Media Industry Archive

Few things are ever certain in this world, but one of them is that whatever trends in the media industry might seem dominant at any particular moment here in the U.S. will almost certainly be directly contradicted in Japan. So, it is with great pleasure that I break this news: While U.S. publishers of all types struggle with how to erect paywalls and therefore better monetize their online...

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Here’s what passes for an optimistic comment in the magazine industry these days. From Janet Balis, an exec vp at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia: We are definitely starting to see some wonderful bright spots. In the November issue of Martha Stewart Living, paging was down less than 5% year over year, in a year when prior issues were substantially more challenged. In other words, things...

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The hype over Hulu’s future barrels on, despite the company’s clearly unsustainable business model. They’ve pledged to expand their video streaming shows to at least a half-dozen international markets, starting with the UK in early 2010. Their 230 content deals, 400 advertisers, and 40 million users sounds impressive — but ads just aren’t enough to sustain free...

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As a conglomeration of cable industry players, including Time Warner and Comcast, ramp up TV Everywhere, the initiative in which only cable subscribers would be able to watch the consortium’s content online, the studies on the impact the program will have are flying. One that caught my eye this week is a study by Interpret LLC saying that 7.7 million people who stream online video — or...

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Here’s a counter-intuitive data point: NBC, the fourth-place broadcast network, nonetheless leads its broadcast counterparts in Web site traffic so far this year, and by a substantial margin. According to comScore Media Metrix data, NBC.com had 11.4 million unique visitors last month — no. 2 Web site ABC.com tallied only 6.8 million. The network’s Web site also ranks first in...

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Outgoing CBS Interactive CEO Quincy Smith says one of his priorities as an independent consultant will be finding ways to make the $120 billion television market profitable online. “How do you turn television buyers into video buyers?” Smith said this week. “There is a lot more I can do outside of CBS on that particular issue than inside,” said Smith, who will continue...

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The partnership deals recently announced by Twitter with Bing and Google contain some hints of what kind of monetization strategy the micro-blogging, social media service is choosing to pursue, at least in the near term. “A fast growing amount of information is coursing through Twitter very quickly, and we want there to be many ways to access that information,” co-founder Evan...

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I have seen the future of TV and it looks like this: The CW. That may seem surprising, as in most of my ramblings about the broadcast networks, I’ve mostly ignored this cute little Weblet that largely operates outside of my demographic, being the home of “Gossip Girl” and remakes of “90210″ and “Melrose Place.” It’s also easy to ignore because it...

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I know CNN is hard up in the ratings department — and therefore, we can assume, in the advertising  department — but why on earth is it advertising Fox’s coverage of the World Series — particularly during the exact same time that Game 1 of the Series is on? Yes, you read right. I was channel-surfing about 45 minutes ago; “Larry King Live” was on when it was...

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Much was made of it last week when News Corp.’s Chase Carey said that Hulu would start charging soon for some content. While this may only be wishful thinking on News Corp.’s part — Hulu’s other partners have been mum on the issue, and Hulu itself threw cold water on the idea — News Corp. is right. As it’s structured today, Hulu has the potential to destroy the...

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