Logicbank Media

When YouTube emerged as one of the Internet’s most popular websites last year, many TV executives dismissed it as a flash in the pan – and a largely illegal one at that.  But after Google agreed to pay $1.65 billion (U.S.) for YouTube in October, they adopted a radically different stance: Suddenly they wanted to take it on. Now, a handful of giant media companies, like NBC Universal, News Corp., Viacom and possibly CBS, are close to announcing a new website that will feature some of their best-known television programming and other clips in an attempt to build a business for distributing video on the Internet to rival YouTube.  Whether or not the new venture goes ahead – and such a collaboration among these companies would be nearly unprecedented – the flurry of activity around its creation underscores the complex and high-stakes dance that media companies are having with new online outlets for their wares, and the potent combination of Google and YouTube in particular.  Executives from the companies have been in intense negotiations over the ownership and management structure of the new entity – which is as yet unnamed – and the talks could continue until the end of the year, or fall apart entirely….  The site would be supported by advertising, feature shows and clips from each of the participating companies, and encourage viewers to contribute their own videos and other material….  Despite the outpouring of homespun video-clips loaded onto and viewed from YouTube, many media executives and advertisers believe that traditional media fare – like clips from Comedy Central or the Conan O’Brien show – will attract the bulk of advertising revenue as the market develops….  For instance, the iTunes music and video success pioneered by Apple Computer has led to several million downloads of videos but has not been highly lucrative for the media companies after they paid various rights holders.  And when YouTube suddenly emerged as the most popular site for viewing video of any kind on the Internet TV executives were alarmed that they were receiving nothing from what was essentially a new kind of network….  The executives at Fox and NBC who were driving the deal anticipated moves by Google – and indeed the executive involved in the talks said Google has hinted of offers to the participants, some of which might generate a fast infusion of several hundred million dollars.

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A broadband television service developed by the founders of Internet calling programme Skype is expected to be launched next year, the Financial Times reported on Monday.  Some 6,000 individuals were already testing the service, which was named The Venice Project, the newspaper said.  Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom invested part of the money they made from selling Skype to eBay last year in developing the new product, it said.  Friis told the FT that peer-to-peer technology used by the service, would make it possible to serve “tens of millions of users” while overcoming content owners’ security fears.  “The overall picture is that this is happening.  Video is moving online, and people have to find strategies for that,” he said in an interview.  The service was able to display high-quality, full-screen video on a computer screen, according to the Financial Times.  Friis outlined his plans for the service to a Danish newspaper in October, predicting at the time that it would be out in the next one or two months.  He said it would bring quality TV programmes for free to consumers who have a broadband Internet connection.

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The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the nominees for The Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards.
Revver, the internet video-sharing platform, has been nominated for Outstanding Innovation and Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for the Best Use of “On Demand” Technology Over the Public (open) Internet.

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We’re in the process of re-branding our entertainment news site and adding online video functionality along with a comprehensive industry database.  The entertainment news and weblogs will be continue to be found under the ProductionBuzz.com (www.productionbuzz.com) domain.  The XML and RSS feeds will also use this domain and will switch over during the next 24 hours.  We will announce a new domain for the film/tv/video industry database and online video contest site during the next several weeks.  The Production.com domain is being sold in order to allow for a re-branding under a focused film, tv, video domain.  Visit ProductionBuzz.com for more information.

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The domain Production.com will become available for sale after an anticipated re-branding of the company’s online film venture which is set to launch in late summer.  The focus will be on online short film and video contests.  The new domain for the venture will be announced shortly.  The company has launched ProductionBuzz.com  to provide news and information about Film and TV production.  For any information about the availability of Production.com, please send us an email, IM or Skype through our contact page.

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Logicbank LLC has launched a Film and TV Industry news and information service at ProductionBuzz.com.  Two weblogs currently housed at Production.com, The Scoop and The Pitch, will be migrated to ProductionBuzz.com in June 2006.

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Online film and video game company  AtomShockwave is set to announce the launch of a online video aggregation service AddictingClips.com.

The website maintains a directory of online video content, including short films, interesting commercials, and user generated content.  While the site currently doesn’t include any of its own content AtomShockwave intends to host user generated short videos.

At launch the site is believed to contain more than 1,000 links and appears to be closely modeled after AtomShockwave’s recent acquisition online game aggregator AddictingGames.com.  At the time of the acquisition, AtomShockwave announced that: (continued)

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“The Scoop” includes the latest industry news with a specific focus on film production and distribution.  It will also include selected articles from contributors.  To submit articles or suggestions to “The Scoop” contributors can visit this link.

“The Pitch” is intended for industry press releases, events and notifications.

“The Journal” will remain Production.com’s internal development weblog with information about new features and future developments.

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Production.com has launched “The Gallery” today.  The section will publish “on location” photographs and video featuring films in production.  The first set of pictures was contributed from current Brad Pitt shoot “The Assasination of Jesse James”.  View the pictures here.

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We’ve made a few major changes at Production.com.  You’ll notice a completely revised navigation structure including: * New Layout Template with Left Side Navigation Menu * Integration of Industry Directory and Location Directory * Revised Design and Color Scheme The layout will be has been chosen to better reflect the navigation structure of the final release and is based on usability comments received from our users.

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