For those who gauge startup success by ‘traction,’ Mark Schoneveld says Poptent might be the region’s biggest web 2.0 success story.

Poptent, which hosts contests for brands for its community of video creators to make viral marketing videos, has continued to grow since launching in 2007, welcoming new users and bigger companies. It is hiring in Conshohocken, including engineers and social media savvy community leaders, and, adds Poptent Director of Community Schoneveld, the company has reached a positive cash flow, is now up to 40,000 registered users and is about to cross $3 million in creator payouts.

“What we started doing was totally experimental. Brands were getting used to crowd sourcing and giving up control,” said Schoneveld. “We’ve been at the forefront of crowdsourcing for years and now we’re taking it new places.”

The company takes a fee from big brands — like Southwest Airlines, Netflix, Anheuser Busch, Quiznos and others — and negotiates a rate for commercial video production, putting the bid out to its open community or specific members.

Last October, the 50-person company announced it had raised $6.8 million in venture funding, following a move to reincorporate in tax haven Delaware. Though holding a staff of 25 in their Conshohocken-based Spring Mill Corporate Center, Poptent lists its Orange County, Calif. office as its headquarters and the home of CEO Andy Jedynak. But the company is looking more international, having a handful of employees in Sao Paulo, Brazil and working on plans to expand again with European offices in 2012, said Schoneveld.

Part of that growth is coming from Shoneveld’s community role, developing, attracting and retaining the best video production and creative talent.

So, while the company made its start in lower paying gigs that came with a higher risk because more competition was having at them, the company is supplementing those open assignments with match-making.

“The new wave of crowd sourcing companies is more about talent discovery than just cheap production,” Schoneveld said. “If you curate that community, the talent rises to the top quickly.”

Schoneveld, a 1999 alumnus of Penn State, has been active in Philadelphia’s web and music scene for years. He’s been working with Poptent since June 2007, when he was doing freelance video work and running popular video podcast Illadates. He’s now on the board of directors for Weathervane and writes on a handful of local blogs, including YVYNYL.

In recent months, the most dependable, most creative, strongest talent from their community have been invited to apply for higher paying, less risky opportunities. It’s a move that works especially well for more discreet partners who are, for example, releasing new products. Other times, businesses want production work from specific markets, Schoneveld added.

“Cool things are coming from this little company in Conshohocken,” he said at an event in September.

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.

• NBC Sports may move its Phila., N.Y. operations to Conn. [Inquirer] — “Consolidating the Comcast Corp. regional sports headquarters and the Versus cable operations could cost Philadelphia more than 100 jobs, according to estimates.” More from the Connecticut Mirror.
• Unable to Shake Slide in Ratings [Wall Street Journal] — Ratings are continuing to lag this fall, putting Comcast in a greater hole

• Comcast No Longer Choking File Sharers’ Connections, Study Says [Wired: Threat Level] — “Comcast appears to be in compliance with a Federal Communications Commission decision demanding the ISP stop throttling BitTorrent traffic, according to a new study.”
• Inside Comcast’s massive IP VOD network [Gigaom] — onDemand is growing
• Daniel B. Burke, Leading Media Executive, Dies at 82 [New York Times] — Who led the Capital Cities acquisition of ABC in the 1980s and was father of Steve Burke, NBCU chief under Comcast
• Comcast/NBCU Deal Lawyers: Online Video Competition Was Key Concern [Broadcasting and Cable] — “Lawyers involved on all sides of the Comcast/NBCU merger approval agree that access to online video was a key to the conditions imposed by the FCC on the deal, and in the settlement Justice struck with Comcast to ameliorate the departments competition concerns.”
• Comcast, Verizon Ordered To ID Subscribers to Pornographers [Annapolis Patch] — “A federal judge in Greenbelt has ordered the two Internet service providers to identify customers—known only by their numeric “Internet Protocol” addresses—who have been sued for allegedly unlawfully downloading pornographic movies.”
• Comcast (CMCSA) Gains 1.2% Ahead of Time Warner (TWC) Earnings [Market Intelligence Center]
• Comcast Launches HD, Full-Screen Versions Of TV Guide Network In Freedom Region [Multichannel News] — Includes Philadelphia
• Leibowitz Says Comcast Breaking Away From Cable TV Pack [Washington Post] — Video interview seen below

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates

• Microsoft Is Said to Add Comcast, Verizon Pay TV to Xbox Live [Bloomberg]
• Comcast Testing Theme-Based Cable Packages In CT; A National First For Choice? [Hartford Courant] — Flood of interest around whether this could move to the always often requested a la carte model, which would make winners and losers of many channels.
• Comcast Working on iPad TV Streaming Service Called AnyPlay [Mac Rumors] — H/T PTN
• Comcast: Not Just Bigger — Better [Multichannel News] — Named the news site’s 2011 Operator of the year
• NBCUniversal Names Emilio Romano President of Telemundo [Hollywood Reporter]
• Comcast forms telecom towers unit  [Philadelphia Business Journal] — “Comcast Corp.’s venture-capital unit said Wednesday it has formed a new portfolio company to develop, own and run telecommunications towers throughout the United States.CTI Towers Inc. is based outside Boston in Franklin, Mass.,”
• A tour of the ultimate techie home, courtesy of Comcast [Philadelphia Business Journal] — A technology decked out Haverford mansion in partnership with Philadelphia magazine’s Design Home

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates

• Philadelphia 76ers sold by Comcast unit [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Comcast-Spectacor comes to “an agreement to sell the Sixers to a group led by Joshua Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management”
• Can Comcast Stop Losing Video Subscribers? [Light Reading Cable]– H/T Philly Tech News

• FCC Bureau Seeks Fine for Comcast in Tennis Channel Dispute [Bloomberg] — “Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), the largest U.S. pay TV service, favored its own sports programming over the Tennis Channel in violation of federal rules and should be forced to distribute the network on equal terms, regulators said. “
• Netflix criticizes new Internet billing by bits [Post Tech: Washington Post] — “In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Netflix General Counsel David Hyman, wrote that new data tiers by ISPs such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon don’t reflect how much it costs to actually increase bandwidth on networks.”
• OH My! Omnicom, Horizon Team Up To Pitch Comcast [MediaPost: Media Daily News] — “… two of the [marketing] industry’s biggest and fiercest competitors — Omnicom Media Group and Horizon Media- – have teamed up to jointly pitch Comcast’s estimated $1.4 billion media services account.”
• Comcast to hike rates 3.3% for cable TV customers [Lancaster Intelligencer Journal] — Starting in portions of Pennsylvania.
• Comcast Xfinity Featured in FCC Technology Experience Center [Comcast blog]
• How Will the TV News Industry Evolve Over the Next 15 Years? [Comcast blog] — Watch video interviews of MSNBC staff below

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• Comcast CEO: “Jury is Out” on Netflix’s Impact [Wall Street Journal: Digits] — Brian Roberts on whether Netflix is friend or foe.
• Comcast CEO Brian Roberts Speaks Out on Bloomberg FCC Complaint, NBC News [MediaBistro]
• Hulu weighs sale options after approach: source [Reuters] — Comcast, via NBC, has some ownership. Tech Crunch called this BS.
• Powell: Comcast/NBCU Merger Net Positive for Industry [Broadcasting & Cable] — “National Cable & Telecommunications Association President and former FCC Chairman Michael Powell told a C-SPAN interviewer that he thought the Comcast/NBCU meld would be a net positive for the industry, providing some ‘real glue’ for an industry already melding increasingly disparate interests.”

MIGHT INTEREST

• List of biggest advertising spenders has Comcast, Campbell’s  [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Comcast spent $1.85 billion on advertising last year
• Comcast spent $5.7M in 1Q to lobby for NBCU deal [AP]
• Reid’s top aide got $1.2M from Comcast [On Media: Politico]
• The NBC News/CNBC Exodus, Why Is So Much Top Talent Leaving The Network? [Mediaite] H/T Philly Tech News
• Comcast Will Slash Wait Times for Cable Repair After ‘Worst’ Designation (Bloomberg) H/T PTN
• Comcast’s New Products Aim To Bring Digital Media To Cable TV [NASDAQ.com]
• Comcast Using Juniper, Ciena Metro Ethernet Gear[Multichannel News]
• Brian Roberts video interview [Bloomberg] — Watch it below, focusing on the above announcement

First look at Comcast’s enhanced TV service with Facebook integration [VentureBeat] — Watch the 17-minute presentation demo below.

Comcast CFO Discusses Comcast/NBCUniversal and the Future of Media [Chamber of Commerce] — Michael J. Angelakis had spoken at an event with David L. Cohen, who chairs the chamber and afterward spoke about the merger, including how it might impact the region.

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscri ption for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• Comcast to Offer Customers Skype Video Calls on Their TVs [New York Times] — “In the cable television industry’s latest extension into home communication, Comcast and Skype  announced on Monday that some Comcast customers would soon be able to video chat on their TV sets from the comfort of their living rooms. ” VIDEO below
• Comcast Taps Facebook for Enhanced TV Experience [Hollywood Reporter] — “Comcast Corp. is working with Facebook, Intel and other technology firms to create what it calls a next-generation TV experience, which will make the TV screen more interactive by adding Internet features and apps. “
• @ Cable Show: Comcast’s Roberts Shows Off 1Gbps Potential [paidContent] h/t Philly Tech News

Below, video of Comcast/Skype partnership, plans to profit off the Olympics and more.

MIGHT BE WORTH IT

• Comcast Said to Be in Talks Over G4 Cable Channel [New York Times] — “Comcast is in talks to sell a controlling interest in the G4 cable channel to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. ” The price could be as high as $600 million, Bloomberg reports.
• Comcast CEO’s Bet on Profitable Olympics Met With Skepticism [Bloomberg] — GE said it lost $223 million on the Vancouver Games
• Keeping Olympics was priority for NBC [Company Town: Los Angeles Times] h/t PTN
• Comcast home security available in six markets including Philadelphia [Philadelphia Business Journal]– Expansion of service deployed in Houston last year.
• The startup behind Comcast’s home security service: iControl [Gigaom]
• NBCUniversal Executives Huddle for First Retreat Under Comcast [Hollywood Reporter] — “Days after NBCUniversal successfully won U.S. television rights to the Olympics until 2020, top company executives are holed up in Santa Barbara for the first strategy-planning retreat under the new Comcast ownership” Steve Burke among executives there
• NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt Shares His Plan to Rebuild the Network (Exclusive Q&A) [Hollywood Reporter]
• What You Need to Know About Comcast Xcalibur [Zatz Not Funny] — “Comcast Xcalibur, the code-named IP-based service designed to feed consumers their Internet access and video content all through a single fat pipe”
• Bloomberg TV wants Comcast to be more neighborly, files FCC complaint [Philadelphia Business Journal]

GIVE A GLANCE

• Comcast doubly blessed with wireless spectrum [Fierce Cable] — From PTN: “Discussion from yesterday’s RCR Wireless conference in Philadelphia.”
• Comcast at the 2011 National Cable Show [Comcast blog]
• Comcast Donates $50,000 to North Minneapolis Relief Efforts [Comcast blog]
• Comcast Names Johnnie Giles Executive Director for External Affairs [press release]

• Comcast and Skype Partner to Bring HD Video Calling Experience to the Living Room, watch video below

Woodshop Films founder Marc Brodzik gives direction to Scrapple TV Sports co-anchor 'Hot Carl' during a recent shoot.

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

A man in a suit and white beard with a deep baritone began to read the news in front of a green screen.

Suddenly, the bright ring of a cell phone broke the silence in the otherwise quiet recording studio. Marc Brodzik, who was standing behind the camera, wearing a faded Tide detergent shirt, shorts and flip-flops, reached into his pocket and with a grin pulled out his phone and shut the ringer off.

“Phones off, bitches.”

It is with that humor and laid backed demeanor that things are run at Brodzik’s Woodshop Films, a local video production company that started its own internet channel, called Scrapple TV, three years ago.

“I call it unprocessed television,” said Brodzik of his programming, which is as brash and as unapologetic in its humor as Brodik himself. “Scrapple is more gritty and more real.”

Scrapple TV is shot from Brodzik’s former woodshop studio, hence the name Woodshop films, on Green and 5th streets in Northern Liberties. Brodzik described the operation as a “pirate TV station” that fits with a changing trend in video content production.

“All of a sudden now HD video is in the hands of the common man, so I’ve kind of turned my art studio into this television station,” Brodzik said.

As of now, Scrapple TV features a number of different original shows with a range of characters from the anchor of Scrapple News, AP Ticker to the co-anchor of Scrapple Sports, Slow-Pitch Mike.

One of Scrapple TV’s most popular shows is a music review show called Breakfast at Sulimay’s. The show features three senior citizen regulars at Sulimay’s Restaurant in Fishtown giving reviews of hip hop and rock music with often hilarious results.

“I thought it was garbage. I think they need to hire better technicians. It was a mindless muttering,” said one reviewer after listening to a song by mashup artist Girl Talk.

How Brodzik came up with the idea for Breakfast at Sulimays is a perfect example of the eccentric creative process that fuels Scrapple TV.

“I was sitting in a diner and hearing these three old people have this triangulation in the room and it was just really funny,” said Brodzik, “And I thought we should have them review bands, that would be f—— awesome.”

Frank Baker or 'AP Ticker' as he's known at Woodshop Films reads the headlines for Scrapple TV's news program Scrapple News.

Brodzik funds the entire operation himself through commercial work for pharmaceutical companies using his background in the visual arts, specifically painting and woodwork. Beyond computers, most of his equipment is bought new, and he is helped by friends, unpaid interns and volunteers. Fittingly, considering the opening graphic to each show is an animated pig singing “Someday we’ll get paid for this.”

“I take any money I make and dump it back into my company. It’s completely hand to mouth,” Brodzik said.

Two years ago Brodzik received a Pew Foundation grant for media arts, which funded him for a year, and he has plans to begin to monetize Scrapple TV’s programming.

“We’re just about ready to go to venture capitalists to be first-stage investors just for Philly,” Brodzik said.

Brodzik said his vision for Scrapple TV expanded far beyond the Delaware Valley.

“My plan is to have what I call hyperlocal cells. We’ll have a staff of writers in each city who will create local content and then they’ll also syndicate stuff, “ said Brodzik, who said he would like to model it after weekly newspapers like City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly.

Brodzik would also like to see any expansions follow his model and have shows that cover not just entire cities but specific areas such as what Kenzo News, which covers the Kengsington area, does for Scrapple TV.

Expansion for Scrapple TV doesn’t just mean geographically for Brodzik but also an expansion for its content as well.

“I’d like to do more editorial or investigative type pieces. I like the idea of partnering up with journalists and bloggers. Getting into bigger and more juicier stories,” Brodzik said.

Marc Brodzik, right, talked with some of his staff during shooting at Scrapple TVs studios.

Although Brodzik’s ambitions are great, his viewership has not always been been able to match it.

Scrapple TV’s programming has some shows that bring in several thousand viewers, with highs including several popular episodes of Breakfast at Sulimay’s near or above 100,000 views and nearly 70,000 views from episode six of the show Smut Cave. Many other Scrapple TV episodes receive a few hundred views on Youtube.

Brodzik said he thinks this is more of a result of how he has handled the launching of Scrapple TV than shortcomings in its content.

“It doesn’t really get tons of views because I didn’t focus on marketing, but now I’m getting more obsessed with that and getting my numbers out there,” Brodzik said. “I was really trying to master making daily content on a regular basis and trying to nail that down first. I feel like once I get that solid, I can worry about building up an audience as opposed to getting an audience and having them be disappointed.”

Still, Brodzik said he knows the risk of online television programming.

“Definitely, I’m the f—— captain, and this is my ship, but I’m the only one that is going to sink. You can jump off with the life raft. I’m the one that has to go down with the boat,” said Brodzik, adding with another wide grin, “I’m all about sharing the booty though.”

He’ll just have to get more people on board.

To find out more about Scrapple TV visit its website at scrapple.tv.

Watch a video interview with Brodzik below.

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscri ption for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• Comcast to Buy Blackstone’s Stake in Universal’s Orlando Parks (Exclusive) [The Wrap] — “Comcast is expected to pay between $1 billion to $1.5 billion to become the full owner of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure”
• Ebersol’s Parting Thoughts [Wall Street Journal: The Daily Fix] — Longtime NBC Sports head Dick Ebersol spills upon his abrupt departure.

• Comcast Ventures: Investing in the Future [Comcast blog] — “We are thrilled to announce today that Comcast Interactive Capital has combined with the Peacock Equity Fund, which is formerly the venture capital affiliate of NBCUniversal and General Electric, into a newly combined fund called Comcast Ventures.” Amy Banse will lead the fund.

MIGHT BE WORTH A READ

• Bloomberg wants network in Comcast’s news-channel groups [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Bloomberg LP “will file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission unless Comcast agrees to include its Bloomberg Television channel in the news-channel groups on its cable-television systems.
• Internet Essentials Kick-off in Chicago [Comcast blog] — Launching a program to offer low-cost, high-speed internet access to low-income Chicagoans
• Comcast Taking Video Delivery Into the Cloud [Gigaom] — Comcast to make its services available using the same technology that powers Netflix and Hulu. H/T Philly Tech News
• Comcast’s Schiller Shifts To Run Digital Ad Sales At NBCU Networks Division [paidContent] — Scott Schiller
• Comcast and Ascent Data Announce Technology Collaboration [PR Newswire] — As Philly Tech News puts it, this is “Comcast’s first foray into enterprise cloud services.”

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• tweeted:
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• Dick Ebersol Resigns From NBC Sports [New York Times] — “Dick Ebersol, who had defined NBC’s formidable Olympic presence since the mid-1990s and who was the last of the high-profile TV sports impresarios, resigned abruptly on Thursday after negotiations on a four-year contract collapsed. ” Ebersol profile by LA Times here.
• As New Owner of NBC Universal, Can Comcast Merge the Corporate with the Creative? [Knowledge@Wharton]

MIGHT BE WORTH IT

• House oversight chair questions FCC Baker’s move to Comcast [Post Tech: Washington Post] — Further probe into Comcast’s hiring of Meredith Attwell Baker, just months after she voted to endorse the company’s purchase of NBCU.
• Comcast makes rare public relations misstep in Baker hire [Company Town: LA Times]
• Comcast is king of its empire [Cherry Hill Courier Post] — From Comcast EVP David L. Cohen’s speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey, including hinting that ‘NBC News might produce a news magazine to compete with “60 Minutes.”‘
• Comcast executive hosts Obama fundraiser in June [Politics Now: LA Times]  — David L. Cohen hosting a high-ticket fundraiser
• Comcast boss on sports, parks, deals, Internet pricing [PhillyInc: Inquirer] On Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis investor conference, more from Hollywood Reporter here and a webcast here. H/T Philly Tech News
• The Uncertain Future of ’30 Rock’ [The Atlantic] — With contracts expiring for Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey and Comcast ownership looking for success

GIVE A GLANCE

• Comcast On-Demand… launches Xfinity awards [Philadelphia Business Journal] — For most viewed content
• On Demand Reaches 20 Billion Views [Comcast blog] — More here
• Comcast asserts right to set rates [Boston Globe] — Company says Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s bid for control ignores competition. Perhaps ahead of the storm, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is also vying for pricing control.
• Comcast’s next generation Xfinity Spectrum DVR shows off quad tuners, new menu and apps [Engadget]
• Comcast, Moto Invest in CMAP Startup [Light Reading] — “Comcast Interactive Capital , Motorola Mobility Ventures and Spark Capital Partners LLC are seeding a startup that’s developing a next-gen edge device that could play an important role in cable’s migration to an all-IP access network infrastructure,” the company is called Benu Networks and is out of Massachusetts.
• Comcast Streams Video To iPhone [Multichannel News] — “Comcast released a version of its Xfinity TV app for Apple iPhone and iPod touch devices, and has boosted video-on-demand content available through its apps to almost 6,000 hours with the addition of several new programming partners.”

Pledged features include:

• Content with local relevancy
• Public, Educational and Governmental focuses
• Local sports and entertainment additions
• NBCU and Telemundo programming bolstered

What’s next? “Comcast team members will gather with City and PEG programming representatives shortly to kick off the POV project planning in Philadelphia.”

As part of detailed agreements with the FCC regarding its majority acquisition of NBC Universal, Comcast pledged to bolster its local and minority-themed programming.