Friday, December 7, 2007
Is there a Web 2.0 bubble? Keep an eye on that "Beacon" of light
I grabbed this video from BoomTown. If I had a valuation, I'd hate this video. Alas, I am a more like a fraction of a fraction of the pie kinda guy. I'd take that, come to think of it.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Made Kosher for Hanukkah
What goes good with latkes on Hanukkah?? HAM! Juicy, spriraled ham. Thanks Ralph's Grocery store.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Hulu, Facebook, Killer Apps like Twitter
Is it fun, easy, eventful, and jump on the bandwagon gotta have it kind of stuff? Does it go on my Facebook page? The answers to these questions must be yes in order for the next interactive product to make noise or undermine the conventional wisdom that says their is no new new. Twitter did it. Facebook, with it 5,000 apps and counting is the backdrop, and if you're not a product on the Facebook platform....well you'll have to go to the big Google meeting in Mountain View, CA. Or you can go anyway because you'll want to be on this new Open Social platform too.
Are you a portal like Hulu? You're dead. Forget about traction. You're too big, to repeatable, to similar, not stealthy, and not new. Then again, you might just have a video experience that has never been seen before, a decent round of funding too and the content from two of the biggest suppliers in the hemisphere. But wait. I can watch Friday Night Lights on NBC.com and it works fine. But NBC.com doesn't have Conan the Barbarian. They do have Conan O'brien. I'm so confused! But maybe that was Hulu's intention all along. For now, Joost has Showtime's Dexter for free and they're not pushing any adds down my throat (CBS might change all of that if the Writer's Strike persists in 2008), so that might be my video platform of choice for now, but I'm nomadic and so I'm sure I won't have many reasons to stay loyal (guess what Joost, your newsletters aren't really wetting my appetite to load your client on another computer). My guess is VeohTV, Joost, The CBS Audience Network that helps populate their platforms has a preeetty nice jump on Hulu by the way. Time will tell. Meanwhile, the web is getting more and more social. Are you?
Are you a portal like Hulu? You're dead. Forget about traction. You're too big, to repeatable, to similar, not stealthy, and not new. Then again, you might just have a video experience that has never been seen before, a decent round of funding too and the content from two of the biggest suppliers in the hemisphere. But wait. I can watch Friday Night Lights on NBC.com and it works fine. But NBC.com doesn't have Conan the Barbarian. They do have Conan O'brien. I'm so confused! But maybe that was Hulu's intention all along. For now, Joost has Showtime's Dexter for free and they're not pushing any adds down my throat (CBS might change all of that if the Writer's Strike persists in 2008), so that might be my video platform of choice for now, but I'm nomadic and so I'm sure I won't have many reasons to stay loyal (guess what Joost, your newsletters aren't really wetting my appetite to load your client on another computer). My guess is VeohTV, Joost, The CBS Audience Network that helps populate their platforms has a preeetty nice jump on Hulu by the way. Time will tell. Meanwhile, the web is getting more and more social. Are you?
Thursday, September 6, 2007
A New Professional Frontier
CBS Interactive is my new professional home! I am thrilled beyond words to describe my pride, excitement, and commitment to this exciting new chapter in my digital life. I am quite new to CBS Interactive, having started just last week, but the CBS/Viacom Corporation was my employer for many years during my stints in the old media biz.
I enter the CBS digital fold at a crucial time as the CBS Homepage is undergoing a reformation. I use the reformation reference very loosely here as it is historically a religious term. As it represents a break from something old, like the Roman Catholic Church, to a new way at looking at something I apply it to the conversion of one web model to another. For the CBS Homepage in its Alpha state (9/5/2007) is a stunning achievement for such a large platform that has resided in an older reactive state for many months. This is not to say that there have not been many small, important steps towards this new site for many months, or that this transformation was not organic, steady, and thoughtful. There is an architecture behind the new CBS Homepage and the old CBS Homepage that reflects a passion for change, risk, and community.
I am seated at a small desk at CBS and, as I type, my mind is humming with ideas. I have awoken each day for the past week and a half with a mix of zeal, fear, and wonderment at where my digital life has led me.
I enter the CBS digital fold at a crucial time as the CBS Homepage is undergoing a reformation. I use the reformation reference very loosely here as it is historically a religious term. As it represents a break from something old, like the Roman Catholic Church, to a new way at looking at something I apply it to the conversion of one web model to another. For the CBS Homepage in its Alpha state (9/5/2007) is a stunning achievement for such a large platform that has resided in an older reactive state for many months. This is not to say that there have not been many small, important steps towards this new site for many months, or that this transformation was not organic, steady, and thoughtful. There is an architecture behind the new CBS Homepage and the old CBS Homepage that reflects a passion for change, risk, and community.
I am seated at a small desk at CBS and, as I type, my mind is humming with ideas. I have awoken each day for the past week and a half with a mix of zeal, fear, and wonderment at where my digital life has led me.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Can (UGC) video kill the movie stars?
An interesting article last week from Daily Variety's outspoken, Editor-in-Chief, Peter Bart reflecting that the box office malaise is not as bad as the naysayers predicted. Bart's editorial points out that the 2006 box office tallies are a slight improvement from last year. He suggests that considering the absence of "franchise" films, the increases can be traced to surprise hits like "Little Miss Sunshine".
This news is certainly a little encouraging for movie studios who I am sure still pray daily for good movie attendance to help boost their ancillary market, particularly the sale of DVD.
The new era of digital entertainment has put a strain on the business models of traditional media suppliers but the figures for 2006 suggest that the "seismic shift" hasn't happened yet, and probably won't be happening for a few more years.
It is really easy to get caught up in the rhetoric about the threat to the viability of network television coming from the Niklas Zennstom's (Venice Project) of the world. The hyperbole from News Corp. entertainment leader Peter Chernin who talks about mobile entertainment eclipsing television and the internet as a media platform is fairly quixotic.
Let's all take a deep breath and remember that for now: Only a small minority of people use their cell phones for entertainment, ITunes counts TV downloads as a fraction of its revenue, and The Venice Project is in Beta. Oh, and YouTube hasn't really monetized yet. Certainly rapid change is evident and user behavior is changing. Traditional media wants in too and, to some extent, the future of digital downloads of movies and television shows depends on their compliance and participation.
I for one am excited about the opportunities that exist for some kid in North Dakota or Iowa to get 3 million eyeballs for his online video diary and then get invited by Coke to create content for the holidays. I am thinking of ways to get into that game too.
For now, video for all its accolades, whether it is on the internet or on a phone, can't hold a candle to "Little Miss Sunshine" at an AMC 14.
This news is certainly a little encouraging for movie studios who I am sure still pray daily for good movie attendance to help boost their ancillary market, particularly the sale of DVD.
The new era of digital entertainment has put a strain on the business models of traditional media suppliers but the figures for 2006 suggest that the "seismic shift" hasn't happened yet, and probably won't be happening for a few more years.
It is really easy to get caught up in the rhetoric about the threat to the viability of network television coming from the Niklas Zennstom's (Venice Project) of the world. The hyperbole from News Corp. entertainment leader Peter Chernin who talks about mobile entertainment eclipsing television and the internet as a media platform is fairly quixotic.
Let's all take a deep breath and remember that for now: Only a small minority of people use their cell phones for entertainment, ITunes counts TV downloads as a fraction of its revenue, and The Venice Project is in Beta. Oh, and YouTube hasn't really monetized yet. Certainly rapid change is evident and user behavior is changing. Traditional media wants in too and, to some extent, the future of digital downloads of movies and television shows depends on their compliance and participation.
I for one am excited about the opportunities that exist for some kid in North Dakota or Iowa to get 3 million eyeballs for his online video diary and then get invited by Coke to create content for the holidays. I am thinking of ways to get into that game too.
For now, video for all its accolades, whether it is on the internet or on a phone, can't hold a candle to "Little Miss Sunshine" at an AMC 14.
Friday, December 8, 2006
Major Nets in Talks to Launch Their Own Video Site
According to Techcrunch today the major nets have been in serious discussions about partnering up to launch a one stop video site for their tv content. Viacom, who owns Ifilm, Atom Entertainment and Disney have dropped out of the discussions, but NBC, Fox, and CBS remain at the table together.
Techcrunch reported that the motivation here is to crush Google/Youtube by suing them for copyright violations once the Nets' video site is successfully launched. Endgame would be that if you want to watch your TV shows online, you have to go to their site.
Obviously, there are pros and cons. Daily Variety reports today that Mark Cuban (whose voice is so important in this debate) commented to the press at the UBS investor confab in New York that the user-generated model is inherently incompatible with congloms; "if CBS is controlling how CBS content is used," he said, "then it's no longer a social network, it's a corporate-distribution forum."
And let's not forget that while each net clamors to be the 18-49 ratings winner week to week, they don't collectively appeal to the same demos - - and advertisers know this. Moreover, they have to be a little cautious about diluting their broadcast ratings by giving viewers the option of On-Demand programming on a massive scale.
I couldn't agree more with Mark Cuban's assessment of the incompatibility here. I also don't see how a one for all model would benefit viewers/users. Doesn't this throw competition out the window? I get that YouTube is a ubiquitous destination for TV content but there must be a way for the Nets to leverage their content individually across multiple platforms to benefit users, crush their violators, and reap rewards. Afterall, the thing the Nets know how to do is monetize and generate ad revenue. The media chiefs spent most of their time at Upfronts last year crowing about their multi-platform launches.
While I don't see these talks resulting in a deal of any kind, I cannot figure out why Fox would still be at the table. Myspace is their YouTube. NBC I get because the IVillage brand can't absorb a large digital television platform. They could consider using Heroes as a springboard for an interactive site that eventually includes other programming. CBS & their Digital Czar, Quincy Smith, are probably only months away from a major online purchase.
I will be very interested to see where these discussions lead. The rumor of a Metacafe acquisition to jumpstart things is peculiar for the collective nets. What Metacafe does might be repeatable and Bob Wright, Chairman of GE, told Charlie Rose that very thing when asked about buying YouTube. I'm sure the interactive gurus at CBS, NBC, and Fox can come up with their own Metacafe. If Metacafe is as popular as Comscore suggests, beating Yahoo Video & Myspace Video in viewers, it's going to make the Grouper pricetag look like a deal. Why not spend some smart money and purchase a giant stake in Yahoo. Create YahooNet. This will appeal to Terry Semel as it will fix their monetization issue. Yahoo, as the #1 website, has yet to be a fully tapped platform for television, and is in need of a big event.
That's how you crush Googletube and, at the same time, have the safety net of a fully operational online business, if this video craze should ever blow away when the bubble bursts on web 2.0. But that's for another discussion.
Techcrunch reported that the motivation here is to crush Google/Youtube by suing them for copyright violations once the Nets' video site is successfully launched. Endgame would be that if you want to watch your TV shows online, you have to go to their site.
Obviously, there are pros and cons. Daily Variety reports today that Mark Cuban (whose voice is so important in this debate) commented to the press at the UBS investor confab in New York that the user-generated model is inherently incompatible with congloms; "if CBS is controlling how CBS content is used," he said, "then it's no longer a social network, it's a corporate-distribution forum."
And let's not forget that while each net clamors to be the 18-49 ratings winner week to week, they don't collectively appeal to the same demos - - and advertisers know this. Moreover, they have to be a little cautious about diluting their broadcast ratings by giving viewers the option of On-Demand programming on a massive scale.
I couldn't agree more with Mark Cuban's assessment of the incompatibility here. I also don't see how a one for all model would benefit viewers/users. Doesn't this throw competition out the window? I get that YouTube is a ubiquitous destination for TV content but there must be a way for the Nets to leverage their content individually across multiple platforms to benefit users, crush their violators, and reap rewards. Afterall, the thing the Nets know how to do is monetize and generate ad revenue. The media chiefs spent most of their time at Upfronts last year crowing about their multi-platform launches.
While I don't see these talks resulting in a deal of any kind, I cannot figure out why Fox would still be at the table. Myspace is their YouTube. NBC I get because the IVillage brand can't absorb a large digital television platform. They could consider using Heroes as a springboard for an interactive site that eventually includes other programming. CBS & their Digital Czar, Quincy Smith, are probably only months away from a major online purchase.
I will be very interested to see where these discussions lead. The rumor of a Metacafe acquisition to jumpstart things is peculiar for the collective nets. What Metacafe does might be repeatable and Bob Wright, Chairman of GE, told Charlie Rose that very thing when asked about buying YouTube. I'm sure the interactive gurus at CBS, NBC, and Fox can come up with their own Metacafe. If Metacafe is as popular as Comscore suggests, beating Yahoo Video & Myspace Video in viewers, it's going to make the Grouper pricetag look like a deal. Why not spend some smart money and purchase a giant stake in Yahoo. Create YahooNet. This will appeal to Terry Semel as it will fix their monetization issue. Yahoo, as the #1 website, has yet to be a fully tapped platform for television, and is in need of a big event.
That's how you crush Googletube and, at the same time, have the safety net of a fully operational online business, if this video craze should ever blow away when the bubble bursts on web 2.0. But that's for another discussion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
