBE) second quarter " target="_blank" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/2008-06-17/_adobe');"profit rose 41%. The software manufacturer reported $272.7 million of income compared to $223.3 million a year ago. Adobe’s profit is a result of a demanding world market, which makes up roughly half of Adobe’s consumers. ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: ERTS) deadline to acquire TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE (NASD: TTWO) has come and gone again. The video game manufacturer is expected to extend its $2 billion bid for Strauss Zelnick’s GTA-4 money machine, which has been holding out for more money. Take-Two has already shipped 11 million copies of Grand Theft Auto 4, which should give Take-Two some negotiating leverage. BRIGHTCOVE has gutted and rebuilt its streaming video player for better long-form capabilities. Brightcove, which is popular with news content producers and short form producers like TMZ, is making a move to acquire more long-form content partners. The move is directly targeted at competitor MOVE NETWORKS, who provides the player for ABC, FOX, the CW and ESPN. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on VERIZON’s (NYSE: VZ) decision to block access to the Usenet hierarchy. Tiger Wood’s helped NBC (NYSE: GE) receive the highest overnight ratings for the US Open in six years. The golfer, whose quest for the US Open spilled over into Monday, is responsible for a 21% increase over last years ratings, as well as the third best for a Sunday in U.S. Open history. ADOBE’s (NASD: ADBE) second quarter " target="_blank" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/2008-06-17/_adobe');"profit rose 41%. The software manufacturer reported $272.7 million of income compared to $223.3 million a year ago. Adobe’s profit is a result of a demanding world market, which makes up roughly half of Adobe’s consumers. ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASD: ERTS) deadline to acquire TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE (NASD: TTWO) has come and gone again. The video game manufacturer is expected to extend its $2 billion bid for Strauss Zelnick’s GTA-4 money machine, which has been holding out for more money. Take-Two has already shipped 11 million copies of Grand Theft Auto 4, which should give Take-Two some negotiating leverage. BRIGHTCOVE has gutted and rebuilt its streaming video player for better long-form capabilities. Brightcove, which is popular with news content producers and short form producers like TMZ, is making a move to acquire more long-form content partners. The move is directly targeted at competitor MOVE NETWORKS, who provides the player for ABC, FOX, the CW and ESPN. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-17,22619918 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:47:00 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22616703-2008-06-16-MediaBytes-APPLE-IPHONE-GOOGLE-ANDROID-AT-T-TIME-WARNER-AOL-FCC-SIRIUS-XM-ASSOCIATED-PRESS                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary “Of iPhones and Androids: A Tale of Two Business Models” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on AT&T’s (NYSE: T) plan to charge extra for “abnormally high usage.” TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes is looking to sell AOL. Last week at a Deutsche Bank conference, Bewkes hinted the sale of AOL’s dial up business, which insiders believe could be acquired by EARTHLINK (NASD: ELNK). While AOL is a dying business, private equity firms are looking to milk the company for its 8.7 million subscribers, which netted the service $539 million in first quarter revenue. FCC Chief Kevin Martin has OK’d the $5 billion merger of SIRIUS (NASD: SIRI) and XM (NASD: XMSR). Martin recommended the approval of the merger citin...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary “Of iPhones and Androids: A Tale of Two Business Models” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on AT&T’s (NYSE: T) plan to charge extra for “abnormally high usage.” TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes is looking to sell AOL. Last week at a Deutsche Bank conference, Bewkes hinted the sale of AOL’s dial up business, which insiders believe could be acquired by EARTHLINK (NASD: ELNK). While AOL is a dying business, private equity firms are looking to milk the company for its 8.7 million subscribers, which netted the service $539 million in first quarter revenue. FCC Chief Kevin Martin has OK’d the $5 billion merger of SIRIUS (NASD: SIRI) and XM (NASD: XMSR). Martin recommended the approval of the merger citing that the companies must desginate 24 channels to noncommercial and minority programming, also securing a three year price fix for consumers. Even though Martin has OK’d the merger, the deal still has to be cleared by four other FCC commissioners, who have kept especially quiet on their opinions. The ASSOCIATED PRESS will issue guidelines to bloggers as to what is acceptable regarding excerpts and quotations from AP articles. The move comes after the AP went after the Drudge Retort for linking to an AP story with short quotations via reader submissions. While reference to AP articles generally falls under the fair use exception to copyright law, the AP is threatening to sue anyone who infringes on their copyright guidelines. The FCC has revised the way it defines broadband capabilities. The old definition ear marked 200kbps as ‘high speed broadband’, while the agency will now label anything between 200kbps to 768 kbps as ‘first generation data.’ Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary “Of iPhones and Androids: A Tale of Two Business Models” on the blog. Watch Shelly’s commentary on AT&T’s (NYSE: T) plan to charge extra for “abnormally high usage.” TIME WARNER (NYSE: TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes is looking to sell AOL. Last week at a Deutsche Bank conference, Bewkes hinted the sale of AOL’s dial up business, which insiders believe could be acquired by EARTHLINK (NASD: ELNK). While AOL is a dying business, private equity firms are looking to milk the company for its 8.7 million subscribers, which netted the service $539 million in first quarter revenue. FCC Chief Kevin Martin has OK’d the $5 billion merger of SIRIUS (NASD: SIRI) and XM (NASD: XMSR). Martin recommended the approval of the merger citing that the companies must desginate 24 channels to noncommercial and minority programming, also securing a three year price fix for consumers. Even though Martin has OK’d the merger, the deal still has to be cleared by four other FCC commissioners, who have kept especially quiet on their opinions. The ASSOCIATED PRESS will issue guidelines to bloggers as to what is acceptable regarding excerpts and quotations from AP articles. The move comes after the AP went after the Drudge Retort for linking to an AP story with short quotations via reader submissions. While reference to AP articles generally falls under the fair use exception to copyright law, the AP is threatening to sue anyone who infringes on their copyright guidelines. The FCC has revised the way it defines broadband capabilities. The old definition ear marked 200kbps as ‘high speed broadband’, while the agency will now label anything between 200kbps to 768 kbps as ‘first generation data.’ Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-16,22616703 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:45:15 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22603170-2008-06-11-MediaBytes-VIACOM-HULU-DAILY-SHOW-COLBERT-VERIZON-TIME-WARNER-CABLE-SPRINT-NEXTEL-DISNEY-NY-TIMES-FCC                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on VIACOM’s (NYSE: VIA-B) decision to add shows to HULU , an NBC (NYSE: GE) - FOX (NYSE: NWS) joint venture. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ), TIME WARNER CABLE (NYSE: TWC) and SPRINT NEXTEL (NYSE: S) agreed to implement systems to censor child pornography on the internet. The decision came after an investigation led by NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo which found that the internet service providers were not properly responding to complaints about lewd content involving children. Web censorship laws regarding pornography, which have twice been struck down by the Supreme Court citing First Amendment rights, could greatly affect user groups and online forums, which have traditionally been havens for child pornography. DISNEY(NYSE: DIS) will stream full length feature fil...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on VIACOM’s (NYSE: VIA-B) decision to add shows to HULU , an NBC (NYSE: GE) - FOX (NYSE: NWS) joint venture. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ), TIME WARNER CABLE (NYSE: TWC) and SPRINT NEXTEL (NYSE: S) agreed to implement systems to censor child pornography on the internet. The decision came after an investigation led by NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo which found that the internet service providers were not properly responding to complaints about lewd content involving children. Web censorship laws regarding pornography, which have twice been struck down by the Supreme Court citing First Amendment rights, could greatly affect user groups and online forums, which have traditionally been havens for child pornography. DISNEY(NYSE: DIS) will stream full length feature films at Disney.com. Films like “Finding Nemo”, currently available for stream, will be made available online after airing on ABC Saturday nights throughout the summer. While the films will only be available for a limited time, the move toward streaming content is a way for Disney to boost their web presence. THE NEW YORK TIMES (NYSE: NYT) and ADREADY have launched a self-service advertising site at NYTIMES.com. The service, which targets small businesses, enables users to create and manage online ad campaigns on NYTIMES.com. The self service site allows advertisers with a budget of under $10,000 to reach a mass audience via one of the most well trafficked sites on the web. FCC head Kevin Martin continues to push for free web despite being forced to withdraw the position from Thursday’s FCC meeting agenda. Martin has been open about his plan to provide free internet access as a condition in an upcoming airwave auction, but has received opposition from Congressmen Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), who believes it alienates “traditional industry players.” Martin’s goal of free web access for all is an extension of the proposed broadband cloud. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on VIACOM’s (NYSE: VIA-B) decision to add shows to HULU , an NBC (NYSE: GE) - FOX (NYSE: NWS) joint venture. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ), TIME WARNER CABLE (NYSE: TWC) and SPRINT NEXTEL (NYSE: S) agreed to implement systems to censor child pornography on the internet. The decision came after an investigation led by NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo which found that the internet service providers were not properly responding to complaints about lewd content involving children. Web censorship laws regarding pornography, which have twice been struck down by the Supreme Court citing First Amendment rights, could greatly affect user groups and online forums, which have traditionally been havens for child pornography. DISNEY(NYSE: DIS) will stream full length feature films at Disney.com. Films like “Finding Nemo”, currently available for stream, will be made available online after airing on ABC Saturday nights throughout the summer. While the films will only be available for a limited time, the move toward streaming content is a way for Disney to boost their web presence. THE NEW YORK TIMES (NYSE: NYT) and ADREADY have launched a self-service advertising site at NYTIMES.com. The service, which targets small businesses, enables users to create and manage online ad campaigns on NYTIMES.com. The self service site allows advertisers with a budget of under $10,000 to reach a mass audience via one of the most well trafficked sites on the web. FCC head Kevin Martin continues to push for free web despite being forced to withdraw the position from Thursday’s FCC meeting agenda. Martin has been open about his plan to provide free internet access as a condition in an upcoming airwave auction, but has received opposition from Congressmen Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), who believes it alienates “traditional industry players.” Martin’s goal of free web access for all is an extension of the proposed broadband cloud. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-11,22603170 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:03:48 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22596220-2008-06-09-MediaBytes-APPLE-WIMAX-ICAHN-YAHOO-MICROSOFT-COMCAST-BIT-TORRENT-MPAA-FCC                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary on the first networked, broadband election and how Senator’s Obama and McCain shape up against each other. Watch Shelly’s commentary on APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) 3G iPhone, which is expected to be unveiled today at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. The six major technology companies which joined together behind WiMAX are expected to form a coalition to jointly license WiMAX-patents. CISCO (NASD: CSCO), INTEL(NASD: INTC), SAMSUNG, SPRINT(NYSE: S), ALCATEL-LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) and CLEARWIRE (NASD: CLWR) will announce the development of the Open Patent Alliance today via conference call, who will license the rights to all WiMAX related products to tech manufacturers. The goal of the organization is to expand the reach...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary on the first networked, broadband election and how Senator’s Obama and McCain shape up against each other. Watch Shelly’s commentary on APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) 3G iPhone, which is expected to be unveiled today at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. The six major technology companies which joined together behind WiMAX are expected to form a coalition to jointly license WiMAX-patents. CISCO (NASD: CSCO), INTEL(NASD: INTC), SAMSUNG, SPRINT(NYSE: S), ALCATEL-LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) and CLEARWIRE (NASD: CLWR) will announce the development of the Open Patent Alliance today via conference call, who will license the rights to all WiMAX related products to tech manufacturers. The goal of the organization is to expand the reach of WiMAX, while limiting royalty rates that could push consumers away. CARL ICAHN sent another heated letter to YAHOO (NASD: YHOO), this time urging the search company to sell to MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) for $34.375/share, or $49.5 billion, a nearly $2 billion increase from Microsoft’s last offer. If that doesn’t work out, Icahn advised Yahoo to resume negotiations with GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) regarding a potential search-ads deal that could significantly boost Yahoo’s cash flow, and make the company more attractive to Microsoft. COMCAST (NASD: CMCSA) was slapped with three Class Action lawsuits over its decision to throttle the internet connection of customers downloading BitTorrent files. The lawsuits in California, Illinois and New Jersey claim that Comcast misled customers who were promised “unfettered access to all the content, services and application that the Internet has to offer.” This is a major issue that isn’t going anyway any time soon, expect more law suits in the not so distant future. The MPAA is lobbying the FCC to allow Selectable Output Control (SOC) to be used in order to block the function of digital video recorders on HD movies broadcast prior to their release on DVD. The FCC currently restricts the use of SOC, however the MPAA claims that SOC’s could help deter “illegal copying and redistribution” of Hollywood films. The MPAA is looking to release new films via multichannel video programming distributors “significantly earlier than DVD release”, but is only willing to do so if the DVR function is blocked. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Read Shelly’s commentary on the first networked, broadband election and how Senator’s Obama and McCain shape up against each other. Watch Shelly’s commentary on APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) 3G iPhone, which is expected to be unveiled today at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. The six major technology companies which joined together behind WiMAX are expected to form a coalition to jointly license WiMAX-patents. CISCO (NASD: CSCO), INTEL(NASD: INTC), SAMSUNG, SPRINT(NYSE: S), ALCATEL-LUCENT (NYSE: ALU) and CLEARWIRE (NASD: CLWR) will announce the development of the Open Patent Alliance today via conference call, who will license the rights to all WiMAX related products to tech manufacturers. The goal of the organization is to expand the reach of WiMAX, while limiting royalty rates that could push consumers away. CARL ICAHN sent another heated letter to YAHOO (NASD: YHOO), this time urging the search company to sell to MICROSOFT (NASD: MSFT) for $34.375/share, or $49.5 billion, a nearly $2 billion increase from Microsoft’s last offer. If that doesn’t work out, Icahn advised Yahoo to resume negotiations with GOOGLE (NASD: GOOG) regarding a potential search-ads deal that could significantly boost Yahoo’s cash flow, and make the company more attractive to Microsoft. COMCAST (NASD: CMCSA) was slapped with three Class Action lawsuits over its decision to throttle the internet connection of customers downloading BitTorrent files. The lawsuits in California, Illinois and New Jersey claim that Comcast misled customers who were promised “unfettered access to all the content, services and application that the Internet has to offer.” This is a major issue that isn’t going anyway any time soon, expect more law suits in the not so distant future. The MPAA is lobbying the FCC to allow Selectable Output Control (SOC) to be used in order to block the function of digital video recorders on HD movies broadcast prior to their release on DVD. The FCC currently restricts the use of SOC, however the MPAA claims that SOC’s could help deter “illegal copying and redistribution” of Hollywood films. The MPAA is looking to release new films via multichannel video programming distributors “significantly earlier than DVD release”, but is only willing to do so if the DVR function is blocked. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-09,22596220 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:33:24 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22590013-2008-06-06-MediaBytes-COMCAST-TAKE-TWO-SONY-YOUTUBE-TIME-WARNER-CABLE-BROADCOM-HENRY-NICHOLAS If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Comcast’s plan to provide 100Mbps to subscribers. TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE’s profit soared due to the release of Grand Theft Auto 4. The company posted a net income of $98.2 million for the second-quarter, compared to $51.2 million a year ago, while revenue more than doubled to $539.8 million. The latest installment of GTA, which took in more than $500 million in sales the first week, is ultimately responsible for the increase, which came just before ELECTRONIC ART’s extended its bid for the company. SONY is bringing YOUTUBE to television via a small set-top box. Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link is a small module that connects to the TV and an ethernet cable and can broadcast videos from YouTube without using a computer. The box makes a plethora of web clips available for consumption on the boob tube, but doesn’t seem to do much to moneti... If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Comcast’s plan to provide 100Mbps to subscribers. TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE’s profit soared due to the release of Grand Theft Auto 4. The company posted a net income of $98.2 million for the second-quarter, compared to $51.2 million a year ago, while revenue more than doubled to $539.8 million. The latest installment of GTA, which took in more than $500 million in sales the first week, is ultimately responsible for the increase, which came just before ELECTRONIC ART’s extended its bid for the company. SONY is bringing YOUTUBE to television via a small set-top box. Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link is a small module that connects to the TV and an ethernet cable and can broadcast videos from YouTube without using a computer. The box makes a plethora of web clips available for consumption on the boob tube, but doesn’t seem to do much to monetize viral video. TIME WARNER CABLE is being sued by Los Angeles, who claims the cable company improperly raised prices and let their service decline. After acquiring two cable providers in 2006, TWC’s cable and internet service experienced months of outages and poor service, which eventually led to a price increase. The city of Los Angeles is suing the provider claiming users paid for a service that wasn’t provided. Former BROADCOM Chief Henry Nicholas was indicted yesterday on fraud, conspiracy and drug charges. The former executive is accused of backdating stock options, as well as spiking both colleagues and customers drinks with ecstasy. Henry, who is #258 on Forbes billionaire list, is also accused of stockpiling cocaine, ecstasy and crystal meth in a California warehouse. Share This If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. Watch Shelly’s commentary on Comcast’s plan to provide 100Mbps to subscribers. TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE’s profit soared due to the release of Grand Theft Auto 4. The company posted a net income of $98.2 million for the second-quarter, compared to $51.2 million a year ago, while revenue more than doubled to $539.8 million. The latest installment of GTA, which took in more than $500 million in sales the first week, is ultimately responsible for the increase, which came just before ELECTRONIC ART’s extended its bid for the company. SONY is bringing YOUTUBE to television via a small set-top box. Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link is a small module that connects to the TV and an ethernet cable and can broadcast videos from YouTube without using a computer. The box makes a plethora of web clips available for consumption on the boob tube, but doesn’t seem to do much to monetize viral video. TIME WARNER CABLE is being sued by Los Angeles, who claims the cable company improperly raised prices and let their service decline. After acquiring two cable providers in 2006, TWC’s cable and internet service experienced months of outages and poor service, which eventually led to a price increase. The city of Los Angeles is suing the provider claiming users paid for a service that wasn’t provided. Former BROADCOM Chief Henry Nicholas was indicted yesterday on fraud, conspiracy and drug charges. The former executive is accused of backdating stock options, as well as spiking both colleagues and customers drinks with ecstasy. Henry, who is #258 on Forbes billionaire list, is also accused of stockpiling cocaine, ecstasy and crystal meth in a California warehouse. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-06,22590013 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:20:21 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22596221-2008-06-05-MediaBytes-ICAHN-YAHOO-APPLE-IPHONE-TBS-FOX-PARAMOUNT-VERIZON-ALLTEL                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube Carl Icahn invokes Ian Fleming and doomsday in a letter to YAHOO (NASD: YHOO). Watch Shelly’s commentary to hear the latest on Icahn’s quest to get the Microsoft-Yahoo deal done. Advertisers are abuzz about the possibilities of APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) new 3G iPhone, even though they haven’t seen it yet. No comment from APPLE, but sources believe Steve Jobs will unveil the new iPhone Monday, June 9 when Jobs gives the keynote speech at Apple’s Wordwide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. TBS (NYSE: TWX)has begun pausing shows mid-scene to display ads for other TBS programs.The ad in question features comedian Bill Engvall walking on screen, pausing Family Guy and plugging The Bill Engvall Show. The ad plays off the idea of pausing shows using DVR technology...                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube Carl Icahn invokes Ian Fleming and doomsday in a letter to YAHOO (NASD: YHOO). Watch Shelly’s commentary to hear the latest on Icahn’s quest to get the Microsoft-Yahoo deal done. Advertisers are abuzz about the possibilities of APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) new 3G iPhone, even though they haven’t seen it yet. No comment from APPLE, but sources believe Steve Jobs will unveil the new iPhone Monday, June 9 when Jobs gives the keynote speech at Apple’s Wordwide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. TBS (NYSE: TWX)has begun pausing shows mid-scene to display ads for other TBS programs.The ad in question features comedian Bill Engvall walking on screen, pausing Family Guy and plugging The Bill Engvall Show. The ad plays off the idea of pausing shows using DVR technology, a sure fire way to know the viewer is paying attention, for better or worse. FOX’s (NYSE: NWS)recent experiment with ‘Remote Free TV’ is paying off with 35-40% pricing premiums for upfront advertisements. ‘Remote Free TV’ is a new initiative intent on keeping viewers focused on programming in the age of the digital video recorder and airs half the number of commercials per program. Fox has already sold 70% of its upfront prime time spots and could sell out by the end of the week. PARAMOUNT (NYSE: VIA)will consolidate indie studio PARAMOUNT VANTAGE, responsible for “No Country For Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood.” In an efficient, cost cutting move, the studio will bring the separate marketing, distribution and production department from its independent arm in-house. The move comes months after Time Warner merged two of its studios, and shut down others, and is a classic example of Hollywood tightening the economic reigns. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ) is in talks to acquire regional wireless provider ALLTEL for approximately $27 billion. Alltel, which was purchased by TPG Group and a unit of Goldman Sachs for $27.5 billion in a leveraged buyout seven months ago, would make Verizon the largest cellphone company in the United States. The potential re-sale of Alltel is an example of how the credit crunch is smothering the business world. Share This                    If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube Carl Icahn invokes Ian Fleming and doomsday in a letter to YAHOO (NASD: YHOO). Watch Shelly’s commentary to hear the latest on Icahn’s quest to get the Microsoft-Yahoo deal done. Advertisers are abuzz about the possibilities of APPLE’s (NASD: AAPL) new 3G iPhone, even though they haven’t seen it yet. No comment from APPLE, but sources believe Steve Jobs will unveil the new iPhone Monday, June 9 when Jobs gives the keynote speech at Apple’s Wordwide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. TBS (NYSE: TWX)has begun pausing shows mid-scene to display ads for other TBS programs.The ad in question features comedian Bill Engvall walking on screen, pausing Family Guy and plugging The Bill Engvall Show. The ad plays off the idea of pausing shows using DVR technology, a sure fire way to know the viewer is paying attention, for better or worse. FOX’s (NYSE: NWS)recent experiment with ‘Remote Free TV’ is paying off with 35-40% pricing premiums for upfront advertisements. ‘Remote Free TV’ is a new initiative intent on keeping viewers focused on programming in the age of the digital video recorder and airs half the number of commercials per program. Fox has already sold 70% of its upfront prime time spots and could sell out by the end of the week. PARAMOUNT (NYSE: VIA)will consolidate indie studio PARAMOUNT VANTAGE, responsible for “No Country For Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood.” In an efficient, cost cutting move, the studio will bring the separate marketing, distribution and production department from its independent arm in-house. The move comes months after Time Warner merged two of its studios, and shut down others, and is a classic example of Hollywood tightening the economic reigns. VERIZON (NYSE: VZ) is in talks to acquire regional wireless provider ALLTEL for approximately $27 billion. Alltel, which was purchased by TPG Group and a unit of Goldman Sachs for $27.5 billion in a leveraged buyout seven months ago, would make Verizon the largest cellphone company in the United States. The potential re-sale of Alltel is an example of how the credit crunch is smothering the business world. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-05,22596221 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:30:35 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22582501-2008-06-04-MediaBytes-OBAMA-YAHOO-ICAHN-YANG-SONY-IGA-PS3-NBC-BEIJING-OLYMPICS-COMCAST Congratulations to SENATOR OBAMA, the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for President of the United States. Watch Shelly’s Video Commentary on Senator Obama’s nomination and how technology may inevitably influence the race. Activist investor CARL ICAHN vowed to remove JERRY YANG from his Chief Executive position if Icahn’s bid to unseat YAHOO’s board of directors is a success. Icahn, who feels Yang was a major obstacle in MICROSOFT’s failed bid to acquire the search company, reiterated that he plans to replace Yang and other board members in hopes of reviving negotiations with Microsoft. Yang has been heavily criticized for his role in the botched takeover, especially after it was revealed that he had rejected a previous offer from Microsoft well above the $33/share Microsoft offered in May. SONY will announce that it has reached a deal with IGA WORLDWIDE to bring advertisements distributed via the internet to PS3 games. The deal would emphasize pr... Congratulations to SENATOR OBAMA, the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for President of the United States. Watch Shelly’s Video Commentary on Senator Obama’s nomination and how technology may inevitably influence the race. Activist investor CARL ICAHN vowed to remove JERRY YANG from his Chief Executive position if Icahn’s bid to unseat YAHOO’s board of directors is a success. Icahn, who feels Yang was a major obstacle in MICROSOFT’s failed bid to acquire the search company, reiterated that he plans to replace Yang and other board members in hopes of reviving negotiations with Microsoft. Yang has been heavily criticized for his role in the botched takeover, especially after it was revealed that he had rejected a previous offer from Microsoft well above the $33/share Microsoft offered in May. SONY will announce that it has reached a deal with IGA WORLDWIDE to bring advertisements distributed via the internet to PS3 games. The deal would emphasize product placement and display ads embedded inside the game that could create significant new revenue for the company. IGA will announce that ELECTRONIC ARTS will be the first game publisher to feature ads in its games. NBC is aggressively trying to move unsold ad spots for their coverage of the Beijing Olympics. Sources say NBC may be as much as $300 million short of their goal. Even if NBC does sell out the upfront spots, because the results of games will be known half a day in advance, there is no telling whether or not such ads will be affective, as viewers may prefer to get their Olympic coverage from the internet. COMCAST is attempting to control its subscribers bandwidth by using “protocol agnostic network management systems.” The cable and internet provider, which has been criticized as of late for restricting BitTorrent P2P traffic, claims the initiative will help offer the “best customer service experience online.” With TIME WARNER CABLE implementing a pay-per-gigabyte fee as part of their new tier system, its clear that internet providers are serious about curtailing excessive bandwidth usage. Share This Congratulations to SENATOR OBAMA, the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for President of the United States. Watch Shelly’s Video Commentary on Senator Obama’s nomination and how technology may inevitably influence the race. Activist investor CARL ICAHN vowed to remove JERRY YANG from his Chief Executive position if Icahn’s bid to unseat YAHOO’s board of directors is a success. Icahn, who feels Yang was a major obstacle in MICROSOFT’s failed bid to acquire the search company, reiterated that he plans to replace Yang and other board members in hopes of reviving negotiations with Microsoft. Yang has been heavily criticized for his role in the botched takeover, especially after it was revealed that he had rejected a previous offer from Microsoft well above the $33/share Microsoft offered in May. SONY will announce that it has reached a deal with IGA WORLDWIDE to bring advertisements distributed via the internet to PS3 games. The deal would emphasize product placement and display ads embedded inside the game that could create significant new revenue for the company. IGA will announce that ELECTRONIC ARTS will be the first game publisher to feature ads in its games. NBC is aggressively trying to move unsold ad spots for their coverage of the Beijing Olympics. Sources say NBC may be as much as $300 million short of their goal. Even if NBC does sell out the upfront spots, because the results of games will be known half a day in advance, there is no telling whether or not such ads will be affective, as viewers may prefer to get their Olympic coverage from the internet. COMCAST is attempting to control its subscribers bandwidth by using “protocol agnostic network management systems.” The cable and internet provider, which has been criticized as of late for restricting BitTorrent P2P traffic, claims the initiative will help offer the “best customer service experience online.” With TIME WARNER CABLE implementing a pay-per-gigabyte fee as part of their new tier system, its clear that internet providers are serious about curtailing excessive bandwidth usage. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-04,22582501 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:05:00 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22595660-2008-06-02-MediaBytes-TURNER-INTEL-NVIDIA-DISH-TIVO-ADOBE-PLANETGREEN Shelly Palmer writes about the FCC’s new auction and how free wireless broadband may impact our lives. TURNER (NYSE: TWX) is uniting its web properties to form a brand- friendly ad network. The media conglomerate will offer advertisers a choice of video and display ads available on their nineteen web sites, including CNN.com, NBA.com and PGA.com. The move is part of a digital sales overhaul in which the company will abandon third party ad networks. INTEL (NASD:INTC) will re-enter the mobile phone market. As smart phones become more like computers, Intel, which has an 80% share of the PC processor market, believes its expertise with processors will help them in the smart phone market. However, while its new Atom chip is set to roll out an upgrade in late 2009, competitors say that the Atom will only give users roughly 4-6 hours of HD-video playback on a single battery. In other mobile device news, NVIDIA (NASD: NVDA) will announce its plans for its first chips designed for mobi... Shelly Palmer writes about the FCC’s new auction and how free wireless broadband may impact our lives. TURNER (NYSE: TWX) is uniting its web properties to form a brand- friendly ad network. The media conglomerate will offer advertisers a choice of video and display ads available on their nineteen web sites, including CNN.com, NBA.com and PGA.com. The move is part of a digital sales overhaul in which the company will abandon third party ad networks. INTEL (NASD:INTC) will re-enter the mobile phone market. As smart phones become more like computers, Intel, which has an 80% share of the PC processor market, believes its expertise with processors will help them in the smart phone market. However, while its new Atom chip is set to roll out an upgrade in late 2009, competitors say that the Atom will only give users roughly 4-6 hours of HD-video playback on a single battery. In other mobile device news, NVIDIA (NASD: NVDA) will announce its plans for its first chips designed for mobile internet devices (MIDs) this afternoon. The manufacturer described its new Tegra chips as a “computer on a chip” which it estimates will be able to play up to 26 hours of HD-video on a single battery change on a MID. Nvidia’s move into the MID market comes on the heels of competitors like INTEL, SAMSUNG and QUALCOMM’s (NASD: QCOM) decision to move into the emerging market. The DISH NETWORK (NASD: DISH) and ECHOSTAR (NASD: SATS) are suing TIVO (NASD: TIVO) over comments the digital video recording company made about the Dish Network infringing on its patents. The lawsuit comes after an appeals court upheld a decision that ruled the firms had to pay Tivo $74 million in patent-infringement damages. The latest round in this legal battle could benefit TiVo, who recently posted a first quarter profit, if a judge orders an injunction against infringing digital video recorders. ADOBE SYSTEMS (NASD: ADBE) will launch a new version of its sharing software Acrobat today which will allow users to include Flash-based videos in PDF documents. The new version of Acrobat, which repackages documents so they can be read on different operating systems, will enable users to spice up Power Point presentations by making audio and video a part of the equation. DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS will launch PlanetGreen this week. The niche eco-channel already has major advertisers like GM (NYSE: GM) and SC JOHNSON in line, which hope to capitalize on branded green initiatives. PlanetGreen believes its fresh niche will help re-focus buyers on the quality of targeted ads, over the quantity of ads catered to light viewers. Share This Shelly Palmer writes about the FCC’s new auction and how free wireless broadband may impact our lives. TURNER (NYSE: TWX) is uniting its web properties to form a brand- friendly ad network. The media conglomerate will offer advertisers a choice of video and display ads available on their nineteen web sites, including CNN.com, NBA.com and PGA.com. The move is part of a digital sales overhaul in which the company will abandon third party ad networks. INTEL (NASD:INTC) will re-enter the mobile phone market. As smart phones become more like computers, Intel, which has an 80% share of the PC processor market, believes its expertise with processors will help them in the smart phone market. However, while its new Atom chip is set to roll out an upgrade in late 2009, competitors say that the Atom will only give users roughly 4-6 hours of HD-video playback on a single battery. In other mobile device news, NVIDIA (NASD: NVDA) will announce its plans for its first chips designed for mobile internet devices (MIDs) this afternoon. The manufacturer described its new Tegra chips as a “computer on a chip” which it estimates will be able to play up to 26 hours of HD-video on a single battery change on a MID. Nvidia’s move into the MID market comes on the heels of competitors like INTEL, SAMSUNG and QUALCOMM’s (NASD: QCOM) decision to move into the emerging market. The DISH NETWORK (NASD: DISH) and ECHOSTAR (NASD: SATS) are suing TIVO (NASD: TIVO) over comments the digital video recording company made about the Dish Network infringing on its patents. The lawsuit comes after an appeals court upheld a decision that ruled the firms had to pay Tivo $74 million in patent-infringement damages. The latest round in this legal battle could benefit TiVo, who recently posted a first quarter profit, if a judge orders an injunction against infringing digital video recorders. ADOBE SYSTEMS (NASD: ADBE) will launch a new version of its sharing software Acrobat today which will allow users to include Flash-based videos in PDF documents. The new version of Acrobat, which repackages documents so they can be read on different operating systems, will enable users to spice up Power Point presentations by making audio and video a part of the equation. DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS will launch PlanetGreen this week. The niche eco-channel already has major advertisers like GM (NYSE: GM) and SC JOHNSON in line, which hope to capitalize on branded green initiatives. PlanetGreen believes its fresh niche will help re-focus buyers on the quality of targeted ads, over the quantity of ads catered to light viewers. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-06-02,22595660 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:43:14 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22569369-2008-05-30-MediaBytes-NBCU-WEATHER-CHANNEL-DELL-GOOGLE-YANG-MICROSOFT-OBAMA NBCU and private equity firms BAIN CAPITAL and BLACKSTONE GROUP have bid $3.5 billion for the WEATHER CHANNEL. The bid, placed a week after the deadline to submit an offer, could be challenged by TIME WARNER, who is reportedly set to bid on the Weather Channel this week. LANDMARK COMMUNICATIONS, who owns Weather Channel, is expected to make a decision regarding the bids next week. DELL recorded first-quarter profits of $784 million, up 4% from $756 million last year. The PC manufacturer is trying to break from a three-year down slide in which the company lost its market share to HEWLETT-PACKARD. To combat sliding sales in the US, Dell has laid off a significant amount of employees, opened themselves up to retail sales and is focusing on developing their foreign market, moves which have cut costs while increasing profitability. GOOGLE’s paid clicks rose more than 20% during the month of April. While Google’s clicks rose, both MICROSOFT and YAHOO took a hit on their portio... NBCU and private equity firms BAIN CAPITAL and BLACKSTONE GROUP have bid $3.5 billion for the WEATHER CHANNEL. The bid, placed a week after the deadline to submit an offer, could be challenged by TIME WARNER, who is reportedly set to bid on the Weather Channel this week. LANDMARK COMMUNICATIONS, who owns Weather Channel, is expected to make a decision regarding the bids next week. DELL recorded first-quarter profits of $784 million, up 4% from $756 million last year. The PC manufacturer is trying to break from a three-year down slide in which the company lost its market share to HEWLETT-PACKARD. To combat sliding sales in the US, Dell has laid off a significant amount of employees, opened themselves up to retail sales and is focusing on developing their foreign market, moves which have cut costs while increasing profitability. GOOGLE’s paid clicks rose more than 20% during the month of April. While Google’s clicks rose, both MICROSOFT and YAHOO took a hit on their portion of the market. The report is just another indicator of Google’s dominance in the search business. YAHOO CEO Jerry Yang confirmed reports that MICROSOFT is no longer interested in a total acquisition of the search company. While Yang admitted that the two companies are still in talks for some sort of search deal, a deal would most certainly fall far short of the proposed $45 billion takeover Microsoft offered in January. Yang reiterated that Yahoo is still open to a search ads deal with GOOGLE, however, analysts are still skeptical, citing regulatory issues. Illinois Senator BARACK OBAMA spent roughly $3.5 million on online advertising between January and April. Approximately $2.8 million of the money the presidential hopeful spent online went directly to GOOGLE. The Obama camp has made great use of not only search ads, but also cost-per-action ads, which ensure advertisers are getting a return on their investment. Share This NBCU and private equity firms BAIN CAPITAL and BLACKSTONE GROUP have bid $3.5 billion for the WEATHER CHANNEL. The bid, placed a week after the deadline to submit an offer, could be challenged by TIME WARNER, who is reportedly set to bid on the Weather Channel this week. LANDMARK COMMUNICATIONS, who owns Weather Channel, is expected to make a decision regarding the bids next week. DELL recorded first-quarter profits of $784 million, up 4% from $756 million last year. The PC manufacturer is trying to break from a three-year down slide in which the company lost its market share to HEWLETT-PACKARD. To combat sliding sales in the US, Dell has laid off a significant amount of employees, opened themselves up to retail sales and is focusing on developing their foreign market, moves which have cut costs while increasing profitability. GOOGLE’s paid clicks rose more than 20% during the month of April. While Google’s clicks rose, both MICROSOFT and YAHOO took a hit on their portion of the market. The report is just another indicator of Google’s dominance in the search business. YAHOO CEO Jerry Yang confirmed reports that MICROSOFT is no longer interested in a total acquisition of the search company. While Yang admitted that the two companies are still in talks for some sort of search deal, a deal would most certainly fall far short of the proposed $45 billion takeover Microsoft offered in January. Yang reiterated that Yahoo is still open to a search ads deal with GOOGLE, however, analysts are still skeptical, citing regulatory issues. Illinois Senator BARACK OBAMA spent roughly $3.5 million on online advertising between January and April. Approximately $2.8 million of the money the presidential hopeful spent online went directly to GOOGLE. The Obama camp has made great use of not only search ads, but also cost-per-action ads, which ensure advertisers are getting a return on their investment. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-05-30,22569369 Fri, 30 May 2008 03:31:39 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22565544-2008-05-29-MediaBytes-TIVO-MICROSOFT-YAHOO-AFTRA-AMAZON-LIVE-NATION-FACEBOOK TIVO reported their first-quarter net income more than quadrupled, taking in $3.6 million over $835,000 last year. The net gain can be attributed to Tivo cutting costs, while also expanding its reach through deals with COX and COMCAST and legal victories over its patents. With deals in place with one-third of the cable industry and a new deal to offer DISNEY films, TiVo shows no signs that its set-top box business is slowing down. MICROSOFT and YAHOO are still in talks regarding a potential search ads deal. Sources say that Steve Ballmer and Jerry Yang discussed different options for a deal this past weekend over a round of golf. While talks have intensified, Microsoft’s interest in Yahoo seems to be based solely on a search deal, rather than a total acquisition. AMAZON will launch a pay-per-view streaming service next week. The service, which is similar Unbox, its rent or download service, will allow users to watch content instantly without downloading and will be priced the ... TIVO reported their first-quarter net income more than quadrupled, taking in $3.6 million over $835,000 last year. The net gain can be attributed to Tivo cutting costs, while also expanding its reach through deals with COX and COMCAST and legal victories over its patents. With deals in place with one-third of the cable industry and a new deal to offer DISNEY films, TiVo shows no signs that its set-top box business is slowing down. MICROSOFT and YAHOO are still in talks regarding a potential search ads deal. Sources say that Steve Ballmer and Jerry Yang discussed different options for a deal this past weekend over a round of golf. While talks have intensified, Microsoft’s interest in Yahoo seems to be based solely on a search deal, rather than a total acquisition. AMAZON will launch a pay-per-view streaming service next week. The service, which is similar Unbox, its rent or download service, will allow users to watch content instantly without downloading and will be priced the same as the Unbox service. No word on whether or not the new streaming service will work on Mac’s, which Unbox does not. Hollywood studios have reached a tentative deal with AFTRA. The three year deal will put AFTRA members back to work and has given way to resumed talks between the studios and SAG. The AFTRA deal resembles recent contractual deals with writers and directors, however, it does nothing to curtail the uncertainty caused by the potential of a SAG strike. SAG’s contract with the studios expires June 30. LIVE NATION will sell tickets through a FACEBOOK web application and widget. The deal, which will allow users to search and purchase tickets through My Live Nation, is an interactive, web 2.0 model for selling tickets to concerts and events. Fans who sign up will be able to sync their music libraries with Live Nation for personalized concert and ticket updates. Share This TIVO reported their first-quarter net income more than quadrupled, taking in $3.6 million over $835,000 last year. The net gain can be attributed to Tivo cutting costs, while also expanding its reach through deals with COX and COMCAST and legal victories over its patents. With deals in place with one-third of the cable industry and a new deal to offer DISNEY films, TiVo shows no signs that its set-top box business is slowing down. MICROSOFT and YAHOO are still in talks regarding a potential search ads deal. Sources say that Steve Ballmer and Jerry Yang discussed different options for a deal this past weekend over a round of golf. While talks have intensified, Microsoft’s interest in Yahoo seems to be based solely on a search deal, rather than a total acquisition. AMAZON will launch a pay-per-view streaming service next week. The service, which is similar Unbox, its rent or download service, will allow users to watch content instantly without downloading and will be priced the same as the Unbox service. No word on whether or not the new streaming service will work on Mac’s, which Unbox does not. Hollywood studios have reached a tentative deal with AFTRA. The three year deal will put AFTRA members back to work and has given way to resumed talks between the studios and SAG. The AFTRA deal resembles recent contractual deals with writers and directors, however, it does nothing to curtail the uncertainty caused by the potential of a SAG strike. SAG’s contract with the studios expires June 30. LIVE NATION will sell tickets through a FACEBOOK web application and widget. The deal, which will allow users to search and purchase tickets through My Live Nation, is an interactive, web 2.0 model for selling tickets to concerts and events. Fans who sign up will be able to sync their music libraries with Live Nation for personalized concert and ticket updates. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-05-29,22565544 Thu, 29 May 2008 03:19:47 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22558847-2008-05-27-MediaBytes-FCC-ABC-NBC-VODAFONE-SAMSUNG-INFINEON-OMNIVISION-AMAZON Read my commentary, “Chinamerica: An East/West Mashup” on the blog. The FCC is searching for a bidder to provide free broadband service in the 1.9 GHz- 2.1 GHz bands. FCC chair Kevin Martin said Friday that the service would include built-in content filters. Martin calls for the smut-free service to be accessible by half of the US population in four years and 95% by the time its license is up for renewal. ABC and NBC have teamed with COX to develop an alternative to the digital video recorder. The offering, dubbed “My Primetime,” allows viewers to watch television shows on demand without the ability to utilize the fast-forward button. FOX has also signed on with COX to be a part of “My Primetime”, which the networks hope will boost advertising revenue. OMNIVISION has developed a sensor that can fit more pixels on a microchip. OmniVision, the world’s largest supplier of image sensors for camera phones, expects to have 8-megapixel sensors in h... Read my commentary, “Chinamerica: An East/West Mashup” on the blog. The FCC is searching for a bidder to provide free broadband service in the 1.9 GHz- 2.1 GHz bands. FCC chair Kevin Martin said Friday that the service would include built-in content filters. Martin calls for the smut-free service to be accessible by half of the US population in four years and 95% by the time its license is up for renewal. ABC and NBC have teamed with COX to develop an alternative to the digital video recorder. The offering, dubbed “My Primetime,” allows viewers to watch television shows on demand without the ability to utilize the fast-forward button. FOX has also signed on with COX to be a part of “My Primetime”, which the networks hope will boost advertising revenue. OMNIVISION has developed a sensor that can fit more pixels on a microchip. OmniVision, the world’s largest supplier of image sensors for camera phones, expects to have 8-megapixel sensors in high end handsets in 2009. The sensor, which has the potential to create high quality digital images in a thinner unit, could make grainy cell phone images a thing of the past. VODAFONE CEO Arun Sarin will resign. Sarin will step down from his position at the world’s largest mobile provider after Vodafone’s annual meeting July 29th. Sarin, who greatly expanded Vodafone’s operations during his five years as CEO, will be succeeded by his deputy Vittorio Colao. SAMSUNG announced that it has started purchasing chipsets from INFINEON. In the past, Samsung has acquired chipsets, a key component in mobile handsets, from QUALCOMM. A senior official at Samsung noted that Infineon’s chipsets are more than 20% cheaper than Qualcomm’s and their quality isn’t far behind. AMAZON, APPLE and RIM top Business Week’s annual InfoTech 100 poll. The poll sorts through the financial records of over 30,000 publicly traded companies and ranks the tech players in four categories: shareholder return, return on equity, total revenues, and revenue growth. Amazon was the winner this year with the lowest aggregate ranking. Share This Read my commentary, “Chinamerica: An East/West Mashup” on the blog. The FCC is searching for a bidder to provide free broadband service in the 1.9 GHz- 2.1 GHz bands. FCC chair Kevin Martin said Friday that the service would include built-in content filters. Martin calls for the smut-free service to be accessible by half of the US population in four years and 95% by the time its license is up for renewal. ABC and NBC have teamed with COX to develop an alternative to the digital video recorder. The offering, dubbed “My Primetime,” allows viewers to watch television shows on demand without the ability to utilize the fast-forward button. FOX has also signed on with COX to be a part of “My Primetime”, which the networks hope will boost advertising revenue. OMNIVISION has developed a sensor that can fit more pixels on a microchip. OmniVision, the world’s largest supplier of image sensors for camera phones, expects to have 8-megapixel sensors in high end handsets in 2009. The sensor, which has the potential to create high quality digital images in a thinner unit, could make grainy cell phone images a thing of the past. VODAFONE CEO Arun Sarin will resign. Sarin will step down from his position at the world’s largest mobile provider after Vodafone’s annual meeting July 29th. Sarin, who greatly expanded Vodafone’s operations during his five years as CEO, will be succeeded by his deputy Vittorio Colao. SAMSUNG announced that it has started purchasing chipsets from INFINEON. In the past, Samsung has acquired chipsets, a key component in mobile handsets, from QUALCOMM. A senior official at Samsung noted that Infineon’s chipsets are more than 20% cheaper than Qualcomm’s and their quality isn’t far behind. AMAZON, APPLE and RIM top Business Week’s annual InfoTech 100 poll. The poll sorts through the financial records of over 30,000 publicly traded companies and ranks the tech players in four categories: shareholder return, return on equity, total revenues, and revenue growth. Amazon was the winner this year with the lowest aggregate ranking. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-05-27,22558847 Tue, 27 May 2008 03:53:17 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22537900-2008-05-23-MediaBytes-YAHOO-GOOGLE-WHITESPACE-BELL-CANADA-LENOVO-CONGRESS If you have trouble viewing the above video, please click here to view MediaBytes on YouTube. YAHOO is postponing their annual shareholders meeting. The decision comes as board member Edward Kozel resigned and Yahoo nominated the other 9 directors for re-election in the face of CARL ICAHN’s proxy fight. Icahn has already selected his board members, which include Frank Biondi and Mark Cuban. GOOGLE co-founder Larry Page is still pushing for public access to white space. The Google co-founder traveled to Washington to urge the FCC to utilize the wireless spectrum for free, unlicensed use. With the age of analog television ending in February 2009, the slivers of wireless spectrum designed to prevent broadcast disruptions could soon be available to aid developing wireless networks. A $51.8 billion leveraged buyout of BELL CANADA has been squashed by an appeals court. The unforeseen ruling has put the largest leveraged buyout in history at risk. In response, Bell Canada has issued ... If you have trouble viewing the above video, please click here to view MediaBytes on YouTube. YAHOO is postponing their annual shareholders meeting. The decision comes as board member Edward Kozel resigned and Yahoo nominated the other 9 directors for re-election in the face of CARL ICAHN’s proxy fight. Icahn has already selected his board members, which include Frank Biondi and Mark Cuban. GOOGLE co-founder Larry Page is still pushing for public access to white space. The Google co-founder traveled to Washington to urge the FCC to utilize the wireless spectrum for free, unlicensed use. With the age of analog television ending in February 2009, the slivers of wireless spectrum designed to prevent broadcast disruptions could soon be available to aid developing wireless networks. A $51.8 billion leveraged buyout of BELL CANADA has been squashed by an appeals court. The unforeseen ruling has put the largest leveraged buyout in history at risk. In response, Bell Canada has issued an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and will extend the closing date for the buyout to June 30. LENOVO more than doubled its profits in the fiscal fourth quarter, aided by strong international sales in China, Europe and the Middle East. Despite a slowing US economy, the computer manufacturer reported a profit of $140 million in the fiscal fourth quarter, up from $60.3 million a year ago. Lenovo, who showed 21% overall growth in the first quarter of 2008, is the fourth largest PC manufacturer in the world. CONGRESS is close to resolving a year long debate over whether or not telecommunications companies should get immunity for cooperating with government surveillance. If reached, the deal would direct offenders to a secret national security court. While the deal has been gaining support from all sides, it could face have a problem becoming a law if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t allow it to reach the floor. Share This If you have trouble viewing the above video, please click here to view MediaBytes on YouTube. YAHOO is postponing their annual shareholders meeting. The decision comes as board member Edward Kozel resigned and Yahoo nominated the other 9 directors for re-election in the face of CARL ICAHN’s proxy fight. Icahn has already selected his board members, which include Frank Biondi and Mark Cuban. GOOGLE co-founder Larry Page is still pushing for public access to white space. The Google co-founder traveled to Washington to urge the FCC to utilize the wireless spectrum for free, unlicensed use. With the age of analog television ending in February 2009, the slivers of wireless spectrum designed to prevent broadcast disruptions could soon be available to aid developing wireless networks. A $51.8 billion leveraged buyout of BELL CANADA has been squashed by an appeals court. The unforeseen ruling has put the largest leveraged buyout in history at risk. In response, Bell Canada has issued an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and will extend the closing date for the buyout to June 30. LENOVO more than doubled its profits in the fiscal fourth quarter, aided by strong international sales in China, Europe and the Middle East. Despite a slowing US economy, the computer manufacturer reported a profit of $140 million in the fiscal fourth quarter, up from $60.3 million a year ago. Lenovo, who showed 21% overall growth in the first quarter of 2008, is the fourth largest PC manufacturer in the world. CONGRESS is close to resolving a year long debate over whether or not telecommunications companies should get immunity for cooperating with government surveillance. If reached, the deal would direct offenders to a secret national security court. While the deal has been gaining support from all sides, it could face have a problem becoming a law if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t allow it to reach the floor. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-05-23,22537900 Fri, 23 May 2008 04:01:01 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22531245-2008-05-21-MediaBytes-WSJ-HULU-NBCU-DISH-MICROSOFT-TIME-WARNER-BOONE-YAHOO-ICAHN If you have trouble viewing the above video, please click here to view MediaBytes on YouTube. RUPERT MURDOCH named ROBERT J. THOMSON head editor at the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The move places one of Murdoch’s top editors in one of the most important positions in American media. Thomson, who was previously managing editor of The Times of London, will replace Marcus Brauchli, who was pushed out after less than a year in the position. Users of NEWS CORP and NBC’s HULU watched 63.2 million videos in April and helped the site gain seven new distribution partners. Amongst Hulu’s new distribution sites is TV.com, part of CNET which will soon be part of CBS. A backdoor deal with CBS could bring three major networks together on Hulu, which is ad-supported and cracked the Nielsen Top 10 this month. NBCU and the DISH NETWORK have signed an interactive ad deal that will allow users to respond to ads. The move, which NBCU has experimented with on TiVO, will utilize icons that allo... If you have trouble viewing the above video, please click here to view MediaBytes on YouTube. RUPERT MURDOCH named ROBERT J. THOMSON head editor at the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The move places one of Murdoch’s top editors in one of the most important positions in American media. Thomson, who was previously managing editor of The Times of London, will replace Marcus Brauchli, who was pushed out after less than a year in the position. Users of NEWS CORP and NBC’s HULU watched 63.2 million videos in April and helped the site gain seven new distribution partners. Amongst Hulu’s new distribution sites is TV.com, part of CNET which will soon be part of CBS. A backdoor deal with CBS could bring three major networks together on Hulu, which is ad-supported and cracked the Nielsen Top 10 this month. NBCU and the DISH NETWORK have signed an interactive ad deal that will allow users to respond to ads. The move, which NBCU has experimented with on TiVO, will utilize icons that allow users to find out more about a product. The interactive system is seen as a way of combating DVR-aided ad-skipping by effectively reaching interested parties. MICROSOFT hopes to make a foothold in the search business by offering users a cash reward for purchasing goods by way of the companies search engine. The “Live Search cashback” service is now live and is viewed as a way for Microsoft to disrupt GOOGLE’s search dominance. TIME WARNER will announce today how it plans to restructure after spinning off its TIME WARNER CABLE division. CEO JEFF BEWKES is expected to speak at a press conference later today that will detail how Time Warner plans to transform into a more focused media conglomerate through movies, television programming and magazines. Time Warner Cable’s board cleared terms of the separation Tuesday and TW plans to approve the deal Thursday. T. BOONE PICKENS purchased 10 million shares of YAHOO in an attempt to pushCARL ICAHN’s move to unseat Yahoo’s board of directors. The Texas billionaire investor will support Icahn’s proposed board at Yahoo’s shareholders meeting in July. While MICROSOFT is still interested in Yahoo in some form, some shareholders are worried about what could happen if Icahn gains control of the board and Microsoft walks away. Share This If you have trouble viewing the above video, please click here to view MediaBytes on YouTube. RUPERT MURDOCH named ROBERT J. THOMSON head editor at the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The move places one of Murdoch’s top editors in one of the most important positions in American media. Thomson, who was previously managing editor of The Times of London, will replace Marcus Brauchli, who was pushed out after less than a year in the position. Users of NEWS CORP and NBC’s HULU watched 63.2 million videos in April and helped the site gain seven new distribution partners. Amongst Hulu’s new distribution sites is TV.com, part of CNET which will soon be part of CBS. A backdoor deal with CBS could bring three major networks together on Hulu, which is ad-supported and cracked the Nielsen Top 10 this month. NBCU and the DISH NETWORK have signed an interactive ad deal that will allow users to respond to ads. The move, which NBCU has experimented with on TiVO, will utilize icons that allow users to find out more about a product. The interactive system is seen as a way of combating DVR-aided ad-skipping by effectively reaching interested parties. MICROSOFT hopes to make a foothold in the search business by offering users a cash reward for purchasing goods by way of the companies search engine. The “Live Search cashback” service is now live and is viewed as a way for Microsoft to disrupt GOOGLE’s search dominance. TIME WARNER will announce today how it plans to restructure after spinning off its TIME WARNER CABLE division. CEO JEFF BEWKES is expected to speak at a press conference later today that will detail how Time Warner plans to transform into a more focused media conglomerate through movies, television programming and magazines. Time Warner Cable’s board cleared terms of the separation Tuesday and TW plans to approve the deal Thursday. T. BOONE PICKENS purchased 10 million shares of YAHOO in an attempt to pushCARL ICAHN’s move to unseat Yahoo’s board of directors. The Texas billionaire investor will support Icahn’s proposed board at Yahoo’s shareholders meeting in July. While MICROSOFT is still interested in Yahoo in some form, some shareholders are worried about what could happen if Icahn gains control of the board and Microsoft walks away. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-05-21,22531245 Wed, 21 May 2008 03:58:24 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22528635-2008-05-20-MediaBytes-MICROSOFT-YAHOO-DELL-AOL-NETFLIX-GOOGLE If you have trouble viewing the above video, please click here to view MediaBytes on YouTube. MICROSOFT’s recent search ads proposal would split YAHOO’s assets and fracture the company. The deal would break up Yahoo’s Asian assets and give Microsoft a minority share in what was left of Yahoo. Yahoo executives are weary of the deal, believing that it is Microsoft and CARL ICAHN’s way of pressuring Yahoo not to pursue a search deal with GOOGLE. Regardless, a former FCC chair said a Google-Yahoo deal is likely not to pass Federal scrutiny. 8 former AOL executives are being sued by the SEC for allegedly inflating AOL’s online advertising revenue by more than a $1 billion. The violations spur from a 2000 announcement in which the SEC believes AOL lied in order to appear stronger than than it really was. The lawsuit is just another reminder of the failed merger between TIME WARNER and AOL, which Time Warner dropped from its corporate name five years ago. Look... If you have trouble viewing the above video, please click here to view MediaBytes on YouTube. MICROSOFT’s recent search ads proposal would split YAHOO’s assets and fracture the company. The deal would break up Yahoo’s Asian assets and give Microsoft a minority share in what was left of Yahoo. Yahoo executives are weary of the deal, believing that it is Microsoft and CARL ICAHN’s way of pressuring Yahoo not to pursue a search deal with GOOGLE. Regardless, a former FCC chair said a Google-Yahoo deal is likely not to pass Federal scrutiny. 8 former AOL executives are being sued by the SEC for allegedly inflating AOL’s online advertising revenue by more than a $1 billion. The violations spur from a 2000 announcement in which the SEC believes AOL lied in order to appear stronger than than it really was. The lawsuit is just another reminder of the failed merger between TIME WARNER and AOL, which Time Warner dropped from its corporate name five years ago. Looking to the future, NETFLIX introduced a new device for users who want entertainment available immediately. The system, which will retail for $99.99, utilizes a 5 inch x 5 inch box that uses a broadband connection to stream movies and TV shows from Netflix library. Netflix has invested over $40 million into “Watch Instantly”, which is available for free to customers who pay at least $8.99 a month for a DVD rental plan. DELL CFO Donald J. Carty will resign from his position in June. Hired a year and a half ago to turn around Dell’s slumping sales, Carty’s time at Dell was not advantageous as the computer manufacturer fell behind HEWLETT-PACKARD in units shipped last year. Carty will be succeeded by Brian T Gladden, CEO of Sabic Innovation Plastics, formerly GE Plastics. GOOGLE will launch Google Health today after months of private beta testing. The system will help Google users manage doctor records, prescriptions and test results. To sign up for the service all you need is a Google account, which are easy to come by. However, because Google accounts have no minimum password requirements, the accounts are easily hackable, which raises concerns about private medical information becoming public. Share This If you have trouble viewing the above video, please click here to view MediaBytes on YouTube. MICROSOFT’s recent search ads proposal would split YAHOO’s assets and fracture the company. The deal would break up Yahoo’s Asian assets and give Microsoft a minority share in what was left of Yahoo. Yahoo executives are weary of the deal, believing that it is Microsoft and CARL ICAHN’s way of pressuring Yahoo not to pursue a search deal with GOOGLE. Regardless, a former FCC chair said a Google-Yahoo deal is likely not to pass Federal scrutiny. 8 former AOL executives are being sued by the SEC for allegedly inflating AOL’s online advertising revenue by more than a $1 billion. The violations spur from a 2000 announcement in which the SEC believes AOL lied in order to appear stronger than than it really was. The lawsuit is just another reminder of the failed merger between TIME WARNER and AOL, which Time Warner dropped from its corporate name five years ago. Looking to the future, NETFLIX introduced a new device for users who want entertainment available immediately. The system, which will retail for $99.99, utilizes a 5 inch x 5 inch box that uses a broadband connection to stream movies and TV shows from Netflix library. Netflix has invested over $40 million into “Watch Instantly”, which is available for free to customers who pay at least $8.99 a month for a DVD rental plan. DELL CFO Donald J. Carty will resign from his position in June. Hired a year and a half ago to turn around Dell’s slumping sales, Carty’s time at Dell was not advantageous as the computer manufacturer fell behind HEWLETT-PACKARD in units shipped last year. Carty will be succeeded by Brian T Gladden, CEO of Sabic Innovation Plastics, formerly GE Plastics. GOOGLE will launch Google Health today after months of private beta testing. The system will help Google users manage doctor records, prescriptions and test results. To sign up for the service all you need is a Google account, which are easy to come by. However, because Google accounts have no minimum password requirements, the accounts are easily hackable, which raises concerns about private medical information becoming public. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-05-20,22528635 Tue, 20 May 2008 03:31:33 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22520078-2008-05-16-MediaBytes-YAHOO-ICAHN-CBS-CNET-BLACKBERRY-WPP-IAC-ASK-DICTIONARY YAHOO Chairman ROY BOSTOCK sent CARL ICAHN a letter Thursday that said Icahn’s perspective on the botched MICROSOFT deal “reflects a significant misunderstanding of the facts about the Microsoft proposal.” However, Bostock reiterated that Yahoo remained open to a deal for the right price. While Icahn is apparently moving ahead with a proxy fight, there is still no word from Redmond as to whether or not Microsoft is still interested in acquiring Yahoo. CBS is purchasing CNET for $1.8 billion. According to CEO Les Moonves, the all cash deal will help bolster CBS’s online presence, while expanding its scope to both audiences and advertisers. The acquisition is the biggest since CBS split from VIACOM INC. two years ago and includes online properties CNET, Download.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET, Chow, ZDNet and News.com. RIM announced that the first BlackBerry touchscreen will be available exclusively via VERIZON. Dubbed “Thunder”, the touchscreen handse... YAHOO Chairman ROY BOSTOCK sent CARL ICAHN a letter Thursday that said Icahn’s perspective on the botched MICROSOFT deal “reflects a significant misunderstanding of the facts about the Microsoft proposal.” However, Bostock reiterated that Yahoo remained open to a deal for the right price. While Icahn is apparently moving ahead with a proxy fight, there is still no word from Redmond as to whether or not Microsoft is still interested in acquiring Yahoo. CBS is purchasing CNET for $1.8 billion. According to CEO Les Moonves, the all cash deal will help bolster CBS’s online presence, while expanding its scope to both audiences and advertisers. The acquisition is the biggest since CBS split from VIACOM INC. two years ago and includes online properties CNET, Download.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET, Chow, ZDNet and News.com. RIM announced that the first BlackBerry touchscreen will be available exclusively via VERIZON. Dubbed “Thunder”, the touchscreen handset will debut in the third quarter and is the next logical step for RIM in combating APPLE’s iPhone. The big question remains whether or not BlackBerry’s considerable business clientele will flock to a touchscreen phone, as many have stated the keypad is the reason they’ve stuck with the BlackBerry. YAHOO and the WPP will announce a new online advertising partnership today. The deal will make it easier for agencies within the WPP to purchase web ads. Like the potential GOOGLE Search Ads deal, the WPP deal is another way for Yahoo to inflate its cash flow. IAC will purchase LEXICO, who owns Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com, in order to boost its Ask.com property. The undisclosed deal will help reinforce Ask’s content, as well as drive up traffic for the site. The deal is significant as it comes at a time when IAC is spinning off other ventures and making Ask.com its flagship brand. Share This YAHOO Chairman ROY BOSTOCK sent CARL ICAHN a letter Thursday that said Icahn’s perspective on the botched MICROSOFT deal “reflects a significant misunderstanding of the facts about the Microsoft proposal.” However, Bostock reiterated that Yahoo remained open to a deal for the right price. While Icahn is apparently moving ahead with a proxy fight, there is still no word from Redmond as to whether or not Microsoft is still interested in acquiring Yahoo. CBS is purchasing CNET for $1.8 billion. According to CEO Les Moonves, the all cash deal will help bolster CBS’s online presence, while expanding its scope to both audiences and advertisers. The acquisition is the biggest since CBS split from VIACOM INC. two years ago and includes online properties CNET, Download.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET, Chow, ZDNet and News.com. RIM announced that the first BlackBerry touchscreen will be available exclusively via VERIZON. Dubbed “Thunder”, the touchscreen handset will debut in the third quarter and is the next logical step for RIM in combating APPLE’s iPhone. The big question remains whether or not BlackBerry’s considerable business clientele will flock to a touchscreen phone, as many have stated the keypad is the reason they’ve stuck with the BlackBerry. YAHOO and the WPP will announce a new online advertising partnership today. The deal will make it easier for agencies within the WPP to purchase web ads. Like the potential GOOGLE Search Ads deal, the WPP deal is another way for Yahoo to inflate its cash flow. IAC will purchase LEXICO, who owns Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com, in order to boost its Ask.com property. The undisclosed deal will help reinforce Ask’s content, as well as drive up traffic for the site. The deal is significant as it comes at a time when IAC is spinning off other ventures and making Ask.com its flagship brand. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-05-16,22520078 Fri, 16 May 2008 03:18:38 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22517058-2008-05-15-MediaBytes-ICAHN-YAHOO-COMCAST-GOOGLE-VERIZON-LIMO-TURNER-NETWORKS CARL ICAHN is launching a proxy contest to replace YAHOO’s board of directors. Icahn plans to nominate 10 directors including former Viacom Inc. Chief Executive FRANK BIONDI. Icahn’s board will push to reopen negotiations with MICROSOFT, however, sources say Icahn has yet to speak with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. After attracting 141.1 million unique visitors in April, GOOGLE is now officially the most popular web site in the U.S.. Yahoo formerly held the top spot due to its wide portfolio of sites but has now been soundly ousted by Google, the Internet’s new top dog. VERIZON wireless will be running LiMO, a LINUX based operating system, on their next generation media-rich mobile phones. The decision is a crushing blow to GOOGLE, whose ANDROID system Verizon was also considering. The recent announcement comes after Google sent a letter to the FCC questioning Verizon’s dedication to keeping their 700 MHz of wireless spectrum open source. Of course, due to the... CARL ICAHN is launching a proxy contest to replace YAHOO’s board of directors. Icahn plans to nominate 10 directors including former Viacom Inc. Chief Executive FRANK BIONDI. Icahn’s board will push to reopen negotiations with MICROSOFT, however, sources say Icahn has yet to speak with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. After attracting 141.1 million unique visitors in April, GOOGLE is now officially the most popular web site in the U.S.. Yahoo formerly held the top spot due to its wide portfolio of sites but has now been soundly ousted by Google, the Internet’s new top dog. VERIZON wireless will be running LiMO, a LINUX based operating system, on their next generation media-rich mobile phones. The decision is a crushing blow to GOOGLE, whose ANDROID system Verizon was also considering. The recent announcement comes after Google sent a letter to the FCC questioning Verizon’s dedication to keeping their 700 MHz of wireless spectrum open source. Of course, due to the open source agreement, Verizon’s phones will have to be Android compatible. The Android system debuted six months ago but no solid plans to introduce Android-based phones have yet surfaced. COMCAST will acquire the social networking site PLAXO. Comcast paid $175 million for the social networking site, which they hope will widen their scope. Comcast has recently expanded its online presence to include FANDANGO and FANCAST, while growing Comcast.net into an entertainment destination. Look for Comcast to keep growing as they diversify away from cable and internet. TIME WARNER’S Turner Networks (TNT, TBS, Tru-TV) are offering contextual ad buys for advertisers. The new ad system would run on a platform called TVinContext, which has the ability to place an ads on top of correlating scenes in Television shows. As an example, the Network previewed an ad for allergy medication which correlated to a scene in “Hutch” where Will Smith has an allergic reaction. Share This CARL ICAHN is launching a proxy contest to replace YAHOO’s board of directors. Icahn plans to nominate 10 directors including former Viacom Inc. Chief Executive FRANK BIONDI. Icahn’s board will push to reopen negotiations with MICROSOFT, however, sources say Icahn has yet to speak with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. After attracting 141.1 million unique visitors in April, GOOGLE is now officially the most popular web site in the U.S.. Yahoo formerly held the top spot due to its wide portfolio of sites but has now been soundly ousted by Google, the Internet’s new top dog. VERIZON wireless will be running LiMO, a LINUX based operating system, on their next generation media-rich mobile phones. The decision is a crushing blow to GOOGLE, whose ANDROID system Verizon was also considering. The recent announcement comes after Google sent a letter to the FCC questioning Verizon’s dedication to keeping their 700 MHz of wireless spectrum open source. Of course, due to the open source agreement, Verizon’s phones will have to be Android compatible. The Android system debuted six months ago but no solid plans to introduce Android-based phones have yet surfaced. COMCAST will acquire the social networking site PLAXO. Comcast paid $175 million for the social networking site, which they hope will widen their scope. Comcast has recently expanded its online presence to include FANDANGO and FANCAST, while growing Comcast.net into an entertainment destination. Look for Comcast to keep growing as they diversify away from cable and internet. TIME WARNER’S Turner Networks (TNT, TBS, Tru-TV) are offering contextual ad buys for advertisers. The new ad system would run on a platform called TVinContext, which has the ability to place an ads on top of correlating scenes in Television shows. As an example, the Network previewed an ad for allergy medication which correlated to a scene in “Hutch” where Will Smith has an allergic reaction. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-05-15,22517058 Thu, 15 May 2008 05:26:01 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer http://odeo.com/episodes/22509532-2008-05-13-MediaBytes-CABLEVISION-NEWSDAY-HP-EDS-HBO-DISH-NETWORK-CLEAR-CHANNEL-PANDORA CABLEVISION now officially owns a 97% share of NEWSDAY. Despite posting a wider net loss for the quarter, Charles Dolan has gone out and made two purchases tolling roughly $1.1 billion dollars ($500 million for Sundance Channel and $632 million for Newsday). HEWLETT-PACKARD is set to acquire ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS for approximately $13 billion. The all cash transaction will make H-P the second largest provider of tech services in the world. The goal of the merger is simple, compete with IT powerhouse IBM. HBO has broken APPLE’s $1.99 price fix. The premium channel’s thirty minute shows will sell for $1.99 while longer running programs will sell for $2.99. The move is likely to impact future contracts where variable pricing is enacted. The DISH NETWORK reported an 89% drop in new subscribers in the first quarter. While net income was up 65%, the network had 35,000 new subscribers, down 275,000 from a year ago. The loss comes at a time when cable companies and telco&#8217... CABLEVISION now officially owns a 97% share of NEWSDAY. Despite posting a wider net loss for the quarter, Charles Dolan has gone out and made two purchases tolling roughly $1.1 billion dollars ($500 million for Sundance Channel and $632 million for Newsday). HEWLETT-PACKARD is set to acquire ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS for approximately $13 billion. The all cash transaction will make H-P the second largest provider of tech services in the world. The goal of the merger is simple, compete with IT powerhouse IBM. HBO has broken APPLE’s $1.99 price fix. The premium channel’s thirty minute shows will sell for $1.99 while longer running programs will sell for $2.99. The move is likely to impact future contracts where variable pricing is enacted. The DISH NETWORK reported an 89% drop in new subscribers in the first quarter. While net income was up 65%, the network had 35,000 new subscribers, down 275,000 from a year ago. The loss comes at a time when cable companies and telco’s are turning up the heat on satellite television providers. CLEAR CHANNEL will tap into internet radio with PANDORA. The radio conglomerate is looking to expand its online presence and may team with internet radio offering Pandora to add customizable radio to its networks. A deal with Clear Channel would truly help Pandora, which is suffering from inflated webcasting royalty rates enacted last year. Share This CABLEVISION now officially owns a 97% share of NEWSDAY. Despite posting a wider net loss for the quarter, Charles Dolan has gone out and made two purchases tolling roughly $1.1 billion dollars ($500 million for Sundance Channel and $632 million for Newsday). HEWLETT-PACKARD is set to acquire ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS for approximately $13 billion. The all cash transaction will make H-P the second largest provider of tech services in the world. The goal of the merger is simple, compete with IT powerhouse IBM. HBO has broken APPLE’s $1.99 price fix. The premium channel’s thirty minute shows will sell for $1.99 while longer running programs will sell for $2.99. The move is likely to impact future contracts where variable pricing is enacted. The DISH NETWORK reported an 89% drop in new subscribers in the first quarter. While net income was up 65%, the network had 35,000 new subscribers, down 275,000 from a year ago. The loss comes at a time when cable companies and telco’s are turning up the heat on satellite television providers. CLEAR CHANNEL will tap into internet radio with PANDORA. The radio conglomerate is looking to expand its online presence and may team with internet radio offering Pandora to add customizable radio to its networks. A deal with Clear Channel would truly help Pandora, which is suffering from inflated webcasting royalty rates enacted last year. Share This tag:odeo.com,2008-05-13,22509532 Tue, 13 May 2008 05:07:43 -0700 no MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer Mediabytes Business Entertainment News gadgets Tech Mediabytes Shelly Palmer