THE RACE FOR THE MONEY
THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
MORE TV IS LESS TV
MORE TV IS MORE TV ONLINE
AMERICAN I-O-U’S
COCKTAIL CHATTER
DISCLAIMER
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.
THE RACE FOR THE MONEY: If projections and data provided by market research firm IDC are correct, the Internet is the hare about to beat the tortoise of Broadcast TV. In five years time, the Internet will go from the #5 medium in terms of advertising dollars to the #2 medium – second only to direct marketing but ahead of newspapers, cable TV and broadcast TV. The folks at IDC say overall Internet advertising revenue will double from $25.5 Billion last year to $51.1 Billion by 2012. Leading that growth will be video advertising which the firm projects to have a compound annual growth rate of 49.4% -- much of it at the expense of broadcast and cable TV. Of course that translates into video advertising going from a relatively meager half a Billion dollars last year to $3.8 Billion by 2012. The biggest driver of online advertising will continue to be search advertising though, which the company says in its news release “means that for any media company, search must be a key part of its strategy.” I should note a couple of number disclaimers. The Internet Advertising Bureau pegged the amount of online advertising last year at $21 Billion – considerably less than the $25.5 Billion cited by IDC. Also, the last figures I saw would put the revenue for broadcast advertising higher than the $51.1 Billion projected for the Internet by IDC.
As consolation, a report by Borrell Associates says that while Internet pure-plays “continue to gobble up” most of the local online ad revenue pie, local media websites are starting to share in the local online ad revenue which Borrell puts at $13.1 Billion. Newspapers sites, in particular, “have gone on the attack” but other media are moving more dramatically into the online market.
THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING: Sorry to use one of the old English sayings from my Australian days, but it may be appropriate since my next article deals with the growth of the Internet in Europe. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau/ Europe, online ad revenues there were up 40%, compared to 25% in the U.S. That came to $17.4 Billion last year. The IAB says if those rates of growth continue the European online ad revenues will surpass the U.S. by 2010. Most of those online ad dollars are being spent in the U.K., Germany and France, as more companies move their advertising budgets online for the first time. Several of the smaller countries are seeing strong online growth as well, including Greece (90%), Spain (55%) and Slovenia (49%).
MORE TV IS LESS TV: It seems like a recurring theme, but yet another report shows Americans are getting more TV but watching less. Nielsen Media says the ‘average’ household receives 118.6 channels, but only watches 16 of them for any length of time (the standard being at least 10 minutes per week). I should note here that other research I’ve been involved in, shows that number to be pretty consistent over the years -- meaning, it seems to me, no matter how many channels the American public has available, there are only so many they deem worth watching or can track. To put a little more perspective on the number of channels available, more than half of American homes (58%) receive 100-plus channels while another quarter (26%) receive between 60 and 99 channels. And that ‘average’ U.S. TV home has 2.5 people and 2.8 television sets.
And to continue on that ‘adding perspective’ theme, that average TV household watches an average of 8 hours and 43 minutes of TV DAILY, according to Nielsen’s TV at a glance summary. Hispanic households watch slightly more (9 hours daily) while African American households, on average, watch nearly two hours more (11 hours and 24 minutes to be exact). The average per person is just under five hours (4 hours and 55 minutes, again, to be exact) and again African Americans watch considerably more, averaging another two hours more of TV daily. Just under two-thirds of American homes (61%) have ‘wired cable hook-ups (a figure that is done from the high of 68% in 2000) while satellite or ‘specialized antenna systems’ use is up (27% versus 19% in 2005).
And I don’t know why I find this interesting, but I do. There were no ‘suspense mystery’ programs in prime time this past season and only three programs that Nielsen classified as Adventure, SciFi or Western. Most of it was ‘general drama’ (92), followed by the generic label Variety (56) and situation comedies (33). And continuing the theme of things I found interesting in the Nielsen data, Sunday is the most watched night of prime time (126.8 Million viewers) followed by Tuesday (120 Million viewers), Monday (117.7 Million), Wednesday (116.8M), Thursday (115.5M), Friday (106.7M) and last, Saturday (102.7M).
MORE TV IS MORE TV ONLINE: As long as I’m on a kind of broadcast kick, Nielsen Online figures for “online TV viewership” shows NBC-News Corp co-venture Hulu topped the chart for network-owned portals in April with 63.2 Million video streams and 2.4 Million unique viewers. In second place was ABC.com with 60.8 Million streams but 5.9 Million unique viewers, followed by NBC.com (51.6M streams and 2.3M unique viewers), Fox Broadcasting (21.9M streams and 4M viewers) and finally CBS Television (18.5M streams and 3.3M viewers.) However, before anybody at the network goes ecstatic, a little perspective: YouTube averaged 4 BILLION video streams in the same month with 73.5 Million unique viewers.
In terms of top 10 brands, Fox Interactive came in second with 329 Million streams and 21 Million unique viewers, followed by Yahoo (221M streams and 22M viewers), Nick Kids & Family (151M streams and 6M viewers), MSN/ Windows Live (149M streams and 10M viewers), ESPN (125M streams, 5M viewers), Disney Online (93M streams and 7M viewers), CNN Digital Network (85M streams and 6M viewers), Turner Entertainment (81M streams and 6M viewers) with Hulu rounding out the top ten list.
AMERICAN I-O-U’S: In a previous MfM, we focused on Billionaire financier Warren Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders. In it Buffett also expounds on the U.S. trade deficit, noting that America ships about $2 Billion of I-O-U’s and assets EVERY DAY to the world. What he points out that is particularly disturbing is that ‘normally’ when a currency falls (as the U.S. dollar has), it cures the trade deficit because our products become cheaper for foreigners to buy and their products become more expensive for U.S. citizens to buy. Unfortunately, he says, citing figures from Germany and Canada, that hasn’t happened – their currency is worth more and the trade deficit is still in their favor. He says the increase in foreign countries buying American businesses and the weakening currency is not the ‘fault’ of any other country but simply the result of other countries being “force-fed” dollars that they have to spend in the U.S. Despite the problems and despite his concerns about the failure of Congress to act, Buffett believes America will continue to prosper because of its “rule of law, market-responsive economic system and belief in meritocracy.”
COCKTAIL CHATTER: According to the book Bite Politics, the length of the soundbites aired from the presidential candidates has dropped steadily from an average of 40 seconds in 1968 to less than eight seconds in the 2004 race. A poll by the Pew Research Center finds that more than a third (37%) of the American public believe news organizations had been biased in favor of Barrack Obama compared to less than one in ten (8%) who believed the news media had favored Hillary Clinton. Another 40% though said the media had shown no bias. Even that though is not such a good number because, Pew researchers say, the percentage of people who believed the coverage was good or excellent dropped from February (55%) to June (43%).
DISCLAIMER: The Message from Michael was on a brief hiatus while I was in India (yes, India, not Indiana) on a consulting trip. I don’t believe there was any wailing and gnashing of teeth over its absence. And I should note that over the slow summer news months, the MfM will be a little less regular.
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.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Message from Michael -- May 19, 2008
SWEEPS
HOW DEEP IS YOUR MOAT
AMERICAN I-O-U’S
IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE
USER GENERATED DOLLARS
MORE TWITTER-PATION
SOCIAL NETWORKS VS. TV NETWORKS
FACTOID OF THE WEEK
AMERICAN IDOL FACTOIDS
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.
SWEEPS: It’s almost over. The most critical sweeps period of the year. The one that could make or break you. The one your sales department will rely on for more than half the year. The one that… Oh, never mind. You get it. It’s important. But don’t feel any pressure.
HOW DEEP IS YOUR MOAT: According to superinvestor Warren Buffett, that is one of the key questions he asks in deciding on whether to buy or invest in a company. And he knows a bit about investing. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has interests in everything from, as he put it, “lollipops to motor homes” -– from insurance giant GEICO to candy-maker See’s Chocolates, from FlightSafety which trains more than half of the U.S. corporate jet pilots to BoatUS, which is sort of the AAA of boating. In his latest annual letter to shareholders, Buffett says the good moat is “a metaphor for the superiorities that make life difficult for their competitors.” It is a barrier that protects the company “castle” from the assault of competitors. For example, he says, GEICO and Costco have captured the low-cost producer niche while Coca Cola and American Express possess powerful world-wide brands. He says business history is filled with “Roman Candles” whose moats “proved illusory and were soon crossed.”
IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE: Insurance giant GEICO has one of the best growth records among auto insurers in the country. It now controls 7.2% of the auto insurance market, on sales of $12 Billion, up from 2.5% when Berkshire Hathaway acquired it in 1995. Buffett notes in his letter that, “not coincidentally,” ANNUAL ad expenditures have risen from $31 Million to $751 Million.
QUOTABLE QUOTES: Talking about the idea of buying controlling interest in a mediocre business versus investing in a great business, Buffett writes, “it’s better to have a part interest in the Hope Diamond than own all of a rhinestone.” Talking about how the airline industry is a bad investment, Buffett writes, “if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down.” He compares the use of money from one company to invest in another to Adam and Eve who “kick started an activity that led to six billion humans.” Buffett also quotes others in his report. Talking about how he made a mistake in not buying the NBC station in Dallas-Fort Worth, he compares himself to a politician described by columnist Molly Ivins who, “if his I.Q. was any lower, you would have to water him twice a day.” And he says he will continue to make mistakes, explaining that acquiring companies is like the line from a Bobby Bare country song: “I’ve never gone to bed with an ugly woman, but I’ve sure woke up with a few.” John Stumpf, CEO of Wells Fargo, talking about the recent behavior of many lenders: “it is interesting that the industry has invented new ways to lose money when the old ways seemed to work just fine.”
THE RICHEST MAN YOU DON’T KNOW: Everybody has heard of Warren Buffett, but few have heard of his partner – Charlie Munger. Not because Buffett hogs the limelight… he actually talks about Munger a lot. Quite frankly I don’t know why. And although Buffett is known for his sharp writing wit, Munger is no slouch. For some idea of his thoughts, you can read (and/or purchase his book) at poorcharliesalmanack.com.
BUFFETT FACTOIDS: The net income of Berkshire Hathaway in 2007 was $2.353 Billion. When Buffett sold the company’s share in PetroChina, it paid $1.2 Billion to the I-R-S – or, as Buffett points out, enough to pay for all of the costs of the U.S. government – defense, social security, you name it – for about four hours. Since Buffett took over the Berkshire Hathaway company in 1965, the book value of a share of Class A stock has risen from $19 a share to $78,008 a share.
USER GENERATED DOLLARS: Research firm In-State predicts that the revenue from User Generated Video is expected to top $1.19 Billion worldwide by the year 2012. The firm says that will translate into 160 Billion videos that year. The company chalks up the growth in part to the proliferation of cheap HD cameras. Meanwhile, a group has formed to provide ‘pre-screened’ User Generated Content to television stations. The website, icnewstv.com, has so-called ‘citizen journalists’ shooting and producing material, ranging from breaking news such as brush fires to features about bees. The site appears to be an outgrowth of a British news website, icnews.co.uk.
MORE TWITTER-PATION: In MfM two weeks ago, I talked about how people are getting twitterpated over micro-blogging site Twitter. Now add to the list of the ‘twitterpated’ – the Society for New Communication Research, Global Voices, The Poynter Institute, Business Week, ClickZ and Graeme Newell of 602 Communications. From Poynter Online, writer Fons Tuinstra found out more through Twitter about the earthquake in China than many people in China in just a few hours. Several others echoed that sentiment. Blogger Matthew Ingram says Twitter provided ‘the first draft of history’ on the China earthquake. Tech geek blogger Robert Scobble was at the ‘epicenter’ of the earthquake information dispersal, ‘twittering’ with links to stories and early videos and photos. Global Voices, a project of the Harvard Law Schools’ Berkman Center for Internet and Society, provides a detailed look at the earthquake twitter. Presidential candidate Barack Obama has nearly 30,000 people following him through Twitter. BusinessWeek says ‘devotees’ of the Twitter microblogging site believe it has the potential to rival Facebook and MySpace even though its audience is ‘small’ by Web standards with half a million to a million regular users. BusinessWeek writer Stephen Baker used Twitter to ‘crowd source’ his article on Twitter. Marketing guru Graeme Newell talks about the same ‘wisdom of crowds’ value of Twitter in finding the best options to solve problems, and talks about reporters using it and other social networks because it “exponentially amplifies the rolodex of every person in the newsroom.” Add to that, the Society for New Communication Research has released a report titled “Twitter: Best Practices for Business Use” which provides a ‘Tip Sheet” for increasing sales, listening to and interacting with customers, conducting an instant, informal focus group, building a community and brainstorming ideas.
SOCIAL MEDIA MELANGE: Those same social media methods are a critical factor in how people decide on a product, according to a survey by the Society for New Communications Research. More than half (59.1%) of those surveyed say they use social media to “vent” about a customer care experience and nearly three quarters (72.2%) research customer care online before buying a product or service. The survey indicates that the use of social media to research how companies treat their customers is particularly prevalent among a very powerful and highly desirable group – 25 to 55 year old, college-educated people earning $100,000+. As you would expect, the study shows people rely heavily on search engines to do this type of research while micro-blogging sites like Twitter or Pownce are rated of no value by a substantial number (39%) as are YouTube (27%) and MySpace (22%). Members of the study group warned that the research should serve as a wake-up call to companies to “listen, respond and improve” because “the customer’s voice is louder and travels further than ever before.”
SOCIAL NETWORKS VS. TV NETWORKS: In a sidebar piece to an article questioning why the soaring social networks have failed to turn into raging revenue generators, writer Jon Swartz of USA Today draws an interesting analogy between social networks and TV networks. He argues that behemoths MySpace and Facebook will assume the role of the major networks (ABC, CBX, Fox and NBC) as advertising vehicles. Second tier sites like LinkedIn, Bebo and Ning will fill the role of cableTV networks like CNN, MTV, USA Network. And vertical sites like Xing and Global Grind will fulfill the role of niche TV properties like Food Network and SciFi Channel.
FACTOID OF THE WEEK: Search giant Google accounted for two-thirds (67.9%) of ALL searches in the U.S. in the month of April. And as a side note to this week’s factoid, Billionaire entrepreneur and Yahoo investor and invader Mark Cuban raises the idea of companies ‘recusing’ themselves from the Google Index, of common search items. In other words, you or your company wouldn’t appear in a Google search of key items. Cuban says it would cost a Microsoft or Yahoo upwards of $1 Billion to do this, but he says it would slow down the ‘juggernaut’ known as Google.
AMERICAN IDOL FACTOIDS: Despite the youth image of the program, the largest demographic group watching is actually the 35-49 year olds who comprise nearly a third (29%) of the total audience. Further, according to Nielsen, the average fan using mobile text messaging voted 38 times in April. Last year, there were 4,349 instances of product placement while this year there has been 3,291 occurrences BUT that was just in the first quarter of the year.
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.
HOW DEEP IS YOUR MOAT
AMERICAN I-O-U’S
IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE
USER GENERATED DOLLARS
MORE TWITTER-PATION
SOCIAL NETWORKS VS. TV NETWORKS
FACTOID OF THE WEEK
AMERICAN IDOL FACTOIDS
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.
SWEEPS: It’s almost over. The most critical sweeps period of the year. The one that could make or break you. The one your sales department will rely on for more than half the year. The one that… Oh, never mind. You get it. It’s important. But don’t feel any pressure.
HOW DEEP IS YOUR MOAT: According to superinvestor Warren Buffett, that is one of the key questions he asks in deciding on whether to buy or invest in a company. And he knows a bit about investing. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has interests in everything from, as he put it, “lollipops to motor homes” -– from insurance giant GEICO to candy-maker See’s Chocolates, from FlightSafety which trains more than half of the U.S. corporate jet pilots to BoatUS, which is sort of the AAA of boating. In his latest annual letter to shareholders, Buffett says the good moat is “a metaphor for the superiorities that make life difficult for their competitors.” It is a barrier that protects the company “castle” from the assault of competitors. For example, he says, GEICO and Costco have captured the low-cost producer niche while Coca Cola and American Express possess powerful world-wide brands. He says business history is filled with “Roman Candles” whose moats “proved illusory and were soon crossed.”
IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE: Insurance giant GEICO has one of the best growth records among auto insurers in the country. It now controls 7.2% of the auto insurance market, on sales of $12 Billion, up from 2.5% when Berkshire Hathaway acquired it in 1995. Buffett notes in his letter that, “not coincidentally,” ANNUAL ad expenditures have risen from $31 Million to $751 Million.
QUOTABLE QUOTES: Talking about the idea of buying controlling interest in a mediocre business versus investing in a great business, Buffett writes, “it’s better to have a part interest in the Hope Diamond than own all of a rhinestone.” Talking about how the airline industry is a bad investment, Buffett writes, “if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down.” He compares the use of money from one company to invest in another to Adam and Eve who “kick started an activity that led to six billion humans.” Buffett also quotes others in his report. Talking about how he made a mistake in not buying the NBC station in Dallas-Fort Worth, he compares himself to a politician described by columnist Molly Ivins who, “if his I.Q. was any lower, you would have to water him twice a day.” And he says he will continue to make mistakes, explaining that acquiring companies is like the line from a Bobby Bare country song: “I’ve never gone to bed with an ugly woman, but I’ve sure woke up with a few.” John Stumpf, CEO of Wells Fargo, talking about the recent behavior of many lenders: “it is interesting that the industry has invented new ways to lose money when the old ways seemed to work just fine.”
THE RICHEST MAN YOU DON’T KNOW: Everybody has heard of Warren Buffett, but few have heard of his partner – Charlie Munger. Not because Buffett hogs the limelight… he actually talks about Munger a lot. Quite frankly I don’t know why. And although Buffett is known for his sharp writing wit, Munger is no slouch. For some idea of his thoughts, you can read (and/or purchase his book) at poorcharliesalmanack.com.
BUFFETT FACTOIDS: The net income of Berkshire Hathaway in 2007 was $2.353 Billion. When Buffett sold the company’s share in PetroChina, it paid $1.2 Billion to the I-R-S – or, as Buffett points out, enough to pay for all of the costs of the U.S. government – defense, social security, you name it – for about four hours. Since Buffett took over the Berkshire Hathaway company in 1965, the book value of a share of Class A stock has risen from $19 a share to $78,008 a share.
USER GENERATED DOLLARS: Research firm In-State predicts that the revenue from User Generated Video is expected to top $1.19 Billion worldwide by the year 2012. The firm says that will translate into 160 Billion videos that year. The company chalks up the growth in part to the proliferation of cheap HD cameras. Meanwhile, a group has formed to provide ‘pre-screened’ User Generated Content to television stations. The website, icnewstv.com, has so-called ‘citizen journalists’ shooting and producing material, ranging from breaking news such as brush fires to features about bees. The site appears to be an outgrowth of a British news website, icnews.co.uk.
MORE TWITTER-PATION: In MfM two weeks ago, I talked about how people are getting twitterpated over micro-blogging site Twitter. Now add to the list of the ‘twitterpated’ – the Society for New Communication Research, Global Voices, The Poynter Institute, Business Week, ClickZ and Graeme Newell of 602 Communications. From Poynter Online, writer Fons Tuinstra found out more through Twitter about the earthquake in China than many people in China in just a few hours. Several others echoed that sentiment. Blogger Matthew Ingram says Twitter provided ‘the first draft of history’ on the China earthquake. Tech geek blogger Robert Scobble was at the ‘epicenter’ of the earthquake information dispersal, ‘twittering’ with links to stories and early videos and photos. Global Voices, a project of the Harvard Law Schools’ Berkman Center for Internet and Society, provides a detailed look at the earthquake twitter. Presidential candidate Barack Obama has nearly 30,000 people following him through Twitter. BusinessWeek says ‘devotees’ of the Twitter microblogging site believe it has the potential to rival Facebook and MySpace even though its audience is ‘small’ by Web standards with half a million to a million regular users. BusinessWeek writer Stephen Baker used Twitter to ‘crowd source’ his article on Twitter. Marketing guru Graeme Newell talks about the same ‘wisdom of crowds’ value of Twitter in finding the best options to solve problems, and talks about reporters using it and other social networks because it “exponentially amplifies the rolodex of every person in the newsroom.” Add to that, the Society for New Communication Research has released a report titled “Twitter: Best Practices for Business Use” which provides a ‘Tip Sheet” for increasing sales, listening to and interacting with customers, conducting an instant, informal focus group, building a community and brainstorming ideas.
SOCIAL MEDIA MELANGE: Those same social media methods are a critical factor in how people decide on a product, according to a survey by the Society for New Communications Research. More than half (59.1%) of those surveyed say they use social media to “vent” about a customer care experience and nearly three quarters (72.2%) research customer care online before buying a product or service. The survey indicates that the use of social media to research how companies treat their customers is particularly prevalent among a very powerful and highly desirable group – 25 to 55 year old, college-educated people earning $100,000+. As you would expect, the study shows people rely heavily on search engines to do this type of research while micro-blogging sites like Twitter or Pownce are rated of no value by a substantial number (39%) as are YouTube (27%) and MySpace (22%). Members of the study group warned that the research should serve as a wake-up call to companies to “listen, respond and improve” because “the customer’s voice is louder and travels further than ever before.”
SOCIAL NETWORKS VS. TV NETWORKS: In a sidebar piece to an article questioning why the soaring social networks have failed to turn into raging revenue generators, writer Jon Swartz of USA Today draws an interesting analogy between social networks and TV networks. He argues that behemoths MySpace and Facebook will assume the role of the major networks (ABC, CBX, Fox and NBC) as advertising vehicles. Second tier sites like LinkedIn, Bebo and Ning will fill the role of cableTV networks like CNN, MTV, USA Network. And vertical sites like Xing and Global Grind will fulfill the role of niche TV properties like Food Network and SciFi Channel.
FACTOID OF THE WEEK: Search giant Google accounted for two-thirds (67.9%) of ALL searches in the U.S. in the month of April. And as a side note to this week’s factoid, Billionaire entrepreneur and Yahoo investor and invader Mark Cuban raises the idea of companies ‘recusing’ themselves from the Google Index, of common search items. In other words, you or your company wouldn’t appear in a Google search of key items. Cuban says it would cost a Microsoft or Yahoo upwards of $1 Billion to do this, but he says it would slow down the ‘juggernaut’ known as Google.
AMERICAN IDOL FACTOIDS: Despite the youth image of the program, the largest demographic group watching is actually the 35-49 year olds who comprise nearly a third (29%) of the total audience. Further, according to Nielsen, the average fan using mobile text messaging voted 38 times in April. Last year, there were 4,349 instances of product placement while this year there has been 3,291 occurrences BUT that was just in the first quarter of the year.
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.
Message from Michael -- May 12, 2008
IT’S A TELEVISION WORLD AFTER ALL
AN INTERNET WORLD OF HOPE AND FEAR
THE NEWS WORLD
THE WEBBY WORLD
DIGITAL VERSUS TRADITIONAL
NIKO BELLIC VERSUS INDIANA JONES
DIGITAL GUINEA PIGS
AN OBJECT LESSON QUOTE
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.
IT’S A TELEVISION WORLD AFTER ALL: A recently released study says television is the most influential… authoritative… exciting… persuasive medium and the one people are most likely to use for news, weather and traffic information as well as the one where people are most likely to learn about products or brands. Says who? Well, the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), that’s who. Before you dismiss the study for that reason, consider that another study affirmed some of those same key points – that TV advertising is by far the most effective in impacting consumers’ product awareness, product familiarity and intent to purchase and is the best at either launching a brand or maintaining a brand. You want to know who says so this time? Okay, well, it’s Fox which commissioned a review by research firm Marketing Evolution of 40 previous “return on marketing objectives” studies it did for advertisers. Still, there is some cross-affirmation and validation that can’t be dismissed.
The Fox network did the review as part of its effort to counter the swelling migration of advertising from the TV world to the digital world. And that is where you find some interesting data from the TVB study – when you compare the Internet to TV, newspapers, radio and magazines.
AN INTERNET WORLD OF HOPE AND FEAR: The report does indeed show television’s dominance in so many ways, but that dominance is clearly weaker in the younger age groups. For example, nine out of ten adults (90.2%) over the age of 18 reported spending time with TV “yesterday” compared to two-thirds (65.6%) who said they had spent time with the Internet “yesterday.” Radio actually came in second (73.4%) with newspapers (63.8%) slightly behind the Internet but ahead of magazines (50.1%). The margin changes significantly when the study focuses on the 18-34 age group with television dropping slightly (87.3%) while the Internet increases (72.5%). Women spend more time with TV (253.7 Minutes) than men (218.7) but men spend more time with the Internet (114 minutes) than women (83.7). The average adult, 18-plus, spends 236.6 minutes a day with TV. The Internet and Radio are basically tied, with an average 98 minutes, compared to newspapers (26.7 minutes) and magazines (16.7). But when you look at the 18-34 group, again the margin changes significantly with the average time spent with TV dropping (206 minutes) while the average time spent with the Internet increases (145.4).
THE NEWS WORLD: When it comes to choosing their ‘primary news source,’ broadcast television (39.1%) scores double what cable television scores (19.9%) and triple what the Internet scores (11.5%), according to the TVB figures. But again those numbers change significantly when the focus is on the 18-34 crowd. Broadcast TV pretty well retains its dominance (38.7%) but the Internet jumps significantly (21.8%), actually beating out cable television (14.6%) and way ahead of radio (11.1%) and newspapers (8.4%). When it comes to local weather, traffic and sports, broadcast television is the hands down winner (51.2%), beating out the second place Internet by a wide margin (18.2%) while cable television comes in an even more distant third (11.3%), followed by radio (7.4%), and public television (6.1%) which actually beat newspapers (5.7%). Again, in the 18-34 group, the margins change significantly with broadcast television dropping (46.8%) while the Internet increases (25.7%). Only public television shows an increase in this age group (7.7%) while cable television drops (9%) along with radio (6.5%) and newspapers (4.4%). Lastly in the area of breaking news which one might assume cable news would show significant numbers, broadcast television still wins (52%), doubling cable (26.2%) and nearly five times the Internet (10.8%) – at least in the overall Adults 18-plus. Again, though, when the numbers are shown for the 18-34 age group, broadcast television still retains its lead (48.9%) while cable television drops significantly (21.9%) and the Internet increases significantly (18.6%).
THE WEBBY WORLD: The winners of this increasingly prestigious award ceremony were announced with The New York Times (8 awards), The Onion News Network (7 awards) coming out on top, followed by Apple, National Geographic and PostSecret, a ‘user-confession’ site each garnering four awards each. Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert won recognition as “Webby Person of the Year” for his viral campaign – Greatest Living American. The Webbyawards.com site has a cool interactive design to show you the winners which provides an interesting insight into the Internet, but ironically I couldn’t get the static list of Webby award winners to come up.
DIGITAL VERSUS TRADITIONAL: Another wrinkle in the on-going digital debate is a survey of ad executives by consulting firm Accenture which shows that half of them believe digital ads will replace traditional advertising within five years. Social media and user-generated content are considered ‘high-growth opportunities’ but the largest group (38%) cited short-form video as the genre with the most potential, followed by online portal/publishing (23%) and video games (18%). Nearly two thirds (62%) see advertising-supported business models as the leading business model in five years, compared with a quarter (25%) who cited subscription-based services and a tenth (11%) who cited pay-per-play services.
NIKO BELLIC VERSUS INDIANA JONES: That was the headline on a New York Times article about video games. And if you don’t know who Niko Bellic is… well, don’t feel bad. He is one of the characters in the video game Grand Theft Auto, the latest version of which is expected to gross $1 Billion worldwide, $600 Million of that in the U.S. and Canada. An article in The New York Times says that would put it ahead of all but 16 of the biggest box office films, including Raiders of the Lost Ark. Meanwhile the Federal Trade Commission conducted its own undercover operation to see if tweens (ages 13 – 16) could buy such violent video games along with R-rated movie tickets and DVD’s. The operation found undercover kids were turned down more than ever with only a fifth (20%) able to buy what is called ‘mature-rated video games’ – a big improvement over two years ago when two out of five (42%) of the kids were able to buy such games.
RELATED FACTOIDS: From last week’s MfM on the Morgan Stanley report on Internet use: Since Facebook opened its platform to third-party developers, more than 20,000 applications have been added, representing 859 Million installations and 34 Million usages PER DAY – which the report calls “an unprecedented ramp.” Most popular ap’s are Rock You’s Super Wall, Likeness and Hug Me and Slide’s Top Friends, FunWall and SuperPoke.
DIGITAL GUINEA PIGS: Broadcasters in the Wilmington, North Carolina, market have agreed to be the digital guinea pigs for the rest of the broadcast industry. On September 8th, five months before the official switch-over date, the stations will switch off their analog signals and switch on their digital signals. The test concocted by the Federal Communications Commission will, in the words of one commissioner, give the FCC ‘real-world experience.’ Meanwhile, eleven stations in the Orlando/ Central Florida market are running their own version of an early warning system – a series of one-minute tests starting on June 25th in which they will turn off their analog signal to, in the words of one writer, “flush out viewers who are not technologically prepared” for the switch-over. (A sort of disclaimer: WECT-TV in Wilmington is a client.)
AN OBJECT LESSON QUOTE: Buried in a story in The New York Times about a meeting between London mayor Boris Johnson and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is a quote which says volumes (disclaimer: in my opinion) about journalism and media manipulation. Bloomberg advises Johnson on how to handle the press: “You don’t have to match your answers to their questions. If you don’t give the right answers to their questions, they asked the wrong questions.”
COCKTAIL CHATTER: Just one this time, but it’s an interesting one -- two out of every three women aged 50-64 says today’s mothers are doing a worse job as parents than mothers did 20 or 30 years ago, according to a survey by the Pew Research Group. Younger women (under 30) were less critical with less than half (41%) echoing those sentiments while more than half (56%) of the women 30-49 were critical but less than half (48%) of women 65 and older believed 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 Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.
AN INTERNET WORLD OF HOPE AND FEAR
THE NEWS WORLD
THE WEBBY WORLD
DIGITAL VERSUS TRADITIONAL
NIKO BELLIC VERSUS INDIANA JONES
DIGITAL GUINEA PIGS
AN OBJECT LESSON QUOTE
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.
IT’S A TELEVISION WORLD AFTER ALL: A recently released study says television is the most influential… authoritative… exciting… persuasive medium and the one people are most likely to use for news, weather and traffic information as well as the one where people are most likely to learn about products or brands. Says who? Well, the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), that’s who. Before you dismiss the study for that reason, consider that another study affirmed some of those same key points – that TV advertising is by far the most effective in impacting consumers’ product awareness, product familiarity and intent to purchase and is the best at either launching a brand or maintaining a brand. You want to know who says so this time? Okay, well, it’s Fox which commissioned a review by research firm Marketing Evolution of 40 previous “return on marketing objectives” studies it did for advertisers. Still, there is some cross-affirmation and validation that can’t be dismissed.
The Fox network did the review as part of its effort to counter the swelling migration of advertising from the TV world to the digital world. And that is where you find some interesting data from the TVB study – when you compare the Internet to TV, newspapers, radio and magazines.
AN INTERNET WORLD OF HOPE AND FEAR: The report does indeed show television’s dominance in so many ways, but that dominance is clearly weaker in the younger age groups. For example, nine out of ten adults (90.2%) over the age of 18 reported spending time with TV “yesterday” compared to two-thirds (65.6%) who said they had spent time with the Internet “yesterday.” Radio actually came in second (73.4%) with newspapers (63.8%) slightly behind the Internet but ahead of magazines (50.1%). The margin changes significantly when the study focuses on the 18-34 age group with television dropping slightly (87.3%) while the Internet increases (72.5%). Women spend more time with TV (253.7 Minutes) than men (218.7) but men spend more time with the Internet (114 minutes) than women (83.7). The average adult, 18-plus, spends 236.6 minutes a day with TV. The Internet and Radio are basically tied, with an average 98 minutes, compared to newspapers (26.7 minutes) and magazines (16.7). But when you look at the 18-34 group, again the margin changes significantly with the average time spent with TV dropping (206 minutes) while the average time spent with the Internet increases (145.4).
THE NEWS WORLD: When it comes to choosing their ‘primary news source,’ broadcast television (39.1%) scores double what cable television scores (19.9%) and triple what the Internet scores (11.5%), according to the TVB figures. But again those numbers change significantly when the focus is on the 18-34 crowd. Broadcast TV pretty well retains its dominance (38.7%) but the Internet jumps significantly (21.8%), actually beating out cable television (14.6%) and way ahead of radio (11.1%) and newspapers (8.4%). When it comes to local weather, traffic and sports, broadcast television is the hands down winner (51.2%), beating out the second place Internet by a wide margin (18.2%) while cable television comes in an even more distant third (11.3%), followed by radio (7.4%), and public television (6.1%) which actually beat newspapers (5.7%). Again, in the 18-34 group, the margins change significantly with broadcast television dropping (46.8%) while the Internet increases (25.7%). Only public television shows an increase in this age group (7.7%) while cable television drops (9%) along with radio (6.5%) and newspapers (4.4%). Lastly in the area of breaking news which one might assume cable news would show significant numbers, broadcast television still wins (52%), doubling cable (26.2%) and nearly five times the Internet (10.8%) – at least in the overall Adults 18-plus. Again, though, when the numbers are shown for the 18-34 age group, broadcast television still retains its lead (48.9%) while cable television drops significantly (21.9%) and the Internet increases significantly (18.6%).
THE WEBBY WORLD: The winners of this increasingly prestigious award ceremony were announced with The New York Times (8 awards), The Onion News Network (7 awards) coming out on top, followed by Apple, National Geographic and PostSecret, a ‘user-confession’ site each garnering four awards each. Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert won recognition as “Webby Person of the Year” for his viral campaign – Greatest Living American. The Webbyawards.com site has a cool interactive design to show you the winners which provides an interesting insight into the Internet, but ironically I couldn’t get the static list of Webby award winners to come up.
DIGITAL VERSUS TRADITIONAL: Another wrinkle in the on-going digital debate is a survey of ad executives by consulting firm Accenture which shows that half of them believe digital ads will replace traditional advertising within five years. Social media and user-generated content are considered ‘high-growth opportunities’ but the largest group (38%) cited short-form video as the genre with the most potential, followed by online portal/publishing (23%) and video games (18%). Nearly two thirds (62%) see advertising-supported business models as the leading business model in five years, compared with a quarter (25%) who cited subscription-based services and a tenth (11%) who cited pay-per-play services.
NIKO BELLIC VERSUS INDIANA JONES: That was the headline on a New York Times article about video games. And if you don’t know who Niko Bellic is… well, don’t feel bad. He is one of the characters in the video game Grand Theft Auto, the latest version of which is expected to gross $1 Billion worldwide, $600 Million of that in the U.S. and Canada. An article in The New York Times says that would put it ahead of all but 16 of the biggest box office films, including Raiders of the Lost Ark. Meanwhile the Federal Trade Commission conducted its own undercover operation to see if tweens (ages 13 – 16) could buy such violent video games along with R-rated movie tickets and DVD’s. The operation found undercover kids were turned down more than ever with only a fifth (20%) able to buy what is called ‘mature-rated video games’ – a big improvement over two years ago when two out of five (42%) of the kids were able to buy such games.
RELATED FACTOIDS: From last week’s MfM on the Morgan Stanley report on Internet use: Since Facebook opened its platform to third-party developers, more than 20,000 applications have been added, representing 859 Million installations and 34 Million usages PER DAY – which the report calls “an unprecedented ramp.” Most popular ap’s are Rock You’s Super Wall, Likeness and Hug Me and Slide’s Top Friends, FunWall and SuperPoke.
DIGITAL GUINEA PIGS: Broadcasters in the Wilmington, North Carolina, market have agreed to be the digital guinea pigs for the rest of the broadcast industry. On September 8th, five months before the official switch-over date, the stations will switch off their analog signals and switch on their digital signals. The test concocted by the Federal Communications Commission will, in the words of one commissioner, give the FCC ‘real-world experience.’ Meanwhile, eleven stations in the Orlando/ Central Florida market are running their own version of an early warning system – a series of one-minute tests starting on June 25th in which they will turn off their analog signal to, in the words of one writer, “flush out viewers who are not technologically prepared” for the switch-over. (A sort of disclaimer: WECT-TV in Wilmington is a client.)
AN OBJECT LESSON QUOTE: Buried in a story in The New York Times about a meeting between London mayor Boris Johnson and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is a quote which says volumes (disclaimer: in my opinion) about journalism and media manipulation. Bloomberg advises Johnson on how to handle the press: “You don’t have to match your answers to their questions. If you don’t give the right answers to their questions, they asked the wrong questions.”
COCKTAIL CHATTER: Just one this time, but it’s an interesting one -- two out of every three women aged 50-64 says today’s mothers are doing a worse job as parents than mothers did 20 or 30 years ago, according to a survey by the Pew Research Group. Younger women (under 30) were less critical with less than half (41%) echoing those sentiments while more than half (56%) of the women 30-49 were critical but less than half (48%) of women 65 and older believed 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 Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.
Message from Michael -- May 5, 2008
MARCHSWEEPS
UNIVERSAL MCCANN
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.
MARCH SWEEPS: No, that’s not a mis-type on my part. You probably have heard that Nielsen is moving its February, 2009, sweeps to March because of the DTV transition taking place February 17, 2009, and normally we don’t report ‘old’ news in MfM. But this is so indicative of the concern surrounding DTV that we thought it was worth repeating. As we said in last week’s MfM, the switchover is the Y2K of broadcasting. As newsletter Cynopsis put it, the Nielsen move was made to avoid the “potential mayhem” surrounding the switchover. According to the National Telecommunication and Information Administration, some 5.3 Million U.S. households have requested 10 million $40 coupons for the digital converter boxes.
Side Note: There are numerous sites devoted to the DTV transition. Let me share a few that you may want to look at: The FCC’s dtv.gov which says it will tell you “what you need to know” about DTV; dtvtransition.com which is sponsored by a group calling itself the digital television transition coalition made up of various ‘business, trade and industry groups’; coalition member NAB’s dtvanswers.com which also says it will tell you ‘what you need to know’ about the transition; digitaltvtrainer.com which bills itself as a service of ‘your local television broadcasters’ which is somewhat disturbing since repeated searches for local DTV information came back with ‘presently we have no information on stations in that state’ and then directs you to its national DTV site; Consumer Reports says it provides a “consumer voice for communications choice” through its website hearusnow.org site.
SOCIAL NETWORKING PHENOMENON: More evidence that social networking is taking over the Internet is the report that online giant Yahoo! has joined the list of other online giants such as MySpace, Facebook and Google in making over its website to make it “more social”, allowing its 500 Million users greater flexibility in customizing the website. Meanwhile research firm Hitwise reports that social networks and search engines account for an equal amount of referrals (28%) to online video sites, although that number is actually a decrease for social networks and an increase for search engines. Financial services company Morgan Stanley says social network is changing how people connect, accounting for 16% of all online time worldwide, which is pretty remarkable since, the report notes, the category of social network didn’t even exist three years ago. (And in case you’re wondering what Morgan Stanley is doing studying the Internet – which I also wondered about – the company is the financial advisor to Microsoft in its now-defunct bid to buy Yahoo!) The company, which seems to have a penchant for the word “presence” -- as in establishing a presence in Saudi Arabia, or India or China -- says social networking is a way for people to establish a “presence” because it combines the two most important sources of information – the Internet and Personal Sources. Advertising agency Universal McCann also notes the ‘sudden’ appearance of social networking, as noted by Morgan Stanley, with significant growth over the past three years. More than half of the Internet users surveyed by Universal McCann (57%) have joined a social network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content. The agency defines the key social platforms as blogging, micro blogging, RSS, Widgets, social networking, chat rooms, message boards, podcasts, video sharing and photo sharing. The company says ‘social media’ is a much better way to describe the changes in the Internet, than Web 2.0 which is says “was always a touch crude.”
The report which is Wave 3 of Internet studies by Universal McCann says blogs are now part of the ‘mainstream media’ worldwide and -- ‘as a collective’ -- rival traditional media and that people worldwide are becoming more active in social networking activities such as photo sharing and video watching. BUT the U.S. isn’t taking part in these trends as much as one would have thought, or at least not taking part to the same degree. For example, while three quarters (77%) of ‘active Internet users’ worldwide read blogs, less than two-thirds (60%) do so in the U.S. – a percentage has been pretty consistently the same for the past three years. Compare that to South Korea (92.1%), China (88.1%) and India (85%). The U.S. is also on the low end of the totem pole when it comes to creating blogs as well, with only a quarter (26.4%) doing so, compared to the global average of nearly half (44.8%). Again, compare that to South Korea (71.7%), Taiwan (70.9%), China (70.3%), Brazil (50.1%) and India (49%). And when it comes to creating a profile on a social network, the U.S. (at 42.5%) is far behind the global average (57.5%) of Internet users. When it comes to watching videos online, the grouping gets tighter with three-quarters (74.2%) of U.S. ‘active Internet users’ watching, which is only slightly below the global average (82.8%) The agency admonishes companies that social media impacts their brand’s reputation with a third (34%) of the Internet users posting opinions about products and brands on their blog and a third (36%) saying they think “more positively” about companies that have blogs. And it warns, “in a world of social media, honesty is the only policy.”
Other interesting factoids from the Universal McCann report: Countries with ‘high emigration’ lead the way in terms of social networking, ‘connecting people globally.’ Although MySpace and Facebook dominate the American market, globally the report says “it’s far from a two-horse race” with QQ, Cyworld and Mixi dominating in Asia, Baidu in China, and Orkut number one in Brazil. The report notes the emergence of niche social networks such as dogster.com for dog owners or doppir.com for frequent business travelers; do-it-yourself social networks such as ning.com or onsite.com; reputation management social networks such as wink.com or peekyou.com as people realize “the implications of having every drunken photo online for the world to see.”
Other interesting factoids from the Hitwise report: Time spent online at video websites has increased almost a full minute over the past year from 15 minutes and 14 seconds last year to 16 minutes and 12 seconds this year. The firm also reports that nearly half of the social network population (47%) is under the age of 35, but analyst Heather Dougherty adds that social networks are “no longer only the playground of the young.”
Other interesting factoids from the Morgan Stanley report: The amount of CONSUMER IP traffic is expected to surpass the amount of BUSINESS IP traffic worldwide for the first time this year. While only 13% of the Top 15 Online Retailers are what is called Internet Pure-Plays (meaning no stores), the biggest money maker in terms of growth is Amazon.com which had a 26% Y2Y growth rate. While North America has 16% of the world’s Internet users, it has only 8% of the world’s mobile users. In 1995, China had only one percent of the world’s Internet users; last year, in 2007, its Internet population represented 16% of the world Internet users.
IT’S A BRIC HOUSE: Okay, this is my own warped version of The Commodores hit song. All the references above to global trends reminded me of several references I’ve seen to the so-called BRIC economies. These are the four countries that are the fastest growing, emerging economies in the world – Brazil, Russia, India and China.
TWITTERPATED OVER TWITTER: When Bambi fell in love in the Disney classic movie, his friend Thumper said he’d become ‘twitterpated.’ Based on several recent postings I’ve read, marketers have become ‘twitterpated’ over Twitter, the social-network-website-instant-messaging service in which people tell each other what they’re doing minute by minute in great minutiae. It is what was referred to, above, as ‘micro-blogging’ which is blogging 140 characters. Let me emphasize that last point – CHARACTERS, 140 Characters, NOT words, which is less than this paragraph. Columnist Rob Pegoraro of Wahingtonpost.com noted the growth of Twittering. The campaign staff of presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both ‘twitter.’ Website ReadWriteWeb argues that Twitter can be “wildly useful” for some writers penning larger pieces. WebProNews argues that Twitter with its stats on who is being followed and who is following is “one of the great democratizing forces.” And as noted before, Twitter was used to organize the protest march in San Francisco marking the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
COCKTAIL CHATTER: Market research firm Unity Marketing, citing figures supplied by the U.S. Census Bureau, says ‘affluent households’ (defined as those with incomes over $100,000 a year) is the fastest growing segment in the U.S. economy, rising 13% from 19.7 Million in 2005 to 22.2 Million in 2006. One in 50 households in America (2%) report an adjusted gross income to the Internal Revenue Service of more than $250,000 a year, according to figures supplied to Factcheck.org by the Tax Policy Center. These folks will earn 24.1% of all income and will pay 43.6% of all personal income tax. According to BigResearch’s American Pulse Survey, two-thirds of Americans (61.7%) are dining out less while more than half (57.3%) are driving less and less than half (47.4%) are attending fewer movies. The survey also shows that more Americans are haggling over prices than before and that despite all this “honesty still prevails” with more than half (58.3%) of Americans saying they would return $100,000 if they found it on the street.
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.
UNIVERSAL MCCANN
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.
MARCH SWEEPS: No, that’s not a mis-type on my part. You probably have heard that Nielsen is moving its February, 2009, sweeps to March because of the DTV transition taking place February 17, 2009, and normally we don’t report ‘old’ news in MfM. But this is so indicative of the concern surrounding DTV that we thought it was worth repeating. As we said in last week’s MfM, the switchover is the Y2K of broadcasting. As newsletter Cynopsis put it, the Nielsen move was made to avoid the “potential mayhem” surrounding the switchover. According to the National Telecommunication and Information Administration, some 5.3 Million U.S. households have requested 10 million $40 coupons for the digital converter boxes.
Side Note: There are numerous sites devoted to the DTV transition. Let me share a few that you may want to look at: The FCC’s dtv.gov which says it will tell you “what you need to know” about DTV; dtvtransition.com which is sponsored by a group calling itself the digital television transition coalition made up of various ‘business, trade and industry groups’; coalition member NAB’s dtvanswers.com which also says it will tell you ‘what you need to know’ about the transition; digitaltvtrainer.com which bills itself as a service of ‘your local television broadcasters’ which is somewhat disturbing since repeated searches for local DTV information came back with ‘presently we have no information on stations in that state’ and then directs you to its national DTV site; Consumer Reports says it provides a “consumer voice for communications choice” through its website hearusnow.org site.
SOCIAL NETWORKING PHENOMENON: More evidence that social networking is taking over the Internet is the report that online giant Yahoo! has joined the list of other online giants such as MySpace, Facebook and Google in making over its website to make it “more social”, allowing its 500 Million users greater flexibility in customizing the website. Meanwhile research firm Hitwise reports that social networks and search engines account for an equal amount of referrals (28%) to online video sites, although that number is actually a decrease for social networks and an increase for search engines. Financial services company Morgan Stanley says social network is changing how people connect, accounting for 16% of all online time worldwide, which is pretty remarkable since, the report notes, the category of social network didn’t even exist three years ago. (And in case you’re wondering what Morgan Stanley is doing studying the Internet – which I also wondered about – the company is the financial advisor to Microsoft in its now-defunct bid to buy Yahoo!) The company, which seems to have a penchant for the word “presence” -- as in establishing a presence in Saudi Arabia, or India or China -- says social networking is a way for people to establish a “presence” because it combines the two most important sources of information – the Internet and Personal Sources. Advertising agency Universal McCann also notes the ‘sudden’ appearance of social networking, as noted by Morgan Stanley, with significant growth over the past three years. More than half of the Internet users surveyed by Universal McCann (57%) have joined a social network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content. The agency defines the key social platforms as blogging, micro blogging, RSS, Widgets, social networking, chat rooms, message boards, podcasts, video sharing and photo sharing. The company says ‘social media’ is a much better way to describe the changes in the Internet, than Web 2.0 which is says “was always a touch crude.”
The report which is Wave 3 of Internet studies by Universal McCann says blogs are now part of the ‘mainstream media’ worldwide and -- ‘as a collective’ -- rival traditional media and that people worldwide are becoming more active in social networking activities such as photo sharing and video watching. BUT the U.S. isn’t taking part in these trends as much as one would have thought, or at least not taking part to the same degree. For example, while three quarters (77%) of ‘active Internet users’ worldwide read blogs, less than two-thirds (60%) do so in the U.S. – a percentage has been pretty consistently the same for the past three years. Compare that to South Korea (92.1%), China (88.1%) and India (85%). The U.S. is also on the low end of the totem pole when it comes to creating blogs as well, with only a quarter (26.4%) doing so, compared to the global average of nearly half (44.8%). Again, compare that to South Korea (71.7%), Taiwan (70.9%), China (70.3%), Brazil (50.1%) and India (49%). And when it comes to creating a profile on a social network, the U.S. (at 42.5%) is far behind the global average (57.5%) of Internet users. When it comes to watching videos online, the grouping gets tighter with three-quarters (74.2%) of U.S. ‘active Internet users’ watching, which is only slightly below the global average (82.8%) The agency admonishes companies that social media impacts their brand’s reputation with a third (34%) of the Internet users posting opinions about products and brands on their blog and a third (36%) saying they think “more positively” about companies that have blogs. And it warns, “in a world of social media, honesty is the only policy.”
Other interesting factoids from the Universal McCann report: Countries with ‘high emigration’ lead the way in terms of social networking, ‘connecting people globally.’ Although MySpace and Facebook dominate the American market, globally the report says “it’s far from a two-horse race” with QQ, Cyworld and Mixi dominating in Asia, Baidu in China, and Orkut number one in Brazil. The report notes the emergence of niche social networks such as dogster.com for dog owners or doppir.com for frequent business travelers; do-it-yourself social networks such as ning.com or onsite.com; reputation management social networks such as wink.com or peekyou.com as people realize “the implications of having every drunken photo online for the world to see.”
Other interesting factoids from the Hitwise report: Time spent online at video websites has increased almost a full minute over the past year from 15 minutes and 14 seconds last year to 16 minutes and 12 seconds this year. The firm also reports that nearly half of the social network population (47%) is under the age of 35, but analyst Heather Dougherty adds that social networks are “no longer only the playground of the young.”
Other interesting factoids from the Morgan Stanley report: The amount of CONSUMER IP traffic is expected to surpass the amount of BUSINESS IP traffic worldwide for the first time this year. While only 13% of the Top 15 Online Retailers are what is called Internet Pure-Plays (meaning no stores), the biggest money maker in terms of growth is Amazon.com which had a 26% Y2Y growth rate. While North America has 16% of the world’s Internet users, it has only 8% of the world’s mobile users. In 1995, China had only one percent of the world’s Internet users; last year, in 2007, its Internet population represented 16% of the world Internet users.
IT’S A BRIC HOUSE: Okay, this is my own warped version of The Commodores hit song. All the references above to global trends reminded me of several references I’ve seen to the so-called BRIC economies. These are the four countries that are the fastest growing, emerging economies in the world – Brazil, Russia, India and China.
TWITTERPATED OVER TWITTER: When Bambi fell in love in the Disney classic movie, his friend Thumper said he’d become ‘twitterpated.’ Based on several recent postings I’ve read, marketers have become ‘twitterpated’ over Twitter, the social-network-website-instant-messaging service in which people tell each other what they’re doing minute by minute in great minutiae. It is what was referred to, above, as ‘micro-blogging’ which is blogging 140 characters. Let me emphasize that last point – CHARACTERS, 140 Characters, NOT words, which is less than this paragraph. Columnist Rob Pegoraro of Wahingtonpost.com noted the growth of Twittering. The campaign staff of presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both ‘twitter.’ Website ReadWriteWeb argues that Twitter can be “wildly useful” for some writers penning larger pieces. WebProNews argues that Twitter with its stats on who is being followed and who is following is “one of the great democratizing forces.” And as noted before, Twitter was used to organize the protest march in San Francisco marking the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
COCKTAIL CHATTER: Market research firm Unity Marketing, citing figures supplied by the U.S. Census Bureau, says ‘affluent households’ (defined as those with incomes over $100,000 a year) is the fastest growing segment in the U.S. economy, rising 13% from 19.7 Million in 2005 to 22.2 Million in 2006. One in 50 households in America (2%) report an adjusted gross income to the Internal Revenue Service of more than $250,000 a year, according to figures supplied to Factcheck.org by the Tax Policy Center. These folks will earn 24.1% of all income and will pay 43.6% of all personal income tax. According to BigResearch’s American Pulse Survey, two-thirds of Americans (61.7%) are dining out less while more than half (57.3%) are driving less and less than half (47.4%) are attending fewer movies. The survey also shows that more Americans are haggling over prices than before and that despite all this “honesty still prevails” with more than half (58.3%) of Americans saying they would return $100,000 if they found it on the street.
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.
Message from Michael -- April 28, 2008
SWEEPS
THE Y2K OF BROADCASTING
BACK TO THE FUTURE
AMERICA VERUS CHINA
VOYEURS VERSUS CREATORS
THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY
THE TEEN PARADOX
THANK YOU
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.
SWEEPS: Week one of sweeps. Do you know where your ratings are? Do you have all your special reports done? Do you know what your network is planning? All questions that inquiring minds want to know. And with the writers’ strike over, ratings are expected to be up. So, check for your network’s season finales. They’ll be big nights for you. Fox’s American Idol phenomenon has its two-hour season finale on Wednesday, May 21st. NBC’s Law & Order, SVU has its 9th season finale Tuesday, May13th. CBS’s 14th season finale of ER is on Thursday, May 15th. ABC has a special two-hour fourth season finale of Desperate Housewives on Sunday, May 18th. And the list goes on and on. And look out for specials and network stunting. For example, for race car fans, the Darlington 500 is on Fox Saturday night, May 10th. A good resource for all these is: http://television.aol.com/feature/may-sweeps/schedule .
THE Y2K OF BROADCASTING: That’s the way I have described to clients the coming DTV Transition set for February 17, 2009, at 11:59:59 p.m. Remember Y2K? That was when the clocks on computers everywhere clicked over to January 1, 2000 – the new millennium – again at 11:59:59 p.m. Predictions ranged from computers crashing and gas pumps stopping to you name it. But aside from a few burps, nothing catastrophic happened. Observers are hoping the same thing proves true for the DTV transition, but it’s all reaching a level of “high anxiety” with a number of agencies, organizations and groups, including the Federal Communications Commission, expressing concern. The National Association of Broadcasters says at least 19.6 Million Households receive over-the-air signals exclusively in their homes and 14.9 Million Households have secondary over-the-air TV sets in their bedrooms or kitchens. Nielsen Media recently warned that one out of every ten households in the U.S. would lose access to most TV signals if the transition happened today, with minority groups hit particularly hard. (What has been little reported is that Nielsen also expressed some concerns, but phrased in hopeful terms, about measuring the digital signal.) Consumer Reports says its survey shows 15% of Americans live in households that rely exclusively on over-the-air programming. IF these people don’t do something (switch to cable or satellite or buy a converter box), that would translate into 11% of American adults, or 23 Million people unable to watch TV.
Everybody agrees that broadcasters need to educate the public about the DTV transition, but what they don’t agree on is how well that is going. The NAB says public awareness of the DTV transition has doubled from 38% at the beginning of last year to 79% in January of this year. Consumer Reports says that of those TV viewers who have at least one TV affected by the transition (meaning primarily over the air) two-thirds (61%) do not know they are affected or are completely unaware of the transition. And one third (33%) of Americans in households that will have no functioning television after the February deadline were completely unaware the transition is happening. One interesting statistic cited by Consumer Reports was that the federal government had allocated $6.5 Million for education about the digital transition while the British government plans to spend $400 Million, although of course that is a government dominated broadcast situation with the BBC. A further interesting side note is the NAB’s letter to the National Telecommunication and Information Administration warning that seniors living in nursing homes may be excluded from getting the government coupons to help pay for converter boxes because of the definition of household.
Even with all this, it gets worse, with market research firm Centris says there are “serious gaps” in digital TV signals across the country so that even if people do know what’s going on, they still may not get a TV signal after the transition date. Obviously, much more to come on this topic in future MfM editions. In fact we are looking at producing our own special White Paper on DTV. As we used to say in the old days… stay tuned.
Footnote: Well known, no doubt, to all those smart people who read MfM, HD and DTV are related but not related issues. Even given that, a recent Webinar arranged by TV Newsday titled How To Go HD Without Going Nuts is worth the hour of time. While all the panelists were strong advocates of the value of HDTV, each had some valid points to consider: KYW/ Philadelphia chief engineer Rich Paleski emphasized the need for a clearly written workflow; WLEX/ Lexington news director (and I’m happy to say, MfM reader) Bruce Carter emphasized the need for training, training and more training and warned that whatever you budget, add 20%; Thomson Grass Valley’s John Naylor emphasized the importance of Meta Data inputs to make the video more usable; Thompson Grass Valley’s Ed Casaccia emphasized that HDTV is, as he put it, “magnetic to viewers.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a new set of rules that revive some old requirements for local television stations to renew their licenses. Stations that do not air a specified amount of local programming would automatically have their renewal application reviewed, not at the bureau level, but by the commissioners themselves – a move the NAB says is similar to the process in place in the 1970’s. The FCC is also proposing that stations establish permanent advisory boards consisting of local officials and other community leaders, that radio and TV stations be physically manned during all hours of operation and that a stations’ main studio be located within its community of license so the station would be accessible to the local community – a requirement the NAB says was liberalized in 1987 and 1998 to allow stations to operate more efficiently. Several station groups have filed comments calling the moves “blunt and burdensome” and a group of 20 small stations say the move would harm localism rather than helping it. In case you wanted to comment – sorry, the deadline was yesterday.
AMERICA VERSUS CHINA: It’s not yet official, but China is expected to overtake the U.S. as the country with the largest Internet population. The latest report from the Chinese government’s China Internet Network Information Center puts the Internet population at 221 Million, tied with the U.S., but the Chinese figures are from the beginning of the year while the U.S. figures are from March. When the latest figures are released, China is expected to overtake the U.S., according to reports from the Associated Press and the Xinhua News Agency. Even though China’s Internet penetration is low (16%), its web growth is faster than the U.S., where Internet penetration is so high that growth is slower. By the year 2012, the Chinese web population is expected to reach 490 Million – a number larger than the entire U.S. population.
VOYEURS VERSUS CREATORS: In another variation of the U.S. versus the rest of the world theme, massive ad agency Universal McCann says its study of social media worldwide shows that despite all the hullabaloo about user generated content, the U.S. is actually a “country of voyeurs” who are more likely to consume content compared to China which is a “country of creators” who actually produce online content. For example, in the U.S. a little more than 60% of Internet users say they read blogs but only 26% had created one. In China, 88% say they read blogs while 70% say they actually blog; similarly in South Korea, 92% read blogs but 70% of them actually create blogs as well.
IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY: Reading the Universal McCann Social Media Wave 3 report, I was struck by a remarkable similarity. In last week’s MfM, you may recall, we cited a white paper by the Interactive Advertising Bureau about social networking and in particular a quote: “In 2008, if you’re not on a social networking site, you’re not on the Internet.” In the Universal McCann report, it notes that social media is a ‘global phenomenon happening in all markets regardless of wider economic, social and cultural development’ and says, quote, “if you are online you are using social media.” In any case, the Universal McCann report is so extensive, we will have a part two version in next week’s MfM.
THE TEEN PARADOX: As if there weren’t enough already… the Pew Internet and American Life Project says teens are writing more but writing less. They’re writing more in terms of writing emails, texting, IM’ing and posting on social networks, but even the teenagers say this doesn’t count as “real” writing. They also don’t think the technology has negatively influenced their writing although many admit they use the more informal tech style of writing, including shortcuts and emoticons, in their formal writing. And at the same time, to continue the paradox, the vast majority of teenagers (86%) believe good writing is important to success in life – slightly more than the percentage of parents (83%).
THANK YOU: To all those who took part in the online survey by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication that I shamelessly pushed in previous Messages.
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 Y2K OF BROADCASTING
BACK TO THE FUTURE
AMERICA VERUS CHINA
VOYEURS VERSUS CREATORS
THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY
THE TEEN PARADOX
THANK YOU
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.
SWEEPS: Week one of sweeps. Do you know where your ratings are? Do you have all your special reports done? Do you know what your network is planning? All questions that inquiring minds want to know. And with the writers’ strike over, ratings are expected to be up. So, check for your network’s season finales. They’ll be big nights for you. Fox’s American Idol phenomenon has its two-hour season finale on Wednesday, May 21st. NBC’s Law & Order, SVU has its 9th season finale Tuesday, May13th. CBS’s 14th season finale of ER is on Thursday, May 15th. ABC has a special two-hour fourth season finale of Desperate Housewives on Sunday, May 18th. And the list goes on and on. And look out for specials and network stunting. For example, for race car fans, the Darlington 500 is on Fox Saturday night, May 10th. A good resource for all these is: http://television.aol.com/feature/may-sweeps/schedule .
THE Y2K OF BROADCASTING: That’s the way I have described to clients the coming DTV Transition set for February 17, 2009, at 11:59:59 p.m. Remember Y2K? That was when the clocks on computers everywhere clicked over to January 1, 2000 – the new millennium – again at 11:59:59 p.m. Predictions ranged from computers crashing and gas pumps stopping to you name it. But aside from a few burps, nothing catastrophic happened. Observers are hoping the same thing proves true for the DTV transition, but it’s all reaching a level of “high anxiety” with a number of agencies, organizations and groups, including the Federal Communications Commission, expressing concern. The National Association of Broadcasters says at least 19.6 Million Households receive over-the-air signals exclusively in their homes and 14.9 Million Households have secondary over-the-air TV sets in their bedrooms or kitchens. Nielsen Media recently warned that one out of every ten households in the U.S. would lose access to most TV signals if the transition happened today, with minority groups hit particularly hard. (What has been little reported is that Nielsen also expressed some concerns, but phrased in hopeful terms, about measuring the digital signal.) Consumer Reports says its survey shows 15% of Americans live in households that rely exclusively on over-the-air programming. IF these people don’t do something (switch to cable or satellite or buy a converter box), that would translate into 11% of American adults, or 23 Million people unable to watch TV.
Everybody agrees that broadcasters need to educate the public about the DTV transition, but what they don’t agree on is how well that is going. The NAB says public awareness of the DTV transition has doubled from 38% at the beginning of last year to 79% in January of this year. Consumer Reports says that of those TV viewers who have at least one TV affected by the transition (meaning primarily over the air) two-thirds (61%) do not know they are affected or are completely unaware of the transition. And one third (33%) of Americans in households that will have no functioning television after the February deadline were completely unaware the transition is happening. One interesting statistic cited by Consumer Reports was that the federal government had allocated $6.5 Million for education about the digital transition while the British government plans to spend $400 Million, although of course that is a government dominated broadcast situation with the BBC. A further interesting side note is the NAB’s letter to the National Telecommunication and Information Administration warning that seniors living in nursing homes may be excluded from getting the government coupons to help pay for converter boxes because of the definition of household.
Even with all this, it gets worse, with market research firm Centris says there are “serious gaps” in digital TV signals across the country so that even if people do know what’s going on, they still may not get a TV signal after the transition date. Obviously, much more to come on this topic in future MfM editions. In fact we are looking at producing our own special White Paper on DTV. As we used to say in the old days… stay tuned.
Footnote: Well known, no doubt, to all those smart people who read MfM, HD and DTV are related but not related issues. Even given that, a recent Webinar arranged by TV Newsday titled How To Go HD Without Going Nuts is worth the hour of time. While all the panelists were strong advocates of the value of HDTV, each had some valid points to consider: KYW/ Philadelphia chief engineer Rich Paleski emphasized the need for a clearly written workflow; WLEX/ Lexington news director (and I’m happy to say, MfM reader) Bruce Carter emphasized the need for training, training and more training and warned that whatever you budget, add 20%; Thomson Grass Valley’s John Naylor emphasized the importance of Meta Data inputs to make the video more usable; Thompson Grass Valley’s Ed Casaccia emphasized that HDTV is, as he put it, “magnetic to viewers.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a new set of rules that revive some old requirements for local television stations to renew their licenses. Stations that do not air a specified amount of local programming would automatically have their renewal application reviewed, not at the bureau level, but by the commissioners themselves – a move the NAB says is similar to the process in place in the 1970’s. The FCC is also proposing that stations establish permanent advisory boards consisting of local officials and other community leaders, that radio and TV stations be physically manned during all hours of operation and that a stations’ main studio be located within its community of license so the station would be accessible to the local community – a requirement the NAB says was liberalized in 1987 and 1998 to allow stations to operate more efficiently. Several station groups have filed comments calling the moves “blunt and burdensome” and a group of 20 small stations say the move would harm localism rather than helping it. In case you wanted to comment – sorry, the deadline was yesterday.
AMERICA VERSUS CHINA: It’s not yet official, but China is expected to overtake the U.S. as the country with the largest Internet population. The latest report from the Chinese government’s China Internet Network Information Center puts the Internet population at 221 Million, tied with the U.S., but the Chinese figures are from the beginning of the year while the U.S. figures are from March. When the latest figures are released, China is expected to overtake the U.S., according to reports from the Associated Press and the Xinhua News Agency. Even though China’s Internet penetration is low (16%), its web growth is faster than the U.S., where Internet penetration is so high that growth is slower. By the year 2012, the Chinese web population is expected to reach 490 Million – a number larger than the entire U.S. population.
VOYEURS VERSUS CREATORS: In another variation of the U.S. versus the rest of the world theme, massive ad agency Universal McCann says its study of social media worldwide shows that despite all the hullabaloo about user generated content, the U.S. is actually a “country of voyeurs” who are more likely to consume content compared to China which is a “country of creators” who actually produce online content. For example, in the U.S. a little more than 60% of Internet users say they read blogs but only 26% had created one. In China, 88% say they read blogs while 70% say they actually blog; similarly in South Korea, 92% read blogs but 70% of them actually create blogs as well.
IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY: Reading the Universal McCann Social Media Wave 3 report, I was struck by a remarkable similarity. In last week’s MfM, you may recall, we cited a white paper by the Interactive Advertising Bureau about social networking and in particular a quote: “In 2008, if you’re not on a social networking site, you’re not on the Internet.” In the Universal McCann report, it notes that social media is a ‘global phenomenon happening in all markets regardless of wider economic, social and cultural development’ and says, quote, “if you are online you are using social media.” In any case, the Universal McCann report is so extensive, we will have a part two version in next week’s MfM.
THE TEEN PARADOX: As if there weren’t enough already… the Pew Internet and American Life Project says teens are writing more but writing less. They’re writing more in terms of writing emails, texting, IM’ing and posting on social networks, but even the teenagers say this doesn’t count as “real” writing. They also don’t think the technology has negatively influenced their writing although many admit they use the more informal tech style of writing, including shortcuts and emoticons, in their formal writing. And at the same time, to continue the paradox, the vast majority of teenagers (86%) believe good writing is important to success in life – slightly more than the percentage of parents (83%).
THANK YOU: To all those who took part in the online survey by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication that I shamelessly pushed in previous Messages.
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.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Message From Michael -- April 21, 2008
THE SOCIAL NETWORK ECOSYSTEM
SIDENOTES AND FOOTNOTES
KEEPING YOUR FINGER ON THE PULSE
MAYBE I’M GETTING OLD
SLAMMING THE SLAMMER
FACTOID OF THE WEEK -- GM
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.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK ECOSYSTEM: Like politicians talking about issues, recent reports about social networking paint surprisingly different pictures. In a special white paper, the Interactive Advertising Bureau says, “in 2008, if you’re not on a social networking site, you’re not on the Internet” calling social networking “the ultimate manifestation” of User Generated Content (UGC) with “more potential for growth than any other content on the Web today.” The Economist magazine argues that while big media companies have bid up the valuations of major social networking sites to incredible figures, “that does not mean there is a working revenue model” although the magazine says the lack of money does not detract from the fact that social networking has “enormous utility” and is in fact an “ubiquitous part of Internet life.” Both articles, interestingly, refer to social networking as an “ecosystem” and talk about the history of the system, starting with Usenet, Compuserve and Prodigy. (Anybody else remember these services?). Supporting the case made by the IAB is a report by Nielsen Online which notes that while leading social networking site MySpace only grew four percent year to year, that still translates into more than 55.4 Million people and second place site Facebook grew 102% year to year to reach more than 20 Million people. Supporting the case made by The Economist is a report by eMarketer that says that while anybody can become a director or star on the video-sharing sites, “not everyone can make money” because advertisers are shy about being associated with much of the user-generated video because of its low quality, or worse, low standards of taste. The IAB report makes the case that UGC, or as it is sometimes referred to, Consumer Generated Media (CGM) and social networking are intertwined along with blogs and wikis into a “collaborative, collective, customized and shared” model that reaches ‘over a billion content creators and hundreds of millions of distributors.’ It emphasizes sites that include consumer reviews and comments as particularly valuable to advertisers and users. Meanwhile The Economist makes the case that the old, stand-by technology of web mail with its extended in-box of calendars, contacts and addresses and “invaluable (and) dynamically updated” information may be the next big thing that makes social networking “end up being everywhere, yet nowhere.”
Side note #1: According to the mammoth advertising agency Universal McCann, the U.S. is no longer the “top dog” in social media adoption. That honor goes to China which has nearly twice as many bloggers (43 Million) as the U.S. (26.4 Million). To add insult to injury, so to speak, social networking sites are growing faster in Brazil, Russia, Taiwan and Mexico (70%) than in the U.S. (49%).
Side note #2: There is a social networking site “designed to empower journalists to discover, organize and rank the most important news” – Publish2.com. But it only is the tip of the iceberg. Website doshdosh.com has put together a list of more than 380 ‘social news websites’ but with a top 40 list that includes everything from Reddit, Digg, Propeller, Fark and Newsvine to Indianpad, Hugg, Plime, Nowpublic, Truemors, Stumbleupon and I Am Bored. You can get the complete list at: http://www.doshdosh.com/list-of-social-media-news-websites/.
Footnote #1: The other social networking sites making the Nielsen Online top ten are Classmates Online (12.9 Million), Windows Live Spaces (7.8 Million), LinkedIn (7.4 Million), AOL Hometown (6 Million), Club Penguin (4.7 Million), Reunion (4.3 Million), AOL Community (3.3 Million), Flixster (2.6 Million) and Buzznet (2.5 Million).
Footnote #2: The top ten blogging sites are Blogger (37.2 Million), WordPress (16.5 Million) Six Apart TypePad (9.6 Million), TMZ (8.1 Million), TheHuffington Post (3.75 Million), LiveJournal (3.7 Million), Gadling (3.6 Million), Thatsfit (2.4 Million), Xanga (2.2 Million) and Engadget (2.1 Million).
KEEPING YOUR FINGER ON THE PULSE: As long as we’re pointing out top sites, we should note the voting is on for the annual Webby awards which are a good indicator of what is going on in the new media world. There are more than 10,000 entries in 70 categories ranging from activism to art, television to telecommunications along with news, social networking and everything in between. The Webby Awards also pick out honorees in each category. In the news category, for example, honorees range from CNBC and Reuters to Democracy Now, which calls itself ‘the war and peace report’ providing “perspectives rarely heard in the U.S. corporate-sponsored media” as well as Orato, which calls itself a ‘pioneering grassroots citizen journalism Web site’ which puts “a human face on the news.” Television honorees include Bravo and the Sundance Channel along with Sony Pictures’ minisode site on MySpace which provides shortened versions of old TV classics and Soap Creative’s Feelsomething.com website which warns that it contains graphic material which some viewers may find “emotive.” Newspaper honorees include U.S. News and World Report, The Washington Post along with New York and British newspapers. Social networking website honorees include CampusU, JDate (a website for Jewish singles), Plentyoffish which is a free online dating service, Bakespace (guess what that’s about) and Wis.dm which asks and answers odd questions. And check out the Best Copy/ Writing honorees for some amazing examples of just that. Actually the point is you should check out virtually all of the Websites to see some of the best creative new media going.
MAYBE I’M GETTING OLD: That’s what I told a colleague after watching the 2007 winners of the YouTube video awards. I watched these for the same reason I looked at the Webby awards, to see what’s ‘hip and happening,’ but I’m not sure I get it with several of the winners. You may be familiar with some of them, including Chocolate Rain, the original song by young Tay Zonday, and Battle at Kruger which shows the clash between a herd of water buffaloes and a pride of lions. In any case, you can check them out for yourself at: http://www.youtube.com/ytawards07winners.
SLAMMING THE SLAMMER: The Federal Communication Commission which investigates broadcast operations, among other things, is the subject of an investigation by the Government Accountability Office which says that the commission doesn’t take enforcement action on four-fifths (83%) of the complaints filed, but even worse says the GAO, it can’t figure out why because the FCC data is so poorly collected. The report said the FCC received about 454,000 complaints from 2003 to 2006 with the number of annual complaints growing from 85,000 to 132,000. The commission opened 46,000 investigations, of which only 9% led to any enforcement action.
Side note: The side note may be more important than the main article. The FCC has decided to change the way it measures broadband. As reported previously in MfM, the commission had been defining ‘high speed’ as 200 kilobits per second, a standard much lower than that used in most other countries and which has subjected the commission reports to criticism. Now, CNET reports, the commission has adopted 768 Kbps, which is the entry-level speed offered by major DSL providers as ‘basic broadband.’ In addition, providers will have to report upload as well as download speeds, and the FCC has broken out the various tiers of service into five levels from the present two-level system.
FACTOID OF THE WEEK: This is a little late to be part of this week, but the factoid has gotten so little coverage and it is so MASSIVE that I think it is worth re-stating. General Motors, the THIRD largest advertiser in the U.S., plans to shift half of its $3 Billion advertising budget from traditional media into digital and one-to-one marketing over the next three years. As Advertising Age reporter Jean Halliday so eloquently put it, “as GM goes, so goes the entire automotive industry.” And that folks is $9.42 Billion in advertising dollars.
COCKTAIL CHATTER: The protests in San Francisco during the Olympic Torch run were apparently organized and orchestrated using the micro-blogging service Twitter, according to Wired Magazine. You may soon be able to plug in and play guitar in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, with a report that the publisher of the Beatles music may agree to a Beatles edition of Guitar Hero, the popular video game franchise. Amazon CEO Jeff Kindle issued a public apology to readers because the company hasn’t been able to keep up with the demand for its e-book reader, Kindle.
YEESH: So, some of you responded to my request to take part in an online survey being conducted by The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, but I need more, please. The school is looking for feedback from people in the industry so it can evaluate its educational goals. Since the promise of my undying gratitude didn’t work, I thought the offer of a drink (when we meet next) might work. At least it did with a certain un-named VP of Marketing. So I thought I would extend the offer to everybody. You can access the survey by copying and pasting the link below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WaF_2f1G6F1rrZ55kJ6ATpVw_3d_3d
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.
SIDENOTES AND FOOTNOTES
KEEPING YOUR FINGER ON THE PULSE
MAYBE I’M GETTING OLD
SLAMMING THE SLAMMER
FACTOID OF THE WEEK -- GM
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.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK ECOSYSTEM: Like politicians talking about issues, recent reports about social networking paint surprisingly different pictures. In a special white paper, the Interactive Advertising Bureau says, “in 2008, if you’re not on a social networking site, you’re not on the Internet” calling social networking “the ultimate manifestation” of User Generated Content (UGC) with “more potential for growth than any other content on the Web today.” The Economist magazine argues that while big media companies have bid up the valuations of major social networking sites to incredible figures, “that does not mean there is a working revenue model” although the magazine says the lack of money does not detract from the fact that social networking has “enormous utility” and is in fact an “ubiquitous part of Internet life.” Both articles, interestingly, refer to social networking as an “ecosystem” and talk about the history of the system, starting with Usenet, Compuserve and Prodigy. (Anybody else remember these services?). Supporting the case made by the IAB is a report by Nielsen Online which notes that while leading social networking site MySpace only grew four percent year to year, that still translates into more than 55.4 Million people and second place site Facebook grew 102% year to year to reach more than 20 Million people. Supporting the case made by The Economist is a report by eMarketer that says that while anybody can become a director or star on the video-sharing sites, “not everyone can make money” because advertisers are shy about being associated with much of the user-generated video because of its low quality, or worse, low standards of taste. The IAB report makes the case that UGC, or as it is sometimes referred to, Consumer Generated Media (CGM) and social networking are intertwined along with blogs and wikis into a “collaborative, collective, customized and shared” model that reaches ‘over a billion content creators and hundreds of millions of distributors.’ It emphasizes sites that include consumer reviews and comments as particularly valuable to advertisers and users. Meanwhile The Economist makes the case that the old, stand-by technology of web mail with its extended in-box of calendars, contacts and addresses and “invaluable (and) dynamically updated” information may be the next big thing that makes social networking “end up being everywhere, yet nowhere.”
Side note #1: According to the mammoth advertising agency Universal McCann, the U.S. is no longer the “top dog” in social media adoption. That honor goes to China which has nearly twice as many bloggers (43 Million) as the U.S. (26.4 Million). To add insult to injury, so to speak, social networking sites are growing faster in Brazil, Russia, Taiwan and Mexico (70%) than in the U.S. (49%).
Side note #2: There is a social networking site “designed to empower journalists to discover, organize and rank the most important news” – Publish2.com. But it only is the tip of the iceberg. Website doshdosh.com has put together a list of more than 380 ‘social news websites’ but with a top 40 list that includes everything from Reddit, Digg, Propeller, Fark and Newsvine to Indianpad, Hugg, Plime, Nowpublic, Truemors, Stumbleupon and I Am Bored. You can get the complete list at: http://www.doshdosh.com/list-of-social-media-news-websites/.
Footnote #1: The other social networking sites making the Nielsen Online top ten are Classmates Online (12.9 Million), Windows Live Spaces (7.8 Million), LinkedIn (7.4 Million), AOL Hometown (6 Million), Club Penguin (4.7 Million), Reunion (4.3 Million), AOL Community (3.3 Million), Flixster (2.6 Million) and Buzznet (2.5 Million).
Footnote #2: The top ten blogging sites are Blogger (37.2 Million), WordPress (16.5 Million) Six Apart TypePad (9.6 Million), TMZ (8.1 Million), TheHuffington Post (3.75 Million), LiveJournal (3.7 Million), Gadling (3.6 Million), Thatsfit (2.4 Million), Xanga (2.2 Million) and Engadget (2.1 Million).
KEEPING YOUR FINGER ON THE PULSE: As long as we’re pointing out top sites, we should note the voting is on for the annual Webby awards which are a good indicator of what is going on in the new media world. There are more than 10,000 entries in 70 categories ranging from activism to art, television to telecommunications along with news, social networking and everything in between. The Webby Awards also pick out honorees in each category. In the news category, for example, honorees range from CNBC and Reuters to Democracy Now, which calls itself ‘the war and peace report’ providing “perspectives rarely heard in the U.S. corporate-sponsored media” as well as Orato, which calls itself a ‘pioneering grassroots citizen journalism Web site’ which puts “a human face on the news.” Television honorees include Bravo and the Sundance Channel along with Sony Pictures’ minisode site on MySpace which provides shortened versions of old TV classics and Soap Creative’s Feelsomething.com website which warns that it contains graphic material which some viewers may find “emotive.” Newspaper honorees include U.S. News and World Report, The Washington Post along with New York and British newspapers. Social networking website honorees include CampusU, JDate (a website for Jewish singles), Plentyoffish which is a free online dating service, Bakespace (guess what that’s about) and Wis.dm which asks and answers odd questions. And check out the Best Copy/ Writing honorees for some amazing examples of just that. Actually the point is you should check out virtually all of the Websites to see some of the best creative new media going.
MAYBE I’M GETTING OLD: That’s what I told a colleague after watching the 2007 winners of the YouTube video awards. I watched these for the same reason I looked at the Webby awards, to see what’s ‘hip and happening,’ but I’m not sure I get it with several of the winners. You may be familiar with some of them, including Chocolate Rain, the original song by young Tay Zonday, and Battle at Kruger which shows the clash between a herd of water buffaloes and a pride of lions. In any case, you can check them out for yourself at: http://www.youtube.com/ytawards07winners.
SLAMMING THE SLAMMER: The Federal Communication Commission which investigates broadcast operations, among other things, is the subject of an investigation by the Government Accountability Office which says that the commission doesn’t take enforcement action on four-fifths (83%) of the complaints filed, but even worse says the GAO, it can’t figure out why because the FCC data is so poorly collected. The report said the FCC received about 454,000 complaints from 2003 to 2006 with the number of annual complaints growing from 85,000 to 132,000. The commission opened 46,000 investigations, of which only 9% led to any enforcement action.
Side note: The side note may be more important than the main article. The FCC has decided to change the way it measures broadband. As reported previously in MfM, the commission had been defining ‘high speed’ as 200 kilobits per second, a standard much lower than that used in most other countries and which has subjected the commission reports to criticism. Now, CNET reports, the commission has adopted 768 Kbps, which is the entry-level speed offered by major DSL providers as ‘basic broadband.’ In addition, providers will have to report upload as well as download speeds, and the FCC has broken out the various tiers of service into five levels from the present two-level system.
FACTOID OF THE WEEK: This is a little late to be part of this week, but the factoid has gotten so little coverage and it is so MASSIVE that I think it is worth re-stating. General Motors, the THIRD largest advertiser in the U.S., plans to shift half of its $3 Billion advertising budget from traditional media into digital and one-to-one marketing over the next three years. As Advertising Age reporter Jean Halliday so eloquently put it, “as GM goes, so goes the entire automotive industry.” And that folks is $9.42 Billion in advertising dollars.
COCKTAIL CHATTER: The protests in San Francisco during the Olympic Torch run were apparently organized and orchestrated using the micro-blogging service Twitter, according to Wired Magazine. You may soon be able to plug in and play guitar in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, with a report that the publisher of the Beatles music may agree to a Beatles edition of Guitar Hero, the popular video game franchise. Amazon CEO Jeff Kindle issued a public apology to readers because the company hasn’t been able to keep up with the demand for its e-book reader, Kindle.
YEESH: So, some of you responded to my request to take part in an online survey being conducted by The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, but I need more, please. The school is looking for feedback from people in the industry so it can evaluate its educational goals. Since the promise of my undying gratitude didn’t work, I thought the offer of a drink (when we meet next) might work. At least it did with a certain un-named VP of Marketing. So I thought I would extend the offer to everybody. You can access the survey by copying and pasting the link below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WaF_2f1G6F1rrZ55kJ6ATpVw_3d_3d
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.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Message From Michael -- April 14, 2008
THE ONLINE CREDIBILITY GAP
NUANCES OF PUBLIC SKEPTICISM
TEN MOST POWERFUL NEWS PEOPLE
FACTOID OF THE WEEK
COCKTAIL CHATTER – SMALLER IS BETTER
ASKING A FAVOR
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.
THE ONLINE CREDIBILITY GAP: That is the title of a survey produced by the Associated Press Managing Editors, but which (as far as I can tell) shows there is no credibility gap. The survey done with the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri compared public opinion with the opinion of newspaper and online editors. For example, on a scale of one to seven, both the editors and the members of the public who are users of online local news (an important distinction) gave a score of six or better to such basics of journalism as verifying information, getting the facts right, correcting mistakes, journalists taking responsibility for accuracy, journalists limiting their roles to independent observers, labeling any commentary and keeping advertising and news clearly separate. Similarly, both the editors (91%) and the public (72%) thought ‘actively seeking viewpoints from people to comment on the news’ would be somewhat or very beneficial to good journalism online; both editors (92%) and the public (73%) thought ‘giving the public ways to provide information for news stories’ would be beneficial; and both editors (88%) and the public (79%) believe ‘enforcing standards on such as crude language and personal attacks’ is important. Interestingly, a slightly higher percentage of the public (74%) than the editors (69%) believed that the same standards should be applied to news produced by citizens as is applied to news written by journalists. Oddly, slightly more of the editors (47%) rated the accuracy of so-called ‘citizen journalism’ as Good compared to the public (37%) which was more likely to rate it Fair (56%) compared to editors (44%). But more of the public rated citizen journalism’s coverage of ‘what is important to the community’ as Excellent (10%), Good (59%) or Fair (31%) compared to editors who rated it Excellent (8%), Good (43%) and Fair (42%). Similarly the public rated citizen journalism higher in terms of ‘coverage of what is of interest to you’ than the editors.
Disclaimers: And they abound. For starters, only three quarters (75%) of the 500 members of the public had Internet access at home and/or at work, although the study authors say this is in line with national figures. Of those who did have access, only a third (32.2% or 161 in actual numbers) qualified as ‘users of local online news.’ Of that number, two thirds (67%) actually sought out the news while a quarter (25%) just happened across it. BUT a whopping third of those surveyed (34.2%) said they did not use local online news ‘AT ALL’ and a somewhat less whopping fifth of the public (22.4%) said they ‘HARDLY EVER’ use online local news. Local TV remained the primary source of local news (47%), followed by newspapers (33%) and with radio (8%) actually beating out the Internet (7%).
NUANCES OF PUBLIC SKEPTICISM: That is how the State of the News Media report describes the public’s view of the news media. (I know, I’m going for the beating a dead horse award in writing yet another story about the report, but really it’s worth it.) The ‘nuance’ comes in the fact that people like what they actually watch, read and know, but they “dislike and distrust the hypothetical monolith – the behemoth called the news media.” The report says the public’s overall view of the news media remains as negative in 2007 as it has been in the past, but the negative view is particularly noticeable in terms of coverage of the presidential campaign, driven in part by the ‘acid’ criticism of mainstream media by bloggers. The report says the political partisanship is creating distinctly different audiences with ideology as strong an indicator of their view of the media as any other basic demographic measure. Most Americans believe journalists are often inaccurate (55%), do not care about the people they report on (53%), are biased (55%), one sided (66%) and try to cover up their mistakes (63%). If it’s any consolation slightly more believe news organizations are moral (46%) than immoral (32%), protect democracy (44%) than hurt it (36%) and are highly professional (66%). The moral percentage is up (although only slightly) in 2007 from when the question was asked in 2005 while the protect democracy percentage is down slightly. But professionalism is up fairly significantly. Further consolation is that substantially more people think well of network news programs (71%) than of Congress (45%), the Democratic Party (55%) or the Republican Party (42%). But again, in keeping with the earlier point, 80% of Americans have a positive view of their LOCAL television news and their LOCAL daily newspaper.
The Internet News Audience: Despite the report above, and just to confuse you further, the Project for Excellence in Journalism report says a quarter of all Americans now get news on a daily basis from the Internet. This audience is also more critical of traditional news sources than other Americans with roughly four out of five having unfavorable opinions of national newspapers, network TV news and cable TV news. Yet the report notes the dichotomy that trust does not necessarily correlate to usage with “some of those most distrustful of media… its heaviest consumers.”
The Kicker: Despite the fact that her program is consistently third in the ratings and despite rumors that she is being ousted, Katie Couric is America’s favorite journalist BUT with only 5% of the survey respondents picking her. Close behind is Bill O’Reilly (4%), Charles Gibson (3%), and Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams and Anderson Cooper all at 2%. What is more significant, says the report, is that none of the on-air journalists have the star power or prominence of their counterparts in the mid-80’s.
TEN MOST POWERFUL NEWS PEOPLE: Topping the TVWeek list is NBC news president Steve Capus who beats out Fox News CEO and Chairman Roger Ailes. Interestingly or oddly, the two simply swapped positions from last year’s ranking. Coming in #3 is ABC news president David Westin, followed by Tim Russert. CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton and CNN/U-S president Jon Klein are lumped together in the fifth position. Then it’s Keith Olbermann, Bill O’Reilly, CBS news and sports president Seam McManus. In ninth place is the N.S. Beinstock agency, with a combination of Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Saturday Night Live’s Amy Poehler coming in tenth because “they get it.” It may say something about the validity of the list that everybody on the list this year, except O’Reilly and Poehler, were on the list last year.
FACTOID OF THE WEEK: The latest report from Nielsen Online says the total number of video streams increased in February to 6.3 Billion (from 6 Billion in January) even though the number of unique video viewers dropped in the shorter February month. YouTube accounted for nearly half of all those video streams (2.9 Billion). Even more significant, the average streams per viewer was up (54.7 from 51.3) and the average time per viewer was up (130.7 minutes from 124.4).
COCKTAIL CHATTER: The Polaroid company which recently stopped making its namesake instant camera has started making a digital version which is a mini, hand-size printer that makes 2x3 inch pictures from your cell phone or digital camera using a new kind of paper labeled Zink. In line with smaller is better, New York Times tech guru David Pogue says ‘one of the most significant electronics products of the year’ is a tiny stripped-down video record the size of a digital camera and called The Flip which, he says, looks like a ‘cheesy toy’ but is the ‘purest essence of video capture.’ Despite the drop in consumer confidence and buying, consumer research firm BigResearch says one in ten Americans (10.6%) plan to buy a TV in the next six months, (possibly because of the digital conversion?). And in its monthly report of What’s Hot, the firm says cooking at home ‘Energy Star’ appliances, bike riding and gardening are rated particularly high among consumers. Finally, the U.S. Government’s Homeland Security agency is getting into the business of text messaging on cell phones sending out security alerts.
And in a category not exactly Cocktail Chatter is an online simulation game named Station Manager where you take control of a small, independent TV station about to go bankrupt. You have to decide on the programming offerings, arrange the advertising deals, figure out the promotional schedule, and even produce your own programming if you don’t like the choices. The website is tvstationmanager.com, and the price for downloading it is $19.95. (Thanks to Todd Fantz of Intelligent Media Consultants for this tip.)
ASKING A FAVOR: Okay, folks, this is a blatant request for help from all of my friends, semi-friends, acquaintances and casual readers of my weekly newsletter. The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is conducting an online survey to evaluate its educational goals and it wants feedback from professionals like you. I promise it will only take a few minutes and you will have my undying gratitude. Okay, that may be a little overboard, but seriously it will be appreciated. The survey is done through Survey Monkey and you can access it by either linking to or copying and pasting the following address:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WaF_2f1G6F1rrZ55kJ6ATpVw_3d_3d
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.
NUANCES OF PUBLIC SKEPTICISM
TEN MOST POWERFUL NEWS PEOPLE
FACTOID OF THE WEEK
COCKTAIL CHATTER – SMALLER IS BETTER
ASKING A FAVOR
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.
THE ONLINE CREDIBILITY GAP: That is the title of a survey produced by the Associated Press Managing Editors, but which (as far as I can tell) shows there is no credibility gap. The survey done with the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri compared public opinion with the opinion of newspaper and online editors. For example, on a scale of one to seven, both the editors and the members of the public who are users of online local news (an important distinction) gave a score of six or better to such basics of journalism as verifying information, getting the facts right, correcting mistakes, journalists taking responsibility for accuracy, journalists limiting their roles to independent observers, labeling any commentary and keeping advertising and news clearly separate. Similarly, both the editors (91%) and the public (72%) thought ‘actively seeking viewpoints from people to comment on the news’ would be somewhat or very beneficial to good journalism online; both editors (92%) and the public (73%) thought ‘giving the public ways to provide information for news stories’ would be beneficial; and both editors (88%) and the public (79%) believe ‘enforcing standards on such as crude language and personal attacks’ is important. Interestingly, a slightly higher percentage of the public (74%) than the editors (69%) believed that the same standards should be applied to news produced by citizens as is applied to news written by journalists. Oddly, slightly more of the editors (47%) rated the accuracy of so-called ‘citizen journalism’ as Good compared to the public (37%) which was more likely to rate it Fair (56%) compared to editors (44%). But more of the public rated citizen journalism’s coverage of ‘what is important to the community’ as Excellent (10%), Good (59%) or Fair (31%) compared to editors who rated it Excellent (8%), Good (43%) and Fair (42%). Similarly the public rated citizen journalism higher in terms of ‘coverage of what is of interest to you’ than the editors.
Disclaimers: And they abound. For starters, only three quarters (75%) of the 500 members of the public had Internet access at home and/or at work, although the study authors say this is in line with national figures. Of those who did have access, only a third (32.2% or 161 in actual numbers) qualified as ‘users of local online news.’ Of that number, two thirds (67%) actually sought out the news while a quarter (25%) just happened across it. BUT a whopping third of those surveyed (34.2%) said they did not use local online news ‘AT ALL’ and a somewhat less whopping fifth of the public (22.4%) said they ‘HARDLY EVER’ use online local news. Local TV remained the primary source of local news (47%), followed by newspapers (33%) and with radio (8%) actually beating out the Internet (7%).
NUANCES OF PUBLIC SKEPTICISM: That is how the State of the News Media report describes the public’s view of the news media. (I know, I’m going for the beating a dead horse award in writing yet another story about the report, but really it’s worth it.) The ‘nuance’ comes in the fact that people like what they actually watch, read and know, but they “dislike and distrust the hypothetical monolith – the behemoth called the news media.” The report says the public’s overall view of the news media remains as negative in 2007 as it has been in the past, but the negative view is particularly noticeable in terms of coverage of the presidential campaign, driven in part by the ‘acid’ criticism of mainstream media by bloggers. The report says the political partisanship is creating distinctly different audiences with ideology as strong an indicator of their view of the media as any other basic demographic measure. Most Americans believe journalists are often inaccurate (55%), do not care about the people they report on (53%), are biased (55%), one sided (66%) and try to cover up their mistakes (63%). If it’s any consolation slightly more believe news organizations are moral (46%) than immoral (32%), protect democracy (44%) than hurt it (36%) and are highly professional (66%). The moral percentage is up (although only slightly) in 2007 from when the question was asked in 2005 while the protect democracy percentage is down slightly. But professionalism is up fairly significantly. Further consolation is that substantially more people think well of network news programs (71%) than of Congress (45%), the Democratic Party (55%) or the Republican Party (42%). But again, in keeping with the earlier point, 80% of Americans have a positive view of their LOCAL television news and their LOCAL daily newspaper.
The Internet News Audience: Despite the report above, and just to confuse you further, the Project for Excellence in Journalism report says a quarter of all Americans now get news on a daily basis from the Internet. This audience is also more critical of traditional news sources than other Americans with roughly four out of five having unfavorable opinions of national newspapers, network TV news and cable TV news. Yet the report notes the dichotomy that trust does not necessarily correlate to usage with “some of those most distrustful of media… its heaviest consumers.”
The Kicker: Despite the fact that her program is consistently third in the ratings and despite rumors that she is being ousted, Katie Couric is America’s favorite journalist BUT with only 5% of the survey respondents picking her. Close behind is Bill O’Reilly (4%), Charles Gibson (3%), and Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams and Anderson Cooper all at 2%. What is more significant, says the report, is that none of the on-air journalists have the star power or prominence of their counterparts in the mid-80’s.
TEN MOST POWERFUL NEWS PEOPLE: Topping the TVWeek list is NBC news president Steve Capus who beats out Fox News CEO and Chairman Roger Ailes. Interestingly or oddly, the two simply swapped positions from last year’s ranking. Coming in #3 is ABC news president David Westin, followed by Tim Russert. CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton and CNN/U-S president Jon Klein are lumped together in the fifth position. Then it’s Keith Olbermann, Bill O’Reilly, CBS news and sports president Seam McManus. In ninth place is the N.S. Beinstock agency, with a combination of Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Saturday Night Live’s Amy Poehler coming in tenth because “they get it.” It may say something about the validity of the list that everybody on the list this year, except O’Reilly and Poehler, were on the list last year.
FACTOID OF THE WEEK: The latest report from Nielsen Online says the total number of video streams increased in February to 6.3 Billion (from 6 Billion in January) even though the number of unique video viewers dropped in the shorter February month. YouTube accounted for nearly half of all those video streams (2.9 Billion). Even more significant, the average streams per viewer was up (54.7 from 51.3) and the average time per viewer was up (130.7 minutes from 124.4).
COCKTAIL CHATTER: The Polaroid company which recently stopped making its namesake instant camera has started making a digital version which is a mini, hand-size printer that makes 2x3 inch pictures from your cell phone or digital camera using a new kind of paper labeled Zink. In line with smaller is better, New York Times tech guru David Pogue says ‘one of the most significant electronics products of the year’ is a tiny stripped-down video record the size of a digital camera and called The Flip which, he says, looks like a ‘cheesy toy’ but is the ‘purest essence of video capture.’ Despite the drop in consumer confidence and buying, consumer research firm BigResearch says one in ten Americans (10.6%) plan to buy a TV in the next six months, (possibly because of the digital conversion?). And in its monthly report of What’s Hot, the firm says cooking at home ‘Energy Star’ appliances, bike riding and gardening are rated particularly high among consumers. Finally, the U.S. Government’s Homeland Security agency is getting into the business of text messaging on cell phones sending out security alerts.
And in a category not exactly Cocktail Chatter is an online simulation game named Station Manager where you take control of a small, independent TV station about to go bankrupt. You have to decide on the programming offerings, arrange the advertising deals, figure out the promotional schedule, and even produce your own programming if you don’t like the choices. The website is tvstationmanager.com, and the price for downloading it is $19.95. (Thanks to Todd Fantz of Intelligent Media Consultants for this tip.)
ASKING A FAVOR: Okay, folks, this is a blatant request for help from all of my friends, semi-friends, acquaintances and casual readers of my weekly newsletter. The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is conducting an online survey to evaluate its educational goals and it wants feedback from professionals like you. I promise it will only take a few minutes and you will have my undying gratitude. Okay, that may be a little overboard, but seriously it will be appreciated. The survey is done through Survey Monkey and you can access it by either linking to or copying and pasting the following address:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WaF_2f1G6F1rrZ55kJ6ATpVw_3d_3d
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.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Message From Michael -- April 7, 2008
A SNAPSHOT OF BLOGGERS AND JOURNALISTS
DON’T CONFUSE ME WITH FACTS
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW
DAMNING WITH FAINT PRAISE
THEY’RE THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST
CONGRATULATIONS
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.
A SNAPSHOT OF BLOGGERS AND JOURNALISTS: More than half of the bloggers (53.2%) who took part in a recent PR Week/ PR Newswire survey say they do NOT consider themselves journalists even though a nearly equal percentage (50.6%) had worked for a traditional publication. Of course the number of actual bloggers surveyed was small (79). But even so, with many traditional media Websites beginning to resemble blogs or newsletters, the COO of PR Newswire argues that “the definition of who is a journalist is blurring.” Most of those surveyed (1,152) were ‘traditional journalists.’ Of them, only a fifth (21%) say they write a blog for their traditional outlet. In what one analyst called a surprising streak of optimism, three out of five (63.5%) of the magazine and print journalists surveyed say their publication will continue indefinitely. It probably says something that less than one in ten (9.3%) of those surveyed are in TV news. Most (41.3%) worked for either newspapers or magazines (29.5%). The others either worked for Online Websites or were bloggers or were employed at radio stations (5.4%). A quarter of those surveyed (25.5%) say they have a profile on MySpace, slightly more (29%) on Facebook and even more (32.3%) are on LinkedIn. It also probably says something (and again I’m not sure what) that nearly three quarters (70.1%) say they “measure the success of their work” by the feedback they get from colleagues while half (50%) say it comes from readers online while less than half (41.8%) cite links from other media and slightly fewer (38.1%) cite having their story on the most read or most e-mailed list. The PR survey also confirms an observation about the increasing emphasis on the business side of journalism from the previous two weeks’ MfM’s on the State of the News Media report, with more than nine in 10 (91.4%) of those surveyed saying it is ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ important that their work make their operations financially successful ‘by creating appealing content.’
Trends of Note: Website Gawker uses a ‘pay-for-page-views’ approach to compensation with bloggers and journalists. The report says despite the immediate measurability of story interest because of Internet postings, a third of those surveyed (30.1%) say it is unlikely that sites will adopt the Gawker Website model although a fifth (18.4%) say they can see that happening. Meanwhile the report notes the move by Politicker.com which is developing a Web-only news organization to cover this year’s Presidential election. The website has already launched operations in 10 states so far and is planning to have websites for all 50 states with ‘reporters’ covering those states each day.
DON’T CONFUSE ME WITH FACTS: My mind is made up. An analysis of news consumption by a professor at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University Of Georgia seems to confirm that cynical saying. But there is a twist to it. Barry Hollander says that “changes in the mass media resemble that seen in day-to-day conversations.” People want to talk with people like themselves. Hollander’s analysis goes several steps further in looking at data that conservatives tend to watch so-called conservative newscasts (aka Republicans and Fox News) and liberals tend to watch liberal news media (Democrats and CNN). Hollander says ‘partisans’ – people who strongly identify with one political party or the other – watch more news than non-partisans and have actually increased their news consumption. But he says there has been a “slow, steady shift” by those same partisans (both Republicans and Democrats) toward news that confirms their beliefs and away from news that challenges those beliefs. Meanwhile, people with fewer partisan ties have ‘migrated’ to entertainment programming, with “growing evidence that the high-choice media environment has drained significant numbers of casual consumers from news to more entertainment-oriented fare.” Hollander quotes earlier studies warning that advertisers and media companies will create ‘the electronic equivalent of gated communities.’ Hollander says the hopes that mass media would provide a counter-weight to people’s growing homogenization of viewpoints “appear dim.”
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?: If you live in West Palm Beach, the answer is a resounding YES, according to Nielsen Media Research. It named West Palm as the best place for voice network service in the country, followed by San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Chicago, Jacksonville, Minneapolis, Houston, Miami and Orlando. Oddly enough (as always, to me at least) none of those cities scored in the top ten when it came to what is commonly called Wi-Fi accessibility. The fastest 3G Data city in the U.S., according to Nielsen, is St. Louis, followed by Salt Lake City, Phoenix, San Diego, Indianapolis, Providence, Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington and Greensboro-Winston-Salem. In the top ten voice networks, only 0.3% of all calls in these cities were dropped. And at 807 kilobits per second, St. Louis’s average download speed was 17% higher than the 9th ranked Washington, DC. Nielsen says it collected the data using a fleet of 25 vans logging more than a million miles, placing over 4 Million calls and setting up more than 1.25 Million data sessions.
DAMNING WITH FAINT PRAISE: That’s the phrase that comes to mind when one reads the February ratings analysis by the Katz Television Group. According to them, local TV lost less of its late news audience following the writers’ strike than their network partners lost in the prime-time half hour leading up to the late news. As reported by Michelle Greppi in TVWeek, local newscasts showed “an unexpected durability.” The report quotes Bill Carroll, VP and director of Programming for Katz, as saying that the relevance of network lead-in is “less impactful” than it was 10 years ago on local news as people increasingly watch programs and not stations. Carroll is quoted as saying he believes stations can make up the strike-related losses. I should note the previous week’s MfM’s on the State of the News Media which showed a general decline in network and local TV news over the past several years, although interestingly enough the February ratings comparison (2006 to 2007) was more often flat than down, compared to the other rating periods.
THEY’RE THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST: In American television, according to that same ratings analysis by the Katz Television Group. The #1 rated 5 a.m. newscast in America is KPLC/ Lake Charles, Louisiana with an 8.7 Rating/ 67 share in Households. The #1 rated 6 a.m. newscast in America is WBKO/ Bowling Green, Kentucky with a 21.7 rating and a 71 share. The #1 rated 5pm newscast in the country is KAIT/ Jonesboro, Arkansas, with a 28.6 rating and a 57 Share. The #1 rated 6pm newscast is WAGM/ Presque Isle, Maine, with a 36.7 rating and a 62 share. And the #1 rated late news (11pm and 10pm) is WTAP/ Parkersburg, West Virginia which had a 19.1 rating and a 59 share. As a reminder to my non-broadcast brethren, rating represents the percentage of ALL television sets in the market tuned to the station while share represents the percent of ALL television sets actually ON that are tuned to the station. Also, as a caveat, I should note that many of the stations that score high are in one-station markets. And as a further caveat, I should note these are numbers based on total households and NOT on the specific demographics which advertisers are so interested in… although there is often a correlation between the two.
Considering last week’s MfM about the State of the News Media in which it was noted that several stations are shifting their newscasts to other time periods, it is interesting to note just how many of those stations there are, according to the Katz numbers. There are 70 stations with a 4 p.m. newscast. There are 42 stations with a 7 p.m. newscast. And there are 25 stations with a 4:30 p.m. newscast. Remember, there are more than 500 stations ranked by Katz with a 6pm and just under 500 5pm newscasts. I would note that the #1 4pm newscast in America, KWES/ Odessa Midland, scored a 7.8/25 which would have ranked it somewhere around 100 in the 5pm list. And the #1 7pm newscast in America, WLUC/ Marquette, scored a 16.4/30 (barely beating out WIS/ Columbia at 16.3/30); and in the 6pm rankings, that would have put it at about the 80 spot. Of course, there are all kinds of caveats, but the numbers provide some interesting fodder for those looking at the time slots.
CONGRATULATIONS: Now, if I were a ‘smart’ consultant, I would note all of my client stations that scored at the top of the list… and, promptly, take credit for it. Modesty, and honesty, forbids. However, I would extend congratulations to WAFB and Nick Simonette, Vicki Zimmerman, Andre Zamarlik; WDAM and Jim Cameron, Randy Swan, Miranda Beard and Pam McGovern; WTVM and Lee Brantley, Anne Holmes and Brian Correll; KFVS and Mike Smythe, Mark Little and Paul Keener; KPLC and Jim Serra, Scott Flannigan, Tim Bourgeois, and Robin Daugereau; KTRE and Artie Bedard, Tina Alexander Sellers, Jim Moore and Mike Wiggins; and WECT and Raeford Brown, David Toma and the late Karl Davis, whom I still remember fondly. All of them scored very high on the Katz list and well above their market size for different newscasts. And as to those former clients who scored well… Well, Congratulations, too.
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.
DON’T CONFUSE ME WITH FACTS
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW
DAMNING WITH FAINT PRAISE
THEY’RE THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST
CONGRATULATIONS
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.
A SNAPSHOT OF BLOGGERS AND JOURNALISTS: More than half of the bloggers (53.2%) who took part in a recent PR Week/ PR Newswire survey say they do NOT consider themselves journalists even though a nearly equal percentage (50.6%) had worked for a traditional publication. Of course the number of actual bloggers surveyed was small (79). But even so, with many traditional media Websites beginning to resemble blogs or newsletters, the COO of PR Newswire argues that “the definition of who is a journalist is blurring.” Most of those surveyed (1,152) were ‘traditional journalists.’ Of them, only a fifth (21%) say they write a blog for their traditional outlet. In what one analyst called a surprising streak of optimism, three out of five (63.5%) of the magazine and print journalists surveyed say their publication will continue indefinitely. It probably says something that less than one in ten (9.3%) of those surveyed are in TV news. Most (41.3%) worked for either newspapers or magazines (29.5%). The others either worked for Online Websites or were bloggers or were employed at radio stations (5.4%). A quarter of those surveyed (25.5%) say they have a profile on MySpace, slightly more (29%) on Facebook and even more (32.3%) are on LinkedIn. It also probably says something (and again I’m not sure what) that nearly three quarters (70.1%) say they “measure the success of their work” by the feedback they get from colleagues while half (50%) say it comes from readers online while less than half (41.8%) cite links from other media and slightly fewer (38.1%) cite having their story on the most read or most e-mailed list. The PR survey also confirms an observation about the increasing emphasis on the business side of journalism from the previous two weeks’ MfM’s on the State of the News Media report, with more than nine in 10 (91.4%) of those surveyed saying it is ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ important that their work make their operations financially successful ‘by creating appealing content.’
Trends of Note: Website Gawker uses a ‘pay-for-page-views’ approach to compensation with bloggers and journalists. The report says despite the immediate measurability of story interest because of Internet postings, a third of those surveyed (30.1%) say it is unlikely that sites will adopt the Gawker Website model although a fifth (18.4%) say they can see that happening. Meanwhile the report notes the move by Politicker.com which is developing a Web-only news organization to cover this year’s Presidential election. The website has already launched operations in 10 states so far and is planning to have websites for all 50 states with ‘reporters’ covering those states each day.
DON’T CONFUSE ME WITH FACTS: My mind is made up. An analysis of news consumption by a professor at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University Of Georgia seems to confirm that cynical saying. But there is a twist to it. Barry Hollander says that “changes in the mass media resemble that seen in day-to-day conversations.” People want to talk with people like themselves. Hollander’s analysis goes several steps further in looking at data that conservatives tend to watch so-called conservative newscasts (aka Republicans and Fox News) and liberals tend to watch liberal news media (Democrats and CNN). Hollander says ‘partisans’ – people who strongly identify with one political party or the other – watch more news than non-partisans and have actually increased their news consumption. But he says there has been a “slow, steady shift” by those same partisans (both Republicans and Democrats) toward news that confirms their beliefs and away from news that challenges those beliefs. Meanwhile, people with fewer partisan ties have ‘migrated’ to entertainment programming, with “growing evidence that the high-choice media environment has drained significant numbers of casual consumers from news to more entertainment-oriented fare.” Hollander quotes earlier studies warning that advertisers and media companies will create ‘the electronic equivalent of gated communities.’ Hollander says the hopes that mass media would provide a counter-weight to people’s growing homogenization of viewpoints “appear dim.”
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?: If you live in West Palm Beach, the answer is a resounding YES, according to Nielsen Media Research. It named West Palm as the best place for voice network service in the country, followed by San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Chicago, Jacksonville, Minneapolis, Houston, Miami and Orlando. Oddly enough (as always, to me at least) none of those cities scored in the top ten when it came to what is commonly called Wi-Fi accessibility. The fastest 3G Data city in the U.S., according to Nielsen, is St. Louis, followed by Salt Lake City, Phoenix, San Diego, Indianapolis, Providence, Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington and Greensboro-Winston-Salem. In the top ten voice networks, only 0.3% of all calls in these cities were dropped. And at 807 kilobits per second, St. Louis’s average download speed was 17% higher than the 9th ranked Washington, DC. Nielsen says it collected the data using a fleet of 25 vans logging more than a million miles, placing over 4 Million calls and setting up more than 1.25 Million data sessions.
DAMNING WITH FAINT PRAISE: That’s the phrase that comes to mind when one reads the February ratings analysis by the Katz Television Group. According to them, local TV lost less of its late news audience following the writers’ strike than their network partners lost in the prime-time half hour leading up to the late news. As reported by Michelle Greppi in TVWeek, local newscasts showed “an unexpected durability.” The report quotes Bill Carroll, VP and director of Programming for Katz, as saying that the relevance of network lead-in is “less impactful” than it was 10 years ago on local news as people increasingly watch programs and not stations. Carroll is quoted as saying he believes stations can make up the strike-related losses. I should note the previous week’s MfM’s on the State of the News Media which showed a general decline in network and local TV news over the past several years, although interestingly enough the February ratings comparison (2006 to 2007) was more often flat than down, compared to the other rating periods.
THEY’RE THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST: In American television, according to that same ratings analysis by the Katz Television Group. The #1 rated 5 a.m. newscast in America is KPLC/ Lake Charles, Louisiana with an 8.7 Rating/ 67 share in Households. The #1 rated 6 a.m. newscast in America is WBKO/ Bowling Green, Kentucky with a 21.7 rating and a 71 share. The #1 rated 5pm newscast in the country is KAIT/ Jonesboro, Arkansas, with a 28.6 rating and a 57 Share. The #1 rated 6pm newscast is WAGM/ Presque Isle, Maine, with a 36.7 rating and a 62 share. And the #1 rated late news (11pm and 10pm) is WTAP/ Parkersburg, West Virginia which had a 19.1 rating and a 59 share. As a reminder to my non-broadcast brethren, rating represents the percentage of ALL television sets in the market tuned to the station while share represents the percent of ALL television sets actually ON that are tuned to the station. Also, as a caveat, I should note that many of the stations that score high are in one-station markets. And as a further caveat, I should note these are numbers based on total households and NOT on the specific demographics which advertisers are so interested in… although there is often a correlation between the two.
Considering last week’s MfM about the State of the News Media in which it was noted that several stations are shifting their newscasts to other time periods, it is interesting to note just how many of those stations there are, according to the Katz numbers. There are 70 stations with a 4 p.m. newscast. There are 42 stations with a 7 p.m. newscast. And there are 25 stations with a 4:30 p.m. newscast. Remember, there are more than 500 stations ranked by Katz with a 6pm and just under 500 5pm newscasts. I would note that the #1 4pm newscast in America, KWES/ Odessa Midland, scored a 7.8/25 which would have ranked it somewhere around 100 in the 5pm list. And the #1 7pm newscast in America, WLUC/ Marquette, scored a 16.4/30 (barely beating out WIS/ Columbia at 16.3/30); and in the 6pm rankings, that would have put it at about the 80 spot. Of course, there are all kinds of caveats, but the numbers provide some interesting fodder for those looking at the time slots.
CONGRATULATIONS: Now, if I were a ‘smart’ consultant, I would note all of my client stations that scored at the top of the list… and, promptly, take credit for it. Modesty, and honesty, forbids. However, I would extend congratulations to WAFB and Nick Simonette, Vicki Zimmerman, Andre Zamarlik; WDAM and Jim Cameron, Randy Swan, Miranda Beard and Pam McGovern; WTVM and Lee Brantley, Anne Holmes and Brian Correll; KFVS and Mike Smythe, Mark Little and Paul Keener; KPLC and Jim Serra, Scott Flannigan, Tim Bourgeois, and Robin Daugereau; KTRE and Artie Bedard, Tina Alexander Sellers, Jim Moore and Mike Wiggins; and WECT and Raeford Brown, David Toma and the late Karl Davis, whom I still remember fondly. All of them scored very high on the Katz list and well above their market size for different newscasts. And as to those former clients who scored well… Well, Congratulations, too.
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.
Message From Michael -- State of News Media - 2nd Edition - March 31, 2008
THE STATE OF THE NEWS MEDIA – 2ND EDITION
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FOREWORD: There was so much information in the State of the News Media report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism that, as promised last week, I had to do more. After all, boiling 180,000 words into 1,500 or so last week and 2,000 or so this week still means my summary is only 1.5% of the total. So no doubt distortions abound, but here goes.
THE HEADLINES: (Or, the basic points). Despite declines in ratings, Local TV news remains “one of the few sources of news that continues to be popular.” Despite drops in circulation, “print pages… still provided information that was harder to find elsewhere.” Despite the growth of Online news, “there are increasing concerns about the Web’s ability to meet the news industry’s financial challenges.” Despite audience drop-offs in 2006, Cable TV experienced growth again in 2007 but instead of spikes from major events as in the past, the growth has been in prime time programming “built around a cast of hosts.” The Network evening newscast numbers fell yet again with the ‘decline accelerating’ and the Network morning ‘news’ also fell for the third year in a row with a ‘general decline’ in network offerings. Newspapers are not dead because “print readership is not falling as fast as print circulation” thanks in part to new measurement tools; but with a demographic decline in print use newspapers will continue migrating to the younger-skewing Online product. News remains an important part of Radio with an impressive following (93.3% of all those over the age of 12 in the U.S.) although it has been falling slightly.
THE FACTOIDS: (Or, things I found interesting). Of all the news media categories, the Internet has the greatest amount of, and focus on, International News. This may have been obvious to the many people smarter than me, but the reason is the global reach of Internet operations like Google, Yahoo and AOL. But it also appears to apply to Online news-sites affiliated with established news networks, like MSNBC, ABCNews.com and CBSNews.com. The report, as noted before, re-emphasizes the importance of newspapers as primary news gatherers for all media and cites, in particular, how newspapers were focusing on the economy months before other news organizations jumped on the bandwagon. The other two issues that were strengths of newspapers were their focus on health care policy and the greater geographic range of coverage involving foreign affairs not involving the U.S. In the Cable news arena, it was probably obvious (again, to everybody but me) but still struck me as insightful that the hosts were a strong, if not primary factor, in setting the news agenda, to the point that there were significant differences in news selection even when it was the same Cable news operations. The report makes the observation that Network news are the last place in television news where the correspondent is a key participant in the newscast “which is build around their written, vetted and produced story packages where words and pictures are carefully matched” as opposed to most other television news which have moved toward “more extemporaneous news delivery.”
THE IMMEDIATE POSSIBILITIES: (Or, trends and what’s happening now). In Local TV, the report notes many stations are opting for different times for their early evening news such as 4pm and 7pm in large part because people either are not home, eating dinner or opting not to watch during the traditional dinner hour. In fact the report says there is a general drop off in people watching any TV (local or network), not just news. The study analysis says the same drop-off occurring between 5pm and 7pm is also occurring at 4pm and 7pm while the morning news audience is at least holding on to its audience. The report recommends Local TV capitalize on its strengths of “content and reach” as it battles with new technology. On the radio side, the report says “the audience for what was once called radio is rising and fragmenting.” It uses the phrase ‘what was once called radio’ because of the different delivery technologies. In the Online news world, the report cites the growth in Online video use following the growth in Broadband accessibility although it notes there are conflicting studies about just how much growth there is. Interestingly enough, the report cites a Dow Jones study that more venture capital money is being invested into online video ventures, maybe because (citing other studies) ‘everyone, with the exception of young adults’ is interested in Online video. All the studies also agree that news beats out comedy, movies, music and sports. In Newspapers, not surprisingly, the report just re-emphasized the trend to a print-online combination which, the report noted, reaches three-quarters of adults “one way or the other.” It also noted though that many newspapers are trimming down the geographic distribution of their print product into ‘distant areas.’ It should be noted that the Big Dailies’ free newspapers that were hailed in previous reports as a future trend are dying off.
THE LONG-TERM POSSIBILITIES: (Or, ideas weird and wonderful). It starts with a big “IF”, but the report says the survival of the network news divisions may depend on them “liberating themselves from the broadcast television platform on which they were founded and even perhaps from the networks themselves.” Instead, the report says the Network news divisions may be better able to survive as “video newsgathering organizations” who supply their products on demand on many platforms, not just broadcast television. The reason for the “if” is the premise that the problems of network news may be attributable to the decline in the overall audience of broadcast network television rather than there being anything ‘wrong’ with the actual newscasts themselves. On the Radio side of the equation, the report has some similar equivocations before offering the idea of Cell Phone Radio as the New Frontier and potential future audio format in addition to AM/FM, HD Radio, Satellite Radio, Podcasting and even wireless Internet radio. The report says it is hard to ignore the fact that we have become a “cell phone nation” with four out of five people subscribed to some type of wireless service and a third expressing interest in cell radio (of course that leaves two-thirds not interested). The report, of course, focuses on the migration of the Newspaper product to the Internet, but it also raises the idea of a hybrid platform version with a three or four day print edition for weekends when people have more time and interest in reading newspapers and the advertising inserts, coupled with an Online edition during the work week when people have less time and, to some extent, less interest. On the Internet, the report talks about “disaggregation” with Widgets (mentioned in previous MfM’s) using embedded coding bringing in live content from third-party sites. The reasoning is that Websites need to get away from the “walled garden” mentality of creating restrictive Websites that are so site-centric that they don’t recognize the ‘side door’ ways people get to their site (primarily links and search). In Local television, the report notes the “fair amount” of movement toward multi-media and cites as a trend to watch, stations assembling Website newscasts “to offer the latest developments online.”
THE QUOTES: In the Online news world, the study authors say the three keywords describing the climate are – assimilation, acquisition and partnership – as major media players scramble to capture some of the growing audience for news sites. In a similar style of Three’s, the report says Radio is, “at its core, a medium of three P’s – personality, persuasion and polarization” with news events “run through an ideological filter used to create a narrative about good guys and bad guys.” What may be my favorite quote of the report was on newspapers which the study authors say, “are still far from dead, but the language of the obituary is creeping in.” In Cable TV, “more than any other medium we have studied, the definition of news depends on the outlet.” (And in case you’re wondering, it was MSNBC for politics, Fox for crime and CNN for foreign policy.) And in the category of ‘do-you-think?’ the report says Local TV, challenged by cable, satellite and mobile devices, “is beginning to take the Internet more seriously.”
THE ODDITIES: (Or, the huh?, of the report). In all of the media categories there is a content analysis sub-section… except for Local TV which had no content analysis. When I queried the folks at PEJ, a content analyst for the group said it was because it was “a very difficult sector to monitor… (that) is costly and logistically challenging” although he notes they did do one in 2000 and other members of the PEJ staff have written a book, “We Interrupt This Newscast” which looks at local news. Equally puzzling (to me at least) it seems (again, to me at least) that the report spends more time talking about HD Radio than it does on HDTV. In a similar vein, the report spends an inordinate amount of ink on Katie Couric, with very little comment about the other network anchors. Interestingly the report notes that Couric, who was noted for her signature interviews, is actually doing half the number of on-set interviews as her rivals, now that CBS has revised the program. The report says its study of network TV was the most comprehensive to date, but as an observation (disclaimer – personal opinion) the network TV section had a lot of just ‘gossip’ reporting about personalities, it seemed to me. The report notes that the traditional 22-minute news-hole on the half-hour evening news has shrunk to 18.9 minutes on NBC, 18.7 minutes on CBS and 18.1 minutes on ABC. The report says there are two distinct parts of the Cable TV News Day – daytime focused on crime and celebrity and night-time focused on controversial topics that “suits the particular audience that tunes in to each channel.” And, again in the category of things I didn’t think of, but other people smarter than me probably did… the report cites as one of the reasons for the decline in newspaper circulation the federal Do Not Call legislation which has tripled the cost of phone solicitation for newspaper subscriptions.
THE DISCLAIMER: My Message normally comes out on Monday mornings, but this is late because a) I wanted to get a response from PEJ about the Local TV content analysis and, more to the point, b) there is an awful lot of information to assimilate… and I’m still assimilating it.
CONGRATULATIONS: Only tangentially related to state of the news media report, the Peabody Awards were announced this week – another excuse for my report being late. Congratulations to my friends at WSLS in Roanoke for their coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy as well as the folks at WFAA in Dallas which won a Peabody for their FOUR investigative pieces looking at everything from the U.S. import-export bank to the police department that “got too cozy” with the TV sexual predator sting operation. Congratulations also to WTAE in Pittsburgh for its fight for open records and KNXV in Phoenix for its investigation into security lapses at the airport. In all there were 35 recipients of the awards administered by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
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.
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.
FOREWORD: There was so much information in the State of the News Media report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism that, as promised last week, I had to do more. After all, boiling 180,000 words into 1,500 or so last week and 2,000 or so this week still means my summary is only 1.5% of the total. So no doubt distortions abound, but here goes.
THE HEADLINES: (Or, the basic points). Despite declines in ratings, Local TV news remains “one of the few sources of news that continues to be popular.” Despite drops in circulation, “print pages… still provided information that was harder to find elsewhere.” Despite the growth of Online news, “there are increasing concerns about the Web’s ability to meet the news industry’s financial challenges.” Despite audience drop-offs in 2006, Cable TV experienced growth again in 2007 but instead of spikes from major events as in the past, the growth has been in prime time programming “built around a cast of hosts.” The Network evening newscast numbers fell yet again with the ‘decline accelerating’ and the Network morning ‘news’ also fell for the third year in a row with a ‘general decline’ in network offerings. Newspapers are not dead because “print readership is not falling as fast as print circulation” thanks in part to new measurement tools; but with a demographic decline in print use newspapers will continue migrating to the younger-skewing Online product. News remains an important part of Radio with an impressive following (93.3% of all those over the age of 12 in the U.S.) although it has been falling slightly.
THE FACTOIDS: (Or, things I found interesting). Of all the news media categories, the Internet has the greatest amount of, and focus on, International News. This may have been obvious to the many people smarter than me, but the reason is the global reach of Internet operations like Google, Yahoo and AOL. But it also appears to apply to Online news-sites affiliated with established news networks, like MSNBC, ABCNews.com and CBSNews.com. The report, as noted before, re-emphasizes the importance of newspapers as primary news gatherers for all media and cites, in particular, how newspapers were focusing on the economy months before other news organizations jumped on the bandwagon. The other two issues that were strengths of newspapers were their focus on health care policy and the greater geographic range of coverage involving foreign affairs not involving the U.S. In the Cable news arena, it was probably obvious (again, to everybody but me) but still struck me as insightful that the hosts were a strong, if not primary factor, in setting the news agenda, to the point that there were significant differences in news selection even when it was the same Cable news operations. The report makes the observation that Network news are the last place in television news where the correspondent is a key participant in the newscast “which is build around their written, vetted and produced story packages where words and pictures are carefully matched” as opposed to most other television news which have moved toward “more extemporaneous news delivery.”
THE IMMEDIATE POSSIBILITIES: (Or, trends and what’s happening now). In Local TV, the report notes many stations are opting for different times for their early evening news such as 4pm and 7pm in large part because people either are not home, eating dinner or opting not to watch during the traditional dinner hour. In fact the report says there is a general drop off in people watching any TV (local or network), not just news. The study analysis says the same drop-off occurring between 5pm and 7pm is also occurring at 4pm and 7pm while the morning news audience is at least holding on to its audience. The report recommends Local TV capitalize on its strengths of “content and reach” as it battles with new technology. On the radio side, the report says “the audience for what was once called radio is rising and fragmenting.” It uses the phrase ‘what was once called radio’ because of the different delivery technologies. In the Online news world, the report cites the growth in Online video use following the growth in Broadband accessibility although it notes there are conflicting studies about just how much growth there is. Interestingly enough, the report cites a Dow Jones study that more venture capital money is being invested into online video ventures, maybe because (citing other studies) ‘everyone, with the exception of young adults’ is interested in Online video. All the studies also agree that news beats out comedy, movies, music and sports. In Newspapers, not surprisingly, the report just re-emphasized the trend to a print-online combination which, the report noted, reaches three-quarters of adults “one way or the other.” It also noted though that many newspapers are trimming down the geographic distribution of their print product into ‘distant areas.’ It should be noted that the Big Dailies’ free newspapers that were hailed in previous reports as a future trend are dying off.
THE LONG-TERM POSSIBILITIES: (Or, ideas weird and wonderful). It starts with a big “IF”, but the report says the survival of the network news divisions may depend on them “liberating themselves from the broadcast television platform on which they were founded and even perhaps from the networks themselves.” Instead, the report says the Network news divisions may be better able to survive as “video newsgathering organizations” who supply their products on demand on many platforms, not just broadcast television. The reason for the “if” is the premise that the problems of network news may be attributable to the decline in the overall audience of broadcast network television rather than there being anything ‘wrong’ with the actual newscasts themselves. On the Radio side of the equation, the report has some similar equivocations before offering the idea of Cell Phone Radio as the New Frontier and potential future audio format in addition to AM/FM, HD Radio, Satellite Radio, Podcasting and even wireless Internet radio. The report says it is hard to ignore the fact that we have become a “cell phone nation” with four out of five people subscribed to some type of wireless service and a third expressing interest in cell radio (of course that leaves two-thirds not interested). The report, of course, focuses on the migration of the Newspaper product to the Internet, but it also raises the idea of a hybrid platform version with a three or four day print edition for weekends when people have more time and interest in reading newspapers and the advertising inserts, coupled with an Online edition during the work week when people have less time and, to some extent, less interest. On the Internet, the report talks about “disaggregation” with Widgets (mentioned in previous MfM’s) using embedded coding bringing in live content from third-party sites. The reasoning is that Websites need to get away from the “walled garden” mentality of creating restrictive Websites that are so site-centric that they don’t recognize the ‘side door’ ways people get to their site (primarily links and search). In Local television, the report notes the “fair amount” of movement toward multi-media and cites as a trend to watch, stations assembling Website newscasts “to offer the latest developments online.”
THE QUOTES: In the Online news world, the study authors say the three keywords describing the climate are – assimilation, acquisition and partnership – as major media players scramble to capture some of the growing audience for news sites. In a similar style of Three’s, the report says Radio is, “at its core, a medium of three P’s – personality, persuasion and polarization” with news events “run through an ideological filter used to create a narrative about good guys and bad guys.” What may be my favorite quote of the report was on newspapers which the study authors say, “are still far from dead, but the language of the obituary is creeping in.” In Cable TV, “more than any other medium we have studied, the definition of news depends on the outlet.” (And in case you’re wondering, it was MSNBC for politics, Fox for crime and CNN for foreign policy.) And in the category of ‘do-you-think?’ the report says Local TV, challenged by cable, satellite and mobile devices, “is beginning to take the Internet more seriously.”
THE ODDITIES: (Or, the huh?, of the report). In all of the media categories there is a content analysis sub-section… except for Local TV which had no content analysis. When I queried the folks at PEJ, a content analyst for the group said it was because it was “a very difficult sector to monitor… (that) is costly and logistically challenging” although he notes they did do one in 2000 and other members of the PEJ staff have written a book, “We Interrupt This Newscast” which looks at local news. Equally puzzling (to me at least) it seems (again, to me at least) that the report spends more time talking about HD Radio than it does on HDTV. In a similar vein, the report spends an inordinate amount of ink on Katie Couric, with very little comment about the other network anchors. Interestingly the report notes that Couric, who was noted for her signature interviews, is actually doing half the number of on-set interviews as her rivals, now that CBS has revised the program. The report says its study of network TV was the most comprehensive to date, but as an observation (disclaimer – personal opinion) the network TV section had a lot of just ‘gossip’ reporting about personalities, it seemed to me. The report notes that the traditional 22-minute news-hole on the half-hour evening news has shrunk to 18.9 minutes on NBC, 18.7 minutes on CBS and 18.1 minutes on ABC. The report says there are two distinct parts of the Cable TV News Day – daytime focused on crime and celebrity and night-time focused on controversial topics that “suits the particular audience that tunes in to each channel.” And, again in the category of things I didn’t think of, but other people smarter than me probably did… the report cites as one of the reasons for the decline in newspaper circulation the federal Do Not Call legislation which has tripled the cost of phone solicitation for newspaper subscriptions.
THE DISCLAIMER: My Message normally comes out on Monday mornings, but this is late because a) I wanted to get a response from PEJ about the Local TV content analysis and, more to the point, b) there is an awful lot of information to assimilate… and I’m still assimilating it.
CONGRATULATIONS: Only tangentially related to state of the news media report, the Peabody Awards were announced this week – another excuse for my report being late. Congratulations to my friends at WSLS in Roanoke for their coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy as well as the folks at WFAA in Dallas which won a Peabody for their FOUR investigative pieces looking at everything from the U.S. import-export bank to the police department that “got too cozy” with the TV sexual predator sting operation. Congratulations also to WTAE in Pittsburgh for its fight for open records and KNXV in Phoenix for its investigation into security lapses at the airport. In all there were 35 recipients of the awards administered by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
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.
Message From Michael -- State of News Media - March 24, 2008
STATE OF THE NEWS MEDIA – A SPECIAL REPORT
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.
THE FACT THAT SAYS IT ALL: For the first time, the Project for Excellence in Journalism has included a special “state of advertising” report in its annual examination of the state of the news media. The crisis in journalism, according to this report, may be what it calls the “decoupling” of news and advertising. Even in its survey of journalists, included as part of the overall report, the study found that journalist are less concerned about credibility and public cynicism and more concerned about basic economic survival. Or as the report authors so succinctly put it, “the problems are about money.” In the special section on advertising, the authors make the point that it is less clear whether in this new digital/Internet world that advertisers even need news and entertainment media to act as a vehicle for their message as they explore multiple ways to reach the consumer.
SEARCHING FOR GODOT: And, along the way, the authors found John Wannamaker, the Philadelphia retailer famous for his quote: “Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.” The study authors say that maxim still remains true for most advertising in 2007. And when you consider some advertisers, like Proctor & Gamble, spend upwards of $6 Billion, that is a lot of money to waste. However, in the Online marketplace, the study says, search advertising is “the cleanest marketplace for buying and selling ad space” and as such is probably the closest advertisers will come to overcoming the maxim and the closest to, as the authors say, making Wannamaker happy. It is the ability to pinpoint their ads and measure their effectiveness through keyword use and click-through rates. (My advertising brethren reading this will be amused to know that nowhere could I find any reference to Search Engine Marketing or Search Engine Optimization in the report. Which may say something about news people’s understanding of advertising.) The report says digital technology brings the advertising industry closer to its Holy Grail of knowing whether and which ad expenditures are working.
It should be noted that the report still sees TV as the “most persuasive” of the advertising mediums, where, the report says, “mediocre commercial can still sell a lot of product” and as a result, old buying habits still prevail. Radio, according to the report, may be the “most enduring” form of news but radio itself may be an also-ran, in part because of its antiquated media measurement system. The report says the long-term numbers “give a sense that the end of newspapers as pre-packaged parcels delivered to our doorsteps may not be far off” as newspapers lead the way into the digital world. Magazines also have some of the print drawbacks, but with the report predicting that magazines will “live in a variety of media, with brands being the threat that pulls the different content platforms together.” It should also be noted that with Internet spending accounting for only $8.4 Billion of the $108 Billion in total ad spending during the first three quarters of 2007, its influence is greater than the actual dollars spent, and it is still true that the amount of money that goes to Online advertising in no way matches consumer consumption of the Online product.
The report also notes that while the number of people getting news online is growing, and news website have enjoyed double-digit growth, that growth is falling behind other areas, and most critically, is the fact that news has not made a mark in the most critical area – search.
TRUCKERS AND FISHERMEN: In the ‘good old days,’ says Charlie Rutman, CEO of North American operations at ad agency MPG, the agencies were basically in the trucking business, taking ads and commercials and simply delivering them. Or as MediaPost columnist Jack Feuer put it, in the old mass media world, everybody fished in the same three oceans (the broadcast networks) with nobody sure where the fish were or what they were biting. The difference between the fat fisherman and the starving fisherman was who had the shiniest lure – the best creative. According to the report, that is no longer so true. Now the emphasis is on what are called ‘media specialists,’ people who figure out the intricacies of what media, or combination of media, to buy, where to run the ad, how to place the ad. An example of this changing dynamic was given by Greg Smith, CEO of the digital arm of WPP Group’s Ogilvy Worldwide: in traditional media, five people might be responsible for spending $100 Million in the limited advertising universe of network and cable television; in digital media, those same five people might be responsible for a budget of only $1 Million, involving 1,000 ad placements, buying 5,000 keywords on search engines and tracking and changing the campaign based on the data that come back.
THE TWO SIDES OF THE JOURNALISTIC COIN: On the one hand, according to the survey of journalists conducted as part of the report, journalists are having to serve more masters, whether it’s a print and online product or an on-air and online product or a combination of all three. Actually most still work only or mostly on the original product, but with ‘national’ journalists more than three times as likely as local journalists to devote half or more of their time in the multimedia arena. On the other hand, the survey did not find evidence that journalists resent splitting their time, with half of those doing such work seeing it as a good thing. The study authors speculate that part of that may be the belief that the technology is putting journalists more in touch with their audiences. In 1999 when the survey was first conducted, more than half (57%) of national journalists surveyed agreed that journalists were out of touch with their audience. In the latest survey that number has dropped to dramatically less than half (41%), at least on a national level. The authors speculate that it is less true of local journalists who are more likely to be recognized, and hear from, their neighbors at their local supermarkets than their national counterparts.
Another example of two sides of the journalist coin comes in the differing perceptions of the Web’s value between print and broadcast journalists. Nearly three quarters (72%) of national TV and radio journalists say their leaders are doing a good or excellent job transitioning to the web while only a little more than half (59%) of national print journalists felt this way. Print journalists are also more skeptical about the impact of the Internet with both national journalists (44%) and local journalists (55%) believing it will weaken journalist values. In TV and radio, it was the other way around with the largest groups (49% of national journalists and 40% of local journalists) saying the Internet will strengthen journalism in the end.
PROCESSING VERSUS REPORTING: In what may be analogous to a two-headed coin, the study continues to document the growing trend of aggregating news, rather than gathering news. Fewer people are doing more and, the report says, the era of reporters operating in multimedia ‘has finally arrived.’ The report says news is evolving from being a product to being a service and the authors argue that “service, more than storytelling, may prove a key to unlocking new economics.” The report says the prospect of user-generated content being a core part of the next era of journalism is more limited than originally thought, although citizen input sites are still important sources for new ideas, sources and comments. Interestingly, the report says that such so-called ‘citizen journalist’ sites, rather than rejecting the ‘gatekeeper’ function of traditional journalism, appear to be just recreating it in other places and are often as closed, or more closed, to user-generated content than traditional news organizations.
There is hope for traditional media in the fact that many people will still go to Online sites of established, trusted brands for news. And despite all these new sources, he report says the agenda of the American news media continues to narrow, instead of broadening. And many times, what the mainstream media consider to be important and newsworthy differs markedly from what the general public considers important. That issue is further heightened by the fact that the media also showed a marked ‘short attention span,’ says the report.
KEYWORDS: In keeping with the message of the State of the News Media report, if I were to adopt the digital savvy approach of identifying keywords in a document, I would probably pick the following three: Scattered. Fragmented. Splintering. I probably wouldn’t buy those keywords for search purposes though because they wouldn’t necessarily connect to my targeted audience.
DISCLAIMER: This summary is only 16-hundred words long, for a document that runs to 180,000 words. So there are some inevitable omissions and even possibly some distortions, though I hope not. In any case this is only a preliminary summary. There is more to come. And you never know, maybe some smart consulting group, university or think-tank will host an open forum discussion of the implications of the report.
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.
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.
THE FACT THAT SAYS IT ALL: For the first time, the Project for Excellence in Journalism has included a special “state of advertising” report in its annual examination of the state of the news media. The crisis in journalism, according to this report, may be what it calls the “decoupling” of news and advertising. Even in its survey of journalists, included as part of the overall report, the study found that journalist are less concerned about credibility and public cynicism and more concerned about basic economic survival. Or as the report authors so succinctly put it, “the problems are about money.” In the special section on advertising, the authors make the point that it is less clear whether in this new digital/Internet world that advertisers even need news and entertainment media to act as a vehicle for their message as they explore multiple ways to reach the consumer.
SEARCHING FOR GODOT: And, along the way, the authors found John Wannamaker, the Philadelphia retailer famous for his quote: “Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.” The study authors say that maxim still remains true for most advertising in 2007. And when you consider some advertisers, like Proctor & Gamble, spend upwards of $6 Billion, that is a lot of money to waste. However, in the Online marketplace, the study says, search advertising is “the cleanest marketplace for buying and selling ad space” and as such is probably the closest advertisers will come to overcoming the maxim and the closest to, as the authors say, making Wannamaker happy. It is the ability to pinpoint their ads and measure their effectiveness through keyword use and click-through rates. (My advertising brethren reading this will be amused to know that nowhere could I find any reference to Search Engine Marketing or Search Engine Optimization in the report. Which may say something about news people’s understanding of advertising.) The report says digital technology brings the advertising industry closer to its Holy Grail of knowing whether and which ad expenditures are working.
It should be noted that the report still sees TV as the “most persuasive” of the advertising mediums, where, the report says, “mediocre commercial can still sell a lot of product” and as a result, old buying habits still prevail. Radio, according to the report, may be the “most enduring” form of news but radio itself may be an also-ran, in part because of its antiquated media measurement system. The report says the long-term numbers “give a sense that the end of newspapers as pre-packaged parcels delivered to our doorsteps may not be far off” as newspapers lead the way into the digital world. Magazines also have some of the print drawbacks, but with the report predicting that magazines will “live in a variety of media, with brands being the threat that pulls the different content platforms together.” It should also be noted that with Internet spending accounting for only $8.4 Billion of the $108 Billion in total ad spending during the first three quarters of 2007, its influence is greater than the actual dollars spent, and it is still true that the amount of money that goes to Online advertising in no way matches consumer consumption of the Online product.
The report also notes that while the number of people getting news online is growing, and news website have enjoyed double-digit growth, that growth is falling behind other areas, and most critically, is the fact that news has not made a mark in the most critical area – search.
TRUCKERS AND FISHERMEN: In the ‘good old days,’ says Charlie Rutman, CEO of North American operations at ad agency MPG, the agencies were basically in the trucking business, taking ads and commercials and simply delivering them. Or as MediaPost columnist Jack Feuer put it, in the old mass media world, everybody fished in the same three oceans (the broadcast networks) with nobody sure where the fish were or what they were biting. The difference between the fat fisherman and the starving fisherman was who had the shiniest lure – the best creative. According to the report, that is no longer so true. Now the emphasis is on what are called ‘media specialists,’ people who figure out the intricacies of what media, or combination of media, to buy, where to run the ad, how to place the ad. An example of this changing dynamic was given by Greg Smith, CEO of the digital arm of WPP Group’s Ogilvy Worldwide: in traditional media, five people might be responsible for spending $100 Million in the limited advertising universe of network and cable television; in digital media, those same five people might be responsible for a budget of only $1 Million, involving 1,000 ad placements, buying 5,000 keywords on search engines and tracking and changing the campaign based on the data that come back.
THE TWO SIDES OF THE JOURNALISTIC COIN: On the one hand, according to the survey of journalists conducted as part of the report, journalists are having to serve more masters, whether it’s a print and online product or an on-air and online product or a combination of all three. Actually most still work only or mostly on the original product, but with ‘national’ journalists more than three times as likely as local journalists to devote half or more of their time in the multimedia arena. On the other hand, the survey did not find evidence that journalists resent splitting their time, with half of those doing such work seeing it as a good thing. The study authors speculate that part of that may be the belief that the technology is putting journalists more in touch with their audiences. In 1999 when the survey was first conducted, more than half (57%) of national journalists surveyed agreed that journalists were out of touch with their audience. In the latest survey that number has dropped to dramatically less than half (41%), at least on a national level. The authors speculate that it is less true of local journalists who are more likely to be recognized, and hear from, their neighbors at their local supermarkets than their national counterparts.
Another example of two sides of the journalist coin comes in the differing perceptions of the Web’s value between print and broadcast journalists. Nearly three quarters (72%) of national TV and radio journalists say their leaders are doing a good or excellent job transitioning to the web while only a little more than half (59%) of national print journalists felt this way. Print journalists are also more skeptical about the impact of the Internet with both national journalists (44%) and local journalists (55%) believing it will weaken journalist values. In TV and radio, it was the other way around with the largest groups (49% of national journalists and 40% of local journalists) saying the Internet will strengthen journalism in the end.
PROCESSING VERSUS REPORTING: In what may be analogous to a two-headed coin, the study continues to document the growing trend of aggregating news, rather than gathering news. Fewer people are doing more and, the report says, the era of reporters operating in multimedia ‘has finally arrived.’ The report says news is evolving from being a product to being a service and the authors argue that “service, more than storytelling, may prove a key to unlocking new economics.” The report says the prospect of user-generated content being a core part of the next era of journalism is more limited than originally thought, although citizen input sites are still important sources for new ideas, sources and comments. Interestingly, the report says that such so-called ‘citizen journalist’ sites, rather than rejecting the ‘gatekeeper’ function of traditional journalism, appear to be just recreating it in other places and are often as closed, or more closed, to user-generated content than traditional news organizations.
There is hope for traditional media in the fact that many people will still go to Online sites of established, trusted brands for news. And despite all these new sources, he report says the agenda of the American news media continues to narrow, instead of broadening. And many times, what the mainstream media consider to be important and newsworthy differs markedly from what the general public considers important. That issue is further heightened by the fact that the media also showed a marked ‘short attention span,’ says the report.
KEYWORDS: In keeping with the message of the State of the News Media report, if I were to adopt the digital savvy approach of identifying keywords in a document, I would probably pick the following three: Scattered. Fragmented. Splintering. I probably wouldn’t buy those keywords for search purposes though because they wouldn’t necessarily connect to my targeted audience.
DISCLAIMER: This summary is only 16-hundred words long, for a document that runs to 180,000 words. So there are some inevitable omissions and even possibly some distortions, though I hope not. In any case this is only a preliminary summary. There is more to come. And you never know, maybe some smart consulting group, university or think-tank will host an open forum discussion of the implications of the report.
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.
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