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Watch Shelly’s commentary on the future of Television Ad Sales and how the Wall Street Fallout doesn’t bode well for the Networks.
BEST BUY will purchase NAPSTER for $121 million. The revolutionary, but now obsolete file sharing platform, never caught on as a legal, subscription based digital music service after it was shut down by an RIAA mounted lawsuit. Best Buy plans to make the best of Napster’s 700,000 subs and its potential mobile capabilities.
MYSPACE MUSIC is set to launch with major sponsorships and licensing agreements from UNIVERSAL MUSIC, SONY BMG and WARNER MUSIC GROUP. While MySpace, which will open its new offering to its 120 million users, has not signed with EMI, the social network has reached sponsorship deals with MCDONALD’s, SONY PICTURES, STATE FARM and TOYOTA. The sponsorship deals include offering free downloads and branded playlists. MySpace will sell digital music through AMAZON MP3.
IMDB will now offer clips from full-length feature films and TV shows on its site. The AMAZON owned site will link to more than 6,000 legally licensed clips from HULU, CBS, SONY PICTURES TELEVISION and others. While the interface leaves something to be desired, bringing digital video to the site is a step in the right direction.
THE WORLD ASSOCIATION of NEWSPAPERS is extremely opposed to the potential GOOGLE-YAHOO ad deal. The organization, which does not include U.S. owned papers, claims that the deal is anti-competitive and is urging regulators to block the deal. The Google-Yahoo ad deal has received alot of criticism from the EU, as well as the FCC, and now the Dept of Justice, who recently hired a lawyer to further investigate Google.
According to CEA, 86% of Television households in the U.S. are aware of the switch to Digital Television. While 33% of antenna households have applied for a subsidized converter box, and at least another 37% planning to applying, the problem now is funding, for which the government seems to be running out. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration provides $40 coupons, and is now requesting more than $7 million in additional funding to handle the conversion.