Archive for July, 2008
KXLY.com, the ABC affiliate in Spokane launched a cool new video archive site. LR regular (and KXLY.com site manager) Rob Kauder tells us the site has more than 10,000 video clips dating back several years. “(We) had all this video from our in-house archival system built for our old website and I didn’t want it to go to waste so we built a website around all this video,” Kauder said. You can stream or embed any of the video for free at video.kxly.com. All of the video is available for download - for a fee. Who needs that crazy third-party monitoring service when folks can throw a video clip on their computer hard drive for free!
July 23rd, 2008
Qik, a video streaming service moved into public beta today. You’ve read about Qik on LostRemote before. I thought it was pretty cool when we started streaming via a SlingBox but imagine a newsroom full of reporters who can in an instant turn their cell phones into a live shot. Oh and by the way the feeds are automatically archived and they are a social networking site of sorts. (iPhone on Qik still in alpha).
July 23rd, 2008
Today Google announced that they are opening Knol (short for Knowledge). The Wikipedia like site allows users to create articles about anything. The twist is, they allow the author of the article to manage the updates. That means various articles on the same topic but a different perspective.
Some bloggers are saying that Knol is a direct challenge to media companies. Danny over at Journalistopia has a good summary of bloggers thoughts on Knol.
July 23rd, 2008
Today radio took a big step in the direction of local TV sites, with 140 CBS stations signing up for WorldNow’s video system. You can see the player now on the homepage of WCBS-AM. The press release contained a very telling quote:
“Rethinking and evolving our business had led us to this transformation and in the very near future every station will have a major video component transforming radio from a purely audio medium to a visual one as well,” said David Goodman, President, Digital Media and Integrated Marketing, CBS RADIO.
WorldNow has 452 total local media clients in broadcast TV, newspaper and now radio. So, your local competitors for video pre-roll ads are no longer limited to TV and some newspapers.
July 23rd, 2008
Brian Lowry has a column in Variety stating that TV and radio news is going to suffer greatly from the print decline.
As print fades, then, the fallout promises to hasten broadcast news’ descent as well — from “Rip and read” to simply “Read it and weep.”
In what reads like a reaction to the Pew study noted earlier on LR, Lowry opines that print newsroom cuts are going to have a ripple effect that will create “an information stream that’s often a mile wide and an inch deep.” But his premise that Web news outlets are primarily opinion focused and don’t have enough original reporting resources represents the old bias and narrow scope. It is nearly as offensive as referring to radio news persons as “lonely gnomes.”
Adds Cory: I can’t even get beyond the first line of Lowry’s column. Some newspaper people, like Lowry apparently, have this news-of-record attitude that quality journalism will cease to exist once papers are severely downsized or gone altogether. But the truth of the matter is existing and up-and-coming news organizations will fill the void just fine (this is a big opportunity for TV stations and hyperlocal blogs, for example). Yes, the decline of newspapers is extremely unfortunate and difficult to watch, but it’s time for columnists like Lowry to bag this holier-than-thou blathering.
July 23rd, 2008
The Online News Association is heading to Washington DC again this year for their annual confab. The schedule so far looks pretty decent. I’ve always gotten a lot out of ONA because it casts a wide net over broadcast, print and online pure plays so everyone gets a chance to get out of their respective silos and see what is really going on out there. While seats are limited, I do recommend the IRE workshop in Django and Ruby for anyone who has wanted to get a handle on frameworks and hasn’t had the chance.
Update from Cory: ONA is terrific and well worth the time/investment. Unlike many conferences, you come away with some great, actionable ideas. It’s been well-attended over the years from national sites and newspapers, but not local TV sites. I would encourage TV groups to invest the money to go — despite deep cuts in travel/conference budgets.
July 23rd, 2008
Wordpress 2.6 (code-named “Tyner” after jazz great McCoy Tyner) hit the pipes about 10 days ago. I was disappointed with 2.5 when I found a number of my favorite WP features, like posting photos via e-mail and press it, were AWOL, so I have been looking forward to this release. I’ve been steeling myself for the upgrading process of multiple sites. Before I dig in my heels and start unpacking tarballs, I want to ask the LR faithful if you’ve done it and what you think. (note: Papa Cory handles the LR WP deployment and administration)
July 23rd, 2008
Shelly Palmer has this blast on HuffPost to counter remarks made by Ben Silverman, co-head of programming for the NBC Television Network. Sliverman said: “We’re managing for margin and not for ratings.” Palmer writes: “There is nothing technology can do to help or hurt this strategy. It is truly the end of broadcast television.” And continues with:
If you want to see TV ratings improve, the business improve and the ROI improve, try investing in programming, not margins. It will be a refreshing twist for the 21st century. And, it is really the only thing that will turn the business around. The recipe for profitable broadcast television is pretty simple: Develop large audiences that you can accurately measure and sell them to advertisers who need to reach them. The shows that do this even have a name: “hits.” If, on the other-hand, you want to sunset an organization and squeeze every last dime out of it before it gives up the ghost, manage for margins.
Hmm, maybe the print folk should read this too? Your thoughts?
July 23rd, 2008
- WRAL kicks off mobile digital television trial
- Is Digg selling to Google? Speculating about the rumors
- NYT Company revenue continues slide, but online numbers up
- Could peace be near for YouTube and Hollywood?
- Buy Amazon.com stuff straight from your TiVo
- Comcast’s The Platform to power Time Warner Cable video portal
July 23rd, 2008
If users don’t find business news relevant because it’s local, they typically find it relevant because it’s about their industry. LinkedIn will begin showing headlines from the NYT’s business and technology pages. Editor and Publisher reports, the headlines will be selected based on their profession. Just one more example of hyper-personal news.
July 22nd, 2008
In my years in the news business, I’ve jumped out of bed many times in the night to rush to cover a story. But when my wife announced at 1:30 a.m. on Monday that her water broke — a full month early — the adrenaline was flowing like never before. At 2:14 a.m. today, Kate gave birth to a baby boy named Kai. Both mom and baby (5 pounds 14 ounces) are doing just fine. Now I just have to figure out how to teach the little guy how to blog.
Update: Thanks everyone!!!
July 22nd, 2008
According to an AP story about a study done by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, newspaper cutbacks are affecting the quality of their product. When you actually read the story or the results (as opposed to just the CNN headline) it tells a different story. They say that “nearly two thirds of papers surveyed have cut back on foreign news, over half have trimmed national news and more than a third have reduced business coverage.”
The study goes on to say “In effect, America’s newspapers are narrowing their reach and their ambitions and becoming niche reads.” Yes they are becoming niche reads. And their niche is local. Is there something wrong with that? Probably not since the study points out that more than half of the editors surveyed “think their news product is better than it was three years earlier.” Read more for the other three “major findings.”
UPDATE: I found a much better article (NY Times) on the study.
• “The majority of newspapers are now suffering cutbacks in staffing, and even more in the amount of news, or newshole, they offer the public.”
• “The culture of the daily newspaper newsroom is also changing. New job demands are drawing a generation of young, versatile, tech-savvy, high-energy staff as financial pressures drive out higher-salaried veteran reporters and editors.”
• “Newspaper websites are increasingly a source of hope but also of fear. Editors feel torn between the advantages the web offers and the energy it consumes to produce material often of limited or even questionable value.”
Full report available here.
July 22nd, 2008
Limelight is gearing up to stream 5,200 hours of content online for the Beijing Olympics for NBC/MSNBC.com - about 2,200 hours live and 3,000 of clips. The massive undertaking is thought to be the largest video streaming effort in history. “It won’t surprise us if (the Beijing Olympics) breaks all the records,” said Gordon, Limelight’s chief strategy officer told The Hollywood Reporter.
“We’re adapting to the way Americans born after 1980 are consuming content.”
July 22nd, 2008
In April we reported that Gossip Girl would no longer be streamed on cwtv.com so that the network could try to boost the TV ratings for the show. Today TV Week reports that this strategy had no impact on the ratings, and the show would again stream online. As a commenter on TV Week put it, “they offered the show in less places, in less formats and fewer people watched it . . . go figure.”
July 22nd, 2008
Friday Night Lights likely wouldn’t have made it to a third season if DirecTV hadn’t stepped in and offered to share the show with NBC. It will debut on the satellite net this fall - then hit NBC after the new year. The Hartford Courant’s Roger Catlin points out a key flaw in the strategy: will anyone who really cares wait for NBC? The show’s creator is asking people to skip Internet downloads and wait for NBC if you don’t have DirecTV:
“If I were you, I would like to think that I would wait. I would be patient and wait and watch the real version when it was available to you.”
But actor Zach Gilford has perhaps a more realistic tip. “I’d say if you’re really such a big fan,” he says, “go ahead and download it, but then, just out of good conscience, turn it on on NBC later.”
Riiiight.
July 22nd, 2008
Steven Shoob, an Emmy-award-winning reporter for WTOC in Savannah, GA died Monday when he was struck by a car while covering an accident along the local freeway. Shoob was 58 and has been with the Raycom Media station for 21 years.
July 22nd, 2008
TVBarn’s Aaron Barnhart was watching the bleeped and blurred basic cable version of the wire with the sound down — and the captions on. The result?
Somebody at HBO or BET dropped the ball and just plum forgot to fix the captioning, which from what I can tell has been left with its F-bombs and MF-bombs and CSMF-bombs and all that stuff intact.
July 22nd, 2008
NYTimes.com is set to launch a new blog focused on showing the public a variety of “hard-to-get” public records, including confessions, wills, ancient city records and the like. NYT Metro Editor Joe Sexton will head up the new effort, and says he’s been an admirer of what TSG has done.
July 22nd, 2008
Remember Alycia Lane? She’s the former KYW Philadelphia TV anchor who sent pictures of herself in a Bikini to NFL Network analyst Rich Eisen… then had Eisen’s wife find the photos. She also got in trouble with police after a police say she assaulted a former officer.
Well now the Broadcasting & Cable reports that another former KYW anchor - Larry Mendte - is accused of hacking into Lane’s e-mail account hundreds of times. Why? Lane’s attorney “alleged that Mendte acted out of jealousy as Lane’s popularity — and salary — climbed.”
July 22nd, 2008
In a move that will make capital-J journalists cringe, it appears product placement has made its way into a Las Vegas morning newscast. The Las Vegas Sun reports KVVU now has two iced coffee drinks from McDonald’s sitting on the desk during the 7AM newscast. The station ND says this show isn’t a hard news program. “I stress the fact that it is being done on a program that is a combination of news entertainment and lifestyle programming,” KVVU news director Adam P. Bradshaw says. No word on how much McDonald’s paid.
July 21st, 2008
NBC and Lorne Michaels have a novel plan to launch the next version of Late Night with new host Jimmy Fallon: online. The show will start online five to six months before debuting in its 12:35am slot on NBC. The idea is to give Fallon his sea legs. The idea grew out of Michaels’ experience launching the same show with Conan O’Brien. The online show will give him a chance to experiment with different kinds of comedy, and hopefully build a young audience.
Smart.
July 20th, 2008
I got a kick out of reading this blog post from Jeff Jarvis. I think I like his approach: if some curmudgeon news director wants to argue that the web is a waste of time, don’t even try to explain it. Just move on. His/her career will be over soon enough.
July 20th, 2008
On Saturday night, I searched for the words “British Open” on my DVR, tapping out each letter using up and down buttons on my remote. I didn’t know (or care) what time it was on, which network was covering it or whether it would be tape-delayed. I just wanted to watch it Sunday afternoon. The only search result was TNT’s coverage, which I set to record. On Sunday, I discovered TNT was just the warm-up act. The main coverage had played out on ABC.
This illustrates the stupidity of DVRs and why the web has a shot to replace them. First off, the home screen of my (non-TiVo) DVR shouldn’t look like some Commodore 64-inspired menu that I could’ve designed in BASIC when I was in sixth grade. It should look more like the cover of Hulu with a creative layout highlighting the most popular shows and movies of the moment. Just click to watch or record. It should allow me to use my remote like a Wii — pointing and clicking on the screen itself. It should recognize that I’ve recorded most of the major golf events this summer and automatically record the British Open. And if I forget to record something — and the DVR can’t anticipate it — then it should allow me to watch it anyway.
Imagine, for a moment, that you ported DVR software to Hulu. You couldn’t watch anything unless you logged in ahead of time and set it to record. Miss it? Tough luck. And you had to wade through those crappy menus, tap out letters on your remote and pray that Hulu was smart enough to keep recording if the golf game stretched into a playoff.
Now imagine if you could port Hulu to your DVR. Now we’re talking. Sure, there are lots of reasons why DVRs have not evolved with the times, not the least of which are DRM, limited bandwidth (where IPTV is stepping up) and the contentious relationship between the cable companies and content providers. But you have to wonder what will happen if/when you can play online video clips on your TV in adequate quality. Suddenly, I don’t feel a need for a DVR. Or my cable service. But if my DVR looked more like Hulu, I think I’d keep it around.
July 20th, 2008
There’s a new trend among news sites. I guess it’s driven by a perception of what makes good user experience, but in the end, it takes away choice. Several sites I visit have decided to foist their stripped-down, (sometimes) photo-free mobile channels upon my iPhone. Some give me a special iPhone only version (fine) - while others force me to use the lame mobile channel that also works on some plain-Jane Samsung phone that’s about eight pixels wide.
I bought the iPhone so I can look at your REAL website. Is the mobile version handy? Sure, but you better give me an easy link back to the real site. The big offenders: MSNBC.com and Newsweek.com. I cannot load their normal sites on my iPhone - period. CNN.com and Time.com also give you the mobile channel by default - but both give you options to get to the main site (Time.com at the very top - bonus points). CBSNews.com has a custom iPhone channel (yay!) but no link to the normal site (boo!). ABCNews.com loads up the normal site by default.
July 19th, 2008
Earlier this year, the creative folks at MyFoxChicago launched an interactive mapping system to track their chopper, AirFoxLive. Now they’ve helped WSVN in Miami launch the same thing, complete with the “unedited, uncensored, live video” stream. As a big breaking news station, 7 Skyforce is in the air for several hours a day, so odds are you’ll see it in action.
July 18th, 2008
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