Update:ValleyWag says the FIM folks were in the loop on the deal, which disputes the TechCrunch report which we posted earlier today: TechCrunch is reporting that execs at Fox Interactive Media, the internet arm of News Corp., learned about News Corp’s decision to invest in online video company ROO through a Wall Street Journal article published yesterday, the day of the announcement. And to make things worse, FIM had been in talks with ROO competitor Brightcove, TechCrunch reports. “The fact that News Corp. made a significant investment in an Internet startup without consulting Fox Interactive suggests News Corp. is no longer looking at their interactive subsidiary to guide them with online strategy,” writes TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington. FIM’s former leader, Ross Levinsohn, stepped down from the company last November. He was replaced by a long-time Fox executive. Meanwhile, GigaOM reports that FIM is in talks to acquire Strategic Data Corp., an online ad optimization company.
What better way to kick off the release of Windows Vista than with a visit to the geeks at the Daily Show? Head Geek Bill Gates did just that, and handled Jon Stewart’s cunning attempts at figuring out his password. (”Is it ‘Gates’? Did you ever have a pet when you were younger? What was the pet’s name?”) Here’s the video…
ALSO:Part two of the interview, in which Gates talks about the future of computing, and Stewart asks about interactive TV. (Jon: “When you say ‘interactive’ what do you mean by that? Because I kind of like it that I can’t see them at home.”
Lloyd Braun, the top ABC programming exec who worked at Yahoo until two months ago, and Gail Berman, who was Fox’s top programming exec until 2005, have joined to create a production company to create entertainment for television, films and the internet.
Research and advice company Outsell projects that 20 percent of U.S. ad buys will be online in 2007. Outsell surveyed marketers to find out about companies’ ad-buying plans for the year. No surprise - the dollar shift continues to online. This year, those polled will spend about 18 percent more than they did in ‘06. That would bring the ‘07 online ad buys to one in every five bucks of an even-bigger pie. From ClickZ: “The share held by TV, radio, and movie ad spending is expected to slip 3.5 percent this year.”
NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright tells B&C that this is the last business cycle where an old-line media company can afford not to have at least 20%-30% of its business in digital. But he also says the digital component is not yet sufficient to boost the bottom line of companies with only “average” performance in traditional businesses… (Says Wright) “Three years from now, success will require your traditional areas to be performing at the top of their games while at the same time deriving significant income - not just revenues - from digital media.”
Right on both counts. Old media companies have to make major commitments to digital initiatives AND they need to think in terms of three- and five-year plans. But simply putting your existing content online is not enough. The companies need to innovate the technologies, not just the content. Old media companies keep getting blindsided by new technology. I’m glad Mr. Wright recognizes the urgency of change and perhaps, as part of their digital initiatives, NBCU will take some of that investment money and lead the way with breakthrough online technology.
EVP Terry Mackin will now focus on digital media full-time at Hearst Argyle TV. Frank Biancuzzo, president and general manager of WISN-TV, will return to New York headquarters as senior VP and group head.
A warm “welcome back” to CBS News reporter Kimberly Dozier, who visited the New York newsroom today (Video), eight months after a car bomb nearly killed her in Iraq. Her co-workers Paul Douglas and James Brolan died in the May 29, 2006 attack, along with a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi translator. From CBSNews.com:
“It’s overwhelming,” said Dozier, as some 100 colleagues gathered around. “Last May we had Hell open on us. That’s when I found out what this place was really like. People I didn’t know reached out to me, to my family, and also reached out to the families of Paul and James. “Paul and James will always be in my memories … a final salute to them.”
While Dozier hasn’t returned to work just yet, she has been writing. Katie Couric posts her thoughts about Dozier’s return at Couric & Co.
CBS News President Sean McManus (right) welcomes Kimberly Dozier back to the New York newsroom, as colleagues give Dozier a standing ovation. (Video framegrab courtesy CBSNews.com)
Give ‘em this - it’s novel. The San Francisco Chronicle has started a podcast of reader feedback phonecalls. The ones from the tinfoil hat crowd are a little too easy, but the one that addresses a question of grammar is more interesting. (Is “pilotless drone” redundant?) The page posts a listener’s call, another listener’s response and, more fun, a music mashup of the discussion.
Pop quiz, students: What kind of rating does a show get if five million college students watch it in their dorms? Zero. At least, until now. Nielsen has begun to measure college students’ viewing habits, in a remarkably late effort to quantify what that obscure 18-22 audience is watching. It had been company policy not to have boxes in dorm rooms, leaving its study of that age group to non-college students or those home on vacation. Unsurprisingly, a pilot on November found that counting college students increased ratings by as much as 50 percent.
A survey of over 1,000 teachers found that 57 percent use national or international news websites as a source of news for teaching purposes, compared to 28 percent for daily newspapers and just 13 percent for local TV news. “Students do not relate to newspapers at all, any more than they would to vinyl records,” one teacher said in the study. Local papers “haven’t recognized how quickly this transition is taking place,” said the study’s author, Thomas Patterson, a professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. What about local TV sites? They weren’t even mentioned.
News Corp. has invested as much as 10 percent (approximately $12 million) in ROO Group, an online video technology provider that already powers the video behind FoxNews.com and other News Corp. sites. ROO competes with companies like Brightcove. Press release below…
This guy named Mark Erickson posted a video on YouTube which shows users how to crack into a so-called secret beta for “Google TV,” an upcoming product that would enable you to watch full-length TV shows with dynamic, targeted ads. But, Google says there’s no such thing, and nobody can replicate the hack demonstrated in the video (some people have tried dozens if not hundreds of times). So, in a nutshell, it’s an elaborate hoax. Watch the video — other than the dorky open, it’s surprisingly convincing…
Tribune Interactive has inked a deal with VMIX to power user-created content functionality — video, photos, blogs, ratings and polls — across the media company’s websites. More details in the release…
Pop quiz, students: What kind of rating does a show get if five million college students watch it in their dorms? Zero. At least, until now. Nielsen has 
