TV Guide cancels Online Video Awards show

There’s no irony in this story. The WGA strike has put an end to TV Guide’s plans to air its first-ever Online Video Awards show on its cable channel. But no fear, the results in 18 categories will still be announced online on November 26th.

1 comment November 15th, 2007

Data as journalism, journalism as data

Northwestern’s Rich Gordon takes an in-depth look at IndyStar.com’s Data Center site, and it’s a must read for online newsies. Explains Gordon, “Thanks to the Star, online users can see police and fire emergency calls in real time, look up their property tax assessments, review school test scores and suspensions, check out CEO salaries, look up crime statistics in their neighborhood, and — proving that databases can be used for much more than hard news — find out how Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning performs in different game situations. Between March and October, the Star’s online databases generated 7.2 million page views - roughly 3 percent of the paper’s online traffic.” Very cool stuff, and a lot of lessons to be learned for news sites everywhere.

1 comment November 15th, 2007

Amazon to unveil digital book, newspaper

It’s called Kindle, and it’s a handheld e-book reader that’s equipped with WiFi (that’s an early photo of the device.) So users can purchase e-books directly to the display. But more interesting to most of us, CNET reports that it will also allow you to download digital editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal every morning. (And you can imagine other newspapers will want to jump on this, too). CNET explains, “This marks a major launch for Amazon. According to the source, (CEO Jeff) Bezos has held this project very close, delaying it for more than a year to perfect the details. The company reportedly even studied the launch tactics Apple used for the iPod.” The price is expected to be around $399, and the announcement is scheduled for Monday. You can see a larger photo of the device from Engadget back in September here.

Now, how many Lost Remote readers would use something like this?

Adds Todd in comments: “I have an iPhone… why do I need this?”

12 comments November 15th, 2007

Become a fan of Lost Remote on Facebook

I really haven’t figured out the gist of Facebook’s new product pages, so I created a Lost Remote page for the fun of it. If you’re on Facebook, become a fan.

Update: Wow, thanks everyone! There are more LR fans out there on Facebook than I thought…

Add comment November 15th, 2007

CBS Interactive president: ‘We love Hulu’

“People constantly ask us at CBS Interactive about Hulu,” said CBS Interactive President Quincy Smith at the NewTeeVee conference. “Off the record? We love Hulu, and we talk a lot with Hulu. Our objective isn’t to slam them. If we can’t work together in contract then we can work together in philosophy.” Smith also talked up the value of short clips when offered along with full episodes online. “Seventy percent of volume is in clips,” he said. “Just because you click on an episode, doesn’t mean that you’re going to finish the whole thing.” (True, but I bet more people will watch full episodes on Hulu than on CBS.com or NBC.com because of Hulu’s unmatched quality and user experience.) You can read more interesting tidbits from Quincy’s keynote here.

Add comment November 15th, 2007

News is a process, not a finished product

We’ve written a lot about the success of TMZ.com, and Terry Heaton uses the entertainment site as an example of the shift from “news as a finished product” to “offering pieces of stories as stories themselves.” In other words, TMZ.com doesn’t wait to put together a story on something — it blogs every piece of a story as it comes in. TMZ.com calls it “continual iteration.” While this idea may fly in the face of traditionalists (can you post one side of a story now and follow up with the other side later?), you have to admit it’s a very compelling presentation. IMHO, we’ll see more of the approach gravitate to online news in the months and years to come.

Adds Rick in comments: “…TMZ does get things right. But it often gets them wrong. And even more frequently, it offers up a series of posts that are obviously coming from one side of a celebrity story.”

2 comments November 15th, 2007

CBS to offer free WiFi in Midtown Manhattan

For six months beginning at the end of the month, CBS will offer free WiFi in a 20-block area in Midtown Manhattan as part of an intriguing experiment. The “CBS Mobile Zone” is being delivered by transmitters on CBS Outdoor billboards and MTA/NYC Transit-owned urban panels located above subway entrances. Local businesses can also pick up free routers to extend the free WiFi inside. Of course, users will be greeted with an ad-supported home page that also includes local and national news provided by CBS among other content provided by partners.

Pretty cool, if you ask me. We’ll see if it financially pans out for CBS.

Add comment November 15th, 2007

Video sites courting striking writers

With the writers out on strike, many expect online to be the place people will spend more time to find entertainment. Now, online video site break.com is inviting striking WGA members to upload their videos to their site. They’re offering $5,000 to the highest-rated video from a WGA member. Clever way to get high-quality content on their site. (Via paidContent.org)

2 comments November 15th, 2007

TV is dying, says co-creator of ‘Lost’

Damon Lindelof is the co-creator and head writer of the television series “Lost,” which means he’s a member of the WGA and currently on strike. It also means his NYTimes editorial about how “TV is dying” due to DVRs may be a bit over the top given current circumstances, but at least he’s honest: “I will probably be dragged through the streets and burned in effigy if fans have to wait another year for ‘Lost’ to come back. And who could blame them? Public sentiment may have swung toward the guild for now, but once the viewing audience has spent a month or so subsisting on ‘America’s Next Hottest Cop’ and ‘Celebrity Eating Contest,’ I have little doubt that the tide will turn against us.” True enough. He sums up the WGA’s argument in one paragraph: “If money is made off of my product through the Internet, then I am entitled to a small piece. The studios’ greed, on the other hand, is hidden behind cynical, disingenuous claims that they make nothing on the web — that the streaming and downloading of our shows is purely ‘promotional.’ Seriously?”

Adds Rocker in comments: “The studios are trying to make a business of it, but losing money right now online while also seeing their offline business downtrend. Meanwhile, the WGA is another snout at the trough, looking for $ before there are any profits. Problem with this is, IMHO, they have no skin in the game. Studios are investing $. Media professionals in other fields are being forced to adapt, learn new skills, take on new responsibilities, etc. The writers haven’t been asked to lift a finger… they just want more cash…”

13 comments November 15th, 2007