Archive for February 20th, 2007
WSJ breaks the news that NBC’s general counsel demanded that YouTube remove the company’s copyrighted content last week, and CBS’ talks to expand its relationship with the video site have “unraveled.” This after Viacom yanked its content a couple weeks ago after a long negotiation that boiled down to hard cash (Google reportedly offered $500 million but Viacom wanted more) and promised “fingerprinting” technology that YouTube has yet to deliver. The tide is turning, at least for now. Reads the WSJ story, “Although the current strife might eventually prove to be no more than hard-nosed negotiating, Google’s attempt to cut deals with media companies seems to be turning into a long slog.” Lots of good information in this story, including the tidbit that Google CEO Eric Schmidt was planning to take the stage with CBS chief Les Moonves at CES to announce a multiyear deal, but Moonves balked and Schmidt canceled his trip. “I’m not in a great hurry,” says Schmidt on teaming up with TV. “It’s more important to get it right.” So the obvious question, will the networks ultimately partner with YouTube? Does YouTube need them to succeed? (WSJ sub. req.)
Adds WizKid in comments below: “Networks are in for a rude awakening if they think we’ll choose to watch commercial-riddled programming over commercial-free third parties, pirate or not.”
Adds discreet_chaos in comments: “We all may sit around and protest that the networks are trying to protect their copyrights, but other than LonelyGirl and a couple of others, how many people are watching the stuff that’s not ganked from cable?”
Adds Joe in comments: “Most of YouTube’s traffic comes from the long tail of clips that aren’t in the ‘most viewed’ list. So without the tv clips, YouTube would still have a large and likely growing audience.”
February 20th, 2007
Microsoft’s new video game Crackdown shipped today, and it’s sold out virtually everywhere (well, at least in Seattle). Is it that great of a game? Well, not really. But it contains a key to unlock an Xbox Live beta test of Halo 3, which is due to come out later this year. A brilliant marketing move. I was just talking with a couple of my Xbox friends who saw an advance screening of Halo 3, and they assure me it’s sick (that’s awesome, for you out-of-the-demo folks). And they also say that Hellgate London, an upcoming game for the 360, is unbelievable.
Screen grab from Hellgate London. Hmmmm.
February 20th, 2007
The ever-popular HGTV.com has launched a new feature that allows users to upload photos and descriptions of their favorite rooms. Then others can rate the rooms and leave their own comments. In the end, HGTV.com builds up a library of design ideas… for free. Great idea. “If you don’t have the opportunity to work with a decorator, and not all of us do, you have a great resource right at your fingertips,” said Charity Curley, vice president of HGTV.com. Press release after the screen grab…
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ABCNews.com has an amazing slideshow that chronicles the challenges and recovery of Bob Woodruff, who was nearly killed in an IED attack in Iraq.
February 20th, 2007
About 200 of you voted for your favorite Lost Remote T-shirt slogan, and over 20 percent picked… “404 Not Found” over a TV test pattern. Second place is “Get Lost (Remote)” followed by “Web Producers Do it on Any Platform.” The winning slogan was suggested by Lost Remote’s own blogger David Johnson, so as promised, he’ll get two free T-shirts. Now it’s time for the next contest. The best “404 Not Found” design emailed to cory@lostremote.com will win two free T-shirts and our gratitude. We’ll print up a bunch, offer them through CafePress and bring a few to NAB-RTNDA in April. (Details: The T-shirt will be black. The background image can be a test pattern, color bars and/or a TV set. Put “Lost Remote” in text somewhere in the design, although everything must be on the front. Please submit a .PNG or .TIF file.)
February 20th, 2007
Palm Desert, CA
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Park City, UT
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Milwaukee
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The Oscars air this weekend, and entertertainment sites like People.com and Eonline.com are gearing up for the big night with more video! more photos! more blogs! (It’s interesting to note that video blog upstart TMZ.com has surpassed both of those sites as the top entertainment destination.) Also, Oscar.com has relaunched with a new look, embedded player and all kinds of flashy features. “We want the Oscars to be a two-screen experience,” said Laura Ziskin, who is producing this year’s broadcast. “I’m big on content, so I want to transmit as much content as possible. The website is natural.” Last year, Oscar.com grew 39 percent to a unique audience of 720,000 on Oscar week, and this year organizers say the site has already surpassed last year’s traffic. Screen grab…
Adds Rick in comments: “I’m not sure that I would describe a company funded by AOL as an ‘upstart.’ but TMZ has brought in a lot of video views in the past year. Speaking of video, while Oscar.com has a lot of cool stuff, it’s frustrating that you can’t link directly to their videos, much less share them or embed them. Which seems like a natural for that Ellen Degeneres video ‘blog’ they’re promoting.”
February 20th, 2007
Microsoft and Starcom have developed criminal profiles of two types of “ad avoiders” (you know who you are.) “Active avoiders” are most likely 20- and 30-something tech savvy men. “Passive avoiders,” who only put up with relevant advertising, tend to be women with kids. Overall, 10-15 percent of 17-35 year-olds are avoiders, reports the study, which to me sounds a little low for that demo. The message to advertisers: “If you really want to make an impact you really have to customize your message,” said Beth Uyenco Shatto, research director at Microsoft. “Plus, the more interactive you get, the more convincing you are.” Well, that leaves out broadcast television.
February 20th, 2007
Last week, Rob Paterson and Andy Carvin pulled an A-List of social media gurus into the hallowed halls of NPR to brainstorm and discuss how community engagement will play out in public radio’s overall strategy. Not surprisingly, the discussion has dribbled onto the blogs of those in attendance, including all-around-smart-guy Doc Searls, Euan Semple, rising star and TV disruptor Zadi Diaz, and our old pal Jeff Jarvis. Of course, Andy blogged just about everything on his Waste of Bandwidth, with video and more of Jay Rosen and David Weinberger (wonder where J.D. Lasica and Dan Gillmor were?). It is an interesting look not only at how an organization like NPR is dealing with social media, community and citizen journalism, but also at the challenges at play in weighing these critical concepts. I’ve infamously ranted in the past about the need for public broadcasting to embrace community; it says a lot about NPR for assembling a group like this, knowing they would be as transparent as they are.
February 20th, 2007
New York Magazine examines the somewhat new video operation at NYTimes.com as well as the rather established, award-winning unit at WashingtonPost.com. Yes, the author seems to think that “smart people” will get their video from newspaper sites at the exclusion of TV sites — which of course, is a ridiculous statement — but there’s some good information in here. My favorite quote, from NYTimes.com’s David Carr, on how his bosses told him to give video “a whirl” fifteen months ago: “‘Let’s give it a whirl’—that’s not something that comes up a lot (at the New York Times.)” This experimentation with web video, unfettered from TV thinking, is yielding some promising newspaper video projects.
Adds Jim in comments: “Let’s let newspapers think they’ve figured it out. Sadly, they haven’t come close with any of this. It comes down to what people will ultimately find of use to them. Right now, video clips on TV station sites make up only 5-7 percent of the traffic — and that is using some of the most compelling VIDEO (’show me’ video, not newspaper ‘video’). So, most if not all of the newspaper ‘video’ won’t begin to touch that.”
February 20th, 2007
NBC calls American Idol the Death Star. “I think Idol is the most impactful show in the history of television,” said NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker. Two seasons ago, in the show’s first five weeks, it averaged 28.3 million viewers. Last season it was 31.7 million. This season it’s 33.5 million. Starting tonight, Idol will air three nights a week for three weeks, expanding beyond its regular Tuesday and Wednesday nights to a Thursday hour as well. Of course, this would be the time to remind everyone that every network except Fox passed on the show when it was pitched to them back in 2001.
February 20th, 2007
Just two weeks after pulling its content from YouTube, Viacom has agreed to license video to the video site Joost, formerly known as The Venice Project. The deal includes TV shows from Comedy Central and MTV, as well as movies from Paramount. “We’re interested in distribution of our content on as many platforms as possible, provided we can operate in a secure environment,” Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said. “This assures any potential partners that we’re open for business and that we’re able to enter into transactions with companies that respect our content and the considerations of our business.” Joost is the brainchild of Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the two guys behind Skype and KaZaa. The site’s goal is to provide high-resolution, full-length video in a TV-like environment. Joost is still in beta with a target launch date in June. (WSJ sub. req.)
February 20th, 2007
