This Just In
By Staff -- Multichannel News, 7/8/2007 6:00:00 PM MT
Items:
HP Inks Content Deal For MediaSmart TVs
Ex-Discovery Exec Burns Follows Ford at Nat Geo
'MCN’ Publisher Named To Broadcasters Foundation
Clearwire Snags $1 Billion Loan to Refinance, Expand
Lifetime’s Picard Steps Down As Net’s Ad-Sales Leader
G4 to Convene at E3 Gamer Gathering
HP Inks Content Deal For MediaSmart TVs
Cupertino, Calif. — Hewlett-Packard is in discussions with content providers to bring user-generated content, movie previews and TV shows to its line of Internet-connected MediaSmart LCD TV sets.
HP already has a deal with CinemaNow to offer MediaSmart users the ability to browse and purchase or rent more than 4,000 titles directly from the TV set. Videos are downloaded to a consumer’s PC, then streamed wirelessly to the TV.
Alex Thatcher, senior product marketing manager for HP’s Digital TV Solutions group, said the company expects to announce additional Internet-video content partners next month. “It should be a pretty extensive library of content,” he said.
HP launched the MediaSmart line last year with a 37-inch TV, which can play music and video and display photos stored on personal computers.
The Internet features of HP’s MediaSmart sets are similar to other products that have recently hit the market, including Apple TV set-tops. Apple Inc. last month announced a deal with Google’s YouTube to provide access to the site’s user-generated content on Apple TV.
Thatcher acknowledged that Apple TV has captured the lion’s share of buzz.
“There’s a little bit of frustration here,” he said. “It’s hard to beat the hype machine across the street.” HP’s TV group is based here, which is also home to Apple headquarters.
HP’s new Internet-content partnerships will be part of the debut of 42- and 47-inch MediaSmart models, expected to be available by the end of August in retail channels including Best Buy stores. The TVs, with list prices of $2,199 and $2,799, respectively, support 1080p high-definition programming and include 802.11n wireless network connectivity.
Ex-Discovery Exec Burns Follows Ford at Nat Geo
Washington — National Geographic Channel has named a successor to John Ford as the network’s top programmer.
Former Discovery official Steve Burns is now executive vice president, content. Reporting to National Geographic Channel CEO David Haslingden, Burns will oversee all aspects of the network’s programming strategy and content, including development, production, acquisitions and scheduling.
Burns begins his new job on July 9, and will be based at National Geographic headquarters here.
As part of a 30-year career in media, Burns spent an 11-year stint as a producer and cinematographer, then a supervising producer with National Geographic Television, producing segments of the Emmy Award-winning series Explorer.
Most recently, he served as executive vice president and chief science editor at Discovery Networks, responsible for Discovery Channel Quest, a series of expedition specials.
'MCN’ Publisher Named To Broadcasters Foundation
New York — Larry Dunn, publisher of Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable, was recently elected to the board of directors for the Broadcasters Foundation of America.
He joins Thomas Kane, CEO of CBS Television Stations, and George Stephanopoulos, chief Washington correspondent for ABC News, in the recent board appointments.
Dunn began his career in broadcasting as a radio announcer in Long Island and New York City. He joined Multichannel News in 1991 and rose through the ranks until he was named publisher of both B&C and Multichannel News in June.
The mission of the Broadcasters Foundation of America is to improve the quality of life and maintain the personal dignity of men and women in the radio and television broadcast profession who find themselves in acute need. The foundation reaches out across the country to identify and provide an anonymous safety net in cases of critical illness, advanced age, death of a spouse, accident and other serious misfortune.
Clearwire Snags $1 Billion Loan to Refinance, Expand
Kirkland, Wash. — Clearwire, the wireless high-speed Internet provider, secured a $1 billion loan that it will use to refinance its debt and expand operations, officials said Thursday.
Clearwire closed and funded its first tranche of a fully committed $1 billion senior secured-term loan, with the remainder to be funded on a delayed-draw basis in about 45 days. The transaction was led by Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and Citigroup. By refinancing its existing debt, virtually all of Clearwire’s debt is extended to a five-year maturity.
The company, founded by mobile phone pioneer Craig McCaw, recently unveiled distribution deals with DirecTV and EchoStar Communications Corp., which will offer its high-speed data service as part of their bundles.
Lifetime’s Picard Steps Down As Net’s Ad-Sales Leader
East Hampton, N.Y. — Lynn Picard is espying cable’s upfront action from her home here. Lifetime Television’s long-time advertising sales chief resigned her position in late June.
Her departure, called “amicable” by Lifetime officials, came a couple of months after Andrea Wong, ABC’s executive vice president of alternative programming, succeeded Betty Cohen as president and CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services.
Picard, who has spent the past 13 years with the company, was named president, advertising sales, Lifetime Entertainment Services in December 2005, adding to her duties as executive vice president and general manager of Lifetime Television, which she assumed in June 2003.
In a statement, Wong credited Picard for “enormous contributions to the growth and success of the company, for which we are very grateful.” Picard joined Lifetime in 1994 as senior vice president, advertising sales. During her tenure, ad-sales revenues nearly quadrupled. Last year, Lifetime pulled in $769 million in ad revenue, according to TNS Media Intelligence.
G4 to Convene at E3 Gamer Gathering
Los Angeles — The gaming community will convene here this week at the 2007 E3 Media & Business Summit and G4 will be on the scene to cover the news and events.
For the first time, Comcast Corp.-owned G4, as part of more than 17 hours of coverage from July 10 to 13 on its TV channel, including content on an array of other platforms, will present coverage from each of the major press conferences at the confab, including the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo media events.
Additionally, G4 will scour the event to provide comprehensive coverage of the biggest E3 in history, including exclusive premieres of new games and one-on-one interviews aimed at taking viewers further behind the scenes than ever before.
Coverage starts on July 10 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) with the two-hour E3 ’07 Live Preview Show.
Daytime coverage on July 11 and 12 will shine the spotlight on the press conferences from the aforementioned companies, before G4 continues with three-hour presentations from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on those nights. G4 will wrap up coverage from 6 to 8 p.m. on July 13.
G4 viewers will be able to find additional E3 game trailers, interviews, reviews and news through the G4 Multiplex, the network’s array of Web, mobile and on-demand platforms. For instance, G4TV.com will be home to same-day video highlights from the on-air broadcast and more than 100 original, Web-exclusive developer interviews, as well as the latest E3 news and headlines surfaced as they happen at G4tv.com’s “E3 ’07 Live” news blog.
Users can also access podcasts, featuring highlights from the broadcasts and Web-only developer interviews and gaming content. Fans can also see highlights the following day on a video-on-demand basis. Mobile users can keep tabs on the E3 action via highlights and interviews through GoTV, plus SMS news and headlines.
“This year’s E3 may be more exclusive than ever before, but G4 viewers won’t miss a thing,” said G4 president Neal Tiles in a statement. “E3 is still the single most-important gaming event of the year and G4 will have more coverage, across multiple media platforms, than any other news source. This year we’re focused on getting the G4 audience inside every exclusive event, press conference and game demonstration possible.”
Past Honorees
01/27/2008Nat Geo Makes It Official
03/02/2008Cable's Rite of Spring
05/08/2005People
02/18/2007
