Archive for November 28th, 2006
Barry Diller, who heads up InterActiveCorp, will launch a new network of local sites next week called “AskCity” that promise to offer a new model for web search. The sites will combine the assets of Ask.com, CitySearch, Evite and TicketMaster, among other IAC properties. It’s yet another example of a pure play moving aggressively into the local space, and the trend will only intensify. In my humble opinion, unless local media companies (especially TV stations in the top 20 markets) step up with new, innovative online products in the next 12-18 months, they risk losing 20-40 percent of their total staff over the next 5 years. Sticking with just news, weather, traffic and news video won’t bring in nearly enough revenue to compensate for TV’s declines. It’s that simple, folks.
November 28th, 2006
Portland, OR
Read the full post November 28th, 2006
Portland, OR
Read the full post November 28th, 2006
Mendota Heights, MN
Read the full post November 28th, 2006
Mendota Heights, MN
Read the full post November 28th, 2006
Mendota Heights, MN
Read the full post November 28th, 2006
Mendota Heights, MN
Read the full post November 28th, 2006
As web producers know, it’s all about the headlines. A great headline can double the clicks over a mediocre one. So I couldn’t help but notice how CNN.com was working overtime on Tuesday night in its main headline block with these gems:
X-Men illustrator dies in Superman pajamas
Clerk swings machete to stop porn theft
Mom charged with baby’s microwave death
Man paid $1,500 for camera, got sauce in box
November 28th, 2006
Seattle is about to set the all-time record for rain in a single month, with flooding, snow and ice, so I’ve been a little busy with my real job. (Last night I was stranded and stayed the night at a hotel next to the station). But I just updated the jobs section with a ton of Internet Broadcasting and FoxNews.com positions, among others. So take a look.
November 28th, 2006
Staffers from the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News say they’re prepared to publish their work online, if a strike deadline passes Thursday. 900 members of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia are certainly ready to walk the picket line - just check out the union’s website. At issue are matters of sick pay, a union pension cap, and the power of seniority in job security. Editor and Publisher reports that, should the job action happen, union leaders will produce their own online newspaper with striking staffers. The union has even bought a domain name, although it won’t say what that URL is. (Via Poynter)
November 28th, 2006
The Pulitzer Prizes will now allow submissions from some more online efforts. Last year, you may remember, the Pulitzers started considering online work, but only still pics and written reports. A press release from the Pulitzer board says that “newspapers may now submit a full array of online material-such as databases, interactive graphics, and streaming video-in nearly all of its journalism categories.” The key word here is newspapers. The Pulitzer Prizes are still newspaper-centric, and that is only to their own detriment. They are missing out on “a full array of online material” that doesn’t originate in newspaper newsrooms. Also, Steve Yelvington notes of the rules, “…the online material “must depict its original publication on the Web, not its subsequent update or alteration.” That’s a distressingly static approach in an increasingly conversational world and locks out some great new approaches to doing serious journalism on the Web.”
November 28th, 2006
CBS has put Jericho on hiatus and doesn’t plan on running new episodes until late February. (At the end of sweeps?) But here’s the spin: The Eye says it’s going to run original content and clips online to keep Jericho loyalists hooked. Execs say viewer comfort with the web was a big part of their decision. “This will be a really great experiment for us,” says CBS entertainment chief Nina Tassler. I’ll give CBS this: it’s an interesting spin to give putting a show on hiatus. Usually they just say “we’re retooling.”
November 28th, 2006
This is exactly what programmers should be doing: MTV networks is going deep into niches by developing 20+ websites. Each site focuses on a different audience - and each will have its own URL. In addition to several different music sites, there will be sites that focus on games, dance, entertainment and personal development. Local stations can learn from this. Rather than making people come to a “master site” and dig around, you should be developing micro-sites that focus on niche markets. As long as they are using and sharing your content, what do you care what the URL is? Make the content fun, useful and easy to find. Says Brian Graden, president of entertainment for the MTV Networks Music Group, “The one thing that we do know is that these do not represent television on the Web… It’s all about aggregating as many impressions and page views as you can in any numbers of ways.”
November 28th, 2006
NBC News has become the first network to make the editorial decision to call the battles between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims in Iraq a “civil war.” Today host Matt Lauer made the announcement Monday morning. The White House says the sectarian violence is certainly serious but is not a civil war. While some reporters at other networks have referred to the fighting as “civil war” there have been no formal announcements of editorial decisions to do so.
November 28th, 2006
Verizon Wireless customers who have the $15/month VCast service will soon have access to YouTube clips. The service is limited, however. Subscribers won’t be able to watch every YouTube clips - just an unspecified number of clips approved by YouTube and Verizon Wireless. I don’t see this as being an especially tempting offering - it goes against the free spirit attitude of YouTube. (NYT free sub. req.) NOTE: This corrects a previous entry that incorrectly wrote that the YouTube service itself would cost $15/month. It is bundled into the $15/month VCast service. Apologies for the error.
November 28th, 2006
