BATTLE ROYAL NUMBER ONE – DTV TRANSITION
BATTLE ROYAL NUMBER TWO – NET NEUTRALITY
I DON’T WANT MY MTV
FACTOID OF THE WEEK -- CLICKERS
COCKTAIL CHATTER – GOOGLE LOGO
We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael. But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.
BATTLE ROYAL NUMBER ONE – DTV TRANSITION: With one year left before the nationwide transition to DTV (February 17, 2009), a report by market research firm Centris claiming that “Millions” of people may be “left in the dark” with the digital transition has caused a furor. In brief their analysis goes like this: there are 40 Million households currently receiving over-the-air analog signals. That represents 117 Million sets that are – in the curious wording of the news release – “unconnected from cable or satellite video networks.” Using the website Antennaweb.org which helps consumers map out the best antenna to use, the folks at Centris found several “gaps” in coverage outside of a 35 mile range. (Antennaweb, by the way, is a joint venture of the Consumer Electronics Association and the National Association of Broadcasters). To make it worse, say the folks at Centris, the antennaweb.org survey is based on outside antenna, but three quarters (75%) of those 40 Million over-the-air households rely on less sensitive set-top antennas instead of outdoor antennas.
The problem with the analysis, according to the Association for Maximum Service Television is that Centris relied on a “paper analysis” of the antennaweb.org data. The MSTV group which was formed in 1956 but which bills itself as “the leading advocate for advanced over-the-air digital television in the United States” for the past decade says the Centris study “mischaracterized” information and says consumers are already receiving good signals 30 miles and beyond. A commentary by Doug Lung on the website TVTechnology.com also says the Centris data is a “misinterpretation” of the FCC data on signal propagation and that the issue of multipath interference is “misleading.” But even he says antennas have been overlooked in the DTV discussions and that outside the strong signal areas (that 35 mile range), antenna selection will be important. One last point: the Centris study makes the point that considering nearly half (45%) of the audience doesn’t even know DTV transition was taking place, any gaps in coverage will only add to the confusion.
BATTLE ROYAL NUMBER TWO – NET NEUTRALITY: Two years after first talking about it, a bill (named in Washington jargon – the Internet Freedom Preservation Act) has been re-introduced into Congress to give the Federal Communications Commission more control over the Internet. And tomorrow, the FCC holds hearings in Boston on Net Neutrality and network management. On one side are the giant telephone and cable companies (AT&T, Time Warner, and Verizon) who argue that the increasing online video usage makes some kind of ‘capacity-based’ pricing system necessary to keep the lines open. On the other side are consumer groups (with names like savetheinternet.com and openinternetcoalition.com) who argue that such a pricing system would set up an equivalent to the cable television pricing in which “choices are limited and the platform is closed.” And before you start thinking the consumer groups are out-gunned, also on their side are such behemoths as eBay, Amazon and Google whose representatives argue they wouldn’t have been able to start-up if the pricing system existed. The new bill was spurred, in part, by cable company Comcast’s admission that it had slowed traffic on its lines. Meanwhile, sitting on the side lines are peer-to-peer file sharing operations such as BitTorrent whose software has been downloaded 160 Million times. The original vote to give the FCC more control was defeated by a 269-152 vote.
I DON’T WANT MY MTV: No, instead, I want I Love Lucy, Battlestar Galactica, The Twilight Zone, MacGyver and F Troop. At least that’s what two of the broadcast networks are betting. In separate announcements, NBC and CBS announced they will begin streaming “classic” TV series on the Internet. CBS is offering the shows through its ‘audience network’ which includes video providers Joost and Veoh while NBC will be offering the shows through its ‘entertainment sites’ including Hulu and sites such as SciFi.com, ChillerTV.com and Sleuthchannel.com. And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention AOL’s In2TV website which has been operational for some time now. As a side note, a whole new network specializing in classic television series has sprung up and is being carried on many affiliates’ secondary digital channels. The network, a subsidiary of Little Rock, Arkansas, based Equity Media Holdings focuses on shows from the 50’s to the 80’s. And as a foot note to the side note, there is a website TVHistory.TV which recounts the history of television and television sets starting from 1935.
FACTOID OF THE WEEK: Another new feature for MfM. Maybe. Anyway… A study by comScore found that less than one-fifth of the Online population accounts for four-fifths of all the Internet ad clicks. The study commissioned by Starcom and AOL’s Tacoda found that six percent of the online population were clicking on ads four and five times a month, accounting for half (50%) of ALL clicks. Another ten percent of the Online population click two or three times and thus account for 30% of ALL clicks. For those non-math majors among you, that’s 16% of the online population accounting for 80% of the clicks; or looking at it from the other side, three quarters (74%) of the online population account for only 20% of the online clicks.
All right, one more. BrandWeek reports that if you think the number of coupons stuffed into your Sunday newspaper has grown… you’re right. Spending on FSI’s (Free Standing Inserts) has more than doubled from $413 Million in 2006 to $904 Million in 2007, according to Nielsen Monitor Plus.
COCKTAIL CHATTER: Would-be fashion photographers can practice their skills through a website, directdaniella.com, co-created by Taco Bell and Sports Illustrated which allows them to take snapshots and even direct poses of Brazilian beauty and SI Swimsuit model Daniella Sarahyba using their web browser. Aside from Fidel Castro stepping down, the other big news coming out of Cuba is that the Chinese state television network has launched three channels in the island nation, as a reciprocal to the Cuban television shows airing in China. The typeface in the Google logo is Adobe Garamond. Definitely a factoid you can drop at that next cocktail party. Actually, the whole issue of the logo design was the subject of a Wired article profiling the graphic artist Ruth Kedar who met the two founders at Stanford University. Kedar who admits she never imagined the logo would be as ubiquitous as it is, said she brought some ‘playfulness’ to the design by “bringing primary colors and two dimensionality to the O’s… to visually imply that something goes on ad infinitum.”
And lastly for those of you who stayed up and watched the Academy Awards, well, I don’t have anything to say, except that I missed most of the movies. But you have until March 28th to submit for the new category of broadband television in the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences 60th Primetime Emmy awards. In its announcement, the academy says, “the future of television is awaiting you.”
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 my website MediaConsultant.tv.
Showing posts with label video on demand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video on demand. Show all posts
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Message From Michael -- February 18, 2008
I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE
THE SMART TV SHOWS OF ALL TIME
SOMETHING HAPPENS SOME PLACE TO SOMEONE
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE
COCKTAIL CHATTER
We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael. But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.
I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE: Billions and Billions of videos. Two separate reports attest to the growing popularity of online video usage. Although the now resolved writers’ strike might have contributed to it, comScore Video Metrix reports that the number of online videos viewed passed the 10 Billion mark in December. A separate study by the Solutions Research Group found that the number of Americans who have watched one of their favorite TV shows on the Internet has nearly doubled in the past year. That’s 43% of the online population, or 80 Million Americans, compared to 25% a year ago. When you consider all videos online, comScore says three-quarters (76.7%) of all U.S. Internet users have viewed videos online. Of course, Google’s YouTube site accounted for most of those viewings – a third (32.6%), more than 3.3 Billion videos. Nobody else even comes close. Fox Interactive came in second with 358 Thousand videos and 3.5% of the market, followed by Yahoo (340 Thousand and 3.4%), Viacom (237 Thousand and 2.3%) and Microsoft (180 Thousand and 1.8%).
Even more astounding (at least to me, but I’m easily astounded), one in five Online Americans say they watch TV on the Web on a weekly basis – which the Solutions Research Group notes is well ahead of the 14% watching cable’s video-on-demand offerings. The hot shows on the Internet included Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, Ugly Betty, Chuck, CSI, House, Kitchen Nightmares, Smallville and Gossip Girl. And as long as I’m being astounded, comScore says online viewers watched an average of 3.4 hours of online video during the month – a 34% increase since the beginning of 2007. The average online video duration was 2.8 minutes but then again the ‘average’ online video viewer ‘consumed’ 72 videos.
As a footnote, I should point out an article by Mike Shields in MediaWeek that major broadcasters, NBC Universal and Viacom, continue to resist placing their content on YouTube. Of course, NBC does have hulu.com as well as its own site. YouTube points out in the article that it has deals with 18 groups, including Hearst Corp., Tribune Broadcasting, Oprah’s Harpo, Reuters and even PBS. And, no, I don’t understand why Viacom resists making a deal with YouTube while CBS doesn’t.
THE SMARTEST TV SHOWS OF ALL TIME: As long as I’m on a TV kick, website fancast.com, which allows people to develop their own TV viewing guide of favorite shows both on line and on air, has created a ‘smart’ TV list, based on an interview with the chairman of Mensa International, the organization for people whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population. Chairman Jim Werdell’s obviously personal list includes M-A-S-H, Cosmos (with Carl Sagan), CSI, House, West Wing, Boston Legal, All in the Family, Frasier, Mad About You and Jeopardy which he says tests intelligence as well as knowledge. Werdell cites most of the shows for their smart ‘repartee.’ You can read more at http://thebiz.fancast.com/2008/02/exclusive_mensa_chair_picks_th.html.
SOMETHING HAPPENS SOME PLACE TO SOMEONE: With that heavy duty definition of news, CNN has launched its iReports.com “user powered news” website. The site says there were 89,894 iReports filed worldwide, of which 915 made it on to CNN. The site bills itself as Unedited, Unfiltered, and one is tempted to say un-interesting, but I won’t; after all it is a beta site. Let me just say the lead story, billed as Breaking News, this morning was a video of an argument between a ketchup bottle and a mustard bottle. The second story on the home page, actually made it to CNN, is a video version book report on Lord of the Flies done a la Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room. Just out of curiosity, I checked out the morning line-up on Current TV which relies heavily but not solely on user generated reports. The lead was an edited version of John McCain talking about Iraq and set to a sort of rap beat and which actually was from YouTube. Of course, the second story was about a man getting a Pug… as in dog. As a side note, MTV has launched a political version of user generated news titled Choose or Lose with a “street team” of ‘reporters’ in all 50 states and D.C.
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE: If you’re like most people, you believe your friends and relatives and your peer group. Two separate surveys came to the same conclusion when looking at online products and services and, by extension, all products and services. Two-thirds of those surveyed say consumer generated reviews and ratings were the most important thing for them in making decisions. A Forrester Research survey of 5,000 online consumers found that not only did two thirds (64%) want to see user ratings and reviews on Websites, nearly the same number (59%)wanted product or price comparison testimonials and half (49%) wanted customer testimonials. A similar survey by Jupiter Research and Bazaarvoice found even more (70%) rated online product ratings and reviews the most helpful when researching products which two thirds (65%) of them did online even when they purchased offline. But here is where it gets interesting (well, to me, anyway) “trust in online reviews was found to be at its greatest when readers heard both sides of the story.” More than half (56%) say they wanted to know both the pros and cons of a product’s ‘attributes.’
Okay, the part my television brethren won’t like – online customer reviews are FIVE times more influential (53%) than TV ads (11%) in the case of online users thinking about spending money, according to the Jupiter survey which focused on U.K. consumers. Somewhat oddly, according to the Forrester survey, only one in five (23%) want the ability to upload or view their own content and only slightly more than that (29%) wanted quizzes or questionnaires. Not surprisingly Gen Yers (18 to 27) responded more positively toward entertaining games, quizzes, questionnaires and sharing content, followed by the Gen Xers (28 to 41).
COCKTAIL CHATTER: Organic milk is taking the place of high octane energy drinks and fruit flavored bottled water as the ‘cutting-edge’ beverage with double digit sales growth, in part because of the smaller price difference with regular milk but mainly because of its perceived health benefits, according to the website, Progressive Grocer. Mexico City has started a women-only bus service in the city because of the problem of women being groped and verbally abused on the public transportation. According to trend watching newsletter, Springwise, similar services have been started in Egypt, India, Brazil, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan along with taxis in the U.K., Russia, India, Dubai and Iran. An employment website called TheLadders aimed exclusively at high earners looking for jobs paying $100,000-plus, has been started by a former executive from hotjobs.com.
A FINAL NOTE OF CLARIFICATION: Last week’s MfM reported on the amount of ‘non-programming content’, including ads, aired on cable and broadcast networks as compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation. One key point was left out: the analysis was based on the programming on the network affiliates, not just the networks alone. For each network, programming for the ten networks was sampled on local stations in seven different markets across the country, TO allow for regional differences and to create a composite week’s worth of programming. Thanks to sharp-eyed reader Devoe Slisher, of Fox59 and TheCW4 in Indianapolis for catching that.
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 my website MediaConsultant.tv.
THE SMART TV SHOWS OF ALL TIME
SOMETHING HAPPENS SOME PLACE TO SOMEONE
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE
COCKTAIL CHATTER
We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael. But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.
I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE: Billions and Billions of videos. Two separate reports attest to the growing popularity of online video usage. Although the now resolved writers’ strike might have contributed to it, comScore Video Metrix reports that the number of online videos viewed passed the 10 Billion mark in December. A separate study by the Solutions Research Group found that the number of Americans who have watched one of their favorite TV shows on the Internet has nearly doubled in the past year. That’s 43% of the online population, or 80 Million Americans, compared to 25% a year ago. When you consider all videos online, comScore says three-quarters (76.7%) of all U.S. Internet users have viewed videos online. Of course, Google’s YouTube site accounted for most of those viewings – a third (32.6%), more than 3.3 Billion videos. Nobody else even comes close. Fox Interactive came in second with 358 Thousand videos and 3.5% of the market, followed by Yahoo (340 Thousand and 3.4%), Viacom (237 Thousand and 2.3%) and Microsoft (180 Thousand and 1.8%).
Even more astounding (at least to me, but I’m easily astounded), one in five Online Americans say they watch TV on the Web on a weekly basis – which the Solutions Research Group notes is well ahead of the 14% watching cable’s video-on-demand offerings. The hot shows on the Internet included Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, Ugly Betty, Chuck, CSI, House, Kitchen Nightmares, Smallville and Gossip Girl. And as long as I’m being astounded, comScore says online viewers watched an average of 3.4 hours of online video during the month – a 34% increase since the beginning of 2007. The average online video duration was 2.8 minutes but then again the ‘average’ online video viewer ‘consumed’ 72 videos.
As a footnote, I should point out an article by Mike Shields in MediaWeek that major broadcasters, NBC Universal and Viacom, continue to resist placing their content on YouTube. Of course, NBC does have hulu.com as well as its own site. YouTube points out in the article that it has deals with 18 groups, including Hearst Corp., Tribune Broadcasting, Oprah’s Harpo, Reuters and even PBS. And, no, I don’t understand why Viacom resists making a deal with YouTube while CBS doesn’t.
THE SMARTEST TV SHOWS OF ALL TIME: As long as I’m on a TV kick, website fancast.com, which allows people to develop their own TV viewing guide of favorite shows both on line and on air, has created a ‘smart’ TV list, based on an interview with the chairman of Mensa International, the organization for people whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population. Chairman Jim Werdell’s obviously personal list includes M-A-S-H, Cosmos (with Carl Sagan), CSI, House, West Wing, Boston Legal, All in the Family, Frasier, Mad About You and Jeopardy which he says tests intelligence as well as knowledge. Werdell cites most of the shows for their smart ‘repartee.’ You can read more at http://thebiz.fancast.com/2008/02/exclusive_mensa_chair_picks_th.html.
SOMETHING HAPPENS SOME PLACE TO SOMEONE: With that heavy duty definition of news, CNN has launched its iReports.com “user powered news” website. The site says there were 89,894 iReports filed worldwide, of which 915 made it on to CNN. The site bills itself as Unedited, Unfiltered, and one is tempted to say un-interesting, but I won’t; after all it is a beta site. Let me just say the lead story, billed as Breaking News, this morning was a video of an argument between a ketchup bottle and a mustard bottle. The second story on the home page, actually made it to CNN, is a video version book report on Lord of the Flies done a la Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room. Just out of curiosity, I checked out the morning line-up on Current TV which relies heavily but not solely on user generated reports. The lead was an edited version of John McCain talking about Iraq and set to a sort of rap beat and which actually was from YouTube. Of course, the second story was about a man getting a Pug… as in dog. As a side note, MTV has launched a political version of user generated news titled Choose or Lose with a “street team” of ‘reporters’ in all 50 states and D.C.
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE: If you’re like most people, you believe your friends and relatives and your peer group. Two separate surveys came to the same conclusion when looking at online products and services and, by extension, all products and services. Two-thirds of those surveyed say consumer generated reviews and ratings were the most important thing for them in making decisions. A Forrester Research survey of 5,000 online consumers found that not only did two thirds (64%) want to see user ratings and reviews on Websites, nearly the same number (59%)wanted product or price comparison testimonials and half (49%) wanted customer testimonials. A similar survey by Jupiter Research and Bazaarvoice found even more (70%) rated online product ratings and reviews the most helpful when researching products which two thirds (65%) of them did online even when they purchased offline. But here is where it gets interesting (well, to me, anyway) “trust in online reviews was found to be at its greatest when readers heard both sides of the story.” More than half (56%) say they wanted to know both the pros and cons of a product’s ‘attributes.’
Okay, the part my television brethren won’t like – online customer reviews are FIVE times more influential (53%) than TV ads (11%) in the case of online users thinking about spending money, according to the Jupiter survey which focused on U.K. consumers. Somewhat oddly, according to the Forrester survey, only one in five (23%) want the ability to upload or view their own content and only slightly more than that (29%) wanted quizzes or questionnaires. Not surprisingly Gen Yers (18 to 27) responded more positively toward entertaining games, quizzes, questionnaires and sharing content, followed by the Gen Xers (28 to 41).
COCKTAIL CHATTER: Organic milk is taking the place of high octane energy drinks and fruit flavored bottled water as the ‘cutting-edge’ beverage with double digit sales growth, in part because of the smaller price difference with regular milk but mainly because of its perceived health benefits, according to the website, Progressive Grocer. Mexico City has started a women-only bus service in the city because of the problem of women being groped and verbally abused on the public transportation. According to trend watching newsletter, Springwise, similar services have been started in Egypt, India, Brazil, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan along with taxis in the U.K., Russia, India, Dubai and Iran. An employment website called TheLadders aimed exclusively at high earners looking for jobs paying $100,000-plus, has been started by a former executive from hotjobs.com.
A FINAL NOTE OF CLARIFICATION: Last week’s MfM reported on the amount of ‘non-programming content’, including ads, aired on cable and broadcast networks as compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation. One key point was left out: the analysis was based on the programming on the network affiliates, not just the networks alone. For each network, programming for the ten networks was sampled on local stations in seven different markets across the country, TO allow for regional differences and to create a composite week’s worth of programming. Thanks to sharp-eyed reader Devoe Slisher, of Fox59 and TheCW4 in Indianapolis for catching that.
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 my website MediaConsultant.tv.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Message From Michael -- September 24, 2007
WHO’S ON FIRST
AMERICANS’ NEWS IQ
NEWS IS FOR THE ADULT DIAPER CROWD
THE INTERNET INNOVATORS
A COMMUNICATIONS MILESTONE
COCKTAIL CHATTER
WHO’S ON FIRST: The answer, when it comes to network programming, is EVERYBODY. ABC programming is on iTunes and AOL. NBC isn’t on iTunes, but it is on Amazon’s answer to iTunes, unBox, and NBC is creating its own video delivery system called NBC Direct. Fox programming is on iTunes and Unbox. And CBS is on all of the above including its own streaming video site Innertube because, says CBS Interactive chief Quincy Smith, the network is “all about open, nonexclusive, multiple partnerships.” In fact, iTunes carries ABC, CBS, MTV, ESPN, the Sci Fi Channel, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Showtime and the list goes on and on. The same goes for AOL which also has A&E, The Biography Channel, CMT, Comedy Central, and again the list goes on and on. And as for Unbox, add in Adult Swim, Animal Planet, the BBC, Biography Channel, Bravo, Fuel TV, MTV, and again the list goes on and on. Then add Yahoo, Google, and of course YouTube to the plethora of online video outlets. And, of course, the networks all provide their own streaming versions of their programs. The point is that the networks are trying to get their shows in front of viewers any way they can, even if they are on sites that don’t add to the ratings. As reporter Dawn Chmielewski notes in the Los Angeles Times, network websites like CBS.com get 6 Million visitors while sites like Yahoo get 135 Million visitors.
Sidenote: I became fascinated with the number of TV shows being streamed at various sites after I looked up the newest Fox TV show, Back To You, which stars Kelsey Grammer, Fred Willard and Patricia Heaton and revolves around life in a television newsroom. No, it’s not realistic; after all, it’s a comedy, but it is funny and there are some zingers that other news people will recognize. My favorite is the 26 ½ year old News Director.
Footnote: A very good overview of the Fall 2007 Primetime TV programs can be found through MediaWeek. Marc Berman who produces the daily Programming Insider is featured on a webcast outlining ‘what’s hot and what’s not’ this season. Just to make life easier for you, I will even provide the link: http://www.nielsencast.com/ws/content_display/event/e3i700d8a6e85cce5080bf54fd95cd91fe5. And, as a side note to the footnote, you can actually try your hand at network programming on a website, tvbigshot.com, which is running a contest to test people’s programming skills.
AMERICAN NEWS IQ: A quiz created by the folks at the Pew Research Center showed that most Americans are familiar with key facts in the news about politics and Iraq. Only 6% of those surveyed could answer all 12 of the questions, but a quarter (26%) could answer 10 out of the 12 questions. Men (7.6 correct answers) scored better than women (6.3). College grads (8.2) not surprisingly scored better than high school grads (5.5). Interestingly there was a clear ascending scale in news knowledge that correlated with age with 18-29 year olds scoring the lowest (5.5 correct answers); followed by 30-49 (7.1); 50-64 (7.4) and 65+ (7.6). Now, in case you’re wondering why I’m not telling you some of the details, it’s because you can take the quiz yourself. You can check your own news IQ and then compare yourself to others by going to http://pewresearch.org/pubs/601/political-knowledge-update. (PS: I scored 12 out of 12.)
NEWS IS FOR THE ADULT DIAPER CROWD: That’s the lament of Newser.com’s Michael Wolff writing in Vanity Fair magazine. He makes the point that all those pushing news ventures online are ‘old’ – Barry Diller (65); Rupert Murdoch (76); Ariana Huffington (57); Jeff Jarvis (53); and the list goes on. Where are the 20-somethings like Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, he asks. He argues that some how, some way, some one will find the “Holy Grail” of news in this new media world using some kind of algorithm that defines the news process because “every advance in technology has seen the invention of a new form of news.” One of the problems is how do you do that in this multi-multi world when, for example, The New York Times makes $2 Billion a year with its paper version that reaches 1.1 Million daily readers, but only makes $250 Million on its online version that reaches 40 Million readers a month; AND while its newsgathering process costs $300 Million; AND then turns around and charges $600 a year for a subscription for material that is provided free online. In the end, he says, “news is, for better or worse, a card trick… (and) holding people’s attention is the trick.” Yet he still believes that news is meaningful and has a public purpose; that’s why he’s doing newser.com.
THE INTERNET INNOVATORS: It probably says something, although I’m not sure what, that half of the M-I-T Technology Review’s list of leading young innovators deal with computers and the Internet. The TR35 lists the 35 leading innovators under the age of 35. On the list are Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, (no explanation needed); Garrett Camp of StumbleUpon (which is a toolbar which will link you to odd websites that you have a special interest in, based on recommendations from other people who have ‘stumbled upon’ the sites), and Kevin Rose of Digg (which mixes blogging, social networking and crowdsourcing to create an online newspaper of ‘stories selected by the masses’). By the way, their respective ages are 23, 28 and 30. But even more interesting are people like the University of Washington’s Tapan Parikh, named TR35’s humanitarian of the year, for helping fishermen in Indian improve their profits by using cell phones; and TR35’s innovator of the year David Berry who, at the age of 29, is a Venture Capitalist helping to develop renewable petroleum from microbes. My favorite though may be Ivan Krstic, and not just because he is developing a system to make antivirus software unnecessary, but because, apparently, at the age of 21, it seems he has yet to finish his degree at Harvard because he keeps taking leaves to… write software interpreting data for a neuroscientist, build a patient management computer system for a hospital, scale up Facebook’s software architecture and develop security architecture for the One Laptop Per Child program, building inexpensive laptops for Third World children.
A COMMUNICATIONS MILESTONE: According to MediaMark Research, the United States has passed a telecommunications milestone with cell-phone only households for the first time out-numbering landline-only households. The landline-only population has been larger than the cell-phone only population ever year since 2000 when the company first began measuring this. But in the latest survey, the cell-only population reached 14% compared to the 12.3% for the landline-only population. The researchers say the percentage of the population with at least one cell phone (86.2%) also passes the percentage of people who have a landline in their home (84.5%).
COCKTAIL CHATTER: A survey by the Pew Research Center found Americans evenly split on the belief that the country is divided along economic lines. Nearly half (48%) say we’re a country of “have’s and have not’s” while the same number (48%) say we are not. This is a dramatic increase from nine years ago when only a quarter of the American public (26%) believed we are a country of have’s and have not’s. Even more interesting, the number of Americans who see themselves as ‘have not’s’ has doubled in that time from 17% to 34%. Another survey by the folks at Pew, this one by Pew Global Research, finds that nearly as many countries (17) consider the United States to be an enemy as consider the country to be an ally (19). Internet giant Google has put up a prize of $30 Million to the first private enterprise that that can land a rover on the moon and beam back a gig of high definition images. A father-son research team has released a report that shows studying improves grades. I know this sounds like a Homer Simpson “doh” but apparently no-one has quantified the issue before. In an article published in the National Journal of Economic Research, they found that studying an hour a day increases student GPA’s by an average 0.36 points while playing video games for an hour each day led to a 0.24 drop in GPA for males and a 0.13 drop for females.
CONGRATULATIONS: To MfM friend and CBS Anchor Russ Mitchell, being named one of the ten outstanding leaders in the field of journalism and being award the University of Missouri’s Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.
AMERICANS’ NEWS IQ
NEWS IS FOR THE ADULT DIAPER CROWD
THE INTERNET INNOVATORS
A COMMUNICATIONS MILESTONE
COCKTAIL CHATTER
WHO’S ON FIRST: The answer, when it comes to network programming, is EVERYBODY. ABC programming is on iTunes and AOL. NBC isn’t on iTunes, but it is on Amazon’s answer to iTunes, unBox, and NBC is creating its own video delivery system called NBC Direct. Fox programming is on iTunes and Unbox. And CBS is on all of the above including its own streaming video site Innertube because, says CBS Interactive chief Quincy Smith, the network is “all about open, nonexclusive, multiple partnerships.” In fact, iTunes carries ABC, CBS, MTV, ESPN, the Sci Fi Channel, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Showtime and the list goes on and on. The same goes for AOL which also has A&E, The Biography Channel, CMT, Comedy Central, and again the list goes on and on. And as for Unbox, add in Adult Swim, Animal Planet, the BBC, Biography Channel, Bravo, Fuel TV, MTV, and again the list goes on and on. Then add Yahoo, Google, and of course YouTube to the plethora of online video outlets. And, of course, the networks all provide their own streaming versions of their programs. The point is that the networks are trying to get their shows in front of viewers any way they can, even if they are on sites that don’t add to the ratings. As reporter Dawn Chmielewski notes in the Los Angeles Times, network websites like CBS.com get 6 Million visitors while sites like Yahoo get 135 Million visitors.
Sidenote: I became fascinated with the number of TV shows being streamed at various sites after I looked up the newest Fox TV show, Back To You, which stars Kelsey Grammer, Fred Willard and Patricia Heaton and revolves around life in a television newsroom. No, it’s not realistic; after all, it’s a comedy, but it is funny and there are some zingers that other news people will recognize. My favorite is the 26 ½ year old News Director.
Footnote: A very good overview of the Fall 2007 Primetime TV programs can be found through MediaWeek. Marc Berman who produces the daily Programming Insider is featured on a webcast outlining ‘what’s hot and what’s not’ this season. Just to make life easier for you, I will even provide the link: http://www.nielsencast.com/ws/content_display/event/e3i700d8a6e85cce5080bf54fd95cd91fe5. And, as a side note to the footnote, you can actually try your hand at network programming on a website, tvbigshot.com, which is running a contest to test people’s programming skills.
AMERICAN NEWS IQ: A quiz created by the folks at the Pew Research Center showed that most Americans are familiar with key facts in the news about politics and Iraq. Only 6% of those surveyed could answer all 12 of the questions, but a quarter (26%) could answer 10 out of the 12 questions. Men (7.6 correct answers) scored better than women (6.3). College grads (8.2) not surprisingly scored better than high school grads (5.5). Interestingly there was a clear ascending scale in news knowledge that correlated with age with 18-29 year olds scoring the lowest (5.5 correct answers); followed by 30-49 (7.1); 50-64 (7.4) and 65+ (7.6). Now, in case you’re wondering why I’m not telling you some of the details, it’s because you can take the quiz yourself. You can check your own news IQ and then compare yourself to others by going to http://pewresearch.org/pubs/601/political-knowledge-update. (PS: I scored 12 out of 12.)
NEWS IS FOR THE ADULT DIAPER CROWD: That’s the lament of Newser.com’s Michael Wolff writing in Vanity Fair magazine. He makes the point that all those pushing news ventures online are ‘old’ – Barry Diller (65); Rupert Murdoch (76); Ariana Huffington (57); Jeff Jarvis (53); and the list goes on. Where are the 20-somethings like Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, he asks. He argues that some how, some way, some one will find the “Holy Grail” of news in this new media world using some kind of algorithm that defines the news process because “every advance in technology has seen the invention of a new form of news.” One of the problems is how do you do that in this multi-multi world when, for example, The New York Times makes $2 Billion a year with its paper version that reaches 1.1 Million daily readers, but only makes $250 Million on its online version that reaches 40 Million readers a month; AND while its newsgathering process costs $300 Million; AND then turns around and charges $600 a year for a subscription for material that is provided free online. In the end, he says, “news is, for better or worse, a card trick… (and) holding people’s attention is the trick.” Yet he still believes that news is meaningful and has a public purpose; that’s why he’s doing newser.com.
THE INTERNET INNOVATORS: It probably says something, although I’m not sure what, that half of the M-I-T Technology Review’s list of leading young innovators deal with computers and the Internet. The TR35 lists the 35 leading innovators under the age of 35. On the list are Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, (no explanation needed); Garrett Camp of StumbleUpon (which is a toolbar which will link you to odd websites that you have a special interest in, based on recommendations from other people who have ‘stumbled upon’ the sites), and Kevin Rose of Digg (which mixes blogging, social networking and crowdsourcing to create an online newspaper of ‘stories selected by the masses’). By the way, their respective ages are 23, 28 and 30. But even more interesting are people like the University of Washington’s Tapan Parikh, named TR35’s humanitarian of the year, for helping fishermen in Indian improve their profits by using cell phones; and TR35’s innovator of the year David Berry who, at the age of 29, is a Venture Capitalist helping to develop renewable petroleum from microbes. My favorite though may be Ivan Krstic, and not just because he is developing a system to make antivirus software unnecessary, but because, apparently, at the age of 21, it seems he has yet to finish his degree at Harvard because he keeps taking leaves to… write software interpreting data for a neuroscientist, build a patient management computer system for a hospital, scale up Facebook’s software architecture and develop security architecture for the One Laptop Per Child program, building inexpensive laptops for Third World children.
A COMMUNICATIONS MILESTONE: According to MediaMark Research, the United States has passed a telecommunications milestone with cell-phone only households for the first time out-numbering landline-only households. The landline-only population has been larger than the cell-phone only population ever year since 2000 when the company first began measuring this. But in the latest survey, the cell-only population reached 14% compared to the 12.3% for the landline-only population. The researchers say the percentage of the population with at least one cell phone (86.2%) also passes the percentage of people who have a landline in their home (84.5%).
COCKTAIL CHATTER: A survey by the Pew Research Center found Americans evenly split on the belief that the country is divided along economic lines. Nearly half (48%) say we’re a country of “have’s and have not’s” while the same number (48%) say we are not. This is a dramatic increase from nine years ago when only a quarter of the American public (26%) believed we are a country of have’s and have not’s. Even more interesting, the number of Americans who see themselves as ‘have not’s’ has doubled in that time from 17% to 34%. Another survey by the folks at Pew, this one by Pew Global Research, finds that nearly as many countries (17) consider the United States to be an enemy as consider the country to be an ally (19). Internet giant Google has put up a prize of $30 Million to the first private enterprise that that can land a rover on the moon and beam back a gig of high definition images. A father-son research team has released a report that shows studying improves grades. I know this sounds like a Homer Simpson “doh” but apparently no-one has quantified the issue before. In an article published in the National Journal of Economic Research, they found that studying an hour a day increases student GPA’s by an average 0.36 points while playing video games for an hour each day led to a 0.24 drop in GPA for males and a 0.13 drop for females.
CONGRATULATIONS: To MfM friend and CBS Anchor Russ Mitchell, being named one of the ten outstanding leaders in the field of journalism and being award the University of Missouri’s Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
