Archive for August 2nd, 2006
ESPN already commands high cable fees, and the cable TV network is extending the cable model to the web by charging ISPs to carry its broadband service. Verizon and Charter are on board but Cox is refusing to go along. “Lurking in the background is the question of whether consumers will make their choice of ISP based on whether it offers additional premium services like ESPN360,” writes Eric Bangeman. “ESPN is a powerful brand, to be sure, but strong enough to make someone select Verizon over Comcast?” That is the question.
August 2nd, 2006
If past history is any guide, quite a few LR readers are Tina Fey fans. So here’s the trailer for her upcoming NBC show 30 Rock, loosely based on the behind-the-scenes life of SNL. Pretty funny stuff. (The clip is available both on YouTube — provided by NBC — and on NBC.com. The NBC.com clip has an ad in front of it, so I linked the YouTube version. I would have embedded the YouTube clip in the blog — driving more views and awareness for NBC — but the embedding function was disabled “by request.”)
August 2nd, 2006
News.com’s Marguerite Reardon goes off on Time Warner’s Scientific Atlanta 8000 (below). “I wanted to throw the whole thing out my window,” she writes. As cable and satellite companies rush to add more features, new DVRs are becoming much less reliable than their predecessors. Meanwhile, we continue to wait for TiVo’s Series 3 to grace our presence, due out later this year.
August 2nd, 2006
While credibility continues to plummet on TV (see below), it stands to reason that people are increasingly attracted to the web for their news — especially as the quality of online video improves. After all, many of the frustrations of TV news are avoided online. Why wait until 5:20 p.m. to get my weather when I can punch it up right now? Why endure all those “you won’t believe what happens next” teases? Why sit through commercial breaks? Why watch all my news filtered through a couple anchors? Why can’t I have my opinions heard on the air? While our online audiences grow, it’s important that TV websites are careful not to carry over some of the annoying, old media aspects of TV news. For one, littering the home page with promos. Or covering too much crime. Or over-emphasizing urgency. Remember, the web is not TV, and TV’s declining credibility with news — while unfortunate — is an opportunity for the web.
August 2nd, 2006
The latest Pew Research poll shows yet another decline in credibility for both network and cable TV news. Fewer than a quarter of the people surveyed say they believe all or most of what they see on NBC News (23%), ABC News (22%) or CBS News (22%). Back in 1998, NBC and ABC both had 30% credibility numbers. On the cable news front, CNN dropped from 42% in 1998 to 28%, and the other cable nets are in the same range.
August 2nd, 2006
Bypassing conventional media advertising, young small business owners create sites on MySpace to reach their desired demographics. While MySpace charges for run of site advertising, the creation of pages is free and the inherent social networking machinery draws traffic.
August 2nd, 2006
In the two years since a University of Texas study found that the majority of newspaper sites were primarily stocked with “shovelware,” economic necessity and techological improvements have combined to turn online news sites in to cornucopias brimming with every flavor of multimedia content. But is it a good thing and, more importantly, is it working?
August 2nd, 2006
Insert the Fark.com “obvious” tag here. Nielsen advised clients that DVR users watch more television, perhaps as much as 29 percent more in prime time among the key 18-to-49 demo. But wait, just last week we posted this study that concluded that DVR users are 23% less likely to be heavy TV users. Both true, perhaps?
August 2nd, 2006
MTV’s 24-hour college network announced a definitive agreement to acquire Y2M: Youth Media & Marketing Networks, the parent of College Publisher, the largest interactive network of online college newspapers in the US. The network reaches over five million college students via 450 online campus papers — the most powerful local media brand on campus — which serve as definitive on-campus information hubs, providing local news, sports, weather, event listings and much more.
August 2nd, 2006
A major change for AOL, as Time Warner announces it will give away AOL service for free to broadband users. TW is hoping existing dial-up members will keep using AOL email and other services, as it transitions to an advertising-based model. An analyst for Soleil Securities Group Inc. in Pasadena, California calls it “a risky gamble.” I call it about the only chance left for AOL.
August 2nd, 2006
