Broadcast execs may be getting it after all
At the annual TAB convention, I’ve head a few things I never thought I would hear a broadcast executive say. Here we go…
Read the full post 4 comments August 10th, 2006
Archive for August 10th, 2006
NBC’s ‘Earl’ gets hip with MySpace
Just about everyone and everything has a profile on MySpace these days (ho hum), but the NBC show My Name is Earl is taking it a step further. People who visit the Earl MySpace page can add Earl to their friends list, and then three of Earl’s friends will be highlighted with a picture in the “Amigos de Garcia” tag at the end of the show’s credits. So far, Earl has 81 friends and counting (and that guy named “Cory” is not me.) Plus, users can submit video of “something you’ve done wrong you’d like to right” for prizes, and there’s lots of expanded content on the site, too. Cool idea. Press release…
Read the full post 23 comments August 10th, 2006
Brian Williams to Jon Stewart: ‘My son has a longer attention span than you do’
Is there any news person who plays along better with humorists than Brian Williams? On “The Daily Show,” he went head-to-head with Jon, and - honestly - was funnier.
Man, I wish YouTube framegrabs could be clearer…
1 comment August 10th, 2006
CBS to re-air 9/11 documentary with language
If you remember seeing CBS’ award-winning documentary a few years ago, it featured the occasional unfiltered swear word. Since then, the FCC has jacked up indecency fines to unbelievable proportions. But no fear, CBS says it will re-air the documentary — updated with new material — without bleeping the language. “It’s important to take note of the event as it happened,” CBS executive producer Susan Zirinsky said. Good for CBS.
15 comments August 10th, 2006
Pew study: MSNBC.com tops list of news sites
A MSNBC.com press release highlights a recent Pew study that found that 31 percent of regular online news consumers use MSNBC.com most often, compared to 23 percent for both CNN.com and Yahoo News. “From the hard core news junkie to the casual reader, it is evident from this survey that we are the first choice for online news consumers across the board,” said Charlie Tillinghast, president of MSNBC.com. Last week, a Comscore report gave Yahoo News the edge over MSNBC.com in the month of June.
2 comments August 10th, 2006
ABC enhances ‘World News’ podcast
Some cool new features in ABC’s World News webcast/podcast that appear when watching it on iTunes. First, you can skip ahead to index points in the video through a pull-down menu of topics (bottom right). Second, whenever there’s a story that has expanded material online, a “click for more” icon appears over the window. Click it, and a browser window pops up. And third, ABC says it has reduced the download times by roughly two-thirds. Screen grab below, and click “read more” for the press release.
Read the full post 7 comments August 10th, 2006
Lose the anchor photos on home pages
At a Texas Broadcasters Association session about the future of television, Don Perry of Clear Channel Television, cautioned broadcasters to be more understanding about how consumers use websites. In particular, he referred to the anchor photos at the top of broadcast homepages as “Mount Rushmore”. No one has been more outspoken about losing the anchor photos on homepages than Safran. I know this may be hard to believe, but many of the people using your websites probably don’t even know who your talent are or don’t care. The design of your website should be focused on deep local content. Getting one of your anchors to use a blog to report on local issues is far more powerful than any press photo in terms of driving traffic to your site.
15 comments August 10th, 2006
Resources for terrorism plot story
Here are some resources I’m finding useful for the terrorism plot story that broke overnight. First, the new luggage guidelines in the US and guidelines in the UK. Track a flight coming in to your city with passengers who may have been affected by the disruption, and see live flight information for all Heathrow terminals. (Click on any link and you’ll see all the problems right now.) Here’s the text of the U.S. briefing on the terrorism plot, and recent aviation alerts in Britain.
9 comments August 10th, 2006
Rejecting swag at conventions
I’ll be the first to admit I have some strange quirks and one of them is rejecting swag at conventions. I did it again today at the annual convention of the Texas Association of Broadcasters. There’s that moment when the convention staffer is eager to hand over a bag filled with swag and I politely say, “No thank you.” The look on their face is either one of shock or bewilderment (as if who on earth doesn’t want free stuff)? I just don’t like carrying extra stuff around that I know I’ll end up throwing away. Maybe when I have kids one day, I’ll save the swag for them, but for now I’ll just pass on it. What kind of swag do you think is worth saving?
9 comments August 10th, 2006
