Archive for October, 2006
The latest semi-annual report is out from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, and the numbers are what many of us would expect. The LA Times saw daily circulation drop 8 percent over the last six months. The NY Times lost 3.5 percent in daily. The Boston Globe is down 6.7 percent. The Miami Herald lost 8.8 percent. Even USA Today is down, although just 1.3 percent. The only major daily to see growth? The NY Post, which grew 5 percent. All in all, significant losses all around. “The figures appear to be the steepest in any comparable six-month period in at least 15 years,” explains the NY Times. “Papers in major metropolitan areas, where more homes are wired for broadband, fared worse than those in smaller markets.”
October 30th, 2006
WVII, the ABC affil in Bangor, Maine, and its sister station (a Fox affil) are taping their 10 pm and 11 pm newscasts a couple of hours ahead of time. WVII VP and GM Mike Palmer says “Not a whole lot happens in Bangor, Maine, late at night… we can save some efficiency that way by sending everyone home a couple hours earlier and still have an 11 o’clock newscast.” There will be a note on the screen that the news was taped earlier. Of course, when there is news that has happened in the hours since the show was taped, WVII won’t have it. Story is from Oct. 13, just noticed it now. (Via Heaton)
October 30th, 2006
Fans of NBC’s The Office submitted 367 video entries on YouTube for the network’s contest to create the best promo, but one submission got the ax. Called “Pam & Jim Uncensored,” it featured sexually explicit language edited under an actual scene. YouTube removed the clip after a request from NBC.
October 30th, 2006
It’s one of a handful of slimy, new services that pays bloggers to write positively about new products, and disclosure is optional. TechCrunch points out that PayPerPost just added a “disclosure policy” of sorts, but it’s displayed on a separate page and really doesn’t explain what’s going on. Blogs have a hard enough time gaining respect as it is, especially in media circles, so it’s certainly disheartening to hear companies like PayPerPost getting plenty of funding to do this.
October 30th, 2006
Good timing - I’m in San Francisco today, and LR friend Andrew Lindenauer alerts me to the launch of KYOU Radio, a San Francisco broadcast station completely driven by the listeners. The site is very cool - going way beyond the usual “listen live online,” it lets you submit podcasts and search for tons of programs by topics. The station is on the AM dial, which will be a drawback from the audio quality standpoint. But will the major interactivity be a draw? I’m really interested in seeing. CBS Radio’s Lindenauer has taken it upon himself to challenge our notions about the future of radio, and I welcome the debate. (The station is owned by CBS Radio.)
October 30th, 2006
Just in time for the final stretch of the political season, MSNBC has released a new widget (pictured) that updates with the site’s latest political news. MSNBC.com has also added a “discuss” feature to its political page - message boards on political discussions that are generating thousands of posts. The forums are part of a deal with HotSoup, a politics community site.
October 29th, 2006
Stephen Warley and I are in San Jose this week for Streaming Media West. Our presentation is on Wednesday, and starting Tuesday we will be liveblogging some of the discussions. Come find us if you’re at the convention.
October 29th, 2006
Brightcove is taking the wraps off new services to help video content producers cash in on their work. Producers can opt to have their video syndicated with advertising in exchange for giving Brightcove a 50 percent cut. Or they can sell video downloads, and Brightcove takes 30 percent. Along with it, Brightcove is relaunching its website from a B2B storefront to a consumer site highlighting popular video clips (see home page below). And through its partnership with AOL, producers can sell video downloads on AOL Video. “As the mainstream consumer moves into watching video on the Internet it will evolve from short humorous clips into programming that’s meaningful to a broad cross-section of mainstream individuals, Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allaire said.
Press release with much more info below…
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BBC News staffers say a plan to post ads on their site would lead to less serious journalism. “There has to be a chance that advertisers wouldn’t care about us doing stories on poverty and African politics, they’d want us to do more stories on Madonna and Kylie,” one website employee said.
October 29th, 2006
You would think that with all the technological changes and cost pressures in network television today that programming costs would be kept under control. But actually, programming costs across the four networks are up 9 percent this year while advertising sales are mostly flat year-over-year. So what gives? “I think it is some indication of either myopia, naivete or just plain brain damage on the part of the industry,” says News Corp. chief operating officer Peter Chernin. “Things are interconnected in this world, and I think the significant issue is that the fundamental economics of the television business are under a real challenge right now.” To say the least. And what’s all this investment yielding? With the most expensive programming in history on the air, the networks are seeing very mediocre success at best.
Report: NBC poised to cancel expensive ‘Studio 60′
October 29th, 2006
One of the perks of running Lost Remote is plugging job openings for my real job. I have an opening for an internet content producer at KING5.com and NWCN.com, two newsrooms that have made the web a priority. We’re an innovative, aggressive interactive staff in a tech-savvy market. And KING 5 won the Edward R. Murrow Award for overall excellence this year. So if you’re a talented web producer looking for a quality media company that gets the web, send us your resume. More details here in the job posting.
October 29th, 2006
Seattle
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Minneapolis
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Jackson, TN
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Glendale, CA
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A Nielsen-Netratings report compiled for the Newspaper Association of America found that traffic to newspaper sites grew 24 percent in the third quarter over the same time last year. And September was a record month. The NAA says the traffic boost is due to new features like video, podcasts and user-created content.
October 28th, 2006
Click on most of the links to Comedy Central clips on YouTube and you’ll get the message, “This video has been removed due to terms of use violation” or “This video has been removed due to copyright infringement.” NewsCloud reports that YouTube says it’s been asked by a “third party” (which would be Comedy Central, since it’s the copyright holder) under terms of the DMCA to remove clips of the Colbert Report and the Daily Show. Both shows haven’t had an issue with YouTube, well, at least before the Google acquisition. In fact, the Colbert Report has used YouTube in its green screen challenge. And Stephen Colbert has mentioned the site so many times on the air, he recently joked that he was owed $700 million in licensing fees. YouTube has been thriving with Comedy Central content — probably the most widespread TV brand on the site — so this will be the most noticeable content removal to date. And it’s interesting to point out that Comedy Central — a Viacom unit — appears not to be going along with CBS’ strategy of forming a strategic partnership with YouTube.
We’ll wait for reaction from the Comedy Central faithful who are regular YouTubers (after all, browsing video on ComedyCentral.com is not the easiest of experiences.) And of course, this move will be seen by many as the first shoe to drop in YouTube’s new Google existence. (Via Fimoculous)
October 27th, 2006
Mark Cuban is financing a web startup called ShareSleuth.com that aims to expose the wrongdoings of corporations through investigative reporting. Earlier this week, the site published a story on Tampa-based UTEK and the company’s stock plummeted 36 percent. Then there’s this little nugget — a disclosure at the end of the story, written by publisher Christopher Carey: “Mark Cuban, the majority member of Sharesleuth.com LLC… has sold short 75,000 shares of UTEK’s stock at an average price of around $20 a share.” UTEK closed at $12.15 on Thursday. As the site explains, “In certain instances, the majority partner of Sharesleuth.com is going to make personal investments based on information we uncover. Those investments will be fully disclosed, so that readers can evaluate any potential conflicts of interest.” Potential?
October 27th, 2006
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