Archive for March 20th, 2007
In the last year alone, due to iTunes and other digital music stores, reports the WSJ. “Sales are so down and so off that, as a manager, I look at a CD as part of the marketing of an artist, more than as an income stream,” says Jeff Rabhan, who manages several artists. “It’s the vehicle that drives the tour, the merchandise, building the brand, and that’s it. There’s no money.” Here’s an easy Lost Remote prediction: the same will happen to DVDs in the next 2-3 years (although you could argue that high-definition video may delay the inevitable a bit longer. But not by much.)
Adds Michael in comments: “Personally, I think years of overpriced CDs are driving this as much as anything else. Is it me, or do DVD prices go down much faster much quicker? It’s nothing for me to see a 2-year-old movie for under $7 at Target. No such luck with CDs. Considering the DVD starting price is usually higher ($12, $14, $18), that seems odd. Maybe it’s just me.”
March 20th, 2007
With Nielsen moving toward commercial ratings, broadcasting and cable networks are working on ways to try to get DVR-enabled TV viewers to watch the ads. Viacom’s VH1 has “showstoppers.” The CW has “content wraps.” And now ABC is working on several ideas to hold viewers through commercial pods.
March 20th, 2007
What happens when a prominent law professor posts a clip of the NFL’s copyright message (”this telecast is sponsored by the NFL for the private use of our audience”) from the Super Bowl on YouTube? As a lesson in fair use for her students? Well, as Fark would say, hilarity ensues. (Thanks for the tip, Allen!)
March 20th, 2007
Google is now offering advertisers the option to pay only when someone takes action after clicking through an AdWords link. Google launched Pay-Per-Action keywords in Beta on Tuesday. The concept: Pay-Per-Click advertising has led to an unacceptable amount of click fraud. Pay-Per-Click would help ensure advertisers they are only paying for people who buy their products, sign up for their newsletters, or take some other action upon visting their site.
Adds Joe in comments: “…the hell with click fraud, I want to see Google taking care of advertiser fraud. Heck, I see a few scam sites in the Google ads on this very page. These things have become total junk mail.”
The man’s right. The permalink page with our story has Google ads that have keyworded “Click Fraud” and have AdSense ads for sites that offer, shall we say, seemingly shady deals. Good point.
March 20th, 2007
An excellent essay over at Consumerist by Jerrett, one of the site’s readers: “How I Became A Music Pirate.” It’s the harrowing tale of how DRM can actually drive honest people with the best of intentions to a life of piracy. The poor writer chooses a paid download over a free pirated copy, only to find out getting DRM-protected music to play nice with your given hardware configuration is enough to make you want to take a walk off the plank. Wonders Jerrett:
I mean, could you imagine the consumer response if Coke could only be consumed from specific Coke-approved equipment, and then only in the specific ways that the folks at Coke wanted the product to be consumed. “drinking Coke with fast food is no problem, but we must warn you that your license forbids the mixing of Coke with any alcoholic beverages…”
March 20th, 2007
Web 2.0 companies put up the strangest messages when they’re doing site maintenance. YouTube put this up a few months ago. And now Twitter has this one…
Read the full post March 20th, 2007
First CNN launched I-Report. Then MSNBC debuted First Person. And now FoxNews.com has UReport, an upload feature for citizen journalism photos and video. “You can now report for Fox News,” Shep Smith said on the air. “We’ve been working on this project for some time now.” The technology is powered by NeighborhoodAmerica.
March 20th, 2007
High school sports is red hot right now, and CBS has acquired one of the leaders in the field. MaxPreps will become part of CBS-owned College Sports Television (CSTV) and its network of websites. “The company is a terrific complement to CSTV’s local and regional assets. At the same time, its content will help make CBS’s local television stations and web sites the ‘go-to’ place for local sports content in communities across the country,” said Brian Bedol, President and CEO of CSTV Networks. MaxPreps.com has over a million high school athletes registered in its database. Press release with more details follows below, and thanks Cameron for the tip!
Read the full post March 20th, 2007
Peer-to-peer heavyweight BitTorrent is working on an advertising-based internet TV service similar to Joost, said BitTorrent’s Eric Patterson during a panel session. “We see us moving to an advertising-supported model at the end of the year so people can consume TV shows in the same way they consume programs on television,” said Patterson, who didn’t disclose any other details. BitTorrent already offers TV shows and movies in a pay-per-download model.
March 20th, 2007
Nielsen Monitor-Plus just released its ad growth numbers for 2006 by media:
| Internet |
+35% |
| Spot TV top 100 markets |
+9.1% |
| Spanish national TV |
+8.1% |
| Network TV |
+4.2% |
| National cable TV |
+1.8% |
| Spot TV markets 101-210 |
-0.9% |
| Local newspaper |
-3.6% |
| |
Local TV stations in key larger markets experienced a bump from strong political spending, yet smaller market stations struggled. A big culprit: automotive dealer association spending dropped 1.4 percent and dealership spending fell 3.5 percent.
March 20th, 2007
