Thursday November 05, 2009
“A blog that’s associated with a major, legitimate organization… would be, I think, treated differently than an individual blogger who’s using his or her right of free expression to say whatever he thinks. So the presence of an editor, as an example. You know, an editor that’s not your mom.”
— Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s derogatory over-generalization of independent bloggers compared to big media bloggers. I’m on the record criticizing Google for imposing “blog” labels on neighborhood news blogs while not adding the same labels to newspaper blogs. (Google has now asked blogs to tag themselves as a blog in their sitemap, but I don’t see newspapers rushing to get that done anytime soon.)
Thursday November 05, 2009
Which social sites drive traffic? Depends on who you ask: ChicagoTribune.com says 10 percent of its traffic originates from social sharing sites — much of it from Digg, which says it plans to roll out new features to showcase local stories. Meanwhile, StarTribune.com says it’s seeing less than a percent of its traffic from social sites. Such is the social state of affairs these days.
Thursday November 05, 2009
1 noteNBC Local sites report strong growth
Unique visitors went from 6 million a year ago to 12 million in October.
Wednesday November 04, 2009
3 notes“(Local content) is the number one unmet need online.”
— Lisa Gurry, senior director at MSN, commenting about the brand new MSN.com, which includes prominent integration of local news, weather, events and traffic.
Tuesday November 03, 2009
2 notes
Redesigns launching at Belo, Meredith TV sites: Belo TV sites, like AZFamily.com above, are rolling out a new design powered by Broadcast Interactive. Meredith sites, like KPHO.com above, have just debuted a new look via Internet Broadcasting.
Tuesday November 03, 2009
3 notes
New NBCOlympics.com to feature DVR-like technology: TechCrunch has a preview of the new NBCOlympics.com, which relaunches on Wednesday with the ability to rewind live video and save clips on the fly. Users will also be able to log in with Facebook and chat with their friends as they watch live coverage. And as always, the site will feature local affiliate integration.
Thursday October 29, 2009
“There are no TV journalists anymore. There are video journalists.”
— A quote from msnbc.com’s Charlie Tillinghast that was included in Huffington Post’s writeup of the top 100 “game changers” in new media. Also on the list, Jason Kilar from Hulu, NetFlix founder Reed Hastings and Andrew Donohue from Voice of San Diego.
Thursday October 29, 2009
Comcast putting Yellow Pages on your TV set: Even more competition for local media. Comcast is starting an experiment in Philadelphia where viewers can navigate the Yellow Pages on their TV sets. Businesses can pay for premium placement — even include their own video commercials or longer how-to clips. Will viewers use it? Too early to tell, but for cable operators, it certainly sounds promising. The technology is powered by FourthWall Media. (Via the Kelsey Blog)
Thursday October 29, 2009
“The analogy I use is how ABC News uses ESPN for its sports coverage.”
— WGCL-TV news director Steve Schwaid explaining how an Atlanta radio station will now power all the sports coverage for the CBS TV affiliate.
Thursday October 29, 2009
1 noteAlbritton to launch aggressive local site in DC
Wow, this is big news. Jim Brady, former executive editor of WashingtonPost.com, has been hired to create a new local news site in DC that combines the sites of Albritton’s WJLA.com and News8.net. The number of web staff Brady expects to employ: 50. ” The concept is, to win big, you have to bet big,” Brady told PaidContent. “To build a business, you have to build an audience. And to build an audience, you have to have enough interesting content features. You can’t take 10 people and create a local site as a business.”
Combine the staffing with the leadership and Albritton’s success with Politico.com, and you have a new competitor to the WashingtonPost.com and perhaps a new model of how television sites can seriously take on the newspaper in town. Stay tuned…
Tuesday October 27, 2009
Newspaper circulation sets new record decline
Down 10.6 percent in the last 6 months, and the decline is still accelerating.
Tuesday October 27, 2009
Three TV stations become one newsroom in Hawaii: In August, three Hawaii stations agreed to merge their news operations, and this week they debuted on air and online on HawaiiNewsNow.com. Raycom Media, which owns two of the stations, said the consolidation was necessary to prevent one or two stations from going under. Such dramatic (and painful) consolidation, I’m afraid, is far from over in the industry. (Via Broadcasting & Cable)
Tuesday October 27, 2009
“If you think local TV news is irrelevant and has long sacrificed real news coverage for flash and trash, just wait until stations have no money to even pretend they’re covering the important stuff.”
— Michael Schneider, Variety’s television editor, in an unflattering story about the cuts and consolidation in the local TV industry, especially in Los Angeles.
Tuesday October 27, 2009
Patch plans hyperlocal expansion in NY
AOL’s hyperlocal network Patch plans to launch 11 sites in Long Island and Westchester County over the next three months.
Friday October 23, 2009
“Hulu’s online video platform may be a success with the masses, but it will have to begin charging for at least some of its content if it doesn’t want to destroy the $185 billion television ecosystem it draws from.”
— Columnist/analyst Diane Mermigas on the growing momentum to charge users to watch TV shows online. Earlier, a News Corp. exec predicted that Hulu will begin charging as early as next year. Hulu maintains it still believes in the free, ad-supported model.
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