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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- October 12, 2000
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Wireless Content Provider Riot Entertainment Raises $15 Million
o Gemstar Releases E-Book Device, Announces Exclusive Book Deals
o WSJ: Edgy Entertainment Sites Struggle To Find Advertisers
o Tribune Interactive Lays Off 20 At LATimes.com
o Children's Entertainment Provider MaMaMedia Lays Off 40
o Nomad Media To Take Stake In Streamedia.net
o Briefly Noted: Capitol Records - Radiohead, MusicMatch - BMG, Artemis
Records - Liquid Audio, CNET: MS WebTV, Music.com - Verve Music Group,
RESFEST, MovieJuice.com - AOL
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o Wireless Content Provider Riot Entertainment Raises $15 Million
Helsinki -- Riot Entertainment, a provider of wireless entertainment
content, announced on Thursday that it has raised $15 million in its
second round of financing. Carlyle Internet Partners Europe led the round;
Nokia Ventures, Softbank UK Ventures, CDB WebTech, Stratos Ventures and
Lago Ventures also contributed. Finland-based Riot develops games and
other services for wireless Internet connections on cell phones and
handheld devices. The company said it plans to use the funds to expand its
distribution of content across Europe and into Asia.
http://www.riot-e.com
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o Gemstar Releases E-Book Device, Announces Exclusive Book Deals
New York -- Gemstar-TV Guide International, a major developer of e-book
devices, announced on Thursday the release of its handheld device for
reading electronic books. The RCA-manufactured, paperback-sized Gemstar
eBook will be priced at $299 and come equipped with an internal modem and
8MB of memory, which can store 8,000 pages of text. Upcoming titles from
authors including Robert Ludlum, Ken Follett and Ed McBain will be
available in electronic format exclusively to Gemstar eBook users. New
York-based Gemstar's eBook and accompanying software compete with
Microsoft and Adobe, which both have developed software for reading
e-books on PCs, but not the actual devices. Gemstar said its devices will
be available later this year at stores including Best Buy and Circuit
City, as well as online at RCA.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001012/in_thomson.html
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o WSJ: Edgy Entertainment Sites Struggle To Find Advertisers
New York -- Entertainment web sites that feature controversial and crude
content are finding it difficult to generate revenue from big-name
advertisers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Many
advertisers say that much of the web's video and animation programming is
inappropriate for their brands, and refuse to sponsor such sites.
Entertainment sites account for only four percent of online ad spending,
the article said. "Lil' Pimp," an animation program on
MediaTrip.com which
received a contract to be produced as a movie, is one example the article
gives of questionably tasteful programming. PepsiCo and Coca-Cola both
said they have turned down offers of free advertising on such sites.
"A
tremendous amount of the content is of a bizarre nature," said Doug
Jaeger
of the advertising firm TBWA/Chiat Day, in the article. "A lot of our
advertisers don't want to sponsor that kind of program." Sites such
as the
LA-based Romp.com and Icebox.com are responding by focusing their
advertising sales efforts on companies that have a higher tolerance for
controversial content.
http://www.mediatrip.com
http://www.romp.com
http://www.icebox.com
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o Tribune Interactive Lays Off 20 At LATimes.com
Chicago -- As part of a cost-cutting strategy, Tribune Interactive, which
recently acquired Times Mirror Inc. -- owner of the Los Angeles Times and
Baltimore Sun -- announced that it has laid off 20 employees at the
LATimes.com. The layoffs will affect the marketing, sales and editorial
staffs, leaving the company with 80 employees, Inside.com reported.
Chicago-based Tribune Interactive said that it has also laid off 14
employees at its Chicago headquarters; all layoffs are part of an effort
to drive revenue and increase operating efficiency.
http://inside.com/story/Story_Cached/0,2770,11052_13_30_1,00.html
http://www.latimes.com
http://www.tribune.com
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o Children's Entertainment Provider MaMaMedia Lays Off 40
New York -- MaMaMedia, an online entertainment provider for children under
12, announced on Thursday that it has laid off 40 employees in an effort
to meet requirements placed on its pending fourth round of financing. The
company said that approximately 40 percent of its staff was laid off as
part of a restructuring effort. New York-based MaMaMedia's web site
features games and online communities geared towards children. The company
raised $50 million last September, in a round led by J.H. Whitney and Co.
http://www.mamamedia.com
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o Nomad Media To Take Stake In Streamedia.net
London -- Nomad Media, a streaming media provider, announced on Thursday
that Gayle Essary, chairman of Streamedia.net, will take an equity stake
in the company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Zurich-based Nomad
Media provides streaming media services to both businesses and consumers,
which closely parallels the business of Streamedia.net. Essary, who is
also Principal of ESCO Capital Management, made the announcement at
Streaming Media Europe, a digital media conference and trade show taking
place this week in London.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001012/streaming_.html
http://www.nomadmedia.com
http://www.streamedia.net
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o Briefly Noted:
(New York) Inside.com on Thursday ran a feature story on Capitol Records'
use of the Internet in marketing the band Radiohead's latest album, Kid A,
which will debut at number one on Billboard's record chart this week. The
record label launched a number of tactics aimed at "virally"
marketing the
album. The company provided full-album streams to web sites before the
album was released; it also ran a controversial video promotion on
Aimster, a potentially copyright-infringing file trading service. Capitol
also made no comment or action to stop Napster users from trading songs
from the album "leaked" onto the service before its release.
http://inside.com/story/Story_Cached/0,2770,11041_9_12_1,00.html
http://www.capitolrecords.com
(San Diego) MusicMatch, a provider of music jukebox software, announced on
Thursday that record label BMG will use its software for the company's
recently-announced digital music download service. BMG downloads will be
available only in the secure AAC format for the MusicMatch Jukebox, which
does not allow further distribution of songs. AAC format also does not
allow songs to be converted to .mp3 files, the format used by Napster.
http://www.musicmatch.com
(New York) Artemis Records, an independent label that handles artists
including rapper Kurupt and indie rock band Orange 9MM, announced on
Thursday that Redwood City-based Liquid Audio will provide digital
distribution of its music on the Internet. New York-based Artemis said
that in addition to streams and .mp3 downloads of regular album songs, the
company will also provide rare live & unreleased tracks, B-sides and
remixes not commercially available on CD.
http://www.artemisrecords.com
http://www.liquidaudio.com
(San Francisco) CNET News ran an in-depth feature on Thursday on the
lackluster success of Microsoft's interactive television initiative WebTV,
which it acquired for $425 million. Delays in software development,
misdealings with Hollywood television executives and overall lack of
direction were among the reasons cited that Microsoft competitors AOLTV
and Liberate Technologies have taken the lead in the industry.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-201-2950148-0.html
(New York) Music.com, a music entertainment and industry resource site,
announced on Thursday that Verve Music Group, a jazz and world music
label, will promote its artists on the music.com site. New York-based
Music.com said that it will feature Verve artists on its "Preferred
Artists Network."
http://www.music.com
http://www.vervemusicgroup.com
(New York) RESFEST, a touring digital film festival, will be at The New
School in New York City Oct. 18-22. The festival will feature screenings
of new independent films shot exclusively on digital cameras, and panel
discussions on the digital film industry.
http://www.resfest.com
(Los Angeles) MovieJuice.com, a site that provides colorful film reviews,
announced that it has made an agreement with America Online to feature its
reviews on AOL's entertainment channels. The company said movie critic
Roger Ebert called MovieJuice.com's reviews "cheerfully smartass,"
and
named the site one of his top twenty movie sites on the web.
http://www.moviejuice.com
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