Media Industry Archive

Even though the deal was expected, a fair amount of news outlets are getting tied up in their underwear over Disney/ABC agreeing to put its video content up on Hulu, along with NBC and Fox (and take a 30 percent stake in the venture).  One reason this is big news is that it leaves only one broadcast network, CBS, without a content deal on Hulu, which is fast becoming the Internet’s...

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If you read this post the other day about the controversy over Nielsen’s attempts to measure online and TV consumption by its people meter families, you know I questioned whether individuals in people meter families really push those personal viewing buttons on their remotes so that Nielsen can sync up viewing data with the age and sex of the viewer. Now, even Nielsen says many people...

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So, as promised, I’ve listened to all three parts of Ad Age editor Jonah Bloom’s interview with new AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, and will now tell you about the most interesting part: Armstrong’s thoughts on whether the Internet can support quality content. Said Armstrong: The answer is yes, I  think that content on the Internet will be able to be monetized in a way that is...

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One of my biggest frustrations when working inside online media companies these past 15 years was the dismissal by many of my colleagues of the idea that we had the potential to be a global media service. I’ve had any number of MBAs and other media execs tell me, “We don’t want those users. They are too poor to buy anything. Our advertisers don’t care about them. The...

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There was much more substance in the ether today about AOL then there was yesterday: while being somewhat mealy-mouthed about the language, Time Warner executives made it clear on their earnings call today that in all likelihood they will spinoff some or all of AOL, casting new CEO, and former Google exec, Tim Armstrong in the role of the contractor who comes into the handyman’s special,...

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Over the past week, both out in New York and here in San Francisco, I’ve had dozens of conversations with people — mainly in the publishing industry — comparing the user experience of reading an eBook compared to the good, old-fashioned type we’ve all grown to love these past 554 years or so, ever since Johannes Gutenberg rolled those first 180 or so 42-line Bibles off...

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Time Warner loses ad revenue — Media giant Time Warner released their first quarter earnings this morning and the results were mixed. Advertising based properties such as Time Inc. and AOL saw double digit drops in advertising revenue. AOL also announced that its audience growth had stagnated and Time Inc.’s online revenue declined as well. Broadcast properties such as HBO and...

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Doesn’t sound like there was a whole lot of illumination in the interview that took place today between new AOL chief Tim Armstrong and Advertising Age editor Jonah Bloom at the 4As Leadership Conference, but one thing is clear: no outside interloper is to futz with AOL’s logo. (BTW, the 4As used to be called the American Association of Advertising Agencies, but as of today is...

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A number of new developments in the proposed settlement of a class action suit between Google and some authors over who will control the publishing rights of millions of out-of-print books indicate that the growing opposition to the terms of that settlement are gaining momentum. The U.S. Justice Department has opened an antitrust inquiry into the matter, according to The New York Times, which...

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If you want a good insight into how screwed up the specialty of media measurement is, you could do worse than to read this story outlining Nielsen’s attempts to measure Internet usage, and, most importantly, online viewing habits, in some of the households that make up its TV research panel. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Well, no. Some (unnamed) researchers believe that it will...

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