Archive for November 19th, 2006
Philadelphia’s NBC station is planning on remaking its early evening news block to a single anchor, long-form format that focused more on investigative, health and consumer stories. “The idea is to go back to putting the emphasis on storytelling and on the reporters,” says VP of News Chris Blackman. “For a while, the feeling was that, the more you threw at people, the better chance you had to not have them turn away. You weren’t giving them a chance to breathe. I think that really underestimates the intelligence of our viewers.” Blackman said the station will downplay the traditional local news fare. “You can put a reporter on a crime story or a car crash, and, quite frankly, you could have told the story just as well with a voiceover and a sound bite.” I think it’s a smart move that will pay dividends in an area they may not even expect: the web. Many local TV sites are riddled with crime and other reactive stories, but a focus on proactive, relevant storytelling will result in a more engaging experience online. But a little advice: don’t hold those stories until air and still be aggressive with breaking news online.
November 19th, 2006
Prime Cities Broadcasting, Lin Broadcasting and Pappas Broadcasting are refusing to air Fox’s upcoming special, “O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened” which airs on November 27th and 29th. One critic calls the special “the most despicable sweeps-month stunt in history,” and there’s a good chance more Fox stations will jump on the boycott bandwagon in the days to come.
November 19th, 2006
Seven media groups have signed a wide-ranging deal with Yahoo to share content, advertising and revenue. MediaNews, Hearst, Scripps, Belo, Journal Register, Lee and Cox are included in the partnership, representing 176 daily papers. “This is a transformational deal for the newspaper industry,” said William Dean Singleton, CEO of MediaNews Group. “This relationship will significantly extend our local assets to a much wider audience, and gives us the technology required to fulfill the growing demands of advertisers and consumers.” In the first phase of the deal, newspapers will sell job postings on HotJobs, as well as use HotJobs’ technology to run their own career ads. Then during the next year, the partnership will be extended as newspapers begin displaying their stories and local ads on Yahoo’s online network. Yahoo, in turn, will make available local event listings, maps, search technology and other content and tools on the newspapers’ sites. In a nutshell: newspapers gain a larger and younger audience, and Yahoo expands its ad network into local markets. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal comes on the heels of Google’s announcement that it will use its technology to sell ads in the print editions of 50 newspapers. It’s also interesting to note that this partnership will be a big shot in the arm for participating newspaper sites on the distribution, sales and technology front, which adds up to more competition for local TV sites. (Full disclosure: I work for a Belo TV property.) Update: Listen to the webcast here, as well a PDF presentation with more details here. Press release follows below…
Read the full post November 19th, 2006
Back in the early days of Lost Remote, we hosted an email discussion group for web producers. Today, in an experiment, we’re bringing it back for TV and interactive staffers. Called “The Circuit” and powered by Google, we’re offering three separate groups:
Lost Remote Producers: For web and mobile producers to talk content
Lost Remote Developers: For web and mobile developers to talk technology
Lost Remote Revenue: For sales and business development execs to talk revenue
The idea here is to exchange ideas and resources, as well as talk through some of the more critical issues of the day. And there are plenty of them, in fact, more than ever. I know what you’re thinking, you already get too much email. That’s why we’re keeping the lists focused and moderated. Promotional (or unnecessary) messages won’t make it through. So sign up, give it a try and let us know what you think. (And thanks to everyone on Sunday who offered feedback on how to set this up.)
November 19th, 2006
MSNBC may have won the prize for its coverage of the Tom and Katie wedding over the weekend. Just take a look at these breaking news graphics.
November 19th, 2006
Tech writer Scott Kirsner has put together an excellent eBook highly worth the download. (You may know him from such publications as “Wired!” and “The New York Times!”) Kirsner’s book, “The Future of Web Video” is published through Lulu. (Download site here.) It profiles web video successes, highlights good financial models, and features interviews with notable notables. This is not a tech guide: it’s 93 pages of actual, plain English. So if you’re a pro or looking to learn - give it a download. (Disclosure: Lost Remote is blogrolled at the end, but I didn’t know that when Scott wrote the book. May have been a ploy to get a good review. May have worked, too.)
November 19th, 2006
Let this be a lesson to you: always ask. I was in GameStop picking up some games for my XBox 360, when I saw a guy buying a Playstation 3. At face value. I asked the clerk “Did he just.. ya know… buy that?” Yep. He had come in and asked if they had any, and it turns out that one of the people who had put a deposit down to reserve a PS3 changed his mind. Still, before my head exploded at the thought of how much money I could have made by turning it around on eBay, I saw something that made me feel a little better: his son was buying games so they could play when they got home.
November 19th, 2006
