Media

As MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) ad execs begin meeting with marketers and media buyers for this year’s upfront, the Viacom unit is putting some finishing touches on reshaping its digital team. Later this morning, MTVN will announce that Suzanne McDonnell (image, left) will lead the Digital Fusion unit, while Heather Hopkins will...

A nagging chicken-and-egg problem has held back advanced TV advertising, which promises richly interactive and highly targeted capabilities combined with the massive reach of television.

The Catch-22 is this: Big buyers want to reach a big audience. But the TV industry hasn’t had an incentive to invest in advanced capabilities because the ad dollars aren’t there....

The discussion started by ContentNext’s Ernie Sander and FT.com’s Rob Grimshaw at paidContent 2010 continued with a panel of other digital media execs from traditional media companies—along with Google (NSDQ: GOOG) product manager Josh Cohen.

—Flavor of the month: CNN.com’s KC Estenson: “There are new revenue opportunities...

Pali Capital’s Rich Greenfield opened the paidContent 2010 conference at the TimesCenter with a note of skepticism about the recent spate of media joint ventures, such as Hulu or the recently-launched YouTube music video channel Vevo. Moderator Quincy Smith, ex-CBS Interactive (NYSE: CBS) exec now partner, Code Advisers, put...

After some effusive praise for CBS’ cost containment and ability to withstand the economic downturn, Sumner Redstone, executive chairman, CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), handed the call over to Les Moonves, CEO and president. Before hanging up, Redstone repeated a line he gave when introducing the Viacom (NYSE:...

In most cases, online is generally the bright spot on a company’s earnings report. But not in CBS’ case, as the Interactive segment’s 5 percent ad decline offset the 8 percent growth at the TV network and cable. No wonder CBS (NYSE: CBS) Research head Dave Poltrack was so incensed...

Playboy (NYSE: PLA) Enterprises’ hopes for a planned sale were dashed during Q4, as its revenue troubles continued as well. As the company’s loss narrowed to $27.8 million from last year’s $146.8 million, combined print and digital revenues fell 14 percent. On its own, digital slid 10.7 percent in Q4.

In...

Two years after HBO started a small trial of HBO Broadband, the Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) premium net is going live with HBO GO on Verizon FiOS. Through HBOGo.com, Verizon FiOS subscribers who also get HBO (the companies won’t release that number) will be able to watch 600-plus hours of...

Redbox has ended its lawsuit against Warner Brothers Home Entertainment and will give in to the Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) unit’s demands for a longer lead time before the DVD kiosk operator makes its rentals available. The deal calls for new release DVD and Blu-ray titles to be...

Telegraph.co.uk’s sources have been promising the paper Hulu’s imminent UK launch for so long now that, now it’s reporting “further delays” to the U.S. VOD site’s ambitions here, we’re barely inclined to mention it - but anyway…

Despite claiming in August that Hulu was in “most advanced discussions” to land...

With online ad spending slowly coming back from last year’s weakness, MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) hopes to see a further boost in revenues by adding deeper ad targeting across its vast 200 websites. The Viacom unit has been testing a variety of audience monitors for most of the past year and it...

Movie previews and news cable outlet Reelzchannel is adding a dash of mockery to its web holdings with the acquisition of HollywoodPressTV. The comedy site is being sold to Reelzchannel by its creator, The Buddy Group, an Irvine, CA.-based online video company. Terms weren’t disclosed. Along with the acquisition, HollywoodPressTV’s Steve...