Media Money with Julia Boorstin
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Ashton Kutcher says he will invest only in companies that have a mobile component. He made the revelation in an interview I hosted on-stage at the CTIA wireless conference.
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YouTube Japanese Game Show Video: OUCH!!
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
The New Game Show Craze: YouTubers seem to be obsessed with this Japanese game show clip-- check it out. It's been viewed 2.1 million times! And there have been 1,231 comments made on it. I guess some humor totally transcends culture and language. Take a look...
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Yahoo Ripple Affect On News Corp., Google, Microsoft
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
In the wake of Terry Semel leaving Yahoo and Jerry Yang stepping back in, the question is, how far will those ripples be felt. A couple of my in-the-know sources are predicting that Microsoft will buy Yahoo. And then of course there's speculation that Yahoo might combine with eBay. But let's talk about News Corp talking about swapping MySpace for 25% of Yahoo -- what would that loss mean for News Corp.
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Best Buy "Sounds Out" iPod Set
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
Best Buy is known for selling old fashioned music-- you know, CDs? Now Best Buy is pushing to keep up with the iPod set. The big box retailer announced that more than 450 of its stores will carry the Sonos Digital Music System, which it boasts is the only multi-room wireless music system with handheld control. The idea is that customers connect Sonos to their direct music services like Sonos or Pandora, to play music all over their home, starting at $999 for two rooms of music.
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Is Google's YouTube On Global Mission?
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
While everyone's talking about the shakeup at Yahoo, Google continues to take over the world. Google's video site YouTube is launching its first foreign-language Web sites. Already, over half of the site's audience comes from outside the U.S., but by translating its site into seven other languages is intended to fend off competition. Eventually YouTube will tweak the translated sites to the specific countries-- Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK, featuring local content and being sensitive to cultural issues.
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Redskins' Snyder "Tackles" Dick Clark Productions
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
Daniel Snyder continues his buying streak. Today, his Red Zone Capital Fund announced it's acquiring Dick Clark Productions for $175 million, taking a 40% equity stake in the deal, with Snyder becoming chairman of the production company. The key asset Snyder snapped up here is the Golden Globes, which Dick Clark produces, and has a deal to continue to produce until 2011. The company nets $4 million a year just from NBC's license fees and other revenues from that one night event.
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The Controversy Over Trojan Condom Ad
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
So, there's this new Trojan TV commercial premiering Monday. It shows a bar filled with hot women and big fat pigs (www.trojanevolve.com). The hot women reject the men, disgusted, until one of the guys goes to the bathroom and buys a condom. He emerges as a hot guy, and the girl at the bar is thrilled to talk to him. .
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Visible World: Answer To TV's Advertising Prayers?
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
The TV ad market has lost millions of dollars of ad revenue to Internet ads, which are more targeted and flexible. But now a new technology company called Visible World, is making TV ad minutes be more valuable than ever. Visible World's Inteli-spot technology allows channels to automatically customize their ads to the time of day, channel, and show they're airing on.
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The Fox "Business" Plan For TV Success
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
Merrill Lynch reported that Fox (owned by News Corp) is gearing up to launch its business channel in the fall with 30-million plus subscriptions. This could be the largest cable network launch ever, but it's certainly taken them long enough, Fox has been trying to get subscription access for years. And it won't come cheap-- start up costs are estimated to be about $200 million, with News Corp expecting the division to break even by its fourth year. But it sounds like Fox Business Channel won't be anything like CNBC (GE is parent company.)
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DirectTV And EchoStar: Making Nice For Bigger Deals?
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
DirecTV and EchoStar's Dish network are rivals, but apparently they're far less worried about each other than they are about rivals in cable and telecom. DirecTV and Dish are also the kind of rivals who once wanted to merge with each other, but since they can't, thanks to regulatory issues--they're playing nice with each other, to try to make their industry more viable.
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Oscar's New Rules, Middle East Cell Phones, And More
Posted By: Julia Boorstin
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences just approved some new rules for the 80th Academy Awards. The most notable change is a rule that states that nominees for Best Picture can only be "three or fewer producers who have performed the major portion of the producing functions." The board approved the potential for exceptions to that limit, but it definitely sends a message about disputes over who claims awards to films like 'Crash' from Yari Films.
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About Media Money
Media Money keeps you ahead of the curve in the ever-changing but always exciting media business. From Hollywood to Bollywood, digital explosions to perils in publishing, Julia Boorstin brings you the insight you need to better understand this evolving but ever entertaining industry.
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Working from Los Angeles, Boorstin is CNBC's media and entertainment reporter and author of CNBC.com's "Media Money" blog.