Media Mafia Think Tank

Me +1

2011-04-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

No, this post is not about you and a friend getting on the guest list of the hottest new nightspot in town, it is actually about the latest new feature from the ever experimental Google. Billed as a social interaction and recommendation feature +1, recommendation buttons are intended to be a way for someone to note an item as worthy of attention. The goal today is to enhance the search experience on Google by showing recommendations from friends in your social graph and possibly to extend that same courtesy to the rest of the world.

Its important to clarify that this is not social search. Social Search enhances your search results by including links or updates posted from connections within your social sphere. With the +1 button, you’re getting trusted recommendations from your friends rather than Google pulling in updates it believes to be relevant. This is a subtle difference, worth noting.

Yes, you’re already thinking this is just like a Facebook ‘Like’ button or the Twitter ‘Tweet’ button, and you’re right, except the roll out is limited to just Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) today. However, in the not too distant future, Google has its sights set on a broader roll out to enable any digital publisher to include a +1 button alongside their content.

Why is this even important to digital media publishers, you ask? The +1 feature becomes another key metric by which you will be able to measure and demonstrate the reach, engagement, and impact of your content. It doesn’t hurt that it is integrated with all of the capabilities of the worldwide leader in search. The one caveat important to note is that Google has not yet made +1 available for everyone. They currently require a user interested in this feature to jump through a couple of hoops.

The first is that you must set up a Google Profile, which is someone logical, because from your profile, Google can begin to attach your recommendations to your social graph. Once you have a Google profile in place, by jumping over one last hurdle of navigating to the Google Experimental site and ‘opting-in’ to the +1 experiment, you become a participant in what could become one of Google’s most interesting social experiments to date.

Watch the official Google +1 video (below) and let us know if you’re ready to get +1’d. Bada boom, bada bing!

The Imminent Tablet Wars: A View From the Tank

2011-02-17T12:10:00.000-08:00

By guest contributor J. Philip Rice
Edited by Kevin McFall

This discussion started off with a simple prediction: Apple’s iPad2 will beat the Cisco Cius and the RIM Playbook. The Media Mafia threw in its support of the Motorola Xoom as a best in class device. When we got down to debating the ‘why’ of the matter, we came to the realization that a pending battle on the tablet front was about to take place and the Media Mafia was not about to be content to simply take a view from the sidelines. So, we invited special guest contributor J. Philip Rice to provide his enthusiastic, and thorough view point on which device(s) he expects will emerge from this hardware battle royale.

From my perspective, Motorola’s Xoom will sell to the Droid fan base, similar to how the iPad is selling to iPhone/iPod fanatics. The Cisco Cius is directed at OEM's, otherwise you would already see (although maybe one is coming?) a Linksys version sold into the retail channel. To date, Cisco doesn't have a retail buzz product to compliment Cius, but we will wait and see as the early birds, also known as those with first mover advantage always get the worm.

On the other hand, the Research In Motiion (RIM) Playbook is a total uphill climb. I see it reaching a V2 iteration and then dying off. RIM is quickly facing the same future as Palm as others duplicate their value proposition. It will definitely be a tough road for them going forward. Without BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), the middleware software package that is part of the BlackBerry wireless platform, they would be in trouble.

I have also seen the prototype HP/Win7 tablet (no longer available). It always boils down to the same issues of trying to run Windows with your finger or pen/stylus. HP-Palm WebOS is a fantastic smartphone/tab OS and the new HP tab based on it will be good, but the market will be so crowded soon to the point of saturation. HTC, the maker of the Sprint EVO, just released the Flyer tab, but it appears to be a toss together until they can put a real Android 3 tab together.

Motorola’s Xoom has HTC beat in this category, however, don't discount HTC just yet, they have some good product dev people working there. The next question is whether or not Nokia will make a Windows Mobile7 based tab? If they do, it will be a total wildcard and probably another year before we see it. The prediction is that we would probably see a Nokia MeeGo tab first. Apple who fired the opening salvo selling 14.5 million iPads in 2010 made the world go nuts.

And now for some of the reasons why the Apple iPad2 will win the war…

The operating system iOS4 is more enterprise friendly with multi-tasking, consolidated mail capabilities and more. Android hasn’t taken off in the corporate world, which could make it a liability to the device manufacturers choosing this O/S. RIM’s Playbook however, could also suffer as connecting a new OS to the corporate enterprise is something infrastructure managers do with great caution.
The iPad 2 will have two cameras, offering the ability for users to snap photos and engage in video conferencing. For corporate users, video conferencing is extremely important, which is why both the Cisco Cius and the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook will offer that functionality. Considering the iPad 2 likely will, as well, Cisco and RIM won’t have a competitive advantage over Apple.
Size matters and the 9.7” screen on the iPad leads the way over the 7” displays, although Xoom is weighing in at 10.1” screen size.
Apps for the iPad platform are already abundant and are starting to go well beyond entertainment and into the enterprise. Apple has a significant head start here in quantity and in a sometimes loving often strained relationship with its publisher and development community.
The existing network carrier partnerships Apple has with both AT&T and Verizon will make it easy to connect the iPad2 on a 3G network at a minimum. As for the other manufacturers, no deals have been announced that have made many waves. Especially for Cisco, the unknown isn’t good. Who knows what the Cisco Cius or the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook will offer and the world is already asking and awaiting answers to these questions. How long will they wait before they go to Apple?

As we conclude this report from the Tank, we tred lightly in predicting a victor; however the numbers always tell the story, bada bing, bada boom. Tell us who you think will prevail in the great Tablet Wars of 2011!

How to Get Social...Again

2011-02-01T06:27:00.001-08:00

Presented to the National Newspaper Publisher's Association, this overview of some of the mechanics of social media was intended to provide community newspaper publishers with ideas about the means by which they could begin to implement social media capabilities into their newspaper operations. There is also a part 1 which talks about what social media is and a part 3 that provides several key examples of how to monetize social media initiatives.

How to Get Social...Again

View more presentations from Cision, NA.

Are You Ready to Rumble!?! Google Offers Vs. Groupon

2011-01-21T16:13:00.000-08:00

A Knowledge@Wharton business school article recently took a look at the merits of Groupon and deemed it to be a solid business model that has a strong foundation for the future. A blog post belonging to one the B-school classes -The Enable tech blog post - cited the fact that customer acquisition for small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) can be very expensive and that Groupon has captured the attention of so many because it is relatively less expensive than many other customer acquisition channels. They also noted one area of vulnerability for Groupon and other collective buying discount and coupon businesses is the potential for consumers to get email fatigue and start to manifest adverse selection and other negative brand effects.

With Google's announcement that Google Offers, a direct competitor to Groupon, is launching, the Media Mafia team raises the question of another potential dart being thrown at the Groupon balloon - What affect will Google Offers have on the future of Groupon?

How will such a potentially strong competitor affect Groupon's current market leadership position? Will the principles of first mover advantage and the points noted in the Wharton Enable Tech class post still hold true? Bada boom, bada bing the Media Mafia Think Tank believes it will.

Groupon has brand loyalty on both sides of the transaction - the SMBs, and the consumers. The only potential threat I see is that Google already has 8% marketshare among U.S. SMBs by way of AdSense, some SMBs could take a one-stop shop approach with Google to test and potentially combine the customer acquisition techniques to see which will yield the lowest cpa. The other metric which will then need to be considered by the SMBs will be consumer quality as measured in ARPU (average revenue per user). On the consumer side, I think Google will suffer from the "Goliath" lack of appeal, and consumers will continue to flock to the underdog. Although at today's current $50 Billion valuation, Groupon looks closer and closer to a Goliath themselves. It will be extremely interesting to watch the "Offer-based Consumer Acquisition Wars"

More op-ed on the Google Offers Vs. Groupon battle can also be found on Mashable. We dare you to go read theirs and not share ours first.

Over The Top TV becomes reality in 2011

2011-01-03T10:07:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, my Dad gave me a Roku box because I was talking to him about the eminent paradigm shift I see coming in how not only my household, but households around the country will begin consuming video. On a side note, I might have opted for a Boxee box, but I am going to be content connecting my wireless HD Roku to my home LAN for now.

One source - BusinessInsider.com, lays out a strong case for why the predictionn of OTT Video usurping traditional premium TV models has a high probability of being true...

Our 2010 Capo Regio: An Ode to Mark Zuckerburg

2010-12-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

Indeed one of the greatest software applications in the era of digital media, Facebook is a bonafide global phenomenon. Further Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerburg has become a major phenom as well. Using technology to solve a fundamental problem of trying to stay connnected with friends across multiple college campuses, then opening up the service to those outside of the college community; next allowing third-party developers to develop apps on the platform; later growing the userbase to more than 500 million; in the same year having a movie released about the phenomenon, donating 100 million dollars to the New Jersey school system; then topping that by pledging to give even more of his wealth away, and now being named Time Magazine's Person of the year.

Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his Harvard dormitory room in 2004. It is speculated that the inspiration for Facebook may have come from the nickname of the student directory at Phillips Exeter Academy, the private high school from which Zuckerberg graduated in 2002.

According to Time Magazine, the honor of Person of the Year for 2010 has been bestowed on Mark Zuckerberg because he has connected more than half a billion people and mapped the social relations among them; he has created a new system of exchanging information; and he has changed how we all live our lives. For all that Facebook is and Mark Zuckerberg has done for us in terms of insipiring us and exemplifying the mission here at Media Mafia Think Tank, we too salute you Mark Zuckerberg.

We concur with Time Magazine's choice Mark, and we have gone one step further by hereby declaring you the first ever Media Mafia Think Tank's Annual Capo Regio or 'Boss of the region', with the region being the entire digital media landscape. Salud!

Who Am I Online? and Who Owns Me?

2010-11-03T12:54:00.000-07:00

In the early days of the Internet, securing usernames, online handles and domains not related to your own persona was described as “cyber squatting” or “aliasing.” Back then I used my disc-jockey handle, Megamix, to claim e-mails on every free e-mail service provider from AOL.com to Prodigy.net. I then identified and secured dot com domains, not only for my DJ handle but for other DJ-related topics. Further, I wanted my DJ handle to be referenced everywhere someone was looking to hire a DJ. Today, in the world of substantially digital lifestyles, a sure grip on reputation management and personal branding are keystone requirements to professional individuals and companies alike.

Let’s begin with the basics of personal brand identity and reputation management. Social Media Strategist Ramsey Mohsen described personal branding as “identity management of associations, feelings, thoughts, perceptions, and attitudes toward an individual.” When performed well, personal branding can lead to trust building, increased credibility, new business opportunities and connections with like-minded people.

Digital personal brand identity is the same concept, but in the context of the hundreds of millions of content sources accessible through the Web. To visually summarize the concept of digital personal branding, check out this video from ybc.tv highlighting the major points. These ideas lay the groundwork for understanding reputation management and the need for a plan.

Reputation management is most often described as the effort associated with monitoring, tackling and reacting to search engine results or references in other areas of the vast digital landscape, particularly in the social media sphere. Every day friends, customers, potential customers, competitors, business partners, and even your own employees are shaping and influencing your personal or brand reputation online.

Warren Buffet once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” That was then. Nowadays, your reputation can be ruined in milliseconds with just one tweet. Buffet went on to add, “If you think about that, you will do things differently.” Part of doing things differently is the practice of actively managing your reputation. If you can answer “yes” to the question - Are you listening to what people are saying about you? - then you are already ahead of the game. Reputation management is about optimizing against what you are hearing and defending your brand identity in a proactive, not reactive, manner.

In a recent post by Sarah Kessler on Mashable, she cites that “in a world where almost 80% of hiring managers Google job candidates, it’s important to make sure that the people looking you up find you and not someone else with your namesake.”

When first establishing digital brand identity, consider several things to build the strongest brand. One consideration is to ensure three characteristics are inherent to your brand: authenticity, passion and consistency. I’m also an advocate for individuals maintaining a distinct personal brand separate from a career brand and Industry Analyst Jeremiah Owyang points out these distinctions well on his blog, Web Strategy. You must then define the objectives for each of your brands. Take an inventory of all of the traits you want associated with it. Assess and incorporate what makes the brand distinct from any other brand and finally, determine and accept what the brand is not. With these considerations under your belt, the next milestone is to formulate a plan that you can put to work.

Online Job Networking and A Positive Market Outlook

2010-09-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

PDN Co-Founder Jim Kirsch, and AMightyRiver.com Chief Community Officer, Kevin McFall discuss the positive job outlook as enabled through the power of online networking within diverse communities.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcchicago.com/video.

2010-02-18T12:13:00.001-08:00

What is Social Media?

View more presentations from Marta Kagan.

Join the Media Mafia Think Tank as we view the live streaming of ContentNext's PaidContent 2010 Conference

2010-02-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

Streaming begins at 8:15 a.m. Friday February 19th, 2010

paidcontent2010 on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Achieve iPhone App Stardom in 2 Minutes or Less

2010-01-25T09:43:00.000-08:00

The complexity and costs associated with developing and customizing an iPhone App has just been turned upside down. The team at PointAbout launched this week a revolutionary tool called AppMakr, which enables anyone to develop and publish simple iPhone applications in minutes.

Do you have an RSS feed of compelling and noteworthy content that some of the millions of iPhone users might be interested in seeing on their phones? If you do, you too can generate an iPhone application using AppMakr in a short amount of time with a reasonable amount of money. While we’ve seen similar incarnations of mobile and even web site generation tools, AppMakr provides a powerful capability in generating a viable iPhone experience despite all of the many complexities of creating these coveted utilities. AppMakr handles everything from the application icon and splash screens to the content detail and interaction screens and it even handles the associated touch screen navigational gestures for selecting, zooming and tapping through the content.

The workflow of generating the application is a straightforward process. One can start by simply providing a Web site URL or keyword query and then wait for the result which is in the form of a sample iPhone app built with that content in less than 30 seconds. One can then customize the app further by incorporating additional feeds from social media services like Twitter, Flickr or YouTube. The next step which is optional is to modify the graphic elements to reflect your branding and style guide. This includes the ability to tweak the content icons, splash screen and application tabs. If you are interested in generating a return on your investment, AppMakr also provides the opportunity to opt into one of their two current ad network partners or to B.Y.O.A.N. to serve ads into the resulting app. The video tutorial below provides a brief visual demonstration of just how easy the process is.

Finally, as you reach the end of the generation process, AppMakr gives you two options to publishing your application to the iTunes store. The first is to continue to build and publish using AppMakr, and the second is to publish the app to the iTunes store on your own, provided you have an iPhone application developer account. This is also where the price point changes from $199 to publish with PointAbout/Appmakr as the author when the app appears in iTunes, or to be able to specify your company as the author for $499 and have overall greater control of your application; for instance, being able to test it on an iPhone and not just an emulator first ,and just as important, having the ability to charge for the app if you’d like.
The overall assessment of AppMakr is that at the $200 price point, I would give it a B-minus. I doubt that if I had already taken the necessary steps and made the investment to become part of the iPhone developer program that I would find much value in this solution especially not for an additional $500, but that’s just Me, what do you think?

Notes from a True Media Mogul

2009-11-03T06:04:00.000-08:00

A great interview on The Business Insider about the sacrifices, drive and determination required to be a successful business leader in the media industry.

Impact of Convergence on the TV Industry

2009-08-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

The question was posed to me- "How will the merging of TV, the Internet, and phones/mobile devices affect the television industry? Is it still just the TV industry?

The TV industry is multi-faceted. If this question refers to the content producers, the impact will be extremely positive. The platform convergence along with the democratization of content creation will result in the continued leveling of the playing field and the emergence of great innovation in content, with lots more places to distribute.

From a TV service distribution standpoint, the impact will be the negative erosion of the subscriber base for cable and satellite companies who have not made broadband a staple offering among their bundles. According to a recent report from ChangeWave Research, among traditional TV viewers, 20% say they're likely to downgrade or cancel their current TV service package in the next 6 months. The likelihood of canceling is highest among Cable subscribers (22%) and Satellite subscribers (22%), and lowest among fiber-optic TV subscribers (7%). Finally, from a TV advertising standpoint beyond the targeting, contextual and behavioral tracking benefits the convergence will provide, there is an overall sentiment that audiences will be more likely to engage with a brand on an interactive platform than the would be with a traditional TV ad.

While Boomers clearly want to see fewer ads than they do with conventional broadcasting, 68% say they are willing to view at least some ads online.

Broadband video now represents a significant threat to traditional TV viewing. According to the ChangeWave Research Study:

69% of Boomers say they've watched video content on their computer over the past 90 days
48% of respondents say they'd be willing to pay a monthly fee for a Video-over-the-Internet subscription if it provided the same programming currently available on their TV service
79% watch YouTube.com as the leading online website Boomers use to watch video
39% TV Network Websites
16% Hulu.com
11% iTunes

From the perspective of the longtail, the number of choices may be too overwhelming to consume on some of these devices unless software, search, and other providers begin developing deeper personalization capabilities to enable consumers to only get what they want or need on these devices instead of the entire universe of offerings.

Lastly, I believe the convergence will ultimately continue to fragment the overall media landscape, not just the TV industry and its respective la familias- bada bing!

King of Hip Hop Expands Digital Strategy with Tricked Out D.O.A. Video

2009-07-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought the game had been fully revolutionized, Jay-Z returns with partner Klickable.tv to blaze a new trail in interactive video capabilities. You might remember when you heard that Jay-Z and LiveNation, the concert, ticketing and promotion firm, formed a multi-tiered partnership. Now Jay-Z collides with the wide world of web video, along with partner Klickable.tv, introducing a ground-breaking method of interacting with and further monetizing web video.

A quick visit to Roc4Life.com Jigga’s online base for all things Roc-a, won’t immediately lead you to the candy, but I’ve got your direct link here to the D.O.A. video tricked out with a lot of Klickable action. This appears to be a strong sign that a more in depth strategy is on the horizon for the Roc4Life site.

Your first reaction might be, yes I’ve seen videos with advertising overlays that allow me to click through to a landing page like I would be able to on any other rich media or display unit, that’s nothing new. That’s not what this capability delivers. Imagine MTV Pop-up videos meets interactivity and the web. Klickable’s technology is touted as being very simple and allows a user to take a video they’ve produced and designate interactive regions associated with the video, and then publish.

Klickable.com is a bootstrapped startup in New York who’s CEO and founder was recently interviewed on chubbybrain.com. In the interview, Roger Wu expands on the simplicity of the solution and the key differentiators which I think really make this a remarkable new offering. In fact, I took the liberty of summarizing for your from Roger’s interview, the top three most beneficial points that distinguish Klickable from other similar product offerings. They are in order of importance:

1. The technology is truly really simple and does not impact the original video in anyway; meaning you don’t have to re-edit your video to use Klickable.

2. The decision to interact with the video is purely up to the user. Nothing is forced on them like a typical ad. Mousing over the video or a publisher’s call out that the video is interactive (a la Jay-Z) are the only hints a user will get. Therefore, it is all about the user’s choice and can be a non-invasive experience.

3. You can designate any area of the video to integrate an interaction.

The bonus and most important benefit from a monetization standpoint is that the interactions can actually be ads. They could be ads that can be sold at a premium because the creative publisher can make them highly contextual and they are all user-initiated.

So as you join Jay-Z to celebrate the “Death-of-Autotune”, and learn more facts than you would have ever imagined about the actual video, including cameo appearances, product placements and other key facts, take the Klickable solution along for a ride from a user perspective then ask yourself where has this tool been all of your video publishing life?

RushmoreDrive.com Search Engine Founders interviewed on FOX Charlotte

2009-03-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

On Barack Obama and the use of Digital Media

2008-11-06T14:26:00.000-08:00

The use of digital was a key element in the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America and a historic moment in which America has also elected it's first African American in the President.

The web site, mobile messaging, online video, online donor programs and more all contributed to build a strong grassroots effort.

Comcast's vision...social networking from your set top box?

2008-05-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

We love to network online, and we love cable TV, but what the hell does the nation's largest cable company want with a social networking tool? The acquisition of Plaxo by Comcast, could quite possibly revolutionize the effort to converge the digital living room with the PC.

This could also be a play to bolster the value proposition of Comcast.net, the company's destination for it's cable modem service subscribers. My question is how many subscribers ever take advantage of anything other than an email address from their ISPs? This was the whole premise for bringing down the walled garden of access model that once buoyed AOL to 24 million subscribers. People want the Internet in no uncertain terms. The don't want to be inhibited on their to it either. It is a broad universe of content and utilities that have already been set free by millions of publishers. Why then would a cable company want to acquire a networking tool like Plaxo? It has to be a bigger more grand plan than the obvious addition of uniting comcast.net subscribers.

"They had to be thinking of a master plan - dance with the record, dance with the record-

Thinking of a master plan...this ain't nothing but sweat inside my hands"; sorry I had a "Paid in Full" moment there. Comcast has a plan that will enable cable box subscribers to perform social networking functions across cable boxes, which while novel is already in play with TiVo, tv tuner enabled laptops and more. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe their motive is more innocent than that. Maybe they are more or even less visionary, but whichever the case, it is Comcast, a media behemoth in the making. Keep your eyes on this savvy and resource rich firm. What do you think of Comcast's acquisition of Plaxo? What does this acquisition mean to you, the Black Web early adopter?

TWE*NTY**ONE - Hollywood won't go bust ...they get Digital Media!

2008-03-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hollywood's Adoption of Digital Media to promote it's products deserves many accolades and this post is one such acknowledgment of the job they are doing. In promoting the Sony Pictures release '21', Sony has done a fantastic job of not only producing an intriguing movie, but they have also constructed a killer digital campaign!

From widgets, to gaming, and a live webcast of the world premiere of the movie scheduled for March 12th, 2008, Sony has put the full digital monty to work.

Examples include:
The 21 Game Widget:

New chinks in the chain at LinkedIn

2008-02-25T19:48:00.000-08:00

The jury may still be out on this, but the LinkedIn home page as been completely redesigned.

It boasts a much better organized information architecture, particularly for navigating to inbox, profile, contacts, groups. Additionally it provides a nice and concise snapshot view of the user's profile with profile photo, # of contacts, and a summary of the number of views in a given week.

It is the middle of the page which gets a bit diluted for me. The Inbox most recent 5 messages I get; however, it is the box below which contains a summary of news feeds for a company that is at the bottom of my profile and really not pertinent or newsworthy right now, and there is no intuitive way to change this that I can find right now. I struggle with why I need it at all on my home page. It is followed by Network Updates, which has proven very useful and insightful and something I would value seeing higher in the hierarchy of information on my home page.

Finally in the right rail is a part-time house promo ad highlighting some of the other new features including LinkedIn tips, as well as the new LinkedIn mobile (http://m.LinkedIn.com).
More importantly, what follows is what I would have expected for the center body of content, which is an AJAX enabled set of modules/widgets that I can move around, reorder, add and subtract to this rail. Perhaps as this whole page is noted as being beta capability that maybe the flexibility of the rest of the page is coming....bada-boom, bada-bing!

HD DVD is Swimming with the Fishes (R.I.P. 2002 – 2008)

2008-02-19T19:26:00.000-08:00

The battle has been won. To the victors, in this case Sony, go the spoils. Toshiba this week announced it was pulling the plug on it’s HD DVD format which had been embattled against Sony’s Blu-Ray HD format.

The tipping point seems to have been last month’s abandonment of the HD format by Warner Bros. Entertainment, the top DVD publisher, followed by Wal-mart’s decision to no longer carry DVDs in the HD format in their stores.

Toshiba's decision to no longer develop, manufacture, or market HD DVD players and recorders at one point had bolstered the company’s stock, although what lies ahead for the company and the consumers who invested in the technology is unclear.

(See AP video story)

The big question however is what will be the impact on Toshiba’s other product lines? The company has a fairly deep commitment to the HD DVD product line. This includes HD DVD integration into some of its laptop PCs, and external drive accessories. The company now has the challenge of liquidating their surplus inventory, and dealing with irate consumers who bought the HD DVD player/recorders. This demonstrates again the need for hardware manufacturers to collaborate on compatible formats instead of those that are mutually exclusive and proprietary. For companies like Toshiba, this circumstance clearly impacts profitability. For the consumer, it means early adoption is extremely risky and delays reasonable adoption rates.

Eye-d's Wide Open - The rapid rise of OpenID

2008-01-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

ReadWriteWeb writer Emre Sokullu earlier this month posted a great article about the Big 3's consideration of adopting the OpenID single sign on standard. Even up until today rumors were rampant that Google was mulling over adoption. However, today with one fell swoop, it is Yahoo who jumped on board, tripling the number of users that will now operate on the OpenID platform.

An excerpt from from TechCrunch notes that: Yahoo and its roughly 250 million user IDs officially jump on the bandwagon today 1/17/2008. Previously, there were only approximately 120 million valid OpenID accounts. In one move, Yahoo more than triples that number. The service will be available in public beta on January 30, says Yahoo (see openid.yahoo.com), and will allow users to log in to more than 9,000 OpenId compliant websites with their Yahoo IDs. Yahoo will also be integrating their Sign-In Seal feature, meaning users can view an uploaded image before giving over credentials - the feature is widely used by financial institutions and is designed to reduce the effectiveness of phishing attempts. Yahoo is also announcing that both Plaxo and JanRain will allow Yahoo OpenID sign-ins from January 30.

A Retrospective on the OpenID contemplation by the Big 3

The big idea in OpenID is providing a decentralized single sign-on platform. Single sign-on is not a new notion however. Almost all the internet giants, like Yahoo, Google and MSN, use single sign-on across their properties to lower the threshold of accessing their services and to create a competitive advantage. The reason they do this is that signing up is actually a big barrier to entry for users of web apps. Users feel more comfortable when they don't have to sign up to use an app - it's much easier to give it a try and it's less time-consuming to start using it. That's why most web sites today try to keep sign up process as short as possible. Here's a graph which illustrates this:

From this point of view, OpenID can be seen to resemble Yahoo - the biggest single sign-on strategy player in the history of the Internet.

Obviously Yahoo saw this resemblance as well and rose to the occasion of adopting this standard that takes a giant step forward in creating a more seamless landscape across the Internet - Bada bing, bada-boom!

The Blair Witch project meets I Am Legend = Cloverfield

2008-01-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

M-Squared T-Squared takes a dive off the deep end with today’s post and explores the advances of digital media in the production of what could be a true blockbuster movie event in 2008. The name of the movie is Cloverfield and as the title implies the story is one that is easily compared to the box-office record setting I Am Legend, and the now classic “The Blair Witch Project”.

What is most relevant to us is the fact that this is a movie which plays on the low barriers to entry of movie making which have been able through the advances of digital media and technology.

To get a sense of what the movie is all about, and to validate our claim, tip toe through the cloverfield via this trailer…..

Now, that you’re back what did you think? Will you go see this film which is clearly targeted to the same audience which is glued to their digital device screens as much as they are to the edge of their seats during a thrilling movie experience?
The Media Mafia wants to know…..!

Bebo...Are You On the #1 Social Network?

2008-01-08T15:49:00.000-08:00

According to UK computing magazine Computer Which? Bebo was ranked the number one social networking destination on the web over Facebook and MySpace.

http://www.reuters.com/news/video/videoStory?videoId=73908

Do we really care about another place we have to create or make a new list of friends? Or another destination for online self-expression and weak lines for hooking up? Or maybe we can find solstice in knowing that 2008 will provide us with a new wave of "SocialNextworking".

Tell us what you think or find your Facebook profile updated to a new image of pushing daisies or wearing a new pair of Ferragamo cement shoes ;-)

\*/ The Media Mafia Think Tankers

Is Wikia the new and right heir to the search throne?

2008-01-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

From the mouths of a co-founder of Wikipedia comes firsthand perspective about their new search engine Wikia....''We want to make it really clear that when people arrive and do searches, they should not expect to find a Google killer,'' Mr. Wales said. Instead, people who use the Wikia search engine should understand that they are part of the early stages of a project to build a '' Google-quality search engine,'' Jimmy Wales said in an interview with the New York Times.

What do you think about the Alpha release of Wikia? Now available at:

alpha.search.wikia.com/

The Media Mafia Think Tank needs you to fess up...Bada Bing!

Forbes Digital Media Industry M&A Forecast in '08

2008-01-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

Web Company Sale!

By Wendy Tanaka - Forbes.com - 1/4/08 - What is Plaxo thinking?

The struggling electronic address book company has reportedly put itself up for sale and is seeking as much as $100 million--a hefty sum that conjures bad memories of inflated dot-com valuations.

Industry experts say $100 million is likely too steep a price for Plaxo, but the company couldn't have picked a better time to shop itself around as tech giants and big media are on the prowl for next-generation technologies that will help them stay competitive and survive. Plaxo declined to comment.

Former News Corp. (nyse: NWS) executive Ross Levinsohn predicts that there will be more Web 2.0 acquisitions this year than in 2007, but the deal sizes will be relatively small compared to those of the go-go '90s. "I see a lot of interest in sub-$50 million deals versus $200 and $300 million" deals, he says. "In the Internet space, you'll probably see more deals as traditional media gets more and more enthralled with digital media. They're all trying to figure it out."

Among the Web 2.0 deals last year were MySpace's acquisition of Web application developer Flektor for $20 million, and CBS (nyse: CBS ) snapping up video blog Wallstrip for $5 million. Levinsohn, now a partner at Velocity Interactive Group, expects some big deals, too. He speculated that Monster.com could be up for sale and IAC/InterActive, which split into five companies last year, could sell off a unit or two in 2008.

Besides Plaxo, many other Web 2.0 companies--including social networks Digg and Bebo, and application developer iLike--are also said to be looking around for suitors. Bebo didn't deny rumors that it wants to be acquired, but says it hired a bank to "potentially" raise another round of funding. Still, getting acquired is "in the back of the minds of every company," says Toby Murdock, co-founder of music application developer Qloud.

The truth is, all companies--especially those that have sucked in millions of dollars from venture capital firms--need to sell or go public to make money for their investors. In fact, many Web 2.0 start-ups were created for the express purpose of being acquired in a short period of time. "There's a generation of entrepreneurs that are focused on building and selling, and they love doing it," Levinsohn says.

Look for the usual tech and media acquisition machines--Google (nasdaq: GOOG), Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO), Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT ), News Corp., IAC and Disney--to keeping rolling up companies this year. Less obvious big names could join the fray as well. One venture capitalist suggests that Nokia (nyse: NOK) or Amazon.com (nasdaq: AMZN ), for instance, could be interested in Plaxo. "If you're Nokia, you want to integrate with Outlook and the Web," he says. "Amazon could use it as a gift reminder service."

Whether or not Plaxo gets acquired, one thing is certain: The Web 2.0 space will continue to be the center of attention in the fast-changing media landscape.

There's a New Sheriff at Tribune Company, and his name is Sam Zell

2007-12-20T12:47:00.000-08:00

Sam Zell not only completed the going private transaction of Tribune Company, he also takes over the helm as CEO in January, 2008. He indicated in a press conference today, that his message is that there is a new sheriff in town, and he's bringing more revenue and relevance to Tribune; not to mention he reiterated that he is selling America's most pathetic, yet beloved baseball teams - The Chicago Cubs.

Besides joking about turning the Freedom Center (Printing plant of the Chicago Tribune Newspaper) into a floating Casino, he did make two key executive appointments to the company and several new appointments to the Board of Directors.

The executive additions are Randy Michaels as executive vice president and chief executive officer of Interactive and Broadcasting, and Gerald A. Spector as executive vice president and chief administrative officer.

Michaels, 55, was formerly CEO of Local TV, LLC, a company that acquired television stations formerly owned by New York Times Company. He has more than 37 years in media, including his role as president and chief executive officer at Jacor, which merged with Clear Channel Communications in 1999. As CEO, Michaels grew Clear Channel from 425 to 1200 stations in just three years.

Spector, 61, previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Equity Residential. Prior to that role, he was COO of Equity Group Investments. Spector has more than 35 years of experience in bringing various financial and real estate companies within Zell’s organization to operational excellence. He remains on the board of trustees of Equity Residential as vice chairman.

Among his small but evolving activities as the impending CEO, he took pride in influencing the decision for Chicago Tribune to begin including the URL on the front page of the newspaper. This lends itself to his strong interest in driving tight integration between broadcast, print, and online. He promises a new EGI-Tribune and one with a digital future.

Disclaimer: I am a former shareholder of Tribune Company (TRB).

Dominance Disguised as an Android

2007-11-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

As Google continues to grow, is it their intent to hide their continued dominance under the thin veil of Open Source?

This week, Google unveiled an alliance (Open Handset Alliance) with 33 companies to make new software available free of charge to power mobile phones that will hit the market in the second half of 2008. Last week Google unveiled the alliance around it's Open Social social networking platform.

If this isn't a smart company I don't know what is. Strategic partnerships are integral to each of Google's viable (read non-beta) product/service launches.

Not too mention that the wireless landscape is in need of a huge disruptor like the Android platform proposes itself to be - a low cost, flexible, and hardware agnostic platform.

On Open Social

GigaOm's Om Malik points out that Google's entire business model depends on information being public--search is just a tool used to glean more information about us so the company can serve more targeted advertising. The idea behind OpenSocial is more of the same: provide free tools for (developers in this case) to create free, open software and then help developers monetize their programs through AdSense. Therefore, Google doesn't really have to get into the social networking game.

Well the case is that Google only has to dip their toe into the Social Networking game in order to have significant influence over the social networking space in terms of monetizing the output of capabilities develop using their 'standard' of OpenSocial.

Perhaps I am can easily now be lumped in with those calling Google the evil empire, but I challenge everyone with the question, "What is that threshold when it becomes too much control for one organization to have over the advertising distribution mechanisms for every media including digital, known to mankind?"

Net Video this week...Hulu Beta, BestBuy's Mydeo, & GetYourFlow.com launch

2007-11-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

Hulu Beta is upon us. Rave reviews prevail. Do you have your Beta account yet? The programmers who revolted against YouTube's disruptive offering are flocking to the Hulu platform in hopes of continuing to control distribution of their content. Is this what consumer's really want? Another BIG media controlled distribution outlet!?! We know content owners are definitely coming out of the wood works, making the proposition of Hulu something to closely watch. Hulu.com

Best Buy launches as a 1.0 entry into user generated video using the Mydeo white label solution, taking the application almost verbatim. The price point is actually mind-numbing. Why they decided to put a $7 price tag for 100 minutes of video, when users can easily and freely create channels on a host of other user generated video destinations, we may never know.
Mydeo.com

Lastly, a great independent effort at getyourflow.com. Flow is a music podcasting site that features live music performances from hot New York City venues as well as music videos submitted by independent artists from all over the world. All the content there is free. They've attempted to create meta data around the videos, audio tracks, artist, and related web news. All the viral options exist as well. When you can't be on the NYC music scene, this could indeed be the next best thing to being there. GetYourFlow.com

The Media Mafia is Back for Fall 2007!

2007-10-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Ready with our digital media thinking caps back on, the Media Mafia Think Tank is back after a long hiatus striving for a bigger and better slice of the digital media pie.
We have a lot more to discuss than we did more than two years ago, and we are ready to get to it and hope that you are too!

We are already adopting this as the early edge of Web 3.0. The era of online video (redux), Ajax, widgets, gadgets and iPhones, social networking platforms and more. We continue to be at an extremely exciting time, and the discussion about the emerging trends we hope will be engaging, insightful, and inspiring calls to action to apply strategy and tactics that leverage the lessons of digital business successes and failures for the benefit of a whole new generation of digital media trailblazers...We Are The Media Mafia!

On the 'latest' (2007 - 2008) future of AOL...A portal no more

2007-10-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

While the Falco strategy of building out a full fledge advertising network ('a la Platform 'A') and abandoning the notion of being a portal play, might have wings for the next 6 months, one still has to realize that online and other media channels are still incredibly fragmented, which means advertisers trying to optimize their ad spends will still have a hell of a time trying to figure out where to buy.

Wireless, cable, broadcast, TiVo, news print (yes, I said it - still a viable spend), outdoor/transportation, radio, the bellys of pregnant women, the options for reaching eyeballs is ever increasing and just because you seek to amass broadbased inventory online alongside user generated content and a funky margin mix with ad network affiliates, this strategy will not guarantee success. Besides does anyone remember what happens to advertising when a recession hits!?! The cliche’ “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket” comes to mind.

A recent acquisition sets the stage for the MMTT emerging business concept.

2005-06-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

This story is all encompassing of what is currently under development by your media mafia think tank founder. Study it closely as it will be central to understanding the concept.

eBay puts Shopping.com in its cart
by David Shabelman Jun-1-2005 - TheDeal.com

Online auctioneer eBay Inc. expanded its offerings Wednesday, June 1, with the acquisition of online comparison shopping service Shopping.com Ltd. for $620 million cash.
Shopping.com lets users search for an item, then provides links to Web sites that sell the product and to consumer reviews. The company makes money by charging merchants a referral fee after a user clicks through to the merchant’s site. According to terms of the deal, San Jose-based eBay will pay $21 a share for Shopping.com – a 20% premium to its closing price of $17.44 on Wednesday. eBay spokesman Hani Durzy said the company approached Shopping.com regarding an acquisition, and the deal came together quickly once the companies realized they made a good fit.

“We are always seeking to help our community of sellers evolve as they grow their businesses,” Durzy said. “What we think this does is give eBay sellers a new, and we hope complementary sales channel as well as a new set of buyers. From a buyer’s point of view, people who come to Shopping.com, their shopping experience will be enhanced by the inclusion of eBay listings to the selection of product already available to them.”

According to comScore Media Metrix, Shopping.com was the third most trafficked online retail site in April, with 63.8 million unique visitors, trailing only Amazon.com Inc. of Seattle with 129.9 million unique visitors and eBay itself with 165 million unique visitors. comScore data also reveals that 13.8 million users visited both Shopping.com and eBay in April. Whereas 22% of eBay visitors also visited Shopping.com sites in April, 61% of Shopping.com visitors also used eBay.

“It makes a lot of sense for both companies because of the similarities between their business models,” said Richard Fetyko, research analyst with Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. in New York. “eBay has created an online exchange of goods, but they’re not a retailer, they’re just facilitating the sale of goods on their site. So this is essentially a similar concept. Shopping.com doesn’t sell products on their own, they allow merchants to advertise and sell goods on the Web site.”
Shopping.com is based in Brisbane Calif. and Netanya, Israel. It went public in October 2004 at $18 a share, gaining 60% in its first day of trading to close at $28.80. The stock traded as high as $33.95 in November, but fell below $12 in May due to a combination of factors, according to Fetyko, including market conditions, higher-than-expected expansion costs in France and Germany, and accelerated selling once the stock went below its $18 offer price.
“It probably shouldn’t have been at $30, but it wasn’t a $13 stock,” Fetyko said. “The truth is somewhere in between, which is where eBay bought it.”

Fetyko said there were rumors before Shopping.com went public that Google Inc. was interested in the property, and he said it was possible Google could still get involved in bidding for the company. The two companies currently have a distribution agreement.
Matthew L’Heureux, George Lee and David Fishman of Goldman Sachs served as financial adviser to eBay, while David Poppowitz, Jonathan Turner and Ethan Zweig, James Kim, David Keh and Mike Jensen of Credit Suisse First Boston served as financial advisers to Shopping.com.
Keith Flaum, Jane Ross and Wei Chen of Cooley Godward LLP in Palo Alto, Calif. served as outside legal advisers to eBay. Gordon Davidson, David Michaels, Cynthia Clarfield Hess, Gregory Roussel, and Garth Bossow of Fenwick & West LLP’s Mountain View, Calif. office served as outside counsel to Shopping.com.

Shopping.com was formed in March 2003 through a merger of shopping site DealTime Ltd. and consumer review and ratings Web site Epinions. DealTime had plans to go public in 2000 before withdrawing its registration statement amid Internet industry turmoil.
In 2004, the company reported net income of $12.2 million on revenues of $99 million versus net income of $6.9 million on revenues of $67 million in 2003. It reported net income of $3.9 million on revenues of $28.9 million in the first quarter of 2005. The company has $140 million in cash and securities.

2005-05-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

Straying off the beaten path a little bit, I wanted to post a note that serves as a different kind of catalyst for formulation of a business opportunity. It is the basic premise of marketing as many academicians would refer to it. It is the Four P's:

PRODUCT

PRICE

PROMOTION

PLACE

Product - is/are the products or services you offer and are they unique, superior, easier to use.

Price - is how much to sell your products for, based on your cost and value to potential customers.

Promotion - is communicating to potential customers to create an awareness of your business.

Place - your business location and methods of distributing your products.

Thinking about new media opportunities by applying the principles of marketing, what can you conceive as a readily marketable opportunity for us to pursue?
-KM

USA Today article looking ahead at the Net and Entertainment

2005-05-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

Article and graphics were too much to replicate here so instead, please visit follow the link to read this must read article.

USA Today article: What's ahead for Net, digital entertainment

Synopsis: USA Today assembled a panel of representatives from various facets of media to go through a Q & A on the topic of media everywhere created by anyone. Because technology has enabled anyone to create content / media, what impact will that have (and has already had) on big business, small business, the consumer and everything in between? Additionally the panel discusses a phrase that has recently been coined called "long-tail" to which there is a definition included in the article, and to which I think has a lot of merit in terms of assessing how to break-out from under the overwhelming amount of media already available and provide something compelling for a well-defined and high profile niche audience.

Enjoy the article and don't forget to post your comments.
Thanks,
KM

Broadband becomes real promo channel for Movie Industry

2005-05-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Ray - Didn't you think of this 2 years ago?
-------------------------------------------
Fox Raises Curtain on Five-Film Promotion
SOURCE: › › › ClickZ News
By Kevin Newcomb | May 2, 2005

Twentieth Century Fox will promote five upcoming films using an interactive broadband video channel, which was developed with rich media technology player Maven Networks.

The first promotion, which launches today, is for Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven", starring Orlando Bloom. Promotions for "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and "Fantastic Four" are planned for this summer. Two additional promotions are slated for early 2006.

The broadband channel allows users to view full-screen video trailers, behind-the-scenes video clips and interviews with the actors. Users can share clips with their friends, purchase tickets in advance and view a full-screen, interactive photo gallery or check out other trailers for upcoming movie releases from Fox.

"Today's promotional campaigns have to combine traditional and online awareness methods in order to reach target audiences," said Jeffrey Godsick, EVP of marketing for 20th Century Fox. "The content is so compelling that it commands strong pass-along among fans and drives more impulse purchases of movie tickets online."

Because it is a five-film deal, Fox will be able to re-market to users with whom it already has a relationship, driving deeper relationships with its customers. Also, because of the duration of the deal, Fox will be able to market DVDs for this summer's movies to users through the same channel.

"This is proactive marketing, bringing the experience to the user," said Hilmi Ozguc, Maven's CEO. "It's a way to continue reaching out to them, on their schedule, that creates a visitor experience akin to television."

The experience is more interactive than television, in that marketers can add a layer over the video with links to more content within the application or on a Web site, he added.

Instead of streaming the video as it's being watched, the content is downloaded over a period of time while the user is doing other things. Once all the content is saved to the user's hard drive, a window pops up to alert the user that the latest content is available to view. Maven's software is fully DRM-enabled, so a marketer can choose to allow users to save or share content without limits, to limit by time or number of shares, or to fully restrict saving and sharing.

Maven's technology can provide marketers with analytics like time spent with the application and pass-along, as well as detailed data on clickpaths and where the user's mouse rested.

Fox previously used Maven's technology to drive exposure for last year's "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," a promotion that led users to return to the desktop channel an average of 3.6 times to view video trailers and behind the scenes footage that was automatically delivered over a three month period leading up to the film's release.

For the "Master and Commander" promotion, Fox found that nearly 22 percent of visitors clicked through to check local showtimes, while 12 percent purchased tickets online through the desktop channel. Users also spent an average of 15 minutes watching behind the scenes footage or listening to interviews with the movie's stars.

Advertising continues to make the Internet World go round! 2004 & 2005 33%+ Growth!

2005-04-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Internet Ad Spending Soars To $9.6 Billion
by Wendy Davis, Friday, Apr 29, 2005 7:00 AM EST

ONLINE ADVERTISING REVENUES FOR THE year climbed to a new record of $9.6 billion--up 33 percent from 2003, and 19 percent from the previous record of $8.1 billion in 2000--according to a report released Thursday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Web ad revenues for the last three months of the year contributed $2.69 to the annual total, representing a 24 percent increase from the $2.18 online ad spend in the fourth quarter of 2003.

Yearly revenues climbed for the major categories of online advertising: search, which grew to $3.9 billion from $2.5 billion in 2003; display and sponsorhip, which climbed to $2.6 billion from $2.3 billion; classifieds, up to $1.7 billion from $1.2 billion; and rich media advertising, weighing in at $963 million, up from $727 million.

"It's all very good news," said Greg Stuart, president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. "In the past, growth was led by search and classified," he said. "Now that display is going strong, you've got growth on all cylinders."

eMarketer researcher David Hallerman added that online advertising was poised for another banner year in 2005. eMarketer projects 33.7 percent growth this year, he said.

Still, online advertising revenue accounts for just 3.4 percent of total ad spending--more than business magazines and outdoor ads, but less than consumer magazines, television, direct mail, and other traditional media.

The report also disclosed that year-over-year, search advertising grew to 40 percent of the total online ad spend--up from 35 percent the year before--while display ads accounted for 19 percent, down from 21 percent in 2003. The share of classified ads increased to 18 percent from 17 percent, while rich media remained static at 10 percent.

Revenues from advertising purchased on a cost-per-thousand impression basis accounted for 42 percent of the total online ad spend for the year--down from 43 percent in 2003--while pay-for-performance ads accounted for 41 percent of 2004 revenues, up from 37 percent the prior year. Hybrid models represented 17 percent of 2004 revenues, down from 20 percent in 2003.
Consumer ads in the retail, car, entertainment, leisure, and packaged goods categories surged to 49 percent of the online ad spend from 37 percent in 2003. Computing ads fell off to 18 percent of the total--from 20 percent the year before--while financial services ads increased to 17 percent from 12 percent.

Within the consumer category, retail ads represented 40 percent of the total, while car ads accounted for 19 percent; entertainment was responsible for 13 percent; leisure ads came to 16 percent; and packaged goods accounted for 7 percent.

As in prior years, the vast majority of money--71 percent in 2004--went to the top 10 ad sellers, such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and America Online, and eBay.

©2005 MediaPost Communications. All rights reserved.

Why the Internet can be like a TV network

2005-04-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

Let's "Open" Online Video for Business
by Chris Young (CEO, KLIPMART.com), Monday, April 25, 2005
I HAD DINNER LAST NIGHT with a good friend, Bill Caspare. After we ordered some pasta, we got to talking about one of our favorite topics the fifth network, you know CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, and the Internet. Every site on the Internet is an affiliate of this fifth network.

Guys like Todd Herman at MSN, George Stewart at Yahoo!, and Tom Bosco at AOL are quickly positioning their organizations to offer up the potential of the fifth network along with a slew of other affiliates like ESPN and iFilm to name a few.

While the optimist in me likes to think we are well on the way to the fifth network getting is share of the media mix, the realist knows that there are problems that we must fix first with in stream advertising to make it powerful and scalable to the level of its more mature in banner brother.

Among the challenges the online video industry needs to address with regards to in stream advertising are: limited content, limited inventory, no ad management, no frequency control, no inventory forecasting/volume control, and too many multiple video players. That seems like an insurmountable list, but in many areas progress is rapid. For example, video content is growing from a combination of repurposed TV video and original video shot expressly for Web audiences. We still need more and will see it as the viral effect continues. That effect? A video clip seen once on CNN was accessed 5 million times online.

Right now, big brand advertisers can't scale their messages across the vastness of the Internet audience because many early-adopters have instituted video player systems that are specific to their networks or sites. While each might get a high mark for individual performance, they all get low grades for "plays well with others." If we are to attract advertisers looking for vast online reach and frequency we can't block the road by asking them to encode their video differently to meet the specs of many different video players. A single and industry standard video code would enable us to provide users with a universal tag so we can track who is watching what, where, and for how long. We can then also control reach and frequency, enable more precise ad targeting, provide ad rotation, and even optimize for connection speed.

What this industry needs is an 'open' ad delivery/management protocol so that a streaming video spot (or simple Flash ad) can play within any player and optimize size and display quality based on user player dynamics.

I'm not sure what the magic technical solution is, but once in stream becomes part of the mainstream ad inventory delivery/management process for publishers, usage will rise as will demand for streaming video content, especially among portals with high concentration of broadband and at-work users.

(c) 2005 MediaPost Communications, 16 W. 19th St., New York, NY 10011

PODCAST Guidance: Where to go to hear or be heard in the MP3 revolution

2005-04-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

This post is to encourage you to visit some of the existing directories of PODCASTs that have been established.
www.podcast.net
www.ipodder.org
www.podcastalley.com
www.podcastbunker.com
www.podcastcentral.com
www.digitalpodcast.com

Additionally, the following sites, provide a bit of "How To" Podcast information:www.podcastLab.com
www.engadget.com/entry/5843952395227141/
www.feedforall.com
www.podscribe.com
www.PodCastRadioShow.com
www.soniclear.com/ApplicationNotes/Podcasting.html

Please post if you have an iPod and are up for trying to create a PodCast.
Thanks,
KM

Satellite Radio & PodCasting Growth Forecast

2005-04-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

Forrester Research Defines The Future Of Digital Audio - New Report Forecasts Growth Of Satellite Radio And Podcasting

Cambridge, Mass., April 12, 2005 . . . Digital audio formats, like satellite radio, online radio, and podcasting - subscription-based programming that is pushed to MP3 players - are creating new business models and opportunities in radio and the music industry. According to "The Future Of Digital Audio," a new report from Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR), 20.1 million US households will listen to satellite radio, and 12.3 million US households will use their MP3 players to listen to audio podcasts by the end of the decade.

"Consumers want to listen to what they want, when they want, on the device of their choosing. New formats like online radio and podcasting, where downloadable content is sent directly to an MP3 player, give consumers more programming and ultimate flexibility," says Forrester Research Vice President Ted Schadler. "If radio and music executives can successfully shift their thinking to embrace new audio delivery methods, both industries will benefit from new revenue streams and increased consumer loyalty over the next several years."

To succeed in today's fragmented, consumer-driven market, radio should take note of the lessons learned in the TV industry when cable entered its programming mix. According to Forrester, music and radio executives must adopt subscription-based models, on-demand delivery, and ad targeting strategies for radio to successfully maximize its new formats. For example, in addition to rolling out high-definition (HD) radio, broadcasters like Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting should move quickly to both ad- and subscription-supported online delivery and subscription-based programming and services to HD receivers to accommodate varied consumer demand.

The radio industry will also contend with increased ad skipping as the adoption of TiVo-like digital radio recorders (DRRs) increases. Improved ad measurement capabilities online and offline will ease some of the ad industry's concerns by enabling it to target specific listeners.

"The Future Of Digital Audio" includes a forecast of US digital audio adoption from 2004 to 2010. Sample data points and analysis include:

Satellite radio reached 4.5 million subscribers by the end of 2004, up more than 150 percent from 2003. In order to grow steadily beyond 2010 - when satellite's prime market segment (higher-income, entertainment-oriented, technology-optimistic households) will become saturated - satellite radio providers should consider offering multitier subscriptions to reach the more than 85 percent of US households that fall outside this wealthier, early-adopter segment.
Online radio (streaming audio) will continue to grow as portals like AOL, Yahoo!, and MSN increase programming and traditional broadcasters move portions of their programming online, reaching 30 percent of all US households and close to 50 percent of US households with broadband by 2010.
Podcasting, which is the newest entrant into the digital audio mix, will see significant growth by 2010 - reaching 12.3 million households - as MP3 adoption climbs and broadband reaches 62 percent of households.
HD radio will bring high-definition broadcasting to AM/FM radio, offering additional programming and features like traffic information integrated with onboard navigation systems and program guides that give DVR-like control to radio. HD radio growth will lag satellite but will pick up speed as broadcasters embrace the technology and HD receivers drop in price. Forrester estimates that HD radio will reach 9.7 million US households by 2010.
"The Future Of Digital Audio" is available to WholeView 2(tm) clients and can be found at www.forrester.com.

Forrester is an independent technology research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice about technology's impact on business. Business, marketing, and IT professionals worldwide collaborate with Forrester to align their technology investments with their business goals. Forrester offers products and services in four major areas: Research, Data, Consulting, and Community. Established in 1983, Forrester is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. For additional information, visit www.forrester.com.

Upcoming & Relevant Conferences

2005-03-17T16:44:00.000-08:00

Podcast & Portable Media Expo, Nov 11-12, 2005

Podcast & Portable Media Expo showcases the present and future of portable content with demonstration exhibits and conference sessions devoted to creating, editing, delivering, viewing and profiting from unique audio and video media.
The complete conference program will include three distinct tracks during both days of the show, each featuring a combination of keynotes, expert panel discussions and other educational sessionsâ€”including audience Q&A.
Topics will include areas of interest for those who create content, those who monetize content and those behind the technology of delivering the content.
Find out more by calling Tim Bourquin at 949-488-2407 or 800-485-0422 or visit: http://www.PodcastExpo.com

April 19-20: Wireless Ventures 2005, San Francisco

VentureWire Events: We will focus in great depth on revenue and profit generation strategies as well as on the technologies, services, and products in some hot sectors like Carrier Products, Mobile Content, Enabling Technology, Wi-Fi & Cellular, and Wireless Messaging, among others. Bookmark wireless-ventures.com and don''t miss our regular speaker and agenda updates.

April 19-20: Digital Marketing Conference & Expo, NYC | Main | April 20-22: World Telemedia 2005, Prague

Investment Cuts to Internet Hurt Media Companies

2005-03-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

Cuts to 'Net Investment Hurt Media

New York Newsday

BY JAMES T. MADORE. STAFF WRITER

March 14, 2005

Faced with declining audiences for their traditional products, daily newspapers, television stations and other mainstream media aren't spending enough money on what could be their salvation: their Web sites, according to a new study.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism found there have been significant cuts in Web news operations since 2001 compared with traditional newsrooms. The reductions occurred even as Internet traffic soared and some experts predicted the future of traditional news organizations, in particular newspapers, could be in cyberspace.

The Washington-based think tank blamed the Web cutbacks in part on pressure from Wall Street for higher profits from media companies, many of which are struggling to maintain their audience share. Most sites continue to lose money while advertising revenues are tiny compared with those generated by papers and television, the study found.

"If online news increasingly appears central to journalism's future, the question of newsroom investment becomes critical in looking ahead," said Tom Rosenstiel, the project's director and principal author of the State of the News Media 2005, due out this morning.

"Indicators in 2004 suggested that if organizations are investing at all, they are doing so cautiously ... The risk is we will cede the audience that's growing online to competitors who aren't journalists," he said.

Rosenstiel and others said cuts in Web newsrooms have meant less original content and fewer updates, along with a reluctance to embrace new technologies that allow for video reports, blogs and greater interactivity. MSNBC.com, for example, has reduced the number of stories compiled by staff from wire reports and other sources. And some papers' sites consist of little more than what has been in the print editions, Rosenstiel said.

He cited a poll, conducted last spring by the Pew Center for the People and the Press, that found 62 percent of Internet journalists had seen a reduction in their newsroom staff compared with 37 percent of traditional journalists.

"The investment in online news was never huge and it hasn't maintained itself. If money is being spent, it is for machines, not people," Rosenstiel said.

The top five news sites during the first 10 months of last year were CNN, Yahoo, MSNBC, America Online and newspaper publisher Gannett Co., according to the 617-page study. Two of the sites aren't from journalism organizations, and together with Google News, account for much of the growth in online traffic.

Traditional media's reluctance to spend large sums on their Web newsrooms will result in mediocre coverage that drives audiences elsewhere, said Rosenstiel, causing the companies to eventually become irrelevant.

Such conclusions received a mixed reaction from news organizations and trade groups.

Tom Regan, executive director of the Online News Association, acknowledged that Web newsrooms are smaller today than during the boom years of the late 1990s. But he said the reductions are due primarily to improved technology that has eliminated the need for journalists to write computer code to post their stories on the Internet.

"Young people look at the computer the way you and I look at TV," Regan said. "They see the content, not the technology ... Online is where the audience is going, so it's important for traditional media to invest in online media."

Regan, who is associate editor of the Christian Science Monitor's site, identified as examples of increased investment: ny times.com, washingtonpost. com, The San Diego Union-Tribune's signonsandiego.com and various sites from California-based McClatchy newspapers. Others praised ABC News for creating a virtual newscast.

At The New York Times, spokesman Toby Usnik said the company has increased the number of journalists and business people working on its site. He also said 73,000 online users had purchased subscriptions to the paper last year.

Newsday Interactive general manager Tony Wills said the number of journalists working on newsday.com and nynews day.com had increased by 30 percent in the past three years. He added, "The Internet bubble may have burst, but you don't pull back on resources."

Welcome MMTT Thought Leaders

2005-03-10T09:30:00.000-08:00

As a knowledgeable growth agent in the media industry you are being cordially invited to join this Think Tank discussion on emerging opportunities in the media industry. The intent of this think tank is to test your forecasting skills as well as to foster innovation and perhaps the awakening of the entrepreneur inside of you. All that is asked in return is your commitment to leverage your knowledge and experience with the media industry to brainstorm, innovate, research, and envision the future of media.

Note that there is already a burgeoning community of media industry research firms that blog, publish research, consult, conduct industry conferences, or do all of the above towards a similar goal of this group. We are also challenged as to how to rise above the other offerings and distinguish ourselves as a compelling entity. Consider the following quote:

Wise men don’t need advice. Fools won’t take it.
-Benjamin Franklin

The media industry could be considered to be full of fools or full of wise people seeking strategic tools to help them substantiate what they believe will be industry game changing innovations. We are challenging you to consider applying your knowledge of the fundamental principles of the media business to the development of what traditionally would have been called a consultancy, but we are calling it an action practice or media lab. This think tank will position itself strategically in front of media industry decision makers as a partner in testing, developing, and executing on concepts that are forward thinking and/or that leverage emerging technologies.

With that in mind, welcome to the Media Mafia Think Tank!