Welcome back, Sondra! Her work below is quoted in its entirety by permission. --Dennis
Dear Readers,
Whatever
happened to the New Media News Digest? As many of you know, my daughter Katie
Alice was born in late July and, as much as I love keeping up with the latest
new media news, I found that eight pounds of howling but beautiful baby had to
take precedence for a while. Thank you to those of you who have offered
support, best wishes, and fantastic advice. Of course, photos are available
upon request.
Welcome
to the New Media News Digest for the week of November 26th. For those of you
who are new, I comb and curate various new media sources on a weekly basis with
an eye towards issues specifically related to new media activities within public
broadcasting. I welcome comments and feedback. If you have received this from
a friend or colleague, please email me to be added to the list of upcoming
mailers. If you would like to unsubscribe, please do the
same.
Thanks,
Sondra Russell
_________________________________________________________
SONDRA’S SUMMARY
> The top story this week is that ABC News has partnered with Facebook to distribute election coverage. According to the New York Times, ABC News will be the first news organization to partner with Facebook on political coverage. The partnership will consist mostly of an application that allows users to “follow reporters”, receive news updates, vote on key issues, and declare allegiance to their favorite candidates. No money changed hands in the deal – both agreed that the elevated exposure benefits each party equally. While the partnership is getting plenty of hype, some are skeptical that Facebook – a place for social interaction rather than information consumption – is the right place for a broadcaster.
> The key theme is that online video is either stealing away TV viewers, or it isn’t. An ongoing debate within the broadcasting community – is Internet-distributed video cutting into broadcast television viewing time, or is it just adding to overall media consumption? Some evidence -- the New York Times published two pieces last week: “Web Videos Stealing TV Viewers, and Marketers” and “Web Sites Go Fishing in TV’s Advertising Revenue Stream”. Both lack in statistical data but offer a fair amount of anecdotal data that marketers are increasingly pursuing online video strategies. Also in the category of increased efforts to advertise online, AOL is launching a new type of video “ticker” ad that runs at the bottom of clips as well as, or instead of, pre-roll. While media conglomerate Gannett had to lay off 45 newsroom staff at USA Today, it reported that its online broadcast revenues were up 30 percent over last year. So, maybe the question of whether online video is cannibalizing TV viewership is too “tastes great/less filling” to be useful. Maybe the more relevant question is whether online video is stealing away TV advertising dollars.
> The think piece this week is that mobile web use is both “far off and inevitable”. Mobile applications come up more and more frequently in pubcasting discussions on new ways to reach audiences but those ideas rarely seem to lead anywhere constructive. Why? In the article “Mobile Web: So Close and So Far”, Michael Fitzgerald outlines the reasons mobile web use is still floundering: poor user interface, no viable high-speed cellular data networks, and a lack of cooperation between mobile providers. Will it get better anytime soon? Fitzgerald says “yes and no”. Yes, it will get better. No, not anytime soon.
New Media News Digest: November 19th – November 26th, 2007
TELEVISION
Web Videos Stealing TV Viewers, and
Marketers
From the New York Times: “As
broadband service becomes more available at home, the growing prevalence of
video programming on the Internet is catching the attention of consumers not to
mention marketers and media companies.”
Web Sites Go Fishing in TV’s Advertising Revenue Stream
From the New York Times: "Video is proliferating on the
Internet, and it is no longer limited to short clips of cats flushing toilets,
breath mints reacting explosively with carbonated sodas and other user-generated
content of the kind that captured the anarchic spirit of the early Web 2.0
days.”
AOL Launches 'Ticker' Ads, New Video Player
From ClickZ:
“AOL's video tickers are banners --
either video ads or interactive Flash units -- that appear at the bottom of the
new AOL Video Player 10 seconds after the viewer begins watching a clip. If the
viewer clicks the ad, the video is paused and the ad is expanded.”
Miro Media Player Released; Billed as Open Joost
Competitor
From TechCrunch: “Version 1.0 of the
open-source video player Miro was released earlier today. The non-profit company
behind Miro has billed its new product not only as a Joost competitor but a
purer one at that.”
NBC Acquires “Quarterlife”: Internet Series Will Run First
Online
From the New York Times: “NBC has
concluded a first-of-its-kind deal to acquire the talked-about new Internet and
social network series “Quarterlife” for distribution as an hour-long drama
series on the NBC network after it has first played in eight-minute segments on
several Web sites.”
INTERNET
ABC News and Facebook in Joint Effort to Bring Viewers Closer to Political Coverage
From the New York Times: “ABC News and Facebook have formally established a partnership — the site’s first with a news organization — that allows Facebook members to electronically follow ABC reporters, view reports and video and participate in polls and debates, all within a new “U.S. Politics” category.”
Mobile Web: So Close Yet So Far
From the New
York Times: “[On the surface] It all looks good, but the wireless communications
business smacks of a soap opera, with disaster lurking like your next dropped
call.”
Social Network Colonization Continues at Torrid Pace
From ZDNet: "The
October 2007 Nielsen Online numbers for October reflect substantial year over
year growth for Facebook in the U.S. compared to MySpace, which is no surprise.
LinkedIn had significant growth as did Club Penguin and Buzznet.com from their
smaller bases.”
Gannett Reports Extensive October Revenue Declines; Online
Broadcast Revs Up 30 Percent
From PaidContent: “Having
announced plans to cut 45 newsroom jobs at USA Today, Gannett’s (NYSE: GCI)
October report revealed across the company. About the only bright spot: online
revenues for its broadcasting segment, which were up 30 percent compared to
October 2006.”
Researchers Stymied by Wide-Open Video
Distribution
From MediaWeek: “As digital-media executives
have evangelized the concept of wide-open distribution for online video, most
media companies are not yet equipped to provide reliable audience
numbers.”
RADIO
Shareholders Back Satellite Radio Deal
From the New
York Times: “Shareholders approved a deal yesterday to allow Sirius Satellite
Radio to acquire its rival, XM Satellite Radio Holdings, for about $5 billion,
but the largest hurdle has yet to be faced: regulatory approval in
Washington.”
Audi/Bang & Olufsen Take Internet Radio on the Road
From What Hi-Fi: “An
internet radio station in your car, able to tailor its programming to your own
musical tastes - that's just one of the features built into the Audi Cross
Cabriolet Quattro concept car.”
Radio Listening Down
From Insider Radio:
“The radio industry is likely to report a down October, perhaps as much as -6%.
That’s according to the number crunching by CL King analyst Jim Boyle. He says
“weakness is broad” -- although the top 25 markets still face the biggest
challenge.”
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