After pouring $15 million into development, the NBC/Fox partnership Hulu is set to debut this month, according to Fortune. We’ve chronicled the rise over the last year here - the first announcement came on March 22nd, 2007. While the big focus in this space early last year was Joost, that momentum seems to have shifted to Hulu, which has big money, big partners and a no-download interface. NBCU & Fox did something many thought impossible: bring together two competing media giants, tie in old media and new media partners - and deliver something that doesn’t suck.
Update: A good source says we could see a Wednesday launch…
March 9th, 2008
I found this on my hard drive tonight — it’s an audio clip sent to me by a friend several years ago: sweepscankillyou.mp3
March 9th, 2008
Google’s onslaught of not-so-positive press continued this week, as the stock continued to slump. Fortune has an interesting nugget about Google’s much vaunted (and profitable) contextual advertising model. Iggy Fanlo, CEO of AdBrite notes that while contextual ads work perfect for search — there are vast portions of the Internet where contextual ads just don’t work (despite those Google AdsSense boxes pasted all over every blog on the planet).
“Contextual advertising isn’t the right thing for most of the Internet,” says AdBrite’s Fanlo. “It’s like selling Superbowl ads. They don’t sell me cleats, jerseys or helmets. They sell me cars, beer, and erectile dysfunction medication because they know I’m an old, fat guy.”
Fanlo says most advertisers are better off targeting customers based on where they live, who they are, and how they surf the web.
DoubleClick, anyone?
March 9th, 2008
I haven’t been in my local Best Buy in several years. Yesterday, while spilling out of one DVD aisle and getting ready to dive into the next one, I saw this:
A simple monolithic wall with a pair of white Apple logos and a huge monitor. In front of it, a simple table with several Apple products neatly arranged. Instead of a price sign for each item, you find a flipbook with a tag for each product inside.
The rest of Best Buy is like most local TV sites: cluttered, crammed full of signage, and somewhat hard to navigate. The Apple section is what our sites should be: Simple, understated and organized. Is it a huge, hard challenge? Yes. But are you an advocate for simplicity — for the user — or are you just “doing what you’re told?” Most local TV sites make me nauseous. Flashing this… rotating that… big anchor heads this… cluttered that. We face lots of challenges — and this is a very simple one, but is vitally important. Putting a crazy focus on the best user experience FIRST is the best way to win audience and mindshare.
March 9th, 2008
MSNBC won a CINE Special Jury award for this Keith Olbermann promo spot. Who knows this anchor (rhetorically)?
March 9th, 2008
