Friday, February 29

Warner Bros. Going HULU

Warner Bros. will add it's content to HULU where Fox and NBC/Universal already present their shows for free. Just suffer through the short ad and banners and everthing from I Dream of Jeanie to 30 Rock are yours to watch.

An executive with Warner Bros. predicts television studios will bypass local television stations and networks in the next decade as they deliver content straight tot he consumer via broadband and cellular. Hmm? Isn't that what we were saying back in the early 90s. Isn't that what our discussions and studies at KU focused on during my grad work?

"We will go directly to consumers with content," President Bruce Rosenblum said Tuesday in a notably candid insider's talk to Stanford law students. "Your generation" is witnessing "a complete disaggregation of the networks," he said. Warner leads in supplying prime-time shows to the networks, and going around those big customers will usher in an era that will be very expensive for his business but offer it exciting prospects, said Rosenblum, 50. "The sad part is, I won't see it," he said. "That's five to 10 years away." (Communications Daily- Feb. 21, 2008)

This is exactly why local TV stations should be worried. They should have been worried long ago. They should be as worried as any local newspaper struggling to keep live going in the old media world. I can't picture a local station surviving on local news programming alone. Maybe one or two stations could carve out that niche in a major market, but that will never work in Erie or Youngstown or Clarksburg.

More from Communications Daily's post:

A "first glimpse" of the coming new world can be seen in Warner's growing online effort, Rosenblum said. He disclosed that a distribution deal with Fox and NBC Universal's Hulu.com is "imminent." His company also is creating its own ad-supported channels, Rosenblum said. An animation channel with the working name of T-Works will go live in April under an unspecified brand, he said. Studio 2.0, which will create brief videos for broadband and mobile, is working on more than 20 projects, at a total cost less than that of an hour of a broadcast network drama, Rosenblum said. Cutting out the networks will mean that studios make more money on their shows than they have, he said.

But Warner will have to spend heavily to make itself and not the network the brand that viewers connect with a show, Rosenblum said. "That's what we're not equipped to do," he said. "We can get there if we're willing to make the investment in marketing. That's the hiccup." It's a touchy subject, including within Warner's parent, Time Warner, which has broadcast and cable networks of its own to promote, he said. Cable shows streamed online are branded with their networks because Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes "wants to make sure there's value in TNT and TBS."

Apple's iTunes Store has helped prove by negative example that video will remain ad-supported as it moves to broadband and mobile, Rosenblum said. Paid downloads of TV episodes to iPods haven't been a "significant" business for Warner, he said.

The TV industry's relationship with Apple creates deep tensions between the sides and with retailers. "As a studio, we want to set the price" on episode downloads, Rosenblum said. "We don't want to be a one-size-fits-all business. Apple wants a one-size-fits-all business." Apple's goal, "to sell hardware," motivates it to offer as many TV episodes as possible at the same price, he said. Studios and networks "sell content," and they dislike iTunes charging the same for The Office as Gilligan's Island, Rosenblum said.

Studios "resisted" selling through iTunes "for a long time because we make money on the sell-through" of DVD compilations of shows, said Rosenblum. But they've realized electronic distribution is "a great business -- no costs associated with it," to speak of, he said. "The margin is a lot better. Where's the problem in that? Who gets upset? Wal-Mart." Streaming costs have been "dropping rapidly," Rosenblum said. "In five years, they'll be irrelevant. The cost of pressing [disks] is significantly higher."

Subscription plans work better for movies than for short-form video, Rosenblum said. "As a consumer, I love Netflix," but "our studio can't stand it," he said. "That subscription model doesn't work well for us." Netflix pays for a DVD once and rents it over and over, he said.

All the networks are looking to ads to create revenue from new digital media, as seen with Hulu and ABC.com, Rosenblum said. Evidence online the past 18 months shows "by far" that this model works best for video, he said. It's a holdover from the tube, Rosenblum said. "We've done a great job teaching you to watch commercials" instead of paying money for programs. "The real test" will be whether viewers stand for having to watch an ad before a YouTube video, he said. But "it seems to work for ESPN" on the Web.

The big TV studios are in a strong position to take at least their share of the value of programming that broadband and mobile throw up for grabs, Rosenblum said. "Studios have the capital resources" to do the experiments required online and, more important, "the human resources to it right," he said. Their Web operations give them "infrastructure and expertise to build on," Rosenblum said. And they have large libraries of old shows and expertise in "episodic storytelling." Though the studios face new competition from anyone with a "video camera and the ability to type 'YouTube,'" it's "Wired mythology" that the proverbial "four kids in a garage" will beat the established show producers, he said.

And Warner has a leg up on the other big studios -- all corporate affiliates of major broadcast networks, Rosenblum said. The CW network, half-owned by Warner, is different --- a niche operation -- so his studio has had to be "more innovative, more creative and more aggressive" than rivals to thrive selling to sister networks, he said. The new world is defined by the absence of any "dominant distribution outlet," any "primary gatekeeper," Rosenblum said. That's the world Warner already knows, and other large studios need to learn it, he said.

The TV industry -- now better termed "electronically transmitted content," or ETC, as in "et cetera" -- won't change completely, Rosenblum said. Big broadcast networks' share will keep dropping, but they hold onto their importance continuing to draw more viewers than other outlets, he said. Commercials will survive skipping by PVR, revenue from them supplemented by other sources. Asked about interactive sales directly from shows, Rosenblum said, "I think it's all intrusive," including promo bugs during shows. "That takes away from the viewing experience." But, he acknowledged, "for some reason the viewer doesn't seem to mind that." Original shows for new media will be series of six to 10 episodes of four to six minutes each, Rosenblum said. Image "quality is irrelevant" online, because viewers 16 to 25 are "multitasking" rather than watching closely, he said. "Hulu is finding not everybody is going full-screen, even though they can," Rosenblum said. The "creative talent" in movies consider themselves artists and are "much more picky" than TV people about viewing quality, he said. TV creators "don't give a ***, if it's making money." -- Louis Trager

Sunday, February 24

Star Wars by a Three Year Old

When I was looking around for Mike Huckabee on SNL on YouTube I found this clip of Star Wars as told by a three-year old girl. TOO CUTE. It might not win $10,000 on AMV, but it's fun to hear her take on Darth Vadar.



And now for something else Star Wars releated...

Huck on SNL on YouTube But Not on HULU Yet

Mike Huckabee showed up on Saturday Night Live, but he's not been seen on HULU yet. NBC/Universal posts it's shows and clips on HULU, but as of Sunday night no FRESH SNL clips. Oh well, there's always YouTube-- but it's not an NBC approved upload I bet.

Saturday, February 23

VJ Scoop, Tuning into Free Radio & Angry Journalist

Here's my suggestions for your blog reading pleasure for this week from the BC Capstone students:
The VJ Model of Local News Up Close
There’s VJ scoop in Melissa Maine’s blog entry this week. Perhaps my BC 312 students should check out what she reveals concerning New Vision’s vision of the newsroom future. I first predicted this trend way back in 1996 with research project I wrote for Max Utsler’s mass media graduate seminar at the University of Kansas. It’s all coming true and on a much grander scale than the experts I interviewed imagined. The one-man band approach to local news is alive an thriving.


FREE RADIO- A television show review…
In an age of satellite radio, HD radio, podcasting, online simulcasting and the splintering of audiences (Where's Les Nessman when you need him?), Bill Sadler takes a look at VH1’s efforts to skewer the business of radio as he blogs about Free Radio this week. Sounds like Bill thinks it's radio worth watching on cable TV.



Outside the Capstone
Blogosphere…
Angry Journalist— A place to whine?
While my guidelines for BC Capstone weblogs stress the need to remain constructive, positive and professional in your online communication and publishing efforts, Angry Journalist offers anonymity and a place to vent your frustrations. According to the blog’s description Angry Journalist a place for “…underpaid, overworked, frustrated, pissed off and ignored media professionals to publicly and anonymously vent their anger. Share your story. With any luck, you'll feel better.”

To me it seems like a new incarnation of NewsBlues or FTVLive. While I embraced the Newsbreakers a few years ago, it looks like that model of using parody for reform in journalism dried up as the Newsbreakers' site hasn't been updated in oh so long.

What makes the Angry Journalist blog stand out from those sites is this is strictly a blog and it’s FREE. Whether you go to read or you post, be careful. You may just end up needing therapy.


http://angryjournalist.com

Monday, February 18

HD-DVD IS DEAD


The death knell has tolled for HD-DVD. Toshiba has announced it's abandoning the format. Some compared the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray format battle to the 1980s rivalry between VHS and Beta videotape formats where VHS prevailed. However, consider where VHS is today. DEAD as well. While Blu-Ray came out on top (sorry all you folks who got the HD-DVD for Christmas), I say the the Blu-Ray format is just like the 8-track-- it's a dinosaur waiting to die. The format is still wrapped up in the use and ownership of a tangible, clunky, moving object in a digital world where data files are uploaded, download, stored, archived and transferred on multiple platforms.

Who needs to waste shelf space with DVDs when you have PCs, cell phones and other devices that makes information and entertainment data so portable. Now that storage space is sold to consumers in terabytes on portable hard drives, why bother mucking about with some disc that can scratch, melt or get lost behind a desk. I'd much rather download a movie from Amazon to my TiVo (I just wish Amazon had more choices) than wait for a DVD from Netflix, let alone drive to the video rental store. Netflix does offer you movies downloadable to a PC-- but I want my TiVo and PC and TV as it's the closest thing I can afford right now to an intergrated device. Perhaps it's an American consumer thing as we have this need/desire to own tangible things that clutter out drawers, closets, attics and garages. The ironic thing is I have at least four portable hard drives and a couple of flash drives now and I can't seem to keep track of them. OMG- will i have portable hard drives piled up around my office one day like all the videotapes and DVDs I have now?

When will I be able to download my TV shows, movies and music directly to my brain? WHEN???!??

Saturday, February 16

TORCHWOOD: Grown Up Sci-Fi Charged With Ambisexual Tension

TELEVISION REVIEW
Another guilty pleasure...or is it the newest sci-fi cult fave?

Spin off the science fiction mythology from the BBC's Dr. Who and amp it up with a bisexual hero and his band of Buffy the Vampire-like misfits and you have a show tackling contemporary political-morality issues like the environment, animal rights and immigration. The show is Torchwood now on BBC America. Torchwood is a secret organization "outside the government, beyond the police...tracking down alien life on earth and arming the human race against the future...the 21st Century is when everything changes and you've got to be ready." That's how the show's hero, Captain Jack Harkness, introduces the show each episode as Torchwood investigates, managing and containing extraterrestrial incursions and threats. All these threats also occur inside Great Britain where a rift in space and time washes up intergalactic monsters, gadgets and lost souls from around the universe. Captain Jack, an America character played by Chicago-born actor John Barrowman, is a time traveling immortal with an enigmatic past, who first appeared in the updated Dr. Who series. He knows the 21st Century is where human history is changed by alien encounters and he's drop out of the time traveling plot device to help humanity prepare for it.

Originating from the UK's BBC 3, this Dr. Who spin-off goes where the dear Doctor has only dabbled in innuendo. It's mix of action, irony, drama with a drizzle of camp. I spot storytelling elements picked from popular, mainstream American television like CSI. Torchwood is also part X-Files, but this show features a government sanctioned and supported X-Files team who's stories are punctuated with a steady stream of nudity, explicit sex scenes, violence and crude language. It's the kind of raw, grown up television you find on FX or Showtime and HBO. No wonder as the show's founder, Russell T. Davies, was one of the people behind Showtime's Queer as Folk. There's enough camp and cheesiness sprinkled in the drama and morality plays to connect you back to the Dr. Who days of the 1970s. However, production values, special effects and kick butt attitude make it fun viewing. Yet it falls short of the power of today's Battlestar Galactica while presenting a vast improvement over the worn out series like the Stargate franchise. Torchwood reminds me of my affinity for Farscape with the high energy and dark storylines and incredibly complex characters caught up in their conflicted lives.

I've only watched episodes from season one and two of Torchwood through various online sources-- the BBC restricts access to its site to users inside the UK. You would think NBC/Universal's Sci-Fi Channel would serve as the perfect conduit for the American audience, but it would also appear the show is too ambisexual for the Sci-Fi channel, a cable network that choses instead to closet such homoerotic tendencies behind the world of professional wrestling. You will need BBC America to watch it on cable or satellite in the U.S. However, the success at which I had in uncovering this guilty pleasure online gives me serious pause. I wonder if I were a younger, single sci-fi geek, would I even bother with the old model of television. It would seem more appropriate for a fan of the Torchwood crew to have the tech-savvy sense to nab all of one's media diet for free off the 'net. Below is my favorite episode of Torchwood, "Miscellaneous Footwear" for your consideration.

Wednesday, February 13

GOING BACK TO WORK










I WANT MY
LOST & BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!
WILL THE END OF THE WRITER'S STRIKE COME SOON ENOUGH TO SAVE THE SEASON?
(from Broadcasting & Cable) More than three months since shutting down TV and film production, the writers' strike is expected to officially end Tuesday evening. The Writers Guild of America boards voted Sunday to submit the proposed end to the strike to the WGA membership, which will likely approve in a vote set for Tuesday.

Results of the vote, which will be done in person in New York and Los Angeles and via fax, will be released Tuesday night with the writers expected to be back on the job Wednesday. However, showrunners are now free to return to their non-writing roles immediately. They had ceased to perform those functions soon after the strike began on Nov. 5.

The television industry will now sprint back into production, both in terms of getting many current shows back on the air this season as soon as possible, as well as kicking into gear a shortened and frenzied development season for next fall. Industry executives were already laying the groundwork for that rapid re-start prior to the weekend.

Sunday, February 10

Cell Phone Sins on the Set

FROM WXII-TV in North Carolina...the cell phone rings while she's on the set. Will she just turn it off? Or will she answer it?

Thursday, February 7

The New BC 601 Class-- GET BLOGGING!!!

Hello, BC 601 students…REVIEW AND DIGEST THIS BLOG ENTRY. IT IS YOUR MISSION TO ESTABLISH A WEBLOG AND COMPLETE THE DIRECTIVE AT THE END OF THIS ENTRY DURING THE BREAK!!!


SETTING UP YOUR WEBLOG
If you haven’t established a weblog yet, please do so NOW. I strongly suggest you use Blogger. I am familiar with it and from time to time in class I can field questions, etc., concerning Blogger as I have used it for a few years now. Spend time NOW learning the tools, selecting a template, etc. I have tried using other free blog servers out there, but Blogger is the one I know and trust (it’s owned by Google). FYI, I don’t get any kickbacks from Google. Be wise in naming your blog as it should connect to the mission of your blog and as well as help brand yourself online.

WEBLOGS: A CLASS REQUIREMENT
You will be engaged in weekly blog entries. Use great care in selecting a user name and password. Write them down, e-mail them to yourself and make them easy for you to remember. Again, it is important to chose a blog name that reflects your PROFESSIONAL GOALS or persona. The blog should augment a resume and be a way for you to catch a potential employer’s attention. Your blog should help you stand out from all those other college grads you compete with after commencement.

WHY ARE YOU BLOGGING FOR THIS CLASS?
Employers are now searching the web to sniff out the dirt on the people they hire. The fire people who blog about work (positive or negative). They’re checking out MySpace and Facebook to find insight and answers to questions that would qualify as "illegal questions" in the context of a job interview. Companies are using the Internet to weed out the people the DON’T want to hire. Your capstone weblog is geared to do the opposite. It will serve as a window into your professional persona. It will be a place for you to articulate your knowledge and understanding of your field. It is a medium for you to showcase your command of the terminology and nuances of the industry. It is a place for you to communicate your strengths and skills as a young professional transitioning from college to the next phase of your professional life.

THE CHEAP THRILLS ARE A BIG PLUS
Adding pictures, when tasteful and relevant and composed well, can accentuate your blog. Consider how they can work as an asset to drawing in attention. Video amplifies your command of multimedia. Blogger now lets you upload video files direct to a post or you can embed video clips from YouTube or other sources.


Links are also key. You can have a link list to sites that have similar missions to yours or sites you find helpful, entertaining, etc. You will also want to embed links in your posts that serve as resources/attribution for material you discuss.

You will also want to read and comment on other blogs. This promotes interaction and can drive people to visit your blog.

Your profile should avoid releasing any “personal” information that could contribute to identity theft, and you should strive to promote yourself as a mature, viable candidate for employment. You want to come off polished and grown up. Be very selective in what you include in your profile.

DRAFT A WEBLOG MISSION STATEMENT
You will want to craft a mission statement to include in the sidebar area of the blog. This can simply state the goal of your blog (and it should connect back to your blog name). For instance, if you want to be a newscast producer you can state you will review a newscast each week from a market where you can potentially land an internship or first job. Each review would discuss strengths and weaknesses of a station’s product and your assessment should explore how well you might fit in that operation.

FOLLOW WEAVER'S WEBLOG GUIDELINES
When blogging please apply my guidelines--here's the link! You never want to share private/personal details. You never want to go negative. You want a well written entry that communicates briefly, but presents sound points that are organized well.

FINALLY-- WHAT'S NEXT
Please review the guidelines, craft your blog mission statement and e-mail me that mission statement for some feedback. Once you get that to me, I will respond with some links you can use as examples of well written blog entries and you can begin journey into the blogosphere. Your first graded blog entry is due on the first day of class.

Saturday, February 2

The BC 251 Mini-Movie ONLINE Winner

The online poll for the 2007 Video Production Mini-Movies is now closed and the winner is "THE CHASE" by Michelle Bistrica.



Thanks for everyone who participated in the online voting. Michelle's movie received 20% of the more than 250 votes cast. Congratulations, Michelle.

Friday, February 1

Microhoo!


Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion as a way to improve its competitive position online.

"We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft, in a press released Friday.

Remember Yahoo has seen some major money problems. Yahoo financial problems worsened in recent months, as it announced plans to lay off as many as 1,000 workers.

Sounds like a shark circling a sick shark to reshape the new media landscape.

Where are the Ida Tarbell's of our day?

Embracing A Brave New Media World

Broadcasters' Renewed Emphasis on Web Sites Beginning to Pay Off

By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/14/2008

Prior to joining station KTVZ in Bend, Ore., Barney Lerten's only TV experience was the media club in high school. Still, Lerten plays a critical role in the station's growth strategy these days. As digital content director, he's grown page views on KTVZ.com from around 500,000 in March to 1 million in November, making it the most trafficked site in News-Press & Gazette's broadcasting group. The station added a cleaner layout, richer video, more breaking news and clips from CNN and others.

And while hot news was once held for the evening's newscast, KTVZ now sends it straight to the Web. “Every reporter knows to get the script to us to put it on the Web,” Lerten said. “They realize [on-air and online] are feeding off each other instead of cannibalizing each other.”

With seven stations in markets like Bend and Palm Desert, Calif., News-Press & Gazette isn't a broadcast powerhouse, yet it offers a window into why broadcasters of all sizes are scrambling to grow online revenue -- and seeking staffers like Lerten.

Indeed, the face of local stations is changing dramatically, and the newsroom of 2008 is looking less and less like the newsroom of five years ago, or even one year ago. For one, it's getting smaller, as corporate cost-cutting and technological developments, such as automation software and the paperless-advertising platform known as ePort, mean fewer bodies are needed to make the station run. According to a study from the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Ball State University, stations in top-25 markets had an “average total staff” of 60.5 people in 2007, down from 72.4 in 2006.

To find ample resources for the Web, some managers are converting broadcast positions to Web ones. When a sports reporter gave notice at WMTV Madison, Wis., the position was turned into a Web producer. LIN TV, meanwhile, cited a 50% increase in online staff in 2007 as head count stayed flat.

Still, managers everywhere are pushing employees to add digital duties to a pretty full job description. “We've added news without adding head count,” said Duffy Dyer, vice president and general manager at WTTG Washington, D.C. “We're asking staff to think about more than they're used to thinking about.”

Never before has the time been better for stations to grab Web revenue. According to Borrell Associates' 2008 Outlook: Local Online Advertising, $8.5 billion was spent on local online advertising in 2007, and that is projected to jump to $12.6 billion this year -- much of it from the presidential candidates, who increasingly find the Web an effective medium for delivering their message to a savvy demographic. Looking further ahead, WorldNow president and CEO Gary Gannaway said online political spending will likely surpass on-air as soon as the 2012 election.

But a large chunk of Web revenue remains stuck on the table for stations. Borrell reported that Internet “pure plays” like Google grabbed 43.7% of that $8.5 billion. Newspapers tallied 33.4%, while broadcast TV took just 9.3%. According to Internet Broadcasting president and CEO David Lebow, 21% of media consumption occurs online, while only 7% of media dollars are spent there. “TV has been its own worst enemy,” said Steve Safran, senior VP of Media 2.0 at consultancy AR&D. “If it can change and play by Web rules, there's multiples more money to be made.”

Growing the digital side of the business at News-Press wasn't simply a matter of repurposing news content online or encouraging the weatherman to blog about the merits of hot cocoa on a snowy day. It was nothing less than “changing the culture,” said digital-news director Mike Stutz -- making the Web part of every staffer's workday and bringing in people to concentrate solely on online. “I'm an old newspaper and TV guy, so this is a change for me,” Stutz admitted. “But we see where the business is heading, and we worked hard to position ourselves for the future.”