THE WEEKENDER:
- Facebook opened trading on Friday and woah! was it covered to death. There were as many angles to the story as there have been Facebook updates, and even a marriage in between. The NASDAQ apparently was not ready for the volume of trades or something. Oh and the New York Post had a thought.
- GM wasn’t happy about its performance on Facebook so it pulled $10 million from advertising on the social platform. The move brought up the question: is Facebook a platform or a publisher? Ford thinks it knows how to handle the network better (obviously). The car company also announced that it will no longer advertise during the Super Bowl.
- THE AVENGERS could not and would not be sunk by BATTLESHIP
- Solar eclipse pictures!
- I’LL HAVE ANOTHER edged out Kentucky Derby rival BODEMEISTER once again to win the Preakness on Saturday. The horse will have a shot in two weeks in New York when all eyes in the sports world will focus at the Belmont to see if it can win horse racing’s first Triple Crown in 39 years.
FREE WIFI SERVICE THROUGH CABLE COMPANIES Five cable companies band together to offer free WiFi hotspots to their customers in select markets across the United States. Bright House, Cox, Cablevision Optimum, Time Warner and Comcast Xfinity announced today the partnership and shared network they will create using over 50,000 spots in LA, NYC, Florida and Philadelphia (note, I checked the NYC coverage map and it’s a good news/ bad news situation: the good is that it has been implemented in the Tri State area, the bad is that Manhattan is barely touched). This is nice step forward for TV Everywhere initiatives, as well as lighten up the load for cellular towers.
THE ROLLOUT OF SET-TOP BOX 2.0 FINALLY BEGINS Comcast announced that it will begin distribution of it’s latest set-top box that will operate in the cloud. The X1 box will allow for customization by consumers, give the ability for Comcast to push new apps and content through the network, Facebook integrated (gotta have the Facebook!), and an iPhone/iPad application to control the box. In other words, a more nimble option for consumers. Boston will receive the first batch of X1′s with more markets receiving them throughout the year.
COLLEGE SPORTS TV DEALS You’ll come to find out, dear reader/ future employer, that I love college sports. And the current major talking point in that arena is TV money and distribution: lots and lots of TV money (remember, the recent conference realignment and playoff stories revolve around TV deals). CBS Sports announced a new partnership with rival ESPN on broadcasting men’s basketball games. And there are unsurprising reports that the SEC is in talks with creating its own network, a la Big Ten Network and the upcoming Pac 12 Network
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