New York Times Co. losses worsen as ad sales plunge 27%

Yesterday, the New York Times was awarded 5 Pulitzer Prizes for their exceptional journalism and today they reported a disastrous financial picture. "The owner of The New York Times, The Boston Globe and 15 other daily newspapers said Tuesday that it lost $74.5 million, or 52 cents a share, in the opening three months of the year."

And while declining subscriptions and newspaper sales are a problem, the real hardship is felt in declining advertising revenue. They actually grew circulation revenue by increasing the price of the paper, but are not finding ways to increase advertising. And so the second quarter will not be any better. Costs continue to be trimmed, as are paper sizes but despite many concessions, the situation does not appear to be improving.

So what is next. They have already threatened to shut down one of their papers, The Boston Globe, if union concessions aren't met. But at some point, quality suffers as cost cutting gets extreme.

Perhaps it is time for the NYT and other papers to build synergies with broadcast and cable news networks; perhaps it is time for the NYT to be acquired by CNN or MSNBC; perhaps it is time for print to build more synergies across other media platforms to enhance the advertising value. Or perhaps it is too late. I hope not, I still enjoy reading my morning delivered paper and its different sections of content. But I may have to change my attitude and rely solely on the electronic edition to peruse and enjoy.

TiVo to sell instant data on what people watch, fast-forward

Tivo, the box for people who hate commercials but love TV, is selling research data on people who don't watch the ads that pay the bills. They claim that despite the fast forward button, ad messages do get through, and they certainly reach a passionate TV viewer. So which of the Tivo boxes are getting measured? Direct connects, like the one I own; Direct TV Tivo owners; What about Comcast customers with a Tivo DVR converter? "TiVo says its data will come from most of the DVRs that use its service, including ones that get it from DirecTV. It wouldn't say whether Comcast will participate."

How representative is this audience against national viewership? Todd Juenger, TiVo's audience research and measurement general manager, doesn't worry. "Juenger says TiVo owners tend to be richer, better educated 'and, unfortunately, a little more white' than the overall population, but 'it isn't a gigantic difference.'" Nielsen disagrees. "'Our ratings are based on samples that reflect the viewing behavior of all households, not just those who have DVRs,' says Nielsen spokesman Gary Holmes."

The future is DVR and VOD and live viewership. Whoever best aggregates and analyzes all this data to provide the most accurate research will win.

Actors reach tentative deal with studios

Finally after so many months of infighting, backstabbing, and political fights, SAG may have finally come to terms with the AMPTP. Per the article, SAG lost its leverage and got less than they bargained for. If they had only played it smarter, followed the lead of AFTRA , and recognized quickly from the writers strike and bad economy, that they were not in the position to demand. Well, better late than never.

Deal Brings TV Shows and Movies to YouTube

The future of online video is professional content and though You Tube is best known for user generated uploads, the money lies with advertising against branded content. Recognizing that need, You Tube has entered into partnerships with TV and movie studios, and the space that Hulu has found an important grasp. "The agreements with the studios, which include Sony, Lions Gate, MGM and others, are significant because YouTube dominates online video. Nearly two-thirds of all video views in the United States occur on YouTube, according to the measurement firm Nielsen. Last month the site had more than 90 million visitors, 10 times as many as the next biggest site, comScore said."

In addition, there is finally the recognition that broadband, like cable, requires multiple revenue streams to survive, advertising and subscription. Whether it takes the form of transactional or monthly, You Tube will likely follow the Apple iTune strategy of charging for downloads or streaming.

Despite this plan to seek more revenue sources, You Tube says it is not leaving its bread and butter, amateur videos; "In an interview, Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said that YouTube would continue to embrace content created by users, even if it was not easy to earn revenue from it, because that content was essential to the popularity of the site." As the leader in online video, Google and You Tube have the deep pockets and the knowledge of the marketplace; what will define their success in building synergy with other content partners. Perhaps one day we will see Google owning a broadcast/cable network.

3.6 Million Homes Still 'Completely Unready' For DTV Transition: Nielsen

June 12 is the current date for digital transition and despite the granted delay from February, 3.6 M homes are still not prepared. Coupons are going out, stores are stocked with digital converters, cable operators are broadcasting ads with offers to cheaply switch to cable to not lose TV signals. But despite all the news and offers, a number of homes will still go dark. The news from Nielsen does show homes switching over. "Nielsen said that Albuquerque-Santa Fe remains the least ready market at 9.13%, while the most prepared is Hartford-New Haven, where "everybody" is ready. Nielsen's survey numbers are based on field staffers in 35,000-plus sample homes -- all of its metered households." The NAB remains critical of the research. According to David Rehr, NAB President, these numbers are overstated.

Should there be another digital delay; I doubt it. Some people just like to wait till the last minute; hello tax filers! At some point you just got to pull the trigger and June 12 will be that date.

The most likely groups that will be hurt are the elderly and poor. Technological change is never easy and while the government coupons help, connecting the converters and resetting the antenna to find the digital signals remain issues for this group. Will cable come up with a marketing program to provide low cost, white glove service to this group; it could just be a great public relations opportunity!

Time Warner Cable Postpones Internet-Billing Trials

Plans to expand the internet usage test into additional markets has been put on hold as public outcry has caused big consumer push back. "Time Warner Cable had planned to initiate usage-based billing trials in Rochester, N.Y., and Greensboro, N.C., in August, followed by San Antonio and Austin, Texas, in October." Besides local politicians getting into the discussion, even their telco competitors used it to their marketing advantage in the two test markets. Who wants to go from an unlimited plan to a usage plan raise your hands? Anyone? Anyone? Really, no one likes the idea. Once the cat is out of the bag it is hard to catch him.

Until Time Warner and other broadband companies can prove that more people benefit with a usage plan with lower bills, it will be hard to gain much support. And as more web sites become more graphic, add more videos and gaming, they will naturally become heavier users. And as consumers recognize their increased reliance on the web for information and entertainment, they will only use the web more. So why would the consumer agree on changing over from an unlimited plan to usage. It makes no sense. Hence the public and governmental outcry.

Remember When Cable Networks Were Niche Programmers

Once upon a time, the premise of cable networks was that each one individually would showcase niched programming, skimming away at the broadcast channels who showed very general shows. Cable would compete with broadcast because the aggregate of these individual channels would enable advertisers to reach effective interest groups at a more efficient CPM. The sum of the parts being greater than the whole.

In the beginning, cable networks brand name told you what they were: Arts & Entertainment (now A&E), American Movie Classics (now AMC), Music Television (MTV), and Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN), to name a few. As cable nets broadened their programming, their names became initials.

This recent review of a brand new TV show on TV Land struck a chord. TV Land was once the place to find the classic black and white TV shows. Over time, new colorized shows appeared. But now, it is the place for movies and original series. It certainly is not your grandfathers TV Land.

But TV Land is not alone in this shift from niche network to "broad" cable network. Bravo was once the cultural arts channel; now it is reality and "pop" culture. AMC was classic black and white movies; today it is the home to original series Mad Men and Breaking Bad. And I am sure you can say the same thing for most other cable networks. The mighty ad dollar has led them down a slippery slope to broaden its niche to grow the ratings. And where does that lead the consumer. Ultimately to new distribution sites including IP TV and the web.

So while I am not making a judgement call about any network, I personally miss when they each were truer to their niche and I could tell what channel I was looking at by watching its show. Now I can't tell the difference unless I see the bug constantly appearing on the corner of the picture. Don't get me started on that!

Boston's Local NBC Affiliate WHDH Will Air Leno At 10 p.m.

NBC was quick to put its foot down and the Boston affiliate acquiesced. And just like that, Boston will get the Jay Leno show this Fall at 10 pm. While this must be a huge sigh of relief to NBC, it also quickly signals to its other affiliates not to follow Boston's lead. And while the threats worked, one must wonder what was agreed to. Was there incentive money involved? Additional local commercial time given? Or perhaps a short term truce to wait and see and give the show 30, 60, or perhaps 90 days to prove that it will deliver a high enough rating and be a profit performer.

And don't be surprised if every other NBC affiliate is reading over each line in their contract to see just what their options are. This fight may be over, but there may still be a bigger war brewing.

N.Y. Congressman Plans Bill Banning Internet-Usage Billing

Ahhh government! Always there to interrupt free market. Not that I think internet usage billing is a great idea; rather, that I think it provides competitive differentiation to let market forces impact its success. Through technological innovation, change will occur. Usage issues can also lead to a whole new type of internet, more efficiently run. Bad ideas lead to failure and business losses, good ideas to innovation and new leaders.

"A New York Congressman wants to make it illegal for Internet service providers to charge subscribers based on the amount of data they download." While politics should be in play to maintain that people play by the rules, they shouldn't force companies, especially those that have competition, to operate a certain way. Cable companies,unlike water and electricity companies, are not utilities. They should have the freedom to set their prices and let the consumer decide who they want to do business with.

I may not agree with usage pricing, but government intervention is not the answer, competition is. Let in more competitors into each community and let the consumer decide which broadband provider they want.