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Broadcasting & Cable’s John Eggerton hears a consortium of computer companies will ask for a federal investigation NBC Universal, the NFL and Major League Baseball. Why? That’s not clear yet. The suit will center on “consumer deception” - but more is expected to roll out in a Wednesday press conference. Eggerton thinks the suit may have something to do with copyright laws. Interesting…
2 comments July 31st, 2007
Two items of note from the National Football League today:
- NFL Network killed a column written by employee Deion Sanders after a prior item showed sympathy for Michael Vick. The network cited its non-compete - but some obviously wonder if that’s the real story.
- A spokesperson for the league wrote a guest opinion for the Chicago Tribune on those vests it will require photographers to wear on the sidelines at games this year (you know… the bright red ones with sponsor logos on them?). The spokesperson calls the corporate logos “small” (they aren’t), and compares the vests to those worn by shooters at the Super Bowl. The rationale for wearing the vests isn’t invalid - but having the logos on them is…
3 comments July 31st, 2007
Just because a company with a big marketing muscle and good track record tries something… doesn’t mean it will work. MySpace put its “News” section into beta several months ago, and is featuring it with ads on the MySpace homepage and a link in the new “toolbox” section. Despite this, I still have not seen a single item with votes in the double digits. The site is set up much like Digg… except that it isn’t nearly as active - and the MySpace community doesn’t seem to see a need for this type of feature. Check it out for yourself…
2 comments July 31st, 2007
One of the things I hear most often from media outlets is how difficult they find their dealings with ad agencies. Specifically, they say that the agencies aren’t all that interested in buying web advertising. I’d like to hear your experiences - especially if you’re a media buyer. Are agencies interested in online media? Local online media? Do they feel threatened by the web because it allows DIY ad buying?
3 comments July 31st, 2007
A memorial service was held for KTVK’s Scott Bowerbank and Jim Cox, and over 800 people attended. Services for KNXV’s Craig Smith and Rick Krolak are set for Thursday and Saturday. Meanwhile, prosecutors have charged the man accused of leading police on the car chase that started it all, but they’re holding off on any charges regarding the deaths until a larger investigation is complete. The NTSB is expected to have a preliminary report out by the end of the week.
2 comments July 31st, 2007
The Dow Jones board has voted to sell to News Corp., reports Reuters.
- WSJ: Deal will test a media titan’s instincts
- WSJ: Don’t count on Murdoch ruining the Wall Street Journal
- NYT: Murdoch’s history with other papers may provide clues on his plans for WSJ
- NYT: “Purchase is a reminder that the unthinkable is often doable.”
- FT: Critics bemoan potential loss of WSJ integrity
- MarketWatch:: Mr. Murdoch, you have a chance to prove critics wrong
- NYT: Can Murdoch charge for WSJ.com and give it away too?
- Hollywood Reporter: “We don’t take any new competitor lightly,” says Zucker
9 comments July 31st, 2007
Four of our colleagues died last week. They died doing what they loved - covering news. We all love it, but most of us don’t have to take the kind of risk Scott Bowerbank, Jim Cox, Craig Smith, Rick Krolack and their airborne colleagues across the country must take each day. The crash raises many questions, some of them uncomfortable. Why do we cover car chases? Why do we need five helicopters in the air? Why are pilots asked to do so much at once? Should the person who instigated the chase on the ground be charged in the death of the people in the air?
That first item is one of endless debate of course. The simple reason to cover them is that a high speed chase drives ratings. Are they of news value? Sure, some. But the folks most affected by a car chase are in their cars - not near televisions.
On the day of the crash, five news helicopters were in the air: KTVK/Independent, KSAZ/Fox, KPNX/NBC, KNXV/ABC and KPHO/CBS. Each had to do a delicate balancing act as they worked to bring back live pictures of the chase. Each station also must put out millions to keep the choppers flying throughout the year. Think of the dollars saved, the time saved - and maybe even lives saved if stations in large markets pooled their helicopter resources. If one pool helicopter were in the air that day last week instead of five, this likely would not have happened.
Several Phoenix stations did stories about how much helicopter pilots in that market must do at once. Fly the chopper, communicate with the tower, communicate with other helicopters, communicate with producers, talk to anchors and follow the “action.” It takes an enormous amount of focus and dedication to do all that - but is it too much for one person? Perhaps.
Moments after the accident, one of the Phoenix anchors said they felt the person responsible for the chase should be held liable for the crash. Police haven’t ruled out charges against Christopher J. Jones in connection with the helicopter crash.
Former newspaper columnist Allan D. Mutter has some strong words on the use of choppers in news gathering:
Apart from the lives of the newsmen lost in helicopter crashes over the years, it costs no less than $1 million a year to operate a modest-sized news chopper carrying a crew of two, according calculations based on information published at Helinews.Com. That’s enough money to hire 10 to 15 journalists to develop real stories.
If this latest accident finally causes the industry to wise up and ground its extravagant fleet of noisy and air-polluting helicopters, then the grieving families of the Phoenix newsmen would have the modest comfort of knowing their loss wasn’t in vain.
No ratings number, not profit margin, no “big get” is ever worth the life of a human being - let alone four.
7 comments July 30th, 2007
That headline got your attention. So should the latest blog entry from Bill Adee, the associate managing editor for innovation at the Chicago Tribune. While he might have an awesome title, he’s coming right at you with a challenge: “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be the main online source of video for Chicagoland users.” And to get there, he says the Tribune has 31 staff photographers with video cameras, and the multimedia team has video cameras. Let’s be conservative and say that’s 40 video cameras shooting video around Chicago. After working in Chicago, I can tell you with certainty that there is no TV station with that many cameras out on the streets. Take a look at some of the videos in Bill’s blog post and ask yourself how long until this post’s headline is reality.
13 comments July 30th, 2007
So there’s this thing called the Internet, and people have figured out how to put their favorite shows on it. Then, in some board room somewhere, an executive had the great idea of leaking their fall shows to get the people who use them Internets to watch the show and want more of it, like crack or Krispy Kremes. TV Week confirmed for us that the shows are online. The sarcasm could end here, but it’s just getting good. Click for the best part.
Read the full post 11 comments July 30th, 2007
Here’s your funny for today: check out this screenshot of a WGN story on oil company BP dumping mercury into a lake. Notice the ad in the upper right corner…
4 comments July 30th, 2007
The New York Times and NBC News said today that they would work together to cover aspects of the 2008 presidential campaign. Both news organizations say they will share breaking news back and forth. The agreement spans all their mediums: on their web sites, in video and in print. NYtimes.com will also get NBC News political video. “The 2008 campaign is already the biggest political story of our lifetimes, and getting bigger and more complex with every passing day,” said Mark Lukasiewicz, vice president of Digital Media for NBC News. (The full press release is available after the jump.)
Read the full post Add comment July 30th, 2007
Pownce is a new social networking site under construction that marries the functionality of Twitter with file sharing and events. And Digg’s Kevin Rose is one of the founders, so naturally, everyone wants an invite to the private beta. But there are so few available, some are selling on eBay for $10 a pop.
Update: Well, invites aren’t that hard to come by. Just check out the comments below.
4 comments July 30th, 2007
The second quarter hits keep coming. Belo reported a 15 percent drop overall, largely due to dismal newspaper returns that pointed fingers on softening real estate, a scapegoat we’ve heard named from other publishers. On the broadcast side managed to produce slim increases, with local business advertising sales climbing 3.9 percent compared to national spot growth at a mere 1 percent. But, perhaps thanks to some very bright bulbs in the online division (cue to Cory), Belo’s web-related TV activities were up 48 percent.
3 comments July 30th, 2007
Dallas Fox affiliate KDFW’s chopper crash-landed this morning - just days after a fatal accident in Phoenix killed four people aboard two news helicopters. This time, the station is calling it a “emergency landing” - but the pictures make it look much worse. Three people were onboard — and all made it out OK.
6 comments July 30th, 2007
The deadline is 5 p.m. ET today for the Bancroft family to decide whether or not to sell Dow Jones to News Corp. WSJ reports that negotiations are too close to call. (Sub req.)
2 comments July 29th, 2007
The citizen journalism site NowPublic — which is partnered with the Associated Press — just landed $10.6 million in series A funding. In many respects, NowPublic may be one of the only “citizen journalism” success stories out there right now. CEO Len Brody may surprise you with this interview on GigaOm. “I’m not a believer in local anymore,” he said. “I used to think that hyperlocal was what mattered to people, but for 35 and under especially, the concept of local is very different. Like Facebook publishing the news feed… it’s changed from hyperlocal to hyperpersonal.” Brody said weather, traffic and crime are becoming commodities, and while local politics may have some differentiation, nobody cares about it anymore.
That’s a very bold statement. Thoughts everyone? (Link via PaidContent)
10 comments July 29th, 2007
WHBQ-TV in Memphis has debuted OnMemphis, a city blog aggregator. Web manager Darrell Phillips said the site launched three weeks ago and “it’s doing well already and we haven’t even begun to market it.” Screen grab…
9 comments July 29th, 2007
LA Times columnist Patrick Goldstein wrote a piece that proposed that his struggling paper follow the lead of Prince, who gave away 2.9 million CDs inserted into editions of The Main newspaper in the U.K. Despite the fact that Goldstein was just trying to help his paper, an editor killed the column. But it ended up on LAObserved, nonetheless.
Add comment July 29th, 2007
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