Can Data Help Maker Studios Guarantee a Hit for The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman?

In a heated exchange before a judge, YouTuber Commander Holly (real name: Holly Conrad) faces off against actress Tina Huang. The issue at hand is one that has divided many a Trekkie: William Riker, yay or nay? Welcome to Nerd Court, where arguments that one might normally witness at a comic book store instead are heard in a "court of law," à la The People's Court or Judge Judy. (Other raging debates include Star Wars vs. Star Trek, and which film series features better magic, The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter.) The six-episode Web series, which premiered March 4, is a passion project of Maker Labs, a division of Disney-owned multichannel network Maker Studios, and Skybound Entertainment, the media company owned by Robert Kirkman, executive producer of AMC's hit zombie thriller The Walking Dead and creator of the comic book series on which the show is based. "It's a whole tongue-in-cheek show, but it's a lot of fun," says Kirkman. The combination of Kirkman, the creative force behind one of television's top series, and Maker Studios—which, with more than 11 billion monthly views, is the largest content distributor on YouTube—pretty much ensures Nerd Court will attract a degree of viewership. And yet neither side wants to leave that to chance. The Maker Labs model will give Skybound, on whose YouTube channel the show runs, an expansive layer of data based on social media insights to inform its creative decisions. Maker believes that formula will enable Kirkman's... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2015-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #news outlets #death knell #media agency #important thing

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Angry Birds Maker Hatches In-Game Video Ad Plan

Angry Birds is getting ready to introduce in-game digital video ads in an expansion of its advertising products that the company will unveil soon, according to Michele Tobin, Rovio’s head of advertising. Tobin told Adweek today that the company’s games provide premium inventory for video... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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TV Choice sales hit five-year high as it benefits from closure of TV Pick

Listings magazine, which is the most popular paid-for title in UK, reported an average weekly sale of 1,374,813TV Choice has increased sales to a five-year high of almost 1.4 million, the biggest beneficiary among listings magazines from the demise of Richard Desmond's short-lived TV Pick.H... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bryan Hits Million Copies Sold

Amazon Publishing announced that Helen Bryan has become its second author, after Oliver Pötzsch ("The Hangman's Daughter"), to sell 1 million copies. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Cartoonist Studio Prize: The Shortlist

The Slate Book Review and the Center for Cartoon Studies are proud to announce the nominees for the second annual Cartoonist Studio Prize. The winner in each of our two categories will be announced March 7; each winner will receive $1,000 and, of course, eternal glory. The shortlists were... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2014-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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February 2014 Audio Books: In the Studio

All-star cast gathers for ‘Suspicious Incidents’ and more in this month's audio book news. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Intersections: Data and Digital Advertising

As they now become digital publishers, newspaper organizations have a glut of audience insight into what both readers want and advertisers want to know. “Newspapers … are among the most trusted brands for providing valuable a ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Godine Has Surprise Hit

The Boston publisher has gone back to press for a second printing of a book by furniture maker Peter Korn that combines the personal with creative practice. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twitter Gives Partners New Data Tools to Track Messages

Twitter is diving even deeper into data. The social media platform is now giving publishers and brands more insights into how their tweets perform. Today, the company introduced analytics for Twitter Cards, which allow companies to track how media-filled tweets perform—such as how many users... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How HarperCollins's Chief Digital Officer Uses Big Data To Make Publishing More Profitable

As more readers favor Kindles and iPads over pulp-based books, Chantal Restivo-Alessi of HarperCollins is mining digital data to determine how publishers can maximize profits.Having worked at EMI records for over a decade, Chantal Restivo-Alessi knows what it's like to have the digitization of... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Smith: Quercus hit by 'lack of visibility'

Quercus c.e.o. Mark Smith has blamed a "lack of visibility" for the company's... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Key to hit books discovered, study claims

Academic Yejin Choi says her algorithm can predict 'highly successful literature' with 84% accuracyAuthors, publishers and literary critics struggling to unlock the secrets of successful writing can breathe a sigh of relief, after a computer science professor has announced an algorithm that can... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Robert Gates memoir shocks Washington

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the first to offer a scathing critique of President Obama and his administration from within the Cabinet. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Sales decline" hits DC Thomson performance

Publisher DC Thomson has reported a decline in profits, blamed mainly on losses in its book... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Storms hit some Christmas trade

The bad weather and flooding hit Christmas and post-Christmas trade for some, but many... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HMH Has Hit With Scratch, Sniff Wine

A "grocery" as opposed to a "luxury" is how Houghton Mifflin Harcourt refers to wine on the cover of its inventive, playful, and now popular, new book, The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishers' year: hits and misses of 2013

Publishers choose their books of the year, and the ones that got awayRobin Robertson Deputy publishing director, Jonathan CapeThe book that made my year: Many years ago, I was sitting in Blake's bar in Enniskillen with John McGahern and he recommended an American novel from the 60s, written by... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Holiday Catalogs Data and Top 15 Cities, Per Popular iPad App

The turn-the-page Web catalog—tested widely in the 2000s as an alternative to e-commerce sites—once looked like an emerging shopping platform led by now-defunct tech providers such as RichFX. But the concept died on the proverbial vine. With the massive proliferation of tablets, however, the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rules that carriers must retain data called incompatible with EU law

The European Union’s top legal advisor ruled on Thursday that laws requiring communications providers to retain all data, even to combat crime, are incompatible with fundamental rights. Advocate General Pedro Cruz Villalón of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said in a published opinion that... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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December 2013 Audio Books: In the Studio

Diaz adds narration to her body of work and more in this week's audio books news. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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