WGA Strike - NBC - Disney - EdgeCast - YES Interactive - NBA

STRIKE NEGOTIATIONS have broken down, signaling a turn for the worse in the ongoing labor dispute. The AMPTP claims the current problems stem from "radical demands" being made by the WGA, such as the right to join strikes on behalf of other industry guilds. The producers are insisting that the WGA remove certain demands before talks can resume. The WGA says it rejects that ultimatum, as the strike enters its sixth week.

NBC will be giving cash refunds to advertisers this holiday season because they have no inventory left for make-goods. In fact, inventory is tight across all of the broadcast networks. The CW has been out of sale for weeks and CBS, ABC and Fox will be doing make-goods in the first quarter of next year.

WALT DISNEY's Steamboat Ventures has invested $6 million in content delivery network EdgeCast. A Steamboat spokesman said that optimizing online delivery of digital content is a "strategic imperative" for Disney. Steamboat provided funding for Move Networks earlier this year.

DIRECTV has seen positive results for YES Interactive, an application that offers on-screen stats and extra camera angles during Yankee games. Newly-released stats show that 42% of households with access to Yes Interactive used it consistently during the 2007 season. On average, interactive users watched games for 54% longer than standard viewers. The feature will return in 2008 with increased advertising support.

THE NBA will begin using MICROSOFT's Silverlight platform to deliver video content for NBA.com, WNBA.com and NBADevelopmentLeague.com. NBA VP of Interactive Steve Grimes said Silverlight will integrate with existing Flash applications and offer higher quality video playback. The NBA will begin using Silverlight video after the holiday season.

IMEEM has struck a deal to give users free streaming access to UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP music and videos. In exchange, Universal will take a cut of advertising revenue on the social networking site. Imeem now has deals in place with all four major record labels.

* Get the fully story at Media30.com *

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News & Politics

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• shelly
• palmer
• mediabytes
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• wga
• amptp
• strike
• nbc
• television
• advertisers
• disney
• steamboat
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• edgecast
• disne

[tim2uber]

if disney shuts down any more of their games i will go APE CRAP because disney cares about their money and they dont let us choose what we want