(empo-tuulwey) NTN Buzztime as part of an overall strategy

I don't think I've ever written an "empo-tuulwey" post in my Empoprise-NTN blog (I do them all the time in my Empoprise-BI business blog), but this is as good a time as any to start.

With the possible exception of strip clubs, there is no one single element that can necessarily make or break your restaurant or bar. Even a steak restaurant is not entirely dependent upon steak; one time my wife and I had a problem at a steak restaurant because chocolate sprinkles somehow ended up in one of our salads.

So if you're running a restaurant or bar, including NTN Buzztime will not automatically make it the best place around, and pulling NTN Buzztime will not automatically confine it to the dregs.

RoadDog recently blogged about the Kross Inn in Fox Lake, Illinois, which just introduced NTN Buzztime. But RoadDog noted that the Kross Inn has a history that predates their introduction of trivia.

This place has been there for many years and at one time was owned by Al and Marge who we know very well from the American Legion. This is not one of your BW3s, Friday's or that type of place.

I'd describe it as more of a Cheers place.

While the rest of this post concentrated on the NTN aspect (and provides a prime example of why it's valuable to drink your own Kool-Aid), a follow-up post notes some other things offered by the Kross Inn.

A mug of beer is $1.50. Pints are $2. There are also daily drinks specials.

Tuesdays they have Italian beef and fries for $4.25.

Thursday are two burgers for the price of one. Mondays is the best with $3 burgers and $1 brats (both with fries).

Great. Now I'm hungry for brats, and the Kross Inn is far away.


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The Inn's NTN Buzztime page is at http://www.buzztime.com/players/bt_site.php?sid=35481.

Nothing new on the Trinad Capital front

I was checking my analytics, and I noticed a huge Stumbleupon-related spike for my July 3 post about Trinad Capital's allegations of mismanagement, fraud, et al at NTN Buzztime. So I thought I'd see what was happening.

In my July post, I noted that Trinad Capital had bought NTN Buzztime shares as recently as May. I checked Yahoo, and they have not made any purchases since.

And NTN Buzztime's most recently quarterly report makes no reference to Trinad Capital, in the "Legal Proceedings" section or anywhere else.

NTN Buzztime's third quarter results are out

The good news is that NTN Buzztime now has 305 more sites than they had a year ago.

The bad news is that this is how NTN Buzztime led off its announcement of third quarter results. And when you don't lead your press release with financial results, prepare for a loss.

First off, revenues were lower than the year ago numbers.

Revenues for the third quarter of 2009 were $6.7 million, compared to revenues of $6.8 million for the same period of 2008. The slight decline in revenue was largely due to a slight decrease in average revenue generated per site related to a strategic reduction in pricing, which was partially offset by a higher site count and an increase in advertising revenue.

Price decreases to raise revenue are always a balancing act, and it looks like NTN Buzztime was slightly off balance.

But did they make money? Well, no, but the loss has decreased:

Loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2009 was $768,000, or one cent per share, compared to a loss from continuing operations of $1,032,000, or two cents per share, for the same period a year ago.

To be fair, all busineses are struggling with a weakened economy, so perhaps this slightly negative performance was as good as could be expected.

And if NTN Buzztime is profitable in the long term, all will be forgiven.

Of course, it's not available for Windows Mobile 5

You know the routine. You go to your favorite bar or restaurant, grab a chair, and then ask for a Playmaker so that you can participate in the NTN Buzztime trivia competition.

Well, certain people can cut out the third step above, as Paul Ryburn notes:

There’s a Mobile Playmaker app available for free. Just search for “Buzztime, Inc.” in the app store. It will turn your iPhone into a little blue crack box, and you can play at any location that offers both Buzztime and Wi-Fi....

Read the rest here.

It's been a while...

Wow. This is my first post in this blog in over a month. Let's do some catching up:

• No, I ended up NOT heading out to Haight-Asbury to play NTN Buzztime trivia during Oracle OpenWorld. I was running across so much in the SOMA area that I never left.


• I was going to play trivia the next week, during our own company user conference, and took the opportunity to do so one afternoon when I had to leave the hotel to go to work. I consulted the NTN Buzztime web site and found that there was a Buffalo Wild Wings on my route back to work, but when I drove there, I couldn't find the Buffalo Wild Wings.

I'll make it into trivia-land at some point.

In the meantime, NTN Buzztime still goes on, still getting revenue even when I don't show up, and still accruing costs. If you want to know more about these kinds of things, you can find out in a few days:

NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE
Amex: NTN), today announced it will conduct a conference call to discuss its
financial results for the third quarter of 2009 at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday,
November 12, 2009....

Hosting the call will be CEO, Terry Bateman and CFO, Kendra Berger.

To access the conference call, please dial (866) 360-7027, if calling from the
United States or Canada, or (706) 643-3291, if calling internationally, and
use passcode 40060420.

A replay will be available on November 12, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. ET until November
19, 2009, which can be accessed by dialing (800) 642-1687, if calling from the
United States or Canada, or (706) 645-9291, if calling internationally. Please
use passcode 40060420 to access the replay.

The call will also be accompanied live by webcast over the Internet and
accessible at the Company's Web site at http://www.buzztime.com.

A trivia-less Oracle OpenWorld this year?

I likes to play me the NTN Buzztime trivia when I travel, and last year I lucked out, because I discovered a place to play trivia during Oracle OpenWorld 2008 - namely, the Beale St. Bar & Grill.

Sadly, I won't be able to repeat the experience. The Beale St. Bar & Grill has apparently dropped NTN Buzztime trivia.

As of now, there are only two places in the city that offer the game, and both are over a mile away from the Oracle festivities - the Kezar Pub on 770 Stanyan, and Mad Dog in the Fog on 530 Haight. I could conceivably take the N Judah line to the Haight, but if I'm going to do that, I'm going to head out to the Sunset District. (Personal thing.)

So, unless something changes, the only trivia that I'll be considering during the week of Oracle OpenWorld will be the true TPC numbers for the Exadata 2.

TouchTunes didn't touch this Cedar Rapids BWW visitor

I had assumed that every single Buffalo Wild Wings in the entire universe - well, at least in the U.S. and Canada - offered NTN Buzztime. It initially appeared that this was not the case at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, according to LaDawn Edwards:

My husband and I wanted to do a little cell phone comparison shopping and get some dinner before catching a movie on a recent Tuesday, so we headed to BWW at 1100 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE in Cedar Rapids shortly after 5 p.m. We hadn’t eaten there in several months, so we were interested to note that they’d replaced the portable game system that we’d always enjoyed doing trivia quizzes on while we waited for our food.

We grabbed a TouchTunes unit to figure out what it offered and realized it wasn’t working. The problem? “No signal from base” the screen reported. Our waiter commented that the units stacked on the base had the same message, so it was malfunctioning somehow. Apparently, it’s supposed to let you use your credit card to pay for the overhead music jukebox-style or the more popular games, although many of them are free. The gadget failed to entertain us, but on the other hand didn’t cost anything since it wasn’t working. Oh well.

The sadder part? According to Buzztime's web site, the Blairs Ferry BWW continues to be an active NTN Buzztime site. So Edwards apparently got the wrong information about the availability of NTN Buzztime trivia.

In the meantime, I did find information about TouchTunes' PlayPorTT product. Here's some details:

Hip, Cool And Totally Portable

* Create a buzz with the PlayPorTT’s revolutionary sleek, portable design
* Play individually, multi-player, in groups, or even head-to-head
* The best classic and new games keep patrons entertained and coming back for more

Easy To Manage

* Proven durability and bar-friendly design
* Use in its recharging dock or go portable
* Operator configurable. Release from dock with credit card, cash or without any payment, as you prefer
* Built in multi-level security features
* Regular, automatic online game updates keep games fresh and engaging
* Ability to edit content for each location

A New Way To Grow Your Business

* Multiple, portable screens from one base means more patrons playing more music and games from more places
* Automatic link to a TouchTunes® jukebox drives more music plays
* Fun, portable, and engaging – creates excitement at your locations
* Help your customers retain and attract patrons in their locations

Raising The Bar In Out-Of-Home Entertainment
Captivating patrons. Redefining entertainment. Growing your business. We’re TouchTunes, the largest out-of-home interactive entertainment network, providing music, games and new revenue opportunities to over 35,000 bars, restaurants and retail locations in North America.

So, while it doesn't appear that you can compete against a multi-nation network of players, the system does offer some potential revenue opportunities for bar and restaurant owners. Imaging if you needed a credit card to get an NTN Buzztime Playmaker.

And TouchTunes is in a larger number of locations than NTN Buzztime - 35,000 locations is nothing to sneeze at. So what's the nearest location in my area? I don't know - I couldn't find a "SiteFinder" equivalent on TouchTunes.

And compare @playportt's Twitter presence with @buzztimegirl's. At least in the social media area, NTN Buzztime has the greater presence.

Bush gets buzzed in a combine - or, this blogger writes an entirely misleading NTN Buzztime post title

The truth of the matter is that NTN Buzztime has made a change in the composition of its Board of Directors.

On September 4, 2009 our Board of Directors (the "Board"), upon recommendation of the Nomination, Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee of the Board, elected Michael J. Bush to the Board, effective as of September 8, 2009. The Board determined that Mr. Bush is independent under applicable regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and rules of the NYSE Amex. The Board also appointed Mr. Bush to the Nomination, Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee and the Audit Committee.

Perhaps more significant is a streamlining effort that the Board of Directors has made. Any corporate Board of Directors has a number of committees that attend to certain Board matters. The NTN Buzztime Board of Directors has combined some of its committees:

The Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee was combined with the Compensation Committee to form the Nomination, Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee (the "Combined Committee");

I found a Western Australia company (Anvil Mining) that also has a combined committee.

Another perspective on NTN Buzztime's social capabilities

In a symbolic way, I drink a lot of Kool Aid. I hang out online with a bunch of FriendFeed types who relish the conversation and community of "friends," and I love to play NTN Buzztime games in which I compete against my "friends" from all over the United States and Canada. In my view, these virtual tools enhance the experience that I have with others.

But not everyone sees it that way. I was reading my feeds and ran across a post in the blog "Here is a Thing." Here's part of the thing:

I play trivia every Thursday night at Max’s, which is the best bar in Baltimore (check out the massive tap list at maxs.com). It’s a live trivia game with moderators and teams and stuff, not one of those cheap computer things they have at places like Buffalo Wild Wings.

Now I can think of a number of adjectives to apply to the NTN Buzztime trivia experience, but I never would have thought of the adjective "cheap." (In fact, some establishments that have dropped NTN Buzztime service have claimed that it is too expensive.)

Why does the writer consider NTN Buzztime "cheap"? Because of the lack of human interaction? Because of drawbacks in the graphical interface?

Now I'm curious.

Fighting for Playmakers in Dublin's future?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theilr/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Urbanspoon reviewed the Buffalo Wild Wings in Dublin, California. The page included commentary from BWW themselves, part of which read as follows:

It's got everything sports fans - and wing fans - dream of. Wall-to-wall big screens featuring all the games, a fantastic beer selection, award-winning chicken wings along with 14 delicious signature sauces, like Honey BBQ, Spicy Garlic and Blazin'. There's even Buzztime Trivia for all you trivia buffs out there.

Reviewer ScottySauce started his review as follows:

very few bw3 locations on the west coast and the first bay area location is in dublin? WEIRD!

this new dublin location just brought me back to the days i had nightmares working as a server.

However, Sauce's concern was about the perceived popularity of the place:

this place is so small and packed and with just the right big crowd the servers and customers are gonna be screwed. with so much entertainment and interactive entertainment they really should expand fast to avoid HELL. this place is like a hooters without the hot girls and an espn zone without the espn and the zone.

Sauce eventually got to some convoluted economic reasoning:

i really don't feel we all need a place like this right now in our economic situation. the price of food and drink is pretty over the top for your typical run of the mill average bar food.

So in essence Sauce is worried that people will SPEND MONEY at the BWW in Dublin. And obviously we can't allow that to happen.

NTN Buzztime at Tequila Hoppers is educational

It's probably a good idea for someone who blogs on a topic to actually engage in the topic in question. And I hadn't played NTN Buzztime trivia in months. I tried to on August 12, but my local bar (Tequila Hoppers, Upland, California) was closed due to an emergency.

Well, I had an opportunity to play tonight, and Tequila Hoppers was open. I stayed for an hour and got three games in - one 1/2 hour 15-question Countdown game, and two 1/4 hour 10-question Buzztime trivia games. By far I did best on the Countdown game, scoring 11,583 points (out of 15,000) and ranking #47 on the network. My performance on the Buzztime games was less than stellar, however - I didn't even make the 6,000 point (out of 10,000) minimum in the first game.

It looks like NTN Buzztime has made some significant improvements in their presentation since I last played. For example, when I got three perfect 1,000 scores in a row in my Countdown game, the screen announced this to the local crowd. (Not that they noticed, for reasons that will become apparent.) A similar announcement was made when I extended my streak to five perfect 1,000 scores. I've never seen anything like that before.

But if you think that playing NTN Buzztime at a bar is frivolous fun, I have to assure you that it's educational. For example, I learned that the cooking product PAM was not named after a person named Pam, but actually stands for "Product of Arthur Meyerhoff," the inventor of PAM. (See this post in my Empoprise-BI business blog for more details.)

And I also learned that three bikini-clad waitresses can fit on a mechanical bull, but that was more of a function of Tequila Hoppers than NTN Buzztime.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tkkate/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

The picture above was NOT taken at Tequila Hoppers this evening. After all, there was only one woman on this bull. But you get the idea.

I'll share a little bit more about Tequila Hoppers in a post on my Empoprise-IE Inland Empire blog.

Fantasy in a bar - no, it's an NTN Buzztime Sports Network

Just saw this press release. NTN Buzztime, in an effort to drive people into the bars and restaurants that include their programming, has created a Sports Network with a "draft every week" fantasy football game. Basically, participants come into the restaurant (and buy food and drink) twice a week - once on Wednesday night to draft, and once on Sunday to play.

And the network doesn't have any additional costs for bars and restaurants. Let's see how this works.

NTN Buzztime, Inc. Launches New Sports Network in Time for Football Season
Tue Sep 1, 2009 12:00pm EDT

Weekly fantasy football league leads programming

CARLSBAD, Calif., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE
Amex: NTN) is reinventing the fantasy football world with the launch of its
new Sports Network. The new network features four popular interactive games
geared towards driving a younger demographic into Buzztime's more than 4,000
bar and restaurant locations. Starting September 9, sports fans will have a
new, social way to enjoy the 2009 football season and many of their favorite
sporting events.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080331/CLM183LOGO)

Fantasy Football leads the programming on Buzztime's Sports Network. This game
offers a one-of-a-kind fantasy football league and is aimed at avid game
watchers and the more casual sports fan. Fantasy Football is based on
professional football and will feature a weekly draft night. By allowing
players to select a new team each week, Buzztime hopes to draw a more
inclusive set of participants, who will ultimately visit their favorite
Buzztime venue twice a week - once to make their selections and then again to
watch the game.

The network launch also includes the start of a new game, Pick 'Em, which lets
users predict the outcome of all of the upcoming week's football match-ups.
Buzztime will rank Pick 'Em players locally and nationally and highlight those
that are the best game predictors.

Both Fantasy Football and Pick 'Em will be a part of Buzztime's Wednesday
Night Football Promotion, which aims to drive mid-week business at its
restaurant and bar locations. During September and October, those who try out
the new games will be entered to win one of 500 weekly prizes.

Buzztime's Sports Network also includes the continuation of two Buzztime
favorites: QB1, a time-honored game on which Buzztime built its legacy, and
Sports Trivia, a popular general sports trivia game.

-- The popular QB1 game will move from the general trivia network to the
new Sports Network. Played on nationally televised NFL game-days, this
one tests players' skills on predicting the quarterback's
every move. Buzztime players will have until the snap of the ball to
enter their best guess and will be ranked nationally based on the
number
of correct predictions.

-- Sports Trivia is moving from Buzztime's Trivia Network so that
players can enjoy trivia during draft night and while watching the
games. Just for the pigskin season, Buzztime will infuse this
long-time
favorite with football-specific trivia.



The new Sports Network will be offered to Buzztime's over 4,000 bar and
restaurants at no additional charge in the ongoing effort to help boost its
partners' business. By reaching a younger market and driving traffic on
traditionally slow days, Buzztime hopes to help its partners gain new regulars
and keep patrons in their venues for longer periods of time.

About NTN Buzztime, Inc

NTN Buzztime, Inc., a leader in interactive entertainment for 25 years, is
based in Carlsbad, Calif. Buzztime is distributed in-home and out-of-home
across broadband platforms including online, mobile, satellite TV and in more
than 4,000 restaurants, sports bars and pubs throughout North America. For
more information, please visit www.buzztime.com.

Buzztime is a proud member of the OVAB |Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau.

Buzztime is a registered trademark of Buzztime Entertainment, Inc. and
Playmaker is a registered trademark of NTN Buzztime, Inc.

Forward-looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's
current views of future events and operations including but not limited to
expectations regarding our products, product innovations, and product
popularity, subscriber and participant preferences, demographics, frequency
and duration of visits, player participation and engagement and resulting
business impact or results of marketing strategies. These statements are based
on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
historical results or those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. For example, there can be no assurance that our products or
product innovations will be widely accepted or drive the expected level of
participation or business, or appeal to any particular demographic. Other
risks and uncertainties include risks associated with our recent management
transition, our significant losses, our ability to grow our out-of-home
Buzztime iTV network and implement our other business strategies, the risk of
changing economic conditions, failure of product demand or market acceptance
of both existing and new products and services and the impact of competitive
products and pricing. Please see NTN Buzztime, Inc.'s recent filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks
that may affect the Company. All forward-looking statements included in this
release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. These
statements speak only as of the date hereof, and NTN Buzztime, Inc. does not
undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements,
even if experience or future changes show that the indicated results or events
will not be realized.


MEDIA CONTACT:
Katy Harrison, Bailey Gardiner
619-295-8232 x103
katy@baileygardiner.com



SOURCE NTN Buzztime, Inc.

Katy Harrison of Bailey Gardiner, +1-619-295-8232, ext. 103,
katy@baileygardiner.com, for NTN Buzztime, Inc.

NTN Buzztime is on Facebook

I should have thought to search for this before, because Facebook has everything. But I happened to run across NTN Buzztime's Facebook page recently.

It appears that the wall content is different from the contents of the @buzztimegirl Twitter account. And there are also extensive Notes.

On a personal level, it turns out that this Empoprise-NTN blog is the only one of my blogs for which I HAVEN'T created a Facebook fan page. Once I create this fan page, I'll let you know.

Triviacs of Madison County

I've never been to Madison County, Kentucky, but I've learned all about it:

Richmond, home of Eastern Kentucky University, is a part of Madison County which has a population of approximately 57,000....

Richmond is also home to the 10th largest planetarium in the United States and the second largest on a college campus in the world, the Arnim D. Hummel Planetarium and Space Theater. Located on Easterns campus, the 164-seat theater provides students and the community with a view of the sky as it would appear from any known planet or moon in our solar system....

Richmond is also about an hour and a half from Louisville to the west and about an hour and a half from Cincinnati to the north....

Madison County is surrounded by Fayette, Clark, Estill, Rockcastle, Garrard and Jessamine counties.

But whether you're in Richmond, Kentucky or Richmond, Virginia, you pretty much find the same stores everywhere. Look at the list of the new stores that are coming to the Richmond Centre:

New eateries for students to try include Logan's Roadhouse and Culver's, a burger joint comparable to Steak-n-Shake or Dairy Queen....

This month, Chick-fil-A and Koto Japanese Bistro each opened their doors....

Panera Bread will offer free Wi-Fi for customers, in addition to its pastries and breads baked daily, and Olive Garden's unlimited soup and salad will tempt students with big appetites and small wallets....

Oh, and there's one other restaurant that's coming:

Buffalo Wild Wings will challenge Hooters and Madison Garden, two of the most successful sports bars in Richmond. With a plethora of widescreen TVs and its signature in-house trivia system, "B-Dubs" will be equipped for success in a college town.

I don't know if NTN Buzztime has ever conducted any demographic studies of their players, so I don't know if college students form a large part of the NTN Buzztime player empire, or whether they're just a small part (since significant numbers of college students are below the legal drinking age in the United States).

But in this town, Buffalo Wild Wings will have to duke it out with Galaxy Center and Gillums Sports Lounge for Richmond bragging rights.

Teams and prizes in the non-NTN Buzztime experience

When I play NTN Buzztime trivia, I play by myself and compete for the fun of it. But other experiences vary, especially if NTN Buzztime is not used. Some people play in teams:

For those who don't know, trivia nights are held in every city, usually in a restaurant or bar. It's free to play, and you can have an unlimited number of people on your team, although it's wise not to have too many or you'll have to divide the spoils (we play with 6-8). Much like a sports competition, the night is broken into two halves, each half asking 9 trivia questions. After each question is asked all the teams have one song to turn in their answers and must decide on how many points you will wager for that question. They throw in a bonus question at "half time" and at the end as well as some "double point" questions during each half. The top three teams win some sort of prize.

And some people play for prizes:

Because we play at Buffalo Wild Wings, the 3rd place team wins 12 wings, the 2nd place team wins 24 wings, and the 1st place team wins $50--enough to pay the tab for all the beer and margaritas you drink.

From the description, these games are not NTN Buzztime games, and are restricted to the specific location, but they sound fun nevertheless.

Farricielli leaves

On August 24, NTN Buzztime filed the following with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:

Form 8-K for NTN BUZZTIME INC

24-Aug-2009

Change in Directors or Principal Officers

Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

(b) Effective August 18, 2009, Joseph J. Farricielli, Jr. resigned from our board of directors. At the time of his resignation, Mr. Farricielli was a member of the audit committee of our board and the chairperson of the nominating and corporate governance committee of our board. Our board appointed Jeff Berg as a member of the audit committee and as chairperson of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Mr. Berg is a current member of our board. Our board determined that Mr. Berg is "independent" under applicable Securities Exchange Act of 1934 rules and NYSE Amex rules, and that Mr. Berg met the financial literacy requirements of the NYSE Amex. Mr. Berg was a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee immediately before his appointment as chairperson of that committee.

Atlantis is approaching (September 14-17)

I recently blogged about NTN Buzztime's past quarter, but now it's time to look toward the company's future. All summer NTN Buzztime has been building up for a big event, an event that transcends the company itself. It's almost time:

Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas is preparing to welcome 25 of the greatest legends in sports history and 25 world famous Poker Pros for the first-ever Poker News Sports Legends Challenge presented by AbsolutePoker.net, a four-day sports fantasy and gaming experience that will take place Sept. 14 - 17, 2009.

And NTN Buzztime isn't the only sponsor:

Corporate partners for the Sports Legends Challenge include PokerNews, AbsolutePoker.net, Rovia, WorldVentures, Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas, FOX Sports Radio, NTN Buzztime, Inc., VegasInsider, World Championship of Fantasy Football, The World Poker Store, Legendary Auctions, Golf Now powered by The Golf Channel, JetBlue Airways, World Series of Poker Academy, Magellan Jet, Alchemy3, Bluff Media, World Poker Association, Playboy Golf, and Imperial Jets.

This blog has chronicled some of the ways in which NTN Buzztime has been building up toward the challenge. See my posts from June 9 and July 15.

Better late than never, in all respects

I blogged about the pending release of NTN Buzztime financial results, but never got around to blogging about the results themselves, released back on August 13. The company is still losing money (though their quarterly losses are no longer measured in the millions), but the team is exuding confidence that they're on the right path. Excerpts:

Revenues for the second quarter of 2009 were $6.3 million, compared to revenues of $7.0 million for the same period of 2008, primarily as a result of a decrease in average revenue generated per site related to a strategic reduction in pricing.

Pricing is a tricky issue for any company. If you price too high, you won't get customers, but if you price too low, you won't get revenue. NTN Buzztime took a chance with a price cut, which did adversely impact their quarterly revenues, but did have the desired result regarding the number of customers.

The Company ended the second quarter of 2009 with 3,871 subscribing venues, compared to 3,746 at June 30, 2008, and 3,777 at March 31, 2009. During the second quarter of 2009, installations were up approximately 48% while terminations were down 19% compared with the second quarter of 2008. Customer churn improved to 4.9% for the quarter from 6.1% in the prior year period.

But NTN Buzztime worked on the cost end also:

Selling, general and administrative expenses declined by $2.1 million, or 31%, to $4.9 million from $7.0 million a year ago. The improvement was attributable to several factors including a $0.5 million decline in salary expenses due to staffing reductions; a $0.5 million decline in severance expense due to the resignation of the CEO in the prior year; a $0.5 million decline in marketing expense related to a change in the Company's marketing strategy; and a $0.4 million decline in consulting services.

Will the momentum from these changes result in profitability in future quarters? Time will tell.

Second quarter financial results about to be released...and discussed

This announcement was released during my 2+ week vacation in the Midwest (no, I didn't see RoadDog), but it's timely since it announces something that will happen tomorrow, August 13.

CARLSBAD, Calif., August 6, 2009/ PRNewswire – NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE Amex: NTN - News), today announced it will conduct a conference call to discuss its financial results for the second quarter of 2009 at 4:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, August 13, 2009.

Hosting the call will be CEO Terry Bateman, CFO Kendra Berger and COO Kenneth Keymer.

To access the conference call, please dial (866) 360-7027, if calling from the United States or Canada, or (706) 643-3291, if calling internationally, and use passcode 23874047.

A replay will be available until August 20, 2009, which may be accessed by dialing (800) 642-1687, if calling from the United States or Canada, or (706) 645-9291, if calling internationally. Please use passcode 23874047 to access the replay.

The call will also be accompanied live by webcast over the Internet and accessible at the Company's Web site at http://www.buzztime.com.

About NTN Buzztime, Inc.

NTN Buzztime, Inc., a leader in interactive entertainment for 25 years, is based in Carlsbad, CA. Buzztime is distributed in-home and out-of-home across broadband platforms including online, cable TV, satellite TV and in approximately 3,900 restaurants, sports bars and pubs throughout North America. Buzztime entertainment is also available on electronic games and in books. For more information, please visit http://www.buzztime.com.

Buzztime is a proud member of the OVAB | Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau.

Buzztime is a registered trademark of Buzztime Entertainment, Inc. and Playmaker is a registered trademark of NTN Buzztime, Inc.

# # #

No trivia tonight...

A rare Empoprise-IE/Empoprise-NTN cross-post. My plans for trivia at Tequila Hoppers in Upland, California hit an unfortunate snag.

NTN Buzztime creates a Chief Operating Officer position

Hey, I took a while to post this, but NTN Buzztime took years to create the position. (My previous post on Keymer can be found here.)

CARLSBAD, Calif., July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE Amex: NTN) today announced that Kenneth L. Keymer, a member of the Company's Board of Directors, has been named to the Company's newly created role of Chief Operating Officer, effective July 27. Concurrent with the appointment, he will resign his position with the Board.

As COO, Mr. Keymer will be responsible for all operations related to selling to and servicing bars and restaurants. He will manage site sales, account management and all installation and service operations. He will report directly to Terry Bateman, the Company's Chief Executive Officer.

"Ken has made an immediate impact on our Board, and I have gained a lot of respect for him and his operational skills during these last several months," Mr. Bateman said. "His deep background in restaurant operations and dedication to superior service will serve us well in this newly created role, as he will work to ensure NTN achieves industry-leading operational and customer service excellence in support of our business strategy."

"I look forward to this opportunity to lead an effort to enhance NTN's operational effectiveness," Mr. Keymer said. "I am excited about our strategic direction and positioning as a leader in interactive entertainment. As COO, I will be able to contribute directly to the execution of that strategy."

Mr. Keymer has served as a member of the Board since November 2008 and has nearly 30 years of experience as an executive in large restaurant chain operations. He previously served as CEO of VICORP Restaurants between April 2007 and May 2008, where he oversaw the operations of 390 restaurants under the Baker's Square and Village Inn brand names, two commissaries and a dessert manufacturing operation. He led a senior executive team in developing sales- and profit-enhancing menu initiatives and prototype designs, successfully reducing losses and improving profitability. He had served as a member of VICORP's Board of Directors since July 2005 before additionally becoming CEO at the request of the Board of Directors and investors.

Mr. Keymer served as CEO of 1,800-unit AFC Enterprises between September 2005 and May 2007, having been President of that publicly traded company's Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits business segment between June 2004 and September 2005. In those capacities, he was instrumental in enhancing relations with the investment community, achieving new unit growth of approximately 10% per year, broadening the menu and leading the company through the crisis of Hurricane Katrina, which severely impacted one of its most important geographic regions. In the 1984 through 1986 period, he had been a Vice President of Popeyes.

Prior to June 2004, he was President, Co-CEO and Board member of Noodles & Company; President, COO and Board member of Sonic Corporation and its subsidiaries; Executive Vice President of Perkins Family Restaurants; Senior Vice President of Boston Chicken; Vice President of Taco Bell Corporation; V.P. Operations and Human Resources with Sambos Restaurants; and Director of Human Resources for Hardee's Food Systems. Prior to beginning his foodservice career in 1979, he held positions with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He holds an M.S.A in Information Technology from George Washington University and a B.S. in Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy.

About NTN Buzztime, Inc.

NTN Buzztime, Inc., a leader in interactive entertainment for 25 years, is based in Carlsbad, CA. Buzztime is distributed in-home and out-of-home across broadband platforms including online, cable TV, satellite TV and in approximately 3,760 restaurants, sports bars and pubs throughout North America. Buzztime entertainment is also available on electronic games and in books. For more information, please visit http://www.buzztime.com.

Buzztime is a proud member of the OVAB |Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau.

Buzztime is a registered trademark of Buzztime Entertainment, Inc. and Playmaker is a registered trademark of NTN Buzztime, Inc.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's current views of future events and operations. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include corporate governance matters, the risk of changing economic conditions, failure of product demand or market acceptance of both existing and new products and services and the impact of competitive products and pricing. Please see NTN Buzztime, Inc.'s recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks that may affect the Company. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. These statements speak only as of the date hereof, and NTN Buzztime, Inc. does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes show that the indicated results or events will not be realized.

COMPANY CONTACT:
Kendra Berger
Chief Financial Officer
NTN Buzztime, Inc.
(760) 438-7400

CCG CONTACT:
Mark Collinson
Partner
CCG Investor Relations
(310) 954-1343

Maybe there will be an 8,999 to shake things up

When you play one of the 30-minute "Countdown"-like NTN Buzztime games, your score can be anywhere between 0 and 15,000. If you are a Players Plus member, you can earn bonus points if your final score is above a total that is displayed at the beginning of the game. In the past when I've played, the score needed to earn Players Plus points would vary - sometimes 9,000, sometimes 7,000, sometimes even less.

But RoadDog has noticed something recently:

[W]hat I want to know is why NTN continues to go through posting how many points it takes to get the Players Plus Bonus. It used to vary, but now is a guaranteed 9000. Why waste the time?

I haven't confirmed this myself, so I don't know whether this is just a fluke of RoadDog's visits, or if NTN Buzztime has really changed its policy. I personally don't care, since my goal is to score over 10,000 on these games, but I'm sure some people miss the lower totals.

Why do we play NTN Buzztime and other trivia games?

Perhaps you grab a Playmaker and match wits in NTN Buzztime. Perhaps you audition for Jeopardy, hoping to be the next Ken Jennings.

Why do you do it?

The blog things notre dame students like examined this very question:

Notre Dame Students love matching wits with other Notre Dame students. They start pointless debates in dorms, classrooms, bars, parties, and dining halls that include just about any topic. Politics, sports, religion, movies, history, literature, music, and television can all provide ample topics for Notre Dame Students to discuss, and they can all provide ample questions for Notre Dame Students to answer.

Because of this, Notre Dame Students love trivia. They love all kinds of trivia. Trivia games they can play alone in their free time, such as watching Jeopardy on TV or playing Sporcle.com...are useful tools to practice, but Notre Dame Students really love the competition. Some will get this competition amongst their friends by playing trivia games at Buffalo Wild Wings....

But why?

The main reason that Notre Dame Students love trivia, however, is not just because they have an innate desire to compete, but because they want to prove that they are smarter than they next guy.

But how does one define "smarter"?

Through trivia outlets, students are able to prove who has more worthless knowledge in their mind, who reads the most random Wikipedia pages, who is the most in tune with popular culture, and who can form the brightest teams; all important aspects of smartness.

Sounds reasonable to me.

Well, the DC area didn't have a baseball team for several decades.

NTN Buzztime has announced that the city of Alexandria, Virginia, placed 186th out of 186h in the "training camp" round of its current "25 Years of Sports Trivia" promotion.

Here is the complete press release:

CARLSBAD, Calif., July 14, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ----NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE Amex: NTN: 0.36, -0.03, -7.69%) released its rankings of the best and worst sports-knowledgeable states and cities. The state of Texas and the greater Chicago area led the nation and took first place in the hour-long Training Camp leading up to Buzztime's 25 Years of Sports Trivia Championship. Virginia, specifically Alexandria, took a disappointing last place proving that its residents need to step up their game during the Qualifying Round.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080331/CLM183LOGO)

Data provided by interactive gaming company, NTN Buzztime, Inc., revealed a breakdown of how each state and each city scored on its sports-trivia knowledge. On Wednesday, July 8, for one-hour nation-wide, trivia-goers filled restaurants and sports bars offering Buzztime games in an attempt to claim the top spot of most knowledgeable sports fan. Sports covered during the pre-qualifying round game included: baseball, basketball, football, golf, horse racing, and NASCAR.

In true sports form, the competition continues with a three-week Qualifying Round that kicked off yesterday, and runs through July 31. During this round, registered Buzztime players will play the 25 Years of Sports game online, via mobile or within Buzztime's network of bars and restaurants across North America to earn the necessary qualifying points to advance. Contestants earn 10 times as many qualifying points for playing at Buzztime's network of bars and restaurants. Ultimately, 18 lucky players will be awarded the trip of a lifetime to attend the Sports Legends Challenge held September 14-17, 2009 at Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas.

More information about the competition, including how to register, can be found at www.buzztime.com/25yos.

Current State rankings (in order):

Top 10 Bottom 10
1) Texas 50) Virginia
2) Ohio 49) Alaska
3) California 48) Utah
4) Florida 47) Hawaii
5) Illinois 46) Wyoming
6) Indiana 45) Maine
7) Arizona 44) South Dakota
8) Wisconsin 43) Montana
9) Minnesota 42) Idaho
10) Colorado 41) New Hampshire

Current city rankings (in order):

Top 10 Bottom 10
1) Chicago 186) Alexandria
2) Los Angeles 185) Jackson
3) Dallas-Fort Worth 184) Eugene
4) Minneapolis-Saint Paul 183) Tyler-Longview-Lufkin-
5) Phoenix Nacogdoches
6) Denver 182) Marquette
7) Tampa-Saint Petersburg-Sarasota 181) Erie
8) Cincinnati 180) Chattanooga
9) Detroit 179) Monroe-El Dorado
10) Houston 178) Watertown
177) Columbus-Tupelo-West Point



About NTN Buzztime, Inc.

NTN Buzztime, Inc., a leader in interactive entertainment for 25 years, is based in Carlsbad, CA. Buzztime is distributed in-home and out-of-home across broadband platforms including online, mobile, satellite TV and in approximately 3,800 restaurants, sports bars and pubs throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.buzztime.com.

Buzztime is a proud member of the OVAB |Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau.

Buzztime is a registered trademark of Buzztime Entertainment, Inc. and Playmaker is a registered trademark of NTN Buzztime, Inc.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's current views of future events and operations including but not limited to trends in subscriber and player preference and engagement and results of marketing strategies. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include risks associated with our recent management transition, our significant losses, our ability to grow our out-of-home Buzztime iTV network and implement our other business strategies, the risk of changing economic conditions, failure of product demand or market acceptance of both existing and new products and services and the impact of competitive products and pricing. Please see NTN Buzztime, Inc.'s recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks that may affect the Company. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. These statements speak only as of the date hereof, and NTN Buzztime, Inc. does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes show that the indicated results or events will not be realized.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Katy Harrison, Bailey Gardiner
619-295-8232
katy@baileygardiner.com



SOURCE NTN Buzztime, Inc.

http://www.buzztime.com

Are you a devoted NTN Buzztime trivia player?

The Little Cat Blog provided an example of trivia dedication:

And, of course, we played trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings in Wilmington, NC (minutes from Wrightsville Beach). Did you really think we'd travel somewhere and skip trivia? Hell, we even drove through a thunderstorm the size of South Carolina to get there. Literally, there was feet of water on the road in places.

Read more here, and admire the Playmaker pic.

I guess it takes a threatened corporate takeover to get me to post here

I just realized that I haven't posted to this blog in a while. Much has happened, and I recommend that you follow @buzztimegirl on Twitter to keep up. But this San Diego Reader article was interesting.

Carlsbad’s NTN Buzztime provides interactive electronic entertainment in restaurants and sports bars — trivia quiz shows, play-along sports programs, casino-style games, and the like. It has almost 4000 subscribers. But NTN has been a loser for years.

After describing the financials, the article then goes on to say the following:

There have been “significant changes in executive leadership,” says the company in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. One chief executive resigned in May of last year, and the interim chief resigned in November. “Changes in senior management are inherently disruptive.”

And what is happening now?

That’s one reason that a Cayman Islands–based hedge fund, Trinad Capital, which owns almost 15 percent of the stock, says it has evidence of mismanagement, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and waste of corporate assets. It has filed a lawsuit and announced it may attempt to wage a battle for control of the company.

I briefly mentioned Trinad Capital back in March. Yahoo reports that they've continued to buy NTN shares - 125,000 in April and 50,000 in May, for example. Because of NTN Buzztime's low stock price, it hasn't cost them a lot to do this. However, there haven't been any purchases since May 15, so I'm not sure what they're planning.

Perhaps they need NTN Buzztime at Chuck E Cheese

I've noticed something about the NTN Buzztime games clientele before, and it really hit home when I read this post:

We all gather at Kirk's birthstone, take some pics, makes some cheesy jokes and decide to hit the road in search of our next campground. On our way there, we decide to stop for our last "restaurant" meal together as a wandering group of vagabonds. We stop at a sports bar named Buffalo Wild Wings and order nachos, quesadillas, and salads. They have very cool games that you remove from power ports, so the kids play games and trivia while we talk and laugh and enjoy settling down for the night.

Notice that the adults didn't even play NTN Buzztime - just the kids. Now I don't know whether "the kids" in this case were 7 year olds or 17 year olds, but the NTN Buzztime trivia questions didn't seem to be all that kid-friendly, especially when they ask about stuff from the 1970s.

Does NTN Buzztime need to start putting its games in more kid-friendly places? Maybe my April Fool's joke wasn't that much of a joke after all...

P.S. Forget about McDonalds, by the way. They prefer that their clientele eat and leave.

The power of camraderie

The one advantage of having NTN Buzztime games in bars rather than fitness centers is that bars lend themselves better to a social environment. Certainly some fitness centers are social, but people tend to be focused on themselves and their bodies. As a result, even people who don't like trivia can be sucked into the fun. Take Teresa:

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings....We ordered two cold ones and eventually I asked the guys next to us what the blue Electric Bingo Dauber type machines were that they had. They said it was a trivia game and that we should play. I quickly explained that I was terrible at trivia, I actually fundamentally hate Trivial Pursuit and would chose only to play the kiddie version if forced.

Well, Teresa was eventually persuaded to play, and guess what happened?

I sucked as expected....

So you may think that Teresa hated the experience. She didn't:

Although it was fun. We will [definitely] go back and I think it would be fun to go with a group, so we will see if we can rally a few people to go with us, otherwise we will just make new friends if only temporarily....

So if Teresa enjoyed herself, perhaps anyone would.

Happy anniversary to YOU! NTN Buzztime and 25 Years of Sports

I first saw this press release early this morning. Of course, we all knew something was up, based on the tweets from NTN Buzztime's Mary Campbell a/k/a @BuzztimeGirl. But I was neglectful in following up on her tweets (bad me), even though she's been tweeting the http://www.buzztime.com/25yos URL for about a week now.

One interesting part of the 25 Years of Sports promotion is that during the first round, you don't have to go to a bar/restaurant to compete. You can compete at the buzztime.com website, via the mobile website, or in a bar/restaurant. But if you play at a bar/restaurant, you get ten times as many points. However, the online availability helps to evangelize the existence of the games.

And in the final rounds, the Sports Legends and Poker Pros get into the act. Now I don't know poker (the one time I played Texas Hold'Em on the Buzztime network, I quickly went into the red), but I know my sports legends. Some of the names they've announced include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Troy Aikman, Jim Brown, Mike Ditka, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Bobby Hull, Reggie Jackson, and many more.

The press release:

NTN Buzztime, Inc. to Celebrate 25 Years of Sports With a North American Trivia Competition

Avid sports fans compete for opportunity to play against sport legends

CARLSBAD, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a first-of-its-kind multi-platform tournament, NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE Amex: NTN) is giving sports fans the chance to live out a true sports fantasy with Buzztime's 25 Years of Sports trivia game. Sports enthusiasts across the country will compete in a sports trivia-themed competition featuring an unprecedented $250,000 in prizes.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080331/CLM183LOGO)

During the competition's three-week qualifying tournament, July 13-31, players will compete in Buzztime's 25 Years of Sports Trivia game online (www.buzztime.com), via mobile or within its network of bars and restaurants across North America to earn the necessary qualifying points to advance. Contestants earn 10 times as many qualifying points for playing at Buzztime's network of bars and restaurants.

In the first round, players earn qualifying points to be a part of a three-night network-wide grand prize event, being held on August 12-14, exclusively at Buzztime hospitality locations across North America. The final event will see the continent split into four regions. The highest scorer in each region, each night, plus two wild-card winners nationally each night, will earn the opportunity to compete in a variety of events with 25 of the hottest names in sports at the one-of-a-kind Sports Legends Challenge.

Those 18 lucky players will be awarded the trip of a lifetime to attend the Sports Legends Challenge held September 14-17, 2009 at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas. The Sports Legends Challenge gives sports fans the chance to compete with and against 25 of the greatest Sports Legends of our time, including Troy Aikman, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Richard Petty, Sugar Ray Leonard, and many more. The event will also feature 25 of the world's top Poker Pros, including Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Johnny Chan and others. The Sports Legends, Poker Pros and participants will compete in Texas Hold 'Em, Blackjack, Slots, Golf and more for up to $10,000,000 in prize money.

"This is a huge milestone for Buzztime as it's the first time we've held this type of cross-platform promotion. Our players, current and new, will get to compete online, via mobile and in our restaurant and bar locations," said Buzztime's CEO Terry Bateman. "After the final event in our bars and restaurants, the lucky winners are sure to have an unforgettable experience in the Bahamas when they get to play alongside the Sports Legends they've long admired."

About NTN Buzztime, Inc

NTN Buzztime, Inc., a leader in interactive entertainment for 25 years, is based in Carlsbad, CA. Buzztime is distributed in-home and out-of-home across broadband platforms including online, mobile, satellite TV and in approximately 3,800 restaurants, sports bars and pubs throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.buzztime.com.

Buzztime is a proud member of the OVAB |Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau.

Buzztime is a registered trademark of Buzztime Entertainment, Inc. and Playmaker is a registered trademark of NTN Buzztime, Inc.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's current views of future events and operations including but not limited to trends in subscriber and player preference and engagement and results of marketing strategies. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include risks associated with our recent management transition, our significant losses, our ability to grow our out-of-home Buzztime iTV network and implement our other business strategies, the risk of changing economic conditions, failure of product demand or market acceptance of both existing and new products and services and the impact of competitive products and pricing. Please see NTN Buzztime, Inc.'s recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks that may affect the Company. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. These statements speak only as of the date hereof, and NTN Buzztime, Inc. does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes show that the indicated results or events will not be realized.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Carrie Shields, Bailey Gardiner
619-347-2040
carrie@baileygardiner.com

SOURCE NTN Buzztime, Inc.

Perhaps we need NTN Buzztime in fitness centers

Yep, I found yet another story of someone playing NTN Buzztime trivia.

We had a meal at Buffalo Wild Wings, a chain, where we played Buzztime trivia against THE WHOLE COUNTRY and placed 149th out of 5551 teams. Nice.

But check the next bit:

I had some kind of salad, and you know how it is at places like that: even the salads have calories in the quadruple digits.

And I also found this mention:

My favorite is the 99 cent kids meals on Monday nights at Buffalo Wild Wings. Our family of four can get in and out of there for less that $20 including tip. We love to play the trivia games and the food is always fantastic!

So you have multi-generations loading up on the calories here.

There's one drawback about online trivia games, or in fact most types of online activity - the activities are sedentary in nature. Couple that with the fact that NTN Buzztime is available in restaurants and bars, and you have a...um, recipe for potential trouble.

Truffle runs on the treadmill by John (star5112) used under a Creative Commons License

So if we aren't going to put NTN Buzztime in Denny's, why not put it in gyms? The gym where I used to have a membership had TVs on various elliptical and treadmill and bicicyle devices - why not replace those with a touchscreen showing NTN Buzztime trivia?

And there are benefits. While placing NTN Buzztime in a bar helps to increase a restaurant's alcohol and food revenues, placing NTN Buzztime in a gym helps to increase the time that people are exercising.

Am I crazy?

NTN Buzztime competing against...Microsoft? (Xbox Live Primetime and 1 vs. 100)

It's possible that someone might run across this post and not understand how NTN Buzztime games work. What happens is that you go to a location (in this case, a restaurant or bar), obtain a hardware device, look at a screen, and compete against people on an entire network of locations.

Well, I just ran across another system that allows you to go to a location, obtain a hardware device, look at a screen, and compete against people on an entire network of locations. In this case, the hardware device is an Xbox, and the game, 1 vs. 100, is of course from Microsoft.

DJI at Robot Panic compares the two networks:

This 1 vs. 100 thing is the flagship of Microsoft’s new Prime Time service, a dedicated section in the Live submenus. In order to play these primetime games, you need to login during whatever two-hour period is scheduled for that game. Thankfully these sessions are advertised well in advance in the little NXE event ads you all know well and you are even given the option to set reminders for yourself....

It looks like the service can only hold 50,000 players at this time. That’s impressive for a first run, but the word is that number is going to expand....

t’s like a giant NTN Buzztime trivia event at Buffalo Wild Wings or somethin’, but without the wings.

And about the game itself:

You are given a trivia question with three multiple choice answers revealed in sequence. Answering the question is worth 200 points, but the number counts down as soon as the answers are revealed, like the countdown buzztime bar trivia. The faster you answer, the more points you get, even if wrong. You are given extra points for maintaining a streak of correct answers. Correct answers are also given a bonus based on how many of The Mob got the question wrong. The question types I experienced were basically 80% about frikkin’ Television shows, with the rest being about anything from sports, to SCIENCE, to videogames.

As for which is better, that's a decision that you have to make for yourself. Some people want to stay at home, while others want to go out.

You gotta play to win

I ran across this account of an NTN Buzztime trivia session at a Buffalo Wild Wings.

Took in a few games of trivia as well, finishing nationally in the top 20 once and the top 100 the rest of the times.

While impressive, the writer (Jeff) is used to a higher standard of performance.

We're really out of practice. Used to be we'd always finish in the top 10 or 20.

But there's a reason for this supposedly poor performance on the network.

I blame the Asian Zing sauce.

Well, at least the sauce is nonfat, although it has a bit of sodium in it...

Maybe they'll have twins trivia some evening

On Sunday night, this author was one of ten FriendFeed users who was featured in a Louis Gray post entitled 10 People To Follow On FriendFeed For May 2009. This is (part of) what Louis Gray said:

John runs a blog network called Empoprises, a series of vertical sites with distinct focus.

The reason that I'm mentioning this post in THIS blog is because Louis chose to link to this blog, Empoprise-NTN, as an example of one of the vertical sites with distinct focus. If you're curious, the "distinct focus" of this particular blog is the series of trivia games that are provided by NTN Buzztime, a Carlsbad, California based company that provides televised, networked trivia games in thousands of restaurants and bars throughout the United States and Canada. Clearly a vertical interest, especially for those of you who don't live in North America.

But let's say you're an early adopted who lives in the Silicon Valley and wants to see what all the NTN Buzztime fuss is about. Perhaps you have young kids who are a little bit antsy, and you want to get out of the house for a little bit. Perhaps you're not really into the bar scene, but such places certainly serve alternative drinks if you're not a drinker. And there are two places in Silicon Valley where you can play NTN Buzztime trivia:

• British Bankers Club, Menlo Park, CA http://www.buzztime.com/players/bt_site.php?sid=33868


• Bogarts Lounge and Tech Pub, Sunnyvale, CA http://www.buzztime.com/players/bt_site.php?sid=24138

Now I have not been to either of these places, but I have played NTN Buzztime in San Francisco (at Beale St. Bar & Grill) during Oracle OpenWorld.

P.S. I might as well plug my other vertical sites with distinct focus. The other blogs in the Empoprises network are Empoprise-BI (business), Empoprise-IE (California's Inland Empire), and Empoprise-MU (music).

NTN Buzztime and communities

While this post is being added to my Empoprise-NTN blog, its applicability actually goes well beyond those who are interested in NTN Buzztime trivia. Many people, including myself, have noted how the prevalence of social media has degraded the meaning of terms such as "friend." However, in some cases, the use of the term truly applies. While NTN Buzztime is not a classic online-only social media experience, it certainly does involve the use of technology, and therefore it's appropriate to note that long-standing players can often form true friendships. If you don't believe me, read this post from Stacy. It begins as follows:

For the first time in a very long time my husband and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings in West St. Paul this past weekend. I was told by one of the bar patrons that two people who used to frequent BW3s when I did had passed away. I was in shock. I thought I would share brief thoughts about both men who were always chipper and had such positive attitudes: Lango and Jams.

Read the rest of her post to see her thoughts on Lango and Jams.

The NTN Buzztime page for the Buffalo Wild Wings in West St. Paul is at http://www.buzztime.com/players/bt_site.php?sid=6036. I could not find a player page for either LANGO or JAMS, but I did find a profile for SMOKE.

That's not a producer, that's a producer

Spielberg @ Director's Chair by Fantax (Farhan) used under a Creative Commons License

In my never-ending automated searches for all things NTN Buzztime, I run across their job listings every once in a while. I saw a listing for a producer and was intrigued. Do they really have producers for each of their games? Well, sort of. In NTN Buzztime lingo, "producer" actually means something else:

We are seeking an energetic person to join our Product Management Team as a Producer. Our Carlsbad headquarters is seeking a self-directed Producer (Product/Program Manager), who thrives in a growing, collaborative professional environment. As a Producer you are a key member of the product development team who will contribute to all aspects of the product life cycle. The Producer creates cohesive and compelling vision from various inputs, demands and viewpoints; communicates the vision to the team and orchestrates the cross-functional product development process. Specifically the Producer is responsible to:
• Design game concepts and features based on goals and needs of the company, sales and marketability plus mass-market appeal.
• Clearly document designs
• Define use cases, requirements and write feature specifications.
• Manage implementation of all features and designs • Lead creative direction of the product
• Develop visual style in conjunction with the artist who is on the team.
• Guide Marketing as how to best market product through style, advertising and promotional opportunities
• Provide leadership, direction to a cross-functional team and optimize efficiency with an eye towards talent development that strengthens the next iteration of project teams.
• Lead kick off meetings, brainstorming, and participate in product reviews as the key stakeholder of the project.
• Ensure the technical, operations, and business requirements are in line with business goals and objectives.
• Achieve milestones and deadlines for the product development cycle; track and manage product though requirements, design, usability testing, and release activities.
• Communicate status, issues, and risk to the project team and key business stakeholder.
• Create schedules and timelines for product development, production, and conclusion • Act as liaison and single point of contact between software, art, marketing and design.
• Monitors market and business needs to develop requirements for future development, products, and enhancements to existing product lines.

So I guess that I could say that I'm a producer in my day job (I'm a software product manager) and in my night job (as Empoprises chief blogger).

However, my software product management day job doesn't encourage me to hang around in bars...

Another view of NTN Buzztime's quarterly financial results

Last Friday, I used my unparalleled stock investing experience to share my thoughts on NTN Buzztime's quarterly financial results. Wednesday, it was RoadDog's turn. Excerpt:

All in all, not very good, but at least there are more sites. However, I have noticed that the number of players during the afternoon is down....

Read the whole post.

PROFPR beats SKIPPY. Dancing ensues.

I'm not a regular member of any NTN Buzztime group of players, but those groups certainly are out there, and rivalries can occur. In fact, we can go to Memphis, Tennessee, which we haven't visited since January 22/January 23, to find one.

Check this Paul Ryburn post:

Sleep Out Louie’s, one of the last places to carry NTN/Buzztime Trivia Downtown, closed in February 2007. Since then there has not been a Paul vs. Skippy trivia match.

Until [May 17], at Calhoun’s.

Paul then showed a screenshot with the final scores: PROFPR (Paul) at 12,092, and SKIPPY at 8,691.

I did the trivia victory dance.

I don't know if Skippy blogs, but I predict a rematch.

NTN Buzztime quarterly financial results - is the change in direction paying off?

I was unable to discuss this on Thursday, but today I can talk about NTN Buzztime's release of its quarterly results.

In one respect financial results are often a Boolean operation - did you make money, or lose it? But the market is a little more sophisticated than that, and often gets into calculus-like examinations of slopes and trends and junk like that.

So in one respect, you can say that NTN Buzztime lost money. But on the other hand, as RTT News notes, they lost a lot less this quarter than they did in a comparable quarter a year ago.

Thursday, NTN Buzztime Inc. (NTN: News ) reported a first-quarter net loss of $255 thousand or breakeven per share, compared to a loss of $2.6 million or $0.05 per share in the same quarter last year.

RTT also noted that, while revenues declined, this is according to plan as NTN Buzztime refocuses on specific markets (which presumably will be more profitable).

RTT didn't address NTN Buzztime's various i-acquisitions, which aren't affecting the quarterly results, but CEO Terry Bateman did mention them, and some other strategic initiatives, in the opening to the press release:

"Our first-quarter results and recent strategic initiatives show that we are fulfilling our commitments to stabilize and grow our site count, reduce expenses, expand our reach in out-of-home advertising - including promotions and advertiser-sponsored events - and introduce our popular games into the online and mobile arena," commented NTN Buzztime CEO Terry Bateman. "Our net site count grew by 18 sites during the first quarter of 2009. We have reduced payroll by approximately $700,000 compared to the same quarter last year and cut overall SG&A expenses from approximately $7.3 million in last year's first quarter to $4.8 million in the 2009 first quarter. We have definitely made progress on our planned turnaround and are working to keep the momentum growing."

Mr. Bateman continued, "On the business-building side of the equation, we have jump-started our planned expansion into mobile and online games through our April acquisition of iSports, supporting our plans to launch this exciting new platform by the third quarter of this year. This month, we have purchased the assets of the i-am TV out-of-home advertising network from Instant Access Media. We believe this acquisition will contribute to the growth and value of our network allowing us to offer powerful media and sponsorship opportunities to major national advertisers. We are especially pleased to have made both of these strategic acquisitions with equity instead of cash or debt."

So maybe you can't play trivia in England any more, but there are new opportunities to enjoy NTN Buzztime products at home.

Does NTN Buzztime think it's Oracle or something?

In my day job, I have a lot of contacts with people from Oracle Corporation. If you've followed Oracle over the last few years, you know that they've bought up a lot of other companies. They do it with so much frequency, I can almost guarantee that when I run into an Oracle person after a few months, I can ask the Oracle person about Oracle's latest acquisition. (For those keeping track, Oracle is working on getting government approvals to acquire Sun Microsystems.)

Well, perhaps NTN Buzztime CEO Terry Bateman (who has only been on the job since February) woke up one morning and decided that he was Larry Ellison. Not too long after NTN Buzztime's April 24 announcement that it had acquired iSports, it has issued a press release to announce that it's acquiring i-am TV. (They must like the letter I.)

However, NTN Buzztime isn't just acquiring a company; it's also acquiring some investment money. A private stock placement with the former investors in i-am TV will yield $750,000 for NTN Buzztime.

Presumably NTN Buzztime won't completely junk I AM TV's current programming, which consists of 2 minute extreme bursts targeted for young adult bargoers. But perhaps the programming mix may change over time.

Here's the press release:

NTN Buzztime, Inc. Acquires Assets From i-am TV, Strengthens Its Out-of-Home Promotional Reach

CARLSBAD, CA UNITED STATES

- Acquisition adds high-profile out-of-home entertainment television screens in the top 15 DMAs

- Private Placement to provide $750,000 in additional working capital

CARLSBAD, Calif., May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE Amex: NTN) today announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase the assets of i-am TV from Instant Access Media, LLC which include approximately 1,400 flat panel television screens located in over 360 high-traffic hospitality venues in the top 15 designated market areas (DMAs). Out-of-home entertainment provider i-am TV has been in the business of delivering programming and advertising to these venues.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080331/CLM183LOGO)

The Company also announced that investors in Instant Access Media are purchasing shares of NTN common stock in a private placement raising $750,000 in additional working capital.

"Our acquisition of assets from i-am TV has the potential to take our advertising sales initiative to an exciting new level. By expanding our digital broadcast network into numerous prime locations in the top 15 DMAs, we are gaining critical mass to provide major national advertisers with uniquely powerful event, promotion, and sponsorship opportunities," commented NTN Buzztime's CEO, Terry Bateman.

Mr. Bateman continued, "The acquired i-am TV assets are an excellent strategic fit with initiatives we have underway to provide advertisers with sponsored media events and promotional opportunities. We will be offering our proprietary Buzztime content to operators of the acquired screens, potentially contributing to the growth of our overall network viewership. In addition, the assets acquired from i-am TV network include high-quality television screens located in prime locations in major U.S. cities which we believe will ultimately extend our network and enhance our value proposition."

Mr. Bateman concluded, "Considered in the context of our recent asset purchase of sports entertainment portal iSports to accelerate the planned launch of our online and mobile game platform, this agreement marks another significant and positive strategic milestone for NTN Buzztime."

About NTN Buzztime, Inc.

NTN Buzztime, Inc., a leader in interactive entertainment for 25 years, is based in Carlsbad, CA. Buzztime is distributed in-home and out-of-home across broadband platforms including online, cable TV, satellite TV and in approximately 3,750 restaurants, sports bars and pubs throughout North America. Buzztime entertainment is also available on electronic games and in books. For more information, please visit http://www.buzztime.com.

Buzztime is a proud member of the OVAB |Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau.

Buzztime is a registered trademark of Buzztime Entertainment, Inc. and Playmaker is a registered trademark of NTN Buzztime, Inc.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's current views of future events and operations. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include those related to successfully integrating the i-am TV assets being acquired into Company operations, uncertainty regarding our future capital needs, risks associated with the current economic downturn, our significant losses, our ability to grow our out-of-home Buzztime iTV network and implement our other business strategies, our recent management transition, potential failure of product demand or market acceptance of both existing and new products and services and the impact of competitive products and pricing. Please see NTN Buzztime, Inc.'s recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks that may affect the Company. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. These statements speak only as of the date hereof, and NTN Buzztime, Inc. does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes show that the indicated results or events will not be realized.

COMPANY CONTACT:
Kendra Berger
Chief Financial Officer
NTN Buzztime, Inc.
(760) 438-7400

CCG CONTACT:
Mark Collinson
Partner
CCG Investor Relations
(310) 477-9800, ext. 117


SOURCE NTN Buzztime, Inc.

Happy anniversary to Empoprise-NTN (on the right date this time)

(Presumably Louis Gray caught it when I posted this in advance. Whoops.)

On May 9, 2008, I posted my first item for Empoprise-NTN.

I figured that I'd be talking about the trivia games a lot, but as the first post indicated, I ended up spending some time talking about the business issues at NTN Buzztime.

Ironically, I haven't played as much as I'd have liked, but perhaps the blog will take off financially and my trivia needs will be funded.

Or perhaps I can write off trivia trips as a business expense.

P.S. Speaking of business, NTN Buzztime will announce its quarterly results on Thursday:

NTN Buzztime, Inc. ... plans to release financial results for the 2009 first quarter after the close of regular market trading on Thursday, May 14, 2009. The Company's senior management will then host a conference call to discuss these results at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

o access the conference call, please dial 1-866-360-7027 if calling from the United States or Canada, or 1-706-643-3291 if calling internationally.

A replay will be available until May 21, 2009, which can be accessed by dialing 1-800-642-1687 if calling from the United States or Canada or 1-706-645-9291 if calling internationally. Please use passcode 98631328 to access the replay.

Empoprise-NTN High Noon - O'Malley's Pub and Grill (Sylva, NC)

Ran across the blog for this establishment, which lists the following information:

Just the Facts

Telephone:
(828) 631-0554‎

Hours:
Mon.–Sat.: 11am-until
Sun.: Noon-until

Food Hours:
Food is served all hours!
Late Night Menu:
Mon.-Wed. 10-last call
Thurs.-Sat. 11-until last call
Sunday 9–last call

Television:
16 TV’s with 9 Satellites,
ESPN Game Plan and NFL Ticket

Amusement:
NTN Buzztime Trivia
3 Pool Tables
Golden Tee Video Golf
Silver Strike Video Bowling

Seating:
Smoking and non-smoking available

Location:
83 Asheville Hwy./Business 23, Sylva, NC

Be sure to see Empty Slate on Friday, May 8.

For NTN Buzztime trivia scores at this location, go to http://www.buzztime.com/players/bt_site.php?sid=29623.

NTN Buzztime goes to Twitter and West Virginia

It all started when I did a "mentions" search on Twitter and found this tweet:

RT @empoprises: Buzztime trivia benefits an oft-neglected market - the deaf http://ff.im/2EedR. LOVE seeing a fresh analysis Buzztime ! :)

BuzztimeGirl
Mary Campbell

Campbell is presumably the same Mary Campbell who recently went out to West Virginia to meet some players:

One local pub is doing its part to bring tourism to the Buckhannon area.
Allburghers Appalachian Pub Co. recently hosted the 2009 W.Va. Buzztime Trivia Open....

Allburghers hosted the event Thursday, March 26 through Sunday, March 29. According to the trivia organizer, who only gave his name as Bob, there were about 50 people from various parts of the country who traveled to Buckhannon to take part in the fun....

A representative from Buzztime Trivia, Mary Campbell, traveled to Buckhannon to distribute prizes and additional electronic trivia pads for the group.

Back to Twitter. BuzztimeGirl also issued this tweet:

Love all the new Buzztime avatars created for the network. Register and build one to display while you're playing:) http://bit.ly/pNxqx :o)

I got all ready to upload my picture that I'm using these days...but it turns out that you BUILD a graphical avatar. (It pays to read the text...you get more points that way.)

If you want to see my handiwork, check my profile.

It looks like there are a number of other new features at the Buzztime web site...need to check them out.

Buzztime trivia benefits an oft-neglected market - the deaf

This blog has been around for about a year now. (In fact, I need to make sure that I haven't already passed the one-year anniversary.) In fact, back on May 17, 2008, I wrote about an NTN Buzztime promotional video, and concluded my post with the following:

At first I was disturbed at the fact that there was no sound in this video, but then I realized that this was a true and accurate demonstration of the product. Think of your average sports bar, in which one of the TVs (usually the one showing the local team's game) will have sound, and all of the other TVs will be muted, allowing you to watch the game but not hear it. Well, Buzztime is an entirely sound-free activity, so as not to interfere with other things being watched on other TVs. Clever, once you realize what's going on.

I had forgotten about this until I saw yet another post in the series of posts I'm finding that talk about the trivia games available at Buffalo Wild Wings.

This DPHH

Buffalo Wild Wings

Friday, May 29, 2009

6700 Knightdale Blvd
Knightdale, NC 27545
Website

C’mon out and kick off the Memorial Day weekend celebrations at Buffalo Wild Wings in Knightdale! This is a no-holds-barred bar with affordable, top-quality food, including award-winning chicken wings and twelve signature sauces- YUM! There’s big-screen TVs, onscreen Buzztime® Trivia and a menu full of great food. Lookin’ forward to seein’ ya’all there!

OK, other than the fact that the writer speaks Southern, and other than the fact that the writer inadvertently references a Buffalo Wild Wings competitor, this is your average "play trivia with us" message. But then I got to wondering - what is this "DPHH" that's referenced? The explanation appears in the bottom of the post:

The Deaf Professional Happy Hour (DPHH)™ hosts logistical information and provides certain administrative support for the functions of DPHH™ as a pro bono service to the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Again, you wouldn't think of it - or at least I wouldn't think of it - but NTN Buzztime Trivia is a perfect activity in which the deaf can participate. Since no sound is involved (for the reasons I mentioned in last years's post), there's no barrier for deaf participation in the games.

And if you think that all of the deaf players are meekly sitting quietly while playing their games, think again:

DPHH™, its subsidiaries, officers, and sponsors and the DPHH™ committees assume no liability for the behavior of individuals or the group at DPHH™ events. No DPHH™ committee member or other representative of DPHH™ is responsible for monitoring DPHH™ event participants.

It might get nasty at Buffalo Wild Wings in Knightdale on Friday May 29. Especially if Jane Fernandes appears in any of the trivia questions.


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P.S. The blog anniversary is on May 9. I'm safe.