Archive for June 11th, 2007
The Times of London says NBC Universal may still be in the hunt to pick up Dow Jones, without Microsoft. The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that NBCU parent GE and Microsoft were looking at putting together a package to compete with News Corp’s $5 billion offer, but the GE-MS talks broke down. The Times says GE is casting about for a new partner, and the company didn’t rule out a bid in a carefully worded statement released today: “NBC Universal has a successful history of strategic acquisitions and as standard practice is always evaluating opportunities. It’s simply good business.”
June 11th, 2007
Finally, YouTube said it would begin testing its own fingerprinting technology with Time Warner and Disney starting in a month. The technology aims to identify copyrighted clips and let the copyright holder either remove them or share in the ad revenue. Earlier, YouTube promised this technology would be in place by the beginning of this year. (WSJ sub. req.)
June 11th, 2007
Maybe the CEO of Time Warner saw this study before his quote about CNN, because according to a new Harris Interactive study, more people say the Web will be their primary news source than network news or cable news.
While today 25% of respondents in the U.S. say they rely on network TV news, the Web comes in at number 2 with 18%. But when asked what source they will turn to in the future, those numbers flip and the Web moves ahead of network TV news by 4%. It’s hard to tell from the press release if local TV news was wrapped up with the network TV news numbers, but if that’s the case broadcasters need to ask themselves how they should be allocating next year’s budget.
Adds jus_me in comments: “The only news on tv is kids with guns and old ladies whose cats have run away. Oh yeah, and the weather and sports. I find important news in five minutes on my laptop without some overly happy people telling me I’m going to die in five minutes… right after this commercial break.”
Adds Dan: “It makes no difference if the product is on the web, on broadcast TV, on a cell phone or on an iPod. If your information does not add value to a person’s life, what do you expect to happen? It’s not the delivery vehicle that’s the worry for local stations, it’s the content they are delivering. If they don’t change, drastically, others will replace them….”
June 11th, 2007
We teased Access Hollywood’s deal with Yahoo for “omg!” yesterday - now the celebrity news site is up and live. Access Hollywood video is embedded right on to the site’s Brady Bunch-esque home page.
June 11th, 2007
Steve Jobs gave a keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference today, and naturally - a flurry of Apple-related news followed.
- You can now download Safari for your Windows-based PC. One tech analyst told the AP that the offering is a “Trojan horse that introduces an innovation of Apple to the Windows community.”
- Apple.com got a makeover. Check out this cool horizontal slider (I never thought I’d like a horizontal slider…). Also, iPhone is one of the main navigation items.
- Speaking of the iPhone… Forbes lays out a long case for why you might not want that hot gadget - including several items you might not have considered.
Earlier: Apple may rent movies for $2.99 on iTunes
June 11th, 2007
Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons knows the tide is shifting, and news is breaking online more than on the network meant to be 24-hour news, according to an article from Advertising Age. “I worry about CNN more than I do about CNN.com,” said Parsons. While ratings for the cable network have been heading down since 2003, they report CNN.com uniques are up 25% in just a year.
Adds Cory: I love this quote in the story: “We’re all pretty convinced that news doesn’t break on TV anymore,” said Eric Bader, senior VP at MediaVest. “Almost everybody across pretty much every economic and age demographic learns of breaking news online, increasingly on mobile.” So very true.
June 11th, 2007
Really, we should call this “Episode 1, Part 2,” as we’re stretching our discussion from NYC to fill several shows. This is in the finest tradition of television and radio. Here, Cory and I discuss the finer points of the online world. Also - beer. We chat about Kate’s site, SeattleChic.com and Terry Heaton’s fun with CompUSA. I also answer some of your comments about Episode 1. Keep ‘em coming. We won’t be posting a podcast every few days like this, but since this is the kickoff and we have a few in the can, we’re trumpeting the launch the way a network might do so with a new show. (We just hope to last longer.)
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Download this episode (right click and save), and here’s Get Lost, Episode One
June 11th, 2007
As part of the upcoming Fox reality show Anchorwoman, swimsuit model Lauren Jones (yes, that’s her in the photo) is making her debut today as the temporary co-anchor of the 5 p.m. news at KYTX-TV in Tyler, Texas. She arrived at the station a week ago and endured “intensive training,” and the crux of the show is whether she’ll survive the next few weeks on the air. “It devalues the work of real journalists who are trying to do real work,” says Al Tompkins, broadcast group leader for the Poynter Institute. “It doesn’t do anything to help the reputation of journalists there and around the world.” But KYTX-TV’s GM doesn’t see a problem with it. “Journalism credibility? I think that’s somewhat amusing when all I see today on the cable news is Paris Hilton, nonstop,” said station president and GM Phil Hurley. “As the new guy in town, we saw it as a promotional tool to show a lot of sampling in our newscast.” And yes, the station is getting paid, too. Hurley does have some shred of decency — he nixed Fox’s plans to put up billboards around town with Jones in a bikini. But truth be told, IMHO, Hurley is an idiot, and Anchorwoman will only make it more difficult for local TV journalists everywhere to do their jobs. (Thanks for the tip, Keith!)
Update: You can watch the news live via the stations’ website, CBS19.tv. (Actually, the link just plays the morning newscast right now. Perhaps they’ll update it with the 5 p.m. later?) Yes, that’s “Stormy the Dog” next to the anchors in the masthead.
Update: The local paper has an interview with Jones at KYTX-TV.
June 11th, 2007
OK, so it’s just another show being offered on iTunes, right? Variety says long-running soap Days of Our Lives will be offered starting tomorrow for $1.99. This is the first daytime soap on the store — and makes Days one of the most widely-distributed shows around: first-run on NBC, same day second-run on Disney’s SoapNet, and now a digital offering. The show is on a sort of death watch, after Jeff Zucker told reporters that it wouldn’t be renewed when its contract ends in 2009. Sony says it hopes the iTunes offering will attract new or returning viewers and help boost the show’s NBC ratings.
June 11th, 2007
Before I explain what I found, I have to admit I am one of the people who enjoyed the CBS show “Jericho.” I was disappointed when the show got canceled, but I wasn’t one of the people who sent nuts to CBS as a viewer protest. Now, CBS has announced they have ordered 7 more episodes of the show.
This post isn’t about the viewer protest and win thanks to the Internet, but it’s about how CBS is communicating the outcome. CBS announced the new shows directly to the fans using their own message board for the show. My favorite part of the message is the end, “P.S. Please stop sending us nuts 
”
But the best way to see the CBS PR team is using the Web well happened when I searched “Jericho” on TV Sqaud. The first result was a Google AdWord telling fans they won and the show was coming back.
Impressed, I went to Google and searched it again with the same result. Searching on Ask.com had the same sponsored ad as well, but Yahoo and Live didn’t.
We’ve talked before about using AdWords to reach your viewers. It’s great to see a network embracing that advice.
June 11th, 2007
Did you see it last night? Some viewers aren’t so happy about it (link is a spoiler if you haven’t watched it yet.) Leave your impressions in comments below…
June 11th, 2007
