The Digital Meteor

An actor/writer/producer Explains Why He File Shares

One actor/writer/producer's take:

It's basically the same story over and over and over again. People understand what's possible and what they can do with technology, and the industry keeps wanting to restrict what they can do, because the industry doesn't know how to deal with it. But that's never going to stop people. 

http://techdirt.com/articles/20100514/1719249431.shtml

Ad Slump to Endure, Only Growth to Be in Video Games, TV Subscriptions, Internet Access

The advertising market faces a prolonged slump following the collapse in marketing spending, according to a report on Tuesday.

...The downturn will accelerate the move to digital consumption and advertising across all media, the professional services firm predicts, but that will not be enough to offset the decline in traditional businesses. “The increase in online elements is not compensating for declines elsewhere,” said Phil Stokes, PwC’s UK leader for entertainment and media.

...The move from pay-per-track downloads towards subscription music packages, even on relatively new platforms such as mobile phones, will stifle growth in digital music, PwC says.

...Any growth in the media market over the next five years will be in video games, TV subscriptions, film and internet access, PwC says.

FT: Slump to Endure...

BluRay Sales Fail to Offset Decline of DVD Sales

Hollywood’s expensive bet on Blu-ray technology has failed to prevent a sharp decline in home entertainment sales, dealing a blow to the film industry as it grapples with the global economic downturn.

The industry’s revenues fell by more than $2.6bn in 2008 as sales of standard DVDs tumbled, according to a new report from Screen Digest, a research group.

BluRay Sales...

Crowdsourcing: Hope for Creativity and Profit in the Digital Age?

Some have predicted thatcrowdsourcing is the future of themarketing, advertising, and industrial design industries. The phenomenon, they argue, will accelerate creativity across a larger network.

Others, meanwhile, have predicted this practice of opening up a task to the public instead of keeping it in-house or using a contractor will be the demise of those businesses because of the downward pressure on prices.

BusinessWeek: Crowdsourcing...

Universal & Virgin to Offer All-You-Can-Eat Subscription to Entire Music Catalog

Universal, the largest recording company in the world, said it would offer its entire catalog — which contains works by artists like Amy Winehouse and U2 — to customers of Virgin Media for a monthly subscription.

The music will be free from copy protection, a feature that distinguishes the service from most existing subscription offerings. The cost of the service, which will probably start by the end of the year, was not disclosed.

In return, Virgin Media, the British cable television and broadband provider, agreed to take steps to reduce piracy on its network, something that other broadband providers have resisted.

The measures could include temporary suspensions of offenders’ Internet connections, the company said.

...Virgin said it was talking to the other three major music companies — Sony Music Entertainment, EMI and Warner Music Group — in an effort to include them in the new service.

Virgin and Universal Reach Download Deal

Unlocking Digital Creativity and Profit

Business models for content on the Internet are still evolving. But it's already becoming clear that $100-million movies like "Land of the Lost," or even $10-million independent films, may not represent the future of the industry. And new technologies like YouTube, the iPhone and next-generation gaming consoles are opening up all sorts of new, creative possibilities. The artists and business people who will succeed in this new environment are those who are paying attention to the changing behaviors and tastes of this new digital audience -- rather than trying to ignore them or, worse, explaining why they are wrong.

LA Times:  Digital Technology and Dollar Signs

The Failure to Find Profit in Made for Web Content

But unlike other media, where larger numbers of viewers lead to higher advertising revenue, high-volume trafficon the Web hasn't necessarily translated into big money. Advertisers in short-form Internet video pay about $10 to reach every 1,000 viewers, so even a video that gets watched more than 1 million times -- a big hit by Web standards -- might not generate more than $10,000. Three- to five-minute-long "Webisodes" cost $5,000 to $25,000 to produce.

"So many of the major media companies thought they could just make a good show, put it online and sell advertising," said Jim Moloshok, a former Warner Bros. and Yahoo executive who is now chairman of online advertising company Betawave. "That's like taking a radio show and running it on television."

LA Times: Hollywood Hits the Stop Button on High Profile Web Video Efforts

My Take on SAG's Theatrical Contract re: New Media

Dear Friends,

Here's what SAG's Theatrical contract vote comes down to for me:  

SAG is saddled with being last in line with an out of sync contract with no real leverage for the big changes some insist we need in "new media."  The time to muster the troops on this was over a year ago, not now.  This particular battle for SAG was over last year when SAG and AFTRA went their separate ways and all the other unions did their deals first.  Sadly, SAG cannot realistically fight and win this battle on its own.  This is why a "no" vote makes no sense to me.  

A "no" vote will mean more new work continuing to go to AFTRA, as we've seen in cable and in animation v.o. over the past year (e.g. all new animated pilots and series at Disney, Cartoon Network and Fox are now AFTRA, as far as I can tell, for the first time).   It will be increasingly difficult to qualify for SAG health benefits as this continues.  SAG needs a contract now.

The "no" vote advocates offer no plan to make a rejection of this contract work to our advantage.  A rejection of this contract isn't a strike authorization, which would have to be a separate vote.  Consider this: If members support a "no" vote (50% + to approve) but don't support a strike authorization (75% approval required) SAG would really be sunk.  No contract, no sync and no bargaining chip at all.  It would be a crowning humiliation for SAG after a humiliating year.  Personally, I don't think a strike authorization at SAG is at all possible in this economic climate.  But even if a strike authorization did pass, a successful strike still wouldn't help, as all the work would still go to the contract already set by AFTRA (a tweak of the DGA and WGA deals).   A "no" vote would only make a bad year for SAG even worse (and a good year for AFTRA even better).   There is no exit strategy from a "no" vote.

The contract that SAG's new national board majority recommends offers two years of decent "old media" bumps and a jurisdictional foothold in "new media."  The terms for "new media" (in line with what other unions have) are unimpressive at best, but I feel it's the best we can do for now.  The video industry is scrambling to avoid what happened to the music industry:  Studios are struggling to find profit in "new media" as they continue to cut budgets and staffs.  New media profits are not replacing old media profits by a long shot, but "old media" is not going away and is in some ways apparently bolstered by "new media" exposure.   Piracy is a big issue, though "Batman Returns" made over a $1 billion world-wide despite early releases of it on file sharing sites.  Yes, it would be nice to preemptively set fair terms for "new media" before workable profit models are established rather than after (see cable and DVD's)-- I just don't see how SAG can in any way do that ALONE at this stage and with no clear path to profits yet set.   

One of the biggest plusses of SAG's contract is that negotiators were able to re-sync SAG's theatrical contract with AFTRA's (as well as other unions) for two years from now.  That may well be lost if this is voted down, which again would be terrible for SAG.  My hope for any significant changes is in two years-- if our unions either merge or at least work together by then (like they just did on our commercial contract).   That hopeful possibility will probably hinge on upcoming elections.  If this contract is voted down, or our unions fail to work together again, we can forget about anything more than tweaks.    

I respect other views on this, and I do believe both sides are sincere in their motivation, but there are those among the "no" voters who over-dramatize this contract as the biggest threat to the future of professional performers.  I think that is completely inaccurate.  Our biggest threat is that we have two unions when we need only one.  This ballot along with the past couple years of union wrangling make a compelling case for that fact.

I've been following Hollywood's "digital shift" with my blog for a good while.  Believe me, I want better, and I believe that both sides on this do as well, but the only realistic path I see to that is by voting "yes."   

Please read all materials carefully, consider all sides, and vote soon.  If you need to request a replacement ballot, call SAG Membership Dept. at 323-549-6458 or email at replacementballot@sag.org by Friday, June 5th at noon.

Ballots are due back June 9th.

Thanks,

Dee

Legal Web Services Like Last.fm and Pandora Appear to Contribute to Decline in Music Sales

This suggests to me that Hulu and such may not work for the big entertainment companies or for those who earn their living off of reuse:

The music industry has a new Internet problem. A decade ago, the major record labels began to worry about online piracy, in which people illegally swapped music over peer-to-peer networks like Napster (BBY) and later LimeWire. Partly in response to the piracy threat and partly due to sliding CD sales, music companies began to experiment with licensing their records to new online services.

...Researchers and industry consultants say online music sites are being used by a growing number of listeners as a substitute for purchasing music, rather than serving as a catalyst for more purchases...

Overall music sales have continued their years-long slide. Total industry sales were about $10 billion last year, down from $14 billion in 2000...Revenues from digital download services like Apple iTunes (AAPL) and Amazon MP3 (AMZN) are still growing strong, but they're not generating enough revenue to make up for the sharp decline in CD sales. Overall spending on music is forecast to shrink 4% through 2013, according to a recent report by Forrester Research (FORR).

The Music Industry's New...

New Ease to Peer-to-Peer File Sharing: Adam Fisk's Little Shoot

A very interesting video interview of an inventor of a new file-sharing technology that resides as a Flash player on your browser called "Little Shoot:"

It is unlike most other peer to peer file sharing software because it lives right on your Firefox or Internet Explorer or Safari browser. Little Shoot downloads and stores music, movies, any media files with one click. It is as easy to use as… AOL Mail. This interface simplicity allows it to blow away all the other lines of access to content on your computer. 

Hollywood 4.0...

How Radiohead's "Name-Your-Own-Price" Model Brought the Profits

While we're not huge fans of the pure "give it away and pray" name-your-own-price business model, it still seems pretty ridiculous to see people like The Cure's Robert Smith blasting Radiohead for its experiment, claiming "it can't work" (thanks to Chris, for sending this in). 

Smith is uninformed on a number of different fronts. First, so many people get so focused on the "name your own price" part, that they forget that wasn't the only business model at all. That was just a part of the business model. At the same time they announced the pay-what-you-want downloads, they also announced an impressive boxset that cost quite a bit. Furthermore, contrary to Smith's assertion that "it can't work," it did work. In fact, it worked phenomenally well. The band sold more albums than it had in the past and it made more money.

Cure Singer Blasts Radiohead...

What is Killing the Music Industry? Not the Pirates.

A great post by Jens Roland about how the music industry is off base and wasting its time by placing the blame of tanking music sales on the file sharers:

The fact is that the music industry’s revenues have been artificially inflated for decades because of limited consumer options. The last 15 years of innovation have lifted those limitations, effectively leaving the music industry with an obsolete, defective business model of monopolized production technology, forced album bundling, and almost nonexistent competition in the realm of home entertainment. What is happening now - the decline of music profits and the piracy witch hunt by the music industry - is merely the panicked struggle of a dying business model, a complacent industry’s refusal to accept its diminishing role in a digital world. The pirates are not the reason, and the decline is the not the disease. It is the cure.

How To Kill the Music Industry

The Decline of Broadcast News

Amid the daily obituaries for the newspaper business, where bankruptcies and layoffs have become a grim daily routine, there's been comparatively little notice that television news confronts many of the same problems: declining audiences, aging demographics, fierce competition from new digital media and a broken business model. 

''Everything needs to be deconstructed...Everything is going to be changing.'' 

Broadcast television's evening news shows have lost 27 million viewers, more than half their audience, since 1980, and the numbers get smaller each year. The drop is even more pronounced among young viewers. ''There's a paradigm shift going on as to the distribution of information,'' Spero Canton, regional director of communications for Comcast cable, warns, citing surveys that show under-30 viewers turning to the Internet for news.

TV News...

Ratings Up for Late Night Talk Shows, Down for Prime Time TV

...prime time—that post-dinner, pre-late-news stretch of the networks' glitziest offerings—may no longer be TV's prime time. 

Since the new season began last September, the top five broadcast networks' average audiences are down in the high single digits. Yet the networks' late-night shows, from Late Night with Conan O'Brien to Last Call with Carson Daly to Nightline, are up around 5%. The morning shows also are holding their viewers much better than those in the evening.

Prime-Time...

Internet Ads Expected to Contract for First Time Since 2001

The internet advertising industry can soon expect to see its first contraction in ad spending since the 2001 bubble burst, according to a forthcoming report from global market data firm IDC.

The report also suggests fourth-quarter U.S. internet advertising sales, despite marginal increases in worldwide spending, have been far worse than estimated, increasing by just 0.4% to $7.13 billion from $7.10 billion in the same quarter last year.

Online Ad Spending...

All Forms of TV Viewing Up, Including Traditional Television

From the Wall Street Journal Online:

People are watching more video than ever on every type of screen -- television, the Internet and mobile devices -- according to a report on the nation's viewing habits to be released Monday by Nielsen Co.

Nielsen found that during the fourth quarter of 2008 the number of users and the time spent watching each of the three screen media rose from the previous quarter. "If people like video, they like it wherever they can get it," said Susan Whiting, vice chair of Nielsen.

The biggest jumps came in the number of viewers watching video on mobile devices and "time shifted" television, that is, programming viewed with a digital-video recorder. Each rose about 9% in the fourth quarter from the third quarter. Roughly 11 million people used mobile viewing and 74 million people watched DVR programming. Internet video users increased 2.3% to 123 million people.

Traditional television is still the most popular by far. Roughly 285 million of the nation's 306 million people watched TV in their home in the fourth quarter, up about three million people, or 1%, from the prior quarter.

Mobile, DVR Video...

Please Watch This Interview with Marc Andreessen

Please check out this exhilarating interview with entrepreneur Marc Andreessen who once started Netscape and now works for Facebook and Google and others.  This guy is brilliant and is exactly the type our unions should have employed to guide our moves in the Digital Shift.  Without such techno visionaries, our unions will be merely reactive and ultimately left behind.

Marc Andreessen interview on Charlie Rose

How Will Cable Survive on the Web?

From the NY Times:

There was a lot of discussion online Friday about reports that Comcast and Time Warner are preparing a way to let their customers watch their cable programs on the Internet. Most of the reports characterized this as a way for the cable companies to defend themselves against the threat of Hulu, an online video service.

...What is very much unsettled, however, is how the cable-only networks will move online. Comcast alone writes $6 billion in checks to Viacom, Time Warner and other media companies. And in return those companies have kept most their best programs off the Internet.

Over time, one of two things will happen: Either the cable networks will have to learn to live on just advertising revenue or they will find a way to earn a subscription fee for distributing their programs online as well as on cable. (Just look at the newspaper industry to see what happens when companies used to two revenue streams have to find a future in only one.)

As a result, the cable companies have a great opportunity to take the lead in creating a subscription model for pay TV networks..

Don't Count Out Cable Online...

------------------------------

A Wired Blog on the WSJ article:

Comcast and Time Warner are in talks with major cable networks to provide their content online to subscribers, the Wall Street Journal is reporting (subscription necessary), citing people familiar with the discussions.

The talks involve Viacom, Time Warner NBC Universal, among others, the newspaper said. It would make programming from such networks as USA, TNT and MTV available as live streams to existing cable subscribers, but not to the general public. The programming would have ads and would be available remotely to subscribers without any additional charge.

Major Cable Co's...

"The Trick Will Be To Ramp Up Electronic Distribution Without Tanking the DVD Business."

It's official: The heyday of the DVD is over. Walt Disney (DIS) CEO Robert A. Iger recently implied as much in an analysts' call—the only studio boss to suggest publicly that Hollywood can no longer count on a cash cow that has yielded billions in profits. 

DVD sales slid 6.3% last year. While the economy is likely a factor, it's also clear that audiences are bypassing DVDs because they have a range of other options, from watching movies and TV shows online to playing video games. As such, Hollywood executives face a conundrum familiar to many CEOs: They have to prop up a product that is losing momentum, buying time while they rethink their entire business model...

Selling or renting movies electronically is a good business. Studios collect about 70% of the $4.99 that cable companies charge viewers to rent a movie vs. 30% for selling a DVD. Of course, DVDs still generate 70% of film profits. The trick will be to ramp up electronic distribution without tanking the DVD business.

Hollywood is Worried...

Fighting Piracy: Content Is a Service, Not a Product-- Charge Less to Make More

A very interesting view of piracy from an Exec at Valve Software:

...digital content is best viewed as a service, not a product. As a service, you focus on providing continual value -- and people are paying for that future value (which is a scarce good prior to delivery), rather than an infinite good already created. There's value in paying for that future (scarce) service, and it trumps paying for an abundantly available good. 

From there, he noted that the reason "piracy" is doing so well is that the "pirates are ahead not just on price, but on service." In fact, he noted that since DRM decreases the service value for customers, it also tends to increase piracy, rather than decrease it. 

Then, he showed how that combination of service and smarter pricing allowed the company to run experiments and make a lot more money -- competing quite successfully against piracy. The most stunning example: last weekend, the company ran an experiment with the game Left 4 Dead. It heavily discounted the price, and sales shot up 3,000%. And this wasn't just a case of building off a small base. The sales over the weekend were more than when the game launched. 

In fact, it looks like a big part of the problem facing the industry is that they charge way too much for their products.

Valve Exec Explains...

Forcast for 2012: Digital Video Games- $5.4 Billion... Digitally Delivered Films; $2.8 Billion

Digitally delivered videogames will hit the mainstream before digital film, according to Futuresource Consulting research.

This year, digital game revenue will reach $2.3 billion, versus $880 million for digital film. By 2012, digital games will rise to $5.4 billion versus digital films’ $2.8 billion.

Videogame Downloads...

2008: The Year Global Revenues from Digital Media Exceeded Revenue From Movie Theaters and Home Video Combined

From Variety:

The entertainment biz will remember 2008 as the year when global revenues from digital media exceeded revenue generated by movie theaters and homevideo combined. In its "Global Media & Entertainment Market Forecast, 2004 - 2012," London research firm Strategy Analytics reported that online and mobile channels accounted for $90 billion in worldwide revenues; the global filmed entertainment market generated $83.1 billion.

"We're starting to see now that digital media is becoming a significant part of revenue for a lot of companies," says Strategy Analytics director of digital media research Martin Olausson. "A few years back, everyone was still discussing whether movies would be distributed online. That's not a discussion anymore."

Online Distribution...

Cable Providers Consider Web Distribution of TV

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc are talking with owners of major cable television networks about ways to give cable subscribers online access to much of the networks' programing, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Discussions have taken place in recent months and include network owners such as General Electric Co's NBC Universal, Time Warner Inc and Viacom Inc, which own such networks as MTV, TNT and USA, the newspaper said on its website on Thursday, citing the people.

The operators hope the Web services, which could launch this year, will attract new subscribers despite popular free-to-watch Web sites such as hulu.com, by offering a large amount of previously unavailable video, the newspaper said.

Cable Providers Eye...

Sony Ericsson to Offer Movie Downloads

Sony Ericsson plans to launch a subscription movie download service for its mobile phones later this year aimed at repositioning them as entertainment communication devices, the company announced on the eve of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, this week.

Mobile Movie Download...

NBC Universal: Piracy Under Control

 NBC Universal general counsel Rick Cotton says that the threat of Internet video piracy and illegal video sharing is now "under control," thanks to enforcement action and new technology for tracking copyrighted material.

"We've gone from a situation in video sharing where it was totally out of control to where, from a rights perspective, it's under control," said Cotton. He attributed the gains to the threat of enforcement action as well as the cooperation of video sites like YouTube Inc. , which have installed copyrighted content recognition software.

NBC Universal...

MobiTV Claims 6 million+ Subscribers

In the highly expected growth mobile TV business, one of the bigger TV packagers of networks--MobiTV--says it has made some gains.

The Emeryville, Calif.-based company says it has passed 6 million subscribers and is now available on 350 different types of handsets, across 20 telecommunication networks, including AT&T and Alltel.

MobiTV Surpasses...

Can Hulu Survive When Its Exclusivity Deals Expire?

When NBC Universal and News Corp. created Hulu, they gave the video portal a valuable but short-term asset: exclusive rights to distribute NBC and Fox shows outside of the media giants' own websites.

From that base of content, Hulu.com has become the fourth-biggest online video distributor by unique visitors in January, behindYouTube, Yahoo and MySpace, according to the latest from Nielsen VideoCensus. In total video streams, it's No. 3, with 232 million, behind YouTube (5.8 billion) and Yahoo (277 million)...

Right now TV.com is distributing Hulu, and getting 10% of ad revenue from views that originate on its site, but TV.com could just as soon do its own content deals, even with NBC and Fox once Hulu's exclusivity ends. It didn't take long for Hulu to build an audience, and a brand, but going forward, the question is whether it can defend what it has built.

Can Hulu Hold Off TV.com...

Internet Music Royalty Fees Lowered

A group that collects royalties for music artists and recording companies has agreed to reduce rates for thousands of U.S. commercial radio stations that also play songs over the Internet. 

Internet radio station operators had complained that rates originally set by the federal Copyright Royalty Board in 2007 could essentially force them to shut down. 

The new deal lowers those rates by about 16 percent in 2009 and 2010. The stations will now pay $1.50 for every song heard by a thousand listeners in 2009, rising to $2.50 per 1,000 listeners in 2015.

Agreement Reached...

Omniphone in Talks for "Digital Jukebox" with ISP's

Internet users could soon be able to enjoy unlimited, legal music downloads at home for a small additional monthly fee, after a British-based music company announced it was in discussions with internet service providers and major record labels...

Omnifone, which already provides unlimited music downloads to mobile phone users, said its MusicStation Next Generation service would provide internet users with a legitimate alternative to illegal file sharing.

..."Tens of millions of European consumers are engaged in music piracy every day," said Rob Lewis, chief executive of Omnifone. "While government pressure is growing, we also need to deliver alternatives that recognise the needs and desires of the YouTube generation.

Mobile World Congress...

Paid YouTube Downloads Unlikely to Deliver Substantial Revenues

YouTube’s move to offer video downloads is unlikely to deliver substantial revenues for the company, but could boost the video download market, according to digital industry experts.

YouTube Downloads...

"Traditional Media is Out"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A raft of dismal quarterly results and grim forecasts by U.S. media companies has investors lowering 2009 expectations and looking to smaller players with less exposure to DVDs and advertising. 

One bright spot in the quarterly earnings reports was cable operations, whose steady stream of affiliate and subscriber fees should continue to offset a swoon in TV advertising that is expected to last through 2009, analysts say. 

"The area that we like conceptually is cable networks. I think they are better positioned than the pure broadcast companies and the TV stations," said Larry Haverty, manager of Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust. Traditional media is out. 

Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger provoked further angst last week by describing "secular changes" to DVD sales that could portend slower growth even after the recession fades. 

"The bigger you are, the more you are tied deeply to traditional media and the more you're dependent predominantly on display (advertising) the harder this is going to be for you," said Mike Vorhaus, president of media research firm Magid Advisors.

Ad, DVD Sales Drag...

TV's Slow Transition to the Web

An interesting discussion of the web's journey to the television in the New York Times.  Are the television manufacturers accurate, arrogant, greedy or blind?   Maybe all four?

“Sony’s stance is that consumers don’t want an Internet-like experience with their TVs, and we’re really not focused on bringing anything other than Internet video or widgets to our sets right now,” said Greg Belloni, a spokesman for Sony. Widgets is an industry term for narrow channels of Internet programming like YouTube.

What Convergence?...

Sony Renews YouTube Deal, Where Warner Walked

YouTube, the hugely popular online video site, has renewed a global licensing deal with Sony Music Entertainment which allows it to continue showing music videos..

The deal with Sony, the world's second largest music company, is important in light of a decision by Warner Music Group to walk away from similar contract renewal talks with YouTube last December in a dispute over licensing fees. Warner asked YouTube to take its music videos down.

A person familiar with Sony Music's plans said the company still sees great value in YouTube's huge numbers of users both to Sony's artists and to the artists' fans...

...Music videos, once a free promotional tool on television, have become one of the fastest growing digital revenue streams for music companies on sites like YouTube and News Corp's MySpace.

The music labels, who signed early licensing deals with YouTube in 2006, have been keen to improve the payment rates they earn from the popular video site.

YouTube Renews Music Video Deal with Sony

Kindle 2's "Read to Me" Feature a Threat to Books on Tape?

The guild that represents authors is urging writers to be wary of a text-to-speech feature on Amazon.com Inc.'s updated Kindle electronic reading device.

In a memo sent to members Thursday, the guild says the Kindle 2's "Read to Me" feature "presents a significant challenge to the publishing industry."

The Kindle can read text in a somewhat stilted electronic voice. But the Authors Guild says the quality figures to "improve rapidly." And the guild worries that could undermine the market for audio books.

It is telling authors and publishers to consider asking Amazon to disable the audio function on e-books it licenses.

Authors Guild Irked by Kindle 2

Internet is Killing Porn Profits- Hollywood Next?

The adult entertainment business was once grudgingly acknowledged as a pioneering industry that led the way for innovations later emulated by Hollywood – first to adopt video, and first to embrace the Internet, among other things. Now the adult industry is being hit hard by piracy, and what happens could be a harbinger for Hollywood.

Internet Piracy is Killing Porn...

Most Pirated YouTube: Univision

Protecting shows from piracy on YouTube is an obsession for some TV networks, but Univision Communications' efforts haven't been able to thwart a booming market for its illegally uploaded content. The Spanish-language TV network is the most-pirated U.S. broadcast network on YouTube, with mostly clips of blockbuster telenovelas drawing more than twice as many views as Univision's nearest network competitor, Fox.

Univision: YouTube's Most Pirated...

Google to Abandon Radio Ads, Focus on Online Streaming Audio

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular search engine, announced plans to shut its three- year-old radio-advertising business and cut as many as 40 jobs, saying the investment didn’t provide enough of a payoff.

...The move illustrates Google’s failure to parlay its dominance in Internet-search ads into offline media. The company said last month that it would close a business that sold ad space in newspapers. 

...Google plans to continue investing in its television ad business. It also is seeking ways to sell more advertising on online audio services, which younger audiences are using.

“We will use our technology to develop Internet-based solutions that will deliver relevant ads for online streaming audio,” Wojcicki said. “We are dedicating a team of people at Google to explore how we can best add value for advertisers, broadcasters and listeners in this emerging advertising space.”

Bloomberg: Google...

YouTube to Try Downloads for Fee

YouTube announced Thursday that it will soon allow downloads of author-approved videos with the option of charging a small fee, creating a new revenue stream for online filmmakers in addition to current ad-share agreements.

...Warner Music in particular has been hoping to bank more from YouTube streams. It requested that YouTube remove its videos in December and many others were also muted by Google in January. Paid downloads (if done right) could be part of the answer, but all four major record labels have reportedly been plotting their own premium section of YouTube or stand-alone Hulu-style music video service.

YouTube Opens Shop with Downloads

Is Content Permanently Losing Its Value?

From Time Magazine:

Content is rapidly being devalued...

Yahoo! (YHOO) and Time Warner were downgraded by a Wall St. analyst yesterday. His reason for cutting Time Warner is that, once its cable systems have been spun-out to shareholders, its crown jewels which include Time Inc, AOL, and networks such as CNN were not worth the multiple at which the company trades. The essence of his argument is that content, even the best content, is losing its value.

Part of the problem with content value is tied directly to the recession. Accountants should take it easy when they lean on that too hard. The best assets bounce back when the economy recovers. But, by forcing companies to write-down their content assets so extremely they are saying that the firms can never go home again. Their TV shows, movies, magazines, and newspapers will never recover all of their value...

...No one knows to what extent content will be "re-valued" as the economy improves. The newspaper industry may not be able to get any of its value back. Magazines may face the same problem. To the surprise of many, some of the more valuable content, like expensive feature films, may only make a great deal of money in theaters. The yield from VOD on the internet sales and syndication on the Apple (AAPL) iPod may turn out to be extremely modest.

The largest media companies are making the case that the only reason their asset values have dropped is the economy. That case may not hold up.

Content, Once King...

Digital Music Now 19% of Warner Music Sales

Warner Music Group(NYSE: WMG) now generates 19% of its total revenues from digital music, and reported $171 million in digital revenue for its fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31 -- a 20% increase from the same period a year ago.

In the U.S., digital generated $99 million during the quarter, accounting for an even larger 31.4% of total recorded music income. 

Warner Music: Digital Now...

Ad Dollars Shrink as Mobile Devices Become Computer Substitutes

According to a new study by KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, media and advertising professionals says two factors—shrinking ad dollars and mobile devices being used as personal computers—have become the most disruptive in media today. With less attention paid to traditional media channels (and more curtailed ad spend), it's expected that social media and mobile consumption will increase in usage. 

In the KPMG survey, which polled more than 200 media, marketing and advertising executives, 49% of respondents indicated that declining ad spend is the most disruptive force in media today, followed closely by mobile devices becoming personal computers (40%). KPMG conducted the survey in collaboration with AlwaysOn, the venture capital new media organization.

The KPMG survey also found that some 75% of  executives predict that advertisers will move more than a quarter of media time and spending away from traditional channels in the next five years, while social networks and mobile marketing are expected to see a surge in activity.

Mobile Devices and Shrinking Ad Dollars...

Online Video Viewings Jump- Hulu.com Averages 10 Minutes Per View

From Cnet Digital Media:

As Americans tuned into their computers during December, the number of online videos viewed jumped 13 percent over the previous month, according to a report released Wednesday by comScore.

In the U.S., viewers watched 14.3 billion online videos in December. That translates into nearly 150 million users watching an average of 96 videos each, comScore noted in its report.

The average viewer, meanwhile, spent more than a total of 5 hours with their eyes glued to the videos, which ran an average of 3.2 minutes. Hulu viewers, however, watched online videos that ran an average of 10.1 minutes.

(Credit: comScore Inc.)

Online Videos...

Warner Bros. Goes for Video Games as DVDs Falter

Warner Brothers Entertainment, the Hollywood studio owned by Time Warner, is bolstering its presence in video games with the acquisition of Snowblind Studios, a Seattle-based developer.
The deal comes as traditional home entertainment groups are moving to reposition themselves amid an industry-wide slump in DVD sales...

DVDs have been Hollywood’s most reliable cash generator for the past decade, but studios are grappling with a severe decline in sales over the past 12 months as the format matures and consumers tighten their belts.

Blu-ray, the next-generation DVD format, enjoyed healthy growth in the run up to Christmas, with Warner Bros having sold close to 2m units of the The Dark Knight. But the studio does not expect total home entertainment sales – which include Blu-ray, digital downloads and DVDs – to return to growth until 2010, although this may become difficult if conditions continue to worsen.

FT: Warner Focuses on Video Games

Citigroup: Amazon's Kindles to Do $1.2 Billion by 2010

Kindles are indeed the "iPod for Books" (and magazines, newspapers and blogs).  I've had one for a year and love it to death.   There's a new one coming out in a couple weeks.

The Citigroup analyst estimates that Amazon (AMZN) sold 500,000 devices last year. And he figures that the Kindle, which he delights in calling the “iPod of the Book World,” will become a $1.2 billion business by 2010.

Citi Says: Amazon Sold...

Disney/ABC to Distribute Long Form Television Episodes Via Verizon

The Disney/ABC Television Group has expanded its content partnership Verizon, and for the first time will distribute full-length prime-time content through V Cast, the wireless firm’s subscription-based mobile video service.

As part of the new pact, ABC will deliver full episodes of its biggest hits to V Cast subscribers, including Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost and Ugly Betty. Previously, ABC had only provided V Cast with short-form promotional clips, though the network already distributes long-form content via the premium mobile video services offered by Sprint, AT&T and MobiTV.

.. In addition to ABC content, V Cast will soon offer full-length episodes of popular Disney Channel hits as part of the deal, including Hannah Montana, The Suite Life on Deck and Phineas and Ferb. 

Disney/ABC, Verizon

Apple TV Unit Sales Up 300% From Last Year

First-quarter unit sales of Apple TV tripled from a year earlier, in part due to a software update introduced a year ago that lets users rent movies, including some in the ultra-crisp high-definition format. Version 1.0 of Apple TV let users watch programming purchased from iTunes or downloaded off Google's (GOOG) YouTube.

Apple TV

Disney's Iger: DVD's Sharp Declines Due To Changing Viewing Habits- Not Just Economic Downturn

Studio executives, who often rely on DVD sales to push a film into the black, quietly have been expressing concern about a 30% decline in DVD shipments to retailers in the fourth quarter. This drop in home entertainment sales hit Disney's studio hard. Disney's studio division revenue for the quarter fell 26% to $1.9 billion and operating income plunged 64% to $187 million. Consumers bought fewer new releases on DVD and there was less demand for Disney's classic titles.

Anthony J. DiClemente, an analyst with Barclays Capital, said this was the first time a studio executive had publicly acknowledged that falling DVD sales might have something to do with changes in how people watch films. The shift could rock the economics of the movie industry, which depends on home video sales for as much as 70% of a film's profit, he said.

"With the DVD business in decline, it brings to question whether or not investment in filmed content is going to generate an adequate return on capital for Disney or other media company shareholders," DiClemente said. "The industry is caught in a vortex of dramatic, structural change."

Disney Loses...

Xbox Widens Lead Over Playstation3

Microsoft said today that it had sold more than 28 million Xbox 360s since introducing the game console in November 2005. That compares with more than 20 million PlayStation 3 consoles sold by Sony since it debuted the device in November 2006, according to Microsoft executives.

"We're widening our lead against PlayStation 3," said Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for the Xbox, who noted that going into the fourth quarter, Microsoft's lead had been 5 million consoles. "This was the best year in the history of the Xbox, despite the tough economy."

Greenberg credited last year's growth to a lineup of exclusive games, including Gears of War 2, Left for Dead and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

He also credited the company's online game service, Xbox Live. The company said it now has 17 million Xbox Live subscribers who can use their consoles to find online opponents, download games or watch movies and TV shows. 

Microsoft Xbox...

Online Video Viewing Jumps 40%-Mostly YouTube

Americans appear to be getting more comfortable watching videos online--and Google is the clear winner.
Internet users in the U.S. watched 12.7 billion online videos in November, an increase of 34 percent versus a year ago, according to numbers released Monday by market researcher ComScore.

Thanks to YouTube, Google Sites retained the crown as the top U.S. video property with nearly 5.1 billion videos viewed--or about 40 percent of all videos viewed online...Fox Interactive Media was a distant second with 439 million videos watched (or 3.5 percent), followed by Viacom Digital with 325 million videos watched (2.6 percent).

Online Video Viewing

Yahoo & Amazon Video on Demand- Delivered Directly to TV's

The broadband-connected television market will be in full bloom at CES 2009, with Samsung announcing that its newest lineup of HDTVs will sport "Internet@TV", a Yahoo-powered widget interface...

Today, Samsung announced it has realized these technologies with "Internet@TV -- Content Service," which will be shown off at CES this week. Select 2009 broadband-connected Samsung HDTVs will come with the service built in, with the ability to access JavaScript and XML apps from the likes of Flickr, YouTube, Yahoo News properties, USA Today, eBay, and Showtime Networks. Samsung says the widget-enabled TVs it is showing this week will not come to retail until Spring.

Samsung Announces...

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Amazon today announced that owners of the formerly Netflix-exclusive Roku set-top box will be able to access Amazon Video On Demand, and LG announced it's building Netflix instant streaming directly into some of its upcoming HDTVs.

Netflix and Amazon on Demand...