Communications Mgr., Internet Broadcasting
Minneapolis
Read the full post 7 comments August 1st, 2006
Archive for August 1st, 2006
NBCU names Kliavkoff its first ‘Chief Digital Officer’
NBC Universal continues its push to add more executive power to its digital strategy, naming George Kliavkoff its first chief digital officer. Kliavkoff comes from running Major League Baseball’s new media initiatives, and will run internet and wireless efforts at NBCU, “as well as digital innovation and product development, and Web site and partner relationships,” according to Television Week. Kliavkoff’s position on digital media technologies, however, will be worth watching. In June, Engadget reported, Kliavkoff took on the marketing VP of Slingbox, saying Slingbox customers were in violation of their user agreements by watching their ballgames away from home. The future of media consumption is disconnected from the TV, is not dictated by location, and is determined by the consumer. We certainly encourage Mr. Kliavkoff to reconsider his position on user control of video.
2 comments August 1st, 2006
BC Beat liveblogs Current TV’s one-year anniversary
Putting interns to good use, BC Beat had Intern Mike Singer liveblog Current TV for three hours on this, Current’s one-year anniversary. Who is buying Singer the beer? Romano and Higgins - I’m looking at you.
7 comments August 1st, 2006
It’s possible the voice of God is female, you know…
I wrote some months back, wondering why - as near as I could tell - there were no TV stations that had a female announcer as their “voice.” Sure, there is “Lifetime,” “Oxygen,” and the like - but those are targeted toward women. Why not have a woman as the voice of a station just because she has a strong voice? Differentiate the product. Here’s a great commentary to continue the thread. Joan Baker - keep in mind she is a voiceover person - wants to know why we still cling to the “male voice of God” silliness. She’s right. Make your station’s voice be heard - make it a woman’s voice.
14 comments August 1st, 2006
Number of elephants in Africa has tripled
Well, no it hasn’t. But I’m joining Stephen Colbert’s Wikipedia practical joke, especially since Wikipedia won’t play along. “I love Wikipedia,” said Stephen Colbert on Monday’s Colbert Report. “Any site that has a longer entry on “Truthiness” than on “Lutherans” has my vote.” It was the start of “The Word” segment for the night. The word? “Wikiality.” (Roughly: a reality created if enough people on Wikipedia say it’s so.) Colbert invited viewers to go onto Wikipedia and write that the “number of elephants in Africa has tripled in the last six months.” But Wikipedia caught wind of the prank and locked down the Elephant entry because of “vandalism.” Oh, play along. There’s a section for “elephants in pop culture” anyway.
PS: Another reason to embed this from YouTube and not link to it on Comedy Central’s site? Comedy Central’s “Motherload” video is not Mac-compatible.
12 comments August 1st, 2006
Old: Citizen Journalism. New: Citizen Advertising.
“If advertising is dead… why do so many people seem to want to produce it?” asks Eric Pfanner at the International Herald Tribune. Good question. The truth is we like advertising. Just look at our T-shirts. We’ll wear brands on our chests, heads, butts and feet as long as it’s our choice. Pfanner’s observations on customer-created ads has prompted hear 2.0’s Mark Ramsey to suggest we invite our viewers (and, I might add, our viewsers) to make ads for us. Excellent idea. When we ran an LR tagline contest a few years ago, we received great ideas. Video technology would yield some wonderful results for your TV station or site. Get to it!
4 comments August 1st, 2006
25-year-old student buys New York Observer
Jared Kushner is the son of a disgraced real estate mogul, a law and MBA student, and now is the publisher of the New York Observer, having bought the paper from Arthur Carter, who founded it in 1987.
3 comments August 1st, 2006
CNN sells show on iTunes
CNN Presents is selling for $1.99, the cable news network’s first show for sale on iTunes (beyond its free podcasts). Also new on iTunes from Turner Broadcasting: Cartoon Network’s Johnny Bravo and Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
7 comments August 1st, 2006
White House press room to get modern makeover
This was inevitable. After all, you bring in a Tony Snow from Fox to be the press secretary, you won’t be keeping that drab blue curtain background for long. WSJ reports the White House press room will get an extreme makeover that could include a giant video wall background that ”could display everything from “flags waving in the breeze [to] detailed charts and graphs,” according to a senior White House official working on the project.” Somehow, I picture those three word “messages of the day” popping up a lot.
7 comments August 1st, 2006
Verizon launches ‘Chocolate’ phone
A couple of weeks ago Apple indicated that it is working on a new iPhone, combining the iPod with a cell phone. Well Verizon beat them to it, rolling out its new “Chocolate” phone/digital music player yesterday online (available in stores on August 7th). It can hold up to 1,000 songs and its interface is very similar to the iPod. Verizon also said its dropping its $15 monthly fee for music downloads. Consumers will now be charged $1.99 to download a song to their phone and $.99 to their PC. I bought the Verizon V in March (which I love), but I think I might have to lose my iPod next time I upgrade my cell phone.
30 comments August 1st, 2006
Terry’s call to new media arms: it’s do or die time
If there was one overwhelming message I heard at CTAM 2006, it was this: the time is now. Get your new media kiesters moving. But the considerably smarter Terry Heaton puts it far better than I: 2007 is looking more and more like a desperation year for local broadcasters, a year when new media ventures begun this year need to begin producing fruit. Wherever I go and with whomever I speak, there is this growing sense that new media MUST be more aggressively pursued…or else.
7 comments August 1st, 2006
Newspapers: Focus on analysis instead of old news
If the newspapers continue with the model of telling us yesterday’s news, argues a journalism professor, they will continue their slide into irrelevance. Instead, writes U. Missouri-Columbia Asst. Prof. of Journalism Greg Bowers, the papers can thrive if they focus on news analysis and longer-form explanations of ongoing stories. And he puts forth this notion: Promote the print product with the on-line, immediate product. And, even more importantly, provide exclusive print product: the next-morning stories.
Add comment August 1st, 2006
How the web gave ‘Mad Max-gate’ its thunder
In the old days of Hollywood, a good press agent was all you needed to keep a star’s indescretions out of the papers. No more. The New York Times looks at how new media meant Mel’s drunken, anti-semitic tirade had no chance of being covered up. Once it hit TMZ.com, it was world news within hours. And this editorial: This story is different than most celebrity gossip. Mel denied that The Passion of the Christ was anti-Semitic. I believed him. He is making a movie about the Holocaust. This rant of his has me wondering whether these are Mel’s true colors.
6 comments August 1st, 2006
