GOOGLE will announce AdSense for Video, allowing web site publishers to insert video ads into video content or to overlay text ads on top of videos. Ads will be contextually matched to both video and web site content. 20 partners have initially signed up for the program including Revver, Blip.tv, Brightcove and YuMe.

THE DGA has ratified a new three-year contract with the AMPTP. Guild president Michael Apted said the new contract establishes Guild jurisdiction over new media, doubles the homevideo rate for electronic sell-through and establishes residuals for ad-supported streaming based on gross. The contract will go into effect July 1st.

THE ANA released the results of a new survey that reveals a steadily decreasing confidence in the value of TV advertising. 62% of marketers believe that TV advertising has become less effective in the last two years. Over half of advertisers are experimenting with new ad forms, with 87% expecting branded entertainment to increase in prominence during the next year. The ANA will release the full results of its study on February 28 at the TV & Everything Video Forum in New York.

NBC will begin streaming ad-supported classic programming on NBC.com and other NBC-owned sites that match a show’s genre. The original Battlestar Galactica, for example, will be available on SciFi.com. The initiative will include The A-Team, Kojak and more as part of Jeff Zucker’s mission to distribute NBC content “everywhere.”

FOX scheduling chief Preston Beckman unleashed some harsh words concerning NBC’s new upfront plans. Beckman said (among other things) that Fox made the same changes “five years ago” and that the new plans are just NBC’s way of saying “We want to be Fox.” NBC’s Marc Graboff downplayed the comments, saying simply “The story is about value and an overall process change, not who was first.”

PARAMOUNT announced plans to stop manufacturing and marketing HD DVD by the end of March. It will now focus on Blu-ray. All six major Hollywood studios have now committed to the Blu-ray format.

DIRECTV moved the NFL Network from its Top 100 package to its Top 200 package — reducing the network’s audience by 4 million subscribers.

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