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January 31, 2006
Burnett, AOL Ink Deal for Gold Rush Series
Burnett, AOL Ink Deal for Gold Rush Series Uber-reality-producer Mark Burnett has signed a deal with AOL to produce an online series that will send viewers on a real life treasure hunt in search of caches of actual gold hidden in various locations throughout the United States. Details are still emerging on Gold Rush, which AOL signed off on this past weekend, but according to Burnett, the show will provide viewers with a regular series of short form video clips which will contain clues as to where stashes of gold has been buried or hidden across the country. In addition to the video clips, clues will be placed throughout the AOL network on sites like Moviefone and Mapquest.com, and viewers will be able to register to receive notifications of upcoming clues via AOL Instant Messenger or various mobile devices during the work day. But perhaps most intriguing, Burnett plans to partner with a broadcast network to embed clues within its prime time series. Burnett used CBS’ popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as an example. Of course, Burnett’s production company is responsible for the hit reality TV series Survivor and The Apprentice, among others. While broadcast, and perhaps print will play a major role in the series, Burnett said that Gold Rush was always conceived to be an online show, given the potential for users to have constant interaction with the show’s central treasure hunt. “I kept hearing more and more that so many more people are online between nine and five pm each day than are watching TV at night between 8 and 11,” he said. He added: "This is an important show. Whoever can capture that daytime audience [is onto something.]" Thematically, Burnett said that Gold Rush has been designed to tap into the audience that made hits out of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and the film National Treasure. Ultimately, the series will lead users to 13 different caches of solid gold over a six to seven week period, with the final cache being valued at one million dollars – a prize that Burnett expects to generate widespread excitement. "The hope is to create a wildfire effect," he said. To fuel that wildfire , Burnett said that he expects online communities to form around Gold Rush, particularly as fans track down gold from remote locations. “Say you’re in New York and you believe the gold is in Memphis," he said. "You need to connect with people in Memphis. It’s like holding the winning lottery ticket and trying to find the right place to cash it in." While a launch date has yet to be announced for Gold Rush, Burnett said that a broadcast partner should be signed shortly. Advertising wise, the show is expected to carry a significant amount of product placement, along with streaming video ads and corresponding banner placements. From AOL’s perspective, Gold Rush would appear to be an ideal acquisition - offering the potential for a hit show for the formerly struggling media company, which has rebranded itself in the past year as a free portal centered around video. "It works on every level,” said Kevin Conroy, executive vp, AOL Media Networks. “We are partnering with someone who created reality TV, and someone who really embraces the unique attributes of the Internet." Conroy pointed to last year’s successful Webcast of the Live 8 charity concerts as paving the way for show like Gold Rush. “Live 8 was a big turning point,” he said. “It helped establish what an Internet broadband video experience should be. Now, that made it possible to develop more and more imaginative ideas.” Interestingly, Burnett is also planning to launch another online series, The Runner on AOL’s rival Yahoo!. The Runner, which was originally pitched to ABC several years ago, will involve a similar level of nationwide participation, as fans will attempt to track down a fugitive across the country. January 29, 2006
MagnifyTV episode#1
Lots to report in the world of user-generated content and the evolution of film. This is Magnify.TV, a 'cast focused on media, film, video - and the internets significant impact on video content. First - a big contractualation to Christopher Quinn who's remarkable film God Grew Tired of Us won both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this week. As with many indie films, this one has had a rough ride from it's inception to the most coveted honor in indie film world. While it's far too early to tell the story of the making of this film, it is fair to say that the drama taking place backstage is worth of a film all it's own. Stay tuned. In the UGC world - the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, the people charged with building the Museum and Memorial - took an unusual step and invited the world to share thier stories with the Foundation staff and website visitors. This is a new twist on citizen journalism, citizen history... and reading just a handful of the hundreds of postings is a painful reminder that the real impact of 9/11 is still lingering just below the surface for lots of us. As the whole content world is turned upside down - we note that the WB and UPN networks announced they were shutting down - merging into the awkwardly named CW network. Cynics named it the "could work"network. Meanwhile, Amazon posted the first of it's Bill Mahr Hosted "Fishbowl"shows. So CBS and Warner brothers shut thier networks down, while Amazon powers one up. Can Starbucks TV be far behind. Oh, did i forget to mention that iPod bought Disney? Well, ok not entirely - but you get the point. Old media consolidates. New techlogy and web emerges. And that is before i get to CES. CES, the Consumer Electronics show - was a buzz with the hopefull sound of 99 cent downloads saving the content business, one mobile media device at a time. But Mobile devices including phones,pods, and such are far more likely to empower new media makers than to replace the hundreds of millions of dollars that are slipping from Nework TV advertising into the Google cash drawer. Which bring us to dMark, hundred million dollar investment by Sergi and Larry in - terestrial radio? Really? My guess is no. Because once they have an ecosystem to help people, make, upload, and distribute audio advertisements there's a whole wide world of podcasts out there that don't currently sport any advertising. Now that's a nitch that both powers the continued explosion of podcasts and fits the Google profile. And while we're on Google, we dipped our toe in the water this week, share a few clips from the 9/11 Archive on google video. We'll be interested to see if there's an interest in user-generated history. Extrordinary Tale - in more ways that one...
Two new American independent films swept both jury and audience awards at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival this year, a first in the history of this twenty-two year-old festival recognized as the most important in the United States. Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer's "Quinceanera" and Christopher Quinn's "God Grew Tired of Us" were among the big winners tonight as Sundance presented prizes at the conclusion of its 2006 event in Park City, UT. "Quinceanera" won both the dramatic grand jury prize and the audience award, while "God Grew Tired of Us" also won both the grand jury award and the audience prize in the documentary competition. January 26, 2006
User-Generated Content honors 9/11
Over the past few weeks, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has invited average people to submitt thier stories about 9/11. At a time when so many people seem to be focusing on the site of the attacks, and the builds that will rise there - this invitation is interesting on a number of levels. First of all - the idea that user-generated content is now being gathered and posted at the site is in and of itself pretty extrordinary. But even more important, the fact that the Museum has committed to gather, store, and keep for future generations all of these submitted stories. If it does nothing else, future historians will certainly value having access to these emotional first person accounts. So i logged on to read a few... and found myself overwhelmed by the words. read them for yourself, the go to the site and read them all. ============================================================== The Messenger Danielle was in my son's Pre-K class; and since September 12, while Danielle's mother, Roxanne, made trips to Ground Zero to search for her husband, we took turns looking after Danielle. She'd play at our house, then get picked up by another neighbor, then by her grandmother. It was weeks before we'd seen Roxanne. By then, our children had heard rumors on the school playground that planes would aim at their homes and kidnappers would hide in their toy boxes. We each told our children more than we wanted to, and as little as we could. "What have you told Danielle?" I asked when I finally had time with her again. "I told her, 'Daddy's coming home soon,'" she said. By mid-week, she elaborated: "Daddy has a hurt shoulder and will be home soon." "You said he has a hurt shoulder? Roxanne." "I don't know why I said it. And then Danielle said she hated him." "I'm not surprised. To Danielle, he's abandoned her. Wade would never stay away just because he'd hurt his shoulder. She knows he'd at least call." "I know." "Do you think he's coming back?" I asked. I wanted her to say yes because I still had room to believe. But Roxanne saw the other hopefuls every day downtown with their plastic-wrapped signs. She saw on the news how not one victim had been rescued from the rubble. She knew that Cammie's mom, a cop who had helped to set up the Brooks Brothers morgue, was now on Staten Island sifting through debris for body parts--the most they hoped to find. She knew to stop hoping. "You have to tell Danielle," I said. "Tell me how. Tell me how you crush a child like that?" "I'll tell you how," and I did. You just say the facts. "I'll tell her that tonight," she said. "Will you meet with us at school tomorrow and talk to her a little more?" "I'll be there." I got to the school first and pulled Danielle out of class. We walked and waited for Roxanne. We played. We ate Cheese Nips. When Roxanne pulled up, we all sat at a picnic table outside of Danielle's classroom. The kids were giggling inside. Danielle didn't like to sit. "I hear it's been different at your house. Someone's not been coming home," I said. "My daddy." "And your mom told you what happened?" Roxanne whispered to me, "I couldn't do it." "You didn't say anything?" "I read her the book, Freddie the Leaf." Freddie the Leaf is a great book. It's about a leaf dying. It's different than being told your dad's dead. I whispered, "Jesus, Rox. You didn't say anything? You want to do it now? Do you want me to tell her?" "Please? Would you?" Her father hadn't been home for three weeks and she had to know. I nodded to Roxanne and turned to her daughter. "Danielle, I know why your dad hasn't come home. Would you like me to tell you?" "My dad?" "I know you've been waiting for him, and you've been upset. And your mom has been waiting and looking for him, too. Because she knows that if he could come home, he would." I lost her. She was four and she was bored, even with this. It was too much talking. But she was still sitting, so I kept going. Her mother stared at her. "Danielle, pay attention. Do you know what Mrs. Henderson's saying to you? She's telling you where your daddy is." She listened again. Roxanne had already told me that Danielle knew nothing of the accident, that she wasn't allowed to know that a plane was involved (she couldn't risk Danielle developing a phobia about planes with so many relatives in Jamaica). I knew that Danielle believed in heaven and said prayers at night. This was my road map of where I could steer and what I had to avoid. "Danielle, your mother has been looking for your daddy and she asked the police to help. The police said, there was a terrible accident at the building where your daddy works. Many people got hurt and some people died. Danielle, your daddy was one of the people who died." Too fast. I didn't give her time. I didn't cushion. I looked at Danielle. She looked like she was not paying attention. Roxanne had now moved beside her and was holding her hand. "Did you understand that? Daddy has died." "It means he can't come home again, Danielle," I said. My body language was tender, sorrowful, but the words were too hard. "He won't come to my house?" she asked. "He can't come home anymore." "Can I still wear my Barbie slippers?" "Yes," Roxanne said. "You can wear the Barbie slippers he got you, dear." "Can I have a play date at your house?" "Of course," I said. And she was up again, walking back to her classroom. I had more to say. I wanted to tell her the good news, that her mother was here, that she was safe, that her Daddy was watching over her. She was eating cheese crackers and turning the knob to her classroom. "Danielle!" Her mother was embarrassed. Her child wasn't understanding, wasn't grieving properly. She carried her back, but Danielle wouldn't sit. I put my hand on her to get her attention. "Remember when you say prayers? Do you put your hands together like this?" I clasped my hands together. "I put them this way." She pressed her hands together without interlocking her fingers. "Do you want to know something very neat?" She was interested. "Do you know how when you want to talk to God, you can put your hands like this, and He hears you--even if you make just a tiny whisper?" She was looking straight at me. "And you know how God can hear you and help you, even though He lives in heaven and you can't see Him?" "You know that, don't you Danielle?" her mom said. "Your daddy lives with God in heaven now. And guess what?" She was alert. "When you want to tell him something, when you miss him, you can put your hands together, and he'll hear you. He can help you even from heaven. And he loves you just like before." "What did the police say again?" It was going in. I told her again about the police, and the terrible accident at his work. I told her how her mother had been looking for him, and how the police found out he was one of the people who died and that he couldn't come to their house anymore. "What did the police say again?" And I told her again about whispering to her daddy, and I told her how she could show him things, and we swept some leaves together and showed him how high she could jump and how she could eat Cheese Nips by crunching the sides of them. For that moment, I wasn't thinking about how my world was shattered, too, though it was. And it wasn't. ============================================================== POEM: Yesterday Is Over ______________________ Yesterday is over,
============================================================== WHAT DO WE DO NOW? I wore black that day. I wasn't too thrilled about going to my day job in New York City. After all, I was really an actress. I was feeling a bit glum. Little did I know. I wasn't at the office more than 5 minutes when I went to get a cup of coffee and found my co-workers glued around the office television set aghast at the reports on CNN about an airplane that crashed into the World Trade Tower. The rest will be and is history.
Welcome to Heaven, Dick Morgan _______________________________ The week following the attack on the World Trade Center, I was driving my six year old daughter, Georga, to school and I asked her if she understood what had happened to her Grandpa Dick and if she understood where he was. Georga as a six year old would - said, "Yes, the building fell on him and he's in Heaven now". This got me to imagining my father's arrival in Heaven. I imagined that he would be initially upset at being called back and I got to thinking about my father's initial dialogue with God upon entering Heaven... I suspect, my father would have started by asking, "What am I doing here: I'm not finished. I've got so much to do. Why did you call me back?" God would likely have smiled softly and asked my father, "Dick, you do not remember our deal do you? Many, many years ago, I asked for a volunteer to tirelessly lead men by example and, Dick you accepted. I stated to you, Dick, that, I need someone that will never become famous, never be rich, and never have an easy time as he leads the men and women of his community not from a desk, but from the trenches and the front line. Dick, I said I need someone that will live the values I honor, even though those values; loyalty, dedication, integrity and selflessness, will be considered outdated and ill fitting to more fashionable values such as wealth, power, and fame. I need someone with the raw talent to succeed, but who will be forced to work as a child to earn enough money to attend prep school, someone that will have to earn a scholarship in order to afford high school, and someone that will have to work full time while pursuing an advanced education. I asked for a volunteer capable of tirelessly, quietly, and successfully battling skin cancer for over 20 years but I said you will not be allowed to ask for help, ask for sympathy, or ask for recognition of the challenges posed by your battle. Yours will be a silent fight." I suspect God would have gone on and said, "I asked for someone that will truly fall in love once just once in his life and in exchange I will let you remain with that one woman and love that same woman for over 40 years. If you accept my offer, I said, to support your family as a young adult you will have to work two jobs in addition to your full time work with Con Ed. You will deliver mail-order blankets in the Bronx and work with children at night for the NY City Board of Education so you can afford the down payment and mortgage for a house that will become your home for over 30 years. And once you acquire this house, you will have to welcome children other than your own into your home children needing a place to stay for days, weeks, and even months. And I will introduce you to children who have lost their fathers and are seeking guidance. And you will have to stop... and make time and become involved in their lives --- and love them as you love your own children. I need someone that will visit 107th Street every week for over 10 years to quietly, thanklessly, take care of an elderly aunt, chauffeuring her around, buying groceries, and making sure she is safe. However, for that 10 year period, you will never be thanked by your aunt and your reward will be nothing more than the inner knowledge of knowing that what you did was right. I need someone capable of working with a compassionate, skilled, medical staff responsible for treating and healing burn victims at the Cornell Burn Center but upon meeting them you will be required to make the Center in which they work more capable and better funded than when you found it. I said I need someone capable of rising through the ranks of a Fortune 500 company but before doing so, you will have to start your career as a steelworker working on the George Washington Bridge's lower level in order to fully understand the demanding daily requirements of the men and women in the field. I need someone that can work with the leaders and decision-makers at this company, but you will be required to treat everyone as your equal, regardless of their rank or position. You will be required to see the potential in every man not as an ally or prop used to support your agenda but as an individual worthy of your attention, your care and your respect." God would have continued and said, "I need someone I can introduce to thousands and thousands of people, yet I won't let you view them or categorize them by color, religion race, or income. You will have to treat everyone you meet with dignity and, upon meeting each person and getting to know him or her, you will have to ask yourself 'how can I help this person gain a better station in life?' I need someone that will work tirelessly for the safety and well being of the men and women within your company regardless of the personal or professional costs. You will have to put the safety and education of your coworkers before your personal success. And you will measure your success not by your title or your income, but by the success of those around you. And even if you do this, I will not let you become President of the company you will eventually give your life for while serving but I will let you become the mayor of Con Ed, as recognized by the respect of your co-workers union and non-union alike. I will let you earn the right to work with the bravest men and women in our nation, New York's HazMat personnel and New York City's firefighters, and allow you to be welcomed into their brotherhood, but you will have to protect them and leave them safer and better cared for than when you first met them. Working along side the Firefighters, your Con Ed coworkers and the city's police department, I will require you to respond immediately when your city needs you...for years on end. You will wear a beeper and when your city needs you they will track you down and call you directly and you will respond; regardless of your location. They will track you down and you will respond from Boston, from Chicago, from El Paso, from British Columbia and from the arms of your sleeping wife, Patricia, in your home. In turn, though, when you are lost and on your last assignment for Me, you will receive thousands, literally over a thousand messages a day, from as far away as France, Japan and Turkey, from friends, coworkers, relatives, family and even strangers, seeking to help you...for they have heard of you and know Whom you have served, with each message they send asking, "What is your location? Are you OK?" You will not be famous and your race will never be over. But you will be admired and respected by all you meet and all who hear of you. Dick, I said, if you accept my call, I will let you experience a life bathed in love and passion for what you do and I will allow you to do what you love to do, literally, up to the moment of your death. However, I will get to choose that moment. You will go through your professional life, telling everyone you meet you will 'see them on the big job'. But when the big job comes, I will snatch you away and leave the job for others you have trained to complete, rebuilding the city you served without you. Do you remember, Dick? I said I would take you back if you met my demands. But that I would give you 66 years to experience life on earth and prepare your family, your company, your community and your city for this challenge. You accepted this deal, Dick. And now, I can say without reservation you have kept your end of the bargain. Welcome to Heaven, Dick Morgan." January 25, 2006
As Gadgets Get It Together, Media Makers Fall Behind
AMID the cacophony of the sprawling Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, the main action had little to do with electronics. Sure, booth after booth claimed to have the biggest TV screen, the smallest music player and the niftiest wireless gizmo. But that was to be expected. The real news was neither shiny nor tiny. The question in the air was what people will watch, listen to and do with these machines now that they are becoming interchangeable and interconnected. This should not be a pop quiz. For decades, nearly every gathering of media or technology executives has defined the future in a single word: convergence. What exactly was converging remained in dispute, but most saw some combination of television, computers and an intelligent network that would give consumers much more control. For once, the visionaries were right. Video is popping up on cellphones, iPods, TiVo's and Web sites. And as for blogs, photo-tagging sites like Flickr, podcasts and the rest of the bubbling digital stew, it's clear that lots of media are coming together in lots of devices in lots of ways. Yet for all the time that media executives - from the towers of Sixth Avenue to the back lots of Burbank - had to prepare for convergence, they are now scrambling to figure out what to do about it. "Convergence is possible now, and you are seeing the earliest breaks on the beach," said John C. Malone, the chairman of Liberty Media, who has been trying to profit from convergence for the last two decades. Now that it's here, he predicts there will trouble for many established companies. "The 'anything, anytime, anywhere' paradigm is really going to shift the world of media," he said. "There will be a tough, grinding transition for an awful lot of businesses." Old-line media companies' fears can be lumped into three nightmarish categories: ¶Business-model anxiety. Will paid download services like Apple's iTunes, not to mention TiVo's and their ad-defying fast-forward buttons, undercut TV networks' huge advertising revenue? Or will video from advertising-supported Web sites become so rich that people will drop their cable and satellite subscriptions altogether? Or will they just steal what they want by using file-sharing software like Bit Torrent? ¶Creative anxiety. McLuhan is out. The medium is no longer the message. Anyone who wants to tell a joke, spin a tale or report the latest White House news can produce any combination of video, text, sound and pictures for viewing on a 50-inch TV, a laptop computer or a cellphone screen. No one in conventional media is sure how to manage all these options or what audiences barraged from all sides actually want. ¶Control anxiety. Since the invention of the high-speed printing press, mass media have been created for the masses, not by them. The rise of Weblogs has given everyone a printing press and even the opportunity to get income from ads that Google will happily sell. Now we can all be D.J.'s and film directors, distributing our podcasts and movies online without groveling before a studio executive. The career prospects for hit makers, gatekeepers and even fact checkers may well be in doubt. WB, UPN Fold Shocks NATPE in Vegas
WB, UPN Fold Shocks NATPE in Vegas By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/24/2006 8:00:00 PM The surprise decision to fold netlets The WB and UPN and create a new network could open up some real estate for syndicated programmers. That was the buzz from the syndication community in Las Vegas for the NATPE programming convention. The merged entity will be launched in fall 2006, with each company owning 50% of a new network, dubbed The CW. Popular shows from each net will morph into the new net; losers won’t. The combination of Tribune’s 16 stations and CBS’ 12 UPN stations will give the network an immediate 48% coverage of the U.S., including 20 of the top 25 markets.
That cloud of uncertainty for some station owners could have a big silver lining for program distributors. Syndicators were still trying to process the move, but were generally buoyed by the news since stations that lose network affiliations will be in need of programming and create a pool of pure independent stations once again. But executives from some of the affected stations were more plainly stunned because they don’t know if they have to buy programming to fill prime time hours or not: Said one executive," We still have to figure out how stations will be left stranded here on Gilligan’s Island." Some speculators were suggesting that in markets where there will have to be "conversations" between stations and the new network about who gets to keep the affiliation, there could be a bidding process involving reverse compensation to the network. It already looked like a good thing for Twentieth Television. Executives there say they have already been "flooded" with calls from stations asking about Desire, the new five-day-a-week syndicated telenovela set to debut this June. With the only major, first-run prime time program at NATPE, Twentieth is scrambling to figure out its strategy. The show is currently cleared in 65% of the country. January 24, 2006
Bill Maher Tapes First Amazon Talk Show
Bill Maher Tapes First Amazon Talk Show The first official Internet talk show was taped on Sunday night, right here in Park City, Utah. “Amazon Fishbowl with Bill Maher” is sponsored by United Parcel Service and was recorded in front of a live audience composed of invited guests at the Sundance Film Festival. The guests on the first episode were authors Stephen King, Armistead Maupin and rocker Rob Thomas. The show also included a regular feature in which a celebrity with a product pays a surprise visit to the home of someone who’s ordered their item. For the first show, comedian/actor/director Paul Reiser hand-delivered a DVD of his film, “The Thing About My Folks,” to an unsuspecting woman. The taped segment looked a lot like an Ed McMahon piece from Publishers Clearing House. I’m told none other than Bruce Springsteen has already taped such a piece, and other celebs are being lined up as we speak. The taping of the show took place in a converted yoga center being used for Sundance parties. On the prior night, Entertainment Weekly had thrown its big bash there, though you’d never have known it from the looks of the place. As talk shows go, “Fishbowl” — which is about 30 minutes long — is nothing groundbreaking. It’s just pleasant chitchat and good music. Bill Maher is supposed to stay away from politics, but that’s impossible, and he threw in a couple of good jabs. But freed from his usual shtick, Maher proved to be a quick-witted host. Nevertheless, he almost got into trouble twice. With King, he raised the ire of the famed commercial novelist by asking him about his days as a heavy drinker. King actually stopped him by asking, “Why are we getting into this?” With Maupin, who was promoting his Sundance movie, “The Night Listener,” Maher crossed into unfriendly territory when it seemed like he was making anti-gay jokes at the writer’s expense. At least we know “Fishbowl” won’t be boring. The best element of the show was live music, performed acoustic-style by Thomas. The double-Grammy nominee did “Lonely No More” and “Fall On Me” from his solo album “Something to Be,” with no augmentation. He sang and played the guitar and was, as usual, stunning in his simplicity. In his generation of rock and pop stars, Thomas continues to stand out as a leader when it comes to composition and performance. It’s fascinating to watch him because he’s such a throwback to “classic” rockers. The “Fishbowl” pilot was recorded live to tape and will start playing on Amazon.com for free sometime soon. The series of 12 episodes begins on June 1. And that will kick open the door for Internet series everywhere, so be warned: We are about to be flooded with a whole new genre of chitchat Stranger Coughs Up $25,000 at Screening
Stranger Coughs Up $25,000 at Screening (By Roger Friedman: Fox News, Tuesday, January 24, 2006) OK, the documentary “God Grew Tired of Us” has been turning even the most stone-faced screening audiences into Weeping Willies. But last night, after what seemed like a charged show, a total stranger opened his checkbook and wrote out a $25,000 check to the foundation started by one of the movie’s real-life stars. I think that’s a first. “God Grew Tired of Us” is a remarkable film about displaced Sudanese in Kenyan camps called “The Lost Boys.” Forced out of Sudan in the late 1980s, thousands of Sudanese walked through their country and through Ethiopia to Kenya. It took them five years. By then, many of them were dead or worse, by the looks of things. Like the Rwanda genocide of 1994, the Lost Boys (and Lost Girls) are one of those international horrors. Director Chris Quinn has made a remarkable film that will likely win an award here and go on to tremendous popularity. They went to Sudan and chose three young men who’d been assigned new homes in the United States by Job Corps. They then followed Panther, Daniel and John as they first traveled to the West, saw TV, learned about electricity and other fundamentals in our lives — things they had not heard of, ever. And this was in 2001. You can check out the details of this movie and how to donate to save the Sudanese at www.godgrewtiredofus.com. More to come on this subject as the movie begins to get notice. So far John, who’s raising the money, has collected $90,000 (apart from the new donation). By the way, Nicole Kidman does a great job narrating the film, and Brad Pitt is listed as executive producer. But when I asked them, none of the three principals in the film had ever heard of any of them. They have more important things on their minds. Networks fold, consolidate
This is a big story. And more than a consolidation. The words "unprofitable" and "network" have harldy been seen in print before. Lots more as we all think about what this really means. Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. agreed to combine the unprofitable UPN and WB television networks, seeking to create a stronger competitor to the top four broadcasters after struggling to draw audiences on their own. CW Television Network will begin airing in September as the fifth-largest broadcaster by viewers. CBS, owner of UPN, and Time Warner, part owner of WB, will each own 50 percent, the companies said today at a press conference in New York. Tribune Co. gives up a holding in WB in return for an affiliate agreement. Merging the two may create a profitable network featuring shows such as WB's ``Smallville'' and UPN hits ``Everybody Hates Chris'' and ``America's Top Model,'' the companies said. The networks, formed 11 years ago with the intent of attracting younger and minority viewers, failed to attract audiences and advertisers needed to overtake ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. ``It makes a lot of sense since both networks have the same target, they are very competitive, and both have been struggling in getting large ratings,'' said Brad Adgate, research chief at New York-based Horizon Media, an advertising firm. The new network, announced by CBS Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves and Time Warner entertainment chief Barry Meyer at New York's St. Regis Hotel, will reach 48 percent of the U.S. through CBS and Tribune affiliates and as much as 95 percent through other stations. Shares of Time Warner, the biggest media company, rose 28 cents to $17.37 at 2:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. It was the stock's biggest rise in more than two months. Shares of CBS, formed by the split of Viacom Inc. this month, rose 93 cents to $26.75. Stock in Chicago-based Tribune fell 15 cents to $29.75. Struggle The combination is Moonves's boldest stroke since Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone split his company Jan. 1 and put the executive in charge of CBS's broadcast operations. Dawn Ostroff, currently UPN's president, will have the same title at CW, where she'll run programming, marketing, scheduling, publicity and research. John Maata, chief operating officer at WB, will be COO at the new network, where he'll be responsible for business operations. The combination reflects how intense the struggle for advertising dollars and viewers has become for broadcasters. ``It's significant that two such large media conglomerates weren't able to make a go of it,'' said David Joyce, an analyst at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. Joyce rates CBS shares ``buy'' and doesn't own them. CW will cut costs by combining backroom operations such as accounting, Meyer said. No decision has been made on job cuts, he said. UPN and the WB will stop operating as independent networks, the companies said. Programming CBS probably will have non-cash charges to write off the cost of shutting down UPN, said David Miller, an analyst at Sanders Morris Harris in Los Angeles. Cost savings from combining administrative work won't be enough to make CW successful, he said. ``Ultimately, the shows have to perform,'' Miller said. ``Neither network has really performed all that well over the last three or four years.'' The new network will air on Tribune's 16 WB stations and 12 CBS- owned stations that currently carry UPN. Nine UPN affiliates owned by News Corp. will lose their network affiliation, Moonves said. News Corp.'s contract with UPN was scheduled to end in August, at the conclusion of the current television season, Moonves said. Affiliates News Corp. hadn't decided how it will program its UPN stations, which are in cities including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, spokesman Andrew Butcher said. The stations can't be switched to the Fox network because News Corp. already owns stations in each of the cities, he said. There are seven cities where CBS and Tribune both own stations. Tribune stations will carry the new network in four of those and CBS in three. Both UPN and WB target women aged 18 to 34 with shows such as UPN's ``Veronica Mars'' and WB's ``Gilmore Girls,'' Moonves said. Combining will attract more advertisers than either UPN or WB would alone, he said. Mobile TV on the rise
Intel, Motorola, Nokia, Texas Instruments, and Modeo line up behind DVB-H standard. Tech giants Intel, Motorola, Nokia, Texas Instruments, and Modeo formed an organization on Monday to promote a standard for broadcasting digital TV on mobile devices. Future of Internet TV Is Coming Into View
Future of Internet TV Is Coming Into View Thursday, January 12, 2006; Page D01 I was trying to sleep on a flight home from Las Vegas Sunday when the craving hit: I want my Internet TV. After catching a virus at the gadget show I'd attended, I felt too exhausted to read. I needed distraction, a slice of that personalized video universe I'd seen on display -- even a TV show on an iPod would have helped. Want to control what you see where? (Ben Margot - AP) No single company put everything together into a magical product at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, but you didn't need much imagination to connect the booths and see the Internet TV networks of the 21st century struggling to be born. The unmistakable theme was how video is moving over the Internet onto home televisions and mobile devices in ways that will finally allow consumers to talk back to their TVs, much as they have been interacting with Web sites for the past decade. January 22, 2006
JANUARY 30, 2006 MEDIA CENTRIC AOL: MySpace Invader Did you think MySpace () could blow up this big, this fast without anyone else noticing? Time Warner's () AOL is readying its bid for the MySpace.com, um, space. It won't be a site per se. Rather, the online giant is building a platform off its massively popular AOL Instant Messenger service to better enable its users to share and create content. That the internal shorthand for the project is "AIMspace" -- don't count on that being its real name -- testifies to how tightly the company plans to tie it to AIM, which the company says has 43 million users. (What is an IMer's "buddy list" if not a social network?) It also shows how MySpace has become the generic term for all social networking sites, which were the dark-horse mass media success story of 2005. Executives with firsthand knowledge of AOL's internal discussions say the platform's features won't arrive all at once, but the first ones likely will surface in March. It's expected to blend all manner of AOL content offerings with the user-created content, conversation, and community that define social-networking sites. As with MySpace, expect music to play a major role in AOL's effort; it's an area in which AOL already boasts bona fides. While traffic at AOL Music has slipped slightly, thanks to growth at Yahoo! () Music and Apple Computer's () iTunes, the site nonetheless notched more than 17 million unique visitors in December, according to comScore Networks. An AOL spokeswoman declined to comment on any specifics beyond an e-mail saying "it's just too premature for us to talk about our social networking plans today." IF YOU NEEDED ANOTHER milemarker to measure today's landscape, consider some MySpace data. Last month the site, which just entered its terrible twos, had 32.2 million unique visitors, more than quadrupling the comparable total for 2004. Earlier this month, Rupert Murdoch said MySpace was adding 1 million new members a week. (How hard is Viacom () kicking itself for getting outbid by Murdoch's News Corp. () for the site last summer?) Thus there's a vogue for anything smacking of a social network. In recent months, Yahoo purchased photo-sharing site Flickr.com, social calendar site Upcoming.org, and del.icio.us, a tagging service that allows users to share bookmarks. Eye-popping traffic numbers rung up by MySpace, facebook.com, and xanga.com, and those brands' meteoric rise, make it easy to forget just how devalued the phrase "Web community" once was. Not that long ago it was linked to flameouts and never-weres such as TheGlobe.com and Geocities. Back then, the notion of reader-produced content was, often correctly, interpreted as "we are too cheap to pay for it." That millions of consumers, and especially young ones, now find online pals' content -- be it photos, messages, or random musings -- more compelling than that of quote-unquote professionals is one of the bitterest pills Big Media has had to swallow of late. Despite its New Media DNA, AOL is as Big Media as online players come -- that is, it's an established mass-market brand not especially renowned for risk-taking. Its massive user base and the popularity of AIM and areas geared to music and games suggest AOL could be the one Big Media player to create, rather than buy, its own social network. But social networks thrive on a sort of chaos that's anathema to AOL, and the ways in which AOL seeks to tame the wilder aspects of the Web are at odds with MySpace's loose vibe. (That MySpace is a big online hook-up joint doesn't always register in press accounts.) The years when AOL's revenue was goosed by hourly fees racked up by adults at play in its minutely segmented chat rooms are long gone, and though it used to be good at lighting a fuse and getting away, it's uncertain if AOL can go back. But AOL is trying to play in the upside-down world of today's media. Murdoch wants to make MySpace more like a portal. And the portals want to be more like MySpace. For Jon Fine's blog on media and advertising, go to www.businessweek.com/innovate/FineOnMedia Yahoo developing The Runner
reality blurred Yahoo developing ABC's abandoned The Runner with LivePlanet and Mark Burnett The Runner, a show concept that never got off the ground at ABC back in 2001, has found new life and new producers. Originally pitched more than five years ago to ABC by LivePlanet—Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s company and the producers of Project Greenlight—the show is highly interactive, following a “runner” as he or she races across the country and viewers try to find him or her. The viewer that finds the runner will win a large cash prize. For a number of reasons, including budget, security, and TV-related problems, the show was dropped in late October of 2001. Today, the show is back in development, as “Yahoo! is teaming with Mark Burnett and Live Planet in a bid to bring back shelved ABC project The Runner’,” Variety reports, noting that this “could be one of the biggest entertainment events ever on the Internet.” Still, despite Burnett and Yahoo’s involvement, Variety says “it’s possible that financial and production considerations could yet prevent a greenlight.” What’s most important though, is money, as “the promise of profitability will likely be key to Yahoo!’s ultimate decision to greenlight” the show, Variety says. If it gets approved, the series would be more web-centered, using Yahoo!’s various services. An insider tells Variety, “The Web was driving the TV show. Now the Internet is the show.” It’s still possible, however, for the show to spawn a TV component, most likely “a series of specials.” When will a home media server come home?
I spent some time in San Francisco with Alex Rowland, who's very cool service Along the way - the conversation turned to the home media servers and the inevitability of the device. We morned the frustrations of Tivo not having more traction... and of Apple's endless almost arrival in the business. Then the conversation turned to Microsoft Media Center Edition. When i saw it last year at CES i was pretty impressed (CES 2005) - and i was expecting that the HP 19" rack mount form factor would kick in the doors of lots of home theater equipment racks. But Carly got fired, HP got all crazy, and Microsoft just didn't seem able to break out of the computer department of the local Circuit City and make their way into consumer electronics. At least that was my take on it. So this year at CES i went looking for the Media Center, and instead found myself spending a bunch of time with Vista - which also looks very cool (and rather Mac-like). So - it was more than a bit surprised to learn that most of the functionality of Media Center is built into vista (thank you Alex) and that in effect the release of Vista will make all future PC's home media centers. If this plays out the way that Alex suggests, and Vista has a high conversion rate (which i suspect it will since XP users are an unhappy bunch) then we may well see a Christmas 2006 Home Media Center revolution. That would be a significant day for the iptv crowd, as well as content makers everywhere. Apple - are you listening to the hoofbeats of the home media center hungry masses? Could be the battle for the living room is about to begin in earnest. January 21, 2006
John Kerry Really Pissed Me Off Today.
I know that sounds a bit extreme, but when I tell you the circumstances, I'm guessing you'll be pissed-off as well. Back last September I showed a rough cut of my film “Inside The Bubble” in New York. A clip from the film made it on the internet and Washington went a bit nuts about the film and the impact I would have on Kerry's presumed 2008 presidential run. All the griping and hand-wringing missed the point that no one had seen the film. I was pretty sure at the time that Kerry would actually like the film, and the basic 'real guy' sense in which Americans get to see him hanging out with his staff, playing ball, and actually being a human - as opposed to a candidate. So in October, Kerry holds a press conference in Boston about something. And an intrepid TV Reporter blurts out "Senator- have you seen the documentary - Inside The Bubble." Kerry laughs, shakes his head and says - "I don't need to see it... I lived it." There's an AP reporter in room and it makes the wires. It was a good answer, and it allowed everyone to move on -but I was pretty sure he'd seen it. Why wouldn't he? It was the only documentary that showed him what was going on backstage while he was on stage. It showed him how his campaign behaved, what life was like in the press bus, and more importantly - it was DATA. I told friends who'd seen the quote, "I'm sure he watched it. He's going to run again - and he's a bright guy - and any coach whose team gets beat studies the game films. He watched it." I wasn't bothered then. Today I am. Why? Because in the January edition of Esquire with a full page photo. And there's the pull quote - "I never did see Fahrenheit 9/11. I didn't see it on purpose - no disrespect to Michael Moore, I didn't want it to affect the view I had in the campaign. So no, I didn't see it. I lived it." I lived it. He must be kidding. Does John Kerry have some sense that documentaries can't be watched because - to use his words - it would "affect the view" he has of the world. Really? Yes John, that's exactly why we make films. To show you things you haven't seen. To expose you to ideas, feelings, perceptions, facts, that will affect you. We're filmmakers. And we're hardly alone in wanting to affect you. I'm pretty sure James Carville wrote "Take it Back" with some expectation that you might thumb through it. And did Eugene Jarecki make "Why We Fight" thinking you might swing by the multi-plex or pop the DVD player in. Then there's George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck and Syriana. He's got a few ideas he'd like you to engage.
You see - the thing is - in this complicated world, filmmakers and writers and poets and songwriters, and op-ed writers and dissidents and protesters and sorts of people are trying to get you SENATOR to help us see the forest for the trees. It's a dense forest. I made "Inside The Bubble" for you. It's not a whitewashed public relations approved view of the 2004 Election. But it's honest. And it is truthful. And while it's not the last word on why the Democrats lost - I'd suggest that for people trying to figure that out, it's required viewing.
John, I hope you'll reconsider your answer to both Esquire and the AP. Because if what you said is true, it reflects a world view that suggests that you’re not open to engage challenging ideas- both as a Senator and a candidate for President in 2008. That can’t be true. You should be hungry for perspectives, points of view, in particular disagreeable ones. Distasteful voices, unpopular points of view, and passionate editorials that force us to compare the reality that each of us "lived" to the filmmakers discordant perspective should be the lifeblood of a leader. Your ability to see Fahrenheit 9/11 and read The 9/11 Commission Report, and meet with families of victims, use all of that powerful, painful, often conflicting data to inform your understanding of the events of 9/11 is exactly the kind of intellect we hunger for. Don't put your head in the sand. Michael Moore's next film is about Health Care. It's a topic you spoke passionately about on the campaign trail. Does your experience in the Senate living the Health Care debate suggest that you won't see that film either? What about my film "7 Days in September" - about the week after 9/11. We ALL lived that -so does that make all of the films about 9/11 unnecessary? "I Lived it" is at best a cop out, and at worst a symptom of a closed-minded, isolated, calcified intellect. In either case it's cowardly - and America has more than enough politicians who've replaced passionate and deliberative debate with ideological and dogmatic sermons. Let me know when you've decided to watch Documentaries again. There's a crop of them this year that deserve your attention. Online video face-off: Apple versus Google
Interesting review in the monday edition of the San Francisco Examiner. It's not a techy view, but rather a consumer view - and the differences in the consumer reaction are worth reading. While google video 1.0 is a product evolving for sure, you can see how the DRM question looms large in the deskbound vs. portable world. REVIEW Will personal computers overtake televisions as the screen of choice for watching hit shows such as "Desperate Housewives?" It's a question raised with increasing frequency following the recent premiere of paid online video services by technology giants Google Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. Both services give users access to a small list of prime-time blockbusters, typically for $1.99 per episode. Reruns, independent films and music videos are also available for a variety of prices. In just a matter of months, online video has become an obsession among Internet companies, which hope to become the television channels of the future. Consumers, the theory goes, would tune into shows on their computers or mobile devices in what is known as digital convergence. Today, only a smattering of prime-time programs are available online. But more are expected as Google and Apple, in addition to an array of other firms, seek deals with Hollywood to bring sports, news, film and television to a computer screen near you. Over several days, The Chronicle tested both Google's and Apple's video offerings to see how they measured up. The verdict? Although online video on demand offers significant promise, it falls far short in key areas that -- unless addressed -- may keep the format from going mainstream. For the record, I used a Dell laptop with a wireless high-speed connection for the test. Google's entry into paid online video last week sent shock waves through the entertainment industry. Given the Mountain View company's dominance in search, could building an Internet television juggernaut be far off? To start, I browsed Google's video on demand -- currently in test phase -- using a pull-down menu. Pickings were slim. Only a handful of prime-time television shows were available, including "Survivor: Guatemala" and "NCIS." In some cases, such as with "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," just one episode was offered. Reruns ranging from "The Brady Bunch" to "MacGyver" were a little more plentiful. Clearly, the selection needs to be expanded. Google concedes as much and said that more shows will be added after the company allows anyone, not just small groups of partners, to sell videos on the service within the next few weeks. I also tried to browse video using the Search box by entering "Brad Pitt" and the names of other famous actors. Although I came up with some results, they were not films and were instead home video offered for free by amateurs (a discussion of Pitt's marriage troubles, for example). Feature-length movies are available on Google, though no blockbusters. Brace yourself for mostly low-budget gems, such as "Breakfast of Aliens" for $2.99. In the mood for mainstream fare, I clicked on an episode of "CSI." It was billed as an episode about the murder of a man "covered with hair head to toe," but did not give any other helpful information, such as when the show was originally broadcast. As with all videos, this one included a free, 30-second trailer. Satisfied, I clicked to buy a "day pass" for $1.99. To complete transactions, users must log onto their Google account and give their credit card information. For me, it took several minutes because the Web site failed to immediately recognize my password, for unexplained reasons. To watch paid programs, Google requires that users download its video player. This one-time requirement went smoothly, except that my computer's security software initially blocked the download. Google did interject one disconcerting detail in the process. During the setup, the company steered me into switching my browser's search engine to Google, from its archrival, Microsoft. I unchecked the box to keep the status quo. It didn't take long for "CSI," and all other subsequent videos, to appear on my computer screen. The technology allows shows to start before they're fully downloaded, reducing the time spent twiddling thumbs. Being able to watch what I wanted (even from a limited choice), when I wanted it was refreshing. So, too, was the lack of commercials, which cut one hour of television shows to around 44 minutes. What I didn't like was the picture quality. When shown on full screen, the image was pixelated, making details hard to make out. This was especially bothersome with "CSI," which revolves around minute evidence ranging from fingerprints to pebbles. But on other shows, such as "The Brady Bunch" and "Survivor," image quality wasn't as much of an issue, because the cinematography is mostly head shots. Google's service could definitely be more generous with the time window it gives to users to watch prime-time programs. Customers usually get only 24 hours to watch most current television shows before their rental is over. The policy on reruns is more liberal. Instead of a day for these, users get indefinite access. Whatever the case, Google's customers had better like watching video on computer screens. The company prevents users from transferring copyright-protected video files -- that is to say, most hit television shows -- to mobile entertainment devices in an effort to prevent piracy. The policy is striking given that Apple Computer's competing iTunes has gained popularity expressly because of flexibility. But more on that later. To add to Google's inconvenience, users must be connected to the Internet to watch paid video. Downloading a show at home on a laptop and then watching it later in a cafe or on a flight is impossible unless there's wireless Internet access. Given all these annoyances, I give Google mediocre marks for its paid video service. I hope that later incarnations fix the shortcomings and make it more than just a library of last resort. Apple Apple's iTunes isn't just for music anymore. Three months ago, the company started offering video downloads and now has "Desperate Housewives," "Law & Order" and "Lost" in its lineup of prime-time shows. Prices -- typically $1.99 per episode -- are comparable to Google's. In terms of the number of available episodes, Apple has a slight edge. Reruns range from brief clips of "Saturday Night Live" (overpriced in my view at $1.99, given that they're only a few minutes long) to full episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." I was peeved about having to download free iTunes software to simply window shop for videos. However, the installation -- which requires a log-in and credit card information -- was problem free. The next hurdle was finding videos. Call me dense, but I needed a few minutes to decipher how to find television shows amid the overload of buttons and graphics. I finally got my bearings, watched a few free, 30-second trailers and decided to buy the latest episode of "Lost," one of my favorite shows. After clicking the buy button, I waited, then waited and waited some more for the show to download. Finally, 15 minutes later, "Lost" and its castaways appeared on my screen. Later, for downloads of other shows, I simply did house chores during similar delays. Google's ability to quickly broadcast the first part of a show and download the rest of the video file in the background was clearly superior. I wondered why Apple didn't think of it. What Apple did excel in was picture quality. When shown on full screen, its videos were crisper than Google's. I also liked being able to watch videos on a small screen that was embedded in the iTunes Web page. With one eye on the small screen, I simultaneously shopped for other videos and read customer ratings. I applaud Apple for giving users far more latitude with the videos. Unlike Google, Apple users get permanent access to prime-time shows they buy, not just for 24 hours. Additionally, Apple's customers are free to download shows to video iPods and burn them onto DVDs. Now that's convenience. Overall, I give Apple's paid video service higher marks than Google's. If Apple solved the problem of slow downloads and added a bigger selection of video, then I would be a more frequent customer. But my accolades have their limits. Given a choice between paying for online video or watching a show free on television, I'd choose the free television every time. Prime-time online URL: video.google.com Price: $1.99 per episode for prime-time shows, most others vary between 99 cents and $15 Sample shows: "CSI," "NCIS," "Survivor," NBA games* Reruns: "I Love Lucy," "The Brady Bunch," "Star Trek: Voyager" Viewing: On a computer only; must be connected to Internet to watch Ownership: Varies; 24-hour-rental to permanent access Operating system: Windows 2000 and Windows XP (Mac not currently available) Apple URL: apple.com/itunes Price: $1.99 for most episodes Sample shows: "Desperate Housewives," "Lost," "Law & Order"* Reruns: "Dragnet," "Knight Rider," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" Viewing: On a computer or iPod; Internet connection not required to watch Ownership: Permanent access Operating system: Mac OS X v10.2.8 or later, Windows 2000, Windows XP Source: Google Inc., Apple Computer Inc., Chronicle research *Listed shows are only a sample of what is available on each service. E-mail Verne Kopytoff at vkopytoff@sfchronicle.com. Page E - 1 Carville's Back! (and Begala too)
This book was a first - a Political Page Turner! Truly. As self appointed leaders of the loyal opposition - the legendary Clinton team is pissed off. The book practically screams "WAKE UP DEMOCRATS - YOU'RE BLOWING IT!" The book is full of revelations - among them the "message" that the books says the Democrats had in 2004. "J-HOS. That's right: J-HOS. (It's pronounced "Jay-hose" by the way.) It stands for: J-Jobs, H-Health Care, O-Oil, and S-Security. that, of course is a litany, not a narrative. Calling "J-Hos" a message is like calling a supermarket full of food a gourmet meal. page: 26: "At one point James got so frustrated by the campaign's (Kerry's) lack of a message that he tried and intervention. At a meeting with Kerry high command he begged them to focus on a clear message. he became so upset that he broke down and cried. Paul tried too. He commandeered a huge whiteboard in Kerry headquarters and coverd it with twelve possible negative messages on Bush: From framing the election in terms of truthfulness (claiming Bush mislead us about the war, the deficit, being a uniter and not a divider, funding education and more); to casting bush as out of touch with real people to arguing that he's too rigid and ideological; to making the case that he was in over his head; to describing Bush as a favoring the rich and special interests." The contents of the book give you a pretty good idea of how they're going to tackle the future of the democratic party. Chapter #1 "Houston, We have a Problem" Part of what makes the read interesting is that it's written in the third person, talking about Carville and Begalla as if they're the subjects rather than the authors of the book. Despite that, you can get a pretty clear voice of who's talking... as both James and Paul take turns driving the narrative. I don't want to quote the book at length - since reading it really is the appropriate way to get the authors take on things. But on both Guns and Abortion Rights, i found myself underlining and dog earring pages again and again. For example - page 50 "respect gun owners" is the head. "We believe gun control hurts Democrats because votes are often by what they perceive as judgmentalism and elitism by gun-control advocates.... John Kerry was much ridiculed for going goose hunting in Ohio during the presidential campaign. In truth, Kerry is a hunter; not long affect the election, he went quail hunting- without any cameras. He is more than a photo op hunter. So why did his goose-hunting trip backfire? In part because his campaign seemed so ambivalent about hunting, as about almost everything else." January 19, 2006
Google buys dMark - Why?
Ok - so you heard it hear first. It's an interesting play - but not in my estimation because of radio. Sure radio is in need of a marketplace, but there's no feedback mechanism (click through) to make it trackable or part of the future media stuff that Google does so well. However - play along at home - where are their audio avails that are currently not monetized at all... and where there IS a feedback loop. Hmmm... can you spell podcasts? That's the play. Empower users to create audio ads. Build the marketplace. Create a market for insertions - and google and leverage dMark into a major player in the now nonexistent market of audio insertion advertising for niche podcasting. Pretty smart - at least that's how it looks from here. January 13, 2006
So Blue...
Ok, the truth is - i don't know why i wanted to take Jet Blue. Maybe it's that i've flown it alot lately, maybe it's that i like the TV's. Maybe it's the almonds. Not sure. But i didn't. I few to San Francisco on American Airlines. It was Sunday - and i did my part, showing up at the airport almost 2 hrs early for a 3:50 flight. I'd checked the AA website and even put my email address in to be alerted in the event that the flight was delayed. As my cab pulled up to the terminal, my phone beeped. The flight was delayed 2 hrs. Grrr. The good news is - i learned a lot about the difference between Jet Blue and AA in the next five hours. What i learned is that Jet Blue is about choice and empowerment, AA is about old technology, disempowered employees, and an information vacuum. But let's get back to our story? Why did the first 2 hr delay happen? No idea. No one knew - not the counter staff. Not the monitors in the airport. Then the plane was blocked from the jetbridge by a broken down truck. Then we sat on the runway for an hour while a repairman was called to repair a switch, then another half hour because - to quote the captain - "the cargo door is open, and 'they' won't tell me why." Once in the air - the despite the fact that they'd taken 5 hrs of my life away... they still were happy to charge $5 for a sandwich. And the video programs (on vhs tape) were recycled old CBS shows projected on a washed out screen that was covered with blotches (when they got to the Honeymooners - it was clear that this was the cheapest repeats they could buy). Now compare this to Jet Blue. The staff always cares about getting out on time - and they act like it. The choice of snacks - really not a big deal - still feels like a CHOICE. Ditto the video tuners in the seats. Being able to chose what you watch (or don't) feels like 2006. Being forced to watch the Honeymooners feels like old time authoritarian sales. I'm back on Jet Blue. Promise.
Arrival Time Now: 9:36 PM Gate:66 Arrival Time: 9:37 PM Gate:66 Arrival Time: 9:37 PM Gate:66 Arrival Time Now: 10:17 PM Gate:66 Arrival Time Now: 10:47 PM Gate:66 ================================== Arrival Time Now: 11:17 PM Gate:66 American Airlines Flight 85 Arrival Time Now: 11:32 PM Gate:66 ================================== American Airlines Flight 85 Arrival Time Now: 11:47 PM Gate:66 ================================== American Airlines Flight 85 Arrival Time Now: 12:07 AM Gate:66
January 12, 2006
WSJ Features "Magnify" content
WSJ Features "Magnify" content
"The Growing Appeal of video on demand and Internet-based video content may be sending shudders though the television industry...that possibility is getting an increasing amount of attention these days from most video-content companies, including start-ups...and giants like Viacom and Time Warner." Grant goes on to talk specifics - focusing on just a handful of companies who are breaking new ground in the content space. Among them, Brightcove, Akimbo, Revver, Magnify Media, and Veoh. "Companies looking to put videos on the Web are finding help from start-up companies that are developing tools for this purpose. Steve Rosenbaum, who developed programing for MTV featuring viewer submitted videos in the late 1990's has taken that genre another step with his new company Magnify Media LLc. the New York based company has developed technology that enables web sites to receive and post user-generated content." "What everyone is basically saying now is that we're going to live in a multi-platform environment," says Mr. Rosenbaum of Magnify Media. "And in a multi-platform environment, the person who has the most content and can serve to the different places wins." "Smaller content companies are also exploring the user of video on the Web, even those who's main business isn't TV related. Rodale Inc has been looking at ways to use video to enhance the Web sites and promotions of it's magazines like Bicycling and runners World. (a project developed by Magnify Media) this year, Bicycling provided camcorders to readers who won bicycling in its Biketown contest so that they could make short films of how their prizes affected their lives. The results we be on Bicycling Web site in early 2006." January 11, 2006
Kodak and Skype talk to each other
Kodak and Skype Give a New Voice to Online Storytelling with KODAK Photo Voice Kodak launches the first Skype certified online photo sharing experience, helping people talk live to friends, family and colleagues around the world while viewing a shared photo album “Today’s families and social networks are scattered around the globe. Staying connected through photo sharing remains an important element in maintaining closer personal relationships,” said Sandra Morris, general manager of Consumer Imaging Services at Kodak. “Traditional social gatherings that once took place around the radio, television or telephone are now happening around the computer, mobile phone or camera. KODAK Photo Voice marks the next step in this evolution.” KODAK Photo Voice is a brand new way to relive memories, empowering two people to simultaneously view a customized slideshow, and to reminisce and react to each picture. Imagine if Grandma could see pictures from her grandson’s first day at school while he narrates every moment of the experience over Skype. Perhaps an old roommate could share detailed photos and recount stories of his new life in London, as his friend back home in California reacts to each picture. “Our goal is to make technology easy to use and Skype is a simple Internet communications service that is changing the way people stay in touch,” said James Bilefield, vice president of business development for Skype. “The combination of Skype’s service and KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery’s photo sharing capabilities will make sharing memories even more simple and rewarding for consumers around the globe.” After downloading KODAK Photo Voice and Skype, the host selects pictures from a KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery album or from their computer, quickly and easily compiles them into a KODAK Photo Voice presentation and “calls” a friend via Skype to watch the slideshow live. Hosts submit orders for prints and other merchandise that guests select through KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery and have them mailed directly to the guest’s home. About Eastman Kodak Company About Skype January 09, 2006
CES floor tour (NATAS)
Each year Shelly Palmer guides a tour of National Academy members through the forrest of technology that is CES. It's a grueling 4 hour tromp from booth to booth...with headphones for the group so that we can listen to reps from the companies give their Shpiel and answer questions. It's the only time you get any quality attention at CES - since the size of the group (20+) and the weight of the organizations (we do the Emmys) means that the otherwise harried execs need to take a moment to explain - or try to explain - what their companies strategy is for the next 12 months. Here's a quick snapshot of this years tour: NATAS tour / Friday... 1:45 pm / Direct TV.... The news there is Channel 101. Direct goes into the content biz with a video game show, a music show (CD America) and a Dating show (that's driven by User Generated Video). The other interesting thing about the Direct TV booth was the mention that a future box they were deploying would have a broadband input. Why is that interesting? Because Cable, Satellite, everyone is worried about the day that broadband will become the predominate pipe for content and the current big dogs in that race find themselves without any differentiating features. Cable has a leg up because they're running the broadband pipes (along with DSL) and they can win the so called 'triple play' of cable, broadband, and telephone services. Next stop - Hllcrest Labs. Hllcrest has built a cool hand held (gyroscopic) controller. They're building software solution for controlling content - and it's truly the closest thing to the matrix i've seen in real life. With an incredibly smooth 3d world, you can choose movies, photographs, VOD choices, with the ability to drill down, see related titles, and explore content in a very hands on way. At Intel, all the talk was viiv - an attempt to reposition the chip maker as a content platform. As intel replace the old 'intel inside' branding with the new 'viiv' product, you begin to see a trend. Intel doesn't want to be generic silicon, but rather a brand that consumers come to trust and rely on. Once again, a fear of the coming comodification of the pipe. A brief stop at the WiMax alliance both shows clues about the future. Because the USB 2.0 standard that's moving from hardwire to broadband gives use some clues about what the world might look like when HD video can travel throughout he air and around your house. Samsung had the latest offering in it's line of handheld DV cameras with removable cameras - the SC-HDX15 720P camcorder records onto 4GB of built-in flash memory for around 30 minutes of HD quality video. (disclosure, i went back after the tour to actually see this device...so it didn't get covered the first time through). The LG booth is was chock full of HD flatscreens - many of them with hard drives and DVR functionality actually built into the monitor. I've never been a fan of LG, but i have to say their screens looked pretty amazing... maybe the best i'd seen to date. Our last stop was SONY... where the announcement of the Sony Reader... a book like screen that is an ebook like device. But it's surprisingly flat. text and the page. No pictures, no magazine player, just a new ebook reader. Not that that is a bad thing.
New Camcorders Cutting The Tape
New Camcorders Cutting The Tape By David Elrich -- TWICE, 1/5/2006 The format mix is undergoing a huge shift as consumers embrace DVD-based models instead of tape, no matter if it's miniDV, Digital 8 or VHS-C. Also making inroads are high-definition models and new models that replace tape and discs with solid-state memory cards or mini hard disk drives.
The following is a glance at what major camcorder manufacturers are planning to introduce at International CES:
The company will introduce five new DVD camcorders starting at $500, four miniDV models opening at $350, a $1,100 HDD model in May, as well as continuing over its two HDV editions from 2005. The company will also carry more than one Hi8 model (CCD-TRV138 for $240), a single Digital8 (CCD-TRV280, $300) and the miniDV DCR-VX2100 for $3,000. In DVD cams, Sony's camcorder products director Linda Vuolo said the company will be adding some new features to separate them from the pack, including a bigger emphasis on 5.1-channel surround recording, a new ClearVID C |
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On my way to the airplane... i the book "Take It Back" jumped off the shelf. I wasn't so sure, with James Carville and Paul Begala on the cover, i was afraid it might be too heavy for airplane reading.
Peter Grant in the January 10th edition of the Wall Street Journal took a long look at the content creation engines at work outside the cable box.
Sony will offer its first hard-disk-drive (HDD) camcorder, which is scheduled to arrive in May. The DCR-SR100 has a 30GB drive, a 3-megapixel CCD, a 10x optical/120x digital T* lens and a 2.7-inch 16:9 touch-screen LCD. It takes 3-megapixel stills (4:3 and 16:9), has a built-in flash. It records Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround and is center mike ready. It will also be supplied with DVD burning and backup software.