Message from Michael -- March 5, 2007

THE TWO SIDES OF THE ONLINE VIDEO COIN
SING IT – THAT’S COM-MUN-I-TAIN-MENT
THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
FACT OF THE WEEK
THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
COCKTAIL CHATTER – RAZZIES, ESTONIA AND HALAL
A FOOTNOTE – THE NEWS WARS

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THE TWO SIDES OF THE ONLINE VIDEO COIN: The Online Publishers’ Association reports that nearly a fourth of U.S. consumers with web access watch online videos at least once a week, while 70% have viewed an online video ad and, of those who have viewed an online ad, a third have gone to the advertiser’s website. A survey by the Leichtman Research Group has a similar but slightly different take, reporting that 4% of ALL adults over the age of 18 in the United States watch video online every day and that an additional 14% watch online video once a week. By way of comparison, the report notes that 93% of all adults spend at least one hour A DAY, on average, watching TV. The survey of what it called ‘non-TV video services’ (meaning not just broadband, but iPods and cell phones) found that men 18-34 accounted for 41% of all online video viewing, although the demographic accounted for only 14% of the sample. What I found particularly interesting, and somewhat buried, was the statement that while total online video usage has increased in the past year, the percentage of adults watching online video remains relatively unchanged. I take that to mean that a small minority are just watching more. Yet, the survey reports that only 8% of those who watch video online ‘strongly agree’ that they watch less TV.

In fact, the researchers at Knowledge Network, which uses a web-based consumer panel, says its study shows that broadband streaming of TV programs is good for the networks AND good for the advertisers. On the network side, the study says three-quarters (78%) of TV network website viewers report that being able to watch online “increases their involvement with a program,” and that a quarter (25%) report they are watching the actual TV program more often because of the availability of the Internet version. On the advertiser side, the study says nearly half (49%) of THOSE viewers say they would give more consideration to sponsors who support such streaming videos, and THOSE viewers (30%) are more likely than Internet users overall (22%) to buy from companies that advertise on their favorite programs. The head of research for Knowledge Network says it all builds equity for the network and advertisers.

SING IT – THAT’S COM-MUN-I-TAIN MENT: Not even Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire could make it sound right. (I’m referring, of course, to the movie That’s Entertainment. Now, when I say That’s Entertainment, the younger people in the MfM crowd will think of Jam while the older crowd will say, “jam who?” Anyway… ). Research firm Piper Jaffray coined the term “Communitainment” which it says is the collision of community, communication and entertainment on the Internet. In a report titled “The User Revolution,” the group says global online advertising revenue is expected to reach $81.1 Billion by 2011 and that “communitainment is taking time away from other, traditional types of content consumption on the Internet.” The firm was on a word coinage binge and created another, ‘usites,’ to refer to user generated sites which are drawing from traditional sites. The report also warns -- or counsels, depending on how you look at it – about the growth of user generated brands with consumers taking control of content consumption and branding; media fragmentation with advertisers having to buy more inventory to have the desired impact; and the ‘golden search’ where search has become the new portal.Coincidentally, and somewhat oddly, Hitwise, which describes itself as a ‘competitive intelligence service,’ also reports that its research confirms the growth of consumer generated media (CGM) which it says is causing mainstream media to “scramble.” (I say ‘oddly’ because the report is only recently making news, although when I investigated it, I found the report was originally released in November of last year.) The report focuses on social networking sites, with the top 20 sites doubling their market share of visits year to year; photo sharing websites which include not just Flickr (which you will have heard about from MfM) but also Photobucket which is described as the clear leader in ‘image hosting’ as well as Imageshack and Slide; and user generated video which the report says has seen “a drastic increase” in the past year with user generated videos like TMX Elmo and Pokemon Theme Music Video rivaling established names like Weird Al Yankovic’s White and Nerdy.

THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: Proof that beauty, and perceptions, are all in the eye of the beholder. The Piper Jaffray report says ad networks are experiencing increased demand because of Internet fragmentation and the need for targeted inventory while ad agencies are evolving into more sophisticated, technology-savvy entities. Yet a survey by Forrester Research finds that clients believe ad agencies are unprepared for the way consumers use media and technology, and warned that the bigger agencies must integrate with smaller media outfits if they want to remain relevant. Not surprisingly, the majority of ad agency executives in the survey think they’re well prepared and well positioned to deal with the changes. AdAge did a similar survey to find out whether traditional media felt ready to use digital media to reach consumers, or as the article put it – are they ready to deliver their clients’ message to wired customers. In any case, the article says, the upshot was – “could you repeat the question.” And for those journalists, broadcasters and other traditional media types, wondering what advertising has to do with them, the point is – ask yourself the same question. Are you really ready?

FACT OF THE WEEK: Nearly 18,000 media employees lost their jobs last year, and that, according to an article in Broadcasting and Cable, is the biggest group of layoffs since the dotcom bubble burst in 2001. The figures from New York based global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas for 2006 are 88% higher than the year before. Reporter Anne Becker writes that the ‘grim reality’ for the media giants is that “staying ahead often means cutting heads” and that while some jobs were ‘obsolesced’ by new technology, other cuts have come from units that “were once sexy but are now less so compared with shiny, new digital products.” And the factoid of the week is a line from her article talking about the rush to introduce new digital products. It reads, “revenue from these products remains a fraction of the advertising revenue from good old linear TV and will probably stay that way forever.” If you would like to read the full article, it’s at: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6419245.html&referral=supp.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR: You may have heard that the Fox News Channel has started its own news satire show on Sunday nights called 1D2 Hour News Show as a counter to Jon Stewart’s Daily Show. Well, now, Fox is following that up with a half-hour of stories derived from the blogosphere and titled “It’s Out There.” And later this month, satirical weekly and website The Onion is taking on broadcast journalism with its own streaming video ‘news’ network. The paper which is known for such stories as “expert too lazy for TV” and “scientists discover new cable channel” has established its own production unit to create the viral videos. And if you can’t wait until the end of the month, try “hipster magazine” Vice’s website VBS.TV which produces comedic, satirical and some amazingly biting citizen journalism videos on everything from traveling across the America to visiting the largest gun market in the world.

COCKTAIL CHATTER: The alternative to the Academy Awards is the Razzies, the “golden raspberry awards” for the worst in film-making. “Winners,” if that’s the right word are Basic Instinct 2, for worst picture, Marlon and Shawn Wayans for worst actors in Little Man, and Sharon Stone for worst actress in Basic Instinct 2. The little country of Estonia has successfully introduced e-voting, online voting, with nearly 30,000 votes cast online out of 104,000. Coca-Cola plans to launch a diet coke with vitamins and minerals while Pepsi is planning to introduce a higher-caffeine diet cola. And if your tastes run to something stronger, Jack Daniels is running a sweepstake in which the prizes are whiskey barrels, valued at $96 – empty, of course. Two British companies are introducing Halal prepared baby food. Halal food is prepared according to Islamic religious rules. This is actually fairly serious issue because the World Health Organization reports that iron deficiency is a problem in several countries because of the lack of such prepared foods.

A FOOTNOTE: The PBS program Frontline is doing a four-part series on the News Wars. This should be, and will be, a whole MfM of its own. However, on the briefest of reviews, I have to say that there was little in the program that is new to anybody following media trends. Even so, one of the points made in the program is so basic, yet so important, that I thought it was worth noting. And that is the idea that ‘new media’ is dependent on ‘old media’ in the sense that most of the new media does not do original reporting. Somewhere, some how, somebody must initiate, inquire, investigate. That has been the job of ‘old media.’ Much of the new media simply aggregates that information, and inasmuch as it does so, the program notes, it fails to stimulate original thought. And therein lies the challenge and questions about citizen journalism and consumer generated media.

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