Filed under: Feature | Tags: Chris Anderson, Current TV, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5, LinkedIn, Long Tail, MediaBistro Circus, Myspace, Social network, Social network service
MEDIABISTRO: CHRIS ANDERSON ON MACRO VS. MICRO SOCIAL NETWORKS
First came macro social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, LinkedIn, Hi5, etc. The next progression, according to Chris Anderson (Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine), is micro social networks. Today at MediaBistro Circus in NYC, Anderson discussed the difference and why the latter will prevail.
Bigger is Better
Yah, I thought this was the winning strategy too until I bought the laptop with the 17” screen and have since developed a neck crick. The same applies for social networks. Sure MySpace and Facebook garner millions of users. But here’s what they don’t have: ad dollars. CPM on Facebook can run as low as $.20. Cents here people. CENTS!! The reason? Well, it’s pretty difficult to match an ad with content that could be about an incessant range of topics.
Introducing the Micro
Above is a site created by Chris Anderson devoted to the topic of aerial robotics, something that Anderson is quite passionate about. As you can imagine, the audience interested in amateur UAV’s is quite smaller in relation to the MySpace/Facebook crowd. Smaller audience: yes. Smaller CPM: no. Because this audience is so niche, the advertising that is placed alongside the content can be similarly targeted allowing for a better match. Less match.com and more chemistry.com. Anderson claimed that he receives CPM’s up to $7 in comparison to the cents that the major networks are pulling in. Anderson developed this social network utilizing Ning’s social networking platform. Ning is a company which offers individuals and companies alike integrated social media solutions. Anderson claimed that Ning has over 250K micro social networks. That’s a whole LOT of niche. . .
The Message
The higher the effectiveness (CPM), the lower the volume of traffic.
One Last Thought
And this one is a thought that I don’t have an answer to. How does a user find the niche that they’re looking for? Sorting through the long tail of content on the web is a mind-numbing chore, even for a web geek like myself. Search on google. Sure. But there’s got to be another way to connect users to the content that they’re interested in. In my case, I lead such an extraverted life that people send me content that they think I will be interested in. Case in point:
Who knew there was a site out there devoted to jumping in art museums? Yah, I surely didn’t. . .that is, until my dear friend Martha Rivera, knowing my love of taking jumping pictures, sent the site to me. My point? What about all of the content that exists out there that you never thought to search for? What is the search and discovery process for something like this?
I don’t have the answer but I’d love to be part of the conversation. I’ll go start a micro-social network. OK. That’s a lie. I have a few, one on Ning in fact. I just haven’t devoted any time to maintaining them. . .
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: 20th Century Fox, Arts, Danny Strong, Denis Leary, FOX, HBO, Kevin Spacey, Simpsons
The voice talents behind the characters on FOX’s The Simpsons have not made a deal with 20th Century Fox TV for the 20th season of the show. Per Variety, despite FOX announcing The Simpsons would be back on Sunday nights during last week’s upfront presentation, production is on hold until this talent deal is resolved which may force FOX and the studio to reduce the number of episodes to 20 instead of 22. Currently the cast is reportedly make $360,000 per episode and if the new deal comes to fruition they could each possibly make $500,000 per episode in addition to other bonuses. (Cynopsis 5/20)
Fox has greenlit a new series Hole in the Wall from FremantleMedia N.A., which is already a hit in several foreign territories. Based on the video game Tetris, contestants standing on a platform are required to move their bodies into certain shapes so that the wall moving toward them with the cutout shape successfully passes by them. If they are not in the right shape, the wall pushes them into the water. Fox has ordered 13 episodes. (Cynopsis 5/20)
HBO on Sunday night will premiere “Recount,” a dramatization of the 2000 presidential recount that eventually led to George W. Bush‘s first term in office and, for a short time, made “chads” water cooler conversation. The film stars Kevin Spacey and Denis Leary and does not pick sides on the controversial election: “The film is not about who should have won,” said screenwriter Danny Strong. “This movie is about our electoral process and gives us an intimate look at how this process went down in one particular state. And then it sort of asks the American people: Is this how you want to elect a president?” (Los Angeles Times 5/19)
Recount Trailer
Mark Greenberg, a 25-year cable veteran who was most recently with Showtime, has been tapped to run a pay-TV channel being developed by Paramount, MGM and Lions Gate Entertainment. The new company, expected to launch next year, will face rivals such as HBO, Starz and Showtime. (The Wall Street Journal 5/20, The Boston Globe/Associated Press 5/19)
AOL Time Warner ex-CFO John Michael Kelly and seven other former execs are being charged with accounting fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over their role in helping the company inflate revenue by more than $1 billion after AOL’s merger with the media giant. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080519/FREE/652695851/1057 5/19)
Sen. Barack Obama, in new public remarks, says he will make Big Media a target of his administration’s antitrust enforcers if he is elected president. Much of the Democratic Party base blames media consolidation for uncritical coverage of the Bush administration’s lead up to the war. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2008/05/obama_would_target_big_media.php 5/19)
Senator Barack Obama
The White House is blasting NBC News for what it contends is “deceitful editing” of correspondent Richard Engel’s interview of President Bush. Counselor to the president Ed Gillespie asserts that the interview misrepresents Bush’s remarks concerning Barack Obama. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/05/white_house_blasts_nbc_broadca.php 5/19)
IFC has acquired the North American rights to South Korean action film “The Chaser,” about a man on the run from police as he tries to rescue a serial killer’s victim before it’s too late. The channel is expected to premiere the movie late this year or early next and make it available on its VOD platform as well. (Variety 5/19)
This looks amazing. The important point to make here is that this is a TRUE story. I can’t find a version of this trailer in English but even from the Korean version, you can tell that this is shot beautifully and filled with drama.
The Chaser Trailer
NBC officially ordered the new drama Kings to series yesterday, despite announcing back in April the drama was part of the winter schedule in the Sunday at 10p time period. Apparently, network executives had only ordered a two-hour movie but after viewing footage of the contemporary re-telling of the David vs. Goliath tale starring Christopher Egan and Ian McShane, they decided to make it official. (Cynopsis 5/20)
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists warned members in an email not to expect a quick resolution to the thorny issue of consent for online use of its work. Like SAG, AFTRA is objecting to producers’proposal to pay a flat fee for online distribution in return for not having to obtain artists’consent. SAG held a town hall meeting last night in LA to update members on contract talks. (Cynopsis 5/20)
Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt, participating in a panel discussion at The Cable Show in New Orleans, said cable networks should not wonder whether the country’s second-largest cable provider minds when channels stream shows for free the same day they are on TV. “Guess what. We do mind,” Britt said. “If you’re talking about putting (a program) online for free on the same date (it airs on TV), that will erode your other business model.” (The Hollywood Reporter 5/19)
The Sundance Channel will kick off an aggressive increase in its video-on-demand offerings beginning June 1. Sundance Channel On Demand, currently available in 29 million homes, will boost standard-definition VOD programming from 10 to 25 hours per month and HD VOD from six to 12 hours monthly. (RBR.com 5/19)
Univision unveiled the most extensive on demand library of Spanish-language content yet assembled on VOD. Scheduled to launch in Jan. 2009, the broadcaster promises more than 1,000 hours of sports, news, movies and entertainment offerings. (Cynopsis 5/20)
Video-on-demand technology may still be evolving, but one thing is clear: Cable-industry executives see it as a potentially important way to more precisely target advertising messages in the future. “Where the customer is and where the advertising is can be linked by the technology,” said Cablevision Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge, who participated in a panel discussion at NCTA’s The Cable Show. “VOD is just a part of the application — a more intriguing technology for delivering advertising.” (OneTRAK 5/19)
Charter Communications will become the first multiple-system operator to deploy Digeo’s new cable set-top box the Moxi Cable HD DVR 3012, Digeo announced at NCTA’s The Cable Show. The second-generation system combines dual high-definition tuners and a DVR. (TWICE 5/19)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Google, Google-Yahoo, Image Search, Microsoft, Microsoft-Yahoo, Web search engine, Yahoo
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Google launched an online Health portal, offering users a place to store their personal health records to make it easier for doctors to retrieve them. Google claims the normal privacy protection law that protects health records doesn’t apply to the service, but promises users will have complete control over which records they share. (Which begs the question, how is a doctor going to know if they’re seeing the whole truth?) The company discussed details of the service including such privacy issues during a factory tour yesterday. (Cynopsis 5/20, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080519/ap_on_hi_te/google_health 5/19)
Google is beginning an “experiment” that incorporates graphical ads with image search results. The Internet giant declines to comment on the revenue implications of the move. Also: Google execs are convening to discuss the implications of a possible revived deal between Yahoo and Microsoft. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9947326-7.html 5/19, http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article3965896.ece 5/20)
Sample Ads in Google’s Image Search
Rather than acquire all of Yahoo!, software giant Microsoft is proposing a deal to buy the Web portal’s search-advertising business. The deal would involve Yahoo!’s selling its Asian assets. If Microsoft were to acquire Yahoo! search, the combined entity would have about a 30% share of the U.S. search market. News of the possible deal comes as Yahoo! and Google are discussing a separate deal in which Yahoo! would outsource search advertising to Google. (
ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg 5/19, Reuters 5/20, The Wall Street Journal 5/20)
Napster will switch to an unrestricted music format today in hopes that selling MP3s online will encourage iPod users to browse its download store. Faced with declining sales, Napster joins other sites that have switched to MP3s as record companies, faced with falling CD sales, have had to relent on their hard-core copyright stance. (The Washington Post/Associated Press 5/20)
They may have more music available and no DRM (as compared to Apple’s iTunes), but they certainly need to work on their user interface. Companies need to exert the same effort in setting up an e-commerce site as they would when designing a retail location.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is stressing his company’s independent spirit, after a report the social-networking site might be sold to Microsoft. We’re “focusing on building,” he says. Asked specifically about the prospect of a sale, Zuckerberg declines to comment. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUST27219820080519 5/19)
Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp plans to announce it is buying the Israel-based StarNet Interactive, the parent company of GirlSense.com, a Web site that lets teenagers design and market virtual fashions. Disney’s Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers have boutiques on the site. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://www.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUSN1955783820080520 5/20)
Comcast, which has already announced peer-to-peer Web traffic management partnerships with BitTorrent and Pando Networks, said it would invest an undisclosed amount in a new P2P company called GridNetworks. “We are interested in the application of P2P concepts in a manner that puts the quality of the consumer experience first and enables lawful distribution of copyrighted content while also efficiently utilizing the network,” said Comcast’s chief technology officer, Tony Werner. (CNET 5/19)
Disney’s plan to shut down its Virtual Magic Kingdom on the Web, where fans interact with each other using avatars, is stirring protests among users. While VMK is free, access to Disney’s other online game sites — like Club Penguin and Toontown — costs as much as $9.95 a month. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121124116733805445.html 5/20)
Virtual Magic Kingdom
About 60% of ESPN’s advertising deals now includes more than one platform, according to top sales exec Sean Bratches. “That’s not forced, either.” ESPN’s endless hours of highlights, interviews and other video snippets are seen as ideally suited to the online and mobile worlds. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/espn-primed-ad-growth/story.aspx?guid=%7B0E92BEA7%2D18A2%2D4AA5%2DB70A%2D659F06AB285A%7D 5/19)
CNBC will provide programming to the newly launched AOL Money & Finance video site. Users will also be able to access CNBC content through AOL Video and its video search property Truveo.com. Advertisers will be able to make buys across CNBC TV, CNBC.com and AOL. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=82953 5/20)
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., is urging Google to remove video clips made by “Islamist terrorist organizations” from its YouTube video-sharing site. In response, Google says: “YouTube encourages free speech and defends everyone’s right to express unpopular points of view.” (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/05/19/senator-asks-youtube-to-remove-terrorist-clips 5/19)
Senator Joe Lieberman
Efforts are still underway in several smaller U.S. cities to use municipal funds to improve broadband infrastructure and speeds despite several high profile public Wi-Fi failures, according to the WSJ. Some 60 towns and cities have built fiber networks capable of faster connections than what the cable or telecom providers offer. Some, like Chattanooga, plan to use their network to deliver triple play (TV, internet, phone) services. (Cynopsis 5/20)
The answer to digital piracy isn’t simply fighting it — find new business models or prepare to die, warns News Corp. boss Peter Chernin. “To the degree we’re only trying to protect existing business, we’re toast. All we’re doing there is staving off the inevitable. We’ll be dinosaurs.” (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117986039.html?categoryid=1054&cs=1 5/18)
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Alltel, Apple, Brando, Data Communications, Datastorm, iPhone, LTE, Nintendo, Wii, WIRELESS
Apple is working behind the scenes to get major music labels to increase the catalog of songs available for download to the iPhone, reports The New York Times. The company wants to add more ringtones as well, and be able to offer downloads directly to the iPhone instead of making consumers upload them from their hard drive. Not surprisingly the music labels have their own list of demands. Direct downloads should cost more, they figure. And like NBC, they would like pricing flexibility – the ability to charge more for hits and less for library product. Universal Music Group wants Apple to build a system offering music downloads with an expiration date, but the two sides cannot agree on a price. (Cynopsis 5/20)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Electronic Arts, Games, Nintendo, San Jose Mercury News, Take-Two Interactive, United States, Video game, Wii Fit
Nintendo has officially introduced at U.S. retailers the latest in its wildly successful Wii franchise — the “Wii Fit,” a game that combines exercise with the latest in motion-controlled gaming. The new title is designed to appeal to nonserious gamers, including women and older people. (ClipSyndicate/Fox News 5/19, The Washington Post/Reuters 5/19, The Seattle Times 5/19, GameSpot 5/19)
Hours after Electronic Arts extended its $25.74-a-share offer for Take-Two Interactive to June 16, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said it had begun a “process” of engaging in “formal discussions” with “interested parties.” EA said the extension was aimed at allowing the Federal Trade Commission time to review the deal for antitrust implications. (San Jose Mercury News (Calif.) 5/20)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Apple, Apple TV, DVD, Netflix, Netflix Roku, Roku, Silicon Valley, Television
TECHNOLOGY
Netflix is partnering with Roku, a small Silicon Valley company, to sell a $99 set-top box that would allow its 8.2 million subscribers to watch a limited inventory of films on their TV sets, rather than over the Internet. Netflix, which owns a small piece of the company, has a selection of 10,000 titles available for download, compared with its total library of 100,000 DVD titles. (The New York Times 5/20)
Some thoughts on this. The Apple TV box: $229 / Roku Netflix box: $99 Freshness of titles: Apple TV wins. The titles available on iTunes to rent are available after being released on DVD for 30 days whereas Netflix offers older titles to stream. Number of titles: Netflix Roku box wins. Overall, I dig the Roku but am dying to test it.
The Roku
JVC announced a handheld camcorder, the .6 lbs. GZ-MS100, that features one-button uploading to YouTube. Connect the camera to a Windows PC via USB or SD card and press the upload button and the application automatically uploads up to 10 minutes of video to YouTube.com. The JVC GZ-MS100 will be available in June for $349.99. (Cynopsis 5/20)
