Hoo rah!
Seacrest-palooza
Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, Rascal Flatts and the Black Eyed Peas are among the performers Reuters says will perform at host Ryan Seacrest's inaugural iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas Sept. 23 and 24.
Although Seacrest didn't call the festival what it was, a giant Clear Channel promotion for its new music service to compete with Pandora, he did go into full hyperbole mode and call it a "once-in-a-generation gathering of artists and fans" and "a true, must-see music event."
Web, what hath you wrought?
It's not just newspapers that can't figure out how to make money online.
A few years ago, TV networks saw a path to future profits on the Internet and started digital-production studios to create original online content.
Time Warner's comedy-focused Super Deluxe launched that year and closed the next. Walt Disney/ABC launched Stage 9, only to fold it by 2009.
Now, Comcast Corp. has announced that the NBC Universal Digital Studio, launched in 2008, is shutting its portal.
"I would think they should be doubling down right now on creating original content for the Web," says Marc Hustvedt, editor-in-chief of Tubefilter News and founder of the International Academy of Web Television. "The ad dollars are moving towards it. There's this whole group, a new core of digital studios that are really booming in terms of audience."
NBC said the move was "simply about a change in strategy."
"Going forward we plan to focus our digital efforts and investment on content that's supportive of our on-air programs, providing our audience with additional content that further engages them in our shows," the network said in a statement.
