:: LNR Journalism ::

London 2012: Row after NBC drop opening ceremony '7/7 tribute'

Guardian :: The US broadcaster NBC is facing growing criticism after editing their delayed coverage of the London 2012 opening ceremony to replace the "memorial wall" tribute section with a Ryan Seacrest interview with Michael Phelps.

A report by David Hills, www.guardian.co.uk

London 2012: Primetime TV will rule over digital for years, says NBC Olympics EP Jim Bell

Hollywood Reporter :: NBC is quite proud and vocal of its monumental effort to broadcast every single event at this summer's London Olympics on its website and mobile apps, but that doesn't mean they're abandoning their core business of big events and big ratings on primetime. Still, given the fact that their online efforts represent a major technological and paradigm jump from 2008's games in Beijing, a cordless future for the broadcasts seems closer than ever, right?

Not so fast.

A report by Jordan Zakarin, www.hollywoodreporter.com

Twitterolympics: For the Olympics, Twitter and NBC form partnership

It might be a matter of time, when Twitter won't need a partner anymore.

Wall Street Journal :: As athletes parade into London's Olympic Stadium this Friday, Twitter Inc.'s Olympic hopes will play out in a spartan office in Boulder, Colo. There, a handful of people will spend 20 hours a day to help corral millions of Twitter messages from Olympic athletes, their families, fans and NBC television personalities into a single page on Twitter.com

Twitterolympics - A report by [exclusive subscriber content] Shira Ovide, online.wsj.com

MSNBC.com renamed to NBCNews.com as Microsoft and NBC Divorce

New York Times :: On Sunday night, MSNBC.com did something that successful Web sites almost never do: it renamed itself. The site became NBCNews.com, signifying the end of a relationship between NBC and Microsoft that dates back to the earliest days of the commercial Web. Early next year, MSNBC.com will be reborn as a stand-alone site for the cable channel MSNBC, ending the brand confusion that has plagued the site in the past.

Continue to read Brian Stelter, www.nytimes.com

NBC debuts 2 social apps to complement Olympics broadcast

Lost Remote :: Social TV Olympics news continues to pour in. NBC has just launched their highly anticipated apps for the Olympics to complement their broadcast of the games that begin on July 27th in London. The free apps, which are available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and select Android devices, are designed to sync with TV and provide all the detailed content you might be looking for during the events. Here are the details.

App review - Continue to read here Natan Edelsburg, www.lostremote.com

NBC, Microsoft getting online divorce

The Daily Beast :: NBC and Microsoft plan to announce a deal to finally part company, with the network buying back the remainder of their hugely popular MSNBC website from the software giant, say people familiar with the matter. Under the plan, officials will rebrand MSNBC.com.

Continue to read Howard Kurtz, www.thedailybeast.com

Time Warner Cable drops ABC, NBC affiliates from packages in 13 markets

AdWeek :: Hearst and Time Warner are slugging it out over retransmission consent fees, and 13 stations in 11 markets are feeling the pinch. Six ABC affiliates including KITV (Honolulu), WMTW (Portland, Maine), KMBC (Kansas City), KETV (Lincoln, Neb.), WCVB (Boston) and WTAE (Pittsburgh) have been dropped from Time Warner's cable packages after carriage fee negotiations broke down.

A report by Sam Thielman, www.adweek.com

NBC Universal selling stake in A&E for $3b

Media Decoder | New York Times :: NBC Universal, a subsidiary of Comcast, had agreed to sell its 15.8 percent stake in A&E Television Networks for $3 billion.

Reported by NYT, mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com

NBC News launches ‘Dateline Chatline’ to make broadcast more social

Lost Remote :: When Dateline first launched on NBC News back in 1992, it was unclear whether this TV news magazine would fail after so many other NBC attempts had tanked. Now in it’s 20th season, the network is launching “Dateline Chatline,” a major social TV initiative aimed at merging “all viewer discussion surrounding Dateline into one easy-to-access, user-friendly online site.” NBC News and Supervising Producer of Digital Media for NBC Primetime News Anthony Galloway spoke to Lost Remote exclusively about the big launch.

Continue to read the interview here Natan Edelsburg, www.lostremote.com

Copyright violation? CBS, NBC and Fox head to court over Dish ad-skipping feature

Los Angeles Times :: Satellite TV provider Dish Network's new ad-skipping feature, AutoHop, enables subscribers to black out ads on programs they've saved on their digital video recorders. When activated, AutoHop turns the screen dark when a commercial arrives, then returns to the show a few seconds later. CBS, NBC and Fox have sued, saying the feature violates copyright laws and jeopardizes the financial foundation of the entire television industry.

Continue to read Joe Flint | Meg James, www.latimes.com