September 29, 2008

CBS

CBS Picks Up First Web Series for TV.com
"Easy To Assemble," a Web comedy series created by and starring Illeana Douglas, is being picked up by the CBS Web site TV.com after attracting 300,000 views on YouTube in its first five days. The IKEA-sponsored series is TV.com's first foray into original entertainment content.

FOX

News Corp Decline Hits Murdoch In Wallet
News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch lost $2 billion of his personal fortune over the past year due to a 34% decline in his company's stock price, according to a calculation by Forbes. Murdoch lost $1,000 every 15.78 seconds, or $63.38 per second -- about $1.5 million an hour.

MTV

MTV Networks Adopts Visible Measures for Internet Video Measurement

Visible Measures, the independent third-party measurement firm for Internet video publishers and advertisers, today announced that MTV Networks (MTVN), a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), will deploy the company’s market-leading Internet video metrics platform across all of MTVN’s more than 340 destination Internet video sites. As part of a multi-year agreement, MTVN Global Digital Media and MTVN Digital Media Research will use Visible Measures to build detailed, end-to-end online video performance metrics

UNIVISION

MEDIA STOCKS Media stocks dive after rejection of bailout package

News Corp. and Viacom hit their lowest levels in more than four years, while CBS and Time Warner fell to one-year lows. Media companies depend on both advertising and consumer spending, both of which are severely curtailed in an economic meltdown. Entertainment analysts have little hope for an advertising recovery until perhaps the second half of 2009, compared with the dismal results of the last six months of 2008.

VIACOM

Viacom's Paramount in Marvel distribution deal

Pictures will globally distribute the next five movies made by Marvel Entertainment Inc., including "Iron Man 2" and "Thor" in 2010, the companies said Monday.

AFRICA

Estelle To Visit Africa To Raise AIDS Awareness

Estelle is using her new star power to do some good. She's heading to South Africa to try and raise awareness of AIDS and HIV among children. She'll visit the nation as an ambassador of the Virgin Unite initiative, which equips young people to help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS.What makes Estelle's trip even more special is that she'll be documenting her trip with a video diary in collaboration with Sky News.

Freebie approach looks to entice Kenyans into HIV tests

In the small rural village of Eshisiru in Western Kenya, hundreds of women in colourful dresses, many of them surrounded by a gaggle of children, queue patiently in the midday sun, dpa reported. These women are not waiting to draw water from a borehole or to buy food. Instead, they are waiting to be tested for HIV - something that campaigners say is virtually unheard of in Africa. The concept behind the programme that has brought people out in such numbers is very simple: Giving away a long-lasting insecticide- treated mosquito net, a water filter and condoms in exchange for taking the test.

Increased political participation among African women

“Where Africa is doing well is in increased women’s participation. The share of parliamentary seats held by women increased from 7% in 1990 to 17% in 2007,” stated Ravololonarisoa. Africa’s share of parliamentary seats held by women is now in line with the global average.

ASIA

HIV/AID survey reveals stigma, risky behavior

A report on AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, behavior and practices in 6 Chinese cities has revealed worrying levels of ignorance, prejudice and high-risk behavior. The report, published by the Chinese HIV/AIDS Media Partnership (CHAMP) on September 26, detailed results of a survey carried out by the Renmin University of China with support from UNAIDS, the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria (GBC), and public relations firm Ogilvy. More than 6,000 white-collar workers, blue-collar workers, migrant-workers and youth were interviewed in six cities.

Women trafficking and HIV/AIDS

I wrote this diary about my friend, who used to work in a brothel. My first meeting with her began a strange day for me. In a way, everyday I have been meeting one person or another and, whatever it may be, among those I’m meeting, she is a bit different from the rest. In fact, this is an important part of our friendship. For what it’s worth, in such a dismal situation, I am delighted to have made this new friend.

Yahoo! To Launch Social Network “SpotM” In India

Internet giant Yahoo! India announced plans to launch yet another social network for the 16-24 age groups in an attempt to capture the growing market in India. Dubbed SpotM, the new social networking site, Yahoo claims it to be an equivalent to Google’s Orkut is being under testing at its US headquarters.

CARIBBEAN & LATIN AMERICA

$200M for hospital construction

Government will continue its assault on HIV/AIDS in the next fiscal year through a $38.7 million investment to acquire resources and implement programmes to work towards the eradication of the threat of HIV/AIDS in the country.

Bermuda’s Premier attends Congressional Black Caucus Foundation African Globalism Committee workshop

Bermuda's Premier Dr. Ewart F. Brown sat on the panel of a Washington, D.C. workshop this weekend called “Bridging the Gap: Africa, America and the Caribbean”. The event was put on by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation African Globalism Committee (CBCF-AGC), a body chaired by Rep. Barbara Lee of California.

New media group in Trinidad slams broadcast code

The Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) is warning that the provisions of the proposed Broadcast Code now being debated in the country should be substantially amended. "The proposed Code must itself reflect a proper respect for the rights and freedoms of our society," said the TTPBA as it continues to call for changes to the code.

Realities of HIV/AIDS - Diary of an HIV-positive, pregnant girl

As Gabrielle's* pregnancy progresses, she is plagued by the thought that her unborn baby could be born HIV positive. She said the biggest challenge is that all the odds are stacked against the baby. But she is hoping for the best and she takes the necessary precautions. She told Flair that she envies mothers who have children who are HIV negative.

EUROPE

Portsmouth PCT: sexual health awareness campaign

The campaign, called ‘Something for the weekend’ is aiming to encourage condom use and measure awareness of the PCT’s contraception and screening services. The PCT will be asking men and women to reveal their bedroom behaviour to find out what risks are taken and why people don’t always choose safe sex. The PCT has commissioned events company Avantii to run the activities.

HIV/AIDS AND SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS

A Diva Speaks for HIV's Silent Victims

Soberly glamorous in a belted black pantsuit, diva Sheryl Lee Ralph glided onto a stage in Columbia Heights Saturday night with a thick strip of duct tape over her mouth. For a long unsettling moment she stood, gazing at the audience, before tearing the tape off with a grimace. The sequence, which launches Ralph's one-woman show "Sometimes I Cry," is determinedly unsubtle: The "Dreamgirls" alum has no use for understatement in this theatrical rallying cry, which exhorts the public to acknowledge the problem of HIV/AIDS.

'I thought I was pregnant at 13'

Kelly - an ambassador for World Contraception Day - also revealed she gets tested for sexually transmitted infections every three months. The 23-year-old admitted having unprotected sex in the past and has the tests for her own peace of mind Kelly, who is currently dating model LUKE WORRALL, said: “I am not the kind of person who talks about my sex life, but I am not afraid to talk about contraception.

Ivy League Takes Top Honors in Third Annual Sexual Health Report Card

Trojan Condoms released their third annual Sexual Health Report Card today, and the Ivy League took two of the top five spots and placed favorably overall. For the uninitiated, the Sexual Health Report Card ranks 130 colleges and universities based on the quality and availability of sexual health services and resources on campus.

USAID | DELIVER PROJECT Expands Female Condom Order to 10 Million

The Female Health Company (Amex: FHC) announced that it has received an order from John Snow, Inc., which implements the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT, for the delivery of up to 10 million female condoms (FC) for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supported programs.

MULTI CULTURAL NEWS

Race Matters: Is Hollywood Truly Color Blind When It Comes To On-Screen Romance?

The stigma of interracial relationships in cinema can be traced back to the 1934 Motion Picture Production Code (or Hays Code), which forbade portrayals of "miscegenation" (sexual relationships between whites and blacks) on screen. It would be disingenuous to claim that no progress has been made since that time; actors of color and relationships of all varieties are being shown on film in ways that weren't possible half a century ago. Still, in a town that prides itself for its liberalism and tolerance; in an industry that claims the only color it sees is green; when it comes to interracial relationships - especially those where the male actor is black - has Hollywood come far enough?

OTHER NEWS

Google Moves Up on Media Company List
Time Warner is poised to cede its No. 1 position on Ad Age's list of the 100 Leading Media Companies to Comcast with the pending spinoff of Time Warner Cable. Google is cutting past former giants "like a hot knife through butter" to land at No. 12. "This is a changing of the guard."

More Americans Watching Video Online
The number of Americans watching video online is soaring, from 32% a year ago to 63% today, says a study by ABI Research. Consumers "are changing their online habits quickly." However: Most online video sites are struggling to find a business model. Advertisers are "still shy."

Power to the People AND the Government: The Value of New Media in Public Service

There are currently 71,000,000 active blogs and 112,000,000 blogs total. There are 18 million people in the U.S. alone listening to 266 million podcast episodes on their PCs or their MP3 players. There are 59 million members of Facebook and 109 million members of MySpace and hundreds of millions more that are participating in other social networks within specific communities of interest. This has had countless impacts, but one consequence must be examined — how these empowered constituents affect public service and how public service can use social-media tools to engage their constituents.

Study Finds Voters More Involved With Campaign Media, Dispels Myth That Online Will Swing Election

Americans appear to be much more involved with campaign-related media than in past presidential elections. But despite the increasing use of Web sites, blogs and social media platforms, they generally remain more skeptical about the Internet as a source of information about the candidates than they do from traditional media outlets. And there No. 1 source of media influence is the most traditional form of all: Word-of-mouth. These are the top line conclusions of a new consumer survey conducted by Publicis' MediaVest unit in the post-primaries period leading up to the general election.

TiVo to Transform PC Into TV Recorder
TiVo and German tech company Nero are set to announce the launch of a package that will turn a personal computer into a television recorder, just like a TiVo set-top box. The kit will cost $199 when it goes on sale Oct. 15, and includes a remote and a TV tuner.