The Ten Spot: Oct 27, 2009
It’s Diller-Day in terms of a quarterly IAC earnings. His creative collective with Ben Silverman (formerly of NBC and Reveille is “Electus” – cool ‘Digitas’ type newco name), updates from Dreamworks Animation, Hulu, Circle of 8 on Myspace, 3D TV penetration, TV Everywhere … and the trailer premiere of “The Green Zone” (Matt Damon’s more authentic Jason Bourne war-thriller film), will be interesting to see how it avoids the stop-loss effect of Gulf war films. AND we’re planning thetenspot.com launch in December – looking for user-generated logos – send to logos@newmedici.com!
via IAC Reports 3Q Profit But Ad Revenue Down | Huffington Post
Counting one-time events such as a large gain on a stock sale and the sale of Match’s European operations, IAC earned $21.7 million, or 16 cents per share, on $337 million in revenue. In the same period a year ago it lost $14.8 million, or 11 cents per share. IAC did not give a substantive update on its new media venture with former NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman, other than to say it will be called “Electus.” The venture was announced in July and will let advertisers have a say in the development process for TV shows and Web videos.
via IAC wades deeper into content production | Hollywood Reporter
IAC’s emerging content businesses include such things as CollegeHumor, Tina Brown’s the Daily Beast and a partnership with Ben Silverman on his new production outfit, whose name Diller confirmed as Electus on Tuesday.
“There is tremendous opportunity in media going forward, at least in our version of media,” Diller said. He described IAC as focusing on content production “for the Internet and more historic distribution” forms of media, although with the digital age’s lower-cost sensibility. Asked if the focus will be on short form content only, Diller said: “We have ambitions to produce content of all lengths.”
Paramount Goes Online to Boost its DVD Sales | BusinessWeek
Quite simply, they’ve made a fairly inexpensive film called Circle of Eight and are premiering it online with Myspace (NWS). The idea is create buzz, and then rent or sell it through Blockbuster (BBI) and, I have to assume, other retailers down the road..
In late 2007, Paramount spent about $2 million to make the third installment of its Jackass comedy and premiered Jackass 2.5 on Blockbuster’s movie streaming service. The studio then syndicated it to other sites, getting north of 15 million folks to see it, and sold about 1 million DVDs.
via Diller: No Blockbuster Acquisitions In The Cards But If You Want To Buy Ask … | paidContent
Diller: “Our discipline in terms of acquisitions is pretty tight. … It’s unlikely—I can’t say it won’t happen—but I just don’t believe we’re going to be out there making a big acquisition. The smaller acquisitions you’ve seen us make have been very hard headed and, in all respects, successful with very nice returns. It’s why I’ve said I believe over the next years that repatriation is going to be what’s going to happen with this capital, rather than investment either in acquisitions or that much in our own businesses.”
via DreamWorks Animation 3Q Profits Drop 48% | The Wrap
Despite the “Monsters vs. Aliens” box-office bonanza, DreamWorks Animation reported a 48 percent third-quarter drop in profit on Tuesday on revenue that shrank 11 percent to $135.4 million. Part of the reason for the bleak earnings picture was that Dreamworks Animation, which typically releases two movies theatrically each year, only released one in 2009. The company’s costly Broadway gamble with “Shrek: The Musical” also fared poorly, further depressing profits. The company plans to end the show’s run in January, but hopes to recoup costs with a touring production.
via CTAM Summit 2009: Kilar — Hulu Not “Giving It Away” for Free | Broadcasting & Cable
Defending Hulu against attacks that it is undermining the traditional free to air TV model, Kilar said the site – backed by NBC Universal, News Corp., Disney-ABC and Providence Equity Partners – has gone from 2 content partners to 230 in 19 months and from zero advertisers to 400 over the same period. Kilar said the site welcomed cable partners and suggested there may be a way to work on making cable content available on Hulu through an authentication system.
via A Big Prediction for 3D TVs | Variety Blogs
Alfred Poor, an analyst with GigOM Pro, says there could be between 28 million and 46 million 3D-ready TVs in homes by 2013 – with up to 2.5 million selling in the next year alone.
via TV Everywhere: 8 Things You Should Know About Cable Service | Advertising Age
“We believe in the TV Everywhere model as the best solution, from the consumer’s point of view,” said David Poltrack, chief research officer at CBS Corporation. “We’ve done a lot of extensive research and we know the distribution of content on the internet and mobile [devices] helps generate trial for programs that do migrate to TV and create a higher level of engagement for programming that benefits both the content provider and the advertisers.”
via Exhibitors look beyond the multiplex | Variety
In the first week of October, Sony teamed up with movie theaters for a four-city tour that allowed gamers to play the new PlayStation3 title “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” on the bigscreen.
AMC Entertainment has tried to get ahead of the curve at a few of its theaters. In Buckhead, a suburb of Atlanta, patrons can sit in plush seats in the Fork & Screen theater and have tabletop service that includes fire-roasted veggie quesadillas as well as a beer.
via The Green Zone, In Theaters March 2010 | Variety
