Tuesday, June 10, 2008

June 10, 2008

BET

State begins minority tourism campaign

A new "Livin' for the Weekend" television spot, featuring the O'Jays song of the same name, rolled out this week on a number of cable television outlets with a strong minority viewership, including Black Entertainment Television. The campaign, commissioned by the Ohio Department of Development's tourism division and created by Cleveland-based Singleton & Partners Ltd., also will be broadcast on minority radio stations and Web sites and in black and Hispanic-targeted newspapers.

CBS

CBS clears regulatory hurdles in CNet deal

TV and radio broadcaster CBS Corp. said Tuesday it has cleared a handful of regulatory hurdles in connection to its proposed acquisition of Web site operator CNet Networks Inc.

CW NETWORK

Upfront Surprises: The CW Sells Well, As Do Bigger Networks

Surprised by how the CW fared this upfront period? Not everyone is. For all the bad press the network got, one thing was always clear: it always stuck to its niche marketing premise of targeting young women.

FOX

Gnarls Barkley rings in MySpace's 150th Secret Show

Gnarls Barkley, Battles and newcomer Janelle Monae hit New York's Fillmore at Irving Plaza on Sunday night (June 8) for MySpace's 150th "Secret Show." Admission was free, on a first-come, first-served basis for MySpace users who have signed up as a "friend" of the Secret Show profile.

MTV

MTV and SpinVox Partner to Launch First Ever Integrated Voice Powered Cause-Related Social Networking Campaign 'Stand By What You Say'

MTV's Staying Alive Foundation, SpinVox and Causes on Facebook today announced the launch of their joint campaign, 'Stand By What You Say'. The groundbreaking initiative encourages young people to speak openly about sex, sexual health and HIV/AIDS, with a view to increasing awareness and breaking down the stigma and discrimination which so often accompanies the disease.

MTV PRESENTS... "BROMANCE" A BROMANTIC COMEDY

'Bromances' are taking Hollywood by storm. With their extreme sports adventures, witty banter and ultra cool parties; these super close celebrity male friendships are the envy of guys everywhere. "Bromance," is a non-scripted series that will take a group of regular guys from around the country and bring them to Hollywood to have a "Bromance" with "The Hills" breakout star, Brody Jenner. In the end, Brody will befriend one guy and invite him to become part of his entourage. MTV has made a 6 episode commitment.

MTV's set an airdate for its own "High School Musical" wannabe

"Set in the kind of mall that's always been a home away from home for teens everywhere, 'The American Mall' is the story of Ally, a hardworking young woman whose mother has owned a music shop that's been the soul of the mall ever since it opened when Ally was a kid.

UNIVISION

Univision Launches Innovative DTV Grassroots Outreach Initiative

Univision Communications Inc. announced today the latest phase of the Company’s campaign to raise awareness about the upcoming transition to digital television (DTV) entitled “EscuadrĂ³n Digital” (Digital Squad), a grassroots and on-air initiative using a one-on-one approach to ensure viewers are informed and prepared for the DTV transition in February 2009.

VIACOM

Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products Strengthen Global Presence

New Team Leaders Tapped for Worldwide Toys, Publishing, Music, Home Entertainment, Interactive and Consumer Electronic Lines, Indra Suharjono, Jean Philippe Randisi Appointed to Managing Director Roles

Viacom: Era of Making Big Acquisitions Is Over
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman says that the company is unlikely to make a major large-cap acquisition, but will focus on smaller deals in the short term. He adds that the era in which big deals bring "value creation" is "largely over." The company is likely to focus on smaller "tuck-in" deals.

Viacom Partners With YouTube Buddy Hulu

It’s still feuding with Google in court, but Viacom today announced a deal with YouTube friend Hulu.com. With the deal, full-length episodes of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and the “Colbert Report” will be available on Hulu.com, the fast-growing joint venture of NBC and News Corp. Comedy Central will get a portion of any ad revenue attached to the programs on Hulu.com.

AFRICA

Alicia Keys: AIDS not killing hope in Africa

I remember a friend of my mother's who used to visit us in the evenings. He always seemed healthy and strong; but over time, I noticed he grew weaker and didn't understand why. Then he stopped visiting completely. My mother did not delve into the difficult subject, but I later learned that he had died of AIDS. I was about 7 years old.

Military Gets a Special Condom

The prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the military sector led to the launch yesterday of the "Protector", a military condom aimed at protecting soldiers from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV. The 864 000 military condoms as launched by the Ministry of Defence were procured by the United States Department of Defense and together with other equipment donated yesterday, are valued at N$200 000.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON LAUNCH OF ‘SECURING OUR FUTURE’

At a Headquarters press conference to mark the launch of the Commission’s report entitled “Securing Our Future”, President Kaunda said that one of the fundamental findings was that AIDS still seriously challenged Africa’s stability and ability, especially in terms of Governments’ effective response.

"Right to Play" recruits 25 teachers to combat HIV/AIDS

The module teaches children and the youths about HIV/AIDS and its prevention.
The teachers, who are volunteers, would convey HIV/AIDS information through various games in their respective schools and communities.

ASIA

Sexual health - breaking the taboo

Leeds Primary Care Trust, Contraception and Sexual Health (CaSH) has launched a awareness campaign hoping to break the taboo surrounding the subject within the Asian community.

Shanghai Synergy Group Will Lead China into the New Media Era

50 Chinese delegates, lead by the China Department of Audio & Video and Internet Publication, attend the 4th London Calling, June 19-20, 2008. Mr. Bill Zang, the Vice President of Shanghai Synergy Culture & Entertainment Group (SSCEG), the largest music and media group in China, will present Synergy's plans for bringing China into the New Media Era.

The Female Health Company Receives Order for 1.5 Million Female Condoms

The Female Health Company (Amex: FHC) which manufactures and markets the FC and FC2 Female Condoms(R), today announces that its technical collaboration with Hindustan Latex Ltd (HLL) has been successful in winning an order from the National AIDS Control Organization of India.

CARIBBEAN & LATIN AMERICA

Bank launches 'Unsung Heroes' search

FirstCaribbean International Bank has launched its annual search for ‘Unsung Heroes’, seeking greater input from the community. The aim of the programme is to acknowledge those in the community who work behind the scenes to make a positive difference to others without looking for reward or fame.

Community development programme energises youth

The programme, which started as a follow-up activity to a summer camp project organised by the Canadian Save the Children Fund, seeks to empower the youth through education and community involvement. Its work has been so significant that the organisation is one of six similar groups that have been nominated for the 2008 Michael Manley Award for Community Self-Reliance.

Young Caribbean journalists benefit from ACM/UNESCO projects

Ten young Caribbean journalists are benefiting from the skills and experience of leading regional practitioners under a mentoring programme being executed by the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), under the umbrella of the Caribbean Network of Young Journalists (CNYJ). The journalists were 'paired' at an orientation workshop hosted by the ACM in Trinidad from 23 to 24 May 2008.

EUROPE

Over 40% of gay men with HIV in UK are undiagnosed

More than 40% of gay men who were found to be HIV-positive during anonymous testing in five UK cities were unaware of their positive HIV antibody status, according to the results of a UK study published in the May 31st edition of the journal, AIDS. This makes for “a perfect storm” for HIV transmission

ADVERTISING NEWS

Ads Can't Support Tomorrow's Content Companies
Media executives planning for a digital future are embracing mass media "network" advertising models that may appear viable in the short term, but will ultimately fail to deliver.

Cable TV's 'Project Canoe' to Fight Web for Ads
A group of cable-television firms is unveiling plans for Project Canoe, a U.S. platform for targeted advertising, which is intended to be cable's solution to the growing amount of ad dollars flowing to the Internet. Ad-industry figure David Verklin will serve as CEO.

Federated Media Launches Tools for Analytics
Blog ad network Federated Media is announcing an analytics service to help advertisers better manage the growing perplexity of online branding efforts. The new service aims to allow advertisers to track ad performance and reader engagement across social media sites.

Huge Risk Reward For Viral Campaigns

Why subject your brand to the scrutiny of a social media site? The easy answer: a community endorsement could propel your brand or campaign to the kind of prominence bought by a massively more expensive TV commercial for a fraction of the cost. In other words, good creative is good entertainment is good content. Period. Good content will always find its way to a big audience, so why not accelerate the process by letting users rate your ads?

HIV/AIDS AND SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS

Making a virginity pledge may help some young people postpone intercourse

other youth who were similar to them, but who did not make a virginity pledge, according to the study published online by the Journal of Adolescent Health. "These findings do not suggest that virginity pledges should be a substitute for comprehensive sexual education programs, or that they will work for all kinds of kids" said Steven Martino, the study's lead author and a psychologist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "But virginity pledges may be appropriate as one component of an overall sex education effort."

MOBILE NEWS

Study: Teenagers 'Stressed Out' by Mobile Phones
Teenagers who use mobile phones "excessively" are more prone to disrupted sleep and restlessness, claims new research from the Sahlgren's Academy in Sweden. "Addiction to mobile phones is becoming common. Youngsters feel a group pressure to remain connected."

MULTI CULTURAL NEWS

Alloy Access, Real Content form alliance for multicultural mobile strategy

Alloy Access, the multicultural marketing division of Alloy Media + Marketing, is teaming up with Real Content Group to create new mobile marketing channels for Alloy's clients. The deal will enable Alloy to take advantage of Real Content's relationships with service carriers and content providers, while Real Content will be able to tap Alloy's expertise in marketing to urban consumers.

JL King is back: Black women grab your anxiety pills!

"King continues his crusade to shed light on the down-low phenomenon with the release of his sensational new novel, 'Love on a Two-Way Street.' The novel chronicles the encounters of a music mogul who is on the down-low and his interactions with a successful woman, and powerful industry men. Hmm. Fact or Fiction?"

PHILANTHROPY

Bad Times, Good Deeds

Executives tempted to cut back on their corporate philanthropy in a slowing economy should think again. The long-term reputational benefits outweigh the short-term costs of sustaining their levels of giving even when profit and earnings growth slows, according the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy

Launching the next wave of philanthropy

The Stakeholders, as the group is called, says its "Young Philanthropists" effort will involve convincing at least 500 young professionals to donate $100 to the cause. It then will challenge area baby boomers to match the effort.

SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS

Coming To A Social Network Near You: Self-Service Widgets

White-label widget maker KickApps today is expected to announce a distribution deal with widget syndicator Clearspring Technologies. As such, Clearspring has agreed to promote KickApps' new WYSIWYG Widget Studio, a self-service widget-authoring environment, to the Clearspring user base.

IBM Delivers the Next Wave of Business Social Networking

Lotus Connections 2.0 and IBM Atlas for Lotus Connections feature a mix of new capabilities that blend IBM's expertise in business software with the Web 2.0 capabilities popular in consumer social networking Web sites.

RareShare Launches Early Beta Social Networking Platform

RareShare, a startup dedicated to building online awareness about rare medical disorders, has announced today that it has launched an early beta version of its health 2.0 social networking platform designed to bring together patients, families and healthcare professionals to share information and personal knowledge about rare diseases.

Yahoo begins ad pact with German social-network site

The multi-year partnership makes Yahoo's ad network the exclusive supplier of display, or graphical, ads, the companies said. While textual ads appearing next to search-engine results have proved powerfully profitable for Yahoo's top rival, Google, the market for showing display ads has many more players jockeying for top position.

OTHER NEWS

Bebo Teams With Universal Music for Web Drama
AOL's social networking site Bebo is partnering with Universal Music for an online drama set in the record label's London headquarters. "The Secret World of Sam King" will draw on real-life experiences and incorporate cameos of Universal recording artists.

Google CEO: Get Ready for 'New Online Lifestyle'
Companies and industries must shift their focus and embrace a "new online lifestyle" to stay competitive, says Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Incumbent businesses like newspapers have adapted slowly to the Internet, he points out. "People have no patience any more. They want information now."

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