April 25, 2008

BET

BET unveils plans at upfront presentation for more original programming

BET says it will offer original programming, launching a new prime-time animated series next season developed with Marvel Comics. Also on tap is a gospel spinoff of its successful "106 & Park" franchise and a reality show featuring prominent music producer Jermaine Dupri.

CBS

CBS buys South America outdoor advertising company

CBS Corp. bought South American billboard advertiser International Advertising Group for $110 million, the media company said Thursday. CBS, which sells billboard ad space in addition to its radio and television operations, said the move "offers CBS an entry point and leadership position into the fast-growing South American market."

CW NETWORK

'OMFG!': Cleavage kissing used to hype kids' show

A new campaign by the CW Television Network for its "Gossip Girl" show features blatant sex and profanity, drawing a horrified response from parent advocates. The campaign features print and Internet ads, one depicting a teen boy kissing the cleavage of an actress. The two versions include huge lettering across the steamy image, either OMG, which in today's text-speak stands for "Oh, My God," or the racier OMFG which adds profanity to the mix.

FOX

Fiorano Empowers FOX Interactive Media Communications Infrastructure

Fiorano Software, a leading provider of enterprise class business process integration and messaging infrastructure technology announced today that Fox Interactive Media (FIM) chose FioranoMQ to power internal communications infrastructure. FIM makes stuff that excites, entertains, enriches and infuriates millions of imaginations establishing a commanding position in the global media industry. The need for a powerful backbone with minimized proprietary dependencies facilitating communication across all platforms was accomplished by FioranoMQ.

Fox Asks FCC to Reconsider Indecency Fines

Fox wants the Federal Communications Commission to rethink its decision not to consider its challenge to indecency fines for a 2003 airing of "Married by America" that showed pixilated body parts. Fox says the rejection was a ploy to "avoid examination of constitutional and factual arguments."

MySpace to Stream NBC News -- Not Fox News

In a new deal, NBC News and MSNBC.com will provide political news and other content to the social-networking site MySpace. However, content from News Corp. siblings including Fox News Channel won't be included. MySpace says there is nothing unusual about not going with Fox News.

Web 2.0: MySpace Takes Application Gallery Out Of Beta

Hoping to capture even more of the Web 2.0 ecosystem, MySpace on Thursday announced the official launch of its Application Gallery. Tested in public beta for the better part of March, the site lets MySpace users browse applications and other Web 2.0 widgets and then drag and drop them into their MySpace home page and profile.

MTV

Local MTV goes global as channel deepens digital desire

THE Australian music industry's increasing influence on the rest of the world is highlighted by pay-television music channel MTV beaming its Australian awards into 19 countries this week, according to the network's global vice-president Bill Roedy.

UNIVISON

Univision Adds One Hour of News to Four TeleFutura Stations

Univision is adding one hour of local morning news on four owned stations in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Sacramento, Calif. -- some of the largest Hispanic media markets in the country and also markets where the company owns two stations, one programmed with Univision and the other with co-owned TeleFutura programming.

VIACOM

Nickelodeon's 'iCarly' a Big Hit on TV, Web

The Nickelodeon kids series "iCarly," launched in September, aims to break ground in combining scripted television with viewer participation via the Web. The show is a hit in both mediums, says both Nielsen and comScore. And iCarly.com is produced by a staff of three.

Viacom's Dauman Aims to Oust CBS' Moonves

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman is ending Paramount's deal with CBS pay channel Showtime to start a rival network with MGM and Lionsgate. His decision is said to be fueled by CBS boss Les Moonves' refusal to sweeten an offer on a renewal pact to run Paramount films on Showtime.

AFRICA

HIV/AIDS code of conduct established for journalists in Botswana

The 15-page “Code of Conduct and Work Policy” addresses the basic principles of HIV/AIDS reporting, including accuracy, misconceptions, clarity, balance, accountability, diversity, human rights, children’s voices and discrimination. The booklet was created by the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership in conjunction with the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana Chapter.

HIV/AIDS Hindering Angola's Efforts To Eradicate Illiteracy, Education Official Says

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Angola is hindering the country's efforts to implement a program aimed at eradicating illiteracy by 2015, Deputy Education Minister Pinda Simao said Tuesday during a talk that was part of the International Week on Education for All,

NGO organises AIDS programme for residents

Ghanaians, especially the youth have been asked to refrain from sexual promiscuity and unprotected sex to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Mr Eric Pinaman Asare, President of Universal United Youth Organisation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), working in the Birim Central Municipality (NGO), said this at HIV/AIDS prevention and abstinence programme at Akim Oda.

SADC official urges member states to fulfill their commitments to fight HIV/AIDS

Zambian Health Minister Brian Chituwo, who also serves as chair of the SADC health ministers, urged member states to develop a regional strategy to address the shortage of health workers. Chituwo noted that Southern Africa has suffered most from a lack of health care professionals. The ministers plan to assess progress achieved in the implementation of SADC health programs and approve policy.

Tanzania: Stigma Slows Fight Against Aids in Tanga

The prevalence of stigma against HIV/Aids patients in Tanga has been cited as a major factor causing people to fear publicly talking about their status. Stakeholders who met Monday at the Open University Conference hall in the region expressed concern at the commonness of stigma against people living with HIV/Aids, even at family levels.

Thame grandmother to swim for Zambian vunerable children

MARY Blyth, a 77-year-old grandmother from Thame, has taken up the challenge set by Cecily’s Fund of covering 10,000 miles to raise money for children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zambia, Southern Africa.

ASIA

Financial Times to Launch Magazine in China

Britain's Financial Times aims to launch its first Chinese-language magazine ahead of the Summer Olympics in Beijing to target China's increasingly affluent professionals. The magazine will be the first in China to be published by a wholly foreign-owned company.

Indians lack genetic immunity to HIV/AIDS: Study

Bringing bad news to the fight against HIV/AIDS, a new study has shown that people in India do not have natural or genetic protection against the deadly virus. A study by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has found that a known genetic marker against HIV-1 is virtually absent in Indians, implying lack of natural or genetic protection against HIV/AIDS.

Italy to help India fight AIDS, drug menace

Agartala: According to an Italian official, Italy will provide financial assistance to fight HIV/AIDS and drug addiction in Tripura, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. Antonio Armellini, Italian ambassador to India today said, "The Italian government has decided to provide Rs 30 million through the Red Cross societies of India and Italy to deal with AIDS, drug addiction, tuberculosis, malaria, water borne disease, various public health problems and disaster management."

THAILAND: Helping HIV/AIDS children

Thailand has long been held up as a shining example of how good policies can help stem the spread of HIV. However, it has overlooked the special needs of children such as Poel.
"Just providing ARVs [antiretroviral drugs] is not enough," says Scott Barber, chief of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) HIV section in Bangkok. "They are only effective if children take them and this depends on social support and the reduction of stigma and discrimination.”

CARIBBEAN & LATIN AMERICA

Learning to Speak: The New Age of HIV/AIDS in the Other Jamaica

I have returned to find out about HIV/AIDS in this Jamaica—the second Jamaica, my country, where about 1.5 percent of adults are living with the disease (nearly three times the rate in the US). It is as much a part of my Jamaica as it is part of the bodies of many of its citizens. And even though I will later learn that there are places in the US (including my own state of South Carolina) where the disease’s incidence rate is at epidemic proportions among African Americans, it would take my trips to Jamaica and this journey into the day-to-day lives of people living with the disease for me to truly appreciate its complexity.

Losing the HIV battle

Remote areas most affected by centralization of medical attention - According to official statistics, there are around 100,000 people living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), or AIDS in Guatemala, which causes more than 4,000 deaths each year — roughly the same number of deaths caused by violence in the country.

HIV/AIDS AND SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS

Condom Couture

Check this out… For an event called Dress Up Against AIDS held last month, Brazilian artist Adriana Bertini designed clothes made entirely of condoms.

New Film Profiles UCSF HIV/AIDS Leaders

UCSF pioneers in the fight against HIV/AIDS are profiled in a new documentary film, which chronicles the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco. The main purpose of the film, “aids2031 San Francisco Response,” is to honor the achievements of the past while looking toward the future, particularly focusing on the next generation of leaders to combat the disease.

MOBLE NEWS

Google Brings Display Ads to Mobile Devices

Google is expanding its advertising business into a new domain: graphical ads that appear on mobile devices. As with the company's text-based mobile ads, the Google image ads are displayed on the basis of keywords that appear on Web sites that people visit with their mobile phones.

SONY BMG CONNECTS WITH NOKIA

Sony BMG has become the second major record label to sign a deal with cell phone giant Nokia to include its music in the Finnish company's forthcoming Comes With Music handsets.

OTHER MEDIA NEWS

Blockbuster Tests In-Store Entertainment

Blockbuster is experimenting with new formats for its U.S. movie-rental stores, moving toward in-store entertainment. Outlets in Dallas are testing gaming centers, play areas for kids, and coffee bars. Sony-provided fixtures will display the PlayStation3 as a movie platform.

CNN to Sell T-Shirts With Online Headlines

Visitors to CNN.com will be able to purchase custom T-shirts featuring headlines from the site's video reports, along with the slogan, "I just saw it on CNN.com." Headlines related to serious crimes and other potentially inappropriate topics won't be available.

Dilbert 2.0 Lets Readers Write Comic Strip

Cartoonist Scott Adams is launching Dilbert 2.0, an online version of his comic strip that allows readers to change the punchline. My Dilbert, where fans will be able to rewrite the whole strip, will follow in May, along with Group Mash, which will allow users to write panels together.

Essence partners with Warner Bros. for new TV projects and Web strategy

The Warner Bros. Television Group and Time Inc.'s Essence Communications Inc. are teaming up on a series of initiatives that will expand the Essence brand across a number of platforms, including the Internet and television. One of the first projects to come from the new relationship is the late summer re-launch of an expansive new web destination at Essence.com, created in collaboration with WBTVG's Telepictures Productions, which aims to be the ultimate online destination for African-American women.

Hollywood Vets Open Online Studio Filmaka

Deepak Nayar, a producer of such films as "Buena Vista Social Club," and Sandy Grushow, the former chairman of Fox Television Entertainment, are launching Filmaka.com. The new site solicits video clips for a content judged by industry biggies as well as regular Web users.

Media Companies to 'Earn Billions' Online

The leading 100 media companies will earn $20.7 billion in Internet revenue, with advertisers forecast to spend $2.9 billion annually on online video ads by 2010, according to a new report from the Screen Actors Guild. Some 9 billion videos are watched online every month, led by YouTube.

Yahoo Moves Toward Social Networking

Yahoo is opening its Web platforms wide open to let outside developers create applications across its network of sites. It is also radically stitching together its online services to replicate the social experience that MySpace and Facebook have made so popular.

April 21, 2008

BET

BET cages 'Black Panther'

Marvel Comics has signed a deal to turn one of its superheroes, the Black Panther, into a primetime animated series for BET, starting early next year. BET made the announcement at its upfront presentation in New York as the highlight of a batch of new series being readied for the 2008-09 season, under the supervision of Reginald Hudlin, president of entertainment for BET.

BET Networks Announces Partnership with Microsoft to Offer Top-Rated BET Programming on Xbox 360 Through Xbox LIVE

BET Networks today announced that it will add a broad selection of full-length BET television shows for download on Xbox LIVE, the online games and entertainment network on Xbox 360. Effective immediately, a growing catalog of episodes from BET's top-rated programming will be available for download from Xbox LIVE, including, but not limited to, COLLEGE HILL 4, AMERICAN GANGSTER and COMIC VIEW, with IRON RING featuring a free download of the premiere episode to consumers for one full week.

BET Networks' Upfront '08 Presentation is All About 'Connection You Can Feel!'

At its Upfront '08 presentation, BET Networks, the leading media and entertainment brand for African Americans and consumers of Black culture, touted its unique position as the most consistent and effective solution for advertisers to reach that coveted audience. Set in an election-themed show atNew York City's Manhattan Center Studios with the campaign tagline "Connection You Can Feel!", the company reinforced its leadership role through new programming announcements, an overview of its digital strategy, and the unveiling of its new pro-social election initiative.

Judge says rap promoter, associate not defamed by BET

Houston rap executive James Prince and an associate cannot collect on defamation claims lodged against Black Entertainment Television, its parent company, Viacom, or Apple, a Houston federal judge ruled Friday. In a lawsuit filed last year, Prince and his employee, Thomas Randle, claimed they were falsely portrayed as "murderers" having a criminal association with Gangster Disciples leader Larry Hoover in an episode of BET's American Gangster documentary series.

CW NETWORK

CW 'Gossip Girl' Changing The Way We Watch TV

The CW's teen soap "Gossip Girl" -- a television series about a blog -- is seen as "the first show that seems to have succeeded primarily on the Internet." Fans post sightings of the actors on gossip sites. "It's not appointment television; it’s a 24-hour conversation."

FOX

MySpace Introduces Community Builder Platform for Advertising Community

MySpace, the world’s most popular social network, today announced the beta launch of the Community Builder advertising platform. The new platform gives MySpace advertisers the ability to build, maintain and customize brand profiles while also providing guaranteed valuable analytics to help them gauge campaign performance and make real-time adjustments to maximize effectiveness.

MySpace Launches In India With TV Partner

News Corp.'s MySpace is officially launching in India, as the world's most popular social networking Web site strives to fend off fast-growing rival Facebook in the international arena. MySpace India boasts a partnership with India's largest television network, Star TV.

MySpace names Jeff Berman president of sales and marketing

Social networking Web site MySpace, a unit of News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media Inc., said Monday that Jeff Berman has been named president of sales and marketing. Berman will be responsible for developing content and marketing programs and creating advertising strategies for brand partners. He will continue to report directly to MySpace Chief Executive Chris DeWolfe, who co-founded the business.

MySpace toxic for News Corp

Rupert Murdoch's effort to turn his $US580 million MySpace purchase into an advertising powerhouse has turned News Corp into a toxic stock. Analyst Michael Nathanson at Sanford C. Bernstein cut his price estimate on New York-based News Corp, the media company Murdoch controls, by 13% last week to $US21, and UBS's Michael Morris cut his target by $US1 to $US25.

MTV

Kelly Rowland Named Mtv's 'staying Alive' Ambassador

Singer Kelly Rowland has accepted a new role as the 2008 ambassador for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. The former Destiny's Child artist will kick off the Staying Alive campaign in June 2008, which will raise the profile of the global charitable foundation while empowering young people to protect themselves against HIV and AIDS.

MTV Movie Awards Announces Movie Spoof Contest

MTV is calling all filmmakers, provocateurs, and amateur comedians for their “2008 Movie Spoof Contest,” with the winner eligible for a free trip to Los Angeles for the MTV Movie Awards on June 1 and their very own Golden Popcorn.

MTV puts in OT as social worker

To mark the two-year anniversary of its "Break the Addiction" environmental campaign as well as Earth Day on Sunday, MTV's "The Real World: Hollywood" launched its 20th season Wednesday with its first eco-friendly house and its cast members delivering green tips.

MTV's 'Rock Band' to Launch Downloads

Viacom's MTV will start selling full albums that can be downloaded and played in its "Rock Band" video game, with the first title coming next week from classic metal act Judas Priest. The act's "Screaming for Vengeance" album will cost $15, with individual songs going for $2 each.

VIACOM

Hollywood Studios In Web, Premium TV Deal

Viacom and its Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lionsgate are forming a new television and Internet joint venture that will show new releases alongside original programming and classic movies. Paramount's output deal was with CBS' Showtime.

Viacom, MGM, Lions Gate Join to Offer Pay-TV Channel

Viacom Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. will offer box- office hits and original television programming on a premium pay- TV channel and video-on-demand service in 2009.

Viacom Summer Movie to Battle Video Game

Paramount Pictures' "Iron Man" is expected to be a summer blockbuster. But it may find its early box office take hindered a bit since it will be released the same week as "Grand Theft Auto IV," a much-anticipated video game from Take-Two Interactive. Both are aimed at young males.

AFRICA

Angola: Red Cross Promotes Campaign Against Aids in Cunene

The Angolan Red Cross (CVA) will promote, as from next May, in the southern Cunene province, a cycle of campaigns aimed at preventing HIV/AIDS infections, ANGOP learnt here from the institution's director general for cooperation and development, Leonardo

Bondo.

HIV/AIDS: Experts calls for home-based testing

Home based testing could help esource-poor countries fight the war against HIV and AIDS

Prof Gabriel Anabwani, the executive director of the Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence, said such a move will easily help identify orphans among others that need such services but cannot be reached otherwise

Uganda: Clean Water Essential for People Living With Aids

LACK of clean water increases the risk of diarrhoea among people living with HIV/AIDS, the executive director of the Uganda Water and Sanitation Network, John Byarugaba, has said.

Uganda: Mayors Join Hands Against HIV/Aids

TOWN clerks and Mayors under their umbrella Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders have expressed concern over the increasing sexual immorality in the city centre and other communities that has accelerated spread of HIV/AIDS.

UN chief doubts Africa will meet 2015 development goals

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon cast doubt Monday on whether sub-Sahara Africa will meet a 2015 deadline for eradicating extreme poverty, despite an economic boom linked to higher commodity prices. "Many countries are falling behind," Ban told the ongoing UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Ghana's capital Accra, which opened Sunday and runs through Friday.

CARIBBEAN & LATIN AMERICA

BVI Gets Closer to a Strategic Framework on HIV AIDS

Stakeholders from the public and private sectors gathered this week to make contributions to a strategic framework to address HIV/AIDS in the region. Using a template provided by the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), stakeholders reviewed and discussed strategic direction and priorities to be pursued over the next five years.

Claudette Pious, vision in action

Her unconditional generosity has touched and changed the lives of many children. Claudette Richardson-Pious has devoted her life to Children First, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that caters to the needs of children who are HIV positive, dropouts and those who have never been to school.

PANCAP meeting convenes in St. kitts

The 10th annual Caricom/Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) Regional Co-ordinating Mechanism (RCM) meeting convened yesterday at the St. Kitts Royal Hotel and Casino.

PM Douglas to lead Caribbean delegation at UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS in New York

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Chairman of the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDSD is to lead the Caribbean delegation to the Third High-Level United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS in New York.

The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago Selects Terida Systems Inc. to Design and Implement National HIV/AIDS Surveillance and Epidemic Management Solution

The Trinidad and Tobago government recognized that strong action was necessary to curtail and manage the disease. In 2003, a five-year HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plan was published calling for "a truly comprehensive, expanded national response". The ultimate goal is to slow the number of deaths, decrease the number of afflictions and bring the disease under control.

PACIFIC ISLANDS

NGOs Form New Regional Alliance To Fight HIV/AIDS

Representatives of Non Government Organizations from at least six nations are making Pacific history in Fiji this coming week. They are gathering in Suva to launch the beginnings of a new Pacific NGO Alliance Against HIV/AIDS. They will also look into a draft Regional Action Plan to provide momentum and a set of activities for the regional grouping.

NGOs Form New Regional Alliance To Fight HIV/AIDS

UNICEF backs off Tongan HIV role claim

UNICEF, which carries out the United Nations HIV and AIDS work in the South Pacific, has today backed down from over-stating its role in the drafting of what it then incorrectly claimed is Tonga's first HIV Strategy.

OTHER MEDIA NEWS

AOL Plans Site Geared Toward Younger Women

AOL plans to launch a new women's lifestyle site skewing toward a younger demographic than its existing AOL Living property. The new site is part of a broader plan by AOL to launch a dozen niche sites by August. Yahoo recently launched its own women's portal, Yahoo Shine.

Facebook Users Help Site's Global Expansion

Facebook is asking its users to help translate the social-networking site's framework into nearly two dozen languages -- for free -- aiding the company's global expansion. Says Facebook exec Javier Olivan: "Our goal would be to have everybody on the planet on Facebook."

Men's Health Mobile Users to Access Promos

Every advertisement in the June/July issue of Men's Health will be camera-phone ready. Consumers who use their cellphones to snap pics of ads in the Rodale men's magazine will get promotional bounce-backs from marketers. The results will be "measurable," says publisher Jack Essig.

NBC Universal Opens Studio for Web Series

NBC Universal is taking the wraps off its new digital studio, which will involve advertisers in the content-creation process for Web series. Marketing giant OmniCom Media is the first partner in the effort, which will customize interactive programming to client brands.

Sony Preps PlayStation 3 Online Video Service

Sony is said to be preparing an online video service through its game console PlayStation 3 that could launch this summer. The initial version of the service will include movies and television shows flowing from the Internet to the PlayStation 3. Sony is reportedly in licensing talks with studios.

Survey: U.S. Lags In Social Media Creation

In the United States and Europe, consumers are avid consumers of social media content while less likely to create their own, says a new global study by Universal McCann. Americans "love to consume content created by others." Unlike China, "which is a country of creators."

Time Warner's 'Apology' Rejected by China

China wants CNN to make a "sincere" apology for remarks made by commentator Jack Cafferty, who called the nation's leaders "goons and thugs." China's Foreign Ministry says: "This despicable scheme will not dupe the Chinese people." A Web site has been set up called anti-cnn.com.

April 14, 2008

CBS

CBS Readies Another Burnett Reality Show

CBS is readying a new reality show from producer Mark Burnett of "Survivor" fame. The network ordered up eight episodes of the advertiser-friendly "Jingles," in which contestants compose melodies to sell products before the WGA strike started last year. Now, insiders say the series has started casting and preproduction and the announcement of a summer launch could come within weeks.

FOX

Exclusive Nike Sneakers, Hip Hop Clothing and Nike Myspace Layouts Coming to Kicks and Chicks

Kicks and Chicks has built their KicksAndChicks.com web site into one of the Internet's top sources for Nike myspace layouts and Nike sneaker news. It now plans to expand its sneaker store, add Kicks and Chicks T-shirts, and produce more myspace layouts than it ever has.

ImpreMedia to Power New MySpace Latino Sports Community

ImpreMedia will now be the primary content provider for the new MySpace Latino Community, “TodoFútbol.” The company provides Hispanic news and information (online and print) in the United States. ImpreMedia will now have an opportunity to tap into the existing base of more than nine million Hispanic users on MySpace and more than one million registrants on the MySpace Latino beta site.

Popular MySpace Latino answers demand for content

The online hangout MySpace is expanding its offerings for U.S. Hispanics, adding eight bilingual communities focused on Hispanic bands and celebrities, soccer and other interests. The year-old MySpace Latino has largely been a translation of MySpace's English site into Spanish. MySpace recently unveiled content specific to one of the fastest-growing groups online.

Shopit To Launch Shopit Store App On MySpace

Shopit, the leader of a new revolution in ecommerce, social commerce, today announced that it will launch the Shopit Store App on MySpace, the world's most popular social network. The Shopit Store App brings MySpace users the ability to buy and sell right from within their profile page.

Spanish Broadcasting System Forms Partnership with MySpace

Spanish Broadcasting System announced today that its television and radio properties are partnering with MySpace to launch a creative and innovative campaign in the top Hispanic U.S. markets to attract Hispanic audiences to MySpace Latino. This ambitious project, "Queremos Un Millón de Amigos" ("We Want a Million Friends"), will be promoted on all SBS television and radio stations, as well as their Web sites, in order to get one million people to the Web site.

MTV

MTV Networks Selects Media Excel for Video Transcoding; Single Platform and Unmatched Speed Enables Rapid Delivery of Content

Media Excel, a leader in advanced real-time video solutions, today announced that MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc., has implemented the Media Excel HERA 3200 series of video transcoding products across several of its channels to enable high-quality, rapid, and more cost-effective delivery of video to any device – TV, PC, and mobile – over any network.

The 3G MTV Mobile Phone Launched with an Exclusive Offer From SFR

ModeLabs Group (Paris: MDL), the customized design manufacturer, announces the commercial launch of the new MTV3.3 mobile on April 23. The first music channel 3G mobile will be accompanied by the MTV SERIES range of limited-time offers from SFR.

UNIVISON

Univision, Nielsen tool gives leg up to Hispanic nets

Univision's announcement last week that it was rolling out, with Nielsen, a research tool combining TV-viewing data with product-purchasing information gives the Hispanic network more ammo toward convincing advertisers they should divert some English-language marketing dollars into its space.

VIACOM

MTVN and BETN Name Melody Tan Senior Vice President, Strategy & Business Operations, Content Distribution and Marketing

TV Networks (MTVN) and BET Networks (BETN), units of Viacom, today announced the promotion of Melody Tan to Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Operations, Content Distribution and Marketing (CDM).

AFRICA

HIV-positive men jailed for homosexuality

A judicial official in Egypt says four HIV-positive men have been convicted for being homosexual and sentenced to three years in prison followed by three years of close police supervision.

Partnership aims to aid African HIV patients

Project 40/40 stands for a partnership between UW’s student body of 40,000 and 40,000 HIV-positive people in Uganda. The group, which works hand-in-hand with the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, raises funds through its events that go purchase a year’s worth of antiretroviral treatment, maintenance tests and a diagnostic test for each patient.

South Africa: Improved Health Care Decreases Maternal Mortality

Interventions to improve the quality of health care for pregnant mothers have led to the ratio in maternal mortality dropping over the past ten years. The maternal mortality ratio has decreased from 150 per 100 000 live births in 1998 to 124 per 100 000 to date.

ASIA

Cabbages, Condoms and HIV in Thailand

“Sorry, we have no mints,” reads the sign at Cabbages & Condoms Restaurant in Bangkok. “Please take a condom.” The restaurant is owned by Thailand’s Population and Community Development Association, a nonprofit founded in the ’70s to promote family planning.

Chinese AIDS victims detained, harassed -lawyers

Chinese police have detained up to eight HIV/AIDS-affected people who tried to complain to Premier Wen Jiabao about a hospital they claimed spread the HIV virus, lawyers for two of the families said on Monday.

UNICEF and partners organize national peer education workshop on HIV and AIDS in Yemen

Over 120 young people from Aden, Hadhramout, Mahweet, Hodeida, Taiz and Sana’a met here today in a three-day workshop organized by UNICEF and partners to share their experiences in peer education for combating HIV and AIDS.

CARIBBEAN & LATIN AMERICA

Brazil producing condoms from the rainforest

The Brazilian government has come up with a novel way of fighting the Aids epidemic that has gripped the country - using rubber from trees in the Amazon rainforest to produce condoms.

Local stakeholders help refine regional HIV/AIDS document

The consultation was convened to review the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS 2008-2012 and to provide feedback and recommendations to the Caribbean Community/Pan Caribbean Partnership (Caricom/PanCap) Against HIV/AIDS.

Primary Students Targeted For Sex Education

Officials are optimistic that a comprehensive programme designed to teach primary school students about their sexuality and HIV/AIDS is making significant inroads.

EUROPE

First ever mass campaign on HIV/AIDS prevention among student youth launches in Ukraine

It is expected that this first in the history of Ukraine mass project, implemented by ICF ‘International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine’ with the support of Levi Strauss Foundation will lay the basis of systematical changes in students’ lives motivating safer behavior and resulting in decline of new cases of HIV-infecting among youth in Ukraine.

Taxis to carry condoms

TAXIS are being used in the battle to drive home the safe sex message and combat disease. Couples in cabs are being given free condoms to combat an `alarming growth' in sexually-transmitted infections, especially chlamydia, health bosses in Wigan and Leigh said.

HIV/AIDS AND SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS

Actor Blair Underwood to Join Thousands of Walkers for Florida AIDS Walk

Actor Blair Underwood (Dirty Sexy Money, In Treatment, The New Adventures of Old Christine) and actor/comedian Mario Cantone (Sex and the City: The Movie) will join thousands of walkers for the Florida AIDS Walk on Sunday, April 27th

Efforts Raise HIV/AIDS Awareness Among Blacks, Encourage Black Students To Pursue Health Careers, Address Infant Mortality Disparity

The third annual "Women Empowered -- Responding To Serve Valued People" health forum was held last week. The forum aimed to raise HIV/AIDS awareness among blacks in the area. Alesia Miller -- senior project specialist with the not-for-profit Care Resource and a community activist, gave testimonial about being HIV-positive.

MAC signs up Fergie as Viva Glam spokesperson

US. The MAC AIDS Fund, the charitable arm of MAC Cosmetics, has confirmed singer Fergie as the newest spokesperson for the MAC VIVA GLAM VI campaign. The three-time Grammy Award-winning artist will represent a new limited-edition VIVA GLAM VI Lipglass gloss, and act as a voice for the MAC AIDS Fund’s Global Youth Prevention Initiative.

See Something, Say Something: NYC Condoms

You might have noticed the posters plastered throughout subway cars these past months: The City of New York wants you to “get some”—and get it safely. Over 4 million NYC condoms have been dispensed since February, when designer Yves Béhar gave last year’s subway-inspired prophylactic wrapper a makeover.

Using AIDS, Everest and Bono to sell product

SanDisk flash drive products are being carried by a 3-man Everest team, called INSPI (RED), hoping that their ascent will help call attention to AIDS in Africa.

OTHER MEDIA NEWS

SocialMedia Networks Launches First Ad Network Exclusively Focused on Social Media, Delivering Tangible Results to Advertisers

Social advertising moves the traditional ad network model to the next level as consumers engage in two-way interactions with advertisers' messages. Today, on the eve of ad:tech San Francisco, SocialMedia Networks announced the launch of the first social-enabled advertising network. The SocialMedia Advertising Network gives advertisers the ability to target users based upon their social network profile and behavior using applications as an advertising channel.