Technology360

Google, CBS in talks on video search, on-demand

"U.S. television network CBS is in discussions with Internet media company Google for video search and on-demand video, CBS chairman Leslie Moonves said Tuesday.  ¶  Viacom-owned CBS, which is in the process of splitting itself apart from the faster growing MTV cable networks and Paramount film studios, is seeking other distribution outlets for its top ranked shows, including the CSI franchise.  ¶  'We're talking to them about a whole slew of things, including video-on-demand, including video search,' Moonves told Reuters in an interview regarding Google, ahead of Reuters's Media and Advertising Summit next week. ..."  Link:  Reuters via CNET News.com.

Tech firms focus on TV

Marguerite Reardon writes:  "Ever since Edward R. Murrow and Ed Sullivan were doing their thing in black and white, the living room television has been the centerpiece of home entertainment.  ¶  Then, somewhere along the way, a lot of folks in the high-tech industry got it into their heads that families should gather around the PC to watch their favorite TV programs.  ¶  Guess what? The tube still rules. So it's little surprise that the tech industry, led in a most unlikely way by computer networking giant Cisco Systems, is looking to the TV to finally, once and for all, get out of the home office and into the living room.  ¶  On Nov. 18, Cisco announced the $7 billion acquisition of video set-top box maker Scientific-Atlanta. Microsoft has a deep home entertainment strategy built around the TV. And Apple Computer watchers speculate that Steve Jobs & Co. are preparing a new TV-centric product. What exactly that product is, or whether it even really exists, is still a mystery. ..."  Link:  CNET News.com.

Jupiter Research: Big Growth For Satellite Radio, But Integration Needed

Chuck Taylor writes:  "JupiterResearch is forecasting major growth in the satellite radio arena, bursting from an installed base of 12 million units in 2005 to 55 million units in 2010. That represents a compound annual growth rate of 35%. ..."  Link:  Billboard Radio Monitor.

Internet TV 'to boom' in Europe

"TV delivered over broadband internet connections will become increasingly popular in Europe over the next four years, new research has predicted.  ¶  The number of subscribers is set to hit 8.7 million in 2009 - up from 658,000 now - giving operators almost 9.5% of the pay-TV market, Screen Digest said. ..."  Link:  BBC News.

Interview with OMN founder Mike Homer

AlwaysOn's Tony Perkins continues his interview (part 3 of 4) with Open Media Network founder Mike Homer, this part labeled "What About Social Networking?".   On 10/30, I posted part 1, "Reinventing Public Broadcasting," and updated it on 11/11 with part 2, "Why Open Media Network?".  Presumably part 4, "What Open Web Really Means," will be coming in a couple of weeks.  --Dennis

TiVo to Expand Portable Features

Julie Tamaki writes:  "TiVo Inc. today is expected to announce a service that allows its digital video recorders to save programs to iPods and PlayStation Portables, further untethering television from time and place.  ¶  The new offering builds on TiVo's existing TiVo to Go feature, which enables some subscribers to transfer shows to a laptop or PC via a home network. TiVo executives said the company was responding to a proliferation of portable devices. ..."  Link:  Los Angeles Times.  Thanks to Stephen Hill for the tip.

The story is also on p. B1 of today's Wall Street Journal, but it's not linkable for free viewing.  Also see TiVo-recorded shows soon viewable on iPod, PSP (link:  CNET News.com) and TiVo to Transfer Shows to iPods, Sony PSP (link:  New York Times).

Updated 11/22/2005
Commentary on this announcement is coming fast.   A sampling:
-- From Ken "Caesar" Fisher (TiVo's support for iPod and PSP portends battle):  "... How will the content industry react? Privately, I expect many of the big players are fuming. We can probably add Steve Jobs to the hoppin' mad list, because TiVo is not only looking to cash in on the popularity of the iPod, but they're doing it both without Apple's permission and right in the face of Apple's iTunes Music Store. Apple may sell a few more iPods as a result, but Apple's complete business model centrally locates the iTunes Music Store in the user experience. We've all heard the ruminations on how Apple makes so very little off of music and video sales. Their stature and stock price suggest otherwise. So do the actions of the content industry. ..."  Link:  ars technica.
-- From Scott Ard (FAQ: Behind TiVo's play for iPod, PSP):  "... TiVo already has a service called TiVoToGo. What's new here?  TiVoToGo lets owners of TiVo boxes transfer TV shows to their computers, including laptops. The content can also be transferred to gadgets compatible with Microsoft's Portable Media Center format. TiVo is expanding that service by permitting shows to be encoded and transferred to Sony's portable game machine, the PlayStation Portable, and to iPods capable of playing video.   ¶  Isn't it already possible to transfer video to these devices? Yes, with various bits of software. But TiVo promises to make the process simple, as well as faster. For example, the company says an "auto-sync" feature will allow users to automatically update their portable devices each morning with shows taped the night before. If done well, this could be equivalent of Apple Computer's iTunes software, which streamlined the process of transferring music files from a PC to a portable player. Ease of use played a big part in making the iPod popular. ..."  Link:  CNET News.com.
--From Rafat Ali (TV Networks Mulling Legal Action Against TiVo For iPod Service):  Link:  paidContent.org.  Also TiVo Downloads Coming Soon To iPods, PSP.  Link:  paidContent.org.

Updated 11/23/2005
--From Chris Preimesberger:  TiVo Handheld Device Software Draws Ire at TV Network.  Link: eWeek.  That would be NBC.  --Dennis

Audience Participation

Back in 1996, at the dawn (or at least early morning) of the browser age, UK television producer John Wyver published an essay in an apparently now-defunct publication, Abacus, that looks visionary in light of web/media 2.0 developments and the trend toward democratization of production and distribution.  Someone out there linked to this recently and I ran across it yesterday but, unfortunately, have lost who that was.  But it's good reading.  --Dennis

Wyver writes:  "... We used these new media to bolster our old medium of television. But we knew their potential far exceeded the uses to which we were putting them. Five years from now, the roles will be reversed. Some (although not all) parts of the broadcasting world will naturally migrate onto the Web. Here, television broadcasting will become an adjunct to Web-based interaction, rather than vice versa, and the broadcasting industry will be rapidly evolving towards a future very different from that which today's media giants now envisage. ...¶... What if television supported the Web? What if Web sites were the organising force for television shows rather than an adjunct? This vision has much to recommend it. It opens a new range of creative opportunities for programme makers. It offers a broader range of revenue sources than either the BBC's licence fee or ITV's advertising. It offers real viewer participation. On some subjects, the Web could gather broader, deeper content more cheaply and quickly than trad-itional television production companies could. Here's how television - new television - could work five years from now. ...¶... The key to creating community, however, is a complete rethinking of the role of the producer. No longer will producers have more or less the final say about content and organisation and no longer will they be more beholden to commissioning editors than to the viewers. The independent production team will still contribute its own televisual segments - some inspired by information on the Web site - and it will edit the broadcast show. However, in this new world, the most important job of the production team becomes structuring, indexing and enhancing the Web site, and one of the most time-consuming tasks will be "weeding" the site, stripping out superfluous, superseded and out-of-date material. ..."  Abacus via Internet Archive.

Stephen Hill responds to WTMD podcasting survey post

Stephen Hill responds on his weblog to a report by Stephen Yasko that I posted here a week ago about a survey WTMD-FM, Towson, MD made (where Yasko is GM) of podcasting usage by his station's listeners and contributors.  Link:  spatial relations.  --Dennis

Podcasts send mixed signals to radio

Chris Vallance writes:  "... does podcasting spell the death of radio?  ¶  The answer that seems to be emerging from this conference is that it depends on the type of radio in question. ...¶... As podcasting changes the content of radio, the way we listen to radio is changing too.  ¶  Tech-geeks like to speak of "convergence", of the coming together of the different ways to listen to radio as broadband and wireless technology become more prevalent. ..."  Link:  BBC.

Content Protection in the Digital Age: The Broadcast Flag, High-Definition Radio, and the Analog Hole

Public Knowledge has posted testimony during the "fair use" hearnings and Congressional legislation discussion drafts relating to the broadcast flag, HD Radio content protection, and the so-called analog hole on its web site.  Link:  Public Knowledge.  Cathy Kirkman has a summary of this and other testimony at Silicon Valley Media Law Blog.  -- Dennis