Hollywood on Strike Again?!?!

The old adage goes that those who don't learn from their mistakes are bound to repeat them. The recent writers strike should have taught all the parties in Hollywood that a strike does no one any good. Want proof that Hollywood suffers, just look at the recent announcements of all the new shows premiering this Fall. Do you feel the excitement? Neither do I.

The old standards, American Idol for one, despite being the number watched series, is losing viewers. Different year, same format, same silliness, same inane banter. And its success has spawned so many similar shows, including dancing competitions, that the uniqueness and appeal have worn thin.

Broadcast in general has seen viewership decline as cable provides the comfort food of reruns and original series that reach valuable niches. And now online video adds another resource for entertainment away from the TV. The fragmentation of viewing choices naturally leads to a loss of viewership by the old guard.

And an actors strike will only further drive away viewers from broadcast. Both parties are at a loss and both have a financial stake to come to agreeable terms. Stop trying to come up with different rules for different platforms. At the end of the day video content is a stream to be consumed; where there is revenue, there are costs associated against it. Be creative, otherwise you will only further kill the golden goose and have to watch American Gladiator 24/7.

In the Age of TiVo and Web Video, What Is Prime Time?

The writers strike enabled TV viewers to find new programming to replace the shows they normally watched on broadcast. As these new shows became favored by viewers, they were added to their Tivo list. And as viewers come to their TV every evening to be entertained, they prefer the control and choice from DVR and VOD to pick and choose exactly what they want to watch when they want to watch it.

It now becomes far easier to watch a show on my schedule. Too tired to stay up and watch SNL, watch it the next day or the day after. Putting the kids to bed at 8; watch American Idol or Survivor later in the evening when they are in bed and the house is quiet. The prime time schedule, like the Fall being the time for new seasons to start, is a thing of the past. It's all open for the taking.

And something else I've learned from being a DVR/Tivo user, I am hard pressed to tell you where that show came from. Yes I see the channel name next to the show, and yes, I see the bug in the lower right hand corner constantly telling me the channel, but I am more connected to the show brand, not the network brand. Now there are some network brands that are the show. Hannah Montana is Disney Channel, and Spongebob is Nick; but others less so.

What doesn't change is quality. A good show needs to be developed and nurtured. Help it to find its audience and grow. Without the commitment to keep producing episodes, good shows will fail before they are given enough time and support to succeed. Removing the constrictions of prime time programming opens the variety of viewing choices available; breaking throught the clutter to reach your audience requires smart programming and smarter marketing people. The competition may have gotten more intense, but good shows can still be made.

Prediction: Broadcast TV Will Get Hosed In Upfront, But Not the Whole Story

The broadcast networks are feeling the heat of lower ratings, writers strike aftermath, and alternative entertainment options. But I wouldn't worry too much about their ability to make up the revenue from their diversification strategy. Disney had a terrific quarter, despite ABC, with gains in cable, theme parks, etc. Cablevision may have reported losses due to Madison Square garden, but so far revenues and profits are rising across all their other businesses, including their cable nets, business services, etc. NBC may feel the impact in their broadcast operations but are doing amazingly well with each of their cable networks.

Yes, viewers have moved away from broadcast television for a number of reasons; fragmentation exists with multiple channels reaching different demographic and psychographic interests. For cable programming, it has led to an increase in both viewing and in ad revenue. As each of these media companies diversify across multiple businesses, they each will maintain growth as viewership trends move from one platform to another. Maintaining a foothold in broadcast, cable, internet, gaming, etc., assures reaching the consumer wherever they go. Building synergies with each platform assures brand preference and value.

Microsoft Buying Facebook Not As Silly As You Think

Technology with content, the chicken and the egg. A potential perfect blending of scale with consumer access. Microsoft needs a win and needs a bigger footprint in social networking. Facebook could provide the perfect entry for Microsoft applications into everyday life. An interesting pairing!

Cable Ops To Form Wireless Broadband JV

Major cable companies Comcast, Time Warner, and Bright House may have ended one partnership with Sprint, but they are investing in another. In a deal valued at over $12 billion, cable is joining Sprint and Intel to invest in a new wireless venture designed to offer video, hi speed, and mobile.

SO the question to ask is does this make cable competitive with telco in the wireless spectrum - OR - does this create a monopolistic, national wireless pipeline that might require governmental oversight?

From the article, "“This [Clearwire] is going to be completely different,” the executive said, adding that each operator will determine on its own how the product will be priced, branded, and when and where each rollout will take place." Each cable entity will uniquely decide how to use this national highway in its pricing, packaging, positioning message to consumers. As a wireless venture, there are no physical boundaries; is this really possible, or is this rhetoric. Just wondering.

Digital Content Will Lead to the End of the Middleman: AP launches news service geared for iPhone

The information and entertainment business is changing rapidly as a result of digital distribution. The simplicity to transport content from creator to end user is leading to a wholesale change in the distribution chain. As evidence, watch as windows between dvd sales and VOD have been eliminated, TV shows are coming directly from NBC/Fox through their Hulu partnership to the viewer. Artists can talk directly to their consumer and provide a digital download. Yes today they still make a cd and sell through Amazon and Apple. But the path is leading to creating their own wholeowned distribution model and selling direct.

And AP, a longtime provider of news content to papers across the country, is offering content direct to consumer through the iPhone. Today, they are doing it in conjunction with their local newspaper partners, but in the future they may find that they can bypass this distribution channel and be a direct provider to the consumer, taking 100% of the profits. Yes, AP was created as a consortium of local papers, a not for profit entity to support its members; but the child is growing up and may one day have to leave the nest.

Barriers to entry have dropped significantly to allow old and new entrants a chance to speak directly to the consumer. Aggregators are still relevent to simplify the process of transport; but more companies may decide that they can be their own transport hub as they acquire brands across multiple platforms. Big fish will swallow little fish and will keep building and expanding their pipeline to speak directly to their consumer. Current distribution models are eroding and newer, more efficient models are adapting to this digital space.

Is 2008 the Year of VOD?

Will 2008 be the defining year for VOD. Certainly, VOD has been around for more than 5 years; has it really taken this long to find consumer acceptance? I first learned about VOD when I worked at Rainbow and had the opportunity to sell and launch their first free on demand service, Mag Rack. It was an amazing opportunity and allowed me to learn so much about the technical requirements to launch as well as the marketing priorities to build awareness and usage. As a free on demand service, we worked hard to demonstrate to the consumer that the videos were free to watch and easy to use. Back then, few understand that they had VOD access on their cable system.

As other channels expanded their free VOD offerings, they first used it as a dumping ground rather than an opportunity to showcase their best shows. Once they saw that their TV ratings were not negatively affected, quality improved and VOD usage and acceptance took off.

In my family, we use free VOD every day, and it has made us more comfortable when purchasing movies on demand. In fact, we recently made a conscious choice to not buy a dvd that would cost $20 and instead waited till we got home and rented the same movie for $5. While we don't get to own the movie in perpetuity, we did get to watch it and move in; no it wasn't worth buying it.

Is 2008 the year of VOD? I prefer to describe it as the year of digital download. With Apple's recent announcement with multiple studios to download films, along with studios bypassing the dvd windows to simultaneously offer movies for VOD and download at the same time with its dvd release, this does appear to be the year that VOD and digital viewership will have taken off. Viewing habits are shifting and dvd ownership is declining. I'm waiting to see what the next device looks like to store these video digital downloads.

Viacom Sees Q1 Earnings Jump Due to Rock Band

My 8 year old son wants Rock Band. He already has a Wii, PS2, and Nintendo DS. And believe it or not, we actually limit game time each day; otherwise, he would be working any one of these machines constantly. Will he get the whole band, or just guitar hero, I'm not sure yet; but at $190, its pretyy expensive for a young boy.

What is apparent is how important interactive gaming is to the future of entertainment. If he could play along to American Idol, it could be a rating boost. This next generation is limiting their TV time as they expand their enterertainment choices across new media. With so many hours in a day, something has to give and it isn't going to be his homework, so it is a reduction in TV viewing.

Thus it becomes clear that the best way to keep this audience engaged is to combine the best of both worlds. Watch Hannah Montana as you play with the microphone and dance moves; attack the Pokemon through the TV show. I expect more gaming tie-ins to programming; that's how we keep the younger audience further engaged to the TV programming and the brand.

ZeeVee’s Box Brings the PC to TeeVee

From New Tee Vee:
"Connecting your computer to your nice HD TV screen can get kludgy fast. A company called ZeeVee has an interesting solution that uses the existing cable wiring in your home to display what’s on your PC on an empty channel on your TV dial. Instead of requiring an additional receiver, it uses the HD tuner in your TV. No new-fangled wireless HD or old-fangled screen-scraping required."


Now if it can only be made idiot-proof.