Archive for September 14th, 2007
For the first time, NYTimes.com has published a video “letter to the editor.” Filmmaker Charles Ferguson sent the Times a video rebuttal to an Op-Ed piece that L. Paul Bremer III wrote about disbanding the Iraqi army. Ferguson’s a professional, and the video is certainly pro-quality. But this is a fantastic idea for amateurs as well, and local sites should embrace this. Invite video opinion pieces and encourage dialogue. (Via E&P)
September 14th, 2007
Check out ONow.com, a classifieds site out of Omaha, Nebraska. It’s the work of the Journal Broadcast Group’s KMTV (CBS affil) and its five radio stations. It is its own brand and does not have the names/logos of the TV or radio stations on it. For now, users can post everything, including pictures and videos, for free. Eventually the site will charge for the pix and video, but the text ads will remain free.
September 14th, 2007
According comscore’s recent numbers, U.S. viewers watched an average of 3 hours of video online during July. Google commanded 27 percent of that audience. No surprise to observant Lost Remoters, the average length of the videos is 2.7 minutes. When I think about online video now, I keep thinking about the analogy to 45 rpm singles on AM radio. Where broadband is to online video what FM was to broadcast audio, I expect longer, more engaging experiences to start creeping into the quick spins now that we’re measuring session length as well as page views: Finished video pieces of news magazine length but designed straight for the web that are smartly embedded with text, data interfaces and drill-down resources.
September 14th, 2007
CBS News has relaunched cbsnews.com with a very nice and clean look. On the homepage, you can pull in headlines from local news organizations, including the CBS O&O’s and local newspapers. Weather on the site is powered by Weather Channel, but doesn’t appear to display on the homepage. Video has a much larger showcasing on the new site, with links and video thumbnails everywhere, but the site is still using a pop-up video player. They are using Flash video inside of the stories, although there is no player on the homepage. The story page video player seems very small. Katie Couric will even give you a tour of the new site through a video, but you have to watch a painfully long :30 second commercial first. Tell us your thoughts in comments.
September 14th, 2007
Have you checked out the Sprint ads that cycle through on the right of LR? Pretty good. Fast, funny, and - I have to say - clever. They’re part of their “Waitless” campaign - ideas to save you time in your life. Now keep in mind that our ads are sold by Federated Media, so we have no idea what’s going to go into that space. We’ve also dissed ads that have appeared there, and so we’re not trying to suck up. (Much.) No - I think the Sprint ads are an excellent example of “advertising as entertainment.” I went through a bunch of their quick videos, and spent time on their site. That’s worth pointing out on the rare occasions that it happens.
September 14th, 2007
