Media Industry Archive

Despite the recession, and the anemic year-end sales logged by most retailers, the top gaming consoles and communities seem to be thriving in a way that may contain some useful insights for other media companies. Consider Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which enjoyed strong holiday sales and has sold 28 million units since its launch in 2005. The company reported that between Christmas and New...

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You’ve probably read that Forbes has completed the inevitable merging of its print and online staffs, and laid off 19 people as a result. While we should all feel sympathy for those who were laid off, it’s hard to have much sympathy for those who fought the merging of the print and online staffs for so long. As Valleywag rightly chortles, “It only took them a decade.”...

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Forbes lays off 19 — In a move that results in the merging of print and Web operations, Forbes magazine has let 19 editorial employees go. The layoffs are the second since November when the company fired 43 from business operations. [Source: All Things Digital] UGO buys 1UP — Hearst Corporation’s UGO Entertainment division has just completed an acquisition of the 1UP gaming...

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Over the past few months as the crisis engulfing traditional media has accelerated, formerly unthinkable alliances between rival organizations have started to become commonplace. In Texas, two old rivals — the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram — started sharing concert reviews and photos in November. In Maine, the Bangor Daily News started sharing resources with...

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Time spent watching online video up 40 percent — In a report released by comScore, time spent viewing online video has increased 40 percent. The number of videos watched also increased from last year. [Source: NewTeeVee] McGraw Hill cuts 375 jobs — McGraw Hill, publisher of Business Week magazine, has cut 375 jobs, most from its Information and Media division. The cuts came after...

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If there’s anyone left doubting that big media and big technology are converging, here’s more evidence that it’s happening: NATPE, an organization whose annual conference centers around such pressing issues as how many TV stations have cleared “Dr. Phil”, is presenting two panels this week at MacWorld. NATPE, which stands for the National Association of Television...

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If you saw this promo for Super Bowl XLIII last weekend on NBC, you can be forgiven if you came away thinking the Big Game is actually a rock concert during which a football game occasionally breaks out. “On February 1st, the world will watch, as history is made,” the voiceover intones, before cutting to scenes of half-time entertainment Bruce Springsteen, in concert, playing...

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There’s a gorilla in most market segments, of course, even those that rely on guerrilla marketing, and online video is no exception. Thus, despite competition from every angle, Google’s YouTube continues to dominate its space to a significant degree. The most recent ComScore figures indicate that YouTube has just over 40 percent of the 12 billion videos currently siting on U.S....

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Broadcasting & Cable has posted an “exit interview” with outgoing Federal Communications Commission chief  Kevin Martin, and while there’s plenty to digest, one thing that stands out is Martin’s frustration that he wasn’t successful in getting the cable companies to “unbundle” their programming. Under unbundling, consumers would have more of an à...

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New York Times sells first front page ad — The New York Times has joined the likes of USA Today and The Wall Street Journal in selling part of its front page to advertisers. The first ad, a small square image of the CBS logo, ran in today’s footer. [Source: All Things Digital] Digital music sales up in 2008 — Music sales increased this year, led mostly by a 27 percent spike in...

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