Big Media Aggregated: Disney and News Corp goes shopping

By SDH Disney Interactive Studios (DIS) the game arm of the media and entertainment giant has reportedly agreed to purchase Chinese company Gamestar. DIS general manager Graham Hopper feels good about the deal saying Gamestar will play a significant roll in DIS’s global growth plan. Wonder if Gamestar’s 90 staff members fit into that growth plan? In other shopping news, News Corp’s Fox Networks, the company’s year-old online advertising network will announce today that it has bought control of European video ad network Utarget as part of a move to expand in Europe and Asia. Wendi Deng Murdoch, wife of Rupert is probably the mind behind this strategic swallowing. The Utarget deal comes after U.S.-based Fox Interactive Media (FIM) reorganized staff last week in anticipation of a possible revenue target shortfall. The reshuffling, long in the works, will also see the launch of FIM's long-anticipated U.S. online advertising network, called the FIM Audience Network.

Ross's cousin Peter Levinsohn is about to move things around at Fox Interactive Media

"I am confident that we are moving in the right direction to secure our long-term success, and I am certain that we have the right leadership team in place to take us there" - Peter Levinsohn, President, Fox Interactive Media By SDH Fox Interactive Prexy Peter Levinsohn, cousin of Ross, came into his roll by default when Ross upped and left, or got canned, depending on who you ask. Since taking over News Corp's Internet business, he basically left things the way they were. But we think with FIM reportedly missing their $1 billion revenue target by $100 million, Peter is moving the team around to take some attention of the missed target and to show his bosses at News Corp that he is already making what he thinks are the necessary changes to make sure the company meets the target next time around.

Peter Levinsohn getting the hang of this interactive Prexy thing

We could be wrong but we think this is the first major push Fox Interactive Media (FIM) has announced since former FIM chief Ross Levinsohn's cousin Ross Levinsohn was handed the top job. We don't think we have ever read comments from Pete either but he recently made some at the Bear Stearns media conference. Pete sounds up beat and positive about FIM's future. MySpace, the Internet's biggest social network, currently offers episodes of News Corp.'s Fox-owned shows a day after the initial broadcast, but not much from other companies. "We're in very active negotiations with all the media companies to create the most robust video offering on the Web," Peter Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media, said at the Bear Stearns media conference. Fox Interactive in distribution talks other media [Reuters]

Wonder if Ross Levinsohn would have made the same play?

-Shomari Hines Ross Levinsohn's cousin, Peter Levinsohn is getting all strategic at Fox Interactive Media. The company dropped some cash on Strategic Data Corporation (SDC), an Internet advertising technology company indicating that FIM wants to cut its share out of the Internet ad pie. But we have to ask. If Ross Levinsohn was still at the helm of FIM, would this deal have happened? Or would FIM still be busy settling Youtube under its umbrella instead? Then again Rupe probably wouldn't have dropped $1.6 Billion for a two year old company. According to FIM officials, SDC has built a proprietary technology that provides Web publishers with the ability to better optimize its ad campaigns. FIM says that once SDC’s technology has been incorporated into its network of sites, it will be able to deliver highly targeted display ads on MySpace, IGN, AskMen.com and other sites. Fox has been criticized in the past for its lack of targeting options, particularly on MySpace, where its users provide a wealth of personal information on the site while generating billions of page views each month. FIM Acquires Internet Ad Tech Company SDC [MediaWeek]

Myspace turned out to be the social networking site that lead to and will probably lead to more kidnappings

With all their so called policing, five teenage Myspace members were kidnapped and/or raped by shit bags they met on the site. The truth is that no matter what Fox Interactive Media says they have or will put in place, they can't police over a hundred million people. However we won't sit here and shit on Myspace alone. The parent's of these young girls also needs to be shitted on because of their lack of policing their own children. Kids under the age of 18 should not have computers in their bedrooms. MySpace Inc., and its parent company, News Corp., have been sued in California state court by four families who allege that their minor daughters were solicited online and then sexually abused by adult MySpace users, according to the law firms representing the families. Families from New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina filed separate suits Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging negligence, recklessness, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation by the companies. The families are represented by the law firms of Barry & Loewy LLP, of Austin, Tex., and Arnold & Itkin LLP, of Houston. MySpace, News Corp., Sued by Families Whose Daughters Were Assaulted [PR Newswire]

Morning Wire: Does the hype mean anything if the stock doesn’t react?

IF News Corp is the internet king, why aren’t investors reacting. With all the hype and buzz around News Corp passing internet giant Yahoo! In page views, we thought News Corp’s stock would have gone on a steady climb. The stock performance just doesn’t match the hype. News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch is known these days for chatting up his Myspace website even saying that if he was to sell right now, he could easily get $6 Billion for it. Well Wall Street for some reason isn’t buying that statement just yet, and why? We don’t know. News Corp has big bragging rights and a serious internet position not only because of Myspace.com. This is the engine that seems to be driving their web business these days and they are milking it. The company is currently in talks to launch Myspace in China, a project Rupert Murdoch put his wife Wendy on which many say may signal a new roll for her in the company Would the stock react if a rumor were to brew that News Corp wants to spin off the internet unit?