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Sirius delights the kiddies with SCV1 backseat TV tuner
Sirius is seriously on a roll today. Clearly not content with debuting its Stiletto 2 and Sportster 4 portable receivers, the satellite powerhouse has officially announced its SCV1, aka Backseat TV, aka The Child-Silencer (our name). If you've ever been on a road-trip with a couple of bundles of joy, you'll understand how helpful this particular technology could be. The new receiver is able to grab both radio and TV signals, allowing it to pull down Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network on TV screens in the backseat (for the joy bundles) while it streams music or talk up front (for you). The system offers a "kid friendly" remote for controlling Backseat content, while the "adult" section is operated by a separate, wired remote. The radio can also be controlled via Sirius-compatible aftermarket headunits. The SCV1 will be available in the 4th quarter of 2007, and will run you $299.99 for the unit, plus an additional $6.99 for TV service each month -- but hey -- that's a small price to pay for a quiet drive.
Sierra developing Spiderwick Chronicles game based on movie
Don't act so surprised! Yes, a major developer is making a video game based on an upcoming film adapted from a series of popular children's books. While The Spiderwick Chronicles is notably short on boy wizards, Sierra's marketing fella says, "The Spiderwick Chronicles video game will authentically recreate the world of Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace, putting gamers in their shoes as they discover a hidden world of fantastical creatures – sprites, ogres, goblins, brownies and more." We're not sure how fantastical brownies are, but we digress ... The Spiderwick Chronicles video game is being developed by Sierra for the Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, DS, and PC platforms, and is due to be released in February 2008 to coincide with the film's theatrical release (of course!).
MTV's Nickelodeon spending $100 million on gaming
Nickelodeon, former network of You Can't Do That on Television and Double Dare, announced they will be spending -- keeping the zeros in for effect -- $100,000,000 to become the top provider of casual games and master of casual game sites. Oh, and that $100 million isn't over many rotations around the sun either, that's just in the next two years for "development, distribution and creation."If you're attempting to put two and two together at the moment on why Nickelodeon ... remember how obsessed you were with Nickelodeon as a child? Well, things haven't changed much, so by investing in games for their 8 -14 demographic, MTV networks can gateway drug potential casual gamers into other divisions of their vast media empire. This MTV gaming focus is nothing new, they have been gobbling up many gaming properties in recent years like Xfire, GameTrailers and the purchase of Harmonix, creators of potential mega-hit Rock Band. Nickelodeon should begin showing signs of this master plan later next year.
THQ profits show power of licensing
Publisher THQ has posted net sales of more than $1 billion in their 2007 fiscal year, reportedly their 12th consecutive year of revenue growth. According to their annual financial report (PDF file), the company also managed to ship eight titles that exceeded one million units in sales. Their secret to success? Licensed titles.The annual report revealed that THQ's focus was 80% licensed intellectual property and 20% owned IP -- a 4-to-1 ratio. Key achievements include shipping 8 million units of Disney/Pixar's Cars, 4 million units of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 and 4 million units combined of Nickelodeon franchises.THQ did establish two franchises this fiscal year, Saint's Row and Company of Heroes, and this upcoming fiscal year, THQ intends to increase its focus on owned IPs to a 33% share on the pie graph -- that's now only a 2-to-1 ratio of licensed-to-owned IP.Sure, licensed games may not be the most anticipated titles (or even the ones to receive the most coverage from the gaming press), but they do wonders to a publisher's bottom line.
Nick sale at iTunes
Spongebob is ON SALE! You can pick up an entire season of Spongebob for just 21 bucks--rather than the normal $40. Apple and Nickelodeon are running a Summertime stock-up-on-Nick sale with titles ranging from Dora to Invader Zim to the Fairly Oddparents. If you've got a kid, and you've got some loooong family trips coming up or if you've just got an embarassing but potentially treatable familial TV-viewing habit, now is the time to stock up on Nick at iTunes. Yadi yadi limited time blah blah blah.
Verizon's V CAST Mobile TV going live March 1st
Nah, Verizon Wireless isn't snapping up Alltel just yet or anything, but the carrier is formally announcing its plans to launch its much-anticipated V CAST Mobile TV service right on schedule. The March 1st date that's been floating around is purportedly true, meaning there won't be any unforeseen delays in enjoying the mobile TV abilities of your forthcoming SCH-U620 or VX9400 -- if you're in a launch market, that is. Currently, the exact whereabouts of launch capabilities is a bit ambiguous, and curiously omitted are major markets such as "New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego and Las Vegas," but the provider reportedly plans to have a good deal of these "major markets" covered by the "end of Q1," or March 31st. The service will utilize Qualcomm's MediaFLO mobile TV network, which AT&T also plans on eventually using, and will offer up programming from CBS, Comedy Central, Fox, MTV, NBC News, NBC Entertainment, and Nickelodeon. Unfortunately, we're still in the dark in regard to an official pricing structure, but with only T-minus two days 'til kickoff, the remaining minutiae should surface soon enough.
BitTorrent strikes a deal with Hollywood
You might consider BitTorrent to be the discerning pirate's choice when it comes to obtaining everything from movies to software. Well, it's about to go mainstream, given that BitTorrent, Inc. announced a partnership with pretty much everyone in Hollywood, including 20th Century Fox, G4, Lions Gate, MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and plenty others. This isn't the first time that the establishment has saddled up with everyone's favorite file sharing company, although we're not exactly sure what the effects were on the seedy underground of the internets, nor what new revenue Warner Bros. saw from that deal. Still, this new unnamed service's offerings and prices will be made available in February 2007, which will be when the BitTorrent's new online retail marketplace opens for business.[Thanks, Alan]
Sirius execs confirm video service will be live
In an announcement that is being described as a victory for couch potatoes worldwide, Sirius execs at the recent Morgan Stanley Global Automotive Conference claimed that despite rumors to the contrary, Sirius Video will indeed be a live, streaming service (as opposed to delivering cached content). Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin gave the example of a Nickelodeon-loving rugrat -- whose traumatic Spongebob-downtime will soon be mercifully limited to the short walk between couch and minivan -- as the type of customer who will benefit from live broadcasts. Although we've known that Sirius was planning to roll out a video service for well over a year now, this is the first time anyone has been able to pin down the suits on a launch window, with Senior VP Bob Law citing a "post-CES 2007" target for the initial rollout.
Avatar: The Last Airbender in iTunes
This afternoon, we noticed that Nick's Avatar: The Last Airbender (which I had never heard of) has been added to the iTunes Music Store [iTunes link]. Nineteen episodes from season 1 are available for $1.99US each. Season 2 follows the same subscription model that Apple is using to distribute The Daily Show and The Colbert Report: For $29.99US, you can purchase a season pass to Avatar and receive each episode automatically as they're added to the iTMS. Before you do the math, note that season 1 is listed as a "partial season," so it isn't certain how many season 2 episodes you'll get for your thirty bucks.
