Young people are flocking to mobile social networking by the millions, creating a potential gold mine for marketers, according to a new In-Stat study.

The survey concluded 27% of young people between 18-24, or around 14.7 million people, are actively using mobile versions of sites like MySpace, Facebook and Flickr. These so-called Millennials are by far the biggest users of mobile social networks: a total of 18.9 million people, or around 7.3% of total mobile subscribers in North America access social networks on their cell  phones.

Wireless analyst Jill Meyers expects the number of subscribers accessing social networks to more than double to about 47 million people by 2012.

"That’s an enormous marketing opportunity," she said. "Imagine being able to target kids with advertising about the Hulk when they blog after seeing Iron Man."

First, though, carriers and site operators will have to solve thorny questions about privacy. Will kids feel comfortable with contextual ads on their cell phones, just as they have with their Gmail accounts?

See Also

• Mobile Social Networking: Marketing to Millennials

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As I was reading about CBS’ $1.8 billion purchase of CNET on MarketWatch.com, I couldn’t help but remember when CBS purchased MarketWatch.

Today, MarketWatch is owned by Dow Jones. And Dow Jones, of course, is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Meanwhile, you have Norman Pearlstine (previously head a top honcho at Time Inc. and the Wall Street Journal) hired by Bloomberg, another online powerhouse.

The common denominator: Online is where many, if not most, people are getting their news.

This implies several things:

1) The continued deterioration of newspapers, and possibly soon, of magazines.

2) An acceleration of the massive shift of advertising from traditional media to the Web.

3) A growing recognition by TV powerhouses like CBS that the Internet is no longer just a vanity play or a way to promote their shows. It’s a major piece of their future revenue as viewers fly from TV to the Web.

See Also

• CBS to Buy Web Publisher CNET for $1.8 Billion

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For those of you who missed iHollywood Forum and NXTcomm’s Q&A with Survivor and Apprentice Producer Mark Burnett about the future of digital content delivery, just click on the image to the left to go a page with links to view the video. (About the middle of the page; Quicktime and Windows Media). NXTcomm is the replacement show for the giant Supercomm show, produced by the Telecommunications Industry Association and the U.S. Telecom Association. Burnett will be keynoting NXTcomm08, which is dedicated to the intersection of voice, data and content.

iHollywood Forum will be co-producing Communications Goes Green with NXTcomm on June 19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Keynotes include AT&T’s Dorothy Attwood, Senior Vice President for Regulatory Planning & Policy and Chief Privacy Officer; and Verizon’s Kathryn C. Brown, Senior Vice President
Public Policy Development & Corporate Responsibility.

If you’re involved in IPTV, cable or broadcast TV content and infrastructure, and if environmental concerns are important to your business, this is the show for you.

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Happy to report that Marshall Herskowitz joins us as a keynote for the upcoming Digital Media Summit on June 9-10 (combined with Music 2.0) Most recently President of the Producer’s Guild of America, Herskowitz is also an Emmy-winning writer, director and producer, whose range extends from The Last Samurai to thirtysomething. In her keynote, Charlene Li, principal analyst at Forrester Research and author of Groundswell,will expand upon the book’s theme of winning in a world transformed by social technologies– a major theme of the conference… Look for other keynote announcements in the next few days…

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Sprint Nextel and Clearwire’s reported $12 billion joint venture to roll out ultra-fast wireless Internet access would be a significant boost to the cellular aspirations of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Google.

The Wall Street Journal said the two companies have raised $3.2 billion in outside financing, including $1.05 billion from  Comcast, $550 million from Time Warner Cable, $500 million from Internet giant Google and  $1 billion from Intel. 

Cable companies are fretting at the wireless advantage of AT&T and Verizon, both of which have rolled out IPTV service to millions of customers over the last year. This combination, which reportedly will allow them to brand the service as their own, would allow them to add high-speed wireless to their TV, Internet and telephone options.

For Google, the deal helps cement its position as the dominant search provider in wireless in advance of an expected Google phone over the next 12 months.

Intel, which wil merge its broadband wireless services into Clearwire, gets a new breath of life for its data services, which have been sorely underutilized as subscribers flee its service.

According to the Journal, the new service will ultimately be as much as eight times faster than existing coverage.

See Also

• Sprint, Clearwire Deal Near

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Analysts are already pontificating about the prospects for Microsoft launching a new Yahoo bid if the search giant’s stock continues to plunge.

But I wonder if history will judge the real story of the failed bid to be the end of Microsoft’s last, best attempt to remain the dominant force in modern computing.

Google as clearly donned that mantle, as the Internet — not the operating system — becomes the central feature of most people’s computing experience.

Yahoo’s cozying up to Google reminds me of a kid hiding behind his Dad and telling the neighborhood bully, "Back off or he’ll whup you!"

I was struck by software pioneer Mitchell Kapor’s comparison today of Microsoft to IBM, weakened in the 1980s and early 1990s by its antitrust woes and the shift of the mainframe to personal computers.

“I.B.M. came out of those years still large and enormously important to its customers, but I.B.M. was displaced by Microsoft,” Kapor told New York Times reporter Steve Lohr. “I.B.M. was no longer the defining company.” 

Microsoft is far too important a company to be driven out of business — at least in the forseeable future. But is Microsoft the 21st century’s IBM?

See Also

• Microsoft’s Failed Yahoo Bid Risks Online Growth

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Nuru Rimington-Mkalif is a 21-year-old, unknown, London-based filmmaker who suddenly finds himself represented by William Morris Agency and positioned to make a Hollywood feature film — because of an online contest. 

Filmaka.com, the online studio created by former Fox TV chief Sandy Grushow and "Bend It Like Beckham Producer" Deepak Nayar, selected Rimington-Mkalif from among hundreds of online contestants. The site relied on a combination of online peer review from 3,600 members and the opinions of people like actor Bill Pullman ("Sleepless in Seattle") and producer Laura Bickford ("Traffic")

"I never allowed myself to think I would win," Rimington-Mkalif said in an interview. "I just focused on getting it done."

Rimington-Mkalif was one of 15 finalists who were told to create a short film around the theme "The Secret Adventures of…"

Filmaka will fund production of the film from backers such as Aramid Entertainment, and India’s Future Capital Holdings.

Studios often spend tens of millions of dollars to develop films that aren’t made or pay established talent to direct and produce it. This approach provides an alternate channel — as well as easy transition to making webisodes or TV shows. fX, the Fox cable channel, is also using Filmaka to scout for talent. 

See Also

• Filmaka: Vetting Filmmakers on the Web

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