NBC, Google Abort TV Ad Sales Pact
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) have discontinued their ad sales partnership begun in 2008, the companies have confirmed. T…
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Rubicon Project Lands $9 Million Third Round Led By NBCU
NBC Universal’s Peacock Fund led a $9 million third round for online ad inventory manager The Rubicon Project. Peacock provided $6 million,…
Industry Moves: NBCU's Feher Leaves To Head Conviva
Darren Feher, CTO of NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) since 2003, will get to head his own show as CEO of Conviva — the company NBCU picked earlier…
Greystripe Raises $2 Million From NBC Universal's Peacock Equity Fund
San Francisco-based Greystripe has raised $2 million in capital from Peacock Equity Fund, the venture arm of NBC Universal and GE, as part o…
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Blip.tv Strikes Distribution, Ad-Tracking Deals With YouTube, Others
Online video provider Blip.tv has added YouTube, Vimeo, NBCU Local Media NY, and Roku as content partners, the company announced at a press…
Two Down Two More To Go: Sony Joins Universal On Vevo
When Universal Music Group announced in April it was partnering with YouTube to create its own online music destination called Vevo, the fir…
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Report: Disney, Hearst, NBCU Explore Lifetime, A&E Combo
An interesting remake of a TV programming deal may be in the works. Citing multiple sources, B&C is reporting that Hearst, NBC Universal (NY…
Sugar Buys Shopflick.com; Raises $16 Million In Third Round
Blog network Sugar Inc. is trying to transform itself into a diversified media company, with the purchase of another e-commerce startup and…
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Hulu To Stream Dave Matthews Concert Live; What It Means For Cable
Clearly, we are a very long way from seeing Lost or 24 streamed live to the internet, but Hulu appears to be at least crawling in that direc…
Hulu Plans For UK Presence Are Far From Set
Published reports to the contrary, I am hearing that nothing is set about online video portal Hulu’s plans to launch in the UK — including…
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How Big — Or Small — Is Hulu? Depends On Who Provides The Numbers
The issue of audience measurement discrepancies has long plagued online publishers. While most have made peace between their internal number…
BlogHer Raises $7 Million In Third Round
Women’s blog network BlogHer has raised $7 Million in a third round, bringing total funds raised to date o $15.5 million, according to AllTh…
Video SEO EveryZing Raises $8.25M Third Round, With Backing From NBCU
NBC Universal’s Peacock Equity has provided a $3 million of the $8.25 million third round for publisher-based search engine EveryZing’s. Pre…
NBC Upfront: Keeping Things Small; Just Six New Shows, Some Exclusive Web Content
Given its ratings doldrums and CEO Jeff Zucker’s oft-repeated reminder that 60 percent of NBC Universal’s profit comes from cable, the broad…
Broadband Content Bits: Habbo/Heroes; LivingSocial/Hulu; Neurotrash.tv
— NBC’s Heroes cross into Habbo: NBC.com and teen virtual world Habbo have created Syn Anders, a new virtual character tied to Heroes Ev…
Earnings: GE Profit Drops 44 Percent; NBCU Income Slips On Weak Broadcast, Stronger Cable Revs
NBC Universal’s profit fell 6 percent to $865 million, as the General Electric (NYSE: GE) unit continued to be buttressed by its cable holdi…
Industry Moves: Ascent Media Group; Brightcove; Box.net; NBCU; Birst
— Ascent Media Group: Mara Sternthal has joined Ascent Media Group as SVP, business development for its Global Media Exchange (GMX) service…
Industry Moves: Petsky Prunier; Google; Motricity; Discovery
— Petsky Prunier: Former *IAC* VP Bob Ennis has joined Petsky Prunier to head up the investment bank’s digital media practice. Ennis most r…
@ CES: Live From NBCU, TGIF
It’s 4:30 on Friday afternoon at the Consumer Electronics Show. I’m on the blogger stage at the *Sharp/NBC Universal” Multimedia Lounge, a l…
Broadband Content Bits: Samberg/YouTube; Workplace Video; Machinima; Current/Rotten; Network Shows
— SNL’s Samberg chooses YouTube: With nearly 9 million views since being posted December 6, Andy Samberg’s “Jizz in My Pants” is the most w…
Jimmy Fallon’s NBC Gig To Go Live Online Monday; About Four Months Prior To TV
As has been previously announced, Jimmy Fallon is slated to get a head start as a Conan O
Broadband Content Bits: AOL’s New Show; NBA’s Stream; WhereverTV; Timberland’s Vlog; Air Force/Xbox
— AOL’s “Morning Rush” : AOL (NYSE: TWX) is slated to launch a new five-minute video show called “Morning Rush,” which pulls highlights fr…
NBC Univeral Launches Mobile Portal In Japan
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) is launching a mobile portal in Japan. The portal goes live today, and will support its hit movie ‘Wanted’ during i…
NBCU Local Sites Look Beyond TV
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) is widening the purview of its local TV stations’ sites, even as it tries to downplay the sites’ identities as broa…
Earnings: GE Q3 Earnings Meet Lowered Expectations; NBCU Profit Up 10 Percent
Late last month, General Electric (NYSE: GE) chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt lowered the company’s Q3 guidance dramatically and today it met th…
Broadband Content Bits: ESPN360; PG Porn; TWC-ActiveVideo; Govt Online; NBCU-60Frames; Brides.com
— ESPN360.com snags Portuguese Lifa Sagres soccer rights: ESPN’s (NYSE: DIS) broadband network has inked an exclusive deal with IEC to deli…
Ad Industry Roundup: Microsoft; MSNBC; Local Ads; Chevrolet
— Microsoft’s Seinfeld ads are a viral hit: While two ads featuring the odd couple of Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates were widely panned, onl…
Will GE’s Buffett Cash Quell NBC Sale Talks?
In case you haven’t been following it, shares of GE have been taking it bad lately. On one side, you have the industrial division, highly ex…
NBC Reports 6.5 Million Uniques And 826,000 Videos Streamed On Mobile During The Olympics
In a case of I-told-you-so, NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) is reaffirming with statistics the goal it set out to accomplish on mobile during the B…
Time Warner’s Future: All About Content (Unless It’s From Time Inc or AOL)
Jeff Bewkes has been sitting at the desk where the Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) buck stops for seven months now, and beyond the Time Warner Cable…
Mobile Content Bits: NBC Mobile Olympics; Patriots Go With Quattro; Yahoo Fantasy Sports Goes Mobile
NBC Taps Starcut To Build Olympics Mobile Website: With the Olympics kicking off tomorrow, I doubt it
NFL Opens Up a Bit: To Webcast Sunday Games With NBC; Other Partners Wary
The National Football League, which has been very protective of its online usage rights, has opened up a bit, and is going to webcast 17 reg…
NBCU Unscathed (So Far) In GE Slimdown
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) will be one of four “segments” in the slimmed-down General Electric announced today after the market closed today.…
NBCU Wireless GM On iPhone: ‘We Didn’t Feel That We Had To Be There On Day One’
When it comes to the iPhone, large entertainment companies are sitting on the sidelines. NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) can’t justify investing in…
Earnings: GE’s NBCU Q2 Revs Up 7 Percent; Income Up 1 Percent
Another underwhelming quarter for NBCU, unit of GE… network revenue was up 7 percent in Q2, to $3.88 billion from $3.62 billion, while inc…
Sun Valley Chatter: Yahoo Talk; NBC Dealing?
There’s no obvious YouTube or Facebook this year to capture the crown as the toast of Sun Valley, so it sounds like it’s all about the old g…
NBC And AT&T Partner On An Exclusive Music Work-Out Mix For The Olympics
Artists such as 3 Doors Down, Army of Me, Colbie Caillat, Clique Girlz, Sheryl Crow, Flipsyde, Lady Antebellum, Mere, Nelly and Kate Voegele…
Industry Moves: Skype; AOL; NBCU
— Skype: Skype has tapped former Motorola exec Scott Durchslag as its COO, a new post reporting to recently appointed president Josh Silver…
Where Will You Be Watching The Olympics? From Your Mobile Phone?
This year, there’s a ton of media companies banking on the Olympics being the watershed moment for mobile content, and even mobile advertisi…
Industry Moves Roundup: Starcom MediaVest Group; Cooliris; Oberon; NBCU’s GIU; Kaboose
— Starcom MediaVest Group: Media buying vet Renetta McCann is taking a year-long sabbatical from her post as Starcom MediaVest Group’s glob…
NBCU And Partners Bid $3.5 Billion For Weather Channel: Report
A week after the deadline for companies to submit offers to buy Weather Channel and its Weather.com site, Reuters cites unidentified sources…
iPhone Gets More Video, But Not From Apple
A couple of new services are sending video to the iPhone, which has been hampered by a narrow choice of supported video formats (Flash being…
Broadband Content Bits: MySpace Latino; MSNBC Streams; Nielsen’s VideoCensus; CelebTV-thePlatform
— MySpace builds out new Hispanic sites: The Fox Interactive social network says it is building on the bilingual MySpace Latino site it lau…
Industry Moves: Bonnie Hammer Heading NBCU’s Cable Entertainment
Jeff Zucker is pleased as punch with how USA and SciFi networks are performing within NBC Universal’s (NYSE: GE) bouquet of cable channels,…
Industry Moves: TBS Digital; Beliefnet; AdReady; Warner Bros.
— TBS: The Turner unit has appointed a new digital head: Paul Condolora is the new SVP of digital for its Animation, Young Adults and Kids…
NBCU: Not For Sale, Says GE Chairman
Says Jeff Immelt, in no uncertain terms, in GE’s annual reporting coming out today. NYT got a hold of it prior to its release, and the story…
Ad Industry Roundup: Microsoft; Kelsey Group; NYT; Blinxx/Denuo; Forrester; WPP; About; EA; Turner
— Microsoft To Test Ad Effectiveness Tool: Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) will begin beta testing a new measurement tool called “Engagement Mappin…
Friday Night Lights: Go Watch it Tonight
This is me doing my bit to save the best show on network TV, Friday Night Lights on NBC. EW is reporting, not a huge surprise, that NBCU is…
Microsoft's Content Announcement At CES; NBC Olympics; Disney/MGM on XboxLive; IPTV
Staci is covering BIll Gates’ keynote at CES, and some key announcements and details from Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) on the content side:
— NBC…
Ad Industry Roundup: MSNBC; eMarketer; Heinz; Digital Chocolate/Greystripe; Clearspring
— MSNBC Video Player Cuts Ad Clutter: MSNBC.com is beta testing a new video player that uses time-based ad serving technology that lets vie…
NBCU Offers Downloads On SanDisk’s Fanfare; Deal Centered On Pricing And Security
Continuing its drive to syndicate its TV programming fare on as many websites as possible, NBCU has struck a deal with Flash memory maker Sa…
Correction: CNBC.com And Microsoft Partner On Ad Sales
Correction: The agreement between Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and CNBC does not include content syndication. We regret the error.
CNBC.com is h…
NBCU Shifting Some Digital Operations From Corporate To Network
The details are still sketchy but NBCU is in the process of moving its Digital Studios operations out of the incubator and into bottom-line…
Updated: Industry Moves Roundup: Hulu-Fox; NBC Local Media; Fantasy Sports; About.com
Hulu: David Baron, moves from VP of digital media at Twentieth Century Fox, to the NBC-Fox JV company Hulu, as VP of content, managing all c…
Ad Industry Roundup: TiVo; Feedburner; NBC; MTVN
— TiVo Offers Advertisers Demo, Behavioral Data: TiVo (NSDQ: TIVO) is working with Publicis Groupe media agency Starcom to provide advertis…
NBC Pulls Promo Content From YouTube To Support Upcoming Hulu
Roughly 16 months into its official relationship with YouTube, NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) has pulled the plug in favor of Hulu, its video dist…
DJ Blocks CNBC Ads From WSJ.com, MarketWatch.com For Day Of Fox Business Launch
NBCU’s CNBC thought it had an online ad strategy in place for Monday’s launch of the Fox Business Network — an intro ad and roadblock for M…
As Online Ad Revenue Remains Concentrated In Few Hands, Frustration Builds
With online ad spending growing more slowly, are internet ad dollars being spread too thin? Reuters put the question to a few media execs an…
Earnings: GE Earnings Up 14 Percent in Q3; NBC Income Up 9 Percent on Higher Revs
General Electric, the parent company of NBC Universal, reported net earnings of $5.5 billion for the third quarter, up 14 percent over last…
@ Mipcom: Carrier Data Frustration Behind NBCU’s Off-Deck Moves
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) now prefers off-deck mobile programming because it hit brick walls when requesting consumer data from mobile networ…
GE May Consider NBCU’s Fate After Olympics: FT
After repeated rumors to this effect, something may happen, or maybe, nothing. The fate of NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), General Electric
NBCU To Acquire Oxygen For $925 Million; Multi-Platform Net For Women Never Met Hyped Expectations
This has been in the works for a bit and is a natural fit … NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) is acquiring women’s cable net Oxygen Media for $925…
Sugar Publishing Buys Fashion Blog Network Coutorture
Blog network Sugar Publishing, based in San Francisco, is making another buy: it has bought Coutorture, a network of about 230 sites and blo…
Fox Business Network, Plain-Spoken And Populist, Offers A Preview On The Web
As the preview of the Fox Business Network website makes clear, the News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) cable net will take aim at CNBC and Bloomberg wit…
Interview: Glam Media CEO Samir Arora: Wrestling With Definitions
As the debate rages on some fundamental definitions on what constitutes the online advertising market(witness today’s testimony in Google (N…
How We Ended Up On Colbert Report: The New Colbert Direct
Stephen Colbert skewers the NBC Direct offering, and in turn, we end up in a blink-and-you-miss-it mention on the show, pointing out a quote…
Update: Two New NBCU Shows Being Sold On iTunes Despite Earlier Claims; Ownership Is The Difference
I’ve been haunting the iTunes store to see if this would happen but leave it to Gizmodo to catch it first: two freshmen series from NBC — C…
NBCU International Digital Restructure Emphasises Direct Downloads; Vivendi Looks Beyond Apple
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) International is shaking up its digital strategy with a restructure that splits operations along two new lines:
-…
NBCU-Funded Sugar Publishing To Acquire ShopStyle.com
Blog network Sugar Publishing has agreed to acquire ShopStyle.com. No amount disclosed for what the companies call a “social shopping websit…
Commercials-As-Content Startup Firebrand Launches With Investments From GE/NBCU, Microsoft, ION
NY-based Firebrand has announced has announced the launch of a new online commercial distribution service with investments from Microsoft (N…
@ Ad Week ’07: Hulu Tries To Create Incentives To Combat Piracy; TV Syndication Could Be Affected
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) Chief Digital Officer George Kliavkoff discussed some of the features of Hulu.com, the company’s video JV with News…
Google Boasts Display Ads Raise Viewership Online And Off; Credit Crisis Won’t Hurt Search Ads
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has unleashed a series of advertising-related moves the past few days, including a major new hire, a new ad tool and the…
Industry Moves: NBC’s Silverman Appoints Cameron Death As VP, Content
Ben Silverman, the new NBCU co-chair at its TV and entertainment division, has brought a digital person directly under him: Cameron Death, t…
More Details On NBC’s Ad-Supported Downloads
Sometime in October, NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) will start a private beta of a new service called NBC Direct: the first ad-supported downloads…
NBCU To Launch Video Download Beta In October; ‘NBC Direct’ Downloads Will Expire After One Week
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) will begin beta testing free direct downloads of NBC’s prime-time and late-night programming next month. NBC Direct…
Hulu In Transition: Acquiring Video Startup Mojiti; Shifting Staff
If any certainty can be expressed about News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) -NBCU (NYSE: GE) JV Hulu, it’s this: CEO Jason Kilar didn’t take the job to r…
Updated: Apple Wants To Cut Video Download Costs: Report
A report in Variety adds an interesting element to the iTunes (NSDQ: AAPL) video pricing debate: three people familiar with the proposal say…
Comstock Headed Back To GE: Report; NBC Denies It
We heard this rumor two days ago as well, but don’t yet have any confirmation on it: NYP reports that Beth Comstock, NBCU’s (NYSE: GE) Presi…
Apple-NBCU Revisited: $4.99 Would Be Exception — Not Rule; Amazon Launched In August
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) scored a lot of points when NBCU’s (NYSE: GE) non-renewal notice went public by issuing a statement claiming the network…
NBCU's Response: Never Asked To Double Price; Shows Will Be On iTunes Through Early December
This is beginning to sound like a Jane Curtain-Dan Akroyd skit … NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) never asked to double the wholesale price and in…
Apple Retaliates; Says NBC Wanted Double The Wholesale Price; Will Stop in September
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has come out swinging after reports last night that NBC has told the company it won’t renew the TV downloads contract bey…
TV-Web Converged Dashboard Firm Jacked Gets $6.5 Million Funding; Launches With NBCSports
Jacked, a Santa Monica-based online publishing platform designed to operate with TV shows, has received $6.5 million in its first round of f…
NBC Not Renewing Its iTunes Contract on Pricing Differences With Apple; On Till December
First a rift over music pricing with Universal Music Group (owned by Vivendi), and now a tiff with NBCU (NYSE: GE): NBC has decided not to r…
NBCU-NWS JV Finally Has A Name: hulu; Private Beta Set For October
The NBCU (NYSE: GE) – NWS (NYSE: NWS) JV formerly known NewSite and NewCo finally has a name: hulu. The announcement a few minutes ago was a…
NBCU-NWS Video JV Gets $100 Million Equity Investment From Providence; Possible IPO In Future
Earlier in May we reported that NBCU (NYSE: GE) and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) were looking for $100 million in exchange for 10 percent of equit…
Verizon Content Deals: AC/DC Coup; NBCU-V Cast Video Expands
A coup for mobile music, especially if you’re a fan of “Back in Black”: Since Metallica’s legal wrangles with Napster in 2000, aging heavy m…
MSNBC.com. NYT Team Up On Political Coverage
In the latest political media pairing, the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) and MSNBC.com will share coverage of the 2008 presidential election. M…
Industry Moves: Gaspin New President, COO, Universal Television Group
Jeff Gaspin’s role at NBC Universal (NYSE:GE) is changing yet again … a few months after he was appointed president of NBC Universal Cable…
Earnings: GE Posts 9.6 Rise In Q2 Profits; NBCU Income Up 2 Percent, As Revs Fall 5 Percent
General Electric (NYSE: GE), the parent of NBC Universal, reported that Q2 profit rose 9.6 percent to $5.42 billion from $4.95 billion the y…
CNBC, FT Consider Sharing Some News Resources Online: Report
Last month, GE and Pearson were exploring the heady notion of a joint bid for Dow Jones, ultimately a no go. Now the WSJ is reporting that G…
In-Game Ad Net IGA Wordwide Raises $25 Million Second Round From GE/NBCU’s Peacock Equity, Others
In-game ad network IGA Worldwide has raised $25 million in a second round led by GE/NBCU’s new Peacock Equity fund and KTB Ventures. Existin…
Bertelsmann, NBCU and Time Warner Invest $30 Million in Online Gaming Firm Trion
Trion World Network, an online gaming firm founded by a former senior EA exec, has received a big $30 million second round of funding. The r…
NBCU’s Clarifications on NBBC’s Closure
NBCU thinks I had recast NBBC’s closure in too much of a negative light last week. Call me naive. Much like I think NewCo has an expensive w…
NBC’s Video Syndication Venture NBBC Officially Closing Down; Content Partners Left In Limbo
NBBC, the ambitious video syndication venture launched by NBC Universal, is closing down even before it officially launched and will merge i…
NewCo Update: September Launch Maybe Yes, Maybe No
On a call now with News Corp. COO Peter Chernin, NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker and just-announced NewCo CEO Jason Kilar and the JV partners are being…
MySpace Updates Video Sharing; Calls It TV
As part of its continuing mission to outpace YouTube in video, MySpace is relaunching its 18-month-old video-sharing service in a new place…
NBCU Exec: NewCo, NewSite No Challenge To YouTube, Network Pursues Broad Digital Agenda
NBC Universal’s as-yet-unnamed video distribution JV with News Corp. is not intended to compete with YouTube as the JV focus is on professio…
EU: Search Inquiry Expanded; NBCU-NWS JV Approved
The European Union is expanding a look into Google’s data retention and privacy policies to encompass all search engines. The inquiry by the…
NWS-DJ: GE Won’t Pursue Bid For Dow Jones; Pearson Gives In But May Try Other Combos
GE will not be part of a bid for Dow Jones, the company has officially declared. Thus ends it brief flirtation…it has been in and out of t…
Bravo Changes Name To Bravo. Well, Bravo.
Sometimes you wonder who gets paid to think up these brand repositioning ideas. Bravo, owned by the brand-confused NBCU, has changed its nam…
NBCU-NWS Video NewSite Slated For September Launch, Not Summer
The ad-supported video network planned by the NBCU-News Corp. JV will launch in September, not this summer, NBCU execs told analysts Thursda…
Broadband Content Bits: YouTube/CNN; NBC/Netflix; Yahoo/iTunes; CinemaNow; Grouper
— YouTube And CNN Sponsor Debates: CNN and YouTube are sponsoring two presidential debates. The two forums will feature video questions sub…
NBC Hopes To Gain Revenues, Viewers From High School News Site
Teens may not be watching the evening news broadcasts, but they still have to go to school — which is where NBC and its news division are h…
Microsoft and GE Looked At Dow Jones; Couldn’t Reach Agreement
Both Microsoft and GE were in discussions in recent weeks to combine Dow Jones with some portions of GE’s NBCU, in response to the News Corp…
Broadband Content Bits: AOL/JumpTV; Broadband EMMYs; Joost; NBC; Takkle; Slate
— AOL-JumpTV: AOL has added ethnic TV online broadcaster JumpTV to the international section of its video portal. More than JumpTV 60 chan…
Ben Silverman & Marc Graboff Named Co-Chairmen of NBC Entertainment; NBCU TV
It has been confirmed officially after reports over Friday and extended weekend: Ben Silverman, the prolific producer and program executive…
NBC Overhauling Programming Management; Reilly May Be Replaced By Ben Silverman: Report
Updated below:
Big changes are reportedly coming in the NBC TV programming team here in LA, which will have implications on its digital stra…
PE Investment En Route For NBCU-NWS NewCo?
We’ve been told that the NBCU-News Corp. JV variously known as NewCo and NewSite is in discussions with private equity firms about selling a…
NBCU To Stop Accepting 30 Second Online Ads For Short Videos; 15-Second Pre-Rolls Only
How did this happen? NBCU is making itself usable: it will not accept pre-roll online video ads longer than 15 seconds for short-form video…
NBCU Searches For Solutions Beyond CPMs
NBCU would rather charge advertisers based on effectiveness than CPMs, according to Beth Comstock, president of integrated media. ClickZ has…
NWS-DJ: Murdoch’s Take
Rupert Murdoch discussed News Corp.’s $5 billion offer during an interview with Fox Business Now’s Neil Cavuto, who is helping plan the Fox…
Despite Recent Controversy, Paid Search Continues To Gain Acceptance: Report
Search engine keywords represent the contemporary equivalent of a newsboy holding up a paper and yelling “Extra!” as Murray Gaylord, VP-mark…
@ EconSM: Hollywood And Social Communities
The morning’s final EconSM panel explored the relationship Hollywood has to social media. The panelists included: Ilene Chaiken, executive p…
GE Launches $250 Million Media Investment Fund; First $3 Million Goes To Adify
General Electric, parent of NBC Universal, is launching a $250 million equity fund to invest in media companies — and the first investment…
Earnings: With No Olympics Or King Kong, GE 1Q Profit Rises Slightly
General Electric (NYSE: GE) posted a meager increase in Q1 profits Friday as net earnings rose 1.6 percent to $4.51 billion, or 44 cents per…
MSNBC.com’s Tillinghast ‘Quite Pleased’ That MSNBC Dropped Imus Show
The uproar over Don Imus came close to affecting advertising on MSNBC.com, but the NBCU decision late Wednesday to cancel the “Imus in the M…
Broadband Content Bits: Virgin; Azureus; NBC; Discovery; Indie911
— Virgin Media , the U.K. cable network unit, is continuing to overhaul its website and will soon offer live football matches, free music d…
Discovery New Media Plans Include Online Premieres
As part of its upfront today, Discovery Networks unveils some online plans that show the hand of new CEO David Zaslav — who went through ma…
Microsoft-NBCU JV MSNBC.com Tries Branding Campaign
Know in the news industry at least as the side of the Microsoft-NBCU online-cable joint venture that succeeded, MSNBC.com is trying to rise…
Post News Corp-NBCU NewCo: MySpace TV, TimeWarner-YouTube Etc; Advertising.com Deal With NewCo
Some new but still unclear details on post NBCU-News Corp JV developments from other media companies, in this BW column from Jon Fine.
Among…
Ralph Lauren Buys Polo.com Stake From NBC Properties
Polo Ralph Lauren has bought out the 50 percent ownership interest of Ralph Lauren Media held by NBC-Lauren Media Holdings and shopping chan…
NBCU-News Corp.: Early Ad Payoff
During the press conference, Peter Chernin and Jeff Zucker mentioned signing five advertisers in four hours before the venture was announced…
NBCU-News Corp.: More Like The Anti-YouTube Than YouTube Killer
A lot of attention has been paid here and elsewhere to the notion that major media companies were planning a MeTooTube. But the venture actu…
NBC Unveils Social Net, New Online Content
NBC is adding a few degrees to its year-old TV 360 internet strategy. At a meeting with advertisers Thursday, NBC will discuss plans to deve…
More on Youtube-Rivals JV: Fox, NBC and Sony; Distribution on MySpace, MSN and Yahoo
We broke the news last night about renewed efforts to create a big media joint rival to YouTube, and even though there is still no certaint…
Industry Moves: Discovery Appoints Campbell As Digital & Emerging Networks Head; Possible M&A Plays
Discovery is continuing with its restructuring and new appointments: Bruce Campbell is leaving NBCU, where he was EVP-business development,…
Industry Moves Roundup: Yahoo Brickhouse; NBCU; FMP
— Yahoo: Salim Ismail, chairman of Confabb.com, a directory of conferences, and co-founder of PubSub, confirmed that he’s joining Yahoo. “A…
Full-Length Primetime NBC Shows On Mobile On Demand
An interesting on-demand deal from NBCU, among the first such on mobiles in U.S.: MobiTV, the mobile video aggregator and distributor, has e…
Bravo Makes First Media Buy Of Its Own: Acquires TelevisionWithoutPity.com
NBC Universal’s (NYSE: GE) Bravo is expanding its online content — and its snark factor — with the acquisition of TelevisionWithoutPity.co…
The Brand Fiefdoms Continue At NBCU, NBC 2.0 Notwithstanding
If you want to get an idea of how convoluted things can become with multiple brands and divisional fiefdoms in a media conglomerate, witness…
Braun Watch: BermanBraun Gets NBCU TV Dev Deal
Former Yahoo Media Group CEO Lloyd Braun and his new partner Gail Berman have a wide-ranging TV development deal with NBC Universal, accordi…
‘House’ For ‘Earl’ Rights Swap Falls Through; No Streaming For NBCU-Produced Fox Hit
paidContent.org has learned that one of the biggest gaping holes in streaming of primetime shows — the lack of online replays of Fox doc hi…
NBCU Changes: Gaspin, Comstock Explain Digital Approach
I had the chance to chat with Beth Comstock and Jeff Gaspin this afternoon after new NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker revealed his top corporate structu…
NBCU Resurrects Trio As Pop Culture Site
The defunct cable TV channel Trio is getting a second life online as getTrio.com, its parent NBC Universal said Monday. Known in its first i…
Earnings: GE Income Rises As NBC Rebounds
General Electric (NYSE: GE) reported 4Q earnings rose 12 percent as it experiences something of a comeback for NBC. In fact, the NBC Univers…
NBC's Approach To Social Networking: Integrated, Not Standalone Destinations
An interesting post by Sab Kanaujia, VP in NBC’s Digital Media group, on his blog, about NBC’s approach to social networking. He mentions t…
Industry Moves: NBC's Michael Steib Leaves For Google For Video Advertising
Updated: Google’s PR responded finally, and Steib will join the Google team “to help us work with advertisers to create effective, measurabl…
YouTube-Rival Consortium Site Could Be Announced This Week: Report; News Corp And NBCU Main Backers
So reports NYT, following up on reports that started cropping up last month about media companies, including News Corp, NBCU and others pond…
Are Horny Manatees the Future of TV-Web Convergence?
Sometimes it’s good to take a break from figuring out business models, closing rounds of funding, and worrying about whether we’re in a bubb…
The Exec Changes At NBC
B&C has full details of the newly retooled NBCU reporting structure…too confusing for me, but read it here. This follows the departure las…
CNBC.com Relaunches With Premium Live Video
CNBC.com has finally relaunched its site…calling it a debut would also not be far off the mark. It has formally ended its rather lackluste…
NBC Sales President Keith Turner Leaves
Another high level executive turnover at NBC Universal, after Randy Falco (to be AOL’s CEO) and David Zaslav (to head Discovery): Keith Turn…
Industry Moves: Fox Cable Digital head; NBC Promotes Digital Execs
— NBC has promoted two execs in digital space: Stephen Andrade and Carole Panick. Andrade has been named senior VP of digital development a…
CNBC.com’s New Push; MSN Deal Going Away
CNBC.com is in for a big relaunch and is gearing up for it on Dec 4….it has been powered by MSN’s Money channel for a long time (since 200…
The Push And Pull Within NBC; Post Falco And Zaslav
AdAge does a good post-Randy-Falco-and-David-Zaslav-senior-departures story from NBC in the last two weeks, and mentions that NBC won’t fill…
The Real “30 Rock” Is No Comedy; Wright’s Job May Be Safe For Now But Not For Long
Bob Wright will be leaving NBCU, that much is clear. General Electric isn’t a haven for execs past retirement age and, at 63, Wright and eve…
David Zaslav To Be New Discovery CEO; Second Senior Exec NBCU Loses This Week
It’s official following a day or so of rumors and reports: David Zaslav, president of NBC Universal Cable, Domestic TV and New Media Distrib…
AOL Changes At The Top: Can Falco Avoid A Momentum Stall?
Usually when a chief executive is replaced against his will, it’s because something isn’t going right. In this case, it sounds like it was g…
AOL May Name New CEO Or President This Week; NBCU TV President Randy Falco In Talks For It: NYT
This should be among the biggest digital media industry moves in a while, and could foreshadow some changes at other Internet companies like…
MSNBC.com Moves To Fill Zune Video Void; Video, Audio Will Be Accessible Through Zune.net
Updated to clarify Zune access: Ok, so video podcast of Meet the Press and the NBC Nightly News aren’t going to fill a 30G Zune but it shoul…
Beijing Olympics: NBCU Will Stream Up To 1,000 Hours Live
Finally looks like U.S. Olympics fans will get access to real-time broadband Olympics coverage. Clair Atkinson has the scoop about NBCU’s B…
Will NBC 2.0 Pay Off For Digital?
When NBC Universal announced NBC 2.0 last week, the General Electric business declared it would “enhance ongoing efforts to redirec…
NBC Universal Unveils “NBCU2.0”; Stresses Digital; Will Slash Expenses, Staff
Make no mistake, NBC U needs a remake and, my irritation at the overused 2.0 designation aside, this is a major one that continues a shift t…
NBC Denies Looking For Wright’s Replacement
NBC CEO Bob Wright has denied rumors all of his early departure from the company, and says that they were created by rival News Corp. The st…
OMMA East: Beth Comstock, President, Digital Media/Market Development, NBCU
Beth Comstock’s assigned topic was whether it is possible to stay ahead of the consumer when it comes to creating content. Her response was…
TV Studios On The Impact Of Digital
Hollywood Reporter has a very weighty roundtable discussion between some very big TV names. I’ve done the trawling, so you don’t have to.
On…
WBTV Signs Online Distribution Deals With ABC, NBC
Online distribution for primetime programming is tough to untangle when the studio and network are part of the same company — and even more…
AOL, NBC & Warner Bros. Tie Up For Broadband Premieres
Two new NBC shows produced by Warner Bros. Television will premiere commercial free on on AOL a week before their on-air debut. “Studio 60 o…
NBC Sports Buy Fantasy Sports Site RotoWorld; Relaunches Own Site
NBCSports.com launched as a standalone website about a week or so ago, divorcing itself from MSNBC.com. As part of that mandate to expand it…
AOL Video Adds Movie Downloads; Sony Now, Three Others To Follow
AOL becomes the fourth major online movie store in U.S., after Movielink, CinemaNow and Guba: AOL Video is on its way to a full-service vide…
Webisodes Disconnect for NBC, WGA
The labor-management disconnect on new media continues, and this time it could get ugly: NBC Universal has filed a complaint with the Nation…
Industry Moves: Yahoo Studios; NBC; IGA
Some interesting industry moves:
— Yahoo: Drew Buckley, till recently the VP of biz dev at Synacor, has left to join Yahoo Media Group, as…
NBCU’s Comstock Talks Digital Strategy
[By Staci D. Kramer] Beth Comstock’s appointment late last year as president of NBCU Digital Media and Market Development was a clear signal…
Industry Moves: Kliavkoff To NBCU As Chief Digital Officer
George Kliavkoff is leaving MLBAM for the newly created position of chief digital officer of NBCU reporting to Beth Comstock, president of N…
Industry Moves: Deborah Fine Appointed Head of NBC’s iVillage
So the succession mystery at iVillage under NBC is over: Deborah Fine has been named as President of iVillage Properties. Reporting to Beth…
NBC-Tribe: Letter of Intent Stage; Less Than $5 Million
Some clarification on the NBC-in-the-process-of-buying-Tribe.net deal I mentioned yesterday, after speaking to some more sources: the deal i…
Tribe.net In The Process Of Being Bought by NBC
Clarification: Some clarification on the NBC-in-the-process-of-buying-Tribe.net deal I mentioned yesterday, after speaking to some more sour…
NBC-YouTube Hook-up Is Official
YouTube’s unofficial distribution of SNL’s “Lucky Lazy Sunday” skit helped raise the show’s profile and gave NBC a taste of the power of vir…
Industry Moves: Miller New SVP-NBCU Sports & Olympics
Perkins Miller joins NBCU as SVP-NBCU Sports & Olympics with responsibility for all digital media initiatives including NBCSports.com and NB…
Industry Moves: E Makes Prmotions; Suratt To Lifetime; Tenzer To Revver
— E Online: E! Networks is expanding its new media department with the promotion of Bill McLean to VP of new media and the appointment of A…
NBCU-YouTube Hook Up En Route; Videos, Ads
You just can’t make this stuff up … According to WSJ, NBC Universal is working on a deal with YouTube that includes posting video that loo…
NBC News Joins ITunes With Current, Archive Video; No Nightly News
NBC Universal expands its presence in the iTunes store with NBC News … the portfolio doesn’t include the “Nightly News with Brian Williams…
NBC’s Falco: Online Ad Market Idea “Ridiculous”
The ANA online marketplace trial that got some currency last week won’t have NBC as a participant, according to NBCU Television Group Presid…
More on Yahoo Espanol-Telemundo.com Merger
AdAge has a good lowdown on all the details..we covered it here last night. “Yahoo Telemundo will have 10 sales executives, headed by Luis R…
Yahoo’s Spanish Site and NBCU’s Telemundo.com To Merge; Share Ad Revs
Yahoo’s Spanish language site in U.S. amd Telemundo.com, the website for NBC UNiversal-owned TV network Telemundo, are merging to form a joi…
USA Network’s Broadband Push In Upfronts
USA Network is going for the jugular with broadband…president Bonnie Hammer is set to unveil a new media plan at next week’s annual upfron…
Industry Moves: Zaslav Adds New Media to NBCU Plate; International M&A Possible
A bit of a shakeup at NBCU’s distribution arm: NBC Universal added oversight of new-media activities to David Zaslav’s responsibilities…Za…
G.E. Launches Elaborate, Risky Campaign Aimed At New Media
In the ’50s, “General Electric Theater,” a long-running television show hosted by Ronald Reagan, showed off the home of the future using a m…
NBCU Adds Part Of Today Show To MSNBC.com VOD
NBC News already makes the “Nightly News with Brian Williams” and “Meet The Press” available as online VOD. Now one-third of the “Today” sho…
NBCU, Affiliates Form Broadband JV
The NBC Universal-NBC affiliates JV, known for now as The National Broadband Co. or NBBC is an effort to help affiliates monetize their vide…
NBCU Forms Dedicated Tech Division
Not to be confused with NBC Digital media unit, which is the business side…now it has created a central technology division, the Technolog…
MSNBC.com Launches Ad-Supported Mobile News Service
[by James Pearce] MSNBC.com has launched a beta news service after teaming with Microsoft and Action Engine, MSNBC.com Mobile. The beta serv…
NBC’s Saving Grace: Presence On New-Media Venues
NBC’s desperate to get out of the last place among networks, and its pitch for the Fall TV season is beginning to impress the media buyers:…
Universal Pictures, Lovefilm Team Up To Sell DVD/Downloads Via AOL UK
Starting April 10, AOL’s UK web site will sell Universal Pictures’ downloads in a combo package with the movie’s DVD. DVD rental firm Lovef…
Vivendi Shareholder May Push For Company Breakup; NBCU Stake Sale
So say this report on WSJ.com: A small private-equity firm called Sebastian Holdings has purchased a 2.5 percent stake in Vivendi Universal…
NBCU Online Revamp Continues With E-Commerce Site
Online shopping for all NBC Universal consumer sites will go through all-inclusive nbcuniversalstore.com. Plans call for each NBC Universal…
Sci-Fi Creates Digitial Team; Broadband Channel To Launch May
Flavor of the year: creating a digital media unit. So it is at NBC Universal-owned Sci Fi Channel, which has established a team devoted to c…
MSN Video Will Offer First Two Episodes Of NBC’s “Heist” On Demand
Some more details about the MSN-NBC primetime video exclusive we told you about over the weekend … Instead of just showing the first 15 mi…
USA Network Launches a Social Network; Communites Around Its TV Shows
This is certainly a first by a TV network, even if not sure why it makes sense: USA Network, now part of NBC Universal, is launching its own…
Comstock’s Stock Rises
Beth Comstock, the top digital media honcho at NBC Universal, has seen her profile rise in the company, especially now in light of the iVill…
MSN Video Showing Full First Episode Of FX’s “Black, White”; A First For FX
: MSN Video is streaming the full first hour of Ice Cube’s controversial FX series “Black, White” on demand. It’s the first full-length bro…
NBC Enables Send-To-A-Friend On Clips
Stephen Andrade, NBC’s VP of interactive development: “We were concerned about building their corporation instead of ours, since it’s our vi…
NBC And Disney’ s Touchstone To Offer “Scrubs” On iTunes
So says Variety…NBC Universal and Disney-owned Touchstone Television are closing in on a deal to put episodes of “Scrubs” on Apple’s iTun…
NBCU-IVIL: React Roundup
Variety: “Content synergies aside, deal reflects NBC U’s desire to reap a greater share of the online ad market, a segment that is growing q…
Industry Moves: NBC News Appoints VP, Digital Media
(via LR): NBC’s new division, NBC News, has appointed Mark Lukasiewicz to a newly created position of VP, digital media, and he will oversee…
Winter Olympics: NBCOlympics.com Serves Up 9. 1 Million Video Streams, 125,000-plus Hours
The stats are in for the Torino Olympics … during the official span, NBCOlympics.com served 9.1 million video streams, more than 125,000 h…
Winter Olympics: A U.S. First: Live Gold-Medal Hockey Online
Updated: Finally, a sign that NBC Universal is on the verge of figuring out that live online Olympic coverage must be inevitable: the gold-m…
NBC One-Ups Rivals: Pilots Show on iTunes, For Complimentary Download
This is a very interesting competitive move from NBC: its legal drama “Conviction,” will launch first on iTunes, available for free download…
NBCOlympics.com To Make $5-$6 Million in Profits This Year
So said NBC sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, in a conference call Monday. “This is the first time that we will make a profit on our Internet op…
NBC’s C&D To YouTube For SNL Video Clips; YouTube Complies
This had to happen sooner or later: NBC has asked video sharing site YouTube to take down clips from the hit SNL sketch “Lazy Sunday”, and t…
Some Online Olympic Video Is Better Than None; Full Web Access Awaits Model
AOL CEO Jon Miller sees a time when the Olympics is shown online much like AOL’s multi-feed live and archived webcast of Live 8. That time i…
NBCOlympics.com Approach Seems To Be Paying Off; Page Views Up 63 Percent Over Athens
: You could argue that traffic should be even higher since Athens in 2004 given the spread of broadband, increased interest in online video…
Law & Order’s Dick Wolf Drinks The Portable Video Kool-Aid
Dick Wolf is planning a serialized Hollywood-based crime drama for NBC designed to take full advantage of today’s new distribution scheme. W…
NBC U Pieces Together Complex Olympics Coverage; Will Have Dedicated Channel On MobiTV
: Not only will NBC Universal broadcast 418 hours of coverage across its own broadcast and cable networks, the U.S. rightsholder for the 200…
Disney Trades Al Michaels To NBC For A Cartoon Rabbit — And Olympic Rights
: Updated: The Walt Disney Company has traded its claim on sportscaster Al Michaels to NBC Universal for a package including programming, pr…
Bravo, PlanetOut To Join Forces For Broadband OutZonetv.com
NBCU’s Bravo is joining forces with PlanetOut Inc. to create new broadband channel OutZonetv.com, according to a report in Monday’s NYT. It’…
NBC To Launch Online Music Competition Show With Tommy Mottola
So NBC decided to come out fighting: it has tied up with Tommy Mottola and the producers of “The Biggest Loser” for a music competition show…
MSNBC -MSFT-NBC Restructuring: The Hard Numbers
And they thought they would sneak this one past us? Well, Microsoft filed its 10-Q report this afternoon, and it has the numbers, in all its…
NBC’s Revenues From iTunes: $2.5 Million; The Office Forms One-Third
A decent story about NBC’s efforts to reinvent itself after slumping in ratings over the last two years, and its increasing focus on digital…
iPod Boosts Prime Time Viewing For The Office, Says NBC
If this claim is true, this has bigger implications: NBC’s show “The Office” delivered a 5.1, its highest ratings ever-last Thursday among a…
Bravo To Launch Multiple Broadband Channels
Bravo, the cable TV channel owned by NBC Universal, is going roll out a series of ad-supported broadband channels/sites throughout 2006. The…
NBC’s iTunes Push: One-Up Disney
Everyone and their peacock wants to be distributing their video through iTunes…and the wheeling-dealings on which TV network gets most con…
MSNBC.com’s Recent History, Through Links
Some recent links about MSNBC.com, from our archives, will put things in perspective:
— Jennifer Sizemore Promoted To Managing Editor, MSNB…
NBCU Takes Full Control Of MSNBC; Web Site Remains Joint Effort
Microsoft and NBC Universal finally have agreed on a resolution for the cable side of their joint venture. The deal points:
— NBCU has acqu…
Industry Moves: NBCU Appoints GE Marketing Exec Comstock As President, NBCU Digital Media and Marke
Updated: Once again, NBCU is tweaking the executive structure; at the TV group, it’s more about titles and organizational ; at Digital, it’s…
Industry Moves: Jennifer Sizemore Promoted To Managing Editor, MSNBC.com, Executive Producer, NBC Ne
MSNBC.com finally has a new newsroom chief, more than six months after Dean Wright left for Reuters: Jennifer Sizemore, who joined the Micro…
NBCU’s Zucker Says ITunes’ Video Offerings Will Be Expanded; 500,000 Downloads A Week
NBC Universal will be making more announcements soon about making additional shows available for download via iTunes, NBC U Television Group…
MSNBC Ad Blitzes Web This Week; Estimated Campaign Cost: Just Under $1 Million
MSNBC is blitzing the web this week with a mega-bucks ad campaign aimed at driving traffic from the web to the #3 cable news net. The campai…
NBC Universal Floods iTunes With 11 Shows; 3 Millio VIdeo Downloads on iTunes
Take that, Bob Iger. NBC Universal sees Disney’s bet and raises it with a major iTunes content deal: 11 primetime, late-night, cable and “Vi…
NBC To Close Trio; Shows Moving To Broadband
One of my favorite channel Trio is being closed down…the struggling cable venture, which generated cult buzz among the pop-culture cognosc…
NBC Wants More DRM Safeguards For Online
So said NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright, after announcing the VOD deal with DirecTV. This is especially true if the content has to move be…
Interview: Charlie Tillinghast, President, MSNBC.com
[By Staci D. Kramer] Just got off the phone with Charlie Tillinghast, president of MSNBC.com, who explained the decision to stream the NBC N…
NBC to Offer Night News Online In Full, on MSNBC.com
Updated: Read our interview with Charlie Tillinghast, President, MSNBC.com, on this move.
This is big step, at least symbolically: NBC will…
Movie Studios Planning To Push Online Movie Services; Music
Well, we’ve heard it before, but anyway, NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright said it again on Tuesday at the BASCAP conference we mentioned yesterd…
More On NBC U’s Plans
Just in time for some weekend reading, the second installment of the Diane Mermigas NBC U epic. “Interactive” is the word of the day with Ji…
NBC U Pins Future On Being Platform Agnostic
In the first installment of a two-parter on NBC Universal, Diane Mermigas explores, among other things, the GE subsidiary’s conversion to pl…
