archives

o NFL Signs New Media Deal with AOL, Viacom's CBS, SportsLine.com
o Bertelsmann's BeMusic Restructures in Preparation for Paid Napster
o Italian Govt. Seizes Stake in iTV Firm from Entrepreneur
o Satellite-Based 'Net Access Firm StarBand Gets $50 Million from EchoStar
o MagiCorp Entertainment Raises $6.5 Million from Virgin Group
o N2 Broadband Raises First Round Funding from AOL Time Warner
o Briefly Noted: Virage - IBM, TiVo, JCPenney.com, SpotLife, Recoton
Corporation - Xbox, "Polk Salad Annie," Snowball.com, WorldWinner.com -
Flipside.com, Sonomic - .uds multisamples, RadioCentral - About.com,
"Jurassic Park III" digital, Gnucleus
_____________________________________________

> Job Postings: Content Database Specialist, Acct. Executive,
Web Developer/Programmer, Sales Associate, Senior Director

> Events/Services: "Web Hosting Expo," "Diversity Expo"

Full Job/Event/Services descriptions listed below "Briefly Noted" section
or at http://www.digitalmediawire.com/postings.html

To Post a Job: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html
To Post an Event/Service: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html
_____________________________________________

o NFL Signs New Media Deal with AOL, Viacom's CBS, SportsLine.com

New York -- As expected, the National Football League has signed a deal
with America Online, Viacom's CBS and SportsLine.com that provides
extensive new media promotions and a website producer for the league. The
NFL will reportedly receive $110 million in cash and $220 to $240 million.
Under the terms, AOL becomes the official ISP of the NFL. SportsLine.com
will take over production of the NFL.com website from Disney-owned
ESPN.com, and the NFL Internet Network will be promoted across AOL Time
Warner properties, on CBS-broadcast NFL telecasts, and possibly on other
Viacom properties. The deal also gives the NFL a large audience to promote
possible future broadcasts of its games through streaming video and
interactive television.
http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/press_view.cfm?release_num=55252051
http://www.nfl.com
_____________________________________________

o Bertelsmann's BeMusic Restructures in Preparation for Paid Napster

London -- Bertelsmann subsidiary BeMusic announced a new corporate
structure and executive team on Wednesday in preparation for the company's
launch of a new paid subscription version of Napster, Reuters reported.
BeCG CEO Andreas Schmidt, who was originally on hand to announce
Bertelsmann's deal with Napster, will become CEO of BeMusic. The company
will be comprised of Bertelsmann acquisitions CDNow and Myplay, as well as
the BMG Direct mail-order music club and the new Napster.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6546218.html?tag=cd_mh
_____________________________________________

o Italian Govt. Seizes Stake in iTV Firm from Entrepreneur

Rome -- The Italian government has seized entrepreneur Virgilio
Degiovanni's $130 million stake in interactive television firm Freedomland,
amid allegations of wrongdoing in association with the company's IPO, the
Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Magistrates took control of
Degiovanni's 67 percent interest in Freedomland as part of an
investigation into whether or not he lied about the number of customers
the company had at the time of its IPO. Degiovanni has not been charged
with anything yet, but is registered as a suspect.
http://www.freedomlandonyour.tv/main_tv/index.html
_____________________________________________

o Satellite-Based 'Net Access Firm StarBand Gets $50 Million from EchoStar

McLean, Va. -- StarBand Communications, a provider of satellite-based
Internet access services, announced on Wednesday that it has received a
$50 million investment from EchoStar, which operates the DISH Network
digital TV service. EchoStar now controls 32 percent of StarBand, a stake
that will increase to 60 percent once EchoStar and fellow StarBand
investor Gilat Satellite Networks finish construction on a new satellite
for StarBand. The companies plan to offer both high-speed Internet access
and digital television through a single consumer satellite connection.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010711/2039.html
http://www.starband.com
http://www.echostar.com
http://www.gilat.com
_____________________________________________

o MagiCorp Entertainment Raises $6.5 Million from Virgin Group

Toronto -- MagiCorp Entertainment, a developer and operator of
location-based entertainment venues, announced on Wednesday that it has
raised $6.5 million from Virgin Group to develop Lucid, " a new digital
media content and entertainment business." Lucid will create two locations
-- one in Toronto and the other in Manchester, England -- that are
restaurants featuring cinema-size screens loaded with "proprietary
digital media content," as well as a virtual private network for online
multiplayer gaming.
http://www.magicorpgroup.com
http://www.virgin.com
_____________________________________________

o N2 Broadband Raises First Round Funding from AOL Time Warner

Atlanta -- N2 Broadband, a developer of digital asset management and
distribution technology for interactive television, announced that it has
raised an undisclosed amount of funding in its first round from AOL Time
Warner and individual investors including Kagan World Media founder Paul
Kagan. Atlanta-based N2 Broadband said its technology will be used by
Warner Bros. Technical Operations to deliver video-on-demand content and
DVD files intended for replication, and by pay-per-view provider In Demand
to provide movies through video-on-demand on digital cable services. The
company will use the funds to further develop and deploy its technology,
as well as for customer support.
http://www.n2broadband.com/PR_07.10.01_FIN.html
http://www.n2broadband.com/PR_07.10.01_CSTMR.html
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(San Mateo, Calif.) Virage, a provider of video content management
services, said that IBM will resell as well as integrate Virage technology
into its Media Production Suite to customers in Europe, Latin America and
Japan. San Mateo-based Virage's technology converts analog video into
digital format, implementing features that allow for the video to be
easily indexed and searched. The technology is currently being used to
convert and archive over 120,000 hours of CNN's analog video footage.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010710/sftu160.html
http://www.virage.com

(San Jose, Calif.) Personal video recorder maker TiVo said it expects its
subscriber to grow to 650,000 subscribers in 2003, a growth rate of 85
percent. Currently, the company claims 189,000 subscribers to its service
that lets viewers pause and record live television shows. The company also
expects revenues of between $63 and $72 million in 2003, compared with
projections of between $20 and $24 million for 2002.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010710/sftu136.html
http://www.tivo.com

(Dallas) Department store chain J.C. Penney announced on Wednesday that it
has added sales of music and movies to its JCPenney.com website. The
company has added 65,000 CDs, videos and DVDs to the site, and also plans
to offer sales of digital downloads in the future. Dallas-based J.C.
Penney partnered with music supplier and merchandiser Handleman Company to
provide customer support, maintenance and order fulfillment for the site.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010710/datu057.html
http://www.jcpenneymusicandmovies.com/jcp/

(San Mateo, Calif.) SpotLife, a site that lets users post digital stills
and live feeds from their personal webcams, said on Wednesday that it will
begin charging a subscription fee for its previously free service. San
Mateo-based SpotLife will begin charging all members on September 5th a
fee of between $2.99 for basic service and up to $99 per month for its
most extensive offering. SpotLife CEO John Walsh said that the decision to
charge came, "due to unprecedented growth in membership, the changing
environment of the Internet economy (i.e., decline of online advertising
revenue) and serious analysis of our industry."
http://www.spotlife.com

(New York) Recoton Corporation announced on Wednesday that Microsoft has
commissioned the company to create a version of its speech recognition
technology for a handset that will be compatible with its Xbox game
console. The handset will allow players to control certain Xbox games with
voice commands.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010711/2221.html
http://www.recoton.com

(Waltham, Mass.) Lycos Music said on Wednesday that it will premiere an
exclusive, unreleased song recorded by Elvis Presley on August 11, 1970 at
The International Hotel in Las Vegas. The song -- "Polk Salad Annie" -- is
available as an audio stream on the company's website.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010711/2021.html
http://music.lycos.com/features/elvispresley/

(San Francisco) Snowball.com, a network of websites targeted at
"Web-centric young adults," announced on Wednesday that it has launched
paid subscription services for several of its sites. Video game site
IGN.com now offers extra content on IGNInsider for an annual fee of
$19.95, while HighSchoolAlumni.com will now charge $14.95 per year for the
ability to actually contact classmates found through the service, as well
as post "then and now" photographs.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010711/2111.html
http://www.snowball.com
http://insider.ign.com/

(Los Angeles) Online skill games provider WorldWinner said on Wednesday
that it will provide skill-based games and back-end fulfillment to Vivendi
Universal-owned games site Flipside.com. Terms of the deal were not
disclosed. Los Angeles-based WorldWinner.com will provide 16 games such as
online chess and solitaire to Flipside.com, where users can place wagers
on games with other players using their credit cards. WorldWinner will
also provide customer service, credit card processing and prize
disbursement for the skill games section of the site.
http://www.worldwinner.com
http://www.flipside.com

(New York) Sonomic, an online library of professional samples and sound
effects, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with music software
provider BitHeadz to become the exclusive online retailer of Unity DS-1
format (.uds) multisamples. New York-based Sonomic lets users preview
streaming versions of audio samples and sound effects before paying a fee
to download them.
http://www.sonomic.com
http://www.bitheadz.com

(San Francisco) Radio Central, a provider of custom Web radio programming,
said on Wednesday that it has launched the About Radio Network for
About.com, a subsidiary of publisher Primedia and operator of over 700
websites on various topics. San Francisco-based Radio Central's technology
can insert ads into the audio streams heard by About.com's 26 million
users. The company also provides custom radio programming to EarthLink and
A&E Television Networks.
http://www.radiocentral.com
http://www.about.com

(Universal City, Calif.) Universal Pictures said Wednesday that it plans
to release "Jurassic Park III" in digital format at ten digitally-equipped
theaters in the U.S. and Canada. A "digital premiere" of the film will be
held on July 17 in Universal City, California. Other cities screening the
digital version are New York City, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Orlando,
Kansas City, Phoenix, San Diego and Vancouver.
http://www.universalpictures.com

(San Francisco) The San Francisco Chronicle reported recently on Gnucleus,
a free Windows-based open source software program that lets users trade
music and other files on the Gnutella file-sharing network. The software's
creator has not created a private company around the software, so it would
be impossible for the recording industry to litigate anyone but Gnucleus
users, should the software become popular as a Napster alternative. "I'm
not going to sell out," 18-year-old Gnucleus creator John Marshall said
flatly. "That's why it's open source. There's no way anyone can own it."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2001/07/10/gnucleus.DTL

===================================================
Job Postings:
===================================================
To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html

> The Sharper Image, Content Database Specialist - San Francisco

Manage The Sharper Image websites. Development & maintain ongoing
production schedules, updates, content & art placement. Produce style
guides for site continuity. Manage 3-person team involved in site content
management, updates and brand presentation. 3+ yrs. experience managing
people in a production or development setting required. Send resumes to:
tsi@rpc.webhire.com
http://www.sharperimage.com
______________________

> Digital Vision, Ltd., Account Executive - New York City

Achieve sales according to agreed targets & build the Digital Vision brand
within the U.S. Responsibilities include: development of accounts via
telephone and in person; answering of all incoming calls (requests);
raising of invoices; and telemarketing. Primary role is to maintain a high
level of outbound sales activity. Salary + bonus scheme. Send resume and
salary details to: sarah@digitalvisiononline.com
http://www.digitalvisiononline.com
______________________

> TaskStream, Web Developer/Programmer - New York City

This person’s principal responsibility will be to participate in the
design, Implementation & testing of web application systems. Must be
motivated, self-driven and able to work with others in development groups.
Room for growth, as we are working on a suite of highly dynamic tools that
stretch the limits of web-based data driven applications. Requirements:
Visual Basic/Script/ASP, SQL (MS SQL Server), HTML & JavaScript.
Send resumes to: webster@taskstream.com
http://www.taskstream.com 
______________________

> Walt Disney Internet Group, Sales Associate - Los Angeles

Join the ABCNEWS.com/ABC.com sales team. Responsibilities: creating
Powerpoint proposals; prospecting for leads; managing active programs;
providing tracking for existing ad campaigns; quantitive & qualitative
research; & handling clients while all sales reps are out of the office. 1
year experience at an interactive agency. Media background preferred. Send
resumes to: hr.recruiting@dig.com
http://www.dig.com
______________________

> Dittus Communications, Senior Director - Washington, D.C.

Working with the Vice President, this individual will be responsible for
developing and implementing communications programs for our high-tech
clients. Creative writing, strong media pitching, management experience,
solid marketing background as well as 5 to 8 years agency experience
required. Send resumes to karine.elsen@dittus.com
http://www.dittus.com

===================================================
Events/Services Postings:
===================================================
To Post Events/Services: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html

> Web Hosting Expo, August 20-22 - Washington, D.C.

Web Hosting Expo is the conference and exhibit dedicated to business &
technology of Internet infrastructure. It brings together web hosts,
ASPs/MSPs, colo/data center players for 3 days of deal making, idea
exchanges and marathon networking. Learn from 70 industry leading
exhibitors and 50+ conference sessions and panels delivered by industry
experts. Send inquiries to techwire@infotonic.com
http://www.whexpo.com
______________________

> Diversity Expo, July 18 - New York City

NYC’s premier hiring event for Equal Opportunity Employers to recruit
Business & Information Technology Professionals: Sales, Management,
Marketing, Retail, Administrative, Programming, New Media, Telecom,
Engineering Professionals meet directly with hiring managers for immediate
interviews. This annual event draws approximately 70 companies and 3,000
candidates! For more information contact: jpicone@techexpousa.com
http://techexpo.com
______________________

To subscribe, go to:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com

Questions or comments? Send email to:
mark@digitalmediawire.com

News tips, press releases. Send email to:
editorial@digitalmediawire.com