Home › DMW Daily

DMW Daily, October 17, 2008

Top Stories
o Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Down 7%; Economy Not Faulted
o Tribune Gives Notice to Drop Associated Press Content
o MySpace Music Reassessing Need for Private Equity Partners
o Report: Facebook Considering Music Services
o Music Service Pandora Lays Off 14% of Staff
o Chinese Online TV Provider PPS.tv Raises $20 Million
o Multiplayer Game Developer Ray Flame Lands $800,000
Opinion & Analysis
o Buzz Watch: I Can Has Cheezburger?
Briefly Noted
o Download Stats Question "Long Tail" Theory for Mobile Music
o Twitter Switches Chairman, CEO
o FORA.tv Names Blaise Zerega as President, COO
o Nielsen Shuttering "Hey Nielsen" Social Network Research Unit
 Top Stories
o Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Down 7%; Economy Not Faulted 
Port Washington, N.Y. - U.S. video game sales were down 7% in September, to $1.27 billion from $1.35 billion a year ago, but did not appear to be terribly affected by current economic woes, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group. [more..]
o Tribune Gives Notice to Drop Associated Press Content 
Chicago - Tribune, the Chicago-based newspaper publisher that owns The Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, has become the first major newspaper chain to give notice that it will drop the Associated Press wire service, Editor & Publisher reported.
[more..]
o MySpace Music Reassessing Need for Private Equity Partners 
Los Angeles - News Corp.'s MySpace is reassessing the private equity elements of its new MySpace Music joint venture with the major record labels, which may be seen by the company as too complicated and not necessary in the end, PaidContent reported, citing sources familiar with the situation. [more..]
o Report: Facebook Considering Music Services 
New York - Online social network Facebook has been in talks with a number of existing digital music services -- including Rhapsody, Imeem, iLike and Lala -- on providing a more deeply integrated music service on the site, the New York Post reported. [more..]
o Music Service Pandora Lays Off 14% of Staff 
San Francisco - Social music discovery service Pandora has laid off 20 employees, or 14% of its staff, company founder Tim Westergren announced in a blog post this week. [more..]
o Chinese Online TV Provider PPS.tv Raises $20 Million 
Shanghai, China - PPS.tv, an online TV service in China that counts over 100 million monthly users, announced that it has raised $20 million in new financing, led by LB Investment with participation from Ceyuan Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners. [more..]
o Multiplayer Game Developer Ray Flame Lands $800,000 
Cypress, Calif. - Multiplayer online game developer Ray Flame Entertainment has raised $800,000 in its first round of funding, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing. [more..]
 Opinion & Analysis
o Buzz Watch: I Can Has Cheezburger? 
n/a
 Briefly Noted
o Download Stats Question "Long Tail" Theory for Mobile Music 
Los Angeles - The CEO of mobile music distributor 24/7 entertainment told attendees at the Popkomm conference this week that 66% of the 4.5 million songs it offers have never been downloaded by users -- countering the notion of a "long tail" theory for mobile music, Wired.com reported. [more..]
o Twitter Switches Chairman, CEO 
San Francisco - Twitter, the San Francisco-based social networking and micro-blogging service that lets users post text-based messages of up to 140 characters in length, said that it has replaced CEO Jack Dorsey with Evan Williams, its co-founder, chairman and chief product officer. [more..]
o FORA.tv Names Blaise Zerega as President, COO 
San Francisco - FORA.tv, a San Francisco-based video site that specializes in political and cultural content, this week named journalist Blaise Zerega as its new president and COO. [more..]
o Nielsen Shuttering "Hey Nielsen" Social Network Research Unit 
New York - Ratings and research firm Nielsen is shuttering its research-focused online social network, "Hey! Nielsen," Mediapost reported. [more..]