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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- August 23, 2000
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o Quokka Sports Stock Up 26% After NBC Deal
o BBC Creates New Commercial Internet Venture
o Online News Producer The FeedRoom Raises $30 Million
o Powerful Media To Launch Weekly Magazine
o Independent Film Channel and IFILM Form Promotional Agreement
o Disney To Distribute Content on Japan's DoCoMo Service
o Ecast and Rowe In Jukebox Partnership
o CMGI To Name New England Patriots New Stadium
o Briefly Noted: BMG Entertainment, Napster, Emusic.com,
Excite@Home, Kelsey Grammer - "Gary the Rat,"
Livecast, MediaLink - FOX, Kanakaris Wireless - Cinemapop.com,
ILive - X-Games
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o Quokka Sports Stock Up 26% After NBC Deal
San Francisco -- Quokka Sports Inc., a provider of online sports
entertainment, said on Tuesday that NBC will buy a warrant to purchase up
to 22 percent of the company. The two companies have been working together
on the NBCOlympics.com web site. The announcement could allow NBC to take
a significant stake in San Francisco-based Quokka Sports, which is
developing a digital sports network that provides real-time coverage of
sporting events on the Internet. In morning trading on Wednesday, Quokka's
stock was up 26%.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000823/wr/quokka_stock_dc_1.html
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o BBC Creates New Commercial Internet Venture
London -- The BBC announced that its main commercial Internet operations
will become part of a new joint venture, called beeb Ventures, that is
being financed by TH Lee Global Internet Managers, a venture capital firm.
The new entity will include the BBC's e-commerce web site, called
beeb.com, and its Internet service provider, called beeb.net. US-based TH
Lee Global Internet Managers will invest about $50 million for a 13.5
percent stake in the new venture. The BBC's main content divisions will
not become part of the new venture. The BBC has received some criticism in
the past for not separating its commercial Internet ventures from its
non-commercial ventures.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000822/wr/media_bbc_dc_2.html
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o Online News Producer The FeedRoom Raises $30 Million
New York -- The FeedRoom, Inc., a New York-based broadband news video
service, announced that it has secured $30 million in its second round of
financing. Warburg Pincus Equity Partners, led the investment. Other
participants in the round included Tribune Ventures and NBC, and
first-round investors Bear Stearns Constellation Ventures, Ridgewood
Capital, I-Hatch Ventures, New York City Investment Fund, Angel Investors,
and Telesoft Partners. The FeedRoom, which was founded by a number of
former television news network executives, produces newscasts for the
Internet and television set-top boxes. "The FeedRoom’s blend of
experienced, visionary management, first-class content, and cutting edge
technology makes it uniquely positioned to redefine how customers access
news and information," said David Libowitz, managing director of Warburg
Pincus.
http://www.warburgpincus.com
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o Powerful Media To Launch Weekly Magazine
New York -- Powerful Media, Inc., the parent company of Inside.com, a news
service focused on entertainment and media, announced today that it will
create a weekly print magazine focused on the digital transformation of
the entertainment industry. The new weekly magazine will be co-produced by
Powerful Media and Standard Media International, the publisher of The
Industry Standard. The publication is scheduled to launch later this year.
The company said the new magazine will focus on digital music, film,
publishing, interactive games, legal issues, broadband developments, and
streaming media technology. The publication will be produced under the
editorial direction of Inside.com. The Industry Standard will assume an
advisory role.
http://www.inside.com
http://www.thestandard.com
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o Independent Film Channel and IFILM Form Promotional Agreement
Hollywood, Calif. -- The Independent Film Channel (IFC) and IFILM, a
Hollywood-based film portal and directory, announced on Tuesday a
strategic equity and content agreement. Under the terms of the agreement,
IFILM will be promoted on IFC. In exchange, IFC will promote its
programming on IFILMs web site. "Together, IFC and IFILM will cut across
television, online, film, and streaming media, with defining content about
and for the independent film community," said Josh Sapan, CEO of Rainbow
Media Holdings, the parent company of the IFC. As part of the agreement,
IFC will pay IFILM to develop and produce 26 half-hour episodes of a
co-branded television show about independent films.
http://www.ifilm.com
http://www.ifctv.com
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o Disney To Distribute Content on Japan's DoCoMo Service
North Hollywood, Calif. -- The Walt Disney Internet Group, formerly called
GO.com, today announced the launch of a Disney-branded content service on
DoCoMo’s i-Mode wireless platform in Japan. The new service, called
"Disney-i," will be available this month to Japanese users of the i-Mode
service, which has quickly become a dominant force in Japan's wireless
market. The service will carry Disney content including a screen saver,
songs, a "virtual Disneyland" interactive section, company news, and a
Disney fan magazine. Disney said it will add four additional content
categories later in the year. i-Mode, which launched last year, has over
10 million subscribers in Japan.
http://www.dig.com
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o Ecast and Rowe In Jukebox Partnership
San Francisco, Calif. -- Ecast, Inc., a technology company that delivers
and manages broadband entertainment content, today announced a partnership
with Michigan-based Rowe International, a jukebox company. The two
companies said they will design jukeboxes that will allow operators to
download digital music to jukeboxes. Each Rowe-Ecast jukebox will store up
to 400 albums. Rowe, which said it has 70% of the North American jukebox
market, will manufacture and sell jukeboxes to its distributors, while
Ecast will provide the downloading technology. "To continue our success in
the jukebox market we need to stay current with the best technology
available, and that means adding a digital system to our product line,"
said Doug Johnson, CEO of Rowe International.
http://www.ecastinc.com
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o CMGI To Name New England Patriots New Stadium
Boston -- After a number of bidding rounds, CMGI Inc., a leading Internet
holding company, said today that it has won the naming rights to the New
England Patriot's new $325 million stadium. Under the 15-year agreement,
Massachusetts-based CMGI will pay the Patriots $76 million for the first
10 years of the contract for the exclusive naming rights of the stadium.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000823/sp/nfl_patriots_dc_1.html
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o Briefly Noted:
(San Francisco, Calif.) BMG Entertainment, the music and entertainment
division of Bertelsmann AG, and San Francisco-based Digital Island, Inc.,
an Internet content delivery network, today announced an agreement for BMG
to use Digital Island's hosting, networking, and content delivery services
for the distribution of digital music online. According to Jupiter
Communications, the digital music market will reach $2.6 billion by 2003.
http://www.bmge.com
http://www.digitalisland.net
(San Francisco) A CBS Marketwatch article today profiled Scour, the online
multimedia file exchanging service. The article was titled, "Is Scour the
next Napster?"
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/20000823/news/current/soapbox.htx?source=blq/
(Redwood City, Calif.) Emusic.com, Inc., a retailer of downloadable music
on the Internet, today announced a music marketing and distribution
partnership with TVT Records, a New York-based independent record label.
Under the terms of the deal, the companies will produce albums from
Emusic-signed artists and make them available in retail outlets.
http://www.emusic.com
http://www.tvtrecords.com
(Redwood City, Calif.) Internet service provider Excite@Home Corp.
announced today that it now has 2 million subscribers using its broadband
service.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000823/wr/tech_exciteathome_dc_1.html
(Los Angeles, Calif.) Emmy award-winning actor Kelsey Grammer and
Grammnet, his production company, today announced a partnership with
MediaTrip.com, an online entertainment company. The partnership will
develop and distribute original animated web content. The first project is
called, "Gary the Rat." Created by Mark and Rob Cullen, "Gary the Rat"
follows the life of a Manhattan Attorney, played by Grammer, who wakes up
one day as a six-foot rat and finds he has become more appealing to his
clients.
http://www.mediatrip.com
(Los Altos, Calif.) Livecast, Inc., a provider of software for delivering
live content on the Internet, and SeeItFirst.com, a provider of
interactive streaming media software, today announced a partnership to
develop interactive entertainment media services for live events. The new
service, called LiveCast Video, will be marketed by Livecast to the
entertainment industry.
http://www.livecast.com
http://www.seitfirst.com
(New York) MediaLink Worldwide Inc., a provider of audio and video public
relations products, today announced that it will transmit video news
releases to 115 FOX television stations using FOX's News Edge distribution
service.
http://www.medialink.com
(Hollywood, Calif.) Kanakaris Wireless, a company that deliverers
full-length motion pictures and books over the Internet, today launched
Cinemapop.com, an online web site featuring videos viewable on various
devices, including big-screen televisions and handheld PCs.
http://www.cinemapop.com
(Beverly Hills, Calif.) iLive, Inc., a Beverly Hills-based online
entertainment network, announced that it will provide its proprietary
"helmet cams" for use at the San Francisco ESPN X-Games in San Francisco.
http://www.ilive.com
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