Archive for March 3rd, 2008

NEW YORK - The second “American Idol” charity event is set for April 9, with a lineup that includes Bono, Brad Pitt, Miley Cyrus, Fergie, Chris Daughtry and Carrie Underwood.

Last year’s “Idol Gives Back” show raised $76 million to benefit underprivileged children.

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Advertisers have always had a treasure chest of All-American iconography to draw from, and few are as durable—one might even say sacred—as those of Life with Father. Take, for instance, the 1962 State Mutual of America ad with the photo of dad showing his little boy how to line up his tin soldiers (”Some fathers make good generals, too,” oozed the copy). There’s the classic 1950s ad from Lionel model trains showing father and son bonding at trackside below the confident caption: “One of the best ways men get to know each other.” As recently as 1994, an ad for the Krugerrand called “Generation to Generation” pictured a proud father about to give one of the famed solid-gold coins to his college-graduate son. “Maybe someday,” mused dad, “he’ll show it to his kid when he’s trying to get him to do his homework.”

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Digital billboards, rolling out across the country, are getting high marks from consumers. According to a study released by Arbitron Monday, the majority of digital billboard viewers found the new signs to be attractive, and 81 percent said they were helpful to the community.

The study, commissioned by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, was conducted late last year among 402 persons and seven digital billboards operating in Cleveland, Ohio.

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Eight different points of view merge to reveal one truth behind the story in Sony Pictures’ Vantage Point. And that truth is this: Sony products can play multiple roles in the same film—think Eddie Murphy in Norbit, or Eddie Murphy in any Eddie Murphy movie for that matter. Sony appears as a television in the newsroom, as VIAO laptops in various scenes, an Ericsson cell phone, and a handheld video camera that actually gets quite a bit of screen time and could arguably be put in the credits. Watch Sony detect a bomb, be confiscated as evidence, find an assassin, zoom in on suspicious activity, and, of course, record a man’s first trip to Spain. The Sony camcorder even made it into the film’s marketing material. And if all that Sony action has you drooling for your own Sony product, enter the Vantage Point Sweepstakes where grand prize winners will receive the same Sony High Definition HandyCam Camcorder in the film.

Vantage Point co-stars Chevrolet, which also fills in a few roles itself. Early in the film, a fleet of black Chevrolet Suburbans transports the US president and his entourage through the streets of Salamanca, Spain. As the different vantage points finally converge, we find ourselves in the passenger seat of a high-speed car chase featuring two Chevy Astras: a police car and blue civilian car.

Featured Brands: Chevrolet, Dasani, Mercedes, Perrier, Peugeot, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Sony VAIO, Volkswagen Beetle
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LONDON — Blighty cabler Virgin Media is reviewing its portfolio in a move that could lead to the country’s largest auction of channels since the emergence of multi-channel television.The review, according to reports in local media, is being undertaken by Goldman Sachs.

If Virgin, which last week reported a net loss of $323.1 million for the last quarter of 2007, decides to go ahead with the dispersal, channels up for grabs will include Living TV, Bravo and Virgin’s half stake in UKTV, Blighty’s biggest pay TV operator after BSkyB.

Analysts reckon the sale could raise $1.5 billion for Virgin, which has said it wants to concentrate on high-speed broadband, rather than premium content.

Those believed to be interested in buying are BSkyB, pan-European broadcasting giant RTL, owner of Five in the U.K., and NBC Universal, in the throes of expanding its activities outside the U.S.

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FSN New York will be rebranded MSG Plus beginning Monday, March 10 at 7 p.m. with the live telecast of the Roger Federer vs. Pete Sampras exhibition tennis match from Madison Square Garden.

MSG Plus will continue to serve as the TV home of the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders, and will continue to carry live sports and original programming from Fox Sports Net.

Cablevision Systems Corp. founded SportsChannel in 1976, which was renamed FSNY in 1998. It is currently available in 9.5 million homes.
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ESPN, in collaboration with The Walt Disney Studios, is forming ESPN Films, a new unit that will develop scripted and documentary film projects for television and theatrical release.

It’s first project will be called 30/30, and will focus on the last three decades of sports. The project will invite 30 filmmakers to each tell a sports-themed story. The one-hour films will begin airing Tuesday nights on ESPN in Sept. 2009, and be televised through 2010.
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SO YOU KNOW I WRITE about social media. There’s been quite the vibe for it out there. However, the nebulous term “virtual worlds” bothers me. It is too universal. Most likely, when I say the term, you associate it with Second Life http://www.secondlife.com–right? I do, too. Have you ever been on Second Life? I stopped by to check it out and thought it was creepy.

OK–I get how the Net has always offered anonymity. It can also be a medium for escapism. Maybe I’m old, but I don’t want to pretend to be someone I’m not, let alone create a creepy three-dimensional version of myself. Caveat: Yes, for those of you who IM or have seen blogs and emails, I have an icon sometimes associated with me. It’s two-dimensional, and to me, more like an icon, cartoon or caricature of me. It’s not escapism; it’s fun.

So, back to 3D worlds. I just get an uneasy feeling about them. In a way, it is somewhat lifelike. I used to get a kick out of the computer game “The Simms” way back when. It was a game. Have games evolved to social worlds now? When “Simms” first came out, there were many gaming sites that launched and were quite successful. Audiences were loyal. On the sites, players (or members) were able to associate icons to their screen name. This was so beyond picking the car while playing Monopoly. However, I wasn’t a gamer.

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After years of MySpace’s dominance as an outlet and networking tool for amateur and professional musicians alike, Facebook has finally jumped on board with music by offering band profiles that will compete directly with MySpace’s music offerings. Facebook’s new musician profiles, introduced last week, allow artists to post a music player, songs for download, videos, and more.

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If you were hankering for more details about the big-screen G.I. Joe, then today is your lucky day, because Hasbro’s Brian Goldner is feeling chatty. MTV news spoke with G.I. Joe’s executive producer and managed to score some important details about the feature film. Goldner is chief operating officer at Hasbro, and was responsible for releasing Joe back in the 80’s to millions of military-minded children everywhere.

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