Archive for November 5th, 2006
We’re going to be trying something new on election night at KING5.com. Instead of having the main anchor team extend their TV election coverage on the web, we’re going to produce a separate, low-tech webcast that complements our regular online coverage and results. We’ll have a host (an anchor who will try not to be anchorish) who will be pitching informally to live feeds of campaign events, both locally and nationally. Since she’ll be in the newsroom, she’ll give a behind-the-scenes flavor to the coverage, reading emails from users and even pulling staffers aside to explain their roles. There will be no scripts, just a laptop. And I’m going to direct it old-school-style: by punching up sources on a router. I’ll be the first to admit it’s an experiment, and I’ll report back after the election.
November 5th, 2006
The video blog from Iraq, Alive in Baghdad, won Best Vlog, Best Group Vlog, Best Political Vlog and Favorite Interview Vlog at the Vloggies in San Francisco over the weekend. Robert Scoble lists the other winners (Judges’ Choices): Ze Frank got Favorite Male Blog (Go, Speed Racers!), Ryanne Hudson was named Favorite Female Vlogger, Ask a Ninja won Favorite Comedy Vlog, and Rocketboom won Favorite News Vlog despite a - ahem - controversial year. In the people’s choice voting, Ask a Ninja won Favorite Vlog, with Alive in Baghdad winning Favorite Group Vlog. (Flickr photostream here, Three-vloggie-winning ‘Beach Walks with Rox’ wrapup here.)
Photo courtesy of Scott Beale, LaughingSquid.
November 5th, 2006
When it comes to news, no technology can replace good writing and reporting. Sure, knowing a little HTML can help (I only know how to bold, however), but the Online News Association’s new study finds that “old media” skills are still the best. From Poynter: “The most important skills/qualities in online newsrooms are not related to technology or the Web. They are things like attention to detail, news judgment, grammar and style, multitasking skills, communication skills and ability to work under time pressure.”
November 5th, 2006
Dan Rather will spend Tuesday’s election night talking politics with Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show.” Rather will be a guest, as the show has its special “Midterm Midtacular” coverage. Love it.
November 5th, 2006
Turns out TV is even bad for promoting TV. In July, less than two months after NBC ordered production of Heroes, so many people tried to see a preview of it at Comic-Con in San Diego that organizers had to turn people away. It was showing in a 5,000-seat theater. There had been no promotion for Heroes on TV. Writes Jim Benson at B&C: “The only word that the series was on the way had come online, which generated long lines among a likely fan base and lots of Web buzz leading up to the premiere.”
November 5th, 2006
Discovery, which owns Animal Planet, bought Petfinder.com as well as the training video production company PetsIncredible. While financial terms were not disclosed, Petfinder is valued around $35 million. PetsIncredible recently launched PetVideo.com, a library of training videos. “The depth and breadth of Animal Planet’s reach across the country and its powerful status as a beloved and trusted brand will enable us to leverage our unparalleled animal video archive, expertise and resources across a range of high-growth media platforms,” said John Hendricks, chairman, Discovery Communications.
November 5th, 2006
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley says he hopes to “have something on a mobile device” within the next year. As far as monetizing it, “It would be great to make the ad model work on a mobile device,” he said. “I haven’t seen that work.”
November 5th, 2006
When media execs wonder why people watch their copyrighted material on YouTube instead of the exact same clips on their own branded sites, well, it’s because their players don’t hold a candle to YouTube. Buffering issues, mandatory downloads, no comments, no direct URL for linking and no ability to embed the players on blogs, to name a few. So it’s good to hear that Comedy Central is relaunching its player later this month with embedding functionality. And Fox is working on a streaming version of its player, which currently requires a download.
November 5th, 2006
For the last couple weeks, MSNBC has been wall-to-wall with the election with many top NBC News talent. Now some are wondering if the strategy has legs after the election, especially now that a big chunk of MSNBC is moving to NBC News HQ at 30 Rock. Perhaps it’s the new identity MSNBC needs to differentiate itself?
November 5th, 2006
