• PTC's 'Playboy Club' Protests Stir Opinion Pot
    With the Parents Television Council setting its sights against NBC's new fall series "The Playboy Club," The Week provides a nice roundup of opinions on all sides of the issue, from the PTC itself to "TV Overmind," which calls the protests "bully" tactics, to "TV Latest," which says "NBC can thank the PTC for free advertising."
  • B&N Changes Way To Buy Mags On iPads
    Users of Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader app for iPads have access to 175 available newspapers and magazines -- but now need to buy their single copies or subscriptions via the web at www.NookNewsstand.com rather than in-app via Itunes. The change, which took effect Monday, is designed to avoid Apple's 30/70 revenue split. Kindle and Kobo have made similar moves, notes reporter TJ Raphael.
  • Pandora No. 1 For 18-34 Demo
    Q: What radio station is number one among 18- to 34-year-olds in the top five markets? A: It's on neither the AM or FM dial. Analyzing data from Edison Research and Arbitron, RAIN found online service Pandora beating every single station in AQH (average quarter hour) numbers for the key demographic. In New York, Pandora tops Z100 and Hot97. In Los Angeles, it beats KISS-FM. The story was similar in Chicago, San Francisco and Dallas-Ft. Worth.
  • San Fran Visit Puts Host In Jeopardy
    A: He's a noted TV personality who played crime-fighter in a San Francisco hotel on Thursday. Q: Who is Alex Trebek? Yes, the long-time "Jeopardy" host chased a burglar down a hallway, fell and injured his Achilles tendon, and is undergoing surgery today. The alleged perpetrator was soon apprehended by a hotel security guard. Some items stolen from Trebek's hotel room were recovered, but a bracelet he's worn on the show for over 20 years was still missing.
  • Comcast/NBCUniversal: Hold Everything?
    You might have thought Comcast and NBCU had already merged, but apparently there's more involved in finalizing these major takeovers than meets the eye. A federal judge has held up the proceedings, saying "I'm giving you fair notice I'm not sure I'm going to sign this." At issue was this aspect of the deal: online-content companies that disagree with Comcast about program licensing can't appeal arbitration agreements.
  • Amazon Prime, NBCUniversal In Streaming Deal
    Today's content provider: NBCUniversal.Today's video streaming service: Amazon Prime. Yes, it's another deal putting a big media player's shows and movies on a paid digital service. This time, Amazon Prime gets 1,000 movies and TV shows from Comcast's NBCUniversal. They include "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Gosford Park" and "Babe." What's next? Pick one from column A -- Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Google. Pick another from column B -- Disney/ABC, CBS, NBCUniversal, News Corp. Hit "Play."
  • BBC iPlayer Coming to U.S.
    The BBC today launched an iPad video service called iPlayer in Western Europe, and it will come to the U.S. later this year. While some content is free, iPlayer is basically a subscription service costing 6.99 Euros a month (that's exactly $10 U.S., according to our conversion, although the writer hints that the U.S. price will be about $7.99 to compete with Hulu Plus and Netflix). BBC Worldwide says there is already 1,500 hours of content available, and it will be adding some 100 more hours monthly. That means not only recent BBC content, but selections from its library …
  • NYC To Launch City 24/7 OOH Network
    New York City has approved the launch of City 24/7, a digital out-of-home network that teams smart screens with mobile apps and a web portal to deliver both daily and critical information. Adrian J Cotterill reports that 250 units will be rolled out initially. Tom Trouchet, formerly an executive producer with NBC's "Today," is CEO of City 24/7.
  • 'Time' Magazine's A Digital Genius, Says New Study
    Time received the only "Genius" rating in the latest L2 Digital IQ Index, which measures the digital footprint of 87 magazines. Unlike other pubs, Time was said to have a strong presence across multiple social and mobile platforms. The remainder of the top ten, all rated "Gifted," were People, Self, Men's Health, Sports Illustrated, New York, GQ, Glamour, Entertainment Weekly and Cosmopolitan. In all, 37% of the pubs received the "Gifted" rank. Other rankings range from "Average" to "Challenged" to "Feeble." If you want to see who landed down there, reporter Matt Kinsman provides a …
  • Diginet Race Resembles Cable -- Circa 1981
    Kim McAvoy surveys 23 "diginets," those new program providers vying for carriage on broadcast stations' digital subchannels. She finds that, much like the cable world 30 years ago, there's largely an array of low-cost networks, many relying heavily on movies and reruns. Some highlights: This TV, a joint venture of MGM Entertainment and Weigel Broadcasting, is the largest diginet. It launched in 2008 and reaches 85.6% of U.S. TV homes. ABC says its Live Well Network, full of original lifestyle shows, has been in the black since its 2009 launch. CBS is expected to enter the field soon.
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