Report: Yahoo buying Maven Networks
TechCrunch is reporting that Yahoo is poised to announce its acquisition of Maven Networks, which powers video for Fox News, CBS Sports, CNet, and Scripps Networks. The reported price tag is in the $150 million range.
Heavy layoffs at Young Broadcasting
Broadcasting & Cable reports Young Broadcasting is cutting $20 million across its station group. The numbers are daunting: 10 people cut from WTEN and as many as 15 from WKRN. “The higher-priced talent was the first to go,” reports B&C. In fact, if you visit WTEN.com’s station bios page, you’ll see the message, “Please come [...]
NY Times on local TV websites
NY Times’ Brian Stelter reports from NATPE that “the hottest topic was online syndication.” For example, some stations are now streaming the Warner Bros. sitcom “Two and a Half Men.” But the interesting part here is some of Stelter’s pointed statements about local TV sites: “Local stations know how to use their Web sites to [...]
TiVo wins big case, CBS signs on for data
Good news for TiVo. First off, TiVo’s stock shot up as much as 29 percent after winning a federal appeals court ruling in its ongoing patent dispute with Dish Network. As Variety reports, this could bring more licensing deals to the table. Also, CBS has signed with TiVo for its “Stop Watch” service, which provides [...]
Google’s experimenting with new search tools
Ars Technica has a review of a slew of new search tools that Google has put in Labs for people to pick apart. – “Alternate views for search results” – includes map, timeline and “more info” – “Keyword suggestions” – just like what you get on the Firefox toolbar – [...]
‘Readers owe you nothing’
How’s your top screen full look these days? Lots of ads, logos, tickers, promos, logos, anchor heads, whizzing this, rotating that? Got a nice in-your-face eyeblaster? Maybe a giant page slider? Cool! OK. Maybe not. It’s as if we think our users owe it to us to wade through all that crap just to read [...]
CNN.com now linking non-IB affiliates
If you look at CNN.com’s U.S. News section and inside some of the stories, you’ll see some stations among the links that are not affiliated with Internet Broadcasting. Like WABC, for example. Looks like CNN.com is broadening its linking strategy to include all CNN affiliates. (Full disclosure: I work at KING5.com, which is affiliated with [...]
MTV launches virtual skate park
First MTV debuted a virtual world called Laguna Beach. Then Pimp my Ride. And Virtual Hills, Virtual Kaya, The Real World and Virtual Newport Harbor. And now MTV and partner Makena Technologies have launched a… virtual skate board park. Sweetness.
MSNBC.com’s nifty bridge inspection tracker
Investigative reporter Bill Dedman and the rest of the MSNBC.com team posted an original story today that discovered that more than 17,000 bridges in the U.S. went more than two years between safety inspections. MSNBC.com acquired inspection data for 100,000 bridges through a FOIA request, and then mashed the data with Microsoft Virtual Earth, so [...]
MySpace finally opens up to developers
While Facebook has experienced tremendous success after opening up to developers, now MySpace has finally decided to do the same. You can start signing up for APIs now, and it’ll go live on February 5th.
WSJ.com to add cool Facebook feature
Beginning this morning, WSJ.com will debut a new feature that lets you see which stories are popular with your Facebook friends. Called “SeenThis?” and powered by a company called Loomia, the feature will only activate once you opt-in. Users can also grab a widget of the feature — which would also show popular stories from [...]
FCC may require broadcasters to run DTV spots
The FCC may soon approve a plan that would require local TV stations to run at least four 30-second spots a day informing consumers of the upcoming switch to digital TV. As the deadline approaches (just over one year away), the requirement may jump to as high as 12 spots a day. Broadcasters, who are [...]
Landmark selling 2 TV stations
Landmark Communications says it plans to sell KLAS in Las Vegas and WTVF in Nashville. But no word yet on its most valuable asset: The Weather Channel and Weather.com.
Yahoo to cut 1,000 jobs
As expected, Yahoo announced job cuts that add up to 7 percent of its workforce. The company’s Q4 profit was $206 million, down from $269 million a year ago.
NBCU chief Zucker calls for change
In a speech at NATPE, NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker confirmed earlier reports that the network is cutting back on its pilot season and eliminating its annual upfront presentation. “We believe the big show is a vestige of the last decade. Every year, the big question at the upfront presentation of our new schedule is: How [...]
Subway sues over user generated ads
This ought to be interesting. Quiznos created a contest for users to submit video ads showing its superiority to Subway. Then Subway sued, saying that some of the ads make false claims. But since Quiznos didn’t make the ads — just solicited them — should they be held liable? The outcome could have deep ramifications [...]
NATPE gets underway in Vegas
It’s been a few years since we attended NATPE in Las Vegas (because it doesn’t compare to NAB and CES on the technology front, among other reasons.) But it’s still a destination for 7,000 to 8,000 TV execs on the hunt for programming. If you’re interested, TV Week has the event covered, and the magazine [...]
Briefs: Reality.tv, FoxSports.com, Digg, Metacafe
– America’s Funniest producer launches new site Reality.tv – FoxSports.com on MSN’s Super Bowl coverage plans – Digg.com nearly triples registered users in one year’s time – Metacafe teams with Endemol for web video game show
