Archive for March 10th, 2008

Japanese users of Nintendo’s DS Lite portable games console can now purchase and download movies for the device, reports Japan Today. The new service, dubbed DSvision, is a collaboration between Nintendo, print firm DNP and am3, a digital media distributor. After purchasing the DSvision hardware add-on - comprising of a USB dongle/card reader, 512MB microSD card, and “an adapter for slotting the media into the console’s game port” - users can begin downloading content from the DSvision website via their PC for transfer to the DS Lite. However, the need to “side-load” content seems an unnecessary and convoluted step considering that the DS supports Wi-Fi. In addition to video, the new service will also sell ebooks, digital music and comics.

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Warner Bros. Television Group plans to resurrect The WB television network in the form of a new Web site. On the site, whose working title is wb.com, users will be able to catch free streaming episodes of all WB-produced series airing on the net during its 1995-2006 run, including Gilmore Girls, Everwood and What I Like About You.

It was not immediately known whether WB shows produced by outside studios—among them, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Felicity and Dawson’s Creek—would be featured, or whether current Warner Bros. series airing on WB’s successor The CW, such as Gossip Girl, would appear on the site. Sources told Mediaweek that wb.com will be ad-supported and that, in addition to offering past WB series, the site will feature new, short series and vignettes targeting the old WB audience, primarily women 12-34.

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The circle of life that is television continues, and as some programs take their last breath after a fantastic run, others are just barely being conceived. Several pilots were ordered by networks over the weekend, and they span a slew of settings and genres, including a classic British franchise revived, a murder mystery on an island, and a comedy about a woman, her dog, and her car.

First up is This Might Hurt, a medical comedy picked up by ABC, according to Variety. The show was originally slated for Fox, but was let go during the strike and picked up by ABC late Friday. The comedy centers on a doc with old-fashioned methods, his internist son, and an OB/GYN doctor with a mistrust of men.

Headed over to CBS will be Tower and Harper’s Island, a pair of very different dramas. Tower follows a crew of Chicago reporters who not only cover stories for local news outlets, but also work together to solve them. Cold Case writer Meredith Stiehm will head up the show.

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SXSW Interactive Festival — Zadby, Inc. announced that it has launched an online marketplace (www.zadby.com) where advertisers, marketers, and brand managers can connect with freelance video producers to create innovative product placement videos tailored for sites like YouTube, AOL, and MySpace.

As traditional spot advertising loses its luster due to time shifting capabilities of digital video recorders like Tivo®, advertisers and brand managers are struggling to find new and innovative ways to reach their target audiences. Two methods getting a lot of attention lately are product placement and user generated video. Product placement is highly effective in movies and on TV but until Zadby, there was no effective way of engaging user generated content while ensuring brand consistency and alignment. Now advertisers can reach their target audience online through Zadby! Zadby provides all the tools, workflows, and legal frameworks to facilitate the creation, review, posting, tracking, and payment for user generated videos with product placement angles. As a pay-per-view model, Zadby is extremely low-risk for brands.

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Toyota Motors is bowing a new online marketing campaign that’s been created in conjunction with Google’s YouTube. The move is gamble for both the automaker and the video-sharing giant.

YouTube worked closely with Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi LA to customize the comedy-themed marketing initiative from Toyota, which promotes the company’s new Corolla sedan. The ad shop provided the creative, while the YouTube folks focused on the technology side. The result is a $4 million comedy site called “Best in Jest,” hosting the best comedy routines found on YouTube. Each week, Google culls its video database for new routines and uploads them to the Corolla-sponsored “Best in Jest” site. Toyota is also sponsoring a sketch-comedy contest called “the Sketchies”, with prizes reaching $25,000.

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The most recent BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Survey shows that, while traditional media still rank on top in the influence of purchases, many are declining in influence and some are showing double digit losses over the previous year. At the same time, says the study, many new media options are showing double digit growth. For example, when compared to a year ago, Instant Messaging and Blogging experienced double digit growth for purchase influence of electronics while Broadcast TV and Cable showed a double digit decline.

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The Saint May Make A Return To Television Since that two-hour movie of Knight Rider was so successful a few weeks ago, another old TV show is trying to make another go of it. The Saint, which was originally a British TV series in the 60’s, has gotten the backing of it’s original star, Roger Moore, as one of the producers.

Also on team Templar are writer Jorge Zamacona, Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson, Roger’s son Geoffrey Moore and producer Bill MacDonald. The current plan is to make the movie themselves, and then find a network later.

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“This is the biggest slaughter in the history of The Apprentice,” declared The Donald to the losing team, Empresario, just moments before the boardroom turned into a complete circus. (Hmm, that gives me an idea: what about a reality show called Celebrity Circus! Oh wait, that’s literally a show on NBC’s summer schedule. Go figure.)So the circus came to town when a triumphant Piers, whose team won by a landslide in an art-selling challenge, decided to put his two cents in about why Omarosa never belonged on the show in the first place. “It’s called Celebrity Apprentice,” he explained. “If you are a genuine celebrity, then you do have the power to pick up the phone and get money out of people. I have believed from the start that Omarosa was here by default….” She retorted, “I’m here because Mr. Trump invited me, and if you keep saying that to him you’re going to be questioning his judgment. And I actually trust his judgment.” Is it bad that I think she had a valid point?

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(FROM AP) – Avril Lavigne is launching her own clothing line for the juniors department at Kohl’s department stores. The line, ”Abbey Dawn,” is named after the Canadian singer’s childhood nickname and is said to represent her own personal style. Lavigne told Newsweek that she will try on and approve everything sold in the line. (AP via Yahoo!)

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