Mobile & Wireless

NBC has announced its plans for a modified upfront. In April the network will release a 52-week schedule of staggered show premieres and then hold small presentations for advertisers in New York, LA and Chicago. On May 12 it will host a “spotlight event” in New York to present the full range of advertising opportunities Continue Reading →

TOSHIBA has officially announced that it will stop producing and marketing HD DVD players. Shipments to retailers will cease by the end of March. The company said it “simply had no chance to win,” and that continuing the format would harm consumers. APPLE has signed a multifaceted deal with American Idol, making iTunes the exclusive Continue Reading →

NBC has asked NIELSEN to move sweeps to January next year to avoid complications associated with the transition to digital television. If accepted, the February 2009 sweeps would start on January 15th and conclude on February 14th – 3 days before all analog television signals are turned off. The impact of the digital transition is Continue Reading →

CBS will announce a new experimental mobile advertising venture, which provides customized ads depending on a user’s location. The targeted ads will appear on the mobile versions of CBS News and CBS Sports using GPS technology from Loopt. Users with GPS-capable phones will be asked to opt-in to the service to ease concerns over privacy. Continue Reading →

VERIZON announced that it has reached over 1 million FiOS TV customers, making it the 10th-largest multichannel service provider in the US. The company added over 700,000 customers during 2007, netting 226,000 in 4Q alone. The rapid growth rate means it will soon surpass Mediacom, which has 1.3 million cable subscribers. NIELSEN will use its Continue Reading →

THE FCC will start the highly anticipated 700 MHz spectrum auction this Thursday, January 24th. On the block are some of the nation’s most valuable radio waves, which Chairman Kevin Martin calls “the building blocks for the next generation of broadband services.” This is expected to be the most lucrative auction ever conducted by the Continue Reading →

BILL GATES opened CES with a clear statement of purpose, declaring that “All media will be software driven.” Gates handed the stage over to Microsoft president of Entertainment & Devices Robbie Bach to describe the company’s digital media initiatives. Bach announced that Xbox Live will gain content from MGM, Showtime, The Disney Channel and ABC. Continue Reading →

THE NFL will allow NBC and CBS to simulcast Saturday night’s Patriots/Giants game. This will be the first tri-network simulcast since Super Bowl I. NBC and CBS will carry the NFL Network feed of the game, featuring announcers Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said “We have taken this extraordinary step because Continue Reading →

If you’re working in the media business today, you have to be thinking about the five most important digital consumer touchpoints: email, websites, paid search, display ads and video. And, if you’re like most of my clients, this is an ongoing, dynamic, relatively expensive process.   Over the past few months there have been some Continue Reading →

FACEBOOK made further concessions in its war against user privacy. Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized on the company blog for “a lot of mistakes” surrounding Beacon — admitting the company did a “bad job” with its release. Most importantly, he announced that users will now be able to completely opt-out of Beacon. VERIZON has rolled out Continue Reading →