Rainy Friday Social TV Must-Reads (April 12)
A cold and steady rain on Friday afternoon in New York and we are missing the NAB show in our news feeds, but fear not, we have some great show recaps in our mid-day news roundup.
One of the top issues to bubble to the surface at the NAB 2013 trade show in Las Vegas was mobile content for television. It’s important and TV needs to catch up, says NetNewsCheck. The rapid changes in the TV industry are reflected in the companies that were hawking their wares, with smaller companies getting more looks than ever before, Broadcast Engineering reported. Did you miss any of the cool stuff at the show? ComputerWorld has a great roundup of technologies and gadgets.
In other news, Ad Age reports on Syfy’s social TV efforts stemming from the channel’s upfronts presentations on Thursday night while The New York Times reports on transmedia at the TriBeCa Film Festival.
In sports, the Masters golf tournament continues this weekend and you can find it on the web in the afternoons if you can’t get in front of the TV.
In our daily look at the Latin Market, Bloomberg has a report on gazillionaire Carlos Slim’s plans to move aggressively in television.
Check out these stories and more and be sure to follow us on Twitter (@socialtvdaily) and “like” us on Facebook.com/socialtvdaily.
Top story — NAB
Original Mobile Content: TV’s Key Moment | NetNewsCheck.com
At the NAB Show this week, a great deal of discussion centered on mobile, which has become a major source of traffic for broadcasters’ digital efforts. Now digital managers are urging their companies to find the key to sating their stations’ mobile audiences, and original content just might be the answer.
For once-dominant vendors at the NAB Show, it’s now adapt or die | Broadcast Engineering
At the NAB Show in Las Vegas this week, it was clear that rapidly changing viewer consumption habits and the myriad of technical challenges broadcasters are facing to serve them has caused major broadcast equipment suppliers to modestly submit to the penetration of lower-cost competitors and rethink their products offerings.
NAB show roundup: Cool gear for videophiles ( – Hardware Systems )
NAB show roundup: Cool gear for videophiles ( Hardware Systems ) I’ve spent the past few days at the annual show for the National Association of Broadcasters, also known as NAB. The trade show, held in Las Vegas, features events and products geared toward television and radio stations, as well as filmmakers and other video creators.
Ratings
TV ratings: ‘Glee’ rises with school shooting episode while ‘Hannibal’ holds steady
Fast National ratings for Thursday, April 11, 2013 “Glee” was up significantly Thursday from its last original episode, scoring its best ratings in some time with an episode that dealt with a (supposed) school shooting. “American Idol” was also up for FOX.
TV ratings: ‘American Idol’ rises Wednesday, ‘Criminal Minds’ up too
Fast National ratings for Wednesday, April 10, 2013 “American Idol” rebounded some Wednesday from its low numbers last week, rising by a couple tenths of a point in adults 18-49 and gaining about half a million viewers. The show kept FOX on top of the ratings, per usual.
Syfy Social
Syfy Bets on Social TV with Suite of Interactive Shows | Advertising Age
Syfy is betting even more on social TV, adding some element of interactivity to nearly every new show it presented to advertisers and media buyers at its upfront on Wednesday. “Defiance,” the TV series starting April 16 and its complimentary video game, was the star of the show.
Transmedia
Tribeca Film Festival Recognizes Transmedia | NYT
Visitors to “A Journal of Insomnia,” part of the Storyscapes section of the forthcoming Tribeca Film Festival, will set up an appointment and, at the agreed-upon hour, receive a phone call.
Deals
Predictive Sports Game Startup PrePlay Raises $4.7M Series B Funding | TechCrunch
Predictive sports game startup PrePlay has closed a $4.7 million Series B round, led by Trilogy Equity Partners LLC. RSE Ventures, the VC fund founded by Miami Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross and Matt Higgins, also participated in the round.
Comcast SportsNet Chicago Partners with Arktan to Bring Interactive Real-Time Social Experiences for Fans
Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Arktan announced today a partnership around interactive real-time social experiences for fans of Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, and Bears, using âTeam Pulse,â CSN Chicagoâs most social media-centric product to-date, powered by Arktanâs social modules and visualizations.
Advertising
Syfy Upfront 2013: Defying Gravity
Last year Syfy turned the famous whale room at New York’s American Museum of Natural History purple to unveil its annual slate to the assembled press and advertisers corps. The network’s 2013 upfront took place in the considerably less grand surroundings of Chelsea Piers’ Silver Screen Studios, where they used to shoot Law & Order for the gazillion years that show was on the air.
9 Reasons the NewFronts Didn’t Get TV Dollars Last Year
Last spring, some of the Web’s biggest players, including Yahoo, AOL, Hulu and YouTube, took a page out of the glamorous TV world by launching the Digital Content NewFronts. But while the NewFronts put a new stake in the ground and were lauded for surfacing digital video productions, the week got mixed reviews in terms of getting advertisers excited about the medium’s possibilities.
Financials
Sony Halves TV Segment’s Loss
Sony Corp. (6758.TO) has managed to slash the operating loss in its television business by half in the just-ended fiscal year by reducing fixed costs and narrowing its product lineup, a company executive said Thursday–a significant improvement even though the segment has lost money for a ninth year in a row, the Nikkei reported in its Friday morning edition.
Sports
2013 Masters TV and online coverage schedule
It’s a traditional unlike any other — the Masters golf tournament is kicking off for 2013 on Thursday, April 11. Everyone is buzzing about whether Tiger Woods can win his first green jacket since 2005. To follow along with all the action, you have a couple great options.
Latin Market
Billionaire Slim Preparing Blitz Into TV After Mexico Crackdown
Billionaire Carlos Slim is preparing an aggressive push into Mexico’s television market to take advantage of new telecommunications legislation, even as the changes threaten his dominance in the phone business.
