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The Associated Press reports that British Broadcasting Corp. bought a 75 percent stake in Lonely Planet.
Founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler will keep a 25-percent stake. The management team will also remain in place.
Originally posted on October 1, 2007 @ 11:28 am
National Lampoon Inc. announced that its wildly popular web videos have gone into the Internet stratosphere surpassing 6 million views on their YouTube channel alone for the month of September. National Lampoon now ranks #1 on YouTube for the month in all comedy, and stands as the #2 US YouTube partner, beating out such entertainment behemoths as NBC, CBS, Warner Bros. Records, BBC, Fox News, and hundreds more.
National Lampoon’s web success has not just been limited to September; over the past 12 months National Lampoon’s creative team has produced some of the most seminal comedy videos online, each of which has generated millions of views across the Internet. They include:
“National Lampoon’s Seinfeld The Lost Episodeâ€, a mash-up video on Michael Richards’ racist rant in Hollywood, which was featured in the New York Times and other major publications.
“National Lampoon’s 24: Aqua Teen Hunger Forceâ€, a parody on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare in Boston, which was featured in Entertainment Weekly’s Must List.
“National Lampoon’s Weekend at Anna’sâ€, a mash-up video on the race for Anna Nicole Smith’s fortune, which was featured in Rolling Stone Magazine.
“National Lampoon’s 72 Virginsâ€, a faux movie trailer in which two idiot college students unwittingly join an Al Qaeda cell to get the 72 virgins promised to terrorists when they die. The trailer was featured on Fox’s Bill O’Reilly show.
“National Lampoon’s Fat Guy Nation: Girl Or Food?!†Along with the other “Fat Guy Nation†webisodes, have become an Internet must see.
“Britney’s VMA Awards Performance†spoof, seen across the Internet in the multi-millions and the companion piece “Leave Chris Crocker Alone! Britney Respondsâ€.
“Don’t Quit Your Day Job†a career guide video which highlights the many talented creative personalities in the entertainment industry.
Originally posted on September 26, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
Joost sealed an exclusive partnership with MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball. The agreement grants Joost the rights to make on-demand game broadcasts and highlight clips from the 2007 MLB postseason, including the World Series, and Daily Rewind, an MLB.com produced daily highlight program, available on its streaming video distribution platform to a global viewing audience.
The Daily Rewind program, a 30-minute program that features highlights from all the championship action on and off the field, will be streamed on Joost domestically and internationally, outside of Japan, on a daily basis. In addition, within 24 hours of their initial airing, Joost will begin streaming games on-demand from the Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series around the world, outside of the U.S. and Japan. All games and shows will be available on Joost for one month.
Originally posted on September 28, 2007 @ 5:00 am
Technorati, Inc., the leading authority on the universe of blogs and social media on the web, announced today the appointment of Richard Jalichandra as President & Chief Executive Officer. Founder and former CEO David L. Sifry, who, since August, is the company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, made the announcement today on the Technorati blog.
“As Technorati continues its growth into a genuine, revenue-phase business, the Board and I have been focused on finding that exact right individual to lead this extraordinary company to its next great level,” said Sifry. “Richard Jalichandra is clearly that person – his experience, leadership capabilities and track record of success are incredibly impressive.”
An experienced senior Internet executive, Jalichandra has held leadership roles across the media spectrum: as a client; running several agencies; at several large publishers; and at an advertising network. Prior to joining Technorati, he held significant leadership roles at Exponential Interactive (Tribal Fusion’s parent company), Fox Interactive Media and IGN Entertainment. Most recently, Jalichandra worked on a variety of Internet media projects as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Battery Ventures, an advisory board member at MyYearbook.com and Pixsy, and as an M&A and strategy consultant for several other Internet media properties.
“Technorati is a storied name in the Web 2.0 pantheon, so it’s an honor to have been selected by the team to lead the company into its future,” said Jalichandra. “I look forward to getting to work and getting to know all the people associated with this great company.”
Originally posted on October 1, 2007 @ 9:47 am
Microsoft Corp. is releasing an update to Live Search centered on improvements to core search technology and deeper advancements in the vertical search areas of entertainment, shopping, local and health. Collectively, these improvements mark a quality milestone based on the company’s focus on delivering a better search experience for consumers and advertisers.
The majority of Live Search customer feedback has focused on improving overall search relevance to deliver richer and deeper results and investing in differentiated experiences in high-interest consumer areas such as entertainment, shopping, health and local search.
Microsoft’s efforts toward satisfying its Live Search customers can be grouped into a few key areas: Over fourfold increase in index size; Substantial improvements in understanding query intent; Significant enhancements to core algorithms; Increased focus on query refinement; New Web data extraction model; and Expansion of Rich Answers.
Additional improvements to the service include a new, cleaner user interface that makes the results pages easier to read and use; a more robust Answers platform that provides instant access to information from trusted sources while increasing relevancy; and organization of results pages based on the high-interest search verticals of entertainment, shopping, local and health on one page.
Originally posted on September 27, 2007 @ 7:00 am