The new guidelines tell BBC staff they can make payments to members of the public who send in footage from mobile phones or cameras, but "audiences should not be encouraged to think that payment is the norm".

"We do not want to give people the impression that we will pay for hundreds of pieces of user-generated content," said Vicky Taylor, the BBC's head of interactivity. She said the only time the BBC has paid in the past for amateur footage was for video of the Concorde crash in Paris.

With video cameras are in the hands of citizen’s everywhere, news can be now be captured by a passerby. The viral power of blogs and online news sites has proven to be an effective way to spread news and network broadcasters don’t want to miss out on the less than professional clips.

The new editorial policy guidelines state: "Material is submitted to the BBC under published terms and conditions. These give us a free, non-exclusive license to publish on any platform, and the person who took the footage/pictures retains copyright.”

In rare occasions, the BBC is willing maybe willing to pay-in-pounds for exclusivity. But for now, the pay-per-clip is more of a reward for being in the right place at the right time than an incentive to break the news.

The TV veteran will create a variety of content for Metacafe, including a Bochco-branded channel, according to Variety. The first Bochco project, an unscripted video that interacts with viewers, will air on the site in early 2007. Bochco recently produced "Commander-in-Chief" and continues to have a development deal with Touchstone television.

The new options include a home movie service, through which users can create an Internet “channel” that automatically broadcasts clips of kids’ birthday parties and other movies over the Internet to family and friends with TiVo recorder boxes.

It is also extending its online-to-TV-donwload TivoCast service, launched earlier this year. New batch of partners including CBS, Reuters, Forbes magazine and others.

-- Rafat Ali

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• Required character name: Alex Kona
• Required dialog line: “No, you don’t understand what it’s like growing up here.”
• Required costume: leather jacket and dark sunglasses
• Required prop: ice
• Required side kick: pet monkey
• Required setting: abandoned building
• Required shot: clock with 4:11 on face
• Required makeup: fake eyelashes and blue eye shadow
• Required genre: sci-fi/fantasy
• Required camera effect: crane or boom shot
• Required editing device: musical montage

After the entries are posted to Insomnia's web gallery, they will be available for the public to view and rate. Voting will continue through December 3rd and the 25 top rated films will be judged an expert panel.

Two winners will be chosen, the audience and the judges’ pick, and each winner will win a copy of Final Cut Studio, a copy of Shake, and an 80GB video iPod for their portable portfolio.

After three episodes, the high-stakes robbery drama Smith was canceled because of lack of interest. The four remaining original episodes will air on CBS’s broadband channel, Innertube. The episodes will be available free of charge, with minimal commercials, for four weeks.

The first three episodes of the series, which already aired on CBS primetime, will also rerun online. For those who just won’t let the dead dog lie, a written synopsis of how the producers planned to resolve the series will be posted on the Smith's CBS website.

CBS has begun streaming a new new comedy/reality hybrid show called The Papdits on its broadband channel Innertube. From the writer and producer of the Da Ali G Show, The Papdits is “a docu-comedy about a family from Kashmir and their interactions with Americans as they travel through the U.S.”

Verizon Wireless is the exclusive mobile partner of The Papdits and will make available free clips to Verizon subscribers on VCast.

NBC is also offering free episodes of its daytime soap opera Passions via a stream on NBC.com. As of yesterday, Passions episodes will be available on the same airdate after 6 p.m. and stay live on the site for a week.

"As we have shown with our prime-time programming, adding digital extensions to our shows is immensely popular," said Jeff Gaspin, president, NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, Digital Content, and Cross-Network Strategy in announcing the move.

(Source: MediaWeek)

...and brands are trying to create their own social networks or social media.

The WSJ has an interesting q-and-a along these lines with Mark Kingdon, the CEO of direct-marketing agency Organic Inc. (Clients include Daimler Chrysler)—described as “One of the ad executives most aggressively taking advantage of social media.” For one, he says, social media properties are challenging marketers” to get comfortable quickly with the lack of control that they have over where their content appears.” The second requirement is to get ready for and encourage dialogue. Kingdon: “We are entering the period of the open-source brand, where in order for people to feel like it is relevant to them, they have to have a part in creating it.”

The piece opens with a stat about the first four minutes of “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” being viewed more than 1 million times in two weeks on YouTube and suggests that contributed to the movie’s strong opening...

Staci D. Kramer

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The Xbox Live Video Marketplace opens for business Nov. 22—the anniversary of the Xbox 360 launch— with content from a variety of companies including Turner Broadcasting, Viacom, Paramount Studios, CBS, Warner Brothers. and Ultimate Fighting Championship. This was one of the expected directions for Xbox 360 but, as I wrote earlier this year, the chokehold on supply that kept the core gaming audience from being served initially, effectively postponed outreach beyond gaming. This latest move plays off the already existing Xbox-TV connection. It’s also a one-up area for Microsoft: Xbox 360 owners won’t need Apple’s iTV—unless they’re big Disney fans.

-- Microsoft is also claiming bragging rights on another front: “Xbox 360 will be the first gaming console to bring standard and high-definition TV shows and movies via digital distribution over the Internet directly to the consumer.” The release stresses repeatedly that gamers are the target. Xbox 360 owners can access Xbox Live Marketplace with a free Xbox Live Silver membership and a broadband connection.

-- For CBS, it marks the first delivery of HD download-to-own. Shows include CSI, Jericho, Numb3rs Survivor.m-- and remastered HD episodes from Star Trek.

-- Turner will provide episodes from its animated Adult Swim and, for the first time, NASCAR download-to-own in the form of condensed races from NASCAR.com.

-- MSFT’s HD-DVD option for Xbox is due “mid November” for $200.

WSJ: Prices will be competitive with other download services. As for the TV connection: “But there is also a downside: the Xbox 360 has limited storage capacity, compared with most PCs. Xbox 360 users will be able to store only about 16 hours of standard-quality video and about 4½ hours of high-definition video on the machine, room for only a smattering of movies and television shows. Microsoft says users will be able to download television shows for free that they have previously purchased and deleted to make room for additional content on their consoles.”

CNNMoney: Some downloads will be in HD and wil cost a little more. Users have two weeks to start watching their movie downloads but once viewing begins a 24-hour clock starts ticking. Purchased TV shows aren’t portable. “Microsoft said it has developed a progressive download technology which will allow users to begin watching the program or film before it has downloaded entirely to the Xbox 360’s hard drive. Shorter programs, such as “South Park,” will be viewable instantly. Longer features, such as a high definition film, will require a short wait, so they can build up a cache.”

NYT: “Judging by the initial offerings, Xbox Live will be something of a cyberspace version of the Spike Channel, MTV Networks’ cable channel aimed at young men.” Peter Moore, corporate VP for interactove entertainment: “Direct revenue from this over the long term could be important. ... But this is also another reason to buy an Xbox 360. ... The interesting thing is that we’re delivering the 18-to-34-year-olds who aren’t watching TV.” NPD estimates more than 2 million Xbox 360s have been sold in the U.S. Also from Moore: “This is a razors and blades business. I’ve taken the hit on the razor. And the ability of Microsoft to offer more blades gives consumers more choice and drives more revenue.”

-- by Staci D. Kramer

According to the Times:

Under the terms being discussed, customers of Verizon Wireless -- Verizon's joint venture with Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L) -- would be able to view some YouTube videos on their cellphones through the carrier's premium V Cast service, the Journal said.

Verizon also would offer YouTube videos as an on-demand feature of a TV service it is launching throughout the nation, according to the paper.

A deal may give Verizon the exclusive right to carry YouTube videos for a limited period of time, one person with knowledge of the discussions told the Journal.

The move would make Verizon, the nation's no. 2 carrier, into a major video player against rival Sprint, who currently leads the market. It would also further legitimize YouTube as a content provider and quell Wall Street's concerns that the video-hosting giant is just a lawsuit waiting to happen.