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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- October 20, 2000
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Independent E-Book Awards: The "Sundance Film Festival" For
Publishing
o HyperMedia Communications Shuts Down, Fires 26 Employees
o FMiTV Networks Receives Investment From SECOM
o Game Developer Quantic Dream Raises $4 Million
o Red Herring Announces Layoffs, Cites Weak Online Ad Sales
o Broadband Video Developer Oediv Closes First Investment Round
o Briefly Noted: TV House, "FilmIT," Suite218.com, CMJ.com,
Quimby2000.com, AudioRamp - Pollstar, CitySeats.com - InfoSpace
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o Independent E-Book Awards: The "Sundance Film Festival" For
Publishing
Santa Barbara, Calif. -- In response to the Microsoft-sponsored Frankfurt
Book Fair eBook awards, whose submissions are mainly titles from
established authors and major publishing houses, the Mystic-Ink Community
on Friday announced its Independent e-Book Awards. Unlike the cash prizes
awarded by the Frankfurt Book Fair, the indie awards will focus on the
promotion of winning titles. The Mystic-Ink Community, a resource for
e-publishers, said the winners will receive a national media campaign, and
have their works reviewed at major web sites. In addition, Random House
Audible will record winners in the short-story categories, and audio files
will be made available on both Audible.com and Amazon.com. The awards will
begin accepting submissions on Monday in preparation for a May 2001
presentation ceremony.
http://www.e-book-awards.com/media/10.20.00.html
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,39555,00.html
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2000/10/20/frankfurt/index.html
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o HyperMedia Communications Shuts Down, Fires 26 Employees
San Mateo, Calif. -- HyperMedia Communications, which operated the news
site NewMedia.com and the Invision Awards, has shut down and fired all 26
of its employees, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The company cited
poor market conditions for its closing. The company's Invision Festival
and Conferences, which recognized innovation on the web, have also been
discontinued; this year's awards, scheduled for November 1-3, have been
cancelled. The company said it will mail the scheduled winners their
awards by December 15. Recently, the print edition of New Media Magazine
was abandoned in favor of an online publication -- a reorganization
process that cost the company $1.4 million over three months. HyperMedia
said in the article that it is selling its assets, including its article
archive and customer lists.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/10/19/BU23795.DTL
http://www.newmedia.com
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o FMiTV Networks Receives Investment From SECOM
Los Angeles -- FMiTV Networks, which creates entertainment sites for
companies including commercial radio stations, announced on Friday that it
has received an equity investment from Japanese conglomerate SECOM. Terms
of the investment were not disclosed. LA-based FMiTV provides multimedia
content for corporate web sites, including Los Angeles' KIIS-FM. Under the
deal, FMiTV will provide video content, audio content and computer systems
programming to SECOM, Japan's largest security information and cable
television operator.
http://www.fmitv.com
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o Game Developer Quantic Dream Raises $4 Million
San Francisco -- Quantic Dream, an online game developer, announced on
Friday that it has raised $4 million in its first round of venture
financing. French investors Intiative and Finance Gestion, and Odyssee
Venture contributed to the round. Paris-based Quantic Dream is developing
interactive online games for broadband. One of the company's games,
"Omikron: The Nomad Soul," which features a digital version of
musician
David Bowie, was voted one of the top ten technologies of 2000 by Time
Magazine.
http://www.quanticdream.com
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o Red Herring Announces Layoffs, Cites Weak Online Ad Sales
New York -- Red Herring Communications, which operates the Internet
business publication Red Herring and redherring.com, has laid off
approximately 25 of its 350 employees in efforts to consolidate its print
and online editorial departments, according to a Reuters report. The
company cited weak online advertising sales as reasoning for the layoffs.
"We are not seeing as much online advertising growth as we had
anticipated," said Red Herring interim CEO Christopher Alden, in the
report. "That's our primary revenue model." The company recently
switched
its print publication from a monthly to a bi-weekly.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-3240426.html
http://www.redherring.com
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o Broadband Video Developer Oediv Closes First Investment Round
Los Angeles -- Oediv, a provider of streaming video services to businesses
and web sites, announced that it has closed its first investment round
from Softbank Venture Capital. The amount of the investment was not
disclosed. LA-based Oediv is developing technology to provide streaming
video for corporate, educational and government markets. The company's CEO
is Monica Dodi, one of the founders of MTV Europe. The company's
employees include a number of members of the team that launched AOL's
Entertainment Asylum.
http://www.oediv.com
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o Briefly Noted:
(Chicago) TV House, a syndicator of video content for company web sites,
has announced the launch of its site. Chicago-based TV House will provide
businesses with streaming video of original financial news to corporate
clients, to use on their company web sites. Several financial journalists
from CNBC and CNN founded the company. TV House also announced a
partnership with Morningstar, a Chicago-based provider of stock, mutual
fund and investment information.
http://www.tvhouse.com/press/sitelaunch.htm
http://www.morningstar.com
(Los Angeles) "FilmIT," a film information technology conference
and
exposition, will be held October 26 and 27 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel
in Los Angeles. Keynote speakers include Bob Davis, CEO of Terra Lycos,
and Will Poole, VP, Digital Media Division of Microsoft. Over 100
film-related digital media companies will be represented.
http://www.filmitcon.com
(Vancouver, B.C.) Vycast Entertainment, which recently launched an
interactive sitcom, Suite218.com, announced on Friday that the site has
received 1.5 million hits since October 13. Suite218.com details three
characters' attempts to launch a web design company. After viewing a
weekly episode, viewers are asked a series of multiple-choice questions
about the show. The answers are tabulated, and the next week's script is
written based on audience responses. Sunnyvale-based iBEAM provides audio
and video distribution for the show.
http://www.suite218.com
http://www.ibeam.com
(New York) CMJ (College Music Journal) announced on Friday a re-design of
its web site. CMJ.com now features free online tools that help artists
create, record, distribute and market their music. Among the new features
are Web site building software, a music-swapping network and tour
itineraries from Pollstar.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001020/ny_cmj_web.html
http://www.cmj.com
(Los Angeles) Fox Networks announced on Friday that it has launched
Quimby2000.com. The site will cover Joseph Fitzpatrick Fitzgerald
Fitzhenry Quimby's campaign for U.S. President -- Quimby is the Mayor of
Springfield on Fox's "The Simpsons." The site includes a
detailed analysis
of Quimby's platform, such as his stance on taxes: "Americans will
stop
paying taxes altogether, and instead send the military across our northern
border every morning to beat up the Canadians for their lunch money."
http://www.quimby2000.com
(Irvine, Calif.) AudioRamp, a provider of customized web audio technology,
announced on Friday a partnership with Pollstar, which provides extensive
touring information for musical acts. Under the deal, Pollstar will
provide worldwide concert tour schedules and concert news to Irvine-based
AudioRamp's web radio technology.
http://www.audioramp.com
http://www.pollstar.com
(Seattle) CitySeats.com, an online ticketing service for local events,
announced on Friday an agreement with InfoSpace, a provider of B2B
Internet infrastructure services. Under the deal, Seattle-based
CitySeats.com will provide online ticketing services to InfoSpace's
network of 3,100 web sites.
http://www.cityseats.com
http://www.infospace.com
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