Filed under: Feature, ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: SXSW, Twitter
SXSW: TWITTER THIS
So, let’s just rip this band-aid off shall we? I don’t use Twitter. I don’t have any interest in using Twitter. In fact, Twitter generally frustrates me.
Taking that in? YES, I know how to use it. . .I still prefer not to.
I know. Shock and awe. I started a running tally on how many times I overheard anyone using the word “twitter” in conversation during the 3 days I was at SXSW. Ending tally: 62.
If you don’t know what Twitter is, let me explain. Twitter is a form of microblogging whereby users can post short text statements such as, “Mark Cuban and Michael Eisner just posed with Flat Stanley in a photo op. Awesome.” Short. Sweet. Informative. Users can search for “tweets” on any given subject. For example, during the Mark Zuckerberg keynote (Facebook’s CEO), tweets were flying slaughtering Sarah Lacy’s interviewing style. In essence, Twitter can be used as a quick focus group on a variety of topics. For example, here are the SXSW tweets.
That said, Twitter is only useful when a majority of an audience is using it. At SXSW, most attendees use the service and therefore find it extremely useful for finding the best parties and overhearing the most useful news of the day. I get that.
What I don’t get, though, is how the service aids me outside of the new media community. My friends come from all walks of life including those adorable few who don’t have a social networking profile of any kind. In this population, Twittering party of one can be pretty lonely.
My thoughts on Twitter draw me into my overall thoughts on SXSW. It’s all about expectations. The conference does not intend to set out to impart some golden nugget of new media truth. What it does set out for is to draw the new media community together to inform each other on new ways of doing and who is doing it best. I learned how to mobile blog and argued with a new friend about Twitter for half an hour. The panels were probably the low light of my experience. This is not to say that I didn’t learn anything from those panels but for the most part, the SXSW experience is best had with a cocktail in hand being introduced to the biz dev person at Jaman while exchanging quips on the manorexic mash-up guy who looks like Justin Timberlake.
Good times.
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
The mutual sniping of recent weeks heated up Monday, the first day of testimony in a Delaware court, as John Malone accused Barry Diller of being a reckless steward of IAC. “He frequently refers to it as his business,” gripes Malone. The trial is expected to wrap up by week’s end. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982161.html
“Should we sell NBCU? The answer is no!” chief Jeff Immelt writes in General Electric’s newly released 2007 annual report — a statement clearly meant to address recent rumors. “I just don’t see it happening. Not before the Olympics, not after the Olympics. It doesn’t make sense.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/business/media/11nbc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 3/11)
Jeffrey R. Immelt, left, the chairman of General Electric, and Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Universal.
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman is reiterating that ratings growth at the company’s cable networks should lead to higher advertising rates this summer, when the channels sell commercial time in advance for the fall season. “We’re seeing some results,” he says. “It’s a process.” (http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20080310-000585-1455 3/8)
HBO is teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service for a multiplatform push to promote both the cable channel’s upcoming miniseries about Founding Father John Adams and the “power of the letter.” Adams and his wife, Abigail, shared a passion for letter writing that helped inspire the campaign, from Civic Entertainment Group, New York, which includes a microsite created by AKQA. (The New York Times 3/11)
Kevin Martin, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, says the agency doesn’t need to pass new rules to crack down on Comcast if it determines the cable giant unfairly impedes Internet traffic. Providers are allowed to practice “reasonable” network management. (http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2008-03-10-fcc-martin_N.htm 3/10)
A U.S. district court judge in Los Angeles has sided with cable providers in a potential class-action lawsuit seeking a la carte programming options. Judge Christina A. Snyder gave the plaintiffs 11 days to amend their suit to show that the lack of a la carte programming violates antitrust laws, or it will be dismissed. (Multichannel News 3/10)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Musical playlist creator and discovery tool iLike (one of the most popular widgets on Facebook) will stream R.E.M.’s new album “Accelerate” on March 24, a week before the CD and digital album is released in retail outlets. iLike users will also get to see an exclusive video message taped by the band. (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003722772 3/10)
Hulu.com, the long-gestating online video joint venture of News Corp. and NBC Universal, will make its vast catalog of television shows and video clips available and free to anyone on the Web on Wednesday. Viacom and CBS are currently in licensing deal talks to provide content. (http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080311/hule-public-debut-analyst-challenges.htm 3/11, The New York Times, 3/11 The Wall Street Journal (free content) 3/11)
BusinessWeek journalist Sarah Lacy’s on-stage interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the SXSWi festival in Austin “bombed” when techie members of the crowd began “Twittering” their displeasure to each other, creating a back channel of negativity that “spread like wildfire.” (http://blogs.zdnet.com/social/?p=418
Sarah Lacy
The real story developing at SXSW seems to be that Facebook‘s open source platform is quickly becoming a major distribution outlet for content providers on the internet. Paramount Pictures became the first major movie studio to make clips of its movies available on the net through the new VooZoo widget developed with FanRocket. The service, a marketing tool for the studio’s DVD releases, allows users to share footage from thousands of movies. Sony Pictures Entertainment launched an app called “So Sue Me” to promote its new drama Canterbury’s Law, which premiered last night on Fox. Users can use it to “sue” their friends for being cheap, overly dramatic, etc., and recruit others in their network to serve as judge, jury and executioner. Finally web start-up Animoto launched a new application allowing users to create their own MTV-style music videos using still shots from Facebook photo albums.
“The All-For-Nots,” the new short-form Web series from Michael Eisner’s Vuguru studio, premiered today at AllForNots.com, YouTube and Bebo. It will also air on Mark Cuban’s HDNet, which may be the first time that a series debuts simultaneously in high definition and on the Web.
Mark Cuban interviewed Michael Eisner today in a panel at SXSW. What struck me most was Eisner’s awareness of the careful considerations that must be made when creating or acquiring online content, inserting ads, and determining platforms. Most senior media executives seem insistent on the one solution fits all model. Not Eisner. He gets that separate platforms call for separate solutions. What shocked the hell out of me was his bitch slap to Chris Anderson’s new theme of free, referring to Anderson’s most recent article in Wired. Eisner just doesn’t see it. Frankly, I think there is some sort of miscommunication here. While content is in fact free, the content is ad-supported thus providing the revenue stream that Eisner insisted upon. And it seems he must agree on these points because both Prom Queen and now The All-For-Nots are free ad-supported content. Step off Eisner. I got Anderson’s back.
Google expects to have a “very significant position” in the online display advertising market by 2008-09, says Tim Armstrong, the Internet giant’s top ad exec. He also says Google sees its video-sharing site YouTube as the “brightest light” for the company’s display-advertising potential. (http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20080310-000602-1533 3/10)
Disney expects to collect $1 billion in revenue from online content this fiscal year, a significant rise from estimates for fiscal 2007, says CEO Bob Iger. The company is “fairly aggressive” in expanding onto the Internet. “If we’re not there, (people) will just access someone else’s content.” (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080310/disney_online.html 3/10)
myLifetime.com premiers its latest original web series Gift Intervention hosted by The Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead, allowing receivers of horrible gifts the chance to confront the giver. Meanwhile Lifetime Networks is partnering with Netflix to acquire THINKFilm’s Phoebe in Wonderland, which made its world premiere at Sundance this year. Lifetime will get exclusive TV rights after its theatrical run this fall and Netflix will retain non-exclusive DVD and streaming rights
Sony’s Minisode Network added abbreviated versions of soap The Young and The Restless, beginning with five 5-minute minisodes available on Crackle, YouTube and MySpace.
PBS‘ companion site to the news show NOW is streaming an interview with Alex Gibney, director of this year’s Oscar winner for best documentary Taxi to the Dark Side about the torture of Middle Eastern prisoners. The site also features several web extras including an outline of candidates’positions on the subject and a timeline of key moments in human rights violations since 9/11.
Online video entertainment site Revison3 debuted popSiren, an original show starring a group of female hosts who delve into trends and topics of interest to web savvy women. New episodes will be added every Thursday at 4 pm ET.
Babelgum has created a new $15 million fund to invest in original made-for-the-web content, targeting documentaries and other short film subjects up to 15 minutes in length.
A new online video advertising platform dubbed Jivox launched yesterday, targeting smaller advertisers who can’t afford to hire pros to produce the creative. The site offers a do-it-yourself ad creation tool allowing users to combine their own images, video clips and music with Jivox’s library of content and templates.
Fancast, Comcast’s Internet video portal, now has more than 100 providers, the company announced. Major content providers include CBS, Fox, NBC, FX, Warner Bros., Comedy Central and VH1 and the service features shows such as “24,” “30 Rock,” “Monk,” “House,” “The Office” and “The Simpsons.” (OneTRAK 3/10)
Heavy users of US blog sites tend to consume more news and entertainment online than average internet users, according to a ComScore study using the company’s Segment Metrix tool.
Highest Site Engagement among Heavy Bloggers (Excluding Sites in the “Blogs” Category)
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations – January 2008
Category Composition Index – Page Views*
Digg.com 358
Perezhilton.com 320
CTVGlobeMedia 310
RapidShare ag 303
drudgereport.com 295
megaupload.com 288
HuffingtonPost.com 285
salon.com 283
ABCNews Digital 278
CollegeHumor Network 270
Source: comScore Segment Metrix
Filed under: GAMING
Gemstar-TV Guide entered into its first licensing agreement with Nintendo to provide rights to its IPG for use on the Wii console in Japan.
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
A new competitor to the Blu-ray DVD format has arisen, and the company behind HD VMD says it believes it can carve out a niche, especially outside the U.S., as a low-cost alternative. London-based New Medium Enterprises argues that its quality compared equally well to Blu-ray, but at lower prices because of savings in production, replication and hardware. (International Herald Tribune 3/10)
