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Wednesday, June 13, 2001 Publishing Industry Soundbytes · The Virgin Entertainment Group announced the pilot launch of Virgin's new digital Preview System. Virgin's Preview System allows customers to preview both music and video on demand from database of over 10,000 DVDs and 200,000 CDs through a touch-screen interface. It also provides Virgin recommended titles, and soon will offer search, remote ordering and access to exclusive Virgin content and products. Customers will be able to search by criteria including artist name, album title, movie name, actor, producer, writer or director. · CMP Media's TechWeb, a network for business technology professionals, announced that the first phase of its re-implementation as a content packager site is complete. As a content packager, TechWeb's site architecture and navigation scheme offer news, reviews, trend analysis and other content from NetworkComputing.com, InformationWeek.com, and InternetWeek.com. The new TechWeb provides visitors with frequently updated IT-related news and information categorized in seven technology areas: Business Applications, Networking, Security, Mobile & Wireless, E-Business, Network & Systems Management, and Services & Outsourcing. TechWeb also introduced new advertising options with the redesign. · Stockpoint Inc., a provider of online and wireless investment analysis tools and global financial information, announced that it has expanded its international presence through an alliance with bfinance.com, a European financial portal. Stockpoint will provide its technology to bfinance.com's executive audience in the United Kingdom, France and Germany, enabling finance directors and treasurers to customize and view financial data. · In recognition of Men's Health Week (June 11-17), Healthology, a producer and distributor of online physician-generated health and medical information, has joined forces with the Men's Health Network and men's Internet sites Askmen.com and Dadmag.com to provide information on important health and lifestyle concerns facing men today. · Women.com Networks, Inc., announced it has received notification from the NASDAQ that the procedure to delist Women.com's securities will be delayed pending the merger with iVillage Inc. The Company reports that the delay will continue until the close of business on June 18, 2001, the anticipated closing date for the merger. · Julie Krumholz, a former sales development manager at Newsweek and more recently an Associate Vice President at CNET, will be returning to the magazine as Vice President of Marketing, Greg Osberg, Executive Vice President and Worldwide Publisher, announced. Krumholz will join Newsweek in July and report to Osberg. In her new role, she will be responsible for marketing promotions and programs, research, the art department, external relations and communications. Osberg also announced that Mark K. Updegrove, a veteran at Time magazine and current President of Time Canada, has joined Newsweek as U.S. Publisher. Updegrove, who will join Newsweek on June 25 will report to Osberg, and be responsible for U.S. advertising sales, sales development and special opportunities. · Red Herring, a technology business magazine, announced that Christopher M. Byron has joined the staff as a monthly contributor. Byron adds his viewpoints to the pages of Red Herring with a monthly column, ``The Contrarian,'' debuting in the July 15 issue. Byron currently hosts MSNBC.com's High Noon on Wall Street, a financial news radio show on the Web. · Thomson Financial has re-launched its weekly magazine Investment Dealers' Digest (IDD). As part of the re-launch, IDD subscribers will now have access to IDDmagazine.com as part of the print subscription. Updated twice weekly, IDDmagazine.com provides readers with online access to the entire content of IDD magazine and has a searchable archive of IDD news and reports from the past 12 months. In addition, IDD subscribers will now have the option to receive email previews of the top IDD stories when the site is updated on Wednesdays and Fridays. · The market for technologies that bring 3D graphics to the Web could see a dramatic expansion over the next several years, with more than one million sites deploying 3D content and more than half a billion 3D-enabled browsers by 2007 -- according to the new 3D on the Web market study by Jon Peddie Associates. The market is still in its early days, however, and most activity is focused around forging lasting alliances among companies with access to technologies, content, and users. · Extending a 28-year relationship, EDS announced Ziff Davis Media Inc. has renewed its agreement with EDS to provide outsourced subscription fulfillment services for five million Ziff Davis Media magazine subscribers. Under the three-year agreement, EDS will provide Ziff Davis Media with list conversion, basic fulfillment, statistical, mailing and warehousing and Internet services. Among the 11 publications covered by the agreement are PC Magazine, Yahoo! Internet Life and Expedia Travels. EDS will manage fulfillment from its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) facility in Boulder, Colorado. · Economist.tv, the Internet video arm of The Economist magazine, announced a content agreement with Yahoo! Inc. to provide video programming on Yahoo! Broadcast. Economist.tv provides video analysis on business, finance, international affairs, science, technology, culture and the arts -- all topics regularly covered in The Economist magazine. · Hyperion announced plans to publish several books by Mitch Albom, the best-selling author of Tuesdays With Morrie, which has spent 190 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list since its publication in August, 1997. Since that book was published, Albom has spoken to hundreds of universities, charitable, and religious groups across the United States. The new books -- both fiction and non-fiction -- will reflect the themes and lessons that Albom has learned and focused on since Tuesdays With Morrie. The first book is scheduled for publication in September, 2003. · Silver Lining Productions Ltd, a brand management and entertainment company that builds TV franchises based on best-selling children's books, has announced a partnership with France Animation to co-produce Dr. Dog, an animated series based on the bestselling book, by Babette Cole. The announcement was made by Amory Millard and Diana Manson, co-founders of Silver Lining. Designed for kids 6-10, Dr. Dog is an animated series of 52 13-minute episodes that offer an irreverent, kid-friendly approach to everyday living. Silver Lining Productions has also obtained exclusive media licensing rights to author Ian Falconer's Olivia. Olivia, Falconer's first children's book about one superbly self-assured New York piglet (age 6) has been a hit worldwide since its publishing debut in October 2000 by Simon & Schuster. · Hungry Minds, Inc., publishers of the best selling For Dummies books and Compaq Computer Corporation, announced an expansion of their on-going publishing relationship with the launch of the Dummies Answer Network (DAN), an online natural language question and answer service that is a key component of Compaq's customer support website via compaq.com/presario. Using content from the For Dummies technology titles and powered by the Ask Jeeves infrastructure, DAN assists Compaq in providing support. Questions may range from `How do I set up an Internet connection for Windows 98?' to `How do I create a web page?' and the answers are sourced from HMI's knowledge base. · Adobe Systems Incorporated has introduced Adobe PageMaker 7.0 software, a new upgrade to its page layout program. PageMaker 7.0 is an integrated business publishing solution. This new release provides tighter integration with popular business applications for enhanced productivity and supports Adobe's vision of network publishing, allowing users to create a document once and view it on any device. · Authors4Teens.com is a recently launched website which provides information about authors who write for teens. Don Gallo interviews the authors about their techniques, hobbies and passions to provide insight into the motivations behind the books. Gallo, who is based in Solon, Ohio, frequently presents workshops for English teachers and young adult librarians throughout the U.S. He received his master of arts in teaching from Oberlin College. Authors4Teens is presented by Greenwood Electronic Media, a division of The Greenwood Publishing Group. Currently, Authors4Teens.com features more than 20 distinguished authors who write for teens, such as Chris Crutcher, Norma Fox Mazer, Jerry Spinelli, Joan Bauer, William Sleator, and Laurie Halse Anderson. This year the site plans to add 20 or so more writers. · James M. Hart, senior vice president of The E. W. Scripps Company's television station group subsidiary, is retiring effective July 1. He will continue to be associated with Scripps as a community and public affairs consultant at the company's national television networks headquarters in Knoxville, Tenn. He also will serve as a consultant to the Scripps television station group. Hart, 58, has been senior vice president of Scripps Howard Broadcasting and a vice president for The E.W. Scripps Company since 1995. His successor as head of the company's television station group will be named at a later date. · Intervisual Books Inc. (IBI) announced it has received contracts from the British Broadcast Corp. (BBC) (United Kingdom), Gallimard Jeunesse (France), Carlsen Verlag (Germany), Rubenstein Media (Holland), Ediciones B.S.A. (Spain), Media Rodzina (Poland), and Sayzansha (Japan) to produce two interactive books based on J.K. Rowling's best-selling Harry Potter novels. These contracts are in addition to the one already received from Scholastic Inc. covering North America. The books will be on sale in Fall 2001 prior to the anticipated release later this year of the full-length Warner Bros. movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Worldwide it is estimated that there are over 78 million Harry Potter books currently in print. · Zoologic, a provider of web-based financial courseware, announced that Stephanie Hodnett has rejoined the company as the Director of Content Development. Hodnett, in her new position, will oversee content for Zoologic's 50-plus course offerings and 1,000-plus learning objects, as well as manage the company's expansion. · Giga Information Group, Inc. and Books24x7 announced a strategic online content agreement. Books24x7 will offer select Giga ebusiness research to its subscribers via its website. Books24x7 subscribers will be able to select from two different Giga offerings. Customers can access Giga Collaborations, in-depth analyses crossing markets, industries and disciplines to provide valuable insight into technology, and Giga IdeaBundles, a culmination of Giga IdeaBytes on a single topic with analysts' opinions and viewpoints. · Knight Ridder announced that Ricky R. Mathews, vice president/marketing director of The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss., will succeed Publisher Roland Weeks Jr., who will retire July 31. Mathews, 43, has spent his entire newspaper career at The Sun Herald. He joined the newspaper as an advertising and circulation intern in 1982, then served as an advertising account executive from 1983 to 1984 and assistant to the circulation director from 1984 to 1985. He was assistant circulation director from 1985 to 1986, assistant to the finance and operations director from 1986 to 1987, production director from 1987 to 1992 and operations director from 1992 to 1996, when he moved into his current position. Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter.  www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2011 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
