Media Rights Capital is partnering with the CW on Sunday nights, and has announced its programs for the evening. The network will air a reality show, a sitcom and two scripted dramas during Sunday prime time.
While big media companies are putting a positive spin on the effects of the sluggish economy, it is clear they are feeling the pinch of what Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg is now calling a recession.
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The upfront will see spending on the broadcast networks dip 3 percent, with spending on cable networks up 5 percent, according to a report by Lehman Bros.
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Sirius has signed with Formula One Management, making it the exclusive North American radio broadcaster of all Formula 1 races.
Not your father's 3D As more and more films in 3D are released - 10 to 12 are expected to come out next year - theaters are investing in 3D-capable screens in the hopes of convincing consumers to leave their DVD players and video-on-demand behind and come to the movies.
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Millennials (young adults ages 16-27) not only look for more rich media but also greatly influence the buying decisions for home as well as mobile technologies and services, according to the initial results of a Motorola study, MarketingChart reports (via MediaPost).
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Microsoft is testing text-based ads on Live Search Mobile in the U.S. The beta program will expand beyond the U.S. later this year.
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Napster opened a download music store with more than 6 million digital songs in its library, including songs from all the major music labels and thousands of independents. Pricing, at 99 cents per song or $9.95 per album, is similar to that of iTunes.
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Netflix, the company that ushered in the mail-order DVD rental biz, is offering a set-top box that allows subscribers to stream movies and TV shows from the web.
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One of the web’s first video darlings, Amanda Congdon of Rocketboom fame, returns to her roots with Sometimes Daily, an “interactive variety show that is embedded into my life,” Congdon says.
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Google accounted for 67.90 percent of U.S. searches in the four weeks ended April 26 - up 4 percent from the year-earlier period - according to Hitwise, which said that was an all-time high market share for the search leader, MarketingCharts writes.
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A quirky ABC web series, In the Motherhood, is expected to air on television at midseason or early next year. The online show features stories of real mothers in real situations, and is created by MindShare Entertainment for Suave and Sprint.
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The upcoming fall season will see just 16 new shows, compared to 29 last year - but buyers say they like what they saw during last week’s upfront presentations, and believe the broadcast nets will have plenty of new shows at midseason. Still, deals may be slow in coming.
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NBC’s unusual upfront garnered mixed reviews from the media crowd; some blamed the network for using the new format to draw attention away from a weak programming slate, while others liked the innovative format.
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Ryan Seacrest is in talks with CNN to replace Larry King, according to sources close to Seacrest.
IdeaCast, provider of custom television content and advertising in the out-of-home video category has partnered with LiveTV, provider of in-flight entertainment for commercial airlines, and now has exclusive advertising sales rights to LiveTV video assets on Continental and Frontier Airlines.
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Cablevision’s Rainbow Media, which owns AMC and IFC, will now also own the Sundance Channel.
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Media and entertainment companies are in broad agreement on the way the digital market is evolving, where the opportunities lie and what will drive revenues over the next five years - but execution remains an issue, according to an Accenture survey, MarketingCharts writes.
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ABC has chopped Men in Trees from its schedule, deciding not to renew the hour-long comedy that has seen six different time slots in its two-year run.
Little more than a month after CBS Radio announced that it was powering AOL’s radio player, the company has expanded on its digital plans. Speaking at a presentation to hundreds of media buyers and advertisers in New York yesterday, CBS pres-CEO Les Moonves announced the formation of CBS Radio Digital Network, a new division of its CBS Radio group.
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