Archive for March 29th, 2007
I was just browsing Newsvine when I saw a banner ad for something called “Springboard” from CBS News. Turns out it’s a contest to become a summer intern with Katie Couric and CBS Evening News. But instead of the usual shtick, interested applicants are being asked to send in a “local perspective to a global topic,” either in print or video form. The topics range from global warming to the Iraq war, and the entries are being posted on CBSNews.com. Users can post comments and rate the stories. Cool idea. CBSNews.com gets unique content and CBS News gets a talented intern.
March 29th, 2007
It’s called a “whacked out refresher” of the Sopranos. Basically, some guy with ADD (or a drug dependency) hammered out this very cool, very entertaining, very brain-numbing recap of 77 Sopranos episodes in 7 minutes. And I think he got it all in. Now the question is, how long will it stay up on YouTube before HBO sends a takedown order. Anyone?
March 29th, 2007
It seems to me that local TV sites that have been experimenting with user-generated video are not seeing a tremendous response of submitted clips. Anyone disagree with this comment? YouTube and similar sites have won the first round, but how many rounds are left before it’s too late to catch up? I’m beginning to believe that the only reason people would submit video to a TV site would be to see it on TV. And perhaps that’s even losing a bit of its luster these days because the people who submit the most video are the people who watch the least TV. Your thoughts?
Related: YouTube still dominates, according to February numbers
March 29th, 2007
New York, NY
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Minneapolis
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New York, NY
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Two Los Angeles billionaires made a last-minute offer to buy Tribune, topping Sam Zell’s offer by a dollar a share. It’s unclear what Ronald Burkle and Eli Broad’s ultimate plans would be for the company; Zell said he would not spin off the TV stations.
March 29th, 2007
Those of you who follow LR regularly know that I have sparred from time to time with the mysterious “JIB.” We usually tangle over matters relating to the FCC. I have invited him through the years to write a guest column at LR - provided he do so under his real name, which I have never known - until now. I just got an email from J. Israel Balderas, who tells me he is “JIB.” (Reprinted with permission):
Steve,
You may know me from LR postings submitted by JIB. You always encouraged me to put my writing skills to good use. I took your advice and rather than just write down a blog, I decided to start my own communications company and built a wireless & mobility news website.
Dude, I just asked you for an opposing viewpoint. You started a whole company? That’s taking a debate seriously. Israel has also started SPECTRUMocracy, a site for wireless and mobility news. Balderas’s bio lists him as a 15-year news veteran, an attorney and a former advisor to the FCC. That would explain his interest in having FCC debates, and why he got the better of me (some of the time). I welcome the LR Contributor Formerly Known as JIB to the web, and I encourage the rest of you to start something great, too.
March 29th, 2007
Just a few hours after WorldNow published a press release on February streaming numbers, Internet Broadcasting announced it had set a network record of 15.4 million unique visitors for the month of February. (Yes, invitedmedia, you called it.) The traffic record was due in large part to all the weather. “A handful of stations encouraged viewers to submit personal stories of traffic troubles or storm-related photographs, with much of the user-submitted content used on air,” reads the release. “The community slideshows garnered tremendous amounts of traffic during the storms.” Full release below…
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San Francisco
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Portland, OR
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Sirius Satellite Radio — which has figured out how to transmit limited TV signals over the radio airwaves — has teamed up with Chrysler to provide Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network to selected vehicles. For example, people who buy the 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee could choose to pay $470 for the satellite video receiver, antennas and video monitors (two in the back and one in the front. The front monitor switches off when the vehicle is moving.) The service costs $19.95 a month, although the first year of service is included in the package. Sirius said more TV channels may be coming soon, but there are bandwidth limitations.
March 29th, 2007
If you’re curious, my station did a story with Newsvine CEO Mike Davidson on that MySpace prank he played on John McCain (click the video link inside the story to watch. And yes, we’re getting linkable clips soon.) The prank still has me laughing.
Update: The story just aired on The Daily Show. Summit. Reached.
March 29th, 2007
A recent Google job posting seeks a “head of national TV sales” to help build a “world-class national TV advertising sales team.” And on the radio front, Google is putting together a sales and technology team that will eventually number 1,000 people. But can Google become a big player in broadcasting? A NY Times story today takes a look at the company’s chances.
Adds Will in comments: “Google is doomed to failure in the broadcast advertising space. Why would any successful broadcast outlet give up prime airtime for pennies on the dollar to junk up their air with ads for quack medicines and get-rich-quick schemes when they can sell airtime at top rates to reputable advertisers? And if Google thinks it can get high-profile advertisers like P&G to buy into this scheme they have another thing coming. The broadcasters simply won’t give up the high-value inventory necessary to make it work.”
Adds Safran: “The answer lies in leftover inventory. Stations often have unsold ad time…. here are already web companies that run remnant ads. This is simply a logical extension of that. Whatever you can’t sell, we’ll give you something that, while not paying as much, is better than nothing. Nobody’s gonna give up time for pennies on the dollar. They’re going to get more money for unsold ad time. And I imagine that’s just to start. Stations go through national ad sales firms. No reason Google can’t be one of those. P&G doesn’t buy its own ads - its agency does.”
March 29th, 2007
WorldNow announced its network of TV and newspaper sites set an all-time record for video streams with 25 million in the month of February. Press release below…
Adds flotsam in comments: “They may feel good because they reached a round number and honored it with a press release, but still a little perspective for them and in LR’s reporting might not be a bad idea.”
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