Archive for May 12th, 2008

Telemundo will team with TV Globo to co-produce Spanish-language telenovela “El Clon” for the U.S. Hispanic market.That announcement highlighted the NBC-owned net’s upfront breakfast in the Rainbow Room, 64 stories above the tent where the NBC Universal Experience was set to promote other feathers in the Peacock later Monday.

“El Clon” aired on Telemundo in 2002 and sold in more than 90 countries. Under the new arrangement, Telemundo will retain exclusive broadcast rights in the U.S. and Puerto Rico and it and TV Globo will market the show internationally.

In another move in sync with NBC, Telemundo will start airing the Spanish-language adaptation of “Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso (Without Breasts, There is No Paradise)” in the fall. An English-language adaptation is in the works for NBC, seeking to follow the recent path of international adaptations like “Ugly Betty.”

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There were a number of interesting news tidbits this week, ranging from EA’s decision to take a severe Big Brother approach to piracy protection with the upcoming “Mass Effect” and “Spore” PC releases, to the drama between Take Two and the City of Chicago Transportation Authority regarding the removal of $300,000 worth of advertising for “GTA IV,” in response to standard fare, violent game fear-mongering. But the most interesting story is Microsoft’s new game building functionality from Popfly for its Silverlight rich-media platform.

Popfly is part of Microsoft’s Developer Division’s Non-Professional team. That mouthful essentially means they worry about how users that aren’t actually professional developers can still do cool stuff with Microsoft tools. They just added functionality to the site that allows users to build games by customizing pre-existing game templates.

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By iTVX Staff

According to Nikki Finke, Tori Spelling will join Jenny Garth in the new 90210 on the CW network. What a bummer. Of all the characters who I’d like to see back on the new 90210, it’d be Luke Perry. I mean c’mon how sweet would it be if Luke was back as, gee I don’t know, the new owner of the Peach Pit?

NBC’s pre-upfront meetings with advertisers have yielded a partnership with General Motors that will put two of the company’s cars in the new drama “My Own Worst Enemy,” Broadcasting & Cable reports. The product placement will be in addition to on-air buys and a presence on NBC Universal’s digital and out-of-home platforms, the newspaper says.

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Lucasfilm has released the first full trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which you can see here at Yahoo.

As we all know, the film, and subsequent TV series, concern the period of the Clone Wars – although this film seems to kick off with the kidnap of Jabba The Hutt’s son – but what you’ll probably be most interested in is the look of the animation.

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Year-round programming schedules. Scripted vs. nonscripted series. The impact of DVRs on viewing habits and commercial ratings. Brand integration. Digital platforms. The third screen (translation for younger readers: your first screen; translation for older readers: cell phones).

All have been topics of spirited discussions in recent weeks at industry conferences, in boardrooms, over countless Cobb salads at Michael’s and, of course, in the press.

Network chieftains, media buyers, CMOs, studio chiefs, rival media executives–all have assumed negotiation stances and vocalized opinions in preparation for the upfronts, which unofficially begin this week. The annual mating dance will see advertisers make some $18 billion in advance commitments in the coming months across broadcast, cable and syndication.

Consumer empowerment is another phrase tossed around a lot, and with good reason–it’s the primary force reshaping the media landscape (digital technology is its enabler). Yet in all the debates over the future of TV, one voice is often conspicuously absent: that of the viewer. The consumer, we’re told, is king. But judging by how often the consumer is left out as industry movers talk among themselves, the title appears ceremonial. Why ask the audience when you can assume their reactions?

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A whole new batch of images from the next James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, have just arrived online. So, in honor of a badly beaten-up Daniel Craig, we’ve decided that now is definitely the right time to launch our official Quantum of Solace photo gallery — complete with good guys, bad guys and women who may or not be good or bad. (Can I just say that I absolutely love this photo above. Obviously they’ve had a long night — and even though he’s all sorts of damaged, Bond has that “I bet I could still tap that” look on his face.)

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NEW YORK TBA Global has formalized its branded entertainment activities through the creation of TBA Digital Entertainment Engagement Programming, or simply: TBA DEEP. Brian Murphy, evp, helms the unit.

Murphy who emphasized a focus on creating sophisticated integrated marketing. “We believe a revolutionary change is going on in the marketplace that needs to be addressed on a holistic basis,” he said.

While the structure has now been made official, Murphy has led several projects over the past year with clients including Chivas, Ford, McDonald’s and MTV.

For McDonald’s, TBA DEEP created a live event experience, targeting the young adult marketplace, that extended into television — forging a partnership with MTV — and online. This involved young musicians performing in McDonald restaurants across ten markets from last July through September. Timbaland helped launch the initiative, performing on-site, to correspond to the launch of his new album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value. All of the concerts were free to customers. A microsite was set up, showing the concert performances as well as interviews with the artists. Some of the content was supplied to MTV, where its audience could download it and learn about an artist. There was also a contest involved where viewers could vote on their favorite musician. The winner then had his music incorporated into a McDonald’s commercial.

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LONDON — The U.K. and Indian governments have inked a deal that will enable a long-gestating bilateral film co-production agreement to come into force.As a direct result of the treaty, which will make U.K.-Indian co-productions eligible for national status in both countries, it is expected that up to 10 co-productions will be made within the first two years.

Under the deal, the U.K. Trade & Investment government business support org will run a series of workshops for Indian filmmakers who are interested in co-producing with the U.K. These will take place in June, September and November this year, and in February and March next year.

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Fox isn’t expected to mess with its fall schedule — but that didn’t stop it from kicking off a flurry of pickup activity over the weekend.Net is expected to continue the playbook from this past year: Keep new entries at bay until midseason, when “American Idol” can help bolster those new shows.

Among the greenlights: The J.J. Abrams entry “Fringe,” which follows the exploits of a young female FBI agent who tackles unexplained medical and scientific phenomena.

Hour-long skein could potentially be paired with “Sarah Connor Chronicles” on Monday nights — a high-octane night for Fox, which also will bring back “24″ and “Prison Break,” perhaps on the same night, later this season.

Also coming in midseason — and perhaps also on the night — Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated “Dollhouse,” which already had an episodic order heading into the upfronts.

Meanwhile, there’s a good chance Fox will opt to stick with comedies on Wednesday, with “‘Til Death” returning for a third season at 8 p.m., followed by a new entry at 8:30 p.m. (now that “Back to You” has been axed by the net).

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