Today in History, February 6th

The Giants have their fourth Super Bowl title following Sunday's 21-17 win over the Patriots. Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning engineered a game-winning 88-yard drive that ended with Ahmad Bradshaw's six-yard touchdown run with :57 remaining. (Feb. 5)

Reality TV show The Tester attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers per episode — but if you’re not a gamer, you’ve probably never even heard of it. That’s because The Tester has been running exclusively on Sony’s PlayStation Network, where last season, each episode was viewed 352,000 times on average.

PlayStation Network executive producer of original programming Kevin Furuichi told me during a phone conversation last week that The Tester’s third season, which begins this Tuesday, will for the first time be available for streaming on the web as well, which should result in even bigger viewership numbers. “We are really excited that we are able to deliver an audience,” Furuichi told me.

Check out the trailer below:

The Tester has twelve gamers competing in challenges that look like a mixture of Fear Factor and real-life video games, and the winner will get a job as a Production Associate in Sony’s Santa Monica video game development studio. Furuichi told me that his team initially tried to make The Tester look more like a web series, with shorter, snack-sized episodes. But the audience actually wanted to see more, so now the show is running half an hour per episode, much like a traditional TV show. Furuichi readily admitted that Sony learned some things from traditional TV production for The Tester: “It is not about changing reality TV,” he said.

So why does Sony produce original programming like The Tester for its PlayStation Network audience? It obviously works well as branded entertainment; the contestants regularly get to try out new Sony game titles, and even meet a few game industry legends. But Furuichi also said that it’s about adding value to the PlayStation Network in general. “It brings people into the network,” he told me.

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M.I.A., who hit the stage with Madonna at the Super Bowl, put up her middle finger during the performance, which also included Nicki Minaj, Cee Lo and LMFAO. NBC apologized for M.I.A.'s actions. This video contains the obscene image. (Feb. 5)

Authorities in Washington state say they think Josh Powell, the husband of a Utah woman who's been missing for two years deliberately, set off a house explosion today that killed him and his two young sons on Sunday. (Feb. 5)

The AP's Alicia Quarles is on the field with Kelly Clarkson, who sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Ind. (Feb. 5)

Katy Perry, Taylor Lautner, Jon Hamm, Lenny Kravitz, Alec Badwin and more attend the Associated Press NFL Awards ahead of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, Ind. (Feb. 5)

The AP's Alicia Quarles catches up with Nick Cannon, The Fray, Danny DeVito and Adam Sandler backstage ahead of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, Ind. (Feb. 5)

A powerful house explosion killed the husband of a Utah woman who has been missing for two years, and his two young sons Sunday, moments after the boys arrived for a visit that was supposed to be supervised by a social worker. (Feb. 5)

President Barack Obama he does not think Israel has decided whether to attack Iran over its disputed nuclear program, a standoff that has the Middle East on edge. Speaking before the Super Bowl, Obama also refused to pick sides for the big game. (Feb. 5)

Katy Perry, Taylor Launter, Jon Hamm, Lenny Kravitz, Alec Badwin and more attend the Associated Press NFL Awards ahead of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, Ind. (Feb. 5)

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum toured a clothing manufacturer, in Minnesota, that makes his trademark sweater vests. (Feb. 5)

Here's the latest news for Sunday, February 5th: Rivals look to contain Romney successes after apparent Nevada win; 11 "Occupy" protestors arrested in Washington; Clinton calls U.N. Veto a "travesty;" Snow hits much of Europe.

Black-clad riot police in Cairo have been firing rubber bullets at protesters to protect government offices and building walls of concrete on street entrances. Meanwhile, the U.S. is threatening to stop its foreign aid. (Feb. 5)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling yesterday's vote in the U.N. Security Council a "travesty." Russia and China vetoed a resolution supporting an Arab League plan aimed at ending the violence in Syria. (Feb. 5)

Bosnia used helicopters to evacuate the sick and deliver food to thousands of people left stranded by its heaviest snowfall ever, while Pope Benedict XVI donned an overcoat to bless the few pilgrims who braved Rome's unusually cold weather. (Feb. 5)

The National Park Service announced this week that a German chancellor's voice has been identified among those found on a dozen recorded wax cylinders, each more than 120 years old, that were once stored in Thomas Edison's New Jersey lab. (Feb. 3)

On this day in history: President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed increasing the number of United States Supreme Court justices; Hank Aaron born. (Feb. 5)

Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney cruised to a decisive victory in the Nevada caucuses Saturday night, notching a second straight triumph over a field of rivals suddenly struggling to keep pace. (Feb. 4)

In these heady two-or-three-screen days, the Grammy Awards has been a classic case study in how social media engagement can pay off ratings-wise. Viewership of the on-air broadcast have increased dramatically since 2009 in younger demographics, with no small amount of credit due to the increasingly elaborate digital campaigns implemented by the Recording Academy.

This year, the main action can be found on Grammy Live, a three-day orgy of live-streaming and social media beginning this Friday and continuing through Sunday, February 12. The events covered will include host-anchored behind-the-scenes coverage (with talent including Alison Haislip and John Norris) and video of other events leading up to the awards, including the MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute honoring Paul McCartney.

While last year, Grammy Live was powered by YouTube’s then-fledgling live-streaming service, this time the awards are working directly with CBS for interactive content, using Akamai (a AKAM) and AEG Digital Media’s internal player to deliver the live stream.

“Partnering with our network partner affords us enhanced opportunities,” Grammy Live executive producer Peter Anton said in a phone interview, such as being able to get more on-air mentions for Grammy Live programming. “It wasn’t part of our overall scheme, but this year there have been broadened opportunities through this new partnership.”

On Sunday, the live stream will follow awards attendees from their limos to the post-show after parties, with multiple camera angles available backstage during the show. Basically, any video you could possibly imagine watching will be accessible via Grammy.com and the Grammy Live iOS apps (optimized for both iPad and iPhone) for a true two- or three-screen experience — except for the actual Grammy Awards, which will only be watchable on CBS.

After the show, the Grammys will once again face the problem they had last year: actually getting the live performances from the broadcast online in a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately, the issue remains the same — each performance must be individually approved for release by the artist and rights holders before the Grammys can post it, which isn’t the most efficient of processes.

“We’ve created a mechanism to deliver content almost instantly, and we hope to have most available on iTunes and Vevo right after the show, but we’re still subject to outside approval forces that we just can’t control,” Recording Academy CMO Evan Greene said in a phone interview.

While the Grammys have added an on-site opportunity to expedite getting those releases, the fact remains that if Adele isn’t happy with how she sounds next week, the Grammys won’t be able to officially release her performance.

But despite the limitations of the industry being celebrated, the Grammys are still finding ways to push digital content. A Facebook contest has given up-and-coming band The Almost Kings the opportunity to play a half-hour set on Grammy Live; a deal with Pepsi and Pandora has lead to an original video series spotlighting this year’s Best New Artist nominees.

And then there’s We Are Music, a sort of visual playlist creator powered by Rdio that allows you to combine photos and 30 second clips of music for an iTunes Visualizer-esque experience that you can then share with others (like so). “Music is a part of us. It pens our love letters. It delivers our motivational speeches…” the site says. “Now it’s time to bring your story to life.” It’s kind of cheesy. It’s also kind of true.

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