Octagon First Call

TMZ.com, owned by AOL Time Warner, has become the most popular celebrity news site according to Nielsen. Launched less than 16-months ago, TMZ.com had close to 8 million unique visitors in February (People.com was a distant second with 4.2 million). The top 19 celebrity news sites have seen a 40% rise year-over-year (February 2006 to February 2007) and TMZ.com has increased 151% in that time period. And speaking of numbers/ratings, American Idol and Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) are back at it. Idol ranked #1 (Tuesday) and #2 (Wednesday) last week for total viewers and DWTS finished #4 (Monday) and #6 (Tuesday). Idol viewers on Tuesday eclipsed 28 million. CSI (#3) and House (#5) were the two non-reality shows in the top six.

An article in Rolling Stone described a cool, new medium that’s been in the works for some time: celebrity-hosted internet talk shows. The article was about funnyman Tom Green and his latest endeavor, Tom Green Live! Though many entities offer podcasts, or chances to download network shows from the Web, Green’s show marks a new direction in communications. Filmed in the comfort of Green’s home and aired live on www.maniatv.com (episodes are also available on his personal website), the show has a similar format to talk shows on television. Guests have included Dr. Drew Pinsky, Brooke Shields, Weird Al Yankovic and Melissa Rivers, with some interviews surpassing two hours. Green, who was forced to cancel his MTV show due to a cancer diagnosis, is an entrepreneur thinking in the right direction. He combined the popularity of YouTube, his name and credibility, and the unpredictability of a call-in radio show into something really clever and funny. And while this show may not bring in millions right away, let’s not forget what this model did over time for Ashton Kutcher (Punk’d), Andy Samberg (Lonely Sunday), Steve-O (Jackass) and Jessica Rose (lonelygirl15).

Proving that there is never enough Vanilla Ice in the world to satisfy us all, Turbo Tax offers this nifty web site where consumers can submit tax-themed rap videos for Mr. Ice to judge - the winner gets $25,000. Already stocked with some awkward “user generated” content, there is also a YouTube channel dedicated to this promotion. Taking aim at the young professional market, Turbo Tax is betting (and I believe correctly) that the combination of odd rap tax videos, an out of left field celebrity endorser and a hefty cash prize = heavy web traffic over the next two months of tax preparation.