Peter Cowley confirmed today that he will be presenting at b.TWEEN 07.

We met today to talk about Endemol’s digital media investment fund.  The fund was launched in June 2006, a response to a changing media scape where TV is rapidly losing footing and the big broadcasting moguls are losing their grip on audiences.

They aim to invest in Indies with good sales driven content ideas around participation programmes, aggregation, evolving platforms such as mobile, IPTV and video-on-demand services, gaming and gambling. All of the major gambling brands are desperate to find ways of using content to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Since the launch they have received around 150 ideas. They have been surprised by how few of the proposals have clear business cases built around them, and by how few of the companies they talked to are investment ready. There has been no shortage of good ideas, just a shortage of the commercial acumen to accompany them. They have just entered their first investment deal through the fund with a company that has been trading for two years though wouldn’t tell who the company is

Endemol have also just announced a creative partnership with electronic arts (EA) to develop a new entertainment concept that will bridge the gap between TV and Games. “Virtual Me” combines EA’s avatar creation technology with Endemol’s TV formats to offer audiences a way to meet and greet in a virtual space. It will be launched in the next series of ‘Big Brother’ and will allow players to participate in virtual versions of TV shows like ‘Fame Academy’ and ‘Deal Or No Deal’, and to form real relationships with other virtual avatars on the web
(www.VirtualMe.com).
Incidentally, BBC viewing figures apparently plummeted to new low last Saturday, with less than 15% of the audience tuning in to their TV offer.

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