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.