February 1, 2008

MTV

‘Artists Speaking Tr3s’ Shows New Side of Latino Music Artists

Deepening the connection between viewers and their favorite Latino artists, MTV Tr3s will launch a new month-long on-air, online and wireless image campaign entitled, "Artists Speaking Tr3s." Kicking off on Friday, February 1st

http://www.hispanicprwire.com/news.php?l=in&id=10593&cha=7

MTV's 'Choose or Lose' Citizen Journalists Cover Every Super Tuesday State

MTV's army of Street Team '08 citizen journalists will cover the youth vote like no one else on Super Tuesday, delivering the first-ever live mobile-to-web broadcasts -- from polling stations, caucuses, candidate rallies and everywhere young voters congregate February 5th.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/media/article/mtvs-choose-lose-citizen-journalists-cover-super-tuesday-state-firstever-live_460194_15.html

MTV Hungary launches a new website

Hungarian MTV launches a new website that will cover all Eurovision Song Contest events in Hungary. The website will be both in Hungarian and in English for fans from other countries.

http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/10352

MTV Nets grabs seven for Latin America

MTV Networks on Thursday said it acquired seven new programs at NATPE for its MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1 brands in Latin America. For MTV Latin America, the network bought the stunt-driven Finnish reality show "The Dudesons" and the award-winning animated series "Aargh! It's the Mr. Hell Show." Both were acquired from London-based Target Entertainment.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ifd053af8bbfcf736c16761ece7b03721

Viacom Converts 1,000 MTV 'Permalancers'

More than 1,000 MTV Networks contractors reportedly are being converted to staff from their previous freelance status, in a move to appease workers upset over recent benefit reductions. MTV employees held a protest about the cuts outside MTV's Times Square offices in December.

http://gawker.com/5002747/1000-mtvn-permalancers-to-earn-staff-positions

UNIVISON

Univision.com and National Football League Launch the Ultimate NFL Experience for Online Hispanics

Univision Online, Inc., the interactive subsidiary of Univision Communications Inc., and the National Football League (NFL: 13.60, -0.09, -0.65%) announced today that they will jointly manage and operate NFLatino.com powered by Univision.com, the official U.S. Spanish-language website of the NFL.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/media/article/univisioncom-national-football-league-launch-ultimate-nfl-experience-online_460073_15.html

AFRICA

Chiefs fight HIV/AIDS

The National House of Chiefs has adopted a plan of action to implement an HIV/AIDS/Health programme as part of its contribution towards reducing the spread of the disease in the country. The programme dubbed “The Traditional Authorities In National HIV/AIDS Initiative”, is aimed at building a preventive community health culture as a basis to prevent the spread of the disease.

http://gbcghana.com/news/18148detail.html

HOPE in African HIV/AIDS fight

Walker called the HIV/AIDS problem “staggering” in Africa, where the diversity of the ever-mutating virus is far greater than in the United States or Europe. “We need to establish new models of health care delivery,” he said. The Internet can help, Walker said, by providing collaborative education for health care providers in resource-poor settings.

http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=5134

Nigeria: Police Expel 26 Recruits With HIV/Aids

Twenty six police recruits, who would have joined 1,760 others this morning, in a colourful passing out parade at the Kaduna Police College, were expelled last week, for testing positive for HIV/AIDS

http://allafrica.com/stories/200802010432.html

Zimbabwe: Rural Areas Fertile Ground for HIV/Aids

They left the country in search of jobs to better their lives, but village elders in rural Tsholotsho, say young men who left home to fend for their families are losing their lives at alarming rates to HIV/AIDS related ailments.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200802010122.html

CARIBBEAN

4th International Africa Unite - Smile Jamaica Youth Symposium

The Youth Symposium is an annual event on the Africa Unite calendar. Youth from various nations on the African continent, the Caribbean and in the U.S.A. convene to discuss and provide realistic solutions to various issues and challenges that exist in their native homelands and the world. The topics include HIV/Aids, Black Leadership, The Role and Importance of the Girl Child.

http://www.jamaicans.com/news/events/4thInternationalAfricaUnite-0201200802.shtml

CHINA

China's Booming Web Market

The number of Internet users in China grew an astonishing 50 percent in 2007, ending the year at 210 million users, according to the Chinese government. And there's still a long, long way to grow, as 210 million represents just 16 percent of the Chinese population.

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348963&story_id=10608655

RUSSIA

CTC Media Signs Definitive Share Purchase Agreement

CTC Media, Inc. , Russia's leading independent television broadcaster, announced today that it has signed a definitive share purchase agreement to acquire a 20% participation interest in Channel 31 and majority ownership positions in affiliate companies that will provide the advertising sales function and programming content for Channel 31.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NYF04301022008-1.htm

HIV/AIDS & SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS

Friends with benefits - like herpes

That friend with benefits could also be a friend with chlamydia. How sexy is that?

By understanding what goes on in the friends-with-benefits relationship, it would be possible to develop prevention programs specifically geared towards increasing consistent condom use

http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=103994&sc=89

Health agencies stick to condom advice after Swiss AIDS study

Switzerland's Federal AIDS Commission published a report on Wednesday claiming that couples where one partner is HIV positive do not need to use a condom to prevent transmitting the disease, as long as retroviral therapy is followed regularly and has suppressed the virus in the blood for at least six months. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j1FyuW1cJTGZubudNzH5DbgDH65w

Irish Republic lowers condom tax

The Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships (2006), a nationally representative study, found that one in five people aged between 18-24 say that the cost of condoms would discourage their use of them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7221807.stm

New Planned Parenthood Condom Line Makes Safer Sex the 'Must-Have' Fashion Statement

PROPER ATTIRE™ is making a lifestyle statement with the premier of the new and stylish condom that is being called the “must-have” fashion accessory for women. Featuring a chic package with a unique fig leaf print, PROPER ATTIRE™ was designed to encourage women to feel more comfortable about carrying and buying condoms.

http://readme.readmedia.com/news/show/New-Planned-Parenthood-Condom-Line-Makes-Safer-Sex-the-Must-Have-Fashion-Statement/56523

Two-Thirds Of Women 'Have Unprotected Sex'

More than two-thirds of young women have had unprotected sex with a new partner, according to a survey. Half of those questioned said they had caught a sexually-transmitted infection (STI) following unprotected sex, or knew someone who had.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91251-1294999,00.html

MOBILE NEWS

Motorola May Sell Or Spin Off Cell Phone Division

Motorola--which has been the largest and most successful cell-phone manufacturer in the U.S. largely on the back of its Razr--says it is considering separating the cell-phone division from the rest of its businesses, possibly through a sale. Motorola has failed to produce a best-selling phone that could match the allure of the Razr, which debuted in 2004.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2008/tc20080131_906120.htm?campaign_hid=rss_daily

OTHER MEDIA NEWS

Consumers Confused Over Digital Transition

Apparently, much of what consumers are now learning about the coming shift to digital broadcasting is wrong -- and could well end up costing them money, according to one survey. New data from Consumers Union suggests that some people think they need to buy new equipment when they don't, while others say they don't plan on taking any steps to deal with the change when they should.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/01/31/digital.tv.ap/index.html

Facebook CEO Reveals Co. Financials

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed substantial information about the company's finances during a recent meeting. The highlights: Facebook's 2007 revenue will be (no surprise here) $150 million; 2008 revenue should climb to between $300 and $350 million, while the company expands its workforce from 450 to more than 1,000 people.

http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080131/chatty-zuckerberg-tells-all-about-facebook-finances/

Google Exec: We Won't Become a Media Company

David Eun, the head of Google's content partnerships, insists that the Internet behemoth won't be a competitor to traditional media. Producing content is "not our business," he says. "Journalists, news bureaus -- that's not what we do."

http://www.iwantmedia.com/people/people70.html

Google Revenue Rises, Social Networking Ads Fall Short

Google co-founder Sergey Brin declined to talk about whether it was the MySpace deal that boosted Google's TAC but acknowledged, "We have had a challenge in Q4 with social networking inventory as a whole." He nonetheless considers social networking sites "a big opportunity" because of the large ad inventory.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206101401

Google Shares iPhone Love During Earnings Call

On the day after reports linked Google with a new cell phone being developed by Dell Computer, the Web giant during its (disappointing) earnings call took time to share all kinds of love for Apple's iPhone. Indeed, Wednesday's rumors notwithstanding, it's still an open question whether Google aims to partner or compete with Apple.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/sergey-brins-iphone-adventure-in-davos/index.html?ref=technology

How Are You Going To Measure Internet Video?

IN LATE 2007, THE DIGITAL Video Barometer Executive Survey indicated that more than 80% of media and entertainment executives believe tracking, measuring, and monitoring Internet video content is critical to bottom-line profit. That's not surprising. Accurate measurement informs decision-making and improves business performance, and Internet video is more mainstream and popular than ever before.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/metrics_insider/?p=30#comments

Interactive Marketers Unsure of Tracking Capabilities

According to the new Sapient annual Interactive Marketing Survey more than half the marketing senior level respondents felt only ‘somewhat confident' or ‘not confident at all' in their organization's abilities to track campaigns across multiple channels in real-time, with only 19 percent reporting the ability to make campaign changes in less than 24 hours.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1631#comments

Local Ads Feel The Pain First

When the economy slips, marketing budgets often get the ax first, although not all in the same way. Among those already cutting back are local retailers and service providers like mom-and-pop stores, attorneys, dentists and others who tend to be more sensitive to changes in the economy. Ad spending by such local businesses has dropped fast, rising just 2.3% in the first nine months of 2007 from an 11% growth pace during the first nine months of 2006, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/31/advertising-media-newspapers-biz-cx_lh_0131ads.html?partner=msn

Media Giants Set to Announce Cost Cuts

News Corp., Disney and Time Warner are expected to announce higher December-quarter profits when they report financial results next week. Still, the conglomerates, which are seeking ways to cope with the sluggish economy, are expected to discuss their cost-control plans.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/higher-profits-anticipated-media-conglomerates/story.aspx?guid=%7B5C08044B%2DA45E%2D4223%2DAD68%2D38FAB5D1E183%7D

Microsoft makes bid for Yahoo

Microsoft Corp. has pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. with an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion in its boldest bid yet to challenge Google Inc.’s dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117979999.html?categoryId=1009&cs=1&nid=3078

Social Networking Sites Safer Than IM or Chat Rooms

While social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook have been singled out as places where teens could face sexual harassment, most of the unwanted solicitation actually happens in chat rooms and via instant messaging, a new study finds.

http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/080201/social-networking-sites-safer-than-im-or-chat-rooms.htm

TellAPal Launches Ad Model For Social Networkers

Based on "referral marketing," A recommendation based ad network for social media, TellAPal's system is user-driven, and enables advertisers to empower their existing customers to recommend their product or service to their friends.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=75608&Nid=38924&p=917272

TV Stations Seek Programming to Put Online

Syndicated online content is said to be the hot topic at this year's NATPE conference. As broadcast growth flattens, local television stations are looking to their Web sites for new revenue. Some stations are already airing the Warner Bros. sitcom "Two and a Half Men" on their Web sites.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/business/media/01adco.html