New Media News Digest, 6/12-6/19/2007

Sondra Russell works for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and writes the following News Digest on a weekly basis.  I think it's a very nice piece of work, but it's distributed by email only.  So she's given me permission to quote it here so it can get RSS distribution and also be seen by people outside of public broadcasting.  Her email address is srussell [at] cpb [dot] org.  --Dennis

SONDRA’S SUMMARY

> The top story this week is that CNN and YouTube are co-sponsoring presidential debates.  As reported in the New York Times last week, CNN will host a debate between presidential candidates with questions culled from YouTube.  This highly hyped event may serve as inspiration for public broadcasters who are experimenting with new ways of engaging audiences during the 2008 elections.  Some are already wondering if the hype will match up to the reality – the YouTube clips are still going to be curated by the CNN team and host Andersen Cooper will provide follow-up questions, thus mitigating some of the populist nature of the Web.   

> The key theme this week is that cellphones are more important than televisions to the 26 and under crowd.  An infographic supporting a New York Times story about various networks’ ambitious cellphone initiatives indicates that both cellphones and computers are more important to younger generations than television. And this is before the iPhone is even released. 

 > The think piece this week is that NBC announced an online educational venture.  By leveraging its vast news archives, iCue (“Immerse, Compete, Understand, and Excel”) will serve as a supplement to Advanced Placement high school courses in American History, Government, and English.  Cost?  $10M.  Business model?  Subscription fees from schools and advertising on the site.  As pubcasters consider exploring the online space, there may be some lessons learned (both positive and negative) from NBC’s foray.

New Media News Digest, June 12th – June 19th, 2007

TELEVISION

Fox Entertainment Signs Internet TV Distributor Brightcove

From PaidContent: "Fox has tapped online TV distributor Brightcove to provide its networks and studio with ad-supported internet video channels. The pact will also give Fox the ability to target its broadband video directly to specific demos."

Sony Offers Web-Streaming Device As Option on HDTVs
From the WSJ: "The fight is intensifying in the battle to bring the Internet -- and all the video available on it -- to a television near you. Sony will include its Internet streaming device as an option in all of its new HD television models this year."

HD programming wars: Comcast says 800 HD channels by 2009
From ArsTechnica: "At a press conference I attended at CES early this year, DIRECTV proudly announced that it would have 100 HD channels available by year end. Comcast is trying to trump its competitor by saying that it will have over 800 HD channels by that time."

INTERNET

YouTube Passes Debates to a New Generation
From the NYT: "YouTube, which is owned by Google, and CNN are co-sponsoring a debate among the eight Democratic presidential candidates on July 23 in South Carolina, an event that could define the next phase of what has already been called the YouTube election."

Cellphones and Computers Rank Higher Than Televisions in the 18-to-26 Age Group
From the NYT -- an infographic in support of a story about broadcasters creating mobile content indicates that younger generations prefer their computers and cellphones more than their televisions.

Yes, the Screen Is Tiny, but the Plans Are Big
ESPN isn't alone. Other companies, like CBS and MTV, as well as news organizations like The Associated Press and magazine concerns like the Hearst Corporation, are investing in original cellphone content.

Canadian New Media Fund Gets $27.3M from Government
From CBC: "Administered by Telefilm , the Canada New Media Fund was created in 2001 to support the development, production, marketing and distribution of original Canadian new media projects in both official languages."

Ad Revenues -- Up 16% Online, Down 0.3% For Radio

From TNS Media Intelligence: "Internet display advertising is projected to lead the market with 16.0 percent growth in 2007. Network TV expenditures are expected to increase by just 1.3 percent. Small declines are also projected for Radio (-0.3 percent)."

RADIO

Big Radio Makes a Grab for Internet Listeners 
From the NYT: "Confronted by a slow erosion of listeners who are turning to iPods, podcasts and other sources for entertainment, the radio corporations are trying to merge their over-the-air music and D.J. chatter with the Web."

EDUCATION

NBC Developing Educational Site for Students
From the NYT: "The network is to announce an online venture intended as a supplement to Advanced Placement high school courses in three subjects: American history, government and English. The effort draws heavily on its exhaustive film and video archives."