March 31, 2008

BET

BET Host and Radio Personality Big Tigger Announces the Return to Washington DC for Big Tigger's 7th Annual Celebrity Classic

Big Tigger, BET veteran host and internationally syndicated radio personality, announces the highly anticipated return of Big Tigger's Annual Celebrity Classic to Washington, DC. As the 7th installment of this premier charity event benefiting HIV/AIDS, Big Tigger's celebrity weekend will bring together an unprecedented group of Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and politicians. Big Tigger's 7th Annual Celebrity Classic will be held June 5-7, 2008 in the Washington DC area.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/03/prweb815024.htm

CBS

CBS Joins Joost in Online March Madness

Joost, the online television service, is using the March Madness U.S. college basketball games to test a live streaming technology that it hopes will reduce the financial and technical burdens of broadcasting popular events online. CBS is joining forces with Joost for the trial.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/59573a8a-fcf5-11dc-961e-000077b07658.html

FOX

MySpace, Bebo Face Censorship Orders

The Byron Review, an independent research report for the British government on the effects of violent media on children, recommends that social-networking sites be required to remove material deemed unsuitable for youngsters. Also: Bebo is launching Safesocialnetworking.com.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3635685.ece

MySpace Partners with mBlox to Offer Text Message Alerts Across Major U.S. Wireless Service Providers

MySpace, the world’s most popular social network, and mBlox, the world’s largest mobile transaction network, today announced that MySpace’s text message alert program is now available to millions of users from the following wireless service providers: Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, Alltel Wireless, U.S. Cellular, and Virgin Mobile USA. MySpace’s text message alerts provide users near real-time notification of new messages, friend requests, comments and other key activity within their MySpace profiles.

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080331005442&newsLang=en

News Corp Eyes TV in Georgia, Germany

News Corp. is fighting to stay in control of Imedi, a television station in the Eurasian country of Georgia. The closure of Imedi last autumn marks the first time a Murdoch TV station has been accused of fomenting a coup. Also: News Corp. is eyeing a controlling stake in German broadcaster Premiere.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/28/business/newscorp31.php

MTV

MTV Networks Free on mywaves Mobile

In this deal, mywaves has even worked out an ad deal with MTVN, as the two companies will be collaborating to serve ads on the mywaves platform. This should also help MTVN with its mobile advertising strategy, and gives the network some autonomy in its distribution through mywaves, which has spent the pst year or so garnering fruitful relationships with larger brands like Sports Illustrated and Nettwerk.

http://mashable.com/2008/03/31/mtv-networks-mywaves/

Wyclef Jean to Host the MTV Australia Awards 2008

MTV Networks New Zealand today announced Hip-Hop legend Wyclef Jean as the host of the ‘MTV Australia Awards 2008’ (MTVAA’S). He joins a growing list of unique and talented performers and presenters including 50 Cent, Juliette Lewis & Eve. The MTV Australia Awards 2008 will broadcast on MTV on Monday April 28 from 7pm.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0803/S00282.htm

UNIVISON

‘New’ Univision Opens Up

As this year’s upfront marketplace approaches, Univision, the once rigidly siloed Hispanic broadcast and radio company, has been restructured to resemble its counterparts in the English-language media—many of whom it is out-rating on certain nights in prime time among key younger demos.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003782035

VIACOM

Casey Patterson Named Senior Vice President, Event Production and Talent Development, Spike TV and TV Land

Patterson, who most recently served as senior vice president of talent

development and casting for Spike TV, will immediately be responsible for the creation and execution of brand-defining event programming and other talent-driven content for TV Land and Spike TV as well as oversee talent development for these two popular consumer brands within the MTV Networks Entertainment Group.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-31-2008/0004783220&EDATE=

The Portal Sites Will Break Up

Giant portal sites like AOL and MSN will decline in importance over time, according to Mika Salmi, president of global digital media for Viacom's MTV Networks. Most Web surfers "are using search as their electronic program guide. That tends to bypass the portal model."

http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/03/28/internet-advertising-salmi-biz-media-cx_lh_0327mtv.html

HIV/AIDS AND SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS

AFRICA: Healthcare providers stigmatise HIV/AIDS patients

A new study released last week shows that 40 percent of health workers in public, private, faith based and non governmental health facilities exhibit stigma and discrimination tendencies against HIV Aids positive patients.

http://africasciencenews.org/asns/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=256&Itemid=1

CUBA: Women Talk to Women about HIV/AIDS Prevention

Prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, the AIDS virus, has become the centre of the lives of a small group of women in the province of Pinar del Río, in the west of Cuba. Coordinated by the Women’s Project in the Provincial Centre for Prevention of STIs and HIV/AIDS, they design educational strategies for villages and towns in the province, and advise the activists who promote responsible sexual behaviour among the local population.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41738

BAHAMAS: HIV/AIDS Awareness In Rawson Square

With HIV/AIDS on the increase among young persons in The Bahamas, one group felt it necessary to take the message of awareness and prevention to the streets. Youth Ambassadors for Positive Living (YAPL) took to Rawson Square on Friday to educate and inform young people about the overwhelming epidemic of HIV/AIDS within The Bahamas.

http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=45&a=16478

CHINA: Beijing to make condoms more accessible in hotels

Beijing is to make condoms more accessible in its hotels, nightclubs and construction sites, according to a meeting on the city's health work on Saturday. The move came amid the municipal government's tightened efforts to prevent sexually-transmitted diseases.

http://www.china.org.cn/travel/news/2008-03/31/content_13965710.htm

FRANCE: Fighting AIDS with Sidaction 2008

AIDS awareness and funding in France got a big boost on the first day of Sidaction 2008, a three-day campaign to raise funds in France for HIV/AIDS prevention and research. (The name of the French effort comes from SIDA, the French equivalent of AIDS.)

http://www.webinfrance.com/france-fights-aids-sidaction-2008-public-fund-raising-effort-hiv-aids-research-330.html

INDIA: 'Red Ribbon Express' spreads awareness about AIDS in the North East

The 'Red Ribbon Express', the world's largest social mobilisation campaign against HIV/AIDS, is currently on a nationwide trip to spread awareness about the disease.

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/229410.php/Red-Ribbon-Express-spreads-awareness-about-AIDS-in-the-North-East

INDIA: Postmen roped in for AIDs awareness campaign

Alarmed by the large number of HIV/AIDs cases in the state, the Himachal Pradesh Government has launched a comprehensive awareness drive as a preventive measure and has roped in postmen for the purpose.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/31/stories/2008033157281400.htm

JAMAICA: Women's Rights are human rights - The right to adequate health care

Many women and girls in Jamaica who are infected with HIV face discrimination. Some children living with HIV/AIDS report that they cannot trust caregivers for fear that their personal information will be revealed to others.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080331/flair/flair2.html

PHILLIPPINES: DepEd set to launch sex education in public schools

Despite persistent lobbying by the Catholic Church, the Department of Education is bent on teaching sex education in the public high schools. The DepEd is awaiting the go-ahead from the Presidential Council on Values Formation (PCVF) which is currently reviewing the secondary teachers’ “adolescent reproductive health manuals,” according to Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080331-127531/DepEd-set-to-launch-sex-education-in-public-schools

SOUTH AFRICA: Learnings about new media marketing

There were some excellent speakers present at last week's the IQPC New Media Marketing Conference in Johannesburg, and some golden bits of wisdom were dished out. Rudolf Muller from mybroadband.co.za spoke about the state of Internet connectivity in South Africa, with a focus on broadband penetration, and how we compare to other countries. The bad news is that, of course, we don't compare well at all: not in speed offered, costs charged or people connected. The good news is that we are fast improving, and are catching up with global trends.

http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/11/23244.html

TRINIDAD: SOCIAL Development Minister Dr Amery Browne, has once again called for an end to discrimination against persons living with the dreaded HIV/AIDS virus saying there was still a lot of work to be done to address discriminatory practices in Trinidad and Tobago

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,76010.html

UGANDA: Bukenya roots for condom machines

THE Vice President, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, has said that condom vending machines should be installed in public toilets so that sexually active, but shy young people can access them easily. “I have travelled in different parts of Europe and in most of their loos (sic) there are condom-vending machines. I think we should do the same as one way of fully enforcing the ABC strategy against HIV/AIDS,” Bukenya appealed.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/619195

UNITED STATES: Stigma Clings Stubbornly To Women Living With HIV/AIDS

HIV-positive women in the United States face strikingly high levels of stigma, according to survey results released today by amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. The results of the survey reveal pervasive negative views of HIV-positive women and a high level of discomfort in interacting with them.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331084115.htm

Use a Condom - You'll Live Longer

At the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference held in Chicago in early March, Dr. Sara Forhan released an alarming set of data referring to a study of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in female teenagers. The study showed that approximately one in four teens had one of the four most common STDs found in women—HPV (Human papillomavirus,) Chlamydia, HSV-2 (Herpes simplex virus type 2), or Trichomoniasis.

http://acedmagazine.com/content/view/1098/

MOBLE NEWS

AT&T Pushes Back Mobile TV Debut To May

A year after Verizon Wireless's similar launch, AT&T has set May 2008 as the date when it will debut mobile TV using Qualcomm's MediaFlo service. AT&T initially set January 2008 as the launch date for mobile TV but has continually postponed the release.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=79527&Nid=40988&p=917272

VH1 Mobile to Launch Live Chat Mobile Application

VH1, a division of Viacom's NYSE: VIA NYSE: VIA.B, MTV Networks, is launching "VH1 Watch and Discuss Live Chat," a downloadable mobile application that will enable VH1 viewers to connect to the network's buzz-generating programming and other fans of pop culture. The mobile application will be available in May through various mobile carriers.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/multimedia-online-internet/20080331/NYM09431032008-1.html

MULTI CULTURAL NEWS

Marketing to Hispanics

The Hispanic online market is already huge and getting huger quickly; half of the 44 million Hispanics in the United States are online, and according to the most recent data available from Forrester Media, PC ownership among Hispanics shot up 45% from October 2005 to January 2007.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/small-business/article/marketing-hispanics_531148_33.html

Marketwire Launches North America Hispanic Newsline

Marketwire, a full-service newswire and communications workflow solutions provider, today announces an expanded news distribution circuit targeting the 160 million Hispanics living in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. At its core is NoticiasFinancieras, Latin America's largest, most prominent news distribution and syndication system, and now a Marketwire company gained from its recent acquisition of International Media Services (IMS) Companies in January 2008.

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=836355

OTHER MEDIA NEWS

Almost Two Thirds of Online Radio Listeners also Profiled on Social Sites

The annual "Infinite Dial 2008: Radio's Digital Platforms" by Arbitron and Edison Media Research, estimates that 33 million Americans age 12 or older listen to a radio station over the Internet during an average week, up from 29 million listeners one year ago. There is also a strong connection between online radio listening and social networking sites according to the study.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1671

Blogger: Journalism, Blogging Are Colliding

Media is changing -- how it is produced and how it is consumed, writes Erick Schonfeld, who moved from Time Inc. to the blog TechCrunch six months ago. "Just as blogs are building up professional writing staffs, newspapers and magazines are requiring that their writers start blogging."

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/30/six-months-in-and-600-posts-later-the-worlds-of-blogging-and-journalism-collide-in-my-brain

Hearst: No Business Model for Journalism

No one knows a successful business model for journalism, says former San Francisco Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein, who has taken on a new role at owner Hearst that will involve finding ways to keep the news business thriving. Newspapers are "not viable in their current mode."

http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2008/03/29/bronstein-the-future-of-news-and-other-buzzwords

Microsoft In Video deal for Xbox Platform

Microsoft, aiming to position the Xbox as an all-round entertainment device rather than just a games console, is entering a content deal with Safran Digital Group to produce short-form video for downloading by Xbox Live users. Microsoft already has deals with Disney, NBC and others.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5acb09d8-fea7-11dc-9e04-000077b07658.html

Newspapers Report Record Drop in Ads

U.S. newspapers are suffering their worst drop in print advertising sales since industry record-keeping began 57 years ago, hammered by competition from the Internet. Revenue plunged 9.4% to $42.2 billion, from $46.6 billion in 2006, says the Newspaper Association of America.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=abN6GoHxaz2E

Nielsen Switches Online Rankings to Streams From Unique Viewers

Nielsen Online has changed the way it ranks and measures online video destinations, a shift that essentially demotes all the popular viral video sites other than YouTube and favors big media destinations. Nielsen now measures online video by the top 20 online video brands as ranked by streams rather than by unique audience for video-sharing sites.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/03/nielsen_switches_online_rankin.php

People.com: Magazine Web Site of the Year

The Economist comes in at the No. 1 spot on AdweekMedia's annual "Hot List," honoring magazines and creative talents. Time Inc.'s People.com is the winner of the first-ever Magazine Web Site of the Year award, for boosting traffic despite intense rivalry from celebrity blogs.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/spotlight/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003781986

Study: Print More Trusted Than Internet

Reinforcing print publishers' assertions of relationships with readers, new research by MediaVest suggests that readers trust print more than the Web in almost every area. People are seven times more likely to turn to print publications like Vogue for fashion and beauty content.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=126001

Study: Web Users Dislike Being Tracked, Even Anonymously

Web users these days know they are being watched--and they're not happy about it. That's according to Truste, a nonprofit privacy organization that released a new study Friday examining consumer attitudes toward behavioral targeting and privacy--topics that are increasingly drawing the attention of lawmakers and the media.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=79534&Nid=40988&p=917272

Time Warner to Redirect Focus to Content

Time Warner's expected separation of its cable holdings is likely to force management to pay closer attention to the conglomerate's content assets. Also: Time Warner must share control its Superman copyright with the heirs of the comic hero's creator, a judge says.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/on_media/?p=134

Traditional Media Team With Niche Sites

Looking to snare a larger share of Internet advertising dollars, traditional media companies ranging from Forbes to Martha Stewart are launching "vertical ad networks." Media companies are expected to "continue to invest in this space" as they attempt to compete with Yahoo and Google.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2008-03-30-ad-networks-internet-martha-stewart_N.htm

Yahoo Launches Shine with Women's Mags

Yahoo is launching a new site for women between ages 25 and 54. Called Shine, the site is partnering with magazine publishers like Hearst and Rodale for exclusive content. Shine.yahoo.com will be presented in a blog form, with newest items on top and commentary from an editor.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080331/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_women