CNM Short Takes

IDC wins distance learning contractsInternational Datacasting Corp, Ottawa, has signed three new contracts for distance learning infrastructure worth $1 million. The deals are with two education institutions in Mexico, and with the Canadian International Development Agency to examine new distribution and infrastructure solutions to the Latin American distance education market. IDC has been an active player in the southern hemisphere, and has been working with several Canadian players on new caching technologies for the educational market. Alliance Atlantis launches 24/7 web channelAlliance Atlantis, Toronto, is hoping a new reality-based Internet TV show will prove a hit with surfers. The company is launching a new show, U8TV, which will feature eight people living under one roof – monitored 24/7 – who will be responsible for creating content such as news and entertainment. Content from the show will also be broadcast once per day on Life Network, Monday to Saturday. The new show is a project of TVFORREAL.com, founded by former CTV exec Zev Shalev – formerly executive producer for Canada AM. The show is now casting the eight personalities who will live and work in the U8TV loft/studio for as long as one year. Telesystem goes on new media buying spreeTelesystem Group Inc has purchased stakes in several software companies building the infrastructure for new media content delivery. It has invested a total of US$11.5 million in POPcast Inc, LA, Vertigo Computer Solutions Inc, Montreal, and iPerceptions Inc, NY. Iperceptions is an ASP and POPcast builds self-serve webcasting solutions. Shift sold to employeesShift Multimedia Inc has been handed over to the employees and management of Shift by Normal Net Inc in the wake of financial difficulties at the beleaguered magazine. Andrew Heintzman will return to the fold as president of Shift Multimedia as part of the deal. Heintzman says his priorities will be to find new financial and strategic partners to move the publication forward. EA scores Harry Potter gamesElectronic Arts’ president Don Mattrick has helped the company win what is expected to be one of the biggest video game development scores around. The Canadian has landed a contract with Warner Brothers Consumer Products to develop video games for the wildly popular Harry Potter series of books. No financial details were released. Iceberg posts lossIceberg Media.com Inc, Toronto, has posted a loss for the six months ended June 30 of $1.7 million ($0.11 per share) on revenue of $179,000. The company spent $2.4 million during the period on operating expenses and $387,000 on capital assets. Itemus continues buying streakItemus Inc has invested $1.4 million in SpiderCache Inc, Vancouver. SpiderCache’s flagship product, SpiderCache v1.0, caches dynamically created content, reducing server overhead, protecting against traffic surges and ensuring customers always see the freshest available content. The software is currently being beta tested by Investment.com and other North American sites. In other Itemus news, the company recorded a total net loss, adjusted for discontinued operations, of $2.2 million for Q2 2000, down from $20 million in the first quarter. The company invested more than $35 million in cash and common shares for two acquisitions and 10 minority stakes during the quarter. Look makes ISP acquisitonLook Communications Inc has entered into a definitive purchase and sale agreement to acquire all assets of InterPacific Online Inc, an ISP in Richmond Hill ON. InterPacific has over 7,300 residential and business subscribers. Look is buying the company for an undisclosed sum of cash and shares. Amberwood turns to webAmberwood Entertainment Corp, Ottawa, and Longboat Productions Inc, under the presidency of actor Leslie Neilsen, will cooperate to distribute family and children’s television productions. Amberwood is also seeking distribution rights for programming from other producers. In addition to traditional distribution means, the two companies have hatched an interactive Internet strategy using Amberwood-owned characters and concepts. Competition Bureau won’t challenge Vivendi/Seagram dealThe Canadian Competition Bureau has announced that it won’t challenge the completion of a merger between Vivendi, Seagram and Canal+. Regulatory approvals still need to be hammered out from Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage. Defamation case dropped by Starnet against magazineStarnet Communications International Inc, Toronto, has dropped a defamation case it brought against Las Vegas Casino Inc alleging the publication of "false and malicious" defamatory statements on the Internet. The case was brought after Las Vegas Casino wrote articles about Starnet in Gambling Magazine on the web. The case was abandoned on August 25 before an application to have the case dismissed could be heard on August 30. Starnet is a casino software developer (CNM, July 28/99). Black’s is online photographyBlacks Photo Corp, Markham ON, has launched a new, online photo album service for consumers which features a free 50 MB account for secure archiving of digital and scanned photos. Digital camera users will be able to upload prints and have them printed to order. The service is free for Black’s customers, and additional storage space is available for a small yearly charge. Black’s also offers special effects and the option to use photos in a variety of word processing presentations and graphics programs. The site is available for viewing at www.blacksphotocentre.com. Medbroadcast and Global conclude agreementMedbroadcast Corp, Vancouver, and CanWest Global Communications Corp have completed a previously announced investment by Global in the online health company. Global has agreed to invest $20 million in Medbroadcast over the next three years, in return for a 20% stake. Share purchase warrants will allow Global to increase its position. Executives from the two companies say the alliance will give Medbroadcast access to better content distribution channels, consumer traffic and advertising sales, especially in light of the recent CanWest/Hollinger proposed merger. Paid music downloads to rise quickly says IDCIDC says record labels can look forward to fast rising revenues from digital music downloads. While current levels are low, less than US$300,000 last year, they are projected to rise to over $1.2 billion in 2004 (see fig. below). IDC analysts say the recent U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act is giving record labels confidence to sell online.In its latest forecast, IDC analysts also say the widespread availability of software to pirate music will force the industry into a micro-payment model."Ironically, just as digital media are poised for commercial distribution over the Web, ubiquity of content will cause the power to set prices to devolve from producers to consumers. Isn't that how a healthy market is supposed to work anyway?" the report says.

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | September 6, 2000

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