Broadcast Upfronts Down Roughly 15%, Networks Withholding Inventory: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer August 7, 2009

The major media companies are wrapping up the upfronts and the numbers are down approximately 15%. As a whole, business is down due to lower prices. Interestingly, the big broadcast networks are holding back more inventory than usual, which is what big broadcasters do if they think they can sell it for higher prices later in the season.

Twitter fell prey to a cyber attack that shut the micro-blogging network down for a few hours yesterday. The attack, which reportedly originated in Russia or Georgia, was a "denial-of-service attack," in which hackers re-routed traffic from other sites to a specific site, in this case Twitter, in order to clog its servers. The attack also targeted YouTube and LiveJournal, but Twitter was by far hit the hardest.

Microsoft announced that its Office cloud-based offerings will be available at Office.com. The choice comes after Microsoft was unsure of how it would brand its web applications, as part of Bing, MSN, or its Windows Live division. While Microsoft is trying to compete with Google in cloud-based applications, it is yet to be determined whether or not the free apps will cut into Microsoft's Office software business, which accounts for 60% of its income.

Comcast say profits increase 53% during the second quarter. The cable and Internet provider earned $967 million during the quarter on the strength of higher subscription rates and increased consumer spending. Comcast exceeded analysts expectations, with CEO Brian Roberts noting that "this is a very solid business in tough economic times...and I think we're going to come out of it the strongest we've ever been."

While Apple may only be the fifth-largest mobile phone company, it took 32% of mobile phone profits during the first half of 2009. A report by Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi noted that while the Apple only account for 8% of mobile phone revenue, its profits proved that the company has made a major dent in the mobile phone business. With the cost of the iPhone now cheaper than ever before, analysts believe that Apple will see even greater profits from its smart phone division.

Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV. Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at [e-mail] For information about Get Digital Classes, visit www.shellypalmer.com/seminars

Follow Shelly Palmer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@shelly_palmer