Street Talk
As SHOOT went to press, Tewksbury, Mass.-headquartered Avid Technology (NASDAQ: AVID) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mountain View, Calif.-based Pinnacle Systems (NASDAQ: PCLE). The deal, a combination of cash and stock, is valued at $462 million and is expected to close in the second or third quarter of this year. Following the closing, the parties expect that Pinnacle’s professional products will enhance Avid’s broadcast production pipeline. In addition, Pinnacle’s consumer video business will form the basis for a new consumer video division at Avid, providing the company with an immediate avenue into that segment.
“By acquiring Pinnacle’s consumer video business, Avid will be able to tap into the next generation of video editors while they are still learning their craft,” Avid president and CEO David Krall said in a released statement. “This creates a very large potential customer base for Avid’s future. At the same time, we believe that Pinnacle’s professional broadcast offerings will fit seamlessly with Avid’s business, extending our end-to-end broadcast solutions with servers and on-air graphics products.”
For editing professionals, one product to watch may be Pinnacle’s Cinewave HD, which provides HD capabilities to Avid’s rival, Apple’s Final Cut Pro…..
Director Noah Marshall of Auckland, N.Z.-based The Sweet Shop, is exclusively represented in the U.S. for commercials by Notorious 24:7, Santa Monica. In a “Street Talk” item last week about Czar Films (with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels and New York) entering into a cross representation deal with The Sweet Shop, Marshall was mentioned as being on the latter company’s roster. According to Notorious 24:7, Marshall is not part of that Czar/Sweet Shop arrangement in the U.S. territory. At press time, the director was prepping for a campaign via Notorious 24:7….Director Harald Zwart has come aboard bicoastal Villains. He has already wrapped a Villains-produced Scope commercial for Saatchi & Saatchi, New York….Cliff Grant has joined The Story Companies, bicoastal and Chicago, as executive producer. He most recently served for two years as line producer on the NBC reality series Starting Over. Experienced in commercials, Grant will work with The Story Companies’ directors and be involved in the company’s national sales effort. He will also recruit new directorial talent. This is his second tour of duty with The Story Companies; early in his career, he served as its production manager….Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More