TVI Magazine is not responsible
for the content of external InterNet sites
FISHRGAME
_____________
Feature
Stories -
062005-06
/ Week tviNews
Convergence
Todays Puzzle
--
Verizon uses LookRadio Small Screen Big Picture
Concept
• • Historically, Americans have
been far less willing to spend money on new
cellphone services than Europeans and Asians, many
of whom have long had access to mobile
video.
• • Verizon will charge $15 a
month for daily access to about 300 video clips,
from 30 seconds to three minutes long. Included in
the V Cast package is news from Time Warner Inc.'s
CNN and sports from Walt Disney Co.'s
ESPN.
• • Now, 20th Century Fox
Television is trying to squeeze that pulse-pounding
formula into a 60-second package - - for
cellphones. "24: Conspiracy," an original drama
produced solely for the very small screen, will
have its U.S. premiere today as part of a mobile
video service from Verizon
Wireless.
• • Verizon will charge $15 a
month for daily access to about 300 video clips,
from 30 seconds to three minutes long. Included in
the V Cast package is news from Time Warner Inc.'s
CNN and sports from Walt Disney Co.'s
ESPN.
• • For an extra fee, subscribers
also can download music videos from Warner Music
Group - - in the first attempt to sell what viewers
are accustomed to getting for free on TV and the
Web - - or video games.
• • The Fox network thriller "24"
inspires cult-like devotion by delivering mayhem,
suspense and duplicity in every 60-minute
episode.
• • The Fox network thriller "24"
inspires cult-like devotion by delivering mayhem,
suspense and duplicity in every 60-minute
episode.
• • But there have been hints of a
growing U.S. appetite. For example, a service
called MobiTV, which delivers TV programming to
cellphones, has attracted more than 100,000
subscribers since its launch late in
2003.
• • Wireless networks were built
to carry voices, not videos, which require
transmission of far more data. Carriers around the
world have been rolling out higher-capacity
networks and specialized phones, though, making it
possible to deliver video that is smoother and more
detailed than could be managed over conventional
cellular networks.
• • Verizon's EV-DO network is the
most widely deployed of the top-speed networks - -
available in Los Angeles, San Diego and 30 other
cities today, with twice as many locales to be
covered by year-end. Competitors are expected to
roll out comparable networks, with Sprint Corp. and
Cingular Wireless already pledging to do so over
the next year or two.
• • The new networks have sparked
a frenzy of activity by phone companies, media and
entertainment conglomerates, technology firms and
would-be middlemen that want to sell programming
packages to mobile
customers.
• • For News Corp., the parent of
20th Century Fox Television, the opportunity was
irresistible. "There are 1.1 billion television
households, and there are 1.3 billion
[cellphone] handsets" around the world,
said Lucy Hood, a News Corp. senior vice president
of content and marketing.
• • Hood said Fox was approached
for ideas last year by both Verizon Wireless and
Vodafone Group of England, the world's largest
mobile-phone company. After a bit of
experimentation on the Fox lot, the company settled
on a 60-second version of "24" that would borrow
key traits - - plot twists, cliffhanger endings - -
from the original. Vodafone made the first episode
available to its subscribers in Europe in
December.
• • One measure of the challenge
Verizon and its entertainment partners face in the
U.S. is the reaction of one "24" buff to the
prospect of a cellphone version. "Even if I had a
cellphone capable of this, a one-minute episode
seems to me to be woefully inadequate as
entertainment," said fan Ian J. Ball in an e-mail
interview.
• • News Corp. is producing two
other original programs for Verizon's V Cast
service: "Sunset Hotel," modeled after a prime-time
soap opera, and "Love and Hate," a family drama.
Hood wouldn't reveal how much News Corp. was
investing in the mini-productions, but Fox
television executives said costs were held down by
using hand-held video cameras and shooting on
location.
• • The details of the business
model are still being ironed out, but Hood said she
expected that News Corp. would collect a share of
the sales that Verizon
generated.
• • According to Verizon, revenue
from all data services doubled in 2004 to more than
$1 billion, or nearly 5% of its total sales. That's
about the same amount as the company planned to
spend rolling out its EV-DO network in 2004 and
2005 combined.
• • "Our expectation is that
video, music, imaging, all of these businesses will
be very important to us as we go forward," said
John Stratton, vice president and chief marketing
officer for Verizon Wireless. "But we're going to
learn as we go."
• • Privately held Warner Music
Group has offered mobile music services for a
little more than a year, starting on the Sprint
network with low-fidelity song samples for $1.33 a
month. It upgraded the service to higher fidelity
and some full-length songs, raising the price to
$3.99 a month.
• • Now it's adding video to the
mix, charging Verizon V Cast subscribers $3.99 to
download individual music videos. Initially, the
videos will be the same ones people can view for
free on TV or the Web, although the company is
working on customized versions for the
credit-card-sized screen of the new Verizon
phones.
• • "It's interesting to see the
way consumers are gravitating toward quality
content" on the latest mobile networks, said
Michael Nash, senior vice president of Internet
strategy and business development for Warner
Music.
• • Analyst Roger Entner of Yankee
Group suggested that the $3.99 price tag would
weaken the appeal of Warner's
videos.
• • People are willing to spend
more money for a variety of mobile offerings,
Entner said, but "it all has to be
reasonable."
• • He added, "At $3 for a music
video, I don't think a lot will happen.
• •
//
• •
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS
CONVERGENCE
Center
Page /
Will
it be -- SBC or
AT&T?
• •
Now that SBC Communications Inc. has a deal
to buy AT&T Corp., the telecom world is
wondering which initials will live
on.
• • The decision is up to SBC. And
its chairman, Edward E. Whitacre Jr., wasn't saying
much Monday when the companies announced SBC's
proposed $16-billion acquisition of its onetime
parent company.
• • "We obviously need a few days
to figure all this out," Whitacre said. "The
AT&T brand is a terrific brand, and I'm certain
it'll live on in a way that'll make them proud and
us proud."
• • There is little doubt that
AT&T, the nation's oldest telephone company, is
the premier brand with instant national and
international recognition and a simple stock symbol
- - T.
• • Indeed, a Forrester Research
Inc. survey found that 8 million residents said
they had AT&T local phone service, yet the
company never had more than 4 million local
residential customers, said analyst Lisa
Pierce.
• • SBC, on the other hand, hasn't
been fully accepted as a brand by customers in many
of the 13 states where it is the dominant local
phone company.
• • In California, for instance,
many folks still write their monthly checks to
Pacific Bell, even though SBC bought that company
eight years ago.
• • But SBC has been working hard
to get its name known, changing Pacific Bell Park
in San Francisco to SBC Park, home of the San
Francisco Giants. In San Antonio, where the company
is headquartered, its name is emblazoned on the
arena that is the home of the San Antonio
Spurs.
• • Many industry analysts believe
SBC would be foolish to get rid of the AT&T
brand for the corporate market, where AT&T has
30% of the major companies, or for the
international market, where AT&T is well known
and well respected - - and SBC is largely
unknown.
• • "Nike owns Converse and two
brands survive because Converse still has a certain
amount of cachet as basketball shoes," said Daryl
Schoolar, an analyst at InStat/MDR research in San
Jose. "So why cut off the AT&T brand? I think
you will see both brands
continue."
• • But if SBC is buying for the
future, perhaps it's time for both sides to swallow
their egos and come up with a new name, much like
Verizon Communications Inc. did, said analyst Ken
McGee of Gartner Inc. in Stamford,
Conn.
• • "I'm not convinced AT&T is
a well-known brand for people under 25 years of
age," McGee said. "So if SBC is concerned about the
future, why would they pick a name so linked with
the past?"
• • ///
TIMELINE:
Top Stories To Start The Week
With:
///
ByLines:
Editors Note
#112
Taiwan and Fujian dialect -- used widely in Taiwan,
and serve special Taiwanese dishes to woe China
Envoys
• •
February 1, 2005 / BEIJING / China's first
charter flight was flown by Jin Yibin, who was
former Chinese President Jiang Zemin's pilot. And
Xiamen Airlines, one of the carriers picked for the
service, had its flight attendants speak Fujian
dialect, widely used in Taiwan, and serve special
Taiwanese dishes. High-level officials from China
are to visit Taiwan today for the first time in six
years, part of a string of recent small,
conciliatory steps by the two longtime adversaries.
The Chinese delegation is technically a personal
one rather.
• • High-level officials from
China are to visit Taiwan today for the first time
in six years, part of a string of recent small,
conciliatory steps by the two longtime
adversaries.
• • The Chinese delegation is
technically a personal one rather than official.
The officials will attend the funeral of Koo
Chen-fu, Taiwan's longtime top negotiator with the
mainland who died of cancer in January. Koo was
instrumental in bringing about a warming of
relations in the early 1990s, when both sides
agreed to disagree on the tricky issue of
sovereignty for Taiwan, paving the way for
talks.
• • Today's visit follows
the kickoff Saturday of direct cross-strait
commercial flights, the first in 55 years. The
charters are to continue through Feb. 20, allowing
some of the more than 1 million Taiwanese living in
China to travel home for the Chinese New Year
holiday without stopping in Hong Kong, as had been
required.
• • In another modest sign of
reduced tension, the No. 4 official in China's
Communist Party hierarchy said last week that
Beijing was ready to talk with Taiwanese President
Chen Shui-bian or other officials provided that
Taipei honored the idea that the two entities were
"one China" and abandoned calls for Taiwanese
independence.
• • Although those conditions are
untenable for many Taiwanese, it was the first time
Beijing has showed a willingness to deal with
Chen.
• • Taiwan and the mainland have
been estranged since 1949. China views the island
as a rightful part of its territory and has
threatened to use military force if it declares
independence.
• • Taiwan offered its own opening
recently by naming Hsieh Chang-ting, 58, as its
next premier. The popular mayor of Kaohsiung
immediately called for better relations with the
mainland, an end to provocative language or
policies in Taiwan and greater consistency,
qualities that have been largely lacking since Chen
was elected in 2000. Hsieh takes office
today.
• • Still, analysts on both sides
of the Taiwan Strait point out the many impediments
to a significant breakthrough in relations. Beijing
remains deeply distrustful of Chen, whom it sees as
a provocateur intent on achieving Taiwanese
independence.
• • Other potential problems
include Taiwan's proposed purchase of $18 billion
in U.S. weapons, a possible end this year of a
European Union ban on weapons sales to China, and
Beijing's threatened passage of an "anti-secession"
law. Under that proposal, Beijing would create a
framework for retaliation if Taiwan declared
independence. Taiwan has threatened to draft an
"anti-containment" law in
response.
• • "The outlook is severe," said
Xu Bodong, head of the Taiwan Institute at Beijing
Union University. "It will be like two trains
colliding."
• • For the time being, however,
many are welcoming the respite from years of
growing tension. The direct flights have garnered
pages of newspaper coverage on both sides of the
strait, with Beijing's state-run China Daily
touting the mainland's extensive
preparations.
• • China's first charter flight
was flown by Jin Yibin, who was former Chinese
President Jiang Zemin's pilot. And Xiamen Airlines,
one of the carriers picked for the service, had its
flight attendants speak Fujian dialect, widely used
in Taiwan, and serve special Taiwanese
dishes.
• • Koo's funeral is also laden
with symbolism. His face-saving way around the "one
China" policy illustrates the creative thinking
that would be necessary in any
breakthrough.
• • Beijing's official New China
News Agency said two envoys who often dealt with
Koo would be attending the funeral in a personal
capacity, thereby avoiding cross-strait political
complexities, thorny protocol issues and
recognition problems.
• • Another diplomatic sensitivity
was sidestepped by having the invitation come from
Koo's family rather than the Taiwanese government.
But Chen is expected to attend.
Larry
Page
Bylines
TVI
Magazine ONLINE / IS YOUR INDUSTRY WEB SITE Ready
for the future?
-----
TVI
Magazine introduces here a new marketing forum for
the international television industry: a dynamic
online service on its YES90 and tvinews.net web
sites. TVI Magazine will now effectively serve the
new marketing needs of all entertainment companies
with a tool that offers almost instantaneous
promotion updates. Company promotional material
that appears on TVI Magazine's Web site can be
hyperlinked with the company's own URL. TVI
Magazine can also link the ads to a special Web
page for the advertiser and then link that page to
the advertiser's URL.
-----
To
ensure that visitors find their way to promotion
information and product updates, TVI Magazine is
listing TVI Magazine Online on more than 250 of the
world's most popular search engines and electronic
directories.
-----
Online
ad space can be purchased in monthly increments
(with a one-month minimum). At renewal time,
advertisers can change their ad and/or move it to
another space if one is available. The TVI Magazine
Web site will indicate the total number of hits on
the home page per month and per day, enabling
advertisers to monitor their reach and billings
regularly.
-----
TVI
Magazine has two key pages for ad placement: the
index page (home page) and the main page (main page
of articles). Less expensive ad space is available
on article pages. Advertisers can provide the
artwork and/or logo, either by submitting the file
electronically or via an existing graphic on the
Web that TVI Magazine's online team can
grab.
-----
Most
ads can be posted on the TVI Magazine site within a
few hours. However, in the event that any graphic
manipulation is required, one must allow more time
before the ad is posted, usually two to seven
business days for a static banner and up to 10
business days for an animated banner ad.
-----It
just goes to show you, says Troy about the TV and
Film industry -- "NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS
PERMANENT" . . . so follow the
money -
- and
take some advice from a dinner-time chat with
"Stonehead" --
Disappointments Are Great! Follow
the Money . . . the Internet and the Smart- Daaf
Boys.
///
Return
ˆ
To
Top
Respectfully
Submitted
Josie
Cory
Publisher/Editor
TVI Magazine
TVI
Magazine, tviNews.net, Associated Press, Reuters,
BBC, LA Times, NY Times, VRA's D-Diaries, Press
Releases, They Said It Tracking Model, and
SmartSearch were used in compiling and ascertaining
this Yes90 news report.
©2004-2006. Copyright. All
rights reserved by: TVI Publications, VRA TelePlay
Pictures and Big Six Media Entertainments. Tel/Fax:
323 462.1099.
LookRadio.com
-
Do
it with movies, slide shows and
music!
-----
Smart90's
24-hour, 365 days-a-year Broadband S90tv
WebMagic
web page is the simplest way to add the WebMagic to
your existing web pages. It's an Exciting New Way
to Advertise.
-----
Advertise
Now on Smart90.com and utilize S90tv's Web Magic on
your own domain. Email
your insertion order and advertising copy or banner
requests to the attention of: Advertising Marketing
Director at
look@smart90.com™.
- -----To
get you started today, you can attach to your
Email, your logo, slides, transparencies,
illustrations, photographs or other computer
graphics. The materials will be forwarded directly
to our art department.-
- -----
Advertising
material must be received by the 10th of every
month to be included in the following scheduled
print magazine issue. In regards to our daily
tviNews.net edition, your banner, logo, web movie,
slide show or 60x500 animated banner, that is to be
headlined at the top of our featured news page, as
a linkonad or smartkudoad,
can be Emailed to us at your convenience.
- -----
Or
better yet, tell us where to go to fetch the
information -- this way it will be much quicker to
get you up and running. For Ad rates please click
on: TVI
Advertising Rates.
Please
read: "How
Do We Do Business?
We Preserve The
Moment
Returnˆ
To Top
|
