Instant idol.Though mobile entertainment company InfoSpace Inc. is headquartered in Seattle Seattle (sēăt`əl), city (1990 pop. 516,259), seat of King co., W Wash., built on seven hills, between Elliott Bay of Puget Sound and Lake Washington; inc. 1869. , its L.A. office keeps people entertained en·ter·tain v. en·ter·tained, en·ter·tain·ing, en·ter·tains v.tr. 1. To hold the attention of with something amusing or diverting. See Synonyms at amuse. 2. . The company has teamed up with Fox's "American Idol American Idol is an annual American televised singing competition, which began its first season on June 11, 2002. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the British reality program Pop Idol. " series to help satisfy audiences' two major cravings: cell phones and "Idol idol, an object, frequently an image, which is worshiped as a deity. Idols are usually found in human or animal form and may be treated as though alive; they are fed, bathed, anointed, crowned, and sometimes even provided with a consort. " time. InfoSpace is making Idol contestants' performances available as ring tones (to Cingular Wireless customers only), downloadable a mere three hours after the live show. As soon as the show airs, InfoSpace's L.A. office pulls audio clips and digitally re-masters them for a cell phone ring tones. "Normally it would take between three and 10 days for it to get out into the market," said Mary Stuyvesant, vice president of media partnerships for InfoSpace. "And with an original recording, from the time an artist records the album, it can be months before that ring tone sees the light of day." Fox Broadcasting Co., through its partnership with Cingular, wants to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. the fleeting popularity of its idols. But showbiz on the mobile stage can be just as harsh as the "Idol" judges. Once a contestant is voted off the show, his or her ring tone is removed from the download To receive a file transmitted over a network. In any communications session, "download" means receive, and "upload" means send. The download/upload often implies a big/little scenario, in which data is being downloaded from the "big" server into the "little" user's computer. list. Cingular charges standard fees, about $2.49 per ring tone. The instant-Idol-ring-tone promotion launched in March. The companies declined to provide a tally of the numbers of downloads--partly, Stuyvesant explained, because the contest is still ongoing and they don't want to reveal which contestants are most popular with cellphone-toting fans. (Viewers vote for their favorite "Idol" each week via text message.) InfoSpace has about 115 employees in L.A. The office is focused on music and entertainment in mobile services. Staff Reporter Hilary Potkewitz can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 226, or by e-mail at hpotkewitz@labusinessjournal.com. |
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