Will On Demand Content Kill Linear TV

Who has time to watch a full episode of TV. As a society we have gotten use to small bites as opposed to large mouthfuls. Wasn't that the very reason USA Today was created as a newspaper, to provide short articles, quickly read, to get our fill of news. And so the internet and video sites, like Hulu, have done the very same thing. They have offered us bite sized highlights rather than sitting through the full TV shows. From SNL to Daily Show, we can watch the highlights. And for those that like the flexibility to watch the whole show, where and when and how you prefer, full shows are accessible with "limited commercial interruptions". How nice!

And from this convenience comes the problem, the profit return is far less than from the traditional TV set. While USA Today may have been charging as much as other newspapers to get their version of the news, online video does not get the same amount of advertising dollars. And while more and more people are accessing the web for their videos, the numbers watching TV are dropping. "While more and more viewers are watching TV programming online, the networks aren't getting anywhere near the amount that they would earn from commercials that run the old-fashioned way. ... As a means of siphoning away traditional TV viewers, the Internet could soon make cable's threat to the Big Four nets seem like a cakewalk. In fact, the competition posed by online distribution is equally menacing to broadcast and ad-supporting cable channels, which could make the Internet the common enemy that finally unifies the smallscreen's rival factions."

And what is TV doing about it. They are actually putting more content online and literally training the consumer to seek content on less profitable platforms. So how does TV compete? Does all TV need to be live to add a bit of danger and anything can happen to the viewing experience? Will hi definition and bigger TV screens save the TV experience. And can new interactivity through the set top box make the big screen experience more preferable?

Will we buy our networks directly off the web or still work with our "broadband" provider to get packages of content. How advertising reaches us must get more creative too. Where once viewership was merely a sampling and estimate, it is moving toward true engagement and actual views, measuring action and purchase. New interactive opportunities could enable purchasing, couponing, sweepstakes, and feedback. Measurable and accurate. Perhaps that will improve the profit margin.

I Like Lists - Digital Organization

While there is a lot going on in the digital landscape, changes in media organization structures, and new applications for iPhones and others, I was just thinking, what I really need, or perhaps would like to see as a digital media device. No not a Kindle, or HD TV, though both would be nice. I think I speak for many when I say the kitchen is the center of my house. No, not physically the center, but where a majority of activity happens. And it is there that the family calendar is kept in an attempt to keep us organized and on schedule. Add to that pieces of loose paper nearby, recording upcoming shopping lists for the supermarket, Costco, and Target. Lists get written and rewritten, and checked against the schedule for other needs like birthday presents, drinks for one of the kid's teams, and so on. And of course there is always coordinating the home schedule with the work schedule. And all this is done the old fashioned way.

So what I want is someone to invent for me a device that is about the size of a calendar, that can hang on the wall, or sit on the counter, wireless compatible and networked to the home PC and printer and synced with my cell phone. It would be a calendar, list maker, and web device. Easy to write on and have my handwriting converted to text. Mobile devices can sync to it and download information like new dates or additions to the shopping list as well as upload the same. No more printing out the list when your phone can hold it for you. Sure include some nifty apps like a calorie counter, recipe keeper, or calculator, but its primary duty remains to organize the home. Press a button, look at the month or week, or that day. Add alarms to remind you not to forget to sign a kid's permission slip or pack a lunch. And when the screen is not being used, let the screen saver rotate through the family pictures. The key remains organization, connectivity, and information.

I'd take down the family calendar and replace it in an instant. Could it do more; perhaps, but I have other devices to watch TV or play videos. Oops, gotta run, the calendar says to pick up my daughter from art class and then take my son to guitar. Nice to be reminded, nice to have it on the calendar so I can schedule other thing around it.

Sirius XM Radio planning to stream to iPhone

As new car sales dwindle, and satellite radio growth falters, new subscription sources must be uncovered. If people aren't going into their cars, perhaps they are going into their pockets. Sirius hopes so and thus it's time to reach prospective customers on their most useful device, their phone. "By streaming its music, sports and talk channels to users of the iPhone and iPod Touch, Sirius can give its existing subscribers another way to access content and let new customers sign up without buying new radios, CEO Mel Karmazin said."

In today's economy, it's all about the price point. And while the article doesn't specify, Sirius needs to be aware that they are competing with other radio type applications on these devices as well. Content exclusivity may matter, but only for so much. That is the lesson learned from the automobile side of this business. Still the appeal of getting out of market games on a phone may be appealing. I also think that Sirius may expand its distribution by bundling its services with Direct TV.

The world exists outside the auto and Sirius is recognizing that they need to be everywhere.

Google To Let Consumers Edit Their Interests

Why do I have to see car ads. I just leased a new vehicle and I am absolutely not interested in getting another. The new hot metric in advertising is behavioral, targeted to interest and intent. But, wouldn't it be nice to proactively tell sites what I am interested in and what I absolutely don't want to see.

And while we try so hard to protect our privacy, our every tap on a pc is counted and tracked. "Perhaps to forestall objections to its approach, Google said it planned to offer new ways for users to protect their privacy. Most notably, Google will be the first major company to give users the ability to see and edit the information that it has compiled about their interests for the purposes of behavioral targeting. Like rivals such as Yahoo, it also will give users the choice to opt out from what it calls 'interest-based advertising.'"

Could this same behavioral web approach be adapted for TV. Through cable TV, the set top box offers the same opportunity to interact, to customize and to reach targeted audiences. I always keep wondering though, what would happen if I became an undesirable consumer.

How proactive will users be to update their profiles. Perhaps it depends on how often we are proactively reminded that we have the ability to edit. Like most things that run in the background, out of sight, out of mind. Even though I may opt out of certain types of ads, there is still no guarantee that they won't be run.

Time Warner Cable Delivers Primetime On Demand

Who needs a DVR or Tivo when you have VOD. A DVR is proactive, you must act on an interest and set up your recording options in advance. Of course with on-going series, that needs to happen just once and all future recordings occur. And you can control the trick features - fast forwarding and rewinding to your hearts content. The beauty of VOD is that it is reactive, that even though you missed it on the linear schedule, you can still watch it later, without any advance work. Great for viewers who no longer feel physically tied to a TV schedule, and great for the programmer, especially if their ads can still get noticed. And it is easier for the programmer to disable those trick features, forcing the viewer to stick with the ads that run.

So who gets hurt. Well for all cable programmers and cable operators, VOD seems a win-win all around; but for broadcast affiliates, especially those not owned and operated by the network, they may not be so lucky. Regional network affiliates rely on regional ads to run inside national broadcasts and for viewers to watch. If a network show is DVR'd, their regional ads still get captured. But what happens when a network VOD show runs across markets. CBS gets its national ads run, but the regional ads on WCBS in NYC or KCBS in Los Angeles, or in any regional DMA are simply not seen. They have lost the viewer and they have lost the ad revenue. The network affiliate is the one who gets hurt from national broadcast of TV shows on VOD.

The network affiliate model is being uprooted as the national programmer provides VOD as an alternative for its audience to watch its programming. It may assure eyeballs, but network VOD may just kill broadcast affiliate relations. VOD delivers what you want when you want it. But for the networks, it does have a cost.

Barnes & Noble Moving Into E-book

Change is constant and the digital age is moving us away from physical content to electronic. As a bookseller, Barnes & Noble must have asked themselves the question, what is my strategic purpose and how do I stay relevant in a changing world. They have created a physical place to purchase reading materials, audios and videos, and grab a cup of coffee. But that world is changing, slowly at first, but moving toward a digital direction. And so to remain relevant as purchase behaviors shift, Barnes & Noble recognizes the importance of being the distribution point, both with brick and mortar and with virtual. Their purchase of Fictionwise is that first step.

So how do they compete with Amazon and the Kindle. Will content be available to be read on a Kindle or Sony e-reader or all or something of their own making. Will it make deals to have exclusive digital rights to certain content? And should they integrate e-books into their physical stores so that the purchase of a book includes a free or discounted e-version as well. How do they differentiate from Amazon and others to remain competitive as usage patterns evolve.

Theaters didn't go away when movies were available directly in the home. Book stores shouldn't go away either. Consumers like to get out of the house and Barnes & Nobel provides a place to hang out, discover new ideas, and relax. Creating an impetus to come in the store to download as opposed to just downloading at home could keep this bookseller relevant to the tech savvy consumer. The growth of e-books is fast although the aggregate is still a sliver of total book purchases. Change may not be quick but it seems to be coming and Barnes & Nobel seems to recognize that they need to adapt as well.

WNBC goes digital in big news update with new channel New York Nonstop

WNBC, Channel 4 in New York City is unveiling a new digital channel on Monday, part NY1, a NYC local cable news outlet, part Headline News, part web-like content. This new channel, dubbed New York Nonstop will be out there on the digital cable line-up and over the digital airwaves as channel 4.2. As viewing habits move to DVR and VOD, the best way to survive is to be live and lively; and with a regional focus meant to provide relevant flavor in short, easy bites. "'You'll get your meat - your news, weather and headlines - every 15 minutes,' McGinn ( Meredith McGinn, senior manager of special projects for NBC 4 New York) said. 'In between those 15 minutes, you may have a two-minute segment, a two-minute pod, a five-minute pod. So the shows we're looking at are in little bits, not your traditional half-hour newscasts.'"

Will audiences in this market switch from NY 1 or News 12 to taste this new dish? Will they prefer the friendly faces of Channel 4 doing double duty at 4.2? In recent months, NBC has laid off a number of anchors, reporters, and weather people, replacing them most likely with less expensive talent. In a start up, keeping costs low is important.

Why is a regional channel being created in today's climate? Frankly, it's a first strategic step that sees the end of owned and operated networks and their eventual replacement with less costly regional news and lifestyle channels. As network programming finds its way as a national feed, accessible on demand, on the web and perhaps still as a linear stream, the regional networks will be left in the dust. And why should these network affiliates promote a national show if they are also competing with that same show on other platforms like Hulu or TV.com or Fancast? Shows like 30 Rock, Heroes, Chuck, and others are all available outside the gate of WNBC. New York Nonstop might just represent the natural next phase of the local broadcaster, no longer reliant on a relationship with its national partner, and programmed 24/7 on regional interests.

Technology has changed the entertainment landscape and the current model of national networks and regional affiliates may no longer be working. The evolutionary change may just be a digital news and lifestyle network, a la New York Nonstop in every DMA. Heck, their tagline says it all - Engaging consumers where they live, work and play.

Cable Companies Target Commercials to Audience

Your gonna get the commercial included with your TV show anyway, why not get ads that are relevant to you. Technology enables ads to be targeted by set top box so that your home receives ads that match your demographic profile. And while my cable company knows I have a house and x number of cable boxes, they still don't know what I drive or what I buy; they rely on the zip code of my neighborhood to ascertain my economic situation. Or do they?

How much information is being collected and shared and cross referenced with my cable bill. And should I care. On the plus side, the ads that I get might have more interest to me. They might be more a resource than a distraction and be of great value to both me and the advertiser. And as the demographic information is aggregated, my personal information remains personal. "Cablevision says it segments its subscribers only by demographics, so that an advertiser can divide ads among various groups: General Motors, for example, could send an ad for a Cadillac Escalade to high-income houses, a Chevrolet to low-income houses, and one in Spanish to Hispanic consumers."

On the negative side, the question is one of it being a slippery slope. At what point does the aggregate data become personal data. Privacy does matter and needs to be protected. "The potential of customized ads worries some privacy advocates, despite the assurance of cable companies that they maintain anonymity about the households." Cablevision says they are extra protective that personal information is not shared.

And what of Canoe Ventures. Is Cablevision ahead of their efforts or simply not wanting to play in the same sand box as Canoe. Personalization is happening on the web, it only makes sense that it invades the TV, too.

Thomson Reuters Builds A Web-Only TV Network

Why are TV broadcasters losing money? As the internet opens up distribution and lowers the barriers to enable more content to be created and disbursed, revenue growth has not kept pace. Clearly cable advertising growth has come at the expense of broadcasters, but now web shows provide an alternative to cable. Plainly, the result is that our viewing choices have gone from a few to infinite.

Where the few UHF stations once offered an alternative to the big broadcasters, today cable and web programming has truly fragmented the market. But for how long? Marketing theory indicates that eventually fragmentation must return to segmentation. Want some examples, just look at the accounting industry, the airline industry, and even with cable operators. Where once there were many, now there are few. How quickly will content distribution consolidation occur is anyone's guess. But for the health of the marketplace, given a recessionary climate where fewer advertising dollars are available, sooner may be better than later.

Not to pick on any particular genre or network, but let's look at the abundance of choices. With Thomson Reuters Web Network now competing in a business news space currently occupied by CNBC, Bloomberg, and Fox Business News. How long can that last? Looking for a movie on TV, there is ABC Family, AMC, Bravo, Disney, FMC, FX, Hallmark, Lifetime, TBS, TNT,TCM, WE, and broadcast and premium networks like HBO and Showtime, and others. And now we can access movies on the web through Amazon and Netflix. The same holds true for sports, kids, cultural, lifestyle, and every other niche. Niche networks become general interest in an attempt to capture more advertising dollars, and new niche networks arise attempting to reach the purer interest feeling abandoned as their previous network becomes too general. A network once considered the place for culture and fine arts must broaden its appeal to grow its viewership base. How many do we really need?

The problem remains, not enough advertising dollars to support these fragments. Already magazines are beginning to shutter, some newspapers are going bankrupt, others are closing. Web content may see the loss of some of these cable channels or some consolidation must occur. This fragmentation of content cannot survive. Those managing their bottom line may win out, some others will not.