Don Day
Phone co. gets OK to ditch white pages. (YAY!)
I’ve had a few rants here at LR this year – but the one the got the (second) most attention was against phone books. I was even called elitist for my disdain… but apparently I’m not alone. The Cincinati Bell company asked the Ohio public utilities folks to let them ditch distribution of the white [...]
Retransmission battles put customers in the middle
There’s been a spate of retransmission stories the last few weeks. Fisher Communications stations aren’t on Dish Network, Belo stations almost left Charter, KPHO could be yanked from CableOne in Phoenix — and the whopper: Time Warner will turn off Viacom networks like Nickelodeon and MTVB on Jan. 1 unless an eleventh-hour deal is reached. [...]
MSNBC.com’s top 08 vid? It came from YouTube…
Beet.tv says the most-watched video on MSNBC.com in 2008 was this clip of two men being reunited with a lion. It garnered 2.4 million views for the site. The video’s source? YouTube. The Today Show ran the clip as part of a segment and MSNBC.com posted the item on its site.
KRON cancels on authors of TV-critical book
Put this in the file of things not to do. KRON news director Aaron Pero drop-kicked a scheduled TV interview with the authors of “No Time to Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle.” Apparently the book is critical of TV news – and when Pero found out, he canned the [...]
Live, from a hotel room… it’s Tuesday afternoon!
With Boise State’s football team traveling to San Diego for a bowl showdown with TCU, we looked for a way to combine our interactive capability with video – and capture the mid-day traffic spike. The solution was a live video web chat for two days leading up to the game at 12:15pm – featuring three [...]
State legislator wants to require use of real names online
Idaho legislator Steve Hartgen doesn’t like some of what he sees on the Internet. Anonymous bloggers and commentors who can say whatever they want, while hiding behind a mask of secrecy. So he’s working an a law that would require people to use their real name when posting online Here’s the bias up front: I’ve [...]
NBC takes Lost Remote’s advice
We proposed a little idea here on LR a few months ago: give Leno the 10/9c slot on the network – move Conan to 11:35pm on NBC and save a boatload of cash. Well guess what, NYT says it will happen, with an announcement coming soon. I said then — and repeat again here — [...]
Snark alert: A crack in the glass house
BC-APNewsAlert,0058 NEW YORK (AP) — NBC names named David Gregory as new host of “Today” program. (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 12-07-08 0753MST I’m sure that was news to Matt Lauer. Oddly I’m having a flashback to this quote in the NYTimes from AP’s Tom Curley last week: “The current [...]
Andy Rooney defends newspapers, disses TV
Ohhh the things I could say…
Why story comments are destructive
It’s all the rage these days. Story comments. Aren’t they neat? Joeblow2938 said the story is great! JaneinOmaha said the story sucks. BlueFriend found a way to tie the story to George W. Bush and the downfall of society. Righwnger2323 things BlueFriend is an idiot and that Obama is going to ruin the world. Just [...]
CNN Wire could be a game changer
With newspapers dropping the old AP collective left and right, CNN is hoping it can jump into the gap and provide a critical service. The nation’s number (or two or three) news website (depending on month and metric) is set to launch a wire service of its own. The company will host a “newspaper summit” [...]
Shudder to think: Obama may have to give up e-mail
Can you imagine quitting e-mail cold turkey? That’s the situation president-elect Barack Obama likely faces — since government rules and security concerns make keeping the e-mail pipe open nearly impossible. Even George W. Bush used to e-mail — is address was “G94B@aol.com” — and he signed off three days before inauguration.
NBC should give Leno the 10/9c slot
(Not local media, but humor me?) Next year, NBC will shift its late-night lineup for the first time since 1992. Jay Leno will leave the Tonight Show, Conan O’Brien will step up to his timeslot and Jimmy Fallon will take over at 12:35am.
Just watch
(Thanks, Mark D.!)
KTRK helicopter crashes, 2 killed
Just over a year after four people died when two TV choppers collided in Phoenix, there’s word out of Houston that KTRK’s chopper has crashed, killing the pilot and photographer on board. Details from KTRK, video from KHOU and more from Chron.com.
SNL bits now more popular off-TV than on
Back in the 1990s, SNL was must-see TV, especially for those who might not have had something better to do on a Saturday night. Now? What’s the point? You’re just going to see the best parts viraly anyway. Whether it’s a clip on cable news, a link to Hulu or something you found on YouTube, [...]
Web revenue for newspapers stalling
The New York Times on newspapers: “The growth in online advertising they saw as their salvation has slowed to a crawl.” Newspaper site revenue actually fell 2.4% in the second quarter, after 17 straight quarters of growth. More bad news: overall online advertising is strong – just not at the local paper sites. The story [...]
NBC ready to launch new sites
Here’s the release on the news we teased last week about NBC’s “local media” (O&O) sites. NBC says the sites will no longer be “an adjunct to its local television station,” and will add in content from print, online pubs., bloggers and others. WMAQ launches first – this afternoon, followed by the rest of the [...]
NBC O&O set to launch new site
WMAQ’s NBC5.com is teasing a whole new look with this slideshow. Details are somewhat sparse, but it’s long been rumored that NBC will move away from IB for another solution. The new site appears to be AJAX-riffic – and has new features like neighborhood geo-targeted news, UGM tools and enhanced search.
NBC to subtract WeatherPlus
This comes as no surprise – but NBC says it would have happened even without the Weather Channel deal: NBC WeatherPlus will be gone by the end of the year. B&C says the NBC Affiliate Board, which co-owns the channel, said it wanted out. All the details haven’t been worked out yet – but the [...]
