MTV Adds Broadband Coverage for VMAs

AP: After being stung by the criticism for its coverage of the international Live 8 charity concerts in July, MTV is wising up a bit. It is going to give heavy broadband coverage to MTV's Video Music Awards, being held this Sunday in Miami. Its new broadband video channel, MTV Overdrive, will include the dedicated "My VMAs" channel to allow fans the chance "to relive and remix" highlights from Sunday's show along with additional coverage of arrivals, parties and interviews.
"What Live 8 did show is that when there is a connection between the TV event and the choice of on-demand consumption after the event, everybody wins," Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music Group said.
Some more details in the release here...

MTV to Run Concert First on Broadband

MediaWeek: MTV is joining the online-first debut parade: it will debut a concert special featuring Eminem and 50 Cent on its recently launched broadband property, MTV Overdrive. The program will debut six days before TV showing.
Sister network Nickelodeon recently debuted the new series Catscratch on its broadband property, but the move sparked the ire of some cable operators, who complained about the potential negative effects the practice might have on the perceived value of cable properties among consumers.
Related:
-- MTV Releases Broadband Video Service Beta
-- More Details On MTV Overdrive

OBN Holdings Launches Music Video Showcase

Press Release: OBN Holdings announced today the launching of a new television series, "Video Music Showcase". The announcement comes in conjunction with agreements entered into with music giants Sony, Warner Brothers, EMI, and Universal Music Group...Currently 'hostless', the new show plans to cover a variety of musical genres and can be seen on OBNH subsidiaries Omni Broadcasting Network and POD Channel. Revenue generated from airing commercial spots along with the discontinuation of costs associated with broadcasting infomercials is expected to provide a substantial increase in net revenue to the company...

Apple May Start Offering Music Videos; Possibly Video iPod

WSJ: This will add more fuel to the Apple iTunes-iPod video speculation. We've been covering Apple's quiet moves into video, with its new iTunes 4.8 version (which allows video play).
Now WSJ says that Apple is having negotiations with music labels,  to license music videos to sell through iTunes store. And the negotiations are a possible prelude to video iPod, a widely expected gadget that Apple has told some entertainment-industry executives that it could announce by September.
The videos, which could also go on sale in September, would likely be sold for $1.99 each, with the possibility of a discount if consumers buy a music video and a song at the same time.
Apple has also approached some media companies with TV-production arms about licensing shows..
Related:
-- More on iTunes Podcast, Video Plans
-- iTunes Video And Media Management
-- iTunes and The Video Speculations

MTV Launches Recommendation System For Content

CNN: MTV will launch a mobile video clip channel in Japan at the end of this month, called Flux..."Subscribers pay ¥315 ($2.90) per month for basic access, giving them the right to download the equivalent of two short video clips or three songs. A fee will be charged for additional downloads...Flux would be unique because users can make recommendations to others and provide feedback, creating a networked community around the content". Communities are good and recommendation systems are a good promotional vehicle (assuming you have good content). The plan is for the service to go global, with the UK touted as the next probable market.
"Targeting 13- to 34-year-olds, the company said users will be able to view three-minute clips of popular cartoon character SpongeBob Squarepants and other Viacom content such as "Dirty Sanchez," a reality show about a group of prankster boys." I can't believe a kids show is named Dirty Sanchez...that's kind of sick.
Related stories:
--Personalized Recommendations For Mobile Content
--MTV Hijacks Motorola
--C4 Hails Mobile As 'Next Big Thing In Interactivty'

Sony BMG Close to Exclusive Music Video Deal With AOL

CNet: That's good news for Sony BMG obviously, because it hopefully opens up a significant new source of revenue for the label amidst an era of declining CD sales...(The New York Post reported that AOL could pay more than $25 million for rights to Sony BMG's video catalog...) "A deal could be announced within a couple of weeks, but details still need to be worked out on how much exclusivity AOL will get as part of the deal and how much that exclusivity is worth." Granting AOL any amount of exclusivity (with respect to the videos) would certainly be a departure from other online music video deals, in which labels have granted access to more than one online service.

Universal and Warner already have similar deals (minus the exclusivity) in place, granting online access to its music video catalogs and EMI is reportedly working on one too with several interested parties...While labels have often allowed online services access to videos for promotional purposes, labels are turning to their catalogs of videos as a new source of revenue through a fee-per-view or through advertising revenue sharing. This trend will only increase as broadband usage continues to grow, cellular networks improve and newer video compression technology yields even smaller file sizes to make the viewing experience faster and more entertaining...

Clear Channel Debuts First Production in Internet-only Concert Series

RadioMonitor: Clear Channel announced yesterday the debut of its new "Stripped" series on 125 station Web sites. The first online video concert is available free and on demand and features a five-song performance from John Legend. The new Internet-only concert series is part of Clear Channel's vision to embrace the Internet by creating original content to enhance its local station brands. "Stripped" is produced by Clear Channel's new online music and radio division, headed by executive VP Evan Harrison, formerly GM of AOL Music.

3UK Launches Mobile Video Download Chart

NetImperative: 3UK has teamed up with Kiss 100 to launch a music video download chart show, like a countdown. "Each Saturday morning between 10am and 12 noon, Kiss DJ James Merritt will count down a chart of the top 20 videos and play out a mixture of current favourites and classic tracks on air." Aside from being content in its own right the show will act as a good promotional vehicle for mobile music videos. "3 said its customers downloaded more than 10 million videos on the jukebox within the first six months after the service launched." Related stories: --Make Your Own Watchtone --SmartVideo Brings Ad-Supported Music Videos To Mobiles --British Youth Spend £165m A Year On Mobile Music

Sony BMG Wants $ For VOD

Billboard.biz: Sony BMG is now requiring compensation for the inclusion of its repertoire in online VOD services. The deal might be with AOL, and could be an exclusive, according to the story. Following this, the company is notifying all other digital music programmers they need to remove their Sony BMG video content from their services in the wake of the pact.
The move leaves many of the leading digital music services on the web without VOD content from Sony BMG, Universal Music Group or both.