Archive for May 13th, 2008

Sony Pictures Television International has promoted Jamie Weissenborn to senior vp digital media and global advertising sales, for SPTI’s international networks group.

Responding to technological advances and online user trends, Weissenborn adds oversight of the international networks group’s digital distribution strategy, site enhancement, traffic growth initiatives, media sales and digital revenue as part of his new assignment.

He also manages online video, site design, search engine optimization, commerce and other site partnerships. Additionally, he continues to head global advertising sales initiatives, branded content, new channel and revenue development.

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For the first time, Apple’s iTunes has forged a deal to sell TV episodes of many HBO shows including “Deadwood,” “The Sopranos,” and “Sex and the City.” The hour-long episodes will go for $2.99 each, while the 30-minute “Sex” episodes cost $1.99 each. That’s more than Apple normally charges, but other shows on iTunes were previously available on television for free. HBO has recently made edited versions of some programs available in syndication, but people who wanted the uncut shows had to either subscribe to HBO or shell out for an entire season on DVD.

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HOLLYWOOD - How big will Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull open? Lucasfilm and distributor Paramount are keeping this certain mega-hit under wraps until Sunday, May 18. The film will have an afternoon press screening Cannes with another Sunday night. Reviews will likely start posting as soon as Sunday night. This movie is, however, critic proof.

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…This is about the way I feel when I remind media brands that every emerging platform confronts them with both a threat and an opportunity. By not taking the new media seriously, they risk losing the category they may own elsewhere to some upstart startup that better understands the Web or mobile. And at the same time, the new platform gives older, perhaps fading brands, the opportunity to refresh themselves and gain an early shard of mindshare.

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HBO is close to finalizing a deal to offer its television programs on Apple’s iTunes service for the first time, reported Conde Nast’s Portfolio today.

The deal, the story says, calls for flexible pricing, something Apple has been reluctant to grant other content providers. NBC defected from the iTunes store last fall over pricing issues. The publication reported that HBO was able to secure “better terms” from Apple than other content providers have.

The launch of the programs on iTunes could happen as early as within a week or two, Portfolio said.

The deal could be a boon for both companies. It broadens the amount of high-profile content Apple offers in iTunes. For HBO, the deal could expose new consumers to HBO programming, especially those who are reluctant to subscribe to the premium channel.

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NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Duane Varan is really starting to get around. After launching a research group at an Australian university that has been working with Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods, among others, this professor who specializes in interactive TV is about to conduct experiments on ad viewership for Walt Disney’s ABC and ESPN. The networks said they would launch an “emerging media and advertising research lab” in conjunction with Mr. Varan, who has spent the last several years testing how TV viewers react to interactive TV, split screens, sponsorships, product placements and the like. Disney intends to open several facilities for tests, including a lab in Austin, Texas.

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NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — If you liked ABC’s prime-time schedule this season, chances are you’ll be quite satisfied with it come the autumn. The Walt Disney network today said it would bring back most of its 2007-08 lineup and add only two new shows in the fall.

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Zadby, Inc. announced the launch of the first two product placement videos created through its online marketplace http://www.zadby.com. Zadby connects advertisers, marketers, and brand managers with freelance video producers to create product placement videos tailored for sites like YouTube, AOL, and MySpace. The videos, available for viewing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6fyynmHwVI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJfecvhevs0, position launch brand, Polk Audio, in widely divergent and distinct placement angles.

“We’ve made tremendous ground since our launch in March, building traction with brand managers and advertisers, and developing a solid community of freelance video producers that are eager to join the marketplace. We’re delighted to be able to announce our first two videos,” says Michael Buttrey, Zadby CEO.

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Product placement may be familiar ground for movie-goers, but it’s still relatively new territory for gamers. Sports games and racing titles have had products advertised in them to a certain extent, but few other games have delved into the territory. Always looking to push boundaries, game designer Hideo Kojima has apparently decided to fill Metal Gear Solid 4 with a variety of real life items, including an iPod.

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A new poll by Entertainment Weekly shows three out of four TV viewers prefer product placement over commercials.

What EW didn’t survey was whether TV viewers would mind seeing 20 different product placements over 40 minutes of program content — or around one every two minutes — every night for every TV show.

I use this equation because that is what it would take to replicate the current financial TV model, where there are 10 minutes of national TV commercial messages per hour of prime-time programming — plus two more minutes for local advertising time, as well as additional minutes per hour of network promotion time.

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