NI to launch new online service - The Guardian

News International is developing mobile services dedicated to sport and showbiz. Photograph: Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images

A new online and mobile service dedicated to sport and showbiz is to be launched in the wake of the closure of the News of the World by Rupert Murdoch's News International.

Twenty-one jobs have been advertised internally for a new "digital journalism company" with 19 editorial positions – seven in sport, seven in showbiz, three in multimedia and two in production.

Former News of the World staff suspect the company wants to get a slice of the celebrity market that has been successfully exploited by the Daily Mail.

The Mail's online offering is significantly different to its print product, with its mix of paparazzi photos and celebrity gossip a huge traffic driver in the past three years. It is now the UK's number one national newspaper site with 70 million monthly users.

News International's Tom Mockridge told staff earlier this week that the company was developing a digital business that would create 21 jobs, but he did not expand on what he meant.

It is understood the team is being assembled to develop services for online as well as applications for smartphones and tablets.

One source said: "The online department has been criticised for not being able to build apps fast enough. This could be their attempt to beef up NI's app presence. So they could do a Mail online-style showbiz app, soccer app etc and come up with one-off apps related to major events, Olympics, royal weddings etc."

The company refused to say if it was launching a standalone product – the Sun already has a showbiz app for its Bizarre column, so it is unlikely to develop another.

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One Life To Live To Live Strong Online. All My Children? Not So Much…

Remember when we told you Susan Lucci was penning an angry epilogue in her memoir about All My Children?

Yeah, well she's still pissed.

She has officially turned down Prospect Park's offer to continue her high salaried career as Erika Kane as the series transitions to online territory.

Girlfriend said hell to the no!

And, as usual, we definitely understand.

But if you exit Pine Valley and go down the street and take a right, you'll enter Llanview — the land of cops, journalists, and personality disorders.

As AMC's fate seems dreary, One Life To Live's looks as bright as it can be for a web soap.

The classic ABC series will officially live on now with the star, Erika Slezak (Victoria) as well as three other confirmed big players Michael Easton (John), Ted King (Tomas), and Kassie DePaiva (Blair).

Umm, Todd and Jessica better be returning too!

We want the show to last forever, but if Todd and Jessica go, we just might too!

[Image via Nikki Nelson/DJDM/WENN.]

Tags: abc, all my children, erika slezak, one life to live, soap operas, susan lucci

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Move Aside, Netflix! Dish Network To Introduce Online Movie Rentals

Some more bad news for Netflix!

Not only have they raised their prices, leaving customers VERY upset, but they've also just recently lost out on their deal with Starz, dropping their stock price by 9% last Friday.

And NOW they have new competition.

The Dish Network is looking into releasing their own movie subscription that will include online streaming as well as mail and in-store rentals, AND on-demand rentals.

Dish also owns Blockbuster, which means they would be getting existing customers as well as possibly picking up the Starz deal that was broken with Netflix.

This is some major competition for Netflix and with so many customers angry at the company for raising their prices, they could very well see another drop in user subscriptions.

Yikes!! We'd think twice about our pricing decisions if we were you, Netflix! Things aren't looking good for you…

Tags: blockbuster, competition, dish network, movie rentals, netflix, prices

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Entertaining Website on Celebrity Gossip Updated By CelebLowDown.com - Online PR News (press release)

The entertainment website celeblowdown.com that contains celebrity gossip that is obtained after investigating and searching for the low-down.

Online PR News – 04-September-2011 –The entertainment website celeblowdown.com that contains celebrity gossip that is obtained after investigating and searching for the low-down and the latest gossip in Hollywood is maintained and updated by a group of people who are passionate about writing. Fans and others who want the latest news and pictures as well as all the celebrity gossip regarding their favorite star, singers, and well known faces in general can find all they need at this portal. The team of seven at CelebLowDown.com aim to bring the latest and the best gossip across the industry and they encourage people to leave comments on a particular post and they can also be contacted individually for any questions that readers might have about these posts.

The team updates the website with the newest and the latest celerity stories to ensure that all the information regarding a favorite celebrity or a movie star is always up to date and these posts are posted in the form of blog posts and the format and layout make them easy to read. People can get the latest news about actors, athletes, authors and writers, comedians, directors, models, and musicians without having to read their star?s Twitter status or having to visit the profile page or fan page on Facebook. There is plenty of news regarding the leading stars like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Jennifer Aniston, musicians like Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce Knowles, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Madonna, talk shows hosts like Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Jay Leno, David Letterman, sportspersons like David Beckham, Tiger Woods, Fernando Alonso, Maria Sharapova, etc.

Repeated and exhaustive searches on the regular social networking sites also does offer the information that is available on this website that is easily accessible to users and new celebrity gossip and stories are added constantly, so that fans stay in the loop by reading the various posts posted by the team of writers at the whose job is post regular news, gossip, and updates regarding all the popular celebrities.

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