CNM Short Takes

Power Interactive opens kiosk plant in GAON-based Power Interactive Media, which makes photo kiosks, plans to spend US$7.5 million to open a new, 300-person plant in Macon GA. Groundbreaking is planned to take place within six-to -eight weeks to make digital photo kiosks. The booths are used to insert customer’s photos onto images from licensed entertainment groups such as the NFL, NHL, Mattel and Universal Studios. Force Multimedia, e-Channels merge in $3.5-million dealMontreal-based Force Multimedia and e-Channels Corp are merging into a single multimedia publishing company, conditional on the completion of a $3.5 million private placement into the company. The merger is being accomplished as e-Channels takes over Force Multimedia in an all-stock deal. The new company will continue under the Force banner. Cold North Wind strikes micro-payment dealCold North Wind Inc, Ottawa, has struck an agreement with microCreditCard Inc to allow Cold North’s users to pay for newspaper archives over the ‘Net. The two companies will co-market the service across the continent. Yahoo! Canada launches online music serviceYahoo! Canada has launched a new service called Yahoo! Canada Music which will feature artist profiles, charts, webcasts, chat groups, online radio and shopping. The site debuted May 10, and featured a live concert with Gordon Downie to mark the event. Telefilm offers E3 space to Cdn new media organizationsTelefilm Canada has provided an umbrella stand for the fourth year in a row to Canadian companies at the Electronic Entertainment Expo Conference and Exhibition in Los Angeles this week. Participating organizations include the newly-formed L’Alliance NumeriQC and Economic Development Canada as well as a dozen or so private companies from across Canada. iMedia restructuring continues to hurt Rogers as it cuts staffRogers Communications Inc’s interactive media company iMedia has slashed over 40% of its employees at Excite Canada. A drive to become profitable is behind the decision at the company jointly owned by Rogers and AT&T Corp-controlled Excite@Home. iMedia announced earlier this year that it would close its Springboard.ca women’s site, eliminating 40 jobs, and cut expenses at its other sites, including Chatelaine.com and Today’s Parent.com, in an effort to ensure each of its web properties is profitable within 12 months.Pangaea trumpets role in building CHUMFM web siteToronto-based Pangaea NewMedia is touting its role building three new CHUM Group Radio web sties. Panagaea officials say the sites were built using a beta version of ColdFusion 5, to which it has access through a technology partnership with Macromedia. The three sites were announced last week, and include www.1050chum.com, www.theteamradio.com, and www.chumfm.com. CNMA finalists a diverse groupThe finalists for the May 28 Canadian New Media Awards were announced yesterday, with a mix of individuals and companies from across the country. Vancouver-based Blue Zone was notable for several nominations across a number of categories. Some individuals, such as iCraveTV.com founder William Craig will likely lift an eyebrow or two, as will a nomination for beleaguered web shop ExtendMedia as company of the year. Otherwise, the list is chock-a-block with familiar faces. AOL Canada sponsors Media Awareness NetworkAOL Canada Inc has become a "bronze"-level sponsor of the Media Awareness Network, a national public education program that teaches about online literacy. Officals at the network said in a release that, "support to the Media Awareness Network from one of Canada’s leading interactive online services gives added impetus and energy to the development of public education in the field of Internet literacy." JumpTV doesn’t pose threat to U.S. broadcasters, says MillerThe National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) assertion that JumpTV.com Canada’s operations could cripple the industry in that country has been dismissed as "ridiculous and misleading" by Jump president Farrel Miller. Without explaining the company’s position, Miller stated in a release that, "Surely the NAB does not believe its own rhetoric that JumpTV’s retransmission activities would gravely threaten the U.S. broadcasting industry as it exists today." On May 4, the Copyright Board of Canada granted the NAB intervenor status in hearings to be held this fall into Jump’s operations. Funcow.com shutters operationsFree Internet service provider Funcow.com has closed its operations as advertisers shied from the offering, reports the National Post. Funcow launched a year ago with an agreement with EMI Music Canada, but its niche content portal didn’t attract enough viewers (CNM, June 14/00). Details scarce on Heritage new media funding announcementCanadian Heritage has announced a massive $108 million funding package for Canadian cultural content online, but officials aren’t ready to discuss how the cash will be spent. Industry sources, however, are convinced the money will be used to fund the little-publicized Canadian Digital Cultural Content Initiative. More details will follow in coming issues as officials become available to discuss the new money. DaimlerChrysler Canada cuts $500,000 cheque for historyDaimlerChrysler Canada has contributed a half-million dollars to the Historica initiative. The money is earmarked for the YouthLinks/InterJeunes project that hooks Canadian youth up with other students around the world online. The funding means the project will become a permanent part of Historica, a project to teach Canadians about our history. Total funding to date for the projcect has been $13 million through its Challenge campaign. The project hopes to eventually raise $25 million, matched dollar for dollar by the CRB Foundation. New band chosen to Jam with Pam in Beer.com contestWaterloo-based band Counterbalance has won an online contest sponsored by Pamela Anderson and Toronto-based Beer.com to find the best unsigned band in North America. The group wins a chance to play at a major U.S. music festival and have a CD professionally recorded in Los Angeles. Anderson’s involvement is through her Internet production company, PamTV. Knowledge House wins N.S. online learning contractsKnowledge House Inc, Halifax, has won a contract to provide Nova Scotia’s Department of Education with its online and multimedia studies program for grade 11 and 12 students. Students will study biology, chemistry, math, English and geography, as well as computer studies, through a multimedia program including an online component. The program will be implemented in a few schools in the 2001-2002 academic year, followed by a full rollout by 2005. The company expects revenue to be over $10 million, and will pursue an export version of the program that will be fully online. MGI shows Canadarm2 to Earth-bound online audienceMGI Software Corp used its Photovista brand of web imaging tools to create a virtual tour of the International Space Station hosted by NASA. The software creates 360 degree panoramas using a series of stills that can be linked to other panoramas to create the virtual tours. NewKidCo to release new E.T. video games with UniversalNewKidCo International Inc, formerly SoftQuad International Inc, has teamed with Universal Studios to release a series of video game titles for E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The Toronto-based company is releasing the games to coincide with the popular movie’s 20th anniversary re-release into theatres. The titles will be developed for each of Sony’s, Microsoft’s and Nintendo’s game consoles. The games will be released from Q3 2001 to Q3 2002, hitting two holiday selling seasons. Each of the games will incorporate environmental peace and harmony as themes.

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | May 17, 2001

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