Media News - Tuesday, February 09, 2010

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Super Bowl is most watched U.S. show ever, CBS says

CBS Corp. said the Super Bowl was seen by an estimated 106.5 million people, becoming the most- watched program in U.S. television history. The broadcast of the New Orleans Saints’ 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts surpassed the 1983 season finale of “M*A*S*H,” which was watched by 106 million viewers, New York- based CBS said Monday in an e-mail, citing data from Nielsen Co. About 45 percent of U.S. homes watched the game, a 7 percent increase from last year and the biggest percentage in 14 years, CBS said. Last year’s championship on NBC was seen in 42 percent of U.S. homes. Each rating point equals 1 percent of the 114.9 million U.S. television households. CBS, owner of the most watched U.S. network, sold more than USD 206m in Super Bowl ads, exceeding the record reported by NBC last year, Sean McManus, who oversees CBS Sports, said in a Feb. 4 interview. The network sold out its commercial time six days before the broadcast. (Bloomberg)

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Google to add social features to Gmail

Google is trying once again to capture some of the momentum surrounding social networking companies like Facebook and Twitter by adding new features to Gmail, its popular e-mail service. Later this week, Google will introduce add-ons to Gmail that let users post and view messages about their day-to-day activities, according to a person at Google briefed on its plans. This simple tweak to Gmail will allow Google to mimic the status updates that have driven much of the success of Facebook and Twitter, as people return to the services again and again to check out what their friends and co-workers are doing. To date, Google has allowed users to post only a brief message about their status through its Chat system, which is linked to Gmail. The new features would allow a more vibrant back-and-forth among Gmail users. It is not clear whether Google will link the new Gmail features to rival social-networking services. Google is also expected to create strong ties between Gmail and its YouTube video site and Picasa photo gallery service. (New York Times)

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More European newspapers put up paywalls

More European newspapers are joining the paid content club: Axel Springer has put up online paywalls for two of its German newspapers, the Berliner Morgenpost and the Hamburger Abendblatt. This follows reports of French paper Le Figaro readying a paywall this month, and ahead of a planned paywall from Times Online, expected this spring. Access to all content on morgenpost.de now costs EUR 4.95 a month. A premium subscription to abendblatt.de costs EUR 7.95 a month. Abendblatt.de has a mixture of free and premium content: it appears it charges extra for content specific to the Hamburg region, while making national news free. Subscriptions for both are renewed on a monthly basis. Axel Springer has already seen some success in paid-content models for its papers. In December 2009, it launched paid-for iPhone apps for two of its other German newspapers, the tabloid Bild and Die Welt. Clickandbuy, which provides the charging mechanism for these apps as well as the new online paywalls, says that Bild is now ranked first and Die Welt ninth in Germany's app store. (The Guardian)

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Iran says it detains 7 tied to US-funded radio, accuses some of working for US spy agencies

Iran has arrested seven people linked to a U.S.-funded Farsi-language radio station for allegedly fomenting unrest, and accused some of the suspects of working for American spy agencies, Iranian state media reported Sunday. The official IRNA news agency and Iran's state radio both cited an Intelligence Ministry statement saying the suspects played a role in violent anti-government demonstrations in Tehran on Dec. 27. On that day, at least eight people were killed and hundreds were arrested during clashes between opposition supporters and security forces. IRNA quoted the ministry statement as saying "some of them have been officially hired by the U.S. intelligence agencies." State radio said the suspects were trained outside of Iran in sabotage, disturbing public order, spreading rumours and overthrowing a government by soft means. It also said the seven planned to take part in opposition demonstrations expected on Feb. 11, when Iran marks the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that brought the country's hardline clerical establishment to power. The U.S.-sponsored Radio Farda, meaning "Radio Tomorrow," is Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Farsi-language service. The station, which has bases in Prague, Czech Republic, and Washington, D.C., has been broadcasting since 2003. RFE/RL's spokesman in Prague, Julian Knapp, expressed concern over the arrests, but said the station has no independent confirmation of them. (Canadian Press)

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Union accuses Thomson Reuters of illegal pay cuts

A labor union has filed a complaint against Thomson Reuters Corp. alleging the financial information and news service is illegally imposing pay cuts and restricting what workers can write on their Twitter accounts. In a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the Newspaper Guild of New York charges that Thomson Reuters plans to cut wages of reporters and other employees by an average of 10 percent this year without the union's consent. Thomson Reuters disputed the figure Friday, saying it is guaranteeing a 0.5 percent salary increase for the more than 400 U.S. journalists represented by the union at its Reuters News service. The conflicting figures provided by the union and Thomson Reuters' management reflect the acrimony underlying their talks on a new contract. Other media companies, mostly newspapers, have been lowering wages and requiring unpaid furloughs during the past year as a severe advertising slump dried up their main source of revenue. The Newspaper Guild contends Reuters hasn't been hit as hard because it isn't as dependent on advertising as newspapers. The complaint also alleges that Thomson Reuters hasn't followed proper procedures for drawing up its policy governing its employees' use of Twitter, a popular online tool for broadcasting messages of up to 140 characters. Thomson Reuters bars its workers for posting anything "that would damage the reputation of Reuters News or Thomson Reuters." (AP)

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US: Magazine circulation falls; Better Homes now No 1 in US

Magazine circulation continued to fall in the second half of 2009 from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Audit Bureau of Circulation, with Better Homes and Gardens eclipsing Reader's Digest to be the most purchased magazine in the U.S. Better Homes, published by Meredith Corp. (MDP), saw its total paid and verified circulation fall just 0.5 percent to an average 7.6 million copies for the monthly. That compares with a 13 percent drop for Reader's Digest to 7.1 million. Its parent, Reader's Digest Association Inc., is about to emerge from bankruptcy protection. Among the nation's most-sold magazines, TV Guide saw the biggest decline, with its average circulation sliding 26 percent to 2.4 million copies. Consumers are increasingly using programming guides on their set-top boxes. The publication was bought in late 2008 by private-equity company OpenGate Capital for USD 1. The biggest gainer amid popular titles was a 6.9 percent average increase for Conde Nast Publications Inc.'s Glamour to 2.5 million as it recorded an 11 percent jump in subscriptions. (Smart Money)

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More recent Media News:

• 08/02/10 - Google splashes out USD 5m on Super Bowl advert
• 08/02/10 - Guardian Zeitgeist filters news by ‘attention of users’
• 08/02/10 - France wants Georgian TV back on the air
• 08/02/10 - Google warns Chinese copycat website: report
• 08/02/10 - China shuts down largest hacker training website
• 08/02/10 - Germany threatens Google over Street View
• 05/02/10 - Short attention span theatre: 25 percent abandon newspaper web video if ad runs
• 05/02/10 - Google, NSA to team up in cyberattack probe
• 05/02/10 - US Justice Dept says Google books deal troubled
• 05/02/10 - EU reviews Internet security after emissions fraud
• 05/02/10 - Swedish daily slashes workforce
• 05/02/10 - Internet history: Google Earth’s WWII aerial images
• 04/02/10 - Cyber-warfare ‘is growing threat’
• 04/02/10 - Broadcasting Authority of India to be created soon
• 04/02/10 - EU approves increase in Irish broadcasting fund
• 04/02/10 - Hollywood loses landmark copyright case in Australia
• 04/02/10 - Blogging loses appeal for US teenagers, says survey
• 04/02/10 - Telegraph: no more chasing web hits
• 03/02/10 - Croatia media murder trial to open
• 03/02/10 - Egyptian billionaire poised to join Lebedev in Independent deal
• 03/02/10 - Armenian TV channel to broadcast all over Russia
• 03/02/10 - News Corp records strong profits
• 03/02/10 - Over 200 sites adopt hNews microformatting
• 03/02/10 - Video journalists shed light on forgotten stories

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