Metue.com

Over the course of a week there are always a few news items that don’t warrant front page attention but still merit a mention; things like new hires or deals that finally closed after being widely reported when first announced.  This week with Electronic Arts hiring a COO,the New York Times proxy settlement and deal closings from Clear Channel and Amazon, there have been a handful that fell into that category. Here’s the roundup in one dose:

Click to Read More

As TV’s get thinner, bigger and better, people spend more of their entertainment time and money at home.  There’s less allure to the theaters.  For the TV Networks (and also aspiring TV/Net convergence services like Hulu) this changing dynamic represents big opportunity in the form of ad dollars.  It’s also a big risk (lower audience share if they can’t compete with rivals in programming).  To capitalize, networks are acquiring content voraciously.  Movie producers seem all too happy to oblige.  Just how big the stakes are became clearer today when News Corps FX cable network opened its coffers to buy exclusive programming rights.

Click to Read More

When News Corp and NBC Universal partnered to launch their own video distribution portal many thought the odd couple partnership amongst two TV rivals would be little more than an expensive joke.  These weren’t companies known for building technology.  Nor were these companies, or their brethren in traditional media, known for playing well in the sandbox with each other.  The pairing seemed so unlikely many began deriding the then unnamed company with the name:  “Clown Co.” 

In August, the jokes got cruder when the company sold a 10% stake to Private Equity firm Providence Equity Partners.  The deal valued them, an unlaunched, non-public company at a billion dollars. Click to Read More

Most startups beg for money but having a billionaire backer has a way of twisting things like Alice’s rabbit hole.  That’s the case with Internet TV site Babelgum.  Monday, along with introducing a new beta release of their peer to peer software, the company announced that they were setting up a fund to invest in new original content. 

A total of €10 million has been budgeted.  The money will commission documentaries and shorts up to fifteen minutes in length.  They will air exclusively on Babelgum’s Internet network.

Click to Read More

Mini-major independent film producer Lionsgate announced Monday that they will become the third movie studio behind 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures to bundle an iTunes digital download with a DVD purchase starting in May.  According to the announcement, the packaging will begin with all special edition DVD and Blu Ray copies of Rambo.  A second movie, The Eye, featuring Jessica Alba, will also feature the bundled package when it’s released.

Click to Read More

Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley remains ground zero for venture capital investment.  In 2007 Silicon Valley outpaced its closest geographic competitor by a factor of nearly three to one (via PWC Moneytree).  Still, even with a smaller scale Hollywood Blvd. is getting busier, generating more investment traffic, and building buzz.  Saban Capital Group is the latest to hang up a V.C. shingle to address the SoCal market.

First reported in the Hollywood Reporter, Haim Saban’s Saban Capital Group (SCG) is expanding from a focus on broad, large, traditional private equity deals to now also include more venture oriented digital media component in their portfolio mix.

Historically, SCG has been known for large media transactions. Haim Saban himself was behind Fox Family Worldwide which News Corp sold to Disney for $5.2b in 2001. Click to Read More

The WB Network catered to youth audiences from 1995 to 2006.  The upstart TV Network then joined with UPN to form the CW.  Now, according to aMediaweek report that cites “unidentified sources” the old WB may be on its way back again, only with an exception: it will be online.

Though there is no official report, the former home of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville and the Gillmore Girls may be reborn as an online video portal targeting women between the ages of 12 and 34. 

So far, few facts have surfaced.  Click to Read More