May 13, 2008

Disney to Create Laboratory to Test High-Tech Advertising for ABC, ESPN

Disney to Create Laboratory to Test High-Tech Advertising for ABC, ESPN

Associated Press | May 13, 2008

  • LOS ANGELES--Will people remember three-second video ads on their mobile phones?
  • Is the sports ticker crawl distracting or does it add value to the 30-second TV spot?
  • A laboratory in Austin, Texas, to be founded by The Walt Disney Co. by the end of the year aims to answer these questions and more by testing the biometric reactions of a pool of up to 4,000 people to advertising that takes advantage of the latest technology.

Prime-Time Television Losing Its Relevance Web and Video Recorders Force Shift

International Herald Tribune | May 13, 2008

  • This week, the annual ritual in which the U.S. television networks present their schedules to advertisers opened with a mystery: Who stole six million viewers?
  • That is the number who were watching prime time television in the United States last May but have disappeared this year, according to Nielsen ratings.
  • Where some of last May's 44 million viewers went is not a mystery, according to the networks.

Cablevision's $650M Wins Newsday: Murdoch Loses Bid for Tribune Co.'s N.Y. Paper

Chicago Tribune | May 12, 2008

  • May 12--Cablevision Systems Corp. has finalized a deal for control of Newsday, Tribune Co.'s Long Island, N.Y., newspaper, in a transaction worth $650 million, it was announced Monday.
  • "The newspaper has a unique circulation base and a tremendously strong local brand.
  • Cablevision will hold 97 percent of the equity in a joint venture with Tribune Co. for the Newsday Media Group, which includes Newsday, the free tabloid AM New York and other area publications.

Sprints WiMax Venture Under Attack

The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) | May 13, 2008

  • May 13--An Illinois wireless company is seeking a court order to block Sprint Nextel's new $14.5 billion WiMax spinoff venture.
  • The company iPCS, a smaller carrier that sells Sprint service over its own network, said in its lawsuit that Sprint intends to offer new high-speed wireless services that would compete unfairly against iPCS.
  • Rulings in that case have ordered Sprint eventually to stop owning and running the Nextel portion of its network in an exclusive territory granted to iPCS.

Diving into Digital TV

Columbian | May 12, 2008

  • Oregon Public Broadcasting spent more than $23 million to upgrade broadcast equipment to prepare for the digital TV transition.
  • In the master control room Don McKay, right, vice president of engineering, and Filipe Olvera, director of engineering, examine the equipment.
  • If your analog TV was made before March 1, 2007, and you don't subscribe to cable or satellite, call 888-388-2009 or visit www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon for information about a converter box that will allow you to continue receiving signals.

SeaChange Personalizes Video-On-Demand Television Experience With Affinity

Business Wire | May 12, 2008

  • On-demand television leader SeaChange International (NASDAQ: SEAC) today unveiled SeaChange Affinity™ to help television operators optimize every title in their on-demand libraries and ensure subscriber satisfaction in spite of increasingly overwhelming content choices.
  • One of several TV personalization applications that run exclusively on the Axiom On Demand open content delivery platform, Affinity breaks through rising content challenges with socially-networked television search capabilities that empower subscribers to program their own on-demand viewing experience.
  • Affinity will debut at the Cable Show in New Orleans, and will be available to operators later this year.

RCN Launches InGrid Home Security Services Trial

Business Wire | May 12, 2008

  • InGrid, Inc., the leading innovator and developer of digital, wireless home security services, today announced that RCN Corporation (NASDAQ: RCNI), a leading provider of digital television, data, and voice services to residential, business and commercial/carrier customers, will launch a six-month trial of InGrid Home Security services to new and existing customers in the Chicago and Philadelphia areas.
  • "We're excited about the potential of InGrid with our residential customers.
  • InGrid was founded in 2004 to provide a new class of broadband-integrated Digital Home Security services for the residential and small business security market, principally through major broadband providers.

Zodiac Interactive Demonstrates Tru2way(TM) Technology at The Cable Show '08

Business Wire | May 12, 2008

  • Zodiac Interactive, a multiple Emmy-nominated and Emmy award-winning developer of software for interactive television, today announced its participation at The Cable Show '08, the cable industry's premier convention, May 18--20 in New Orleans.
  • These demonstrations can also be found across The Cable Show's exhibit floor in Zodiac's partner booths, including Advanced Digital Broadcast (booth #841), who will demonstrate multiple tru2way platforms, Alticast (booth # 3505), Motorola (booth #1405) and Thomson (booth #941).
  • "We're excited that so many leading tru2way companies have recognized Zodiac applications in tru2way," said Michael Rivkin, Zodiac's CEO.
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