Hollywood writers break off talks
Here we go, the Writers Guild of America’s contract has expired, but at this writing it’s unclear if the union writers will walk off the job. Here’s Variety’s coverage. The Wall Street Journal breaks down how the value of TV content on DVDs and the internet has been a big issue in negotiations (WSJ sub. [...]
Wired’s list of disgusting Halloween candy
We’re passing around the candy here at One LR and, mercifully, none of these are in the bowl. Wired is taking reader votes and suggestions for the most horrible, gross, disgusting candy found online. Some leading contenders: Lick Your Wounds (“Pick it, lick it, eat it!”), Box of Boogers, and Cockroach Cluster. (What – no [...]
Google launches open APIs for social networks
As teased earlier, Google has just announced a way for developers to build social applications that span more than one social network. It’s called OpenSocial, but it doesn’t work on Facebook or MySpace… yet. So what’s left? Orkut, LinkedIn, hi5, iLike, Slide, Ning, Friendster, and Plaxo. Oh yeah, and Google’s stock hit $700 today, up [...]
ESPN to stream its NBA games live online
Every NBA game broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2 will be streamed live on ESPN360.com, which is available for free for people who subscribe to a participating broadband service (Verizon). Of course, this raises questions for cable operators who are paying big fees to ESPN for content that now in part is simulcast on the internet. [...]
Baby born in TV station parking lot
A couple pulled into KRIV-TV’s parking lot after getting stuck in traffic on the way to the hospital, and mom gave birth to baby boy. “All of us were busy working on the morning news when the call came back to the newsroom and we all scattered,” reads the blog on MyFoxHouston. “Everyone started gathering [...]
CNN opens bureau in Second Life
Reuters did this a long time ago, and now CNN is opening a bureau and a bunch of kiosks in Second Life in an effort to solicit more user content for iReport. Just about everyone I know who created an avatar on Second Life have moved on, but I think virtual spaces have tremendous merit [...]
Curbed.com expanding into local markets
The real estate blog network Curbed.com — which is already in SF, NY and LA — just took in $1.5 million in financing to add staff and expand to other cities. Among the investors? Nick Denton and Gawker Media. “We’re not just about real estate,†said Curbed Publisher Lockhart Steele. “People come to the site [...]
MySpace ‘re-arranges the chairs on the Titantic’
MySpace announced its first significant design change in four years, and social networking blog Mashable isn’t very polite about it: “In short, most of these changes are way too little, way too late, and reek of too many chefs in the kitchen. While there are plenty of new features for the homepage, they are poorly [...]
A review of Hulu.com
The NBC-News Corp. video joint venture Hulu.com launched in private beta, and just I toured the new site. Out of the gate, the first thing you’ll notice is the clean, theater-like design. Very sharp. I clicked to play a Heroes episode, and it loaded and played quickly. (I received an “application error” on a couple [...]
NBC wanted cut of iPod revenues
When Apple wouldn’t go for NBC’s proposed $2.99 a download for its shows on iTunes, NBC CEO Jeff Zucker suggested they give up a cut of iPod sales. “Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content and made a lot of money,†Zucker said. “They did not want to [...]
Google preparing its own social network
Code-named MakaMaka, Google’s plan is to build a social layer across all of its applications. And in a unique twist, TechCrunch reports that Google would create two-way APIs that would allow websites to embed Google’s own social networking functionality. That would be very interesting, so keep an eye on this one.
Gannett teams with Tribune for local city guides
Gannett and Tribune are forming a joint venture around Metromix.com, the city guide destination launched by Tribune years ago. The goal is to expand the guides (in seven Tribune markets right now) to 30 markets in the coming months and 40 markets by the end of 2008. Metromix will explore media partnerships to fill out the gaps. “With this partnership we can grow Metromix into a true national brand, adding value for advertisers who want to reach a highly desirable demographic,” said Tim Landon, Tribune Interactive president. Press release below…
Briefs: Current TV, PrompterMonkey, broadband SUV
Few links from Lost Remote readers (pitch ‘em here) to share today: – Sure it’s cool, but is Current TV attracting an audience? (Thanks, Joe!) – PrompterMonkey.com shares bad writing and “outlandish scripts” (Thanks, Barbara!) – WTVD now has a SUV that can pipe back live video on the web (Thanks, Chris!)
MSNBC.com, NBCSports.com partner
MSNBC.com and NBCSports.com today announced they would team up to provide sports content on a single, unified platform – and will also pool ad sales efforts. “The multiyear agreement makes NBCSports.com the official sports channel of MSNBC.com and NBC Sports,” according to the release. Before the launch of NBCSports last year, that URL pointed to [...]
Hulu launches private beta
The NBC Universal/News Corp. joint venture “Hulu” is up and running for users who got the private beta invite (nothing in the mail yet over here at the LR Boise bureau). Since we’re still waiting for our ticket to the party, we’ll lean on the TechCrunch blog, which has a great write-up and dozens of [...]
Fox Business anchor or porn star?
I’m not making this up. Radar Magazine has posted a quiz that pokes fun at the cable news industry and the sudden abundance of hot anchors. You may have heard about Radar when they fabricated presidential candidates in sexually suggestive poses. Go ahead and test your knowledge. (Via TVNewser)
FEMA fakes press conference (can you believe this?)
This is stunning. On Tuesday, FEMA gave reporters a 15-minute notice that it was throwing a press conference about its response to the California fires. How it improved since Katrina. Because of the late notice, reporters called in to a conference pool, but there were also people in the audience who asked questions to the [...]
San Diego residents rip TV fire maps
Anyone who’s worked in local TV news knows that tracking a fire’s progress on a map is a very difficult proposition. First, fires are fickle. Second, the information is usually not readily available. Now multiply this by a bunch of fires with massive evacuations and 24/7 live coverage, and maintaining accurate fire maps is extremely [...]
