Message from Michael - May 26, 2009

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        May 26, 2009                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

      GOVERNMENT AND/OR THE MEDIA

      TELEVISION GORILLA GETS BIGGER

      COCKTAIL CHATTER –TRACTORS, ELVIS AND THE WORLD’S OLDEST BLOGGER

 

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      GOVERNMENT AND/OR THE MEDIA:  One could, if one were cynical, say there is a role reversal going on.  It seems the government is going to be the watchdog on the media instead of the other way around.  And, no, I am not violating my rule of avoiding opinion and sticking to facts.  Let me explain.  First, the Federal Trade Commission has announced that it will be holding a series of workshops asking the question – Can News Media Survive the Internet Age.  The news release raises the question whether television and radio along with newspapers can cope with the development of targeted behavioral and other online advertising as well as online news aggregators and “other factors.”  The workshops, starting September 15, will look at business models as well as non-profit models for news organizations, as well as copyright protections and even exemptions from antitrust regulations because of “these unique circumstances.”  The point, according to FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz is that the news business is different from other businesses because of “the First Amendment values at stake.”  Interestingly and maybe/ maybe not coincidentally, communications lawyer Matthew Leibowitz (whom, as far as I know, is no relation to the FTC Chairman) has raised the same concerns about the future of the First Amendment in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission.  The second Leibowitz warns that a fallout of the financial crisis could be government control of more than just the television licenses.  This may be a little technical, but I am going to try and explain it anyway – Leibowitz says what has happened is that bank loan covenants require the broadcast businesses to maintain a certain ratio of revenues to the amount of debt and value to debt.  Technically, and legally, in today’s financial climate, those covenants are being breached.  He says broadcasters have to either restructure their loans or default on them.  He says the FCC needs to protect banks’ interest in broadcast properties if it wants to protect the First Amendment interests of the country. 

The other issue raising questions about the government/ media watchdog relationship centers on the so-called Fairness Doctrine which required (note the verb tense) holders of broadcast licenses to “present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was (in the FCC’s view) honest, equitable and balanced.” (Wikipedia).  There are two bills in the House and Senate titled the Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009, “to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from repromulgating the fairness doctrine.”  Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps says the fairness doctrine issue is a dead issue and not worth discussing.  Not according to Brent Bozell who heads the conservative Media Research Center whose mission is to “balance… the strident liberal bias of the news media.”  Bozell’s group calls the Fairness Doctrine the “anti-free speech censorship doctrine.”  He says several members of Congress have called for its reinstatement of the doctrine and he has called for a “full, fair up or down vote” on the Broadcaster Freedom Act.

Add to all this the BIAfn’s conference called Winning Media Strategies held this week.  As reported by David Oxenford in his Broadcast Law Blog, participants were told that broadcasters and publishers alike have to provide “unique service to their communities in order to survive in the competitive media marketplace.”  There was particular emphasis put on maximizing the use of your ‘digital assets’ to do this.  Similar to the points made above, Oxenford notes that “the superservice to local needs would be coming from someone – broadcaster or not – as a result of marketplace developments, not because of any government mandate.”  The University of Southern California’s Adam Clayton Powell III is quoted as saying, domination of the local online and digital media marketplace was “the broadcasters to lose.”  If you would like to read Oxenford’s excellent summary, it is at http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/2009/05/articles/public-interest-obligationsloc/localism-without-government-regulation.

As a footnote to all this, President Barack Obama has made media and public engagement and openness a key issue in his administration.  In a memorandum issued to the various heads of federal departments and agencies shortly after taking office, he said his administration is “committed to an unprecedented level of openness in government.”  He told the heads:  Government should be transparent; Government should be participatory; Government should be collaborative.  And he ordered the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to coordinate the development of an Open Government Directive.             

      TELEVISION GORILLA GETS BIGGER:  So, of course, right after I sent out last week’s special MfM on television, several more studies came out, further championing the cause for television viewing.  The biggest one is Nielsen’s Three Screen Report which showed that ALL television viewing is up, and which I admit you may have already heard about, but it’s worth repeating.  More people are watching (284 Million first quarter this year versus 281 Million in the same period last) and watching for a longer time (153 hours this year versus 150 hours last) in home.  More are watching timeshifted television (79M this year versus 58M last) and again for a longer time (8 hours versus 5 hours).  More are using the Internet to watch (163M versus 158M) and again for longer periods (29 hours versus 28 hours).  And, finally, more are watching on their mobile devices (13.4M versus 8.8M) but this time for just about the same time (3:37 versus 3:42).  Also, as reported in MediaLife, those DVR’s used for timeshifted TV viewing are actually proving a boon to television networks.  For example, people with DVR’s are watching an average of 2.5 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy versus 2.1 episodes for those without.  During the new season peak period in October and November, DVR-equipped homes provided the networks an average 10.4 rating compared to a 6 in summer and an 8 the rest of the year.  As for commercials, the article quotes Bruce Leichtman of Leichtman Research Group who says that while 90% of DVR users say they SOMETIMES fast forward through commercials, nearly half (44%) say they do watch the commercials.  That compares to about two thirds (64%) of non-DVR households who say they either flip the channel or leave the room when a commercial comes on.  As Leichtman points out, people were switching the channel or hitting their remotes long before DVR’s came on the scene. 

Finally, a third report, this one by global research firm OTX for MTV International, finds that television is still the most effective way to market to young people.  The worldwide study found that a quarter of the 12 to 24 year olds surveyed say they first see or hear about brands from TV while nearly two thirds (60%) say television plays a role in their brand choices.  To put a little balance in this though, it should be noted that three quarters (71%) say the Internet makes choosing a brand easier and that blogs, review sites and social networks are growing in importance.  As the authors explain it, ‘brand image’ matters more on TV while ‘information and validation’ matter more online.  An interesting twist to the study is that young people in India are much more likely (87%) to research purchases before they buy, compared to German (80%), the U.K. (63%), Japan (60%) and in last place – American youth (58%).  The study titled A Beta Life Youth also found that most young people ‘trust’ TV channels.  Oddly, only a third or so (38%) of young people in Japan say they have a ‘favorite’ TV channel, which is far lower than India (88%), US (80%), UK (73%) and Germany (70%).  Lastly two thirds of the young people (62%) say they are more likely to watch a TV channel if it has a website that allows them to catch up on programs.            

      COCKTAIL CHATTER:  A special die-cast version of the John Deere tractor that Elvis Presley used at his Mississippi ranch will soon be available for your purchasing pleasure.  It’s based on the actual 4010 model tractor which has been rebuilt by students at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia and now on display at the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum at Graceland in Memphis.  The news release by John Deere makes special note that the model includes a 46A loader, “an accessory rarely found on die-cast collectibles.”  A telecommunications company in Nigeria has re-designed all its ugly microwave towers to look like beautiful Palm Trees.  As reported by barely intelligible reporter Martin Lindstrom for AdAge, the move has become so popular that the Palm Trees have become the company’s symbol.  A Spanish great-grandmother, Maria Amelia, who called herself ‘the world’s oldest blogger’ has died at the age of 97.  She started blogging two years ago when her son gave her a blog (because, she says, he was stingy) for her birthday.  Her blog turned out to be hugely popular, getting more than 1.5 Million hits, according to several newspaper accounts.  In actual fact, what was probably ‘the world’s oldest blogger’ was an Australian great-great-grandmother named Olive Riley who died last year at the age of 109.  She blogged using videos on a site dedicated to older people called growingbolder.com.

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