With four billion hours of viewership a month, YouTube’s leaderboard position in the evolving stream of video is more secure than ever, but the web video world has radically changed since YouTube first hit the scene in 2005, which is why the streaming giant is busy evolving its platform and creating new partnerships. 

YouTube today works hand in hand with social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to make videos trends like the "Harlem Shake" (with various versions scoring tens of millions of views apiece in weeks) a viral phenomenon.Continue reading...

3M plans to acquire ceramics maker Ceradyne.

Amazon comes under fire for offering Nazi death-camp puzzle.

AutoNation makes big digital push.

BMW brings performance school online.

Simon Cowell proposes truce in competition between his X Factor on Fox and The Voice on NBC.

Fender tries to stay plugged in.

Ford hits the road to tout new C-Max nameplate.

GM recalls cars over fuel leak problem.Continue reading...

Acer postpones launch of Alibaba-powered phone.

Apple fights to keep iPhone cool in China as larger screen of iPhone 5 sparks developer rush and NFC omission puzzles observers.

Beef Products faces high hurdle in "pink slime" lawsuit against ABC News.

Brand USA tourism push sets sights on India.

Burger Lounge and Counter Burger offer non-traditional meats.

Disney takes film write-down.

Dr Pepper gets flack on Facebook after posting evolutionary graphic.Continue reading...

Apple hires Dixons CEO as new retail chief, while iPad sales propel Apple to top of PC market over HP. Apple patent challenger Samsung, meanwhile, faces EU inquiry.

AT&T names new strategy officer in management shuffle.

Bang & Olufsen debuts cheaper line of high-tech gadgets.

Belstaff brings luxury leather jackets to London and New York with dual flagships.

BSKyB to start movie service rivaling Netflix.

BlackBerry-maker RIM posts corporate governance report indicating why co-CEO role was scrapped.

Carrefour names yet another CEO in turnaround struggle.Continue reading...

Last night was a big one for the Pepsi brand, in the midst of an attempted comeback from its relegation to the No. 3 spot in U.S. carbonated-soft-drink sales behind Coke and Diet Coke. February 5 will be another big day.

The X Factor announced its first U.S. winner, Melanie Amaro. Pepsi has been the primary sponsor of the first season of the Fox singing talent show created by Simon Cowell. Week by week, the brand has stepped up its marketing involvement in and identification with the show. Now Amaro, as winner, gets a Pepsi TV commercial in addition to a $5-million recording contract from the show.

And that ad is scheduled to debut on one the biggest branding platforms on the planet: Super Bowl Sunday. Which is the other story: Pepsi is returning to the Big Game on NBC on February 5 after a one-year absence.

Pepsi announced this week that it would be airing one more brand spot during Super Bowl XLVI in addition to the X Factor ad.Continue reading...

The U.S. version of the The X Factor may not be delivering the 20 million fans that executive producer Simon Cowell anticipated, but that’s not stopping the show’s main sponsor, Pepsi, from doing everything it can to engage the viewers the show does have. 

The judges sip from prominently placed Pepsi cups. Host Steve Jones injects much excitement each week into the fact that the show’s winner will not only win $5 million but — much more excitingly! — also the chance to star in a Pepsi commercial. One contestant said it would be “a huge blessing” to have such an honor. Pepsi also placed the musical guest Outasight on the show and he sang – guess what? – Tonight’s the Night, which happens to be the background music for Pepsi ads. Pepsi has also created two digital platforms to engage viewers: Pepsi Pulse and Pepsi Sound Off, which combine gamification and social TV to help bring X Factor fans together and enhance the viewing experience. 

If that weren’t enough, the pair have hooked up to find another way to keep the Pepsi brand top of mind during the show. This week sees the on-air launch of the "Pepsi Choice Performance," a “new partnership element” that invited “fans to help select details of a special ensemble performance by the finalists on ‘The X Factor’ live results show on a special night, Wednesday, Nov. 23." Voting has ended, but you can watch the results in tonight's broadcast.Continue reading...

The lesson of this TV season so far is that there may be room for only one blockbuster singing-competition reality show per country. In the United States, the disappointing ratings so far for The X Factor on FOX could indicate that Americans make available only so much bandwidth for that kind of show, and FOX's American Idol has pretty much sucked it up for the 10 years of its existence.

But in the United Kingdom, there's a different king of the hill: The X Factor has remained the nation's No. 1 program for the last seven years.

To goose viewership, tonight The X Factor' judges will cut a whopping five acts and decide the surviving Top 12 acts live.Continue reading...

Now that the debut of Simon Cowell's US version of The X Factor is just hours away on Wednesday evening, expect the Fox hype machine to go into full tilt boogie mode. And with the air charged with all that promotional buzz, what could be more enticing to fall TV viewers than a chance to get exclusive behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at the show?

Pepsi has announced a new nationwide retail promotion that gives consumers not only "daily, never-before-seen The X Factor videos" but also the opportunity to win prizes including a trip for two to Los Angeles to attend a live taping of the show this fall.

Through October 29, if consumers snap and submit a photo with their mobile phone or other device of select Pepsi products co-branded with The X Factor, they'll get the exclusive videos "with new content uploading every day." They'll also be eligible for 600 daily prizes in addition to the L.A. trip. offered by Pepsi, the "premier partner" and primary sponsor of the show.Continue reading...