December
15
New Media Start-Ups: HitFix, Wopular
As the transition from print to online media gains momentum, new media start-ups are spreading like kudzu.
Entertainment site HitFix will launch this week. Founded by ex-Reed Business Information development execs Jen Wilhelmi Sargent and ex-Latimes.com and MSN.com film editor Gregory Ellwood, the start-up boasts the calendar application Forecast, which enables consumers to track and customize their upcoming entertainment options based on their own zip code and taste. Last week the HitFix team made the rounds of studios to talk advertising to their target 18 to 34 demo (which is split 50/50 male/female) as well as access to new trailers, sets and talent.
HitFix also offers breaking movie news and blog content from Ellwood (whose blog will focus on awards coverage) and AICN reviewer Drew McWeeny (who retires his “Moriarty” monicker after 12 years), TV reporting from Zap2It’s Daniel Fienberg, and music info from ex-Billboard music maven Melinda Newman. Sports will come online soon. HitFix editors will comment on newsfeeds supplied by A.P. “There’s a gap between the insider trades and the TMZ gossip side,” said Sargent. “We’re catering to consumers, like Entertainment Weekly.”
All Forecast events are downloadable to Yahoo Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, iPhone, and Google. HitFix has already made deals with partners Live Nation, Fandango, StubHub!, Netflix and Amazon.com. Facebook and iPhone apps will launch in February, followed by other mobile devices such as BlackBerry. “The idea is, ‘Come here and get your entertainment fix,’” said the L.A.-based McWeeny, who is looking forward to making a decent living wage. HitFix will hit its stride at Sundance, McWeeny said.
Also check out start-up Wopular, created by Rotten Tomatoes cofounder Senh Duong. It aggregates and presents breaking news in a slick user-friendly interface that makes The Drudge Report look positively 20th century. The deceptively simple site showcases constantly updated stories and a newspaper rack of rss news feeds from top media outlets. Ads, video and widgets will follow when traffic warrants it. “I’m like the editor of a newspaper picking interesting stories I think people should read,” said Duong.
Wopular offers no original content or commentary (except from readers), but as compared to the reported millions sunk into Tina Brown’s cluttered media behemoth The Daily Beast, the price was right for Duong to launch this site by himself, with no staff, in one week: $10.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
Looking forward to seeing McWeeny's new digs at Hitfix.com
Posted by: Jamieson | December 16, 2008 at 08:04 AM
Hitfix should be worth a look, but sweet Jesus Gregrory, more awards season blog coverage?! That's been done, to death...
Posted by: Brian | December 16, 2008 at 09:47 AM
Oh, great, an impostor. And one who can't spell "Gregory." That guy's not me, folks, y'know, the Appaloosa/Bank Job/Punisher: War Zone fan? One of us has gotta change his handle here.
Posted by: Brian | December 17, 2008 at 07:46 AM