lonelygirl15 Creator, EQAL, and CSI Franchise Creator Zuiker Join Forces

EQAL, the master minds behind two of the most successful interactive drama series, lonelygirl15 and KateModern are joining forces with 'CSI' franchise creator, Anthony Zuiker.

The two will form a partnership to launch a multiplatform 'Digi-novel' series. The hope is that it will expand traditional reading into a full multimedia experience.

Readers will be able to move seamlessly from books to fil to the web.

Their first series, Dark Chronicles, will launch in July.

For more info click here or here

Time Warner's "TV Everywhere"

Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner CEO, revealed this week to AdAge magazine that his company is currently working on a system that will allow multichannel cable subscribers to watch their favorite programming everywhere (tv, mobile, pc).

They see online content viewing as a natural extension to cable and its business model.

They are currently working on a verification system that would not use IP address. They are also thinking about offering a subscription only to online viewing.

Soon we will all be able to see our cable cahannels programming on the web (Specially HBO that has been very reluctant to put content available on the we)

More info: http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=134961

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-time-warner-ceo-plans-tv-everywhere-but-not-for-everyone/

The Supreme Court & YouTube

The Supreme Court has begun using YouTube as a means of evidence. The NY Times article that chronicles this says that if the justices can actually see videos chronicling the incidents at hand, they may not so easily go along with (or against) what jurors and lower-court judges ruled.

A law professor at Suffolk University, however, said that using videos as evidence is very dangerous. They are not cold hard facts such as DNA, but they are images taken from one perspective that could still be up for interpretation.

One lawyer argued that "video evidence is inherently more compelling than recorded testimony." He wasn't implying that it was better evidence, merely that it works the brain in a different way.

While this all makes sense, it certainly isn't new that a court of law would use a video as evidence. YouTube, however, is apparently the new way of doing it!!!

Streaming Sports

As it becomes easier to stream live sporting events over the internet, ESPN360 and CBSSports.com are proving to be innovative this College Basketball season. After MLB.TV proved successful in it's initial deal with Microsoft and it's software Silverlight, ESPN360 and CBSSports.com have both inked deals with Microsoft to use their software to stream hundreds of college basketball conference tournament games as well as March Madness itself.

check out more about this...

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-microsofts-silverlight-gets-the-start-for-march-madness-can-it-convert

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-cbssportscom-streaming-college-football-online-mobile-silverlight-tryou

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-march-madness-on-demand-stats-47-million-unique-video-player-users-49-m

Funny Twitter Daily Show Skit

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/03/the-daily-show-my-stalker-just-grunted-on-my-twitter/

Free TV for the iPhone

CBS  and TV.com have launched an iPhone application that offers full episodes of its programming for viewing. All the user needs is to download the app, and have a cellular or wifi signal. That's it. The app also gives access to many clips and trailers, among other videos. Unlike iTunes, the episodes of television can be viewed for free. Early reaction to the application is positive. People seem to be getting quality video in different situations. One blogger claimed that even though he was on the EDGE network -- 3G was unavailable in his test spot -- he still viewed a decent stream. CBS is the first to offer it's programming for free on mobile devices. Other sites, like Hulu, do not offer any mobile peripherals for viewing.

Unless I'm mistaken, this should quickly turn into some kind of standard. CBS is only offering older  episodes of shows like Star Trek or CSI, but if they start to transition into offering newer stuff, it could really transform the iPhone. Again. It would definitely be nice to watch your favorite show anytime, anywhere, for free.

click here for the link.

and another.

NYT Neighborhood Blogging

The New York Times launched a “neighborhood blog” in which subscribers to the Times will be able to post on local events and happenings in the area. Each blog will be hyper-localized to a particular area and will be open to posts on almost any type of cultural events or news pertinent to that particular area. According to the NYT, Times editors will still be placing a large about of content on each blog but will mainly consist of user-generated content. Users will be able to post in all mediums, from regular text, to photos and even videos. The Times also hopes that it will attract more advertisements from local companies who can’t afford to advertise on the New York Times as a whole.

I think that this is a pretty decent idea but I am surprised it has taken a large news outlet like the NYT this long to jump on the blog bandwagon. Creating these hyper-localized threads will be beneficial in enhancing advertising of local happenings but could get lost in spam postings in its moderators don’t stay on top of it. I don’t believe that users will stick with it if the information isn’t A) accurate and up to date and B) clean of spam postings.

My sources can be found at Techcrunch and Brownstoner

SOUTH KOREANS FREAK OUT FROM NOT WATCHING SUBWAY TV, WOULD AMERICA GET TO THIS POINT?

South Koreans have long enjoyed the privilege of watching TV on their cellphones, however, their cellular operators have recently announced that they are thinking about cancelling subway TV coverage. This decision is being discussed because of declining ad revenue and huge debt from the service, which was provided at no additional cost to subscribers. For South Koreans, watching tv on the subway has become a familiar part of their routines ever since 2005, when phone companies launched mobile TV that could be tuned in on phones just about everywhere, including the subway tunnels in Seoul and other cities. The 10 million users of this service have begun to complain. According to the phone providers, the best solution would be for the government to subsidize the service, otherwise they might drop it altogether.

This still seems as a matter of science fiction in America where people still struggle with dead zones and wimax reception (oh boy, dont we know about this Nokia N810 users?). However, CBS just released an application for its tv.com site that would allow iPhones to play full episodes of its series using cellular networks. So, America its on the way of providing the necessary tools for people to watch TV using cellular networks. But, should people be charged an extra fee? or should companies offer it as a complementary service? If companies start charging there might not be too many people interested in the service (something very likely with the actual economy), but if carriers decide to implement the service and people start actually using it, it would be almost impossible to cut it off.


What would happen?? We'll have to wait and see. This just makes me wonder if I'll ever be upset by not being able to watch tv on the t...



Here are my sources:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/cbs-beams-star-trek-episodes-to-iphones/


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-korea-cellphone-tv27-2009feb27,0,6155826.story