Netflix is paying between $75 million and $100 million for the streaming rights to seven seasons of Mad Men, the WSJ reports. That's around $1 million per episode.

The deal is with Lions Gate, the studio that makes the show, and not the network, which is something Netflix is increasingly doing.

Netflix is continuing its aggressive strategy to go after great content. Good for them.

Adding live sports broadcasts may help YouTube expand revenue by keeping viewers on its site longer to woo more advertisers. YouTube’s contract to show cricket from the Indian Premier League, which gives the Google unit a share of ad revenue from games and the league’s website, brought in 55 million visits from more than 250 countries, Anand said

By the time the first ballot is opened at the Academy Awards next Sunday, millions of people will be chatting about the awards show on the Internet. And ABC will be ready.

Trying to exploit viewers’ two-screen behavior, the television network has built a companion Web site with behind-the-scenes video streams, so Oscar winners will be seen accepting an award on the TV set, then seen celebrating backstage on the stream.

Experiments like this one are a sudden priority in television land. As more and more people chat in real time about their favorite shows — on Facebook, Twitter and a phalanx of smaller sites — television networks are trying to figure out how to capitalize.

Grey’s Anatomy Sync [iTunes link] is powered by Nielsen’s Media-Sync Platform and will showcase interactive content in real time, based on what is happening on screen. Media-Sync technology works in conjunction with the microphone on the iPad to keep the app in sync with the show.

Using the audio watermarks that TV programs typically use for tracking TV ratings, the app can figure out where a viewer is in a program and offer up corresponding content on the iPad. This means that in addition to using the app when watching the show live, users can also use the app when watching on a time-shifted copy of the program or when fast-forwarding or rewinding the show.

The following is also my column in next week's Advertising Age.

How Twitter and Facebook Could Dominate the TV Advertising World

By Martin Bryant on July 8th, 2010

Much has been made of Twitter and Facebook’s potential as online advertisers, but have you ever considered that they may one day play an important part in TV advertising too? According to a new report, that’s a distinct possibility.

The Social TV report from media analysts Futurescape features interviews from figures across the media and technology industries and puts forward an argument that as our TVs make the transition to being online devices, social media will provide both a huge opportunity, and a big challenge to broadcast networks.

The “Social EPG”

Online TV services like Google TV, Project Canvas and Yahoo Widgets will allow social media to “enter the TV value chain”, offering social recommendations for viewing directly on your TV screen.

via thenextweb.com