Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE, Feature, ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Boxee, Facebook, Interactive television, Marie-Jose Montpetit, Media Lab, MIT, Mobile phone, Myspace, Social TV, Television, User-generated content, YouTube
IS TV SOCIAL?
Photo Credit: Sangrea.net
Guest Writer: Dr. Marie-Jose Montpetit
You can add ratings in YouTube, tell your friends in Boxee what you are watching, update your Facebook from your TV. So TV is truly connecting you with your social network. But is it a new hit thing or the rediscovery of a common TV experience?
Mass events were and remain always social: natural catastrophes, major sport events and popular shows are always better when watched together and discussed the next day. They also define a “group’s brand” – who watches what. With multiple TVs per households TV viewing has become more isolated but still many shows are better consumed in a group. The new social TV redefines the living room and the water cooler of the 50s on a global scale; re-defining who is “close” to you. With tools that create your personal TV listings and DVRs to record them, you can share and rate them socially.
Photo Credit: Jobing.com
Interactive TV has been around for a while, albeit without a real uptake. Are social networks finally giving it it’s sought after market? It surely seems so. There is a convergence in the TV world right now with the emergence of online video and user generated content favoring a more “connected” TV experience. To enable this experience, devices like mobile phones are getting better screens and set top boxes are becoming higher quality in performance. In addition, the focus is now on user experience and personalization and of course integration with Facebook, MySpace and other social networks.
But the nature of Social TV has also evolved. From adding IM to a football match to adding widgets to tell you the weather, social TV is morphing into a much more rich set of interactions. As a colleague of mine, Kevin Brooks said recently, it’s about defining “identity” and “proximity”: implemented well Social TV can combine the “lean back” experience of watching with the “lean forward” of interaction.
This isn’t only limited to just TVs but on any device: mobility is about people too. Some pundits have claimed TV is dead. Maybe it is just changing for the better: TV is now connected, mobile and of course social.
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: American Idol, Costa Rica, Fantasia Barrino, Jay Leno, NBC, Rod Blagojevich, Television, USA Network
Ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich may end up starring in NBC’s summer reality series I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here. Blagojevich will participate in the live series event if a federal judge approves and allows him to travel to Costa Rica from where the show will originate. The series will debut on NBC June 1 and will air as a strip over four weeks. (Cynopsis 4/16)
“WWE Raw” and “NCIS” helped USA Network secure the top prime-time ratings spot among ad-supported cable networks for the week ended April 12 … its 14th consecutive win this year. The network delivered an average 3.08 million total viewers during the period and also finished first in the 25-to-54 and 18-to-49 demos, with 1.46 million and 1.37 million, respectively. Mediaweek (4/15)
Fantasia Barrino, the Grammy-nominated singer who rose to fame after her appearances on “American Idol,” is getting her own reality show on VH1. The series, which is expected to premiere sometime next year, will delve into her so-far meteoric career as well as her off-stage life as a single mom. The Hollywood Reporter (4/15)
After a week of discussions with NBC, Boston’s WHDH-TV says that Jay Leno‘s new 10 p.m. comedy show is a go this fall in the time slot in which it had planned to run its early newscast. Both sides say that that their differences have been resolved. NBC calls it “a happy ending.” (Iwantmedia 4/16, http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/04/14/leno_will_air_at_10_on_whdh_tv/ 4/14)
TNT scored with the NBA during the 2008-2009 regular season, reporting year-to-year increases in key demos based on information from Nielsen, including:
A18-49: + 17% 980,000 vs. 835,000
A25-54: +16% 881,000 vs. 760,000
M18-49: +12% 691,000 vs. 617,000
M25-54: +12% 614,000 vs. 547,000
Pro basketball continues on TNT as the network’s 40 Games in 40 Nights coverage of the 2009 NBA Playoffs begins this Sunday with a trio of games and TNT will provide exclusive coverage of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals. (Cynopsis 4/16)
Discovery Channel’s season five premiere of Deadliest Catch on Tuesday night at 9p hooked the largest average audience in the series’history including 2.6 million A18-49, nearly 2.8 million A25-54 as well as almost 1.6 million M18-49 and 4.1 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 4/16)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Facebook, Google, Hulu, Masters Tournament, Myspace, Starz, Television program, YouTube
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Google has just announced its Q1 2009 results, and for the first time ever, there has been a dip. Revenue fell 3% for the quarter versus the fourth quarter of 2008. But, for the year, revenues were still up. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/16/google-shows-a-3-sequential-dip-in-revenues-first-one-ever 4/16)
Facebook is closing the gap on Myspace in the U.S. in traffic by unique visitors slowly creeping up on Myspace’s No. 1 social network position. Worldwide, Facebook took that crown long ago (in April, 2008). But in the U.S., MySpace has been more difficult to displace. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/16/closing-the-gap-facebook-only-9-million-visitors-away-from-passing-myspace-in-us 4/16)
YouTube announced today new measures it is taking to more prominently feature and broaden the range of content available on the site from studios including Crackle/Sony Pictures, CBS, MGM, Lionsgate, Starz, the BBC, Anime Network, Cinetic Rights Management, Current TV, Discovery, Documentary Channel, First Look Studios, IndieFlix, National Geographic. The site will now feature a new ‘Shows’ tab in the YouTube masthead, which will allow users to browse through television content by genre, network, title, and popularity. The site now features thousands of full TV episodes, as well as hundreds of movies. Some videos will be available in HD. At this point the majority of content will come from older TV shows and movies – series like ‘Party of Five’ and ‘Married With Children’, not the current seasons we’ve been seeing on Hulu. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/16/youtube-takes-aim-at-hulu 4/16)
Adding a ‘show’ tab doesn’t prioritize professional content like a whole site built for it. Party of 5 vs. Family Guy? Easy choice.
CBS taking home in millions of dollars from online streaming of the Masters Tournament and other sporting events. The network raked in $30 million alone from the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament. Users “will actually pay for online sports content.” (Iwantmedia 4/16, http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/apr2009/db20090415_833886.htm 4/15)
If you want to take a peek at how AOL plans to take on Facebook, you need to look beyond Bebo (the social network it bought for $850 million last year) to theBoot, a country music site hidden away off in a corner of AOL Music. A very interesting experiment is going on at theBoot that represents a major plank in AOL’s social-networking strategy. It shows how AOL plans to take on Facebook Connect, which is Facebook’s way of letting other Websites tap into its members and their activity streams. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/16/its-a-socialthing-aols-plan-to-take-on-facebook-connect-with-lifestreaming-and-chat 4/16)
CBS site TV.com, a rival to NBC Universal and News Corp.’s Hulu, says it is in talks to replicate its U.S. video-on-demand service in the United Kingdom through partnerships with broadcasters. Recent reports suggest that Hulu is in talks to launch a U.K. version. (Iwantmedia 4/16, http://www.nma.co.uk/Articles/42187/Hulu+competitor+TVcom+in+talks+for+UK+partnerships.html 4/15)
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey has taken control of her own Twitter name, @oprah, she announced on her Facebook page today. And tomorrow, she’ll start using it, on her show. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/16/oprah-first-tweet-will-be-tomorrow-with-ashton-kutcher-on-the-show-soccer-moms-to-take-over-the-service 4/16)
Yahoo is said to be seeking buyers for HotJobs — and other properties could follow the employment site out of the door. Yahoo struck a deal to buy HotJobs in 2001 for $436 million. Yahoo could spell out what other divisions are for sale when it reports earnings on Tuesday. (Iwantmedia 4/16, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e21df062-2a16-11de-9d01-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1 4/16)
The producers behind Web series “MoCap, LLC,” which revolves around the denizens of a motion-capture studio, say they have found the perfect TV platform for their show — the young male-centric Spike TV. On April 24, the network will kick off six episodes of the series, which is produced by Albie Hecht, Spike’s first president. TVWeek.com (4/15)
Thirteen.org re-launched their website with nineepisodes of the classic series Soul!, a variety show promoting African-American artistry, community and culture from the seventies.
This sh*t is amazing. I’m now entranced watching this episode with Taj Mahal in it from Dec 13, 1972. I may not have been born yet but I still feel connected to this inspirational music from an artist with this much passion and instrument knowledge. Maybe it’s not digital downloads that are killing the music industry. After watching this, I think music just needs to get its groove back.
Steve Brill, Gordon Crovitz and Leo Hindery Jr. are starting a company, Journalism Online, aiming to build a system to allow newspapers and magazines to charge for online access. For unlimited subscriptions, the firm is “playing with a figure of $15 a month.” (Iwantmedia 4/16, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/business/media/15brill.html?_r=1 4/15)
The best way for newspapers to escape their dismal state is to “invent a new product,” says Google CEO Eric Schmidt. “Incumbents very seldom invent the future,” he adds. Schmidt is in talks with newspapers about a new advertising model that “understands your history.” (Iwantmedia 4/16, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/opinion/15dowd.html 4/15)
The National Basketball Association’s NBA.com today will introduce its new look, which will include five new video channels. One of those channels will exclusively feature the larger-than-life personality of former “Round Mound of Rebound” and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley. TVWeek.com (4/15)
Time Warner Cable, which continues to take heat this week for its metered broadband plan, would like the FCC to back off insisting that ISPs meet net neutrality obligations per Ars Technica, noting a response to the FCC’s call for input regarding the stimulus plan. “Now is not the time, nor is this the appropriate proceeding, to engage in a debate about the need for net neutrality obligations,” the company writes. (Cynopsis 4/16)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Apple, Google, Handhelds, iPhone, Mobile phone, Smartphone, Wall Street Journal, YouTube
Apple has released a third beta version of its iPhone 3.0 software with new enhancements to the push-notification system and Spotlight search feature. The software remains on schedule for release around the summer Worldwide Developers Conference and reportedly could be accompanied by an announcement of a new iPhone. InformationWeek (4/15)
The Wall Street Journal is rolling out an app for the Apple iPhone, offering news and video for free. The move may surprise Journal subscribers who pay more than $100 per year for Web access. But it puts the app on an even footing with the New York Times’s free app. (Iwantmedia 4/16, http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10220680-233.html 4/15)
HP is backing a new mobile video start-up dubbed Gabble that is positioning itself as a private communal video portal for mobile phones. The idea is to allow users to send goofy videos only to friends in their network rather than post them to a sharing site for the world to see. (Cynopsis 4/16)
Google introduced some changes to the user interface in the newest version of its Android mobile operating system, as seen here in screenshot posted on the Android developer website. Upcoming Android 1.5, codenamed “Cupcake,” will sweeten the OS with several new anticipated features including video recording and playback – enabling instant uploads to YouTube, a screen based keyboard and a bunch of new widgets for the home screen including a music player and photo album. (Cynopsis 4/16)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Consumer electronics, IBM, IDC, Sony, Sun Microsystems, Wall Street Journal
Amazon’s Kindle 2, which first shipped in late February, is selling at roughly double the rate of the first generation device, says a source close to Amazon. Approximately 300,000 of the Kindle 2s have been shipped to date, suggesting Amazon has made over $100 million in revenue from sales of the $359 device alone this year. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/16/300000-kindle-2s-sold-to-date 4/16)
Looks like Sun Microsystems is open to renewing acquisition talks with International Business Machines (IBM) if the latter makes a stronger commitment to actually closing the deal, according to Bloomberg sources. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/16/sun-ready-to-renew-acquisition-talks-with-ibm-if-they-promise-to-walk-the-walk 4/16)
Sony Corp.’s new Webbie HD digital camcorder is squarely aimed at the U.S. market, has all the traditional features without lots of bells and whistles and retails for less than $200. According to this report, the Webbie also is emblematic of a new trend at the consumer-electronics giant toward affordable, easy-to-use products. The Wall Street Journal (4/16)
A new report from IDC said worldwide shipments of PCs fell 7.1% in the first quarter, but that the U.S. market performed better than expected by slipping only 3.1%. “The U.S. was surprisingly strong, it outperformed our forecast,” said Bob O’Donnell, vice president of IDC. “The fact that the U.S. outperformed the worldwide totals is, I think, somewhat hopeful.” Reuters (4/15) , The New York Times/Bits blog (4/15)
A study of 10,000 consumers found that they expect to spend at least as much in 2009 on digital-music downloads, CDs and video games as they did last year, according to The NPD Group. Three out of four respondents plan to spend as much on digital-music downloads and 65% will spend at least as much on video games, while 60% said they would spend a similar amount on music CDs. TWICE (4/15)
Cisco Systems has come out with the Linksys Wireless Music System, a four-component kit that enables listeners to customize their sound experience in innovative ways. And, according to this review, the system’s ease of use and flexibility make it a good fit for just about any home. ElectronicHouse.com/Audioholics.com. (4/15)
Verizon Communications plans to broaden the market for its new Hub phone by opening the device to new applications, removing restrictions that required purchasers to be Verizon Wireless customers and eyeing multitouch controls for future versions. However, analysts still see marketing challenges ahead for the Hub as a home phone that sells for $199 plus $34.99 per month in service fees. Reuters (4/15)
Intel on Tuesday reported that first-quarter revenue fell 26% to $7.1 billion, and that profits receded 55% to $647 million. But the Silicon Valley firm also said the quarter was not as bad as it had expected and that there is a growing feeling that the PC market has hit bottom, indicating that better financial times could be ahead. 
ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (4/15) , The Wall Street Journal (4/15) , CRN/ChannelWeb (4/14)
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