On your laptop or connected to an HDTV, Boxee enables you to enjoy your movies, TV shows, music, and photos, as well as streaming content from websites like Hulu, Netflix, CBS, Comedy Central, Last.fm, and flickr.
You can vote for them -- if you agree they deserve it -- in lifehacker.com's five Best Media Center application contest.
Also - see my next post on the 21st about Netflix coming to Tivo, AppleTV, and ... Linux! Would you believe that???
In a San Francisco nightclub recently, a noisy crowd came for the weekly taping of Internet Superstar, an online-only TV show that chronicles off-the-beat Web celebrities.
This time, however, "Internet Superstar" found itself scooped on not one, but two of its biggest stories, by no other than ABC’s Good Morning America. Such are the perils for those whose job it is to have fun with what is quickly becoming mainstream entertainment.
"It is so much harder to come up with fresh material these days," complains Martin Sargent, the 32-year-old host of ‘Internet Superstar.’ A few years ago, I was the only one calling these guys, and they were only too happy to come on the show. But now, with someone like Chris Crocker -- who became a Web megastar for sobbing out an appeal on YouTube to leave Britney Spears alone -- I couldn't even get through to him. He was too busy going on Howard Stern."
On the surface, "Internet Superstar," a web-cast of Revision3. might seem like a funny, if ribald, bit of low-budget cultural satire. Still, the show might be a test of the fashionable theory that the Internet makes possible all sorts of profitable niche entertainment opportunities.
But with the pros like Viacom's Comedy Central now thundering onto the Web, not to mention the legion of amateurs already there, it's unclear if anything niche-size will be left over.
Revision3 says its shows get four million views a month.
All this competition, Sargent admits, makes it tougher than ever to book the guest or write the joke before someone else. "I'm spelunking the darkest caverns of the Internet." That the audience for "Internet Superstar" is mostly male should go without saying.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have signed a revenue-sharing deal with Viacom-owned Comedy Central, their long-time television network.
This continues a shake-up in the way big-media works, the latest in a trend giving more power to artists and less to the big media companies. Normally, television owners keep revenues, and separately negotiate payment with artists. In their deal, Parker and Stone get a cut of the proceeds from wherever the show appears on the net, mobile platforms or video games.
South Park is popular for skewering celebrities and status quo ideas. It has spread virally over the internet without Viacom getting paid, through free, full-length episodes. The show’s libertarian creators have said they are in favor of free downloads of episodes because it helps more people watch the show, which of course is contradicted by this latest deal.
It is a deal both parties describe as an attempt to become a major player In Hollywood's transition to the Internet. Or, as South Park’s lawyer said, a demonstration to new video-entertainment start-ups (think YouTube et al.) that they’ll have to pay premiums for top content creators.
Parker and Stone originally retained the rights to a percentage of revenue brought in by non-cable distribution channels, the web, mobile devices and video games, due to a subtle clause signed as part of a contract renewal between the parties during the dot-com bust years.
The caustic duo are guaranteed advances from profits on merchandise, DVDs, international sales and methods of syndication. The agreement will also include a talent studio called SouthParkStudios.com. The deal is worth $75 million to the two creators over the next four years, the article says; the show has already made hundreds of millions for Viacom.
Comedy Central's and MTV's daddy, the mighty Viacom henceforth demands that your favorite Tube yank all of its video clips, after negotiations failed. About 100,000 video clips are to be erased from You Know Who Google Tube's servers.
Viacom says its pirated programs on YouTube generate about 1.2 billion video streams. You read it right - we talk BILLIONS here. But don't you think that's the reason for Viacom to be so PISSED OFF. NOoooo Sireee! What they are REALLY ticked off about is the irreverence some YouTubers display - literally - by mocking their fabled logo. See for yourself - here is the "Viacom V of Doom" from just one of the MANY offenders, Doom (811 Productions):
You'd be steamed up about a sacrilege like that at your corporate logo, wouldn't you?
To be fair, YouTube has not been without controversy, as clips from copyright protected TV programs, shows, and other legally protected media have made their way onto their site. That, however, didn't seem to bother other major media companies, such as CBS and Universal Music Group. They went ahead and struck distribution agreements with YouTube prior to its love-in with Google. Go figure....
P.S. Didn't take long for Google, after having come into existence only nine years ago in 1998, to be slapped with a billion dollar suit too ... by Viacom, of course!
