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Showing posts with label Million. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Million. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
‘The Mentalist’ Star Simon Baker Inks New $30 Million Deal
In a staggering deal that only The Mentalist himself could have seen coming, Simon Baker, the 41-year-old star of the hit CBS crime drama, has reportedly reached a new agreement with Warner Bros. that extends his current contract another year and guarantees the actor an estimated $30 million payday.
The attractive new deal is said to give Baker a larger piece of the pie (more of The Mentalist‘s backend profits) in addition to a much sought-after producer credit – beginning in the program’s fifth season.
The most lucrative long-term aspect of Baker’s deal, undoubtedly, is the backend action the Australian TV and film star is getting from Warner Bros. – which now syndicates The Mentalist on TNT. Just last year, Warner Bros. sold The Mentalist‘s syndication rights for better than $2 million per episode. Original episodes of the program are still cash cows in their own right – with each averaging approximately sixteen million viewers.The deal with Baker – who was previously best known for starring alongside Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada – effectively makes The Mentalist star one of the entertainment industry’s highest paid television actors.
Word of the deal and Baker’s subsequent newfound lofty status in the television world came as a surprise to many who though The Mentalist‘s recent dip in ratings and viewer interest foreshadowed a downhill slide for the series. Despite the mega success of the series right out of the gates in 2008, The Mentalist’s audience has already fallen by a noticeable 6% and, in particular, a disappointing 15% in the all important 18 to 49 demographic.
However, according to Deadline, The Mentalist, a series in which Baker portrays Patrick Jane, a psychic consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation, remains “one of the most DVR-ed programs on TV” – chalking up an additional three million viewers each week from playback viewing.
Still, Baker has inked a deal that few saw coming. And barring any psychic ability on the part of Warner Bros., it would appear that the new agreement comes as The Mentalist has already reached the zenith of its popularity.
The Mentalist airs Thursdays at 10 PM EST on CBS.
Source: Deadline
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Microsoft moves 2.5 million Kinects in 25 days
November 30 2010 by admin in News |
Microsoft’s Kinect is flying off of the shelves around the world. The company had previously released news that it had sold over 1 million Kinects in ten days. That record has been smashed.
That mere 1 million units is small potatoes compared to what Microsoft announced today: the company has sold 2.5 million Kinects in 25 days. That implies that the company has managed to continue its sales rate of 100,000 Kinects sold daily.
As our own Chad Catacchio said to me seconds ago, “make that 2.5 million +1.” The Kinect is a smash hit.
Recall that Microsoft raised its forecasts for Kinect to a total of 5 million units from a mere three million. As it is not yet December, and with most of the holiday season still ahead, that 5 million unit guess seems to be very feasible. Microsoft is having a hard time keeping the device in stock, they said:
“We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with demand.”
It is undeniable: the Kinect is a very bright spot in the realm of Microsoft, have you picked one up yet?
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Google Invests $1 Million Dollars in Shweeb’s Human Powered Monorail
November 21 2010 by admin in News |
As part of Google’s Project 10 to 100, they’ve donated $1 million dollars to Shweeb, a company that wants to make an eco-friendly, human-powered monorail. The project sorted 150,000 ideas from over 170 countries, narrowing it down to 16 final ideas, which were then voted on by the public. In the end, Google donated a total of $10 million to five winning projects, working on global issues. Shweeb won for driving innovation in public transport.
The human-powered pods on the monorail are intended for short to medium distances in urban settings. Google’s $1 million will fund research and development to test the “recumbent cycling technology.” Basically, Shweeb puts humans in clear pods which are then powered by people kicking their legs as if they were on a bicycle. The original adventure ride concept system is situated at Agroventures Park in Rotorua, New Zealand.
See a video of it here:
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Harry Potter Casts $24 Million Spell at Midnight Showings
The long awaited quasi-final chapter in the Harry Potter film franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is finally in theaters.
While the film is sure to take in enormous box office dollars this weekend, Deathly Hallows also managed to secure $24 million in midnight release money.
Despite the dedication of all those muggles who braved the long lines, and late hours, the $24 million wasn’t enough to steal the midnight box office release record from the other young-adult fantasy book series-turned film franchise, Twilight. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse previously racked up $30 million in midnight release money – and went on to gross over $300 million domestically.However, Potter fanatics do have reason to smile, the film’s $1.4 million in midnight IMAX tickets did eclipse the previous record holder, pun intended. The previous midnight IMAX record was $1 million – held by, that’s right, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 should also have little problem burying Eclipse for the long haul – as The Twilight Saga, while certainly a phenomenon, still has significantly less appeal internationally. The prior Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince scored around $300 million domestically – racking up another $632 million internationally for a total take just under $1 billion. By comparison, Twilight: Eclipse also made around $300 million domestically – but only added $390 million from international audiences for a total run around $690 million. Eclipse made less money than its predecessor, New Moon (which scored a $709 million total haul) but don’t mistake that for an indication that Twilight is losing steam – the Harry Potter films have seen similar fluctuations from movie to movie.
It’ll still be interesting to see if Potter fans can secure other box office records with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - as well as Part 2, which arrives July 15, 2011. That said, even if Potter fans come out on top, Twi-hards will still have two more shots at earning records with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One), which opens November 18th 2011, as well as (Part Two) scheduled for November 16th 2012.
No matter where you fall in the battle of the fantasy books-turned films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is set to score big numbers this weekend. Stay tuned to Screen Rant, we’ll have the full box office report on Sunday.
Make sure to check out our own Kofi Outlaw’s review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
Source: THR
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Zynga’s 250 Million User Base – Advertisers’ Paradise
No matter how much you hate those numerous requests of Farmville you get on Facebook, Zynga will always find users who are interested in Farmville or other games like Mafia Wars. Zynga has had some recent setbacks in the form of a law suit filed on behalf on consumers whose personal information was leaked via games developed by Zynga on Facebook. But if you look at the magnitude of Zynga, the law suit seems like a minuscule issue. Advertisers still want to come to Zynga thanks to the 250 million user base that Zynga boasts off, or in other words Mass Reach.
Zynga ties-up with SVNetwork
Zynga has for long been an advertiser’s haven. But now, it has taken advertising through its games even further by tying up with SVNetwork. Through this tie-up, advertisements are now ‘engagement ads’. We are not just talking about rich media or video ads, these are ads that pays the consumer! In terms of a regular rich media or video ad, the ad is played if the consumer clicks or rolls over the ad. In the case of these ‘engagement ads’ by Zynga and SVNetwork, the consumer gets some coins or cash to play games on Zynga for simply watching an ad.
From a consumers point of view
A gamer would have no qualms in spending a couple of mins to watching a couple of ads to get coins so that he can play more. Apart from the remuneration, the players also enjoy the engagament videos as compared to regular ads and thus the brand recollection automatically increases. Here, again, I would like to bring into the picture the 250 million number. Why would advertisers not want a piece of this pie?
Bidding for ad spaces
Currently, such engagement videos go for around $0.60 to $1.60. However, Zynga plans to auction out such ads so that advertisers can bid on engagement with their targeted audience. With the advent of bidding, an advertiser will have the control to choose where he wants his ads placed which increases the purpose of the brand’s advertisements.
Zynga has taken a huge step in digital advertising. Any Indian gaming companies following lead?
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Categories: News, Tie Ups
Tags: digital advertising, engagement ads, facebook, farmville, mafia wars, rich media ads, SVNetwork, targeted advertisement, video ads, zynga
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