Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

No HUNGER GAMES at the Super Bowl

Monday, January 30th, 2012

UPDATE: Lionsgate will air a new Hunger Games teaser — not during the Super Bowl, but during the pregame (it’s so much fun trying to keep up with this).

Here’s the teaser for the teaser:

Did you know that the Super Bowl ads are a predictor of the economy? According to the San Francisco Chronicle, there will be more automobile ads this year and the first real estate ad in two decades, indicating that advertisers, at least, think consumers are ready to spend on big-ticket items. And social media has taken hold. No longer content to just create and run a memorable spot, advertisers are leaking teasers online and embedding URL’s so viewers, with tablets, laptops and iPhones in hand as they watch the game, can join contests and share favorite clips with friends.

But one business seems to be pulling back. Last year, movie studios ran ads for 15 films, including 5 based on books or comic books. The L.A. Times‘ roundup of studio advertising this year mentions only 4 spots, with just one based on a book (Disney may use its spot to promote John Carter, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars, RH/Modern Library).

Lionsgate is sitting out this Super Bowl, so fans of Hunger Games will not be treated to a new trailer (the latest one, below, was released in mid November). That may be a good thing. Promotion via social media, has been so heavy that some media observers wonder if all that blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking, Googling, and YouTubing is just too much.

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NBC Launches EBook Division

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

NBC News announced yesterday that it has created a new publishing division, NBC Publishing, to produce ebooks based on information from NBC’s news shows (including The Today Show and Nightline), archives and other divisions (NBC  Sports, Universal Pictures and Telemundo).

The head of the new division, NBC v-p Michael Fabiano, told Publishers Weekly that their first original e-book is coming next month, followed by about 30 titles over the  year. He also noted that NBC has the capability of distributing titles on their own.

He did not address whether titles will be available to libraries via OverDrive, but indications are hopeful. NBC has hired two people from publishing houses, both of which sell titles via OverDrive to libraries; Peter Costanzo from Perseus Book Group has been named as creative director and Brian Perrin, most recently with Rodale, is director of digital development. Also, an earlier enhanced ebook that NBC published with Running Press, From Yesterday to Today: Six Decades of America’s Favorite Morning Show (Dec., 2011), is available to libraries on OverDrive.

Reporting the story, the online movie news site, Deadline points out that ebooks are likely to evolve into a format separate from print books, with this quote from Cheryl Gould, NBC News SVP who is heading up the New York-based part of the new division,

As the tablet and e-reader markets continue to expand exponentially, and as the definition of “what is a ‘book?’” evolves, we see opportunities to bring readers a unique and immersive content experience. This business enables NBC to use video, audio, and current programming in creative new ways.

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