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Every year, usually in the third week of May, TV executives roll into New York City with an exclusive little circus called “Upfronts.”  Across the city’s famed theaters like Radio City and Carnegie Hall, and in the back rooms of elite hotels, each major network puts on an extravagant show and party: music, celebrities, food and of course, the reason for the show: TV footage.   The audience of advertisers and media buyers takes notes on the presentation of new TV schedules, forms impressions of the projected new programs, and then they make bids for some of the coveted advertising slots.  The whole process unfolds like a futures market for TV advertising.  It’s even treated as a barometer for the advertising industry and a weather forecast for television.  The show is glitzy, over-produced, and especially: exclusive.    If it’s not a network show, it’s not shown.

Thursday, Microsoft, a seemingly unlikely source of original video programming, decided “who needs your Upfronts?” and moreover, “who needs TV.”  Ahead of schedule and paving a new path, the software giant decided to create their own sandbox to play in.  Click to Read More

A few years ago there was a Gatorade commercial that pitted soccer star Mia Hamm against Michael Jordan.  Back and forth the two competed in contests to win the title of “best athlete.”  In the background, the song repeated “anything you can do I can do better.”  Today, that commercial can be seen on YouTube.  It’s ironic in a way because today YouTube has become equivalent to one of those athletic tests in a similar battle being fought by aspiring TV/PC Convergence devices like TiVo and Apple TV.  Like Michael and Mia, the two keep leapfrogging past each other to show which can bring more features and internet sourced content to the TV screen.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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