Archive for February 4th, 2007
I have been pointing to bud.TV as the model of broadband channels to come. Indeed, Budwesier has the concept down: create programming on your own broadband channel and you can do an end run around the problems facing traditional television advertisers. However, Bud has made two very bad choices: the programming is lousy and the registration process is onerous. Cory wrote in a post below how the requirement to input your mobile phone number would, alone, doom the project to failure. And the idea that they can accurately verify your age by asking your birthday is laughable. It’s like using an index card to make a fake ID. (Plus: Why does one need to be 21 to watch? It’s not like you can download a beer. Yet…) The “shows” are disappointing. “Ice Vision and Chef” wastes Tim Meadows. “The Future Show” has Chris Parnell as Dr. Lawrence Bird (The joke is that his announcer calls him “Larry Bird.” Get it?). “The Arrogant Fake British Rich Guy” requires no further explanation. And “Guided Mediation with the Billy Lama” and “Donnie Briggs: Life Coach” may have converted me to drinking Miller Beer. “Puppet News Team” is mildly promising if they send up news conventions more. The programming was produced, in part, by an ad agency. That may be part of the problem. And forget embedding the video on your blog, a la YouTube. bud.TV’s idea of a sharing function is giving you a URL to cut ‘n paste in an email to your friend. I still think bud.TV is a model of what’s to come - but so far the thing’s skunked.
February 4th, 2007
Besides a few fogged up camera shots and a sideline photographer who got drenched, CBS’ production of the Super Bowl came off without a hitch. Crews wiped off camera lenses as fast as they could, as the director switched through the 48 cameras to keep a clear shot. This AP story praised the game coverage and the halftime show, but had a few choice words for the heart-tugging pregame show. “As you can imagine, all the feel-good segments got a lot more airtime than, say, the story about the Bears’ Tank Johnson needing a judge’s OK to get out of house arrest on gun-possession charges and travel to Miami.” Yes, but whaddya expect?
Crews clean the lens on the overhead cable camera.
February 4th, 2007
Fort Myers, FL
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Washington D.C.
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Seattle
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Cambridge, MA
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Cambridge, MA
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The Super Bowl means families clustered around high-def TVs, an endless pregame show and the best commercials of the year (video). Enjoy the game and click back here with your comments on your favorite ads, coolest tech and whatever else strikes you…
February 4th, 2007
Watch this, and watch it closely. Bud.TV, the broadband video channel Budweiser is starting up, gets its coming-out party during tonight’s Super Bowl. Anheuser-Busch is getting into the programming business, folks, and the shows aren’t overt Bud ads. The company has hired real producers to make real shows for the channel. The idea is basic: have the viewers come to your channel and it’s automatically promoting your product. And it’s promoting it for the duration of the show. Broadband hookups are already coming to TVs. This is where the ad and marketing dollars are - and should be - going. From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:
The basic idea was hatched after last year’s Super Bowl, when A-B’s commercials were viewed 22 million times on the Internet after the game and downloaded 400,000 times.
DDB Chicago even has produced a comedy sketch show for the website. The ad agency already has made 57 episodes, and it plans to roll out one each day. (emphasis added)… Bud.TV’s approach to selling beer is decidedly low-key. A-B commercials will be posted on the site, and strategically placed Bud Light or Budweiser products will appear when shows portray bar or party scenes.
Cory adds: Good idea, but the Bud.TV registration page is ridiculously long. Sure, they need to verify age, but asking for my mobile phone number is over the top. I’ll never watch, and neither will most people, which will doom this to failure.
February 4th, 2007
The L.A. Times is reporting that Jeff Zucker will be named this week become the new NBC Universal Chief Executive. Zucker, 41, has been steadily climbing the rungs at NBC since joining the net as a news field producer in 1989. Currently the CEO of the NBCU Television Group, Zucker would replace Bob Wright at the top of the network. Wright has held the job for more than 20 years. There’s every reason to believe the change is part of NBCU’s massive digital overhaul. From the LA Times:
The move comes as Jeffrey Immelt, chairman of General Electric Co., the owner of NBC Universal, looks to shake up its entertainment unit and compete more aggressively against digital powers such as Google and popular youth websites such as MySpace… (Wright) had wanted to stay on as chief executive at least until the end of the year, three people close to him said. But Immelt, 50, insisted that the transition occur now. He was determined to put his own team in place at NBC Universal…
February 4th, 2007
