The Madison Square Garden Company’s music-centered cable channel Fuse has picked up three new, original series, all set to premiere by early 2013, including Off Beat from FishBowl Worldwide Media.

“Off Beat” — A weekly half-hour mash-up of the funniest and most outrageous music-themed Internet videos and viewer-created clips, hosted by comedian Mike E. Winfield. Mike E. has not slowed down since his debut on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and, most recently, his reoccurring role on NBC’s “The Office.” Production is underway for 12 episodes, which are set to premiere this summer. “Off Beat” is produced by FishBowl Worldwide Media and Executive Producers Vin Di Bona, Bruce Gersh, Susan Levison and Beth Greenwald. Mike Gibbons (“Tosh.0″) is signed on as a creative consultant and the showrunner is Steve Melcher (“The Showbiz Show with David Spade”).
More at Deadline Hollywood

http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/fuse-orders-three-original-reality-series/

DJ Flula will provide voice over commentary on videos from Fishbowl’s vast library of over 800,000 cleared and curated clips. New episodes will air weekly on the Petsami YouTube channel, which launched in January with a slate of animal-oriented programs including CuteWinTail, Leash Line, One Minute Meerkat, Ask a Tiger, KlipKat, and How2BCute.

“I am very exciting [sic] to join with Petsami to explain the Mysteries of the Animals in all of a Kingdoms!” DJ Flula told Tubefilter. “It is true, I am not a Scientist; but like a Scientist I have the eyes of a human, and I shall use those Human Eyes to discover the Secrets of Animals. Join With Me As I Stare At Animals! And Talk to You! About the Animals. It is my Goal, of course, to Dominate the World in an Excellent and Peaceful Flula Way. The Next Step to grab this Goal by its Face is clear: I must Explain Animal Behavioring with Petsami. So: We Do It. Boo Ja!”

http://www.tubefilter.com/2012/04/03/dj-flula-petsami-fishbowl/

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In October when Yahoo launched a slate of original Web videos, the company announced that it wanted to be the “broadcast network of the digital age.” It was an ambitious goal for a company whose competition included Google’s YouTube and its $100 million original content project and Hulu, which is backed by some of the biggest actual TV networks.

Yahoo’s not stealing TV dollars just yet, but it seems to be holding strong. The company is set to announce on April 2 that it’s renewing all but one of the eight women’s shows it promoted in the fall while rolling out three new series. “We are thrilled with how the first run of the female slate performed,” said Erin McPherson, Yahoo’s vp and head of video programming and originals. “We are exactly where we want to be with it.”

In fact, over the past six months, the new shows have been streamed collectively over 200 million times, per Yahoo. The seven returning shows have been among the top 25 most-watched online series, with most receiving between 1 million and 3 million unique visitors in February, according to comScore.

Among the additions are a fashion series with designer Rebecca Minkoff and a show with entertainment news reporter Michael Yo. Returning shows include Judy Greer’s Reluctantly Healthy, Niecy Nash’s Let’s Talk About Love and Ultimate Surprise, an expansion of Ultimate Proposal hosted by Cameron Mathison.

For the shows’ producers, the challenge is adapting TV-quality content to Web viewers’ shorter attention spans. But Bruce Gersh, CEO, and David Beebe, vp and gm, of FishBowl Worldwide Media, which produces Ultimate Surprise, said they’ve found the answer with emotional, relatable stories that get audiences to watch and share content online. “It all goes back to great storytelling,” said Beebe. “We just have to cut it down to five minutes.”

Nash said the Web also offers something TV doesn’t: time to grow. On TV, Let’s Talk About Love would have been under pressure to hit certain numbers on day one. But online shows can grow organically and incorporate advertising as the audience expands, Nash argued.

Advertisers seem happy. “Yahoo’s women’s slate significantly outperformed the other video programs supporting the 2012 Toyota Camry launch campaign,” said Dionne Colvin, national marketing media manager for Toyota. “Online video tends to be more engaging and offers higher conversion rates than other mediums.” But the space is getting crowded.

“Yahoo’s done a great job with developing new content and the way they’ve marketed and positioned it,” said Adam Kasper, evp of digital investments at Havas Digital. “But they’re only going to be facing increased competition in this area.”

Dancing with the Stars judge and longtime animal activist Carrie Ann Inaba’s first-ever web series, Crib Cat, will premiere Monday, March 26 on the YouTube channel, Petsami, a new digital entertainment network that advocates embracing your inner animal instincts with daily fun and funny pet shows and videos. Crib Cat is hosted by Inaba’s longtime friend Kit, a cat who happens to be a matchmaker and receives submissions from cats all over looking for the perfect “crib” – aka “forever home.” The series is written by Inaba, who also provides the voice of Kit.
Executive produced by Inaba and FishBowl Worldwide Media, Crib Cat will feature 12 episodes with each one introducing a cat from a no-kill shelter ready for adoption and their own forever home. The series will further expand to include both cats and dogs available for adoption.  Whether it’s choosing a human who has the right temperament or setting up the perfect scratching post, the show’s mission is to help pair every cat and dog in America with their perfect Crib.

Crib Cat joins a larger slate of Petsami programming featuring a variety of eccentric pet personalities as they host shows that offer insight into the secret lives of their four-footed best friends. Additional pet programming on the channel includes deep thoughts by meerkats and curated cat videos provided by an internet junkie curating cat! Other Petsami shows include CuteWinTail, One Minute Meerkat and KlipKat.

Petsami also provides a platform for viewers to have an engaging entertainment experience by allowing them to upload their own videos to the channel, create captions for different videos and even vote on whether cats or dogs are cuter.

Now anyone can embrace their inner animal instincts with this unique and fun digital network. Car Chase? Go for it. Couch to claw? Be Petsami’s guest. #StayWild with Petsami and visit http://www.petsami.com.

ABOUT FISHBOWL WORLDWIDE MEDIA

FishBowl Worldwide Media is an independent production company founded in 2010 by entertainment industry veterans Vin Di Bona and Bruce Gersh, with the creative team led by Susan Levison. This next generation studio is a transmedia storyteller developing properties for film, television, digital platforms and brands by partnering with marketers, digital companies and ad agencies in addition to the Hollywood creative community. FishBowl is in production on television properties for networks such as Discovery Channel, HGTV, MTV and truTV. Led by David Beebe, FishBowl’s Digital division has launched the hit web series, CuteWinFail, which is ranked in the YouTube Comedy Channel Top 20 with more than 90 million video views, Ultimate Proposal, an original series for Yahoo!, Petsami, a YouTube channel for pets by pets, and the animated web series The Potts. FishBowl Worldwide Media is headquartered in Los Angeles and can be found online at www.fbwmedia.com.

Black will oversee business development initiatives across FishBowl’s television and digital divisions, with a focus on growing and identifying opportunities to maximize the value of the company’s assets.

She most recently served as general manager for Warner Bros. Women’s Digital Brands and Business Development, where she was responsible for the overall strategy and alternative revenue generation for Telepictures’ daytime brands, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, TMZ, Anderson Cooper, Extra and MomLogic.

Black formerly was senior vice president, Marketing and Digital Media for SiTV, leading the development and implementation of the marketing strategy for SiTV’s programming and the SiTV digital network. Her previous experience also includes vice president at Lifetime Television, director of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Food Network, and financial positions at Random House, Broadway Media and KPMG.

FishBowl Worldwide Media is an independent production company founded in 2010 by entertainment industry veterans Vin Di Bona and Bruce Gersh. Its current projects include Ultimate Proposal, an original series for Yahoo which has garnered more than 18 million views; Petsami, a recently launched YouTube channel “for pets by pets”; CuteWinFail, which is ranked in the YouTube Comedy Channel Top 20 with more than 90 million video views; and the animated web series The Potts. FishBowl also manages the world’s largest curated library of cleared user-generated content and offers a white-label clearance management service used by advertisers and major brands.

http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2012/03/08/fishbowl-worldwide-media-hires-black-to-lead-business-development

A family gaming experience like never before With THE GAME OF LIFE: zAPPed Edition, you can enjoy a whole new way to play! Add your iPad to the unique gameboard for a truly interactive family experience. The free app brings your game to life as you move around the board. You still get to move your car from space to space and select your path to retirement, but now you spin, get paid, sue other players and make important decisions all on your iPad. Don’t want to be just a plain peg? Go ahead and customize your peg character and add a peg-sessory! Quick to set up, easy to play No assembly necessary! Just download the free app, hand out cars and cash, place your iPad on the board and you’re ready to go. Just follow the on-screen instructions and move your car around the board. Exclusive multimedia content Real life is full of funny moments and so is THE GAME OF LIFE: zAPPed Edition. Land on app spaces to unlock more than 100 hilarious clips from America’s Funniest Home Video. Find out if these videos bring you good fortune or bad luck. Includes gameboard, 4 car movers, 52 pegs, money pack, 4 rubber pads, Quick Start Guide. iPad not included but required to play the game. For 2 to 4 Players

“It is an exciting time for Hasbro as our brands continue to engage families around the globe,” said John Frascotti, chief marketing officer, Hasbro. “We look forward to kicking off another year full of innovation across our classic and new brands with new toy and gaming introductions as well as a variety of entertainment experiences including movies, television programming, thrill rides and more.”

Full Press Release.

And it’s about time that somebody formally recognized the brilliant combination of pets and the internet. Who better than America’s Funniest Home Videos creator Vin Di Bona, who with partner Bruce Gersh at FishBowl Worldwide Media launched the Petsami channel on YouTube today?

Petsami is a natural evolution out of CuteWinFail, a clip-driven program which often featured animals among its top vids. ”Petsami allows us to leverage our incredible library of curated user generated content to bring a new, fun and comic twist to current animal programming,” said Gersh, President and CEO of FishBowl. “The YouTube channel expands beyond a viewing channel to a specific destination that entertains, engages and encourages conversations with YouTube audiences and beyond.”

“The expansion of YouTube and Google’s social platforms allows users both video and social experience around content, making it the perfect home for Petsami,“ David Beebe, Vice President and General Manager of FishBowl’s Digital Studio, said.

The channel boasts shows featuring Dancing with the Stars‘ Carrie Ann Inaba, and YouTube phenomenon Clark G, the talking dog that garnered nearly 90 million views for the Ultimate Dog Tease video on YouTube.

Petsami launches today with six shows, including:

CuteWinTail – Similar to the format of FishBowl’s incredibly successful CuteWInFail, each episode of CuteWinTail presents three clips and lets audiences decide which is the “most epic” as it applies to the world of pet and animals. Each week, an episode ends with “Pet of the Week

Leash Line – Leash Line is a weekly news magazine show, profiling true stories of amazing animals from around the world. It’s host, Monkey, is the proud pet of Emmy Award Winning Reporter Lu Parker, who also serves as executive producer.

One Minute Meerkat – This weekly show examines what Meerkats are really saying, translating their thoughts through extremely complex technology. It turns out Meerkats are very similar to humans and each week is just as relatable as the next

Ask a Tiger – A weekly support show hosted by Sabin the Nepalese tiger, who offers domestic pets advice based on his expertise from the wild. Sabin also provides comedic user-generated clips to serve as examples of animal-human interaction

KlipKat – From her Venice apartment, internet junkie KlipKat shares her take on favorite cat clips and invites users to submit LOL speak captions for them. The highest rated user captions are featured in the next episode.

How2BCute – Hoshi the Hamster, Ivanna Iguana and Gus the Guppy are the G.H.I. (think Statler and Waldorf). They are too cool for school and spend their time each day, interacting with users and influencers with snarky, yet entertaining comments.

In October FishBowl launched Ultimate Proposal on Yahoo!, which started off with a bang at 1.75MM views in the first week.

http://news.tubefilter.tv/2012/01/23/vin-di-bonas-fishbowl-petsami-youtube-original-channel/

FishBowl execs Di Bona, Gersh and Susan Levison will serve as executive producers.