Seth Gilbert, 06-30-2008
Advertising dollars are the fuel of the Internet but in some segments like online videos, the process of attracting it seems like something from Frankenstein’s lab. Nobody yet knows the exact chemistry it will take to balance audience acceptance (or tolerance) for advertising against advertiser required metrics for measurement of return on investment. By best guess, the answer could be a combination of existing tools, or even a business model not yet invented. It’s a crapshoot. Tea Leaves and gambles.
Google with its huge share of search and video traffic (YouTube) has a vested interest in figuring out the how to make it work. Unlike all but a few companies, Google also has the kind of cash and technical expertise to take on the science project without limitation. They can afford to fail, repeatedly, than try again until they get it right.
The latest experiment from Mountain View Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert, 06-19-2008
iTunes has long been looked at as the loss leader, the bridge that links Apple’s assorted media products. It drives product sales and helps power iPods, iPhones, Apple TV and Mac multimedia. But that role of servitude hasn’t stopped it from turning into a significant force.
Apple announced today, the iTunes store crossed the 5 billion song barrier. That’s 5 billion songs sold, up a billion from the 4billion announced in January.
At 99cents a song, that means the store has generated nearly $5billion in music revenue. That’s $3.5billion to artists and labels and $1.5billion to Apple (based on widely estimated revenue sharing splits). That’s not too shabby for an auxiliary program that helps promote hardware sales.
As this graphic shows, the escalation in pace at which songs are selling isn’t bad either:
Even more impressive, however, might be the story surrounding video sales. Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert, 06-11-2008
Together with AOL, HBO tried to build a website around comedy video in February of 2007. Like an awkward TV pilot that couldn’t find its groove, “This Just In” was shuttered by August. Now, in a second go round, the Time Warner cable channel will play the part of investor. HBO is committing an undisclosed amount of capital to buy a stake guessed to be about 10 percent of internet comedy shop FunnyorDie.
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Seth Gilbert, 06-10-2008
Traditionally, end-user video and film distribution services (movie theaters, TV channels) competed with each other by geography or a unique programming schedule. As a viewer you watched what was on local channels, or you tuned in to one place that was showing the programs you were itching to see. The internet video world is a different animal but, still in its early stages, it remains something of an experimental lab; especially with regard to professional Hollywood content.
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Seth Gilbert, 05-28-2008
Cable companies have been driving their use for years. Building B, now called Sezmi, is pitching a unique flavor of their own. Vudu has an on-demand-only version. Netflix just began offering a variant with Roku. Tivo’s got a few too. Still, for all the history, experimentation and evolution, despite the massive volume in use around the country, the days of the TV set-top box may be numbered. At least that’s the case for Cable TV decoding boxes thanks to a new deal.
Tuesday, Sony signed an agreement with the 6 largest cable operators in the U.S. (Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House Networks) to standardize technology that will allow future TV’s to receive “two-way” cable services without the need of a separate, decoding, cable box.
The deal will pave the way for more “interactive” TV features in the future.
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Seth Gilbert, 05-15-2008
The big merger news this week was supposed to come Friday with the expiration date of Electronic Arts hostile takeover for Take Two. Unfortunately, a number of people didn’t get the memo. Instead, Thursday became the big day for M&A activity with not one but two major announcements lighting up the news wires.
On one front, CBS stepped up to rescue CNET from the grips of activist shareholders by means of a $1.8billion cash tender offer. Elsewhere, financier Carl Icahn went public with his plans for Yahoo. He’ll begin the process Microsoft was unwilling to initiate: a tender offer to take control of Yahoo’s board of directors.
Three major deals in a week – two of them hostile and one something of a white knight rescue… it almost seems like we’ve slid back to the 80’s. Click to Read More
Seth Gilbert, 05-13-2008
Yesterday’s rumor is today’s fact. It’s now official: HBO programming will air on Apple’s iTunes under a variable pricing model. Taking advantage of routine “iTunes Tuesday” updates, the Time Warner network and Apple confirmed the suspicions.
Effective immediately, iTunes will host HBO programming. Breaking tradition, the shows will cost either $1.99 or $2.99 per episode. Current programming from other outlets is currently priced at just $1.99. Most of the shows offered (Soprano’s, Deadwood) do robust DVD sales and part of the justification for flexible pricing seems to be to reduce the potential for channel conflict between the two different distribution methods. At $2.99, the increased price won’t erase the “digital discount” but it will make price differentials between DVD buys and Digital Downloads less dramatic.
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