Broadband Content Bits: Endemol’s Product Placement; AOL Casual Games Site; WENN B2C Site; YouTube
—Endemol: TV shows such as Big Brother and Deal or No Deal could soon be a little bit more profitable: producer Endemol has signed a deal with MirriAd, the Surrey-based company that digitally insert brand logos and products in TV shows, games and films, to place advertising into its shows when they viewed via online catch-up players. Unlabelled product placement is banned in regular TV in the UK but a loophole allows broadcasters to insert ads when shows are broadcast via on demand services. MirriAd has raised £3.5 million over the last six months in two rounds of funding. Broadcastnow.co.uk.
—AOL: Media Glow, AOL’s publishing division, has launched a casual gaming blog, Flytrapgames.com, to cash in on a growing demand for mobile and desktop casual game. AOL (NYSE: TWX) is hoping the creation of a niche site - its first UK-specific blog - will translate into advertising partners looking for a niche audience, with some help from AOL’s Platform-A ad business. The company claims its UK casual games portal attracts almost one million unique users a month and says the Flytrap launch is part of plans to add more than 30 new sites to the Media Glow network this year.
—WENN: Celebrity photo and news company World Entertainment News Network has launched a blog at Wenn.com. The ad-funded site marks a shift for WENN, which for 20 years has provided newspapers and magazines with news and pictures on an agency basis. The company says its B2B site was generating large amounts of traffic anyway, simply due to the high-profile names it covers and it has now moved to cash in on the interest with its first B2C play. French, Spanish and German versions will be launched by Q409. Release.
—Google-YouTube: Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Telegraph.co.uk and London Business School have joined forces to produce and promote a YouTube channel featuring snapshots of wisdom from business leaders and experts. The Survival of the Fastest channel has mini-clips of business advice and predictions from London Mayor Boris Johnson, IPA president Rory Sutherland and IAB chief executive Guy Phillipson, among others.
Posted In: Advertising, Entertainment, Gaming, Media & Publishing, TV, IPTV, VOD, Companies, AOL, Google, YouTube, Time Warner