Archive for August, 2007
Celebrity gossip blog (don’t pretend you don’t care) TMZ has added audio comments beneath some of its blog entries. Users can record their comments via a little interface, and then the site posts them right next to the traditional text comments. TMZ is filtering the audio comments, which are about the quality you would expect on a story about Britney’s parenting ability (this must be what Satan’s answering machine sounds like). Still - neat tech. (Not a single comment has been approved in the Michael Vick case as of this writing.)
August 27th, 2007
CNN.com announced today that Reggie Aqui is joining its online anchor team. Aqui has been a freelance reporter for CNN in Chicago, and prior to that he worked for KHOU. No offense to Reggie, but my favorite CNN.com anchor will remain Nicole Lapin, who even has her own unofficial fan site. (Did you see her photo in Wired Magazine a couple months ago? Wow.) Nicole speaks five languages, is addicted to her Blackberry and happens to be one of CNN’s youngest anchors ever.
Not the new guy. (From NicoleLapin.net)
August 27th, 2007
One of those stupid Bill O’Reilly “Is Fox Fair and Balanced Ads” keeps serving via Google on the home page today. I hate it as much as you do, but I can’t opt out of it. Sheesh.
August 27th, 2007
Fox rounds out the long list of media companies jumping into high school sports with today’s official launch of FoxHiLites.com in 23 markets. The site encourages sports fans to upload video which may appear on TV. “Whether they’re interested in sports, the arts or showing school spirit, FoxHiLites.com offers a robust online platform where they can showcase their videos and talent,” said Fox Stations V.P. of Digital Media Ron Stitt.
So let’s recap the other recent high school sports launches in local markets:
- Cox stations are rolling out new high school sections. Check out KIROtv.com’s here.
- Hearst-Argyle markets are launching HighSchoolPlaybook.com.
- Belo has soft-launched HSGameTime.com in all of its newspaper and TV markets.
- Emmis has teamed up with Indiana’s athletic association on IHSAASports.org.
- CBS recently bought MaxPreps, so you can expect local integration there.
- And don’t forget Yahoo just bought Rivals and Time bought Takkle.
Ok, keeping in mind many of these are still rolling out, which local site is the best so far? (Full disclosure: I work for KING5.com, which is part of Belo. Michael works for Hearst-Argyle. Don works for KTVB.com, which is also Belo. But you won’t hurt any of our feelings if you pick someone else’s site. Besides, Safran will set us all straight anyway.)
August 27th, 2007
From Editor and Publisher, an article that certainly won’t help things. “Web Editors Reveal Online Flops and Failures,” while it certainly carries some good warnings about taking care when executing projects online, will likely reinforce the conservative attitudes too many people in the industry have toward the web. A list of 12 essentially negative lessons? I can come up with positives for many - if not most - of these. There are some decent points here - e.g. podcasts should be chosen carefully - but the LR Faithful know better than to fear things like open comments and reader reaction. What we need right now are more articles about successes.
August 27th, 2007
Frustrated by South Park’s slow evolution on the web (other than illegal clips), creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have signed a new multizillion-dollar deal with Comedy Central that involves a new joint venture, SouthParkStudios.com, to “spread South Park-related material across the net, mobile platforms, and video games.” As the New York Times points out, “what is likely to draw the most attention in Hollywood is not the richness of the pact, but the network’s willingness to share its advertising revenue.” Everything that the joint venture brings in will be split 50-50.
The masthead on ComedyCentral.com’s South Park section now includes a sign/ad that directs users to the new SouthParkStudios.com.
August 26th, 2007
New Internet Broadcasting CEO David Lebow — formerly GM of AOL Media Networks — is hard at work on a new strategy for the online network, reports Broadcasting and Cable. “One challenge is keeping the partner companies on board—industry whisperers say NBC and Cox may pull out to run their own station sites,” writes B&C’s Michael Malone. Meanwhile, Lebow says he’ll reinforce to his staff that the web is different than TV. “These local brands are tremendous assets, but in order to be relevant, they need to be leveraged across however consumers consume information,” he says.
August 26th, 2007
Update: The former editor and publisher of The Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Joel Kramer, announced that his team is moving ahead with MinnPost.com, a nonprofit online news startup for the Twin Cities. Kramer said he’s raised $1.1 million (including $250K from the Knight Foundation). “”Communities need news every way they can get it,” said Eric Newton, vice president of Knight Foundation’s journalism program. “What makes this experiment interesting are its non-profit model and the willingness of such a broad spectrum of the community to give money and time to this effort.” More than 20 Twin Cities journalists have already agreed to contribute content to the site, which is launching “later this year.” (Thanks, Jason for the link!)
August 26th, 2007
NBC has shot only one To Catch a Predator episode so far this year, compared to seven back in 2006, reports New York Times’ Brian Stelter. The likely reason? Advertisers are backing away from the controversial show, which is facing two lawsuits. But NBC says it’s “not running away” from the show and it’s “discussing future investigations.”
August 26th, 2007
The facelift includes updated navigation and a new deal with Bankrate for interest rates.
August 26th, 2007
I happened to surf to mtv.com today to look at some of the VMA content and realized that Overdrive had been completely changed and was no longer a pop-up video player. While that’s great news, what is even better is that the videos on mtv.com are now able to be embedded on external websites!
Are there any local news websites that let people embed their videos? I don’t know of any offhand, but I’m hoping you will and can share with us.
PS - If you haven’t seen that video by Brad Paisley called “Online,” you might get a laugh out of it. Anyone who has tried to meet someone online will relate.
August 24th, 2007
FIRST ON LOST REMOTE: Hearst just announced that it is making tender offers to buy back all the outstanding publicly-owned Hearst-Argyle Television shares. “Following the transaction, Hearst-Argyle Television would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst Corporation,” reports a release on Hearst’s website.
The Hearst Corporation is a privately-held company.
Update: Now everyone else has picked up on the story.
August 24th, 2007
For just the second time, someone has managed to hack an iPhone. This time, a skilled teenager managed to free an iPhone from the shackles of AT&T. 17-year-old George Holz of New Jersey cracked open his iPhone and hacked it, and now it works with his T-Mobile account. It’s not an easy hack - it takes two hours and requires soldering and software work. He has blogged instructions for the hack, and the phone is now for sale on eBay. You have to admire the kid for cracking the case (and voiding the warranty) on an expensive piece of hardware. He can’t get the visual voicemail to work but otherwise, he says, the phone works fine.
August 24th, 2007
As always, Cuban makes an interesting point but with some exaggeration thrown in. “We have reached a point of diminishing returns with today’s internet,” he explains in an interview. “The speed of broadband to your home won’t increase much more in the next five years than it has in the last five years. That is not enough to work as a platform for new levels of applications that will require much, much higher levels of bandwidth…. The only way to change that is to upgrade the platform for bandwidth transport across the country to a minimum of 1 gigabyte per second throughout to every home. At that point kids will come up with new and unique applications that we can’t imagine today. That’s when it becomes exciting. Until then, it’s dead and boring.”
August 24th, 2007
WFMY has replaced their website with digtriad.com for the Triad region that they service on-air, but it’s an unusual move as the new site has basically no branding from the station, and local news is hard to find. The top story this morning is about Iraq. The site is meant to be powered by users, but it looks more like the site was handed over to users and the station has stopped producing their own content. Perhaps it’s just launch challenges, but I’m interested in hearing everyone else’s opinions on this. Users are commenting about the new design, and I bet the station and Gannett wish they could turn off comments. Some examples:
“When I come to a “news” website, all I want is the news and/or weather.”
“I am not sure I will be coming to this site in the future.”
“I only registered so that I could comment that the new site pretty much sucks.”
“The old site was not great, but like others have said, this is terrible.”
So the question to you all: What do you think? Would you dump your own website to launch a community website with little station branding, or would you launch a second website to serve the same purpose?
(Disclosure: My employer is Hearst-Argyle, who owns WXII12.com in the same market. We do use Pluck UGC tools, which are the same commenting system used on digtriad.com.)
August 24th, 2007
Jakob Nielsen’s latest column confirms what we pretty much know already: users are ignoring banner ads. Don’t see ‘em. Look the other way. Avert their eyes.
Eyetrack results make it plain as day - folks are looking for content, not ads. Very few eye fixations land on ads - instead people focus on the meat of the page. There are ways around this. Ads that are designed to be an integral part of the page, with a matching tone and style can succeed in getting attention. Nielsen notes that those remnant campaigns and ad networks aren’t always the best way to buy an ad:
Ultimately, the fact that online ads get viewed more when they match surrounding content is a strike against the tendency to build advertising networks. If advertising spots are simply auctioned off, then you can’t design an optimized ad for each placement.
When you advertise through an advertising network, your ads will get fewer fixations than if you contract directly with the publisher for a specific placement and design your creative to fit that spot. As a result, you should bid less for network ads than for customized ads that you place yourself.
August 23rd, 2007
The latest upgrade of Google Earth lets us turn the telescope on the skies above and look into the stars from any position on earth. It’s guaranteed to draw you in. And I’ll have you know that I have a pretty sweet view of the Crab Nebula. Front row seats in fact, just 6,300 light years away from center stage (and slightly to the left on the aisle). You find your usual spot on Earth and then click on the new feature that turns your eyes to the skies. The virtual planetarium begins. That’s where I found ol’ Crabby.
August 23rd, 2007
TVBarn’s Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star received a screener copy of the soundtrack to Ken Burns’ upcoming “The War” documentary. The sleeve and CD were personalized for each critic, and included this warning: “This promotional CD is Watermarked and therefore is unique and traceable. The Copyright Owner is able to monitor its use and identify the source of any unauthorized copies. The Copyright Owner will take appropriate action in respect of any misuse of promotional CD releases.” Scary. The problem? The envelop stuffer got a little off their list - and sent Aaron Barnhart the CD meant for the Wall Street Journal’s Brooks Barnes. Aaron’s response? “You’ll be seeing that copy on eBay later today. Hey, it ain’t my scalp!”
August 23rd, 2007
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