Message from Michael - YouTube and Facebook -- May 24, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        May 24, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

      HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUTUBE

      FACING OFF WITH FACEBOOK

      COCKTAIL CHATTER – AN ISLAND TV, BILLIONAIRES AND COFFEE

 

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      HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUTUBE:  It’s stunning (to me at least) to think that the omnipresent, ubiquitous, part-of-life-for-millions phenomenon known as YouTube is only five years old. Only five years old!  There have been some mainstream stories about this, and YouTube has created a special five year channel to mark the occasion, but there has yet to be the definitive, sociological, anthropological examination...  And this message isn’t it either, but we will at least give you some facts and factoids to consider. 

In its announcement about the birthday, the Google-owned site noted that it receives Two Billion views a day – “nearly double the prime time audience of all three major U.S. television networks combined.” Of the 180 Million U.S. Internet users viewing video each month, YouTube accounts for 135 Million of those views – or roughly three out of every four videos viewed, according to Internet research firm comScore.  Of the 31.2 Billion videos viewed each month by U.S. Internet users, nearly half (41.8%) or 13.1 Billion videos, come from Google sites (mainly YouTube).  Now, the alert among you, are trying to reconcile the 13 Billion a month, cited by comScore, versus the 2 Billion a day, cited by YouTube.  The difference, of course, is that comScore is measuring only U.S. Internet users, while YouTube is citing users worldwide.  The YouTube viewer watched an average of 96 videos a month.  Second place video viewing site, Hulu, averaged 26.7 video views a month but they ran an average 2.6 hours.  Although comScore, oddly enough, didn’t cite how long YouTube viewers watched, it did not that the average online video viewer watched 4.3 minutes of video at a time.

Viewing the YouTube five year channel is something between a walk down memory lane, and a sociological study, starting with the very first video of YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim’s visit to the San Diego Zoo and co-founder Steve Chen’s cat Slinky II.  Online marketing website BrandRepublic cites five examples of YouTube videos that have impacted the media world, starting with one of my favorites – the Cadbury Gorilla which was the harbinger of thousands of ad spoofs to come.  Add to that the ability of YouTube to make stars out of ordinary people… a/k/a  Susan Boyle’s appearance on ITV’s hit TV show Britain’s Got Talent, which became the most watched video of 2009.  Or YouTube bringing mainstream politics to young people – For example, President Barack Obama’s use of YouTube in his run for the Presidency, or British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s failure to steam the crisis surround MP’s expense accounts using YouTube.  And, of course, the introduction of Flash Mob’s – highlighted by T-Mobile’s flash mob ad showing people dancing in a London mall. 

One year after YouTube started came the next great evolution in media – Message from Michael.  Okay, maybe not.  But a review of messages and the YouTube timeline show some interesting coincidences.  One of the first video break-outs cited in the Message, was the amazing rendition of Johann Pachelbel’s baroque classic, Canon, rendered by South Korean guitar player, FunTwo.  After that it was Judson Lapply’s video, Evolution of Dance, which compressed 50 years of dance music into a six-minute video.  Talking about ad spoofs that take on a life of their own, think of the Diet Coke – Mentos video.  Then there’s Lonelygirl15 which may have been the first to capitalize on YouTube’s viral virulence to create a buzz for the launch of a show.  The amazing Battle at Kruger video was one of the first to show the power of amateur videos going viral.

It probably says something that three of the last nine videos on the timeline are political – an interview with Barack Obama, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouriki Al-Maliki’s introduction of the Iraqi channel, and an interview with the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes.  But it also says something that two of the others include Ryan Higa, a young Japanese-American comedian in Hawaii who was the first YouTube user to hit an amazing two million subscribers; and, of course, Lady Gaga whose Bad Romance video is YouTube’s most viewed video of all time with an incredible 211 Million views.  And in keeping with my never-ending quest to keep you on the cutting edge of what is a dull edge, the latest sensation is the Annoying Orange which, after seven months, has racked up more than 18 Million views.  Two Million.  18 Million.  211 Million. 

Just to put those numbers in perspective, Televisions’ version of a hit sensation was election night Tuesday.  On that night, Fox won the cable channel viewing contest with 2.11 Million viewers from 7 p.m. to Midnight – which was more than all the other cable channels combined.  MSNBC was second with 879,000 viewers; CNN had 556,000 viewers; and Headline News had 392,000 viewers.  The network evening news numbers for the latest week show that NBC is averaging 7.4 Million viewers, while ABC is right at 7 Million and CBS is just under 5 Million, according to Nielsen and website TVbythenumbers.com.  For a little more perspective still, according to the U.S. Census ‘population clock,’ there are more than 309 Million people in the United States.  Of that number, nearly 200 Million are 25 years old or older. 

Finally, for even more perspective still, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley told the BBC in an interview that while 2 Billion is an amazing number, he reminded the interviewer that people spend 15 minutes a day on the YouTube site compared to five hours a day watching television.  And analysts quoted in the article also noted that despite its popularity, YouTube has yet to reach profitability, although they say 2010 may be the year it happens.

      FACING OFF WITH FACEBOOK:  As a follow-up to my previous message, the Facebook furor continues to be furious. According to a survey by IT security firm, Sophos, nearly two thirds (60%) of Facebook users are considering leaving the social network.  Its survey of 1,588 users found that one in six (16%) say they have already stopped using the network because of “inadequate control over their data.”  Thirty percent told the survey authors it is highly likely they will stop while another thirty percent said it was a possibility.  However, two movements to either quit Facebook for a day or forever have gained little momentum.  Website facebookprotest.com which urges people to stop using Facebook for one day (June 6^th) has only gathered 3,203 fans and 1,695 Twitter followers.  And another site, quitfacebookday.com, has only gathered 13,925 ‘quitters.’   Again, as a matter of numbers perspective, there are more than 400 Million Facebook subscribers. 

Another social network, launched in part as a counter to Facebook’s privacy policy, Diaspora, which is part of kickstarter.com, is a ‘personal web server’ that has gathered only 5,737 ‘backers’ but they have pledged more than $184,000 in support.  Website reclaimprivacy.org provides an even more pragmatic approach, with an open source method of scanning your Facebook privacy settings to see what is being made public.  More than 58,000 people say they “like” the Facebook version website.  Meanwhile, if you are interested in privacy issues, you can visit the American Librarians’ Association website, privacyrevolution.org, which carries the motto, “I am not an open book.”  Others include the Open Net Initiative (opennet.net) which focuses on Internet filtering and censorship; while chillingeffects.org is a joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and seven universities and colleges, “monitoring the legal climate for Internet activity.” 

      COCKTAIL CHATTER:  If you’re looking to get away from it all, an advertisement on TVNewsCheck may be just the thing.  It’s offering a full service FCC licensed television station for sale in…. drum roll, please… the U.S. Virgin Islands.  No price is mentioned, although it says it serves 110,000 people.  And, yes, I did write; and, no, I haven’t heard back.  And if you need some inspiration for such a venture, Forbes magazine provided a profile of the ten most “inspirational Billionaires.”  Topping the list, Guy Laliberte, who started out as an according-playing stilt-walking, harmonica-playing performer on the streets of Europe and went on to found Cirque de Soleil.  Five of the Billionaires dropped out of college; three never attended college’ and six were either orphaned or given up and raised by foster homes, adoptive parents or relatives.  Include in that list Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Apple’s Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey – all born to teenage mothers.  And after having drunk my sixth cup of coffee after starting writing this newsletter at 4 a.m., I am happy to pass on a study from the magazine New Scientist which shows that caffeine improves short-term memory, reaction items and slows down the decline of glucose in the blood.  But it does also make you ‘more open to persuasion.”    

              

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Message from Michael - Censorship - May 17, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                                    May 17, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

      DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET

      500 FRIENDS AND NO ONE TO CALL

      LET ME WHISPER IN YOUR EAR

      MEDIA METHADONE NEEDED

      FROM CUTTING EDGE TO MAINSTREAM

 

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      DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET.  Apparently lots of people do.  But the question is will they promise not to tell.  Many people are concerned they will.  No surprise, it all revolves around the growth of social networking which many consider a ‘game changer’ in the Internet world, but which privacy advocates say are becoming a dangerous game when it comes to privacy rights.  The latest controversy centers on Facebook and one, little word – “like.”  As in, I ‘like’ the Beatles.  Facebook has introduced ‘like’ buttons to other sites ranging from CNN to Pandora to Yelp but which also link back to your Facebook site where status updates tell your friends and followers what videos, music or news articles you like.  It’s called “instant personalization.”  The problem comes when what you ‘like’ becomes part of a behavioral targeting mechanism for advertisers, and you start getting specific advertising messages.  Or is it?  According to an online interview by The New York Times with Facebook’s vice president for public policy, Elliot Schrage, they are “anonymized geographically targeted ads.”  But privacy advocates worry that much of your personal information, along with your friends’ personal information and their friends’ personal information, is now being made available to advertisers or third parties.  Along with the introduction of ‘like,’ Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg introduced the companion part of the deal – an expanded Open Graph which then links all that information into one big social network in which all the likes and recommendations along with who likes what and who recommends what across multiple websites are brought together instantaneously in one location.   

Reviews have ranged from hyperbolic effusiveness (it’s going to change the Internet forever) to hyperbolic horror stories (nobody will have any privacy any more) – all dependent, it seems, on whether you are a fan of Facebook or not.  But with more than 400 Million members worldwide, there is no doubt that the changes made by Facebook will have an enormous impact.  There is also little doubt that we have entered what writer Natasha Singer, in an article in the New York Times,  calls the “post-privacy society” where “we have lost track of how many entities are tracking us” and where “advances in data collection are far outpacing personal data protection.”  By the way, if you want to opt out of “instant personalization,” you can go to the Accounts section of your Facebook page and go into the privacy settings.  Actually, even if you don’t want to opt out, it is interesting to go through the various options you have.  Despite the critics, Facebook does provide numerous, if somewhat complicated, choices.

      500 FRIENDS AND NO ONE TO CALL.  That’s the headline on a study about Facebook that raises questions about how friendly you and your Facebook friends are.  The survey by Danish research firm Red Associates found that 90% of the people on Facebook expected it to “deepen or strengthen” their friendships, but in reality only a little more than a third (39.9%) say people they’ve met online have become friends they can count on offline.  More to the point, people see Facebook as a “relationship management tool.”  Most of those surveyed (58.3%) saw Facebook that way while less than half (40%) saw it as deepening relationships.  Interestingly (at least to me), even fewer (25%) of the young people surveyed (18 to 30) see Facebook as deepening relationships.  The people surveyed said they befriended 40% of their friends simply because it was easy to do, not because they were actually close friends.  Now, I should add a caveat here.  The survey was of people who are fans of the Facebook page of Fast Company, not exactly a mainstream, general audience.  In keeping with that audience, not surprisingly, four out of five (82%) says Facebook did increase their social and business networks faster and easier.  (Makes you wonder whether they should do a survey of Fast Company’s LinkedIn audience.)    

      LET ME WHISPER IN YOUR AREA.   According to a report by Google, governments around the world want Google to say the words they want to hear.  The mega-search engine site says one country in particular has made more requests for data and more requests for removal of data than any other country.  Want to guess which one?  No, not China.  Google didn’t even include China in its listing.  Apparently it’s too bad to even consider.  No, the ‘worst offender’ is Brazil which had 3,663 data requests and 291 removal requests last year.  That’s more than the U.S. (3,580 and 123).  The number is even more dramatic when you consider that Brazil has a population of 199 Million (compared to the U.S.’s 307) Million, but with an Internet penetration (according to Internet World Stats) of a third (36.3%), it has an Internet population of only 72 Million compared to the U.S.’s 76.3% penetration and 234 Million Netizens.  The Google website (google.com/countryrequests) does not provide an explanation of the numbers, although it does note that the requests do not include child pornography (because Google works on its own to remove them) or removal for copyright information.  The U.K. is the next highest in terms of data requests, but it is significantly lower (1,166), followed by India (1,061) and France (846).  India also had the third highest requests for removals (142) which, even though it has 1.1 Billion people, it has an Internet penetration of only seven percent but that does translate into 81 Million Netizens.  Despite France’s high data request, it had one of the lowest removal requests – less than ten.  Lastly, I should note that after crunching all these numbers and looking them up on different sites, I found out that the Tech Editor for The Guardian newspaper, Charles Arthur, has done the same thing.  That tells me that I have to add him to my must-read list.  And you can read more about this in his article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/apr/23/google-censorship-country-uk .      

      MEDIA METHADONE NEEDED.  Just as some drug addicts need methadone to wean them off their habits, it appears that some young people would need something similar if they were to be weaned off their media habits.  In a test by the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda and the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, many students literally described their need for media as an addiction.  The study authors asked 200 students to go ‘unplugged’ for 24 hours – no cell phone, iPod, television, radio, or computers, and that means no IM-texting or Facebook.  The study website (http:withoutmedia.wordpress.com) poses the question – could you do it; and then answers – if you are an American college student today… not really.  Going without media translated to going without friends or family for the students.  The 18-21 year olds are constantly texting and on Facebook, according to the study, with calling and emailing a distant second in terms of staying in touch.  The study called the cell phone this generation’s Swiss Army Knife, with students using it for calling, texting, emailing and playing games. The study confirms an earlier one by the Pew Research Center which found that American teens between 12 and 17 are more likely to text friends via cell phone rather than actually calling them.  The Maryland study found that while students could possibly live without television and newspapers, they could not live without their iPod and the constant music in their ears.  The report noted an upside to the experiment.  Students who gave up their iPods for a day reported having actual conversations with people they did not know… which brings me to the other study.  This one by two psychologists at California State University, Los Angeles and U.C.L.A., raise questions about how online communication affects ‘offline’ communication in teenagers.  Writing in the Journal, The Future of Children, the authors say “society’s traditional adolescent issues – intimacy, sexuality, and identity – have all been transferred to and transformed by the electronic stage. 

A Footnote to the Maryland study.  The students can though live without news in its traditional form.  The study says students have only “a casual relationship to the originators of news and in fact don’t make distinctions between news and more personal information.”  They get their news in what the study called “a disaggregated way” often via friends.  That’s the bad news.  The ‘good news’ is that they still value news and information.

      FROM CUTTING EDGE TO MAINSTREAM.  The annual Webby Awards always represents some of the best examples of Web design and Internet culture.  And this year is no exception; But (personal opinion here) this year, the majority of award winners appear to be mainstream, or traditional, or established, or whatever word you want to use, businesses, with very few new, innovative upstarts. There are 70 categories with a Webby Award winner and a People’s Choice winner in each category.  This year, a third (21) of the categories were dual winners.  For example, in the Broadband category, Hulu won both; In the community category, Flickr won both; In Education, We Choose the Moon by AOL; In Events, it was Ted.com; In Health, Webmd.com; In Humor, TheOnion.com; In Music, Pandora; In Social Networking, Twitter; and in Television, ColbertNation.com. Again, that’s not to say there weren’t some cool sites.  For example, the Japan Science and Technology site, MindLab.  But, for example, the weird category was not that weird – Failblog.com and CuteOverload – although I still don’t quite get Selleck Waterfall Sandwich.  Anyway, still worth a couple hours of your time.  And, in any case, maybe it just means the mainstream operations just ‘get it’ now.  Who knows.       

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Message from Michael - Media Annual Reports - May 4, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        May 4, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

      NIETZSCHE’S MEDIA ADVICE

      MESSAGE SENT; MESSAGE RECEIVED

      THE MOBILE MESSAGE BEING SENT

      HALF A LOAF

      THE YANKS ARE COMING

      FAVORITE QUOTES

 

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      NIETZSCHE’S MEDIA ADVICE:  The major media corporations appear to have taken to heart the German philosopher’s admonition, “what does not kill you, makes you stronger.”  At least that seems to be the message in reviewing their annual reports – an exercise I undertake every year about this time.  Actually, message number one is probably – 2009 stunk.  Advertising revenue was down around 20% and virtually all of the groups cut expenses an equal, or almost equal, amount.  As part of that, the companies all talk about ‘new efficiencies’ and ‘financial flexibility.’  But after that, it’s the philosophy of Frederich Nietzsche.  Whether it’s Sumner Redstone of Viacom/ CBS – “in 2009, Viacom was tested by difficult circumstances and an uncertain future – and we passed with flying colors.”  Or Rupert Murdoch of News Corp/ Fox – “we are a company whose greater strength has always been getting ahead of change instead of waiting until it is forced upon us.” Or Jeff Bewkes of Time Warner/CNN – “Time Warner began 2009 with an ambitious agenda, and we achieved what we set out to do.”  Robert Iger of Disney/ ABC – “we have many challenges ahead, but I like how we are positioned, who we are and what we stand for.”  Jeff Immelt of GE/ NBC – “we learned a lot coming through this crisis.  We think it’s a better company and we’re excited about the future.” 

Several, if not all, of the CEO’s talk about how the business model, especially for media, has changed irrevocably, and how they have changed to accept that.  But it’s Immelt’s comments that strike me as most ironic when he talks about GE becoming “a simpler company… with a simple focus on infrastructure and financial services.” Keep in mind that this is a company that has $25 Billion on hand in cash (so they have “the ability to play offense and defense”) and – think about this --  talks about its “company-to-country strategies.” 

      MESSAGE SENT; MESSAGE RECEIVED:  There are several recurring themes in all of these reports and letters to shareholders:  the transformative effect of the switch to digital, the need for financial flexibility mentioned earlier, the emphasis on innovation and adaptation.  But the one message that the consumer has sent that the corporations have received is the theme of any time, any where, any how media.  Craig Dubow of Gannett gets it --   “it’s about choice and engagement:  choice in how, where and when consumers get information and how they engage with that information and other people who share their interests or lifestyles.”  Very similarly, Robert Iger of Disney says companies have to have “the necessary agility” to respond to technological change and “to meet the expectations of consumers who increasingly enjoy entertainment how, when and where they want it.”  J. Stewart Bryan and Marshall N. Morton of Media General get it when they talk about consumers “multiple choices… and… greatly expanded number of ways content can be accessed.”  However, Bryan and Morton also note in their report that even in this digital world, they believe there is a “strong and stable customer base” for traditional printed newspapers and broadcast television programs.  Gannett’s Dubow talks about their “ContentOne” initiative.  And Frank A. Bennack Jr., of Hearst Corporation gets it, not only when he talks about the multi-platform approach of the company but by actually providing a URL in their annual report that allows you to ‘experience’ the report interactively with your mobile device.  And, of course, Rupert Murdoch gets it when he writes that, because of the proliferation of sources – print, mobile, e-reader, internet – that we may have moved beyond the idea of there being a ‘typical’ reader or consumer of media.  Murdoch, who is always eminently quotable, says the teenager in L.A. and the banker in Shanghai have one thing in common:  They want news and entertainment that reflects their personal interests and “they want it when they want it” on the platform most convenient to them and “they are willing to pay, but they are only willing to pay for what they value.” 

A side note to all my sales friends:  Another recurring theme, in several of the reports, was that sales people have to be multi-media consultants for their clients, providing advice on how best to spend their advertising dollars across different platforms.

      THE MOBILE MESSAGE BEING SENT:  As an addendum to the any time, any where, any how theme, it should be noted that 12 major broadcast groups have joined forces to create a “national mobile content service” to provide content ranging from live and on-demand video, local and national news from print and electronic sources as well as sports and entertainment programming to mobile devices.  The group will use part of their existing broadcast spectrum to provide the service nation-wide, reaching (according to the news release) nearly 150 Million U.S. residents.  The news release says the effort is supposed to complement the Federal Communication Commission’s national Broadband initiative.  The 12 groups are Fox, NBC/ Telemundo, ION, Belo, Cox, E.W. Scripps, Gannett, Hearst, Media General, Meredith, Post Newsweek and Raycom Media.  The local broadcast companies have formed a company called Pearl Mobile DTV, and if anybody can tell me where the name came from, I would appreciate it.         

      THE YANKS ARE COMING:  Vaudevillian song-writer George M. Cohan’s World War era song has a new ring to it a hundred years after it was first written.  Now, the ‘yanks’ are the American media corporations which see their greatest potential for growth being the developing countries and economies.  Leading the charge is GE, and CEO Immelt provides the factoid that explains it all.  The Chinese government is going to spend $300 Billion over the next five years to modernize its healthcare business.  $300 Billion.  Now, that speaks to many of GE’s other enterprises, rather than media, but it is indicative of the growth.  Murdoch talks about the “hundreds of millions of people entering the middle class and becoming consumers of news and entertainment” in India and China.  And, although many of the reports focused on those two countries, the companies are looking globally.  Murdoch who already has a huge presence in India says his company has added more than three dozen channels in Europe, Latin America and Asia.  My favorite examples of that expansion comes from the Hearst group which has launched a Cosmopolitan/ Israel, Esquire/ Middle East, Harper’s Bazaar/ India and my favorite of favorites (I don’t know why), Harper’s Bazaar/ Ukraine.  Its Cosmo TV reaches 16 Million households in 20 countries.  Competing against Murdoch in India is Viacom whose Colors channel is “one of our biggest successes,” says CEO Redstone.  Not too surprisingly, his MTV product is the ‘top-rated culture channel’ across Europe, Latin America and Asia.  Also, maybe not surprisingly, Nickelodeon has grown internationally and is now in almost every market worldwide.  But Comedy Channel?  Apparently the American sense of humor crosses cultural lines.  It is now seen in 21 countries.  And, of course, Disney just got the go-ahead to build a theme park which CEO Iger says will be a “world class resort” in Shanghai.  In Iger under-statement, he says China, with its 1.3 Billion people and increasing affluence, represents “an important and promising country for Disney.”

      HALF A LOAF:  You’ve heard the old phrase – half a loaf is better than no loaf.  Or, maybe you haven’t.  Anyway, that saying explains the NBCU/Comcast deal, as you read Immelt’s presentation to shareholders.  Right now, GE owns 80% of NBC Universal.  After the sale/ merger with Comcast, GE will own 49% of the new company.  But that’s half of a much larger, $14 Billion company, as well as GE getting $8 Billion in after taxes and after deal fees.  Another factoid from the GE report.  According to Immelt, GE is America’s biggest exporter, exporting $18 Billion worldwide.  And in China where it does about $6 Billion in business, 40% of that business is imported from the U.S., meaning GE is one of the few that can claim to be a net exporter to China.       

      FAVORITE QUOTES:  These are the lines or statements that stand out in my mind after reading through the various reports.  My favorite comes from… who else… Rupert Murdoch:  Quality journalism is not cheap.  I’ll just leave it at that.  Okay, I can’t do that.  In fairness I have to note that, in addition to Fox, Murdoch does own The Australian, which is a top-notch newspaper, The Times, which is one of London’s premier newspapers and, of course, The Wall Street Journal.  Actually the quote he makes that I like is “We believe there are no forms of media too old to thrive or too young to take off.” Showing the upbeat optimism that all the CEO letters tried to display, Time Warner CEO Bewkes proclaims, “whether in film, television or publishing, this is an exciting time for the media industry.”  In very similar language, Gannett CEO Dubow notes the ‘extraordinary changes’ in consumer behavior and attitudes and says, “this is really an exciting time to be in a consumer-facing industry.”  Consumer-facing industry?  Anyway, in the Hearst annual report (which probably was the coolest of them all) CEO Bennack focuses on innovation and describes it as a function of intellect, character and imagination.  And, he adds, “in good times they are the keys to our growth; in bad times, they are at the core of our renewal; in worst times, they are the guarantee of our success.”           

      SUBSCRIPTIONS:  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.