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SAG has signed an interim pact with indie producers that will keep actors working on their productions in the event of a strike. While this may simply be a negotiating tactic to scare the AMPTP, it does raise the ominous possibility of yet another strike in Hollywood.
REMBRANDT INC claims it has a patent covering part of the digital television standard and is suing ABC, NBC Universal, CBS and Fox for patent infringement. The company is seeking sizable awards for royalties. If they prevail, the royalties could cost the industry (and consumers) an extra $100 million annually after the transition to digital in February 2009.
COMSCORE announced that online video views are up 66% over last year. 10 billion videos were viewed in February alone. This data is grist for the mill at the NAB this week. Wanna know the real scary part – their numbers might be off by 100%. What if there were 20 billion videos viewed in February? Hummm …
YOUTUBE announced that it has paid out $1 million to video producers as part of its ad revenue-sharing Partner Program. One video producer said he was paid $1600 for 2 million views. Silicon Valley Insider calculates this as 80 cent CPM, and believes Google is collecting a net 25 cents per thousand viewers. Just to put it in perspective. Cable television averages $9 cpms and Network Television averages $30 cpms. And, just for fun, 2 million viewers would be a big success on cable, a moderate success in syndication and a cancelled show on network tv.
VERIZON has settled a suit that claimed its FiOS TV subscriber data was inflated, leading to over-priced advertising rates. Advertising company Digital Arts Services had filed the suit in October. The two sides claim no money has changed hands and that matter has been handled outside of court.
CINEMANOW has developed a new digital movie distribution platform, which it is hoping to sell to hardware companies and online retailers as an add-on movie service.