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Wonderwall Goes Latino

Kara Swisher in News on October 16, 2010 at 12:46 am PT

Hola Sofia Vergara! In an interesting brand extension, the popular celebrity and entertainment site Wonderwall has launched a version aimed at the U.S. Hispanic market called Wonderwall Latino. The main Wonderwall site, which is a partnership between Hollywood production company BermanBraun and Microsoft’s MSN portal that launched in early 2009, now has 11.3 million unique users and 337 million page views a month.

Daily Beast's Tina Brown Brags About "Interesting Discussions" With Newsweek

Peter Kafka in Media on October 6, 2010 at 7:13 am PT

How are things at the Daily Beast, which turns two today? Awesome, says Tina Brown–so awesome that Barry Diller may end up pawning the thing off to Newsweek and new owner Sidney Harman.

Exclusive: New MSNBC.com-BermanBraun Online Political Site BLTWY Launches

Kara Swisher in News on October 6, 2010 at 7:12 am PT

While it seems to be a stealth launch, the new online political site for MSNBC.com, created by Hollywood production firm BermanBraun, is now up and running. Called BLTWY–as in “Beltway,” presumably for the road that rings the nation’s capital–the striking rich-media content site is now live.

MSNBC Readies a Cautious Move Onto the iPad

Peter Kafka in Media on June 23, 2010 at 12:40 pm PT

MSNBC is preparing its own entry into the iPad app derby. But the cable network is moving cautiously into the race: Its upcoming free app will feature programming from just one of its shows. Maddow? Olbermann? The network won’t say.

MSN Strikes Another Local Deal: This Time With NBCU and Hearst

Kara Swisher in News on December 9, 2009 at 3:33 pm PT

MSN has struck yet another local deal, this time with NBC Universal and Hearst, to provide local news and information to the Microsoft consumer portal. The deal encompasses 36 markets in the U.S. and will provide 3,000 video clips per week, which will be integrated into MSN’s Local Edition early next year.

Voices

CNN Invests in Neighborhood News Feed Outside.In

Shira Ovide, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on December 8, 2009 at 12:30 am PT

CNN.com is investing in Outside.In, a start-up that feeds neighborhood blogs and other local news and information to the Web sites of newspapers, TV stations and other media. The investment, whose size the Time Warner Inc. Web site declined to disclose, comes as news organizations seek more local information about high school sports, eateries and social events, in which they see an untapped market.

More Local Heat: MSNBC.com Buys EveryBlock for Several Million Dollars

Kara Swisher in News on August 17, 2009 at 9:00 am PT

It looks like the local market is heating up even more, with MSNBC.com announcing the acquisition of Chicago-based EveryBlock. Sources said MSNBC.com–a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal–paid several million dollars for the “hyper-local” information site, which is up and running in 15 cities, including New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Boston. In June, Time Warner online unit AOL paid about $10 million to buy Patch Media, a platform that does deeply localized coverage of communities on a range of topics.

Exclusive: Former Yahoo Scott Moore Heads Back to Microsoft As U.S. Content Head

Kara Swisher in News on January 30, 2009 at 3:05 pm PT

In an unusual homecoming and odd job switcheroo between two Internet execs, former Yahoo media head Scott Moore is returning to Microsoft to lead its content efforts, according to many sources both inside and outside the company. Moore will become U.S. executive producer, responsible for leading the content and programming strategy for the MSN online service. He will return to Microsoft’s Seattle area HQ in mid-March and report to Greg Nelson, GM of the MSN Global Media Group. Moore left Yahoo late last year due to unhappiness over the turmoil at the company and to pursue a start-up idea he had. He was replaced at Yahoo–in a rushed appointment–by Jeff Dossett, who came, wait for it, from Microsoft, where he held the job Moore is now taking.

Obama’s Big Day on the Web: Smaller Than You Thought

Peter Kafka in Media on January 28, 2009 at 7:57 am PT

Barack Obama’s inauguration was indeed a big day for Web video. But it appears as if the Internet audience wasn’t nearly as big as the one that watched it on TV. The people who run MSNBC.com, CNN.com and Foxnews.com aren’t complaining, though–they all saw huge increases in traffic.