September 5, 2006

Message From Michael                    
                                                  September 5, 2006                                                                                                    

• 9/11


• CITIZEN MEDIA BEATS BIG MEDIA


• FREE FOR THE ASKING


• THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG IN TV NEWS


• TELEVISION BUYERS AWARE


• SOCIAL TRENDS – CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND AMERICANS


• COCKTAIL CHATTER

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• 9/11:  Less than a week from today will be the fifth anniversary of the attack.  Where were you?  Remember?  Of course you do.  Everybody does.  Now… what are you doing to mark the event?  --  ‘Nuff said.


• KATIE COURIC:  Also, ‘nuff said.  


• CITIZEN MEDIA BEATS BIG MEDIA:  That was the headline in a recent Media Daily News article about a whistle-blower who posted a video on YouTube talking about deficiencies in the refurbishing of U.S. Coast Guard boats.  Former (he was fired) engineer Michael de Kort says he contacted “every single mass media outlet on television and probably 75 reporters at different newspapers.”  Not one of them picked up the story.  So, de Kort says as a last resort he posted a ten-minute video in which he outlined his allegations about the $24 Billion refurbishment by Lockheed Martin.  Now, every news organization from The Washington Post, ABC, NPR and even the Navy Times has picked up the story.  Interestingly, most of that coverage has focused on the use of the Internet and YouTube and not on the allegations.  In the video de Kort is sitting, apparently at his kitchen table, and simply talks to the camera.  At the start, he says, “making videos like this is not something I do as a profession,” he then goes over each point, slowly and laboriously, from blind spots in the security cameras to equipment that malfunctions in cold weather.  He ends by saying that he knows that he will need a lawyer after the video airs and asks for volunteers.


• FREE FOR THE ASKING:  Well, sort of.  As long as you’re willing to watch advertising.  Melody monster Universal Music has cut a deal to make its vast array of selections available on an ad-supported website, SpiralFrog.com.  According to several reports, including the Associated Press, users can download an unlimited number of songs as long as they register at the site.  And as long as portable media players equipped with Microsoft Windows digital management software.  It can not be used with Apple Computer’s Macintosh computers OR its popular IPod player.    


• THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG IN TV NEWS:  That’s the question one has to ask after reviewing a report by The Media Audit which shows that more adults watch LOCAL TV news on NBC affiliate stations than on ABC or CBS.  On average, 28.5% of all adults watched an early local evening newscast in the past week on an NBC affiliate.  ABC scored 26.6% while CBS scored 23.6%, according to the recently released 2005 national report.  No doubt coincidentally, NBC is the highest rated national newscast, followed by ABC and CBS.  According to figures for the last week of August, NBC had a 2.2 rating (8.15 Million viewers) compared to ABC’s 2.0 (7.26 Million) and CBS’s 1.9 (7.06 Million).  The report finds a big difference in minority viewing.  Black consumers are MORE likely to watch local TV news than the general market, according to the report.  Anywhere from 2% (for NBC affiliates) to 6% (for ABC and CBS affiliates).  But Hispanic viewers are LESS likely to watch.  Here the differences are dramatic.  Anywhere from 7% for ABC affiliates to 9% for CBS affiliates and 11% for NBC affiliates.The report says Internet users are more likely to be similar rather than different in terms of local TV news viewing.  Even ‘heavy’ Internet users (defined as those who are online more than 430 minutes a week) are only slightly less likely to watch local TV news.  What was even more interesting though is that the Internet extends the reach of local TV news.  Newspapers often cite the unduplicated readership from the Internet.  The same can be done for TV, it seems.  The number one NBC affiliate in the country is WYFF in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  (Congratulations to our friends there.)  The station reaches 46.3% of all adults in a typical week, according to The Media Audit report.  But when you add in web viewing, the number jumps to 60%.  BTW, the top rated ABC affiliate is WTNH in New Haven, Connecticut and the top rated CBS affiliate is WHIO in Dayton, Ohio.


• TELEVISION BUYERS AWARE:  Despite all the concerns about television, the world’s biggest advertisers have actually increased their spending on TV in the last five years, according to the ZenithOptimedia media buying group.  Three of the five largest advertising groups – retailers, telecom operators and financial groups – spent proportionately more of their money on TV last year than they did in 2001.  Of the other two groups – auto and medicine – only medicine dropped slightly.  And, as reported in the Financial Times, the group predicts this year’s global TV advertising is expected to increase 5.5%.  But Internet advertising is predicted to rise 76% percent between 2005 and 2008.  Much of that increase will be driven by two of those advertising groups that increased their spending on TV – financial services and telecom operators.  Even more critically, many advertisers are combining their TV advertising with their Internet advertising.


• SOCIAL TRENDS – CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND AMERICANS:   Nearly half of U.S. adults (42%) see themselves as Christians first and as Americans second, according to a study by the Pew Research group. That’s larger than any other country surveyed (Germany, Great Britain, Russia, France and Spain) except one – Nigeria.  Just under a half (48%) say they seem themselves as Americans first while 7% say they see themselves as both equally. In comparison, Muslims identify themselves first as Muslims no matter what country they live – Islamic or non-Islamic.  The one exception was Indonesia where 39% said they were Indonesians first and Muslims second.  But everywhere else it was the other way around.  In Great Britain, 89% said they were Muslims first and only 7% said they were British first.  It was the same story, not unexpectedly, in Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, but somewhat unexpectedly in Spain, Germany and France where it was the closest (46% saying they were Muslim first and 42% saying they were French first.)


• COCKTAIL CHATTER:  The same study group found that Americans believe workers are worse off now than they were a generation ago because they’re working longer and harder for less money and lower benefits for employers who are less loyal.  Despite that, the study says, people still have positive feelings about their jobs.  The top-rated basic cable network (at least in August) was the USA Network, according to a report in The Programming Insider.  The cable net scored 2.9 Million viewers.  Okay, I’m sure everybody, except me, knew this, but the currency of China is the renminbi.  I was reading an article which said Internet advertising in China is expected to reach “RMB 6.87 Billion” and noted that $1 U.S. equals 7.97979 Chinese Yuan Renminbi.


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