Hot Spots for Programmers, People

Hot spots simmered on Monday in both the programming and people departments.  On the programming side, MTV's "Skins" got more bad press as Subway and H&R Block joined the list of advertisers (also including Taco Bell, GM and Wrigley) boycotting the show.  MTV is loving the press; not the $$$ loss. We're betting on a tone down on top of the tone down.

In other heated programming news, the U. of Texas and ESPN are under fire as various columnists bemoan the "rich get richer" aspects of the new Longhorn Network.  "Forget your conference partners," writes the Detroit Free Press' Drew Sharp.  "It's now every big dog for itself."  (The full column is here.  Don't expect any changes.)

Meanwhile, in the people department, the Vivendi scandal of nearly a decade ago has resurfaced as Jean-Marie Messier, Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Guillaume Hannezo all get suspended jail terms and fines.  Biggest fine went to Bronfman who will pay €5M ($6.8M) for insider trading.  And at Google, Eric Schmidt may have been booted out of the CEO office, but he got a good boss-no-more prize:  A new $100M bonus in Google stock options.•

Etc: Net Neutrality Nays; BSky B in the Cloud; Bright House & Sinclair

Gov't & Regs:  Net neutrality probably won't survive the court challenges say FCC Commishs Michael Copps and Meredith Baker as both ends of the political spectrum issue thumbs down on the rules' odds.  Meanwhile, Verizon has selected Helgi Walker, the lawyer who won the Comcast/BitTorrent case, to handle its net neutrality suit. 

Strategies: NBCU will set up an in-house agency to market all its sports networks, soon to include Comcast channels as well.  John Miller, who ran NBC's marketing efforts for 25 years until his (clearly temporary) semi-retirement last summer, will head the NBC Sports Agency. --- AT&T is making video moves in the small business market as it extends its U-verse service and its DIRECTV resale offers into the small business segment. 

Foreign Shores:  YOU On Demand has gained an exclusive 20-year joint venture with CCTV-6's China Home Cinema to become the first national PPV/VOD platform in China. --- A survey from Content Management Systems says that India's vibrant DTH sector is driving cable subscription costs down with current fees around 7.5% less than in 2007.

OTT:  BSkyB has a deal to purchase The Cloud, a UK-wide network of Wi-fi hot spots.  Observers expect the multiplatform giant to offer a wide variety of programming services via the network.

Partnerships & Deals:  Charter and TiVo have a multi year deal to leverage the TiVo interface to create a hybrid platform offering traditional TV and next-gen IP technologies.  

Tech:  How mighty is the iPad?  According to the Silicon Alley Insider, "Microsoft is handing talking points to help its partners convince enterprises they should use Windows slates instead of the iPad." --- 3D EPGs are coming from both Sky and Virgin in the UK as 3D catches on faster over there than here.  

Markets & Money:  SmarTrend has ranked Hughes Communications No.1 in the Communications Equipment industry as measured by relative performance.  That comes after an upward price spiral fueled at least in part by news that 57%-owner Apollo, a private equity firm, is looking to shop the company. 

SkyREPORT:  Researchers at University of Surrey and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) plan to orbit a nanosatellite containing a smartphone payload later this year.  If it works, Dr. Chris Bridges told Spaceref.com, "It opens up lots of new technologies to a multitude of people and companies for space who usually can't afford it." --- Satellite Broadband Ireland has a three-year contract to sell broadband services via Eutelsat's Tooway satellite service.  Download speeds go up to 10 Mbps; uploads are up to 4 Mbps. 

Retrans & Renewals:  Bright House and Sinclair Broadcasting have signed a multi-year deal for carriage of six stations in four markets.  Sinclair's retrans deals with Time Warner Cable have been extended to Feb. 21 while the two settle on a firm deal.

Programming:   DISH Network is boosting its international programming (again) with the launch of Israel's IsraKids channel. 

People:  Dave Siegler has been promoted to Cox Media Group's VP of Technical Operations position. --- Jim Grillo has joined the boards of Adelphia Comunicações, S.A. Comunicacoes and STV Comunicações, S.A. in Brazil.•