Archive for September 18th, 2006
We reported a couple weeks ago that MSN was close to launching its user video site, and now Microsoft has debuted MSN Soapbox in invitation-only beta. Similar to YouTube, Soapbox allows simple uploading, sharing and the ability to embed the player on your blog. And yes, it’ll run on Firefox. So what’s the revenue model? “(We’re) exploring several monetization options that complement the viewing experience in a non-intrusive manner and offer our brand partners the assurance that their message is being displayed next to the types of content they want,” said a Microsoft spokesperson.
Yes, that’s a dancing MSN butterfly. Click “read more” for the press release…
Read the full post September 18th, 2006
CNET’s News.com has already taken MSN’s new user video site for a spin. “In sum, Soapbox is disappointing,” writes Rafe Needleman. “It’s a slightly better sharing service than YouTube in some small technical ways, but it doesn’t help users make money from their content like Revver does; it doesn’t have granular privacy controls like Vox; it won’t post directly into blogs for you like VideoEgg; and it won’t show videos from other networks like Yahoo Video. Given Microsoft’s position in the video sharing market (dead last), I expected a more aggressive product.”
September 18th, 2006
Facing increased pressure to compete with a new generation of online entertainment, MTV will launch Virtual Laguna Beach on Wednesday, an immersive online experience that’s best described as Laguna Beach meets Second Life. Users can assume characters (avatars) in a virtual world that’s modeled after hangouts in the MTV show, Laguna Beach. “You can not only watch TV, but now you can actually live it,” said MTV President Van Toffler. MTV is planning two more virtual worlds: VMTV is a music destination where visitors can club-hop among hip neighborhoods, buy music, watch videos, sing karaoke or even start their own bands. And LogoWorld, an offshoot of Logo, the gay and lesbian cable channel, will be designed entirely by its participants. And the inevitable question, how far can users go? “The worst thing they can do is kiss — and it’s Catholic school kissing,” said Matt Bostwick, an MTV senior vice president. “The lips touch, but the bodies don’t.”
September 18th, 2006
The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric topped the ratings race in her second week, but just barely. It’s the first time CBS has won back-to-back weeks since July 1998. “She has thus far made the ratings race among the three network newscasts more competitive than it has been in nearly a decade,” writes NY Times’ Jacques Steinberg.
September 18th, 2006
There is a shiny new FoxNews.com site up, and it is a significant improvement over the old one. Of course, the old site was an utter nightmare of design and usability, so the bar wasn’t set all that high. The new site gets rid of the jumbled background in favor of plain white. Overall, a clean look that still highlights its stars. Nothing innovative here. Not enough video links for my particular taste - and Fox should be sensitive about that. Fox’s streaming video numbers are well behind MSNBC and CNN. A QUESTION: Why is it that national news channel websites are apparently going to be the last to implement embedded video players on their front pages? Newspapers are even going with embedded video. Why the holdup at the national TV sites of all places?
September 18th, 2006
Adrian Holvaty writes an excellent piece on how newspapers should be sharing more of their research online and not just continuing with the “gather lots of information and distill it” model. His advice also applies to TV websites. Your reporters gather tons of information that would help your audience understand the story. Post it all. “Repurposing” is just a term for using old stuff. Use the new stuff in a new way. Cory adds: Adrian’s key point is that sites should switch from a story-centric to an object model when organizing information. This will create new ways to display information at the user’s behest, as well as empower social news initiatives down the road. (Via notes from a teacher)
September 18th, 2006
The idea would be for Apple’s upcoming iTV device — which wirelessly transmits iTunes video from PC to TV — would also work for Google Video. Newsweek reports the two companies are in talks to add a “Google Video” menu item which would allow users to surf for clips on their TV sets via remote control. Cool!
September 18th, 2006
TVs are coming out next year with broadband connections. The final excuse in old TV’s arsenal is gone: people will be watching video from the web on their televisions. Bafflingly, the naysaying continues. LR Pal Terry Heaton’s latest essay, Local Television’s Perfect Storm has the facts and insight on this. Small cameras, cheaper production, decentralized advertising and viral video are coming to the television. Writes Heaton: “2007 will likely be an awful year for local broadcasters. National business is going away at an accelerating pace. Network compensation is all but gone. Stock prices continue to fall as investors’ nerves give way to full-blown panic attacks. Staffs are being cut, and there will be no election or Olympics to offset declining audience shares and sales. Some companies may not make it.” Are you ready? Do you have a strategy?
September 18th, 2006
AOL is making its video search application available for free to content publishers — for up to 10,000 searches a day. “It’s a play based on the belief that by helping the entire industry grow, we’ll help ourselves grow,” said Tim Tuttle, vice president of AOL Video. After 10,000 searches, AOL will seek branding on the site and/or revenue sharing.
September 18th, 2006
The good news is sites will classified ads grew an average of 47 percent in unique users over the last year. The bad news is half of that growth is due to a continued explosion in Craigslist’s growth, up 99 percent year to date. In some markets, Craigslist now surpasses all news sites in traffic. And I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. Craigslist should be considered a direct competitor to TV sites, not only because of its classifieds, but because it’s a HUGE draw in community content — events, discussion and now even a local news category.
September 18th, 2006
