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MercuryNews.com | 06/26/2006 | Betting on the big bundle

Actually, the big cable and phone companies want to do it for you.
They’re hoping that by investing in businesses beyond what they’re
known for, they’ll be able to offer customers bundles, or what they
call the “quadruple play:'’ Internet, television and home- and
cell-phone service, all from one company. They’re banking that
consumers will prefer the convenience of getting one bill from one
provider rather than choosing from the growing number of phone, TV and
Internet options.

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BetaNews | Microsoft IPTV to Debut in France

Microsoft’s IPTV platform will make its debut first in Europe, with Club Internet selling the company’s services in France. The technology will allow for a user to watch high-definition TV, two programs at the same time, and record up to 50 hours of video.

24, Prison Break, Unan1mous, Stacked, Buffy, Firefly, Lost in Space… now on iTunes.

Why ABC’s ‘Lost’ Is the Future of Online Media

ABC’s “Lost” has done more than any other media before it to enable interaction around a brand on multiple platforms. It is the first truly pan-media experience, and that holds lessons for content producers everywhere.
“Lost” is everywhere. It’s a television show that was born in a traditional analog world but came of age in a digital world where the very idea of “television” is giving way to the idea of ubiquitous, platform-agnostic video.

But the show’s presence extends beyond just video. Viewers interact with the brand on multiple platforms. There are Web sites devoted to translating the whispers heard on the show. People track the literary works mentioned. ABC has even created fake Web sites for elements of the show, like for the band Driveshaft.

CBS launches entertainment Web site - Yahoo! News

CBS Corp. has launched a Web site that will offer new programming as well as some of its existing TV shows, as competition intensifies between broadcasters and Internet firms such as Google Inc.

The site, called innertube, was launched on Thursday and will be free to viewers and supported by advertising. Cadbury Schweppes, Chili’s, Pier 1 Imports Brinkmann Corp. and Verizon SuperPages.com are its initial advertising sponsors, CBS said.

MICROSOFT TO ANNOUNCE FIRST TWO VIDEO-PRODUCTION DEALS FOR MSN ONLINE

Microsoft will announce today a series of deals with independent production companies to produce video for MSN online.

The first two partnerships are with Reveille, creator of TV shows such as NBC’s “The Office'’ and “The Biggest Loser,'’ and Be Jane, which produces home-improvement videos for women. Microsoft expects to ink more agreements with different production companies in coming months.

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | BBC unveils radical revamp of website

The BBC today unveiled radical plans to rebuild its website around user-generated content, including blogs and home videos, with the aim of creating a public service version of MySpace.com.

» The new meaning of programming | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

But what happens when broadcast networks start putting up TV shows on the web, like ABC and Fox announced last week. Put another way, what happens to the value and need for traditional media programming when a show is placed on a non-linear medium like the web? Does making a show viewable on-demand negate the need for programming?

News World

[video] Oops! Chevy gets trashed in commercial contest | CNET News.com

People use “make your own ad” contest to blast SUV

Chevrolet created a contest to let users make their own ad for the Chevy Tahoe, but the company let a couple slip by under its nose depicting the SUV as a gas-guzzling, environment-destroying machine. Here are two clips from Chevy’s site.