Yahoo Making Hollywood Moves

At some point, every distributor and portal wants to begin creating, investing in and owning content....there are always going to be new distribution and delivery technologies but without content perceived and valued as new/distinct/different will never cease being the draw....Yahoo knows it and is making its moves..

File-Sharing Providers and Copyright

In an effort to have the Supreme Court overturn a lower court decision, content owners and distributors file amicus briefs arguing that file-sharing facilitators and providers should be subject to copyright infringement claims and liability...

Multiple Platforms A Must for Content Owners

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and you don't need Price Waterhouse to confirm what you already know.

As more articles (including one by yours truly) cite, in the digital/DVR/broadband/self-scheduling world, content providers need to develop programming that can reach across platforms and into homes and lives through as many wired and wireless means as possible.

No program supplier or network can hope to establish and maintain brand or relationships with audience and advertisers unless content production and acquisition includes specific product for as many media platforms as possible. Its what MSOs expect content providers to walk through the door with this knowledge in hand and in plan.

Tough Market for New Nets

This article doesn't say anything surprising...it remains a tough distribution market for new nets to convince MSOs to give up bandwidth...

Does this mean its too late or just too difficult to warrant a try? I never believe that--new content should and will find a place and it remains the only justification for subscribers to retain subs and extract ever more marginal entertainment/communications dollars from each home.

The lessons, as stated elsewhere, are that it takes patience, persistence, creativity, a multi-media vision and the offering of something new...at least as new as you can make it. And..the time to get started is now...not in six months or three months..but now. For new nets, any investors that don't see that don't get the industry. It will take time to get going and start building that road. These days, it is more than "there ain't no time time like the present"...there simply is no other time.

The Growth of News/Info Websites

More on the growth of the web as a source of news/info...

Possible Good News on Digital Multicasting Must Carry

If the following story is accurate, FCC Commissioner Powell wants to try and produce a decision which denies broadcasters must-carry rights for the multiple program feeds delivered within each broadcast station's digital signal. Essentially, Powell seeks to create a majority (not necessarily done or easy) decision for retaining the existing definition of must-carry involving a broadcast station's "primary video signal" (i.e., the signal everyone receives today containing local news, syndicated shows, network prime-time line-ups).

While in prior messages, I have noted my opinion on the unconstitutional underpinning of both analog and digital multi-cast must carry, the argument for any must-carry application to digital multi-casting seems even stronger. Simply note FCC Commissioners Copp and Adelstein seeking to impose public interest requirements on broadcasters for multicasting--the government should not be in the business of telling publishers and distributors of ideas/content what should or should not be carried.

Having said all that, it looks like February 10th is the decision day.

Independent and new cable networks need a Powell victory on this decision to keep as much bandwidth as possible available for different and diverse voices and messages..and to simply have a reasonable and fair chance to survive and make the business work.

More on How TiVO/DVR Technology Changes TV Viewing & Ads

As this story continues to get play and acknowledgment in mainstream general press, the reality of what TiVO's technology (however and by whomever provided) means for tv ratings measurements, ad-skipping, and marketing....these issues have been, and will continue to be, debated in the trades...the growing appearance of these core questions in media like the LA Times and other major urban/national papers shows that the changing culture of how television is viewed and used presents real-world challenge and opportunity for programmers....

More Competition For Wireless Broadband

Internet and long distance carriers look to challenge cable and RBOC broadband efforts...while the reach, capacity and reliability of wireless broadband remain as technological issues, with more (and especially younger) folks living increasingly mobile lives, there may be sufficient demand, and premium uses, that will make the digitized ether a competitive arena..

Another example of vanishing boundaries among communications/telecommunications/entertainment companies and another place for content owners to seek play and push...

Verizon Teams With Yahoo

Following the SBS-Yahoo relationship, Verizon sighn on to have its DSL service marketed and paired with Yahoo...just part of the competitive mix to challenge cable in the broadband marketplace...

Advergaming

Always a new noun in this business.....in a market where advertisers are seeking new ways to reach desired consumer, ads will show up in many forms and evey new medium....the growth of gaming will not be outside this reach and its only a matter of how best to make the content and pitch work...

Telcos Seek Legislative Overhaul

With the growth of broadband, digital, wireless communications, DBS and actual competition across video/voice/data markets, the telcos look to change provisions that, the industry argues, represent a business already fundamentally changed...with telcos seeing POTS diminishing in value and choice, they need as open and unregulated a marketplace as possible...always a complex and difficult legislative are where giants have competing interests and the kinds of ultimate legislative compromises that never please everyone and often contain unintended surprises..

Trends in New Media

Some interesting, and potentially useful, projections of how new media may open up opportunities for content providers and advertisers...at the very least (pending any deals for Comcast to buy up the broadband and wireless markets in partnership with Microsoft), it shows that traditional cable isn't the only road anymore..

FCC Staff Finishes Digital Transition Recommendations

The key element here for programmers is what happens to digital multicast must-carry...staff recommendations appear to include it, but Commissioners may still separate that issue out and defer judgment....that is the story to follow as mandating carriage for additional broadcast signals (apart from being unconstitutional, IMHO) will have an impact on the launch and growth of new nets..and could impact the weaker indie nets still looking for growth and superior channel placement...

Scripps Launches New Broadband Channel

In a good sign for how new media can mean new distribution of distinct content, Scripps announces launch of broadband channel for the building industry...chance for existing channels to create new avenues for new content (and extend brand, generate new revenue streams) and how new channels may enter the marketplace and build a brand through broadband..

Redstone Still Looks to Expand Viacom's Holdings

Viacom CEO says company is willing to lower credit rating in balancing act for "right price" acquisitions...

Volkswagon and NBC in Branding Deal

Expect to see L&O detectives buying new Jettas, Joey getting a Passat from the studio and a new Sci-Fi series set in a "Mad Max" type setting, called, "Drivers Wanted".

In a time when advertisers are worried about how to keep connected through all the DVRing and multimedia choices, I would expect to see more of these kinds of deals, at least until the next study showing that the consumer/viewer results aren't as robust as predicted..

New CNN Chief Speaks to Change..and Legal Coverage..

While the days of any network covering every aspect of a trial are over, it is interesting to read the comments by CNN's new chief about cable network trial coverage, especially when CNN has signed Court TV's Nancy Grace to a Headline News show on legal issues and Time Warner's ownership position in Court TV...however, CNN needs to change the cable news dynamics with Fox News and there is no time to waste..

Look at current state of mobile phone video and its risks, allure and challenges...


Your Favorite TV Show Is Calling

With quality video cell phones on the way, media companies are thinking small FOX's (FOX ) thriller 24 is already a major TV hit in the U.S. and across much of Europe. And now a scaled-down version of the show is coming to an even smaller screen -- the one on your cell phone. Later this month, Fox Broadcasting Co. will roll out one-minute "mobisodes" -- mobile episodes, get it? -- of 24 on Europe's Vodafone Group PLC (VOD ) network. And starting in February, Verizon Communications' (VZ ) U.S. subscribers may be able to get mobisodes of the show on their cell phones, too. If 24 is a wireless hit, the media giant may follow up with other programming, including reality shows.Fox has plenty of company.

With viewers increasingly abandoning TV for the Internet and video games, studios, and other media outfits are rushing to jump into the fledgling market for cellular video. In just the last month the likes of Fox, Warner Bros. (TWX ), and ESPN have all signed deals to bring everything from sports highlights to comic books to super-small screens.With an estimated 170 million phone users out there, it's a potentially huge market. Industry analyst In-Stat/MDR figures the cell phone video market will generate just $32.7 million this year, but that could jump to $1.9 billion by 2008. The question is, will Americans want downsized video -- and if so, can companies make money on it? "The business model is far from clear," says John Burris, Director of Wireless Data Services for Sprint Corp. (FON ). "But this is a real business; a lot of content players want in."Cellular providers and media giants are hoping to duplicate the success of video phone services overseas.

Cell phone users in Japan and Korea already can watch TV on their handsets, and Vodafone offers sports highlights in Europe. Such services have been limited so far in the U.S. because the rollout of high-speed cellular networks has lagged behind other countries. Even now, the TV shows offered by 14-month-old California startup MobiTV are jerky at best.All that could change this year. New third-generation phones running on beefed-up digital networks will hit the market during the first quarter. Cellular providers say they'll be capable of delivering near cable-quality video.With the technological pieces finally falling into place, entertainment companies are scrambling to come up with programming. Warner Bros. aims to put Looney Tunes on some phones, as well as behind-the-scenes clips of its teen soap The OC. MTV Networks is negotiating with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT ) to stream rock videos on AudioVox Corp. (VOXX ) and other phones. And Verizon is expected to announce deals with several media companies, say industry insiders.LOTS OF CLOSE-UPS Success, of course, will require content that people actually want to watch on their cell phones. Analysts expect one- to three-minute video bursts to catch on initially -- what Sprint's Burris calls "snack TV."

The studios also have to tweak their content for those minuscule screens. In shooting its cellular version of 24, for example, Fox featured more close-ups. At the outset, shows will be tailored to sports and news junkies and the younger viewers who live on their cell phones -- and are the advertising sweet spot for TV execs.How will companies make money? Subscriptions could be one way. MobiTV has signed up roughly 100,000 customers who pay $10 a month for more than 20 cable channels. Verizon and Fox won't reveal the per-mobisode price for 24. But Warner expects to charge as much as $5.99 for each snippet of The OC Insider; it will also offer the show as part of a $24.99 yearly subscription to a fan club. Others plan to sell ads. Mobliss, a Seattle marketing firm that also makes original programs, is working with Nike Inc. (NKS ) and Coca-Cola Co. (KO ) to cram product placements into its shows.Another wrinkle: With TV rights to most shows still held by broadcasters rather than the media outfits that produce them, producers are being forced to come up with duplicate programs.

The cell phone version of 24, for example, will feature a new cast that doesn't include star Kiefer Sutherland.With so much up in the air, some players are hanging back. "We're not sure it's a real business yet," says Sony Pictures Entertainment (SNE ) Chairman Michael Lynton, whose company is focusing instead on Internet downloads of its soaps. "But we're watching closely to see how Fox does with 24." With 170 million super-small screens out there, he'd be foolish not to.

Potential of Interactive Ads

Here's one good example of how new technology meets new ads....

Changing Technology & Changing Ads

Mini-infomercials, interactive ads, targeted demos.....its all in the mix as the percentage of homes having and using DVRs/TiVOs increases and couch potatoes are becoming sliced, diced, grated and traditional mass marketing/advertising gets mashed...

Microsoft Hears Music..and more

The storied competition and mutual push between Apple and Microsoft leads to new digital frontiers....

Pushing for Digital Multicast Must Carry Decision

Hmmm..I wonder which side Paxson is on..

Anyway, for some the patience is wearing thin as the FCC keeps the rules as they are, at least by way of inaction. FCC Commissioner often says (except for free speech and digital technology issues) he likes the marketplace to find an answer. This one probably needs to play out on the regulatory and legal battlefields

Akimbo Nets More Cable Video

Bit by bit, internet video offerings expands and may (over time) take more time and eyeballs from the traditional tube...


Akimbo Systems has partnered with National Geographic Television & Film Channel and three A&E networks - A&E, The History Channel, The Biography Channel - to provide Akimbo with programming content for its internet delivered VOD service for television. Akimbo service allows a consumer to download and store up to 200 hours of video to an Akimbo setup box. The service will provide a wealth of programming from Akimbo's partner networks allows consumers including Cold Case Files, American Justice, Biography, Airline, Growing Up Gotti, Dog the Bounty Hunter, History's Mysteries as well as Spanish language programming from History Channel En Espanol. Additional programming from National Geographic will include Egypt: Quest for Eternity, Inside the Pentagon and 21 Days to Baghdad.

Getting Sirius About Going Mobile

The ways content is becoming portable, wireless and untethered is expanding...especially is the younger backseat drivers can be offered multiple video choices..and why not some quick sports, news and entertainment updates with visuals...after all, how much attention do you really need to keep on driving..and yes, Comcast is making its own play in this space as well...



Sirius Satellite Radio is getting into the video content business with a roll out expected in 2006. Check that - make it mobile video content. That is video in vehicles, more specifically 2-3 channels targeting the backseat viewers - kids. Video and DVD watching in automobiles has become a mainstay for many families, and for the automotive industry has become a prime feature in new family car sales. "We will take the DVD experience to the next level, offering the best content easily available to families and consumers," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS. Sirius will collaborate with Microsoft in the development of the video applications. With that announcement comes the additional news that Delphi Corp. has inked a deal with Comcast Corp. to also provide video content that is first uploaded at home and then transferred to the family car. Delphi is in the process of developing the hardware; while Comcast looks at software and access to that software. Delphi/Comcast expect to full development and launch their service in the next 6-18 months. While all this is going on, XM Satellite Radio has deal with Toyota, Lexus, General Motors and Honda to factory install XM radios. Sirius has similar deals with DaimlerChrysler and Ford Motors. Sirius ended 2004 with approx 1.1 million users to XM Satellite's 3.1 million users.

Whistle (and read) While we Watch

In a multiple sensory input environment, how much information from any particular source gets through this purple haze of image, text, sound and fury....

New Cash Driven Retransmission Consent War?

Happy New Year to all....may your top 3 dreams come true and a bit of magic touch your lives this year..

The following may be the initial retrans skirmish in what might become a retransmission consent push for cash. For years, the broadcast option for retransmission consent requirement as opposed to a straight-forward must-carry notice, has been the subject of oft cited abuse by trading the retransmission consent for the launch of broadcast-related cable channels. While, at times, an argument has been made that the only sensible intent of the retrans rules would be a cash compensation negotiation, if more broadcast channels choose the cash route then the industry will see more stand-offs like this (which cable always loses in the press and public relations battles) and more reasons for cable ops to use money pressures as excuses to hold back cable network license fees.

All in all, more cause for the entire must-carry regulatory scheme to be questioned, yet the possibility of digital multi-cast must carry remains. Did I say, happy new year?

Comcast Looking to Create and Launch New Action-Sports Channels

By filing action sports related trademarks for possible future use, Comcast signals its interest in creating and launching action sports channels. At some point, if the cable giant of distribution begins to expand its owned and operated cable channels and so seemingly precludes unaffiliated entities from realistically entering the same program market, there will be some who will raise possible antitrust (in this case monopsony) issues. Especially troubling if the competition arises from current or anticipated plans from Fox/DirecTV/NewsCorp.