The Entertainment Development & Programming Weekly - January 27th Edition

Here are the most interesting articles that came across this week…

Networks Ponder Poststrike Landscape

That means more shows bought without pilots, more work from established writers and less from newcomers, and a rollout of new shows that extends throughout the year instead of being concentrated in September.

“We have to find ways to be more efficient,” said Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Universal. And a senior executive at a production studio said, “The cost of business has just been unsustainable the past couple of years.”

Mr. Zucker has been the most outspoken executive in declaring that the strike offers an opportunity to revise — and potentially revitalize — the business. He has suggested, for example, that NBC drastically cut back on its pilots (from dozens to five or six).

More decisions will be made to order a series “based on the gut of the programmer,” Mr. Zucker said in a telephone interview. He said networks would commit to shows from scripts alone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/arts/television/26seas.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin

THE EXPECTATION ECONOMY

Even though you've heard about the New Economy, the Experience Economy, the Surprise Economy, the Attention Economy, the Leisure Economy and so on, we can't help but throw yet another Economy your way: the EXPECTATION ECONOMY. Capturing the essence of 2008's demanding consumer arena, it is—surprise, surprise—all about those pesky, demanding consumers:

"The EXPECTATION ECONOMY is an economy inhabited by experienced, well-informed consumers from Canada to South Korea who have a long list of high expectations that they apply to each and every good, service and experience on offer.

Their expectations are based on years of self-training in hyperconsumption, and on the biblical flood of new-style, readily available information sources, curators and BS filters. Which all help them track down and expect not just basic standards of quality, but the 'best of the best'."

http://trendwatching.com/trends/expectationeconomy.htm

DLD: The network model

In today’s discussion, networks are critical to the future, Comscore argued, because without them, even the biggest online brands don’t reach that much of the audience that much of the time. The top four sites, the search monsters, have only 5% share of page views on the internet and 7% share of their users’ page views. So networks extend them. That is why AOL, Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo have been buying big ad networks.

But Glam is different. It is a content and ad network that curates blogs and sites for women and sells ads and shares revenue on them. Some say that because it isn’t produced by big media, its quality is low. But I heard today that Arora insists on no automated, Googly ads; they only deal with agencies. Networks online are often remnant space filled with dancing monkees. So he wanted to avoid that. When he took over Glam, he asked, “What would it take for advertisers to act on the internet as they act in traditional print?” He also asked: “What is the definition of media going forward?” His next frontier, he says, is to define prime time and prime placement on sites.

http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/01/21/dld-the-network-model/

A Mad Man Gets His Head Together

The goal now is to establish a Honeyshed editorial voice, "to build our reputation as tastemakers," says Kim Howitt, 33, the head of development, who came to the enterprise after stints at Nickelodeon and the N, the nighttime network for teens. "Everything that goes through our doors, whether it's a paying client or not, is cherry-picked. At the end of the day, if we're really good at our job, we'll have the ability to make something hip." Going forward, "sponsored" content will likely commingle with "editorial" choices.

Honeyshed itself does the programming, mixing products and themes based on feedback transmitted through the site's digital backbone. A chat window alongside the programming lets viewers talk about what they're seeing. Each item featured will have an I WANT IT! button, and viewers can roll over it to get more information, or hit it to be connected to the relevant page on Nike.com, for example, or Sephora.com. A STASH button lets users save items to a kind of wish list, then email it to friends or drag it into a chat window or even a Facebook page.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/121/a-mad-man-gets-his-head-together_Printer_Friendly.html

Websites make it easy to catch a missed TV show

Embracing the Web is "an acknowledgement that this is real (and networks) have a business model and can monetize it and make it part of their growth," Howard Horowitz says.

By giving consumers online access, networks have learned they can reinforce viewer devotion. "This is mostly driven by TV audiences who missed (an episode) and want to watch it on their computer," says Shelly Palmer, author of Television Disrupted: The Transition From Network to Networked TV. "I don't think NBC or ABC is caring where you watch as long as they can count on you."

Traffic on Veoh.com, which recently sealed a deal to add MTV to an array of CBS, Fox and NBC series, rose 24% during the last three months of 2007; 40% comes during traditional TV prime-time hours, says Veoh's Dmitry Shapiro. "That is a very telling and important statistic. It's the same content they can find on TV, but they feel they have more control."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-01-21-websites-tv-shows_N.htm

Guild Board Member Predicts ‘Detonation Day’

Some decidedly mixed signals have been coming from union leaders to striking Writers Guild of America, West members for the last day.

On the picket line at Paramount Pictures on Wednesday, according to a Scribe Vibe blog post by Variety’s Dave McNary, writers negotiating committee member Steven Schwartz talked about ways to turn the recent Directors Guild of America deal into something workable for writers. Mr. Schwartz called that deal’s decision to base residuals on the distributor’s actual revenue, rather than a reduced formula that has long bothered guild members, “huge.”

He also said guild staff members were working overtime in an effort to make sure writers wouldn’t get stuck with the relatively small residual assigned to Internet streaming of TV shows in the directors deal, should television re-runs essentially migrate to the Web.

http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/guild-board-member-predicts-detonation-day/

45% Will Watch Less TV If Strike Continues

Nearly half of Americans say they will watch less television if the writers’ strike continues, according to two polls released in the last week. And one of the polls, by Interpret, said 35 percent have already changed their TV viewing habits as a direct result of the strike. Reruns and reality shows, said respondents, will not suffice.

Meanwhile, Burst Media’s poll found that 25.6 percent of respondents expect to watch more online video as a result of the strike.

http://newteevee.com/2008/01/23/45-will-watch-less-tv-if-strike-continues/

From MySpace to YourSpace

In addition to expanding, MySpace is evolving. While it is introducing new musicians and playing host to amateur filmmakers, it is also signing artists to its own record label and developing online video series. It introduced a content guide, MySpace Celebrity, last week.

The world’s largest social networking site, MySpace has grown far past being merely “a place for friends,” as its slogan states. With an estimated 110 million monthly active users, MySpace is undeniably a powerful tool for advertisers who seek reach and efficiency.

Richard Greenfield, a media analyst for Pali Research, called MySpace a fantastic acquisition from a return-on-investment standpoint. The site was sold for $580 million; Mr. Greenfield said it was expected to have around $800 million in revenue in fiscal 2008, mostly through advertising.

“Rupert made an important bet,” said Eric E. Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, which signed a $900 million advertising deal with MySpace’s parent, Fox Interactive Media, in August 2006. “He may find that this is the single best investment he has ever made.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/technology/21myspace.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th

Video Sharing Web Site Audience Doubles in a Year

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 48% of internet users have been to video-sharing sites such as YouTube, and the daily traffic to such sites on a typical day has doubled in the past year. The basic findings in a national phone survey show:

• In December 2006, 33% of internet users said they had ever visited such sites. That represents growth of more than 45% year-to-year.
• 15% of respondents said they had used a video-sharing site the day before they were contacted for the survey. A year ago, only 8% had visited such a site the previous day.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1623

Product Placement on Reality TV Seems Somehow More Realistic

A result is that the networks are expanding their reality plans, particularly as the ratings for some strike fare like “American Gladiators” are surpassing the viewership for the scripted shows they replaced.

NBC, which has embraced reality perhaps more ardently than its competitors, is even planning a prime-time reality special for May 11 that is being developed by and for an advertiser, Teleflora. The show — which also involves the NBC morning show “Today,” Redbook magazine and the Reveille production company — will center on a search for “America’s Favorite Mom.”

Needless to say, the winner can expect to be festooned with flowers, and a rose is to be named in her honor.

“We’re looking to be the best partners for our advertisers,” said Ben Silverman, co-chairman at NBC Entertainment, part of the NBC Universal division of General Electric. And one way to do that, he said, is “building programming assets in partnership with our advertisers.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/business/media/23adco.html?ref=media

Whose Research Is It, Anyway?

Viewers want advanced interactive television functionality across every genre of programming and advertising:

• 72% of those who watch reality TV shows want to interact with those shows
• 65% of those who watch sporting events on TV want to interact with those events
• 66% of viewers want to interact with commercial advertising
• 50% of those who watch drama TV shows indicated that they would be interested in interacting with those shows

I haven't been able to lay my hands on details of the actual questions asked at the time of writing, but certainly the top-line numbers are good news for anyone involved in the sector, at least as far as we can be led by what people tell us they would do.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/tv_board/?p=246

Family Values

Of course, while “Gabba” is a TV show — one of the 10 best of 2007, according to Time magazine — the idea of simply creating “a show” is antiquated. What is created now is a property, a platform, a brand, a multimedia idea, which obviously has to be Big on the Internet. And indeed, Advertising Age recently pointed out that “Yo Gabba Gabba!” clips have attracted 17.8 million streams from Nickelodeon’s Web site, compared with about 4.4 million viewers of a typical episode of the actual program. Jacobs, one of the “Gabba” creators, is also a founder of Aquabats, a cult ska-rock band that performs in superhero costumes and has an elaborate (and kid-friendly) mythology that includes some of the creatures now on the show. When he and Schultz produced two pilot episodes and posted clips online, Aquabats fans helped stoke buzz that led to Nickelodeon — which in turn hooked the pair up with Wildbrain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/magazine/20wwln-consumed-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin

The Entertainment Development & Programming Weekly - January 20th Edition

Here are the most interesting articles that came across this week…

The Pirates Can't Be Stopped

MediaDefender's main stalking grounds are the destinations that help people find and download movies and music for free. Sites such as the Pirate Bay and networks like Lime Wire rely on peer-to-peer, or P2P, software, which allows users to connect with one another and easily share files. (See what movies, television shows, and music are most downloaded.) MediaDefender monitors this traffic and employs a handful of tricks to sabotage it, including planting booby-trapped versions of songs and films to frustrate downloaders. When the company's tactics work, someone trying to download a pirated copy of Spider-Man 3 might find the process interminable, or someone grabbing Knocked Up might discover it's nothing but static. Other MediaDefender programs interfere with the process pirates use to upload authentic copies. When Ethan hacked into the company, at the end of 2006, MediaDefender was finishing an exceptional year: Its revenue had more than doubled, to $15.8 million, and profit margins were hovering at about 50 percent.

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/01/14/Media-Defenders-Profile?print=true

ESPN Adds Competitive Video Gaming to Its Lineup

Video gaming is one of the most popular activities among young males. According to research from Frank Magid Associates, 34% of males ages 12 to 24 list playing games on consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox as their favorite leisure activity. The next-closest activity, at 14%, is playing sports or exercising. So it's not surprising to see a mainstream media outlet turn its attention to gaming. ESPN's move into covering video games follows those of other TV networks, such as MTV Networks, which has invested in gaming-news sites such as GameTrailers.com and has broadcasted an annual Gamer's Week.

"If things work out nicely, I hope to see a larger relationship down the road," said Raphael Poplock, VP-games, ESPN Enterprises. "I'm bullish on professional gaming. This is a nice first step to establish a presence in this space and find out through reader interaction where to take this moving forward."

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=123065

Secret Websites, Coded Messages: The New World of Immersive Games

Similar games have been used to launch scores of products in the years since. GMD Studios, a Florida outfit, staged a fake auto theft to begin a game for Audi that drew more than 500,000 players. A London studio called Hi-Res used television ads and specially made chocolate bars, among other things, in a still-talked-about game touting JJ Abrams' Lost. More recently, someone — not 42 — has been planting enigmatic clues on Web sites and fake MySpace profiles to promote a film Abrams is producing that so far is best known by the codename Cloverfield. What's all this about a Japanese drink called Slusho? And what does it have to do with the sudden appearance of a Godzilla-like monster in New York Harbor? Abrams fans have been falling all over themselves to figure it out.

"When done well, ARGs can be extraordinarily effective," says Ty Montague, creative director of the J. Walter Thompson ad agency. That's because the games offer marketers a solution to a growing problem: how to reach people who are so media-saturated they block all attempts to get through. "Your brain filters it out, because otherwise you'd go crazy," Weisman says. That's why he opted for a "subdural" approach: Instead of shouting the message, hide it. "I figured that if the audience discovered something, they would share it," he explains, "because we all need something to talk about."

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_args

Athletes' New Game: Their Own Web Ads

Mr. Nash, who plays for the Phoenix Suns, says he is happy with how Nike has marketed him but felt he could come up with an ad that reflected more of his personality. There was little financial risk to Nike, since the campaign would require no ad buy. He says he got the idea from the young fans who take pictures of him with cameras and phones during his informal workouts. "There's such an appetite for the ordinary stuff I do every day," he says.

Mr. Nash received little input on the shoot from Nike, which pays him about $1 million a year to promote its sneakers, although the company provided one of the two cameras and edited the piece.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120053935433496705.html?mod=hps_us_editors_picks

Take a Giant Step in Your Mind. Imagine

If you could collaborate with another brand, which one would it be and why?

Mason: If you look at Procter & Gamble from a lifestyle perspective, they would be an exceptionally good fit for any number of companies. Credit cards are lifestyle oriented. They offer different products for different people and different lifestyles, and they are always coming out with something new. The gaming companies also take a lifestyle perspective. How are people living their lives? How can we bring this to a game? The handheld people — how can we simplify their lives? These companies are drilling in the same part of the brain of the consumer as P&G and I could see them being a great fit in any of those categories.

http://hubmagazine.com/archives/the_hub/2008/jan_feb/the_hub22_roundtable.pdf

3 Hidden Trends in 2008

But the interruption-disruption model is dying out, thanks to shifting consumer trends. Consumers are increasingly in control of their media content and can easily eradicate ads they don’t want to see. They also have less trust in advertisers and their messages. Further, consumers are creating their own content with the help of blogs, social networks, wikis and other digital-communication platforms.

As a result, advertisers and their agencies who want to engage with today’s consumers will have to start turning their ads into content. Ultimately, they will need to be able to produce content that is so compelling, relevant and entertaining that consumers will seek it out and want to share it with others. The new ad model is about creating great content and finding clever ways to embed it in the fabric of communities and content platforms where consumers are hanging out and actively participating.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1005817&src=article1_newsltr

The Writers Strike and Transmedia Entertainment

I have not had a chance to write extensively here about the Writers' Strike. By this point, there are some very good discussions of the strike out there by other media researchers which more or less say what I would have said on the topic. For example, check out Jason Mittell's Post. I did participate in a discussion on the future of online content early this year organized by newteevee.com. Here's what I said there about the likely impact of the strike:

The writers' strike is a struggle over transmedia content and as a consumer, I certainly hope that the writers gain significant ground in their current efforts. As long as the media companies see online content purely in terms of promotion, they will not fully integrate it into the storytelling system. As long as creatives see generating 'extensions' as extra unpaid work, they will not put their best effort into this content.

http://henryjenkins.org/2008/01/odds_and_ends_catching_up_afte.html

Art in the Age of Franchising

The fault of “Friday Night Lights” is extrinsic: the program has steadfastly refused to become a franchise. It is not and will never be “Heroes,” “Project Runway,” “The Hills” or Harry Potter. It generates no tabloid features, cartoons, trading cards, board games, action figures or vibrating brooms. There will be no “Friday Night Lights: Origins,” and no “FNL Touchdown” for PlayStation.

This may sound like a blessing, but in a digital age a show cannot succeed without franchising. An author’s work can no longer exist in a vacuum, independent of hardy online extensions; indeed, a vascular system that pervades the Internet. Artists must now embrace the cultural theorists’ beloved model of the rhizome and think of their work as a horizontal stem for numberless roots and shoots — as many entry and exit points as fans can devise.

This is an enormous social shift that coincides with the changeover from analog to digital modes of communication, the rise of the Internet and the new raucousness of fans. It’s a mistake to see this imperative to branch out as a simple coarsening of culture. In fact, rhizome art is both lower-brow (“American Idol,” Derek Waters’s “Drunk History”) and more avant-garde (“Battlestar Galactica,” Ryan Trecartin’s “I-Be Area”) than linear, author-controlled narrative, which takes its cues from the middle-class form of the novel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/magazine/20wwln-medium-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin

DGA Lands Agreement, Ball in WGA’s Court

The Directors Guild of America has reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), after only six days of negotiations. The agreement puts an enormous amount of pressure on the WGA — whose ongoing strike has effectively ground Hollywood to a stop — to resolve its disputes with the studios.

The full fact sheet for the DGA agreement is after the jump, but there’s one provision in there that has me scratching my head. Under the “jurisdiction” provision, the agreement provides coverage for:

All original content above $15,000/minute or $300,000/program or $500,000/series, whichever is lowest. Original content below the threshold will be covered when a DGA member is employed in the production.

http://newteevee.com/2008/01/18/dga-lands-agreement-ball-in-wgas-court/

Need-to-Know Web Video Stats: Traffic, Rentals, Revenues, UGC

comScore finally released its online video traffic stats from November today, showing YouTube up healthily and a total of 9.5 billion online videos viewed by 138 million Americans. Google sites had 31.3 percent of videos viewed and 41.8 percent of video viewers on the month, both up a couple points from the last published count in September. We trust comScore more than other analytics vendors when it comes to video measurement, because it counts video streams instead of page views.

http://newteevee.com/2008/01/17/need-to-know-web-video-stats-traffic-rentals-revenues-ugc/

Insight found in Gen Y Niches

When you live in a think tank, that kind of stuff can hurl you into a frenzy of second guessing and hypothesis testing. So for the record: Here’s our point of view on why it’s critical to look at Gen Y and why niche markets matter.

First off, Gen Y offers a fluid study in how media works, setting the standard for what consumers should expect from the world around them. This is the first generation to be all consumed by technology, yet they’re as off the grid as they are on it. And the closer we look at their dynamics, the more complex it gets.

In the hands of Gen Y, brands get articulated in more ways than the brand itself could ever imagine. Gen Y doesn’t wait for permission to morph a brand. They just engage. It then becomes critical for a brand to recognize the undertext of the consumer’s behavior. Have they engaged the brand to be accepted by their peers? To be revered by their peers? Are they using cell, landline, txt or IM or Skype to communicate?

To look at differentiated niches allows relative personas to evolve. And from there, we can pattern their behaviors and see where they might want or need to go next. And ultimately understand where the brand fits in. Or not.

http://brandnoise.typepad.com/brand_noise/2008/01/insight-found-i.html

The Entertainment Development & Programming Weekly - January 13th Edition

Here are the most interesting articles that came across this week…

Widgets: From Hype to Hits

Widgets are not only changing the way large corporations strategize their advertising campaigns, they're also changing the metrics guiding online advertising at large. For years, online advertisers have focused on advancing click-through rates, which offer a concrete measurement of how often a particular ad actually entices someone to visit a site.

Widgets, on the other hand, provide interactivity and viral branding impressions, whereas users may never visit the campaigns site. And it may not matter if they don't.

The still-developing metrics of widget marketing include views, placements (copies of the widget code onto a page), and distribution (by domain and geographical location), but the most significant of all may be engagement. Data such as the percentage of users who click on a particular feature within a widget or the average amount of time spent on a particular widget offer valuable insight into a widget's popularity.

http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2008/01/widgets.html

Microsoft Faces Challenge Of Marketing All Of Xbox 360

Staying true to video game enthusiasts remains a priority, but finding the perfect message to communicate all the services Xbox offers has become a challenge for Microsoft. While it recognizes that most consumers buy a game console based on their desire to play video games, Microsoft also wants consumers to discover all the features Xbox 360 offers, including Xbox Live, Video Marketplace, and Media Center.

"Sony tries to market the PlayStation as a Blu-ray player and computer entertainment system, but, first and foremost, it's a game machine," Penello says. "As a marketer, it's a tricky challenge to communicate all the services Xbox offers."

Still, Xbox fits into Microsoft's vision for connected entertainment, from Zune and Windows Mobile to Media Center and Media Room. The scenarios bantered about in theory for years are now starting to become reality.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=74106&Nid=38167&p=334375

Three Keywords That Could Change The Course Of Television: Free Cash Flow

For Google to be truly successful in managing the world's television information, though, it would need to have ubiquitous access to television's data streams, and it is unlikely that companies like Comcast and Time Warner would give it. In fact, those big cable operators already have their own data-mining, data-sharing and advertising sales initiative. It's called Project Canoe, and it's been pretty much under wraps, but one executive familiar with its initial "request for information" from potential technology partners explicitly prohibited Google from participating in the process. No surprise there.

So unless Google were to use its considerable leverage to acquire a Time Warner Cable, or a Comcast - which it is not likely to do - how else could it get its hooks on television's data streams? What's that, you say? Nielsen? Yeah, that'd be my bet. Sure, Nielsen does not currently have access to the real thing, the actual census-level data stream flowing from the nation's digital TV set-top boxes, but it may have something better: the proxy data that is the underlying currency for the TV advertising and programming marketplaces. And that's something like a $100 billion business. Kind of makes the Internet seem like a real piker, doesn't it?

http://blogs.mediapost.com/tv_board/?p=238

Horseless Carriage

The masterpiece “Drunk History,” with hilarious “Superbad” twerp Michael Cera, is now all over the web. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it today and every day as long as you live. (On breaks from “Drunk History,” Cera’s “Clark and Michael” is worth a look too.)

A Hollywood friend says she believes that the strike might really mean curtains for old TV at last.

She proposes that Google or Apple or MySpace approach Tina Fey or Joss Whedon or Alan Ball and all the striking show-runners and head writers and tell ’em, “Make whatever you want and we’ll put it online.”

For online video’s potential, watch the freaky sketch above and truly try not to laugh.

What I mean is, who cares about those studios and their moldy old distribution models?

http://themedium.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/horseless-carriage/

In Writers Strike, Signs of Internal Discontent Over Tactics

When Hollywood’s studios walked away from the bargaining table last month, striking screenwriters came out swinging. They filed a legal complaint, boycotted an awards show and picketed late-night television programs.

But the militant tactics may be creating fissures within the guild.

In particular, some writers wonder whether they are actually doing more harm to themselves than their opponents.

“It’s a classic rope-a-dope, like the Ali-Foreman fight,” said John Ridley, referring to the 1974 boxing match in Zaire during which George Foreman outpunched Muhammad Ali for seven rounds, only to fall, exhausted, in the eighth.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/business/media/11writer.html?_r=2&ei=5088&en=c2ba1611f9bec4c0&ex=1357794000&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

Motion Picture Storytelling Gets Interactive

Ever since NASA faked the moon landing, motion pictures have played a leading role in bolstering the believability of hoaxes, practical jokes and, most recently, alternate reality games (ARGs). Thanks to the success of I Love Bees and the interactivity spawned by the mysteries of Lost (which is running a second immersive game right now), ARGs have been building core audiences of obsessive fans — the kind that cover the Internet in chatter (which serves to promote projects) while having a whole lot of fun.

Social networks and video-sharing sites have begun to play key roles in the development of these interactive mysteries, because they can lend just enough of a veneer of truth and allow game masters a cheap way to create personas, drop clues and let players connect. Three new projects with interactive elements that could spell ARG have popped up on my radar in the last week: Enitech Research, Nowheremen and What is Scion City?

http://newteevee.com/2008/01/11/motion-picture-storytelling-gets-interactive/

CES Scorecard: What You Need to Know

If you’re not into the second-by-second minutia of CES, it can be hard to take a low-key approach to the tech industry’s yearly kickoff. There’s just too much news, too much hype, too many “revolutionary” gadgets and services that you’ll never hear about ever again. But this year was especially significant for those of us who care about online video, as many of the major announcements concerned getting TV onto the web or the web onto TV. So here’s a need-to-know guide for the top five NewTeeVee-related announcements out of Las Vegas this week.

http://newteevee.com/2008/01/10/ces-scorecard-what-you-need-to-know/

Strike Bumps Online Video Numbers?

Is the lack of new stuff on TV due to the writers’ strike driving people online? We’ve been posing that question to the web analytics firms since the strike started in November, but until now, nobody had been willing to call it. Today, however, the BBC quotes Nielsen analyst Alex Burmaster as making the tentative connection: YouTube traffic has risen 18 percent in the last two months, while Crackle has doubled its audience, according to the firm’s estimates.

“That is greater growth than you would normally see in such a short period and the strike could be a possible factor,” said Nielsen analyst Alex Burmaster.

http://newteevee.com/2008/01/10/strike-bumps-online-video-numbers/

Paid downloads a thing of the past

"People online want to watch for free, because they can get content for free via piracy," said Fox digital media prexy Dan Fawcett. "Downloading to own and keep on a PC seems to be losing out. People like to watch on an impulse."

Approach was mirrored in Sony Pictures TV's Monday morning announcement that it will start distributing its Minisode Network, which shrinks old TV shows to five minutes for the Web, on Google-owned YouTube. Deal makes Sony the only major Hollywood entertainment company distributing more than short promotional clips on YouTube, as most have been bypassing it in distribution deals with other sites due to concerns over piracy.

Sony, however, will put its 21 Minisode channels, including new entrants "NewsRadio" and "Married With Children," on YouTube, where it will get a cut of revenue from the Netco's ads, which are overlaid on the bottom of videos.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117978614.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1&nid=2563

In Strike, Separate Deals Draw Ire of Big Producers

A deal between United Artists and the Writers Guild of America West to let the production company sidestep the screenwriters’ strike may have opened the door to a full-blown brawl, as other producers demanded to know why writers have granted some companies a special agreement but not others.

Dick Clark Productions, which produces the Golden Globes ceremony for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, has been trying for weeks to reach a similar deal but has been rebuffed. That is presumably because a free pass for Dick Clark would provide NBC, which is scheduled to show the Globes on Sunday, to bring in advertising revenue and promote movies like “Charlie Wilson’s War” for its sister company, Universal.

Alan M. Brunswick, an entertainment labor lawyer with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, said the guild risks violating federal labor law if it refuses to deal with companies on an equal basis.

“If they’re willing to sign the same deal and the guild won’t give them the time of day, I think that raises an issue,” Mr. Brunswick said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/business/media/07strike.html?ei=5088&en=9b833c6b13066912&ex=1357362000&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

Taxing Advertisers is NOT A Long-Term Solution To The Writers’ Strike

THE RECENT JACK MYER'S THINK Tank article, " Advertisers' Strike Tax is the Solution to Writers/Producers' Impasse," opining that advertisers pay a 1% tax on media so those funds can be given to writers, is illogical for three reasons.

One, advertisers already financially subsidize the TV industry; two, they are not responsible for the problems causing the strike; and three, the people who are responsible for and can settle it are not even at the bargaining table.

But there is a way to resolve it for the long term.

The strike is about money: the money producers receive from broadcast, cable and digital networks they have to share with writers. The writers want more, while the producers claim the money is not there.

The solution is to increase the amount of money producers receive from networks, so more is available for writers. To do that, networks need to generate more money from advertisers. To do that, viewership must increase. Otherwise, with every contract, producers and writers will be fighting over an ever-decreasing pool of money.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/tv_board/?p=236

The Entertainment Development & Programming Weekly - January 6th Edition

Happy New Year! The EDP Weekly returns after a much needed rest. Hopefully everyone enjoyed their holiday and New Year celebrations.

Here are the most interesting articles that came across this week…

Is Facebook The Next Big Game Console?

The social experience has been an important aspect of videogames, but for much of the history of this young medium, these social experiences have been isolated islands of play, whether taking place on a single couch or within a single game. That changed when Microsoft launched its Xbox Live online service in 2002 (Sony and Nintendo have since followed suit), creating an overarching social experience centered on gaming—as long as all parties own the same console and the same game. But with Facebook, these distinctions disappear. You're on a Mac and I'm on a PC? No problem—we just both need an Internet connection and a Web browser. When I send you an invitation to play, you'll be asked to download the required app if you don't already have it. I've already got more "friends" there (382) than on Xbox Live (31). That's because Xbox Live and its rivals are gaming networks first, predicated on users playing against either good friends or complete strangers. Social networks, by contrast, are often at their most interesting when they operate as a social lubricant among people who are only casually acquainted. I've played Rock Paper Scissors and Scrabulous with acquaintances and friends alike, and it doesn't require a $279 console. Even better, games on Facebook are generally asynchronous: you play your turn when it's convenient for you, and I play mine when it's convenient for me.

http://www.news.com/Widgets-are-the-new-ad-kid-on-the-block/2100-1024_3-6223229.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news

Will Innovation Define 2008?

There’s something about 2008 that makes the feeling of change seem more real than before the calendar flipped a few days ago. Could be tonight’s Iowa Caucus formally begins the process of electing a new US president. Business Week recently wrote 15 predictions about how idea of innovation might force change and impact the next twelve months.

Building the next-generation enterprise—and maybe even the next-generation nation—will preoccupy most of us in 2008. The demand for innovation is soaring in the business community and is just beginning to gain traction in the political sphere.

Bruce Temkin from Customer Experience Matters posted a thoughtful followup piece and offers comments on 7 he found important.

http://www.psfk.com/2008/01/will-innovation-define-2008.html

David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars

But some labels will disappear, as the roles they used to play get chopped up and delivered by more thrifty services. In a recent conversation I had with Brian Eno (who is producing the next Coldplay album and writing with U2), he was enthusiastic about I Think Music — an online network of indie bands, fans, and stores — and pessimistic about the future of traditional labels. "Structurally, they're much too large," Eno said. "And they're entirely on the defensive now. The only idea they have is that they can give you a big advance — which is still attractive to a lot of young bands just starting out. But that's all they represent now: capital."

So where do artists fit into this changing landscape? We find new options, new models.

The six possibilities

Where there was one, now there are six: Six possible music distribution models, ranging from one in which the artist is pretty much hands-off to one where the artist does nearly everything. Not surprisingly, the more involved the artist is, the more he or she can often make per unit sold. The totally DIY model is certainly not for everyone — but that's the point. Now there's choice.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all

In defense of Facebook

Too often, companies and brands — especially media brands, I’ll add — try to act as if they’re perfect and they don’t make mistakes and they don’t want to risk their reputations by making any. This makes them timid and that kills innovation.

I’d rather have a company that tries to innovate and makes mistakes, so long as they listen and correct them. That, I believe, is the new way for companies to act. It works only if you are in a conversation with your customers and listen to them. And so far, Facebook has done that. So I agree with Segal. And I say, don’t be so quick to jump on or write off Zuckerberg and company. They’ve done a lot right so far. Could they make the Big Mistake that messes it all up? Sure. That’s what Plaxo did with me, spamming me to the point that I will never trust that brand or company again.

http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/01/03/in-defense-of-facebook/

Google is God

For something I’m working on, I compiled a bunch of stats on Google (sorry, I didn’t intend to blog it and so I didn’t capture all the links, but I found the collection so compelling I thought I’d share it):

• Google is the “fastest growing company in the history of the world.” – Times of London, 1/29/06
• Google controls 65.1% of all searches in the U.S. at the end of 2007 and 86% of all searches in the UK, according to measurement company Hitwise.
• Google was searched 4.4 billion times in the U.S. alone in October, 2007 (three times Yahoo), says Nielsen. Average searches per searcher: 40.7.
• Google’s sites had 112 million U.S. visitors in November, 2007, says Nielsen.
• Google’s traffic was up 22.4% in 2007 over 2006, according to Comscore.

http://www.buzzmachine.com/2007/12/29/google-is-god/

TV Media Planning Evolves. Slowly

From the If the Journal Says It, It Must Be True department: media planners aren't wonky anymore; they're rising stars! And behavioral analysis is more important than demographics!

These are some of the key takeaways from an interesting profile of Interpublic/Initiative's Janice Finkel-Greene, under the headline "Looking at Data Through a DVR." But if media buying actually took into account current DVR behavior, wouldn't TV ad spending be down? (See Figure 7.) It's not. It'll probably take a new generation of media planners, raised on Internet measurement techniques, to really re-distribute the ad spending wealth. And TV will be the best mass medium for emotional, story-telling messages, probably forever.

Jupiter's latest DVR forecast and some behavioral data here.

http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/analysts/card/archives/2008/01/tv_media_planni.html

Why a Cable-TV Network Is Hiring the Ink-Stained

The brand ESPN created was a fun, irreverent locker room, driven by the highlights and hijinks of "SportsCenter," which it aired several times a day, updating all the while. But as video begins to explode on the Internet, the highlight formula is showing signs of plateauing: Sports fans can go elsewhere to catch up on the day's games -- and especially to indulge their local-team loyalties. TV ratings have flattened out, and Internet upstarts are luring away young sports fans who grew up with ESPN as part of the sports establishment. Meanwhile, the high rates ESPN has commanded with cable operators for their channels -- the highest in TV -- can't sustain their earlier rate of growth.

So to remain the self-proclaimed "Worldwide Leader in Sports," the network is bulking up on content that is harder to duplicate. Rather than just introducing game video, the idea is to serve up breaking news and expert analysis, aggressively blanketing TV, the Internet, the magazine and even cellphones. In the new Internet-fed landscape, a two-minute video can be just as important. And the ESPN brand isn't enough -- it needs individual go-to names like Mr. Reilly, or ESPN's existing Web star, "Sports Guy" columnist Bill Simmons.

"As more money moves towards the Internet, you're going to have to have talent," says John Skipper, ESPN's executive vice president for content. "The talent is going to have to come from traditional media." Someone like Mr. Reilly, he says, is worth a lot in such an environment. "Content is increasingly valuable, particularly differentiating content. There just are not that many guys who can provide that."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119820369820344043.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

WGA releases details on Letterman pact

The Writers Guild of America tonight released the terms of deal it recently struck with David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Inc. The interim agreement allowed "Late Show With David Letterman" and its sister program "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" to return to the air with their writing staffs this week. Worldwide Pants is the first company to negotiate a contract with the guild in the two-month-old writers strike. The guild said Worldwide Pants accepted terms it was prepared to present to the studios before that alliance broke off talks in December, including key proposals for Internet residuals.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/01/the-writers-gui.html

NewTeeVee Online Video Predictions for 2008

Our twelve days of Christmas at NewTeeVee came courtesy of four online video creators, two esteemed academics, one venture capitalist, a big media technology decision maker, a video advertising developer, and an online video talent agent. Who needs a partridge in a pear tree when you’ve got luminaries to prognosticate about the future of your industry?

Here are the specs on our panelists, and the ten prediction topics we posted over the holidays. In each case we asked the ten panelists the same question, e.g. “Will online video make it into the living room in 2008?” and posted a selection of their responses. I’d definitely recommend clicking through to see the interesting reader comments.

http://newteevee.com/2008/01/02/newteevee-online-video-predictions-for-2008/#more-2904

MTVN Serves 1.2 Billion Streams in ‘07

Who says MTV doesn’t play music videos any more? It just plays them online. To be more specific, MTV.com, VH1.com and CMT.com served up 1.2 billion streams in 2007. Music videos raked in half of those company record-breaking plays.

A good chunk of that traffic was driven by the morbidly-curious taking in Britney’s disastrous performance at the VMAs, but other women who weren’t lip-syncing badly and forgetting their choreography dominated the top ten music videos across the networks.

http://newteevee.com/2007/12/27/mtvn-serves-12-billion-streams-in-07/

Advertising "Strike Tax" is the Solution to Writers/Producers Impasse

This strike already has only losers. What's finally beginning to be realized is the real losers are the advertisers who underwrite the network television business because they need it for their own business well-being. Ultimately, they stand to be the biggest long term losers. Their history suggests they will stay neutral and stay above the battle. That would be a mistake. Advertisers need to get involved. They need to get involved now. They need to determine if the Strike Tax or an alternative is a viable solution to bring the AMPTP and the WGA back into a new three way conversation. They need to take fiduciary responsibility for the nearly $40 billion they invest annually in the broadcast and cable network television industry.

http://www.jackmyers.com/commentary/media-business-report/12713087.html

8 Reasons Why The TV Studios Will Die

While no doubt it is possible to make it through on top, pretty much ALL of the qualities that the major networks are good at are no longer needed. We don’t need them to identify talent for us. The promotion and distribution channels are now open and cheap or free for the clever. We can have share in the rights to our own work without them. The list goes on and on. The networks have shown a poor record in all of the qualities that will be needed to rise up as the new industry leaders.

TV is still an incredibly powerful medium. TV makes much bigger stars and commands much bigger audiences and way more money than anything online, moving image-wise. But obviously that is changing drastically at a rapid pace that is suddenly very surprising to even me, as brought on by the very important impact of the writers strike. The strike really is the astroid from outer space that is covering the planet with dust night now.

There is plenty more to say which I will leave for another day, lets jump right into the top 8 indications that the traditional TV industry is not well prepared for the upcoming change in business around a new media industry.

http://dembot.com/post/22117963

Will Microsoft’s TV Efforts Finally Pay Off in 2008?

CNET reports that Microsoft is streamlining its video operations, putting Internet Protocol television, Media Center, and HD DVD groups into one single group, Connected TV group. The new group now falls under Robbie Bach’s Entertainment and Devices division. Enrique Rodriguez, the VP who till recently was running Microsoft IPTV, is now in charge of Connected TV Group, while Peter Barrett, former CTO of the IPTV group is now CTO of Connected TV group.

The idea behind the reorganization, according to News.com, is that since Microsoft is trying to put video on a variety of devices – Zune and Xbox in particular – it makes sense for a single consolidated effort.

On the IPTV front, Microsoft is moving ahead with its effort to allow additional programs to run on set-top boxes using its software. Microsoft said it now has more than two dozen companies working on software for its Mediaroom platform, including ES3 and Emuse Technologies.

http://newteevee.com/2007/12/23/will-microsoft-tv-efforts-finally-pay-off-in-2008/

Web Playgrounds of the Very Young

“Get ready for total inundation,” said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst at the research firm eMarketer, who estimates that 20 million children will be members of a virtual world by 2011, up from 8.2 million today.

Worlds like Webkinz, where children care for stuffed animals that come to life, have become some of the Web’s fastest-growing businesses. More than six million unique visitors logged on to Webkinz in November, up 342 percent from November 2006, according to ComScore Media Metrix, a research firm.

Club Penguin, where members pay $5.95 a month to dress and groom penguin characters and play games with them, attracts seven times more traffic than Second Life. In one sign of the times, Electric Sheep, a software developer that helps companies market their brands in virtual worlds like Second Life and There.com, last week laid off 22 people, about a third of its staff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/business/31virtual.html?_r=2&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Disney Channel tops in ratings race

TNT came in third behind Disney and USA in total viewers, but it was down by 7% from those of 2006 in primetime. The total viewer numbers for ESPN, in fourth place, dropped by 11% from last year's, but fifth-place TBS was up by 12% from 2006.

Below the top five, the networks that shot up by double digits year to year in total primetime viewers, in order of their over-all finish, are: A&E (up 20%), Discovery Channel (up 13%), Court TV (up 27%), TLC (up 14%), VH1 (up 19%), Bravo (up 10%) and MSNBC (up 32%).

Also, E! Entertainment TV (up 10%), Lifetime Movie Network (up 15%), CNN Headline News (up 15%), National Geographic Channel (up 20%), Oxygen (up 19%) and Toon Disney (up 17%).

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117978395.html?categoryid=14&cs=1