Dec 22, 2008 (Rockefeller's Agenda)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY DEC 22, 2008
Sorry we're late -- server problems.
THE TRANSITION
Sen Rockefeller's Agenda May Up the Ante on TV Issues
Telecom lobbyists line up for piece of Obama stimulus
Proposal for the Creation of a Rural Fiber Fund
Indies Ask Obama Camp For More Prime Real Estate
With Stevens's Fall, Pipeline for Lobbyists Shuts Off
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Advanced IT Policy for a New America
'Network Neutrality'? Never Mind.
Undersea cable breaks cut Internet in Mideast, Asia
NTIA Chief Scrutinizes ICANN Plans
BROADCASTING
Chairman Markey Wants Some DTV Answers
Nielsen: 7 Million Homes Unprepared For DTV Transition
Kudos to NAB, Now DTV Is Up to the FCC
In Move to Digital TV, Confusion Is in the Air
Cities' Early Digital Shift May Leave Some TVs Dark
For Conservative Radio, It's a New Dawn, Too
Limbaugh Is Right on the Fairness Doctrine
GE Capital Report Offers Good And Bad News For TV Stations
JOURNALISM
Newspaper Shuns Web, and Thrives
Appraising the state of digital news media
2008-09
The top ten media blunders of 2008
Keep It Real: Pragmatic Media Predictions For 2009
Predictions: 9 For '09 In Media
117 Magazine and Media Predictions for 2009
For media, the year that wasn't
QUICKLY -- Talks break down; Warner Music pulls videos from YouTube
THE TRANSITION
SEN ROCKEFELLER'S AGENDA MAY UP ANTE ON TV ISSUES
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
Sen Jay Rockefeller's chairmanship of the Senate Commerce Committee could mean a Senate far more active on broadcast television issues, industry executives and public-interest groups say. But media executives yearning for a drastic change in terms of how the government regulates TV content may find the senator's positions on some obscenity issues eerily familiar. And they may find some of Sen. Rockefeller's ambitions to curb TV violence disconcerting. Sen. Rockefeller is a champion of expanding broadband availability, and in the current session he joined with then-Sen. Barack Obama to co-sponsor a resolution that called for creating a nationwide next-generation broadband network by 2015. That goal is expected to be included in an economic stimulus plan the president-elect is crafting to present to Congress.
http://benton.org/node/20118
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TELECOM LOBBYISTS LINE UP FOR PIECE OF OBAMA STIMULUS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kim Dixon]
President-elect Barack Obama's frequent use of the words "broadband" and "stimulus" in the same sentence has lobbyists lining up to get a piece of the expected largess in an economic stimulus plan. Telecommunications companies are hoping to benefit from a variety of incentives under consideration, including a tax credit to target rural America, as lawmakers draft an economic recovery plan that could run about $600 billion. The key to any proposal is to prove it will create jobs. "They (lawmakers) are looking at them through the lens of how many jobs will be created," said Jeff Campbell, senior director of technology and trade policy at Cisco Systems Inc., which makes network equipment. Every one percentage point boost in broadband penetration per year is projected to increase jobs by 300,000, assuming the economy is not at full employment, according to a 2007 report by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "The goal is to revitalize rural America by bringing high-tech jobs to replace those lost in manufacturing," said Derek Turner, research director at Free Press, a reform group that introduced its own $44 billion investment plan this week. The Free Press proposal includes a $15 billion broadband infrastructure fund overseen by the Federal Communications Commission and run by the states, and a $10 billion program to issue corporate bonds for broadband-related investment. Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America want Congress to give direct grants to consumers to buy computers and Internet services, rather than "to corporations with a hope and a prayer that stimulus will trickle down to citizens."
http://benton.org/node/20092
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PROPOSAL FOR THE CREATION OF A RURAL FIBER FUND
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] Goal: Wire all of rural America with full fiber networks. Why Fiber? Because "broadband" in the 21st century means fiber. Only fiber has the capacity to support the next generations of big bandwidth applications. Because "broadband infrastructure" equals fiber. It requires the most jobs to deploy, delivers the biggest economic boost, and provides world-class, future-proof connectivity. Because rural communities can't compete in the 21st century with 20th century broadband. How Will This Stimulate the Economy? $1 billion spent deploying broadband infrastructure creates 19,500 jobs. $1 billion of new broadband infrastructure adds $10 billion to the GDP. Using fiber aids rural communities in attracting, growing, and retaining local businesses; becoming energy efficient; improving healthcare and education systems; and more. How? partial loan guarantees and matching grants. How Fast Will It Work? At least $1 billion worth of shovel-ready projects will start hiring in Q1 '09. How big? Two installments of $10 billion.
http://benton.org/node/20091
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INDIES ASK OBAMA CAMP FOR PRIME REAL ESTATE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Independent TV and film producers, represented by the Independent Film & Television Alliance, want to make sure that the Obama transition team's idea of media diversity includes entertainment as well as public interest programming. In a letter to transition team co-chairs John Podesta and Valerie Jarrett, IFTA made a pitch for prime time carve-outs for TV programming not produced by a network-affiliated studio, echoing its pitch to the previous Administration. IFTA also sent a copy to Obama communications advisor Julius Genachowski, who is considered a top candidate for either Chief Technology Officer or Federal Communications Commission chairman. Topping the list of requests from IFTA was a new FCC chairman and commissioners who "support principles of openness and diversity in the media, for entertainment as well as public service programming," and perhaps more importantly are ready to regulate that outcome. Also on IFTA's wish list are opening a proceeding on programming source diversity and media ownership, with an eye toward regulation; making program diversity an explicit evaluation guideline for Federal Trade Commission, Justice and FCC merger reviews; and a commitment to open Internet access. IFTA is concerned that the Internet is the last, best hope for independent programmers to access to an audience and so wants to insure that its experience with access, or lack of it, to traditional media is not mirrored online.
http://benton.org/node/20090
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WITH STEVENS'S FALL, PIPELINE FOR LOBBYISTS SHUTS OFF
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Kirkpatrick]
Until recently, there were few better ways to start a lobbying career than by leaving the office of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. With 40 years of seniority on important Senate committees, Mr. Stevens, a Republican, wielded unrivaled power over industries like fishing, forestry, communications, aviation and the military, steering billions each year to pet Alaskan projects. His power made his good will a valuable commodity on K Street, where many lobbying firms are located. During the past five years, just nine lobbyists and firms known primarily for their ties to Mr. Stevens reported over $60 million in lobbyist fees, not including other income for less direct "consulting." The most recent person to leave his staff to become a lobbyist reported fees of more than $800,000 in just the last 18 months. So when Alaskan voters narrowly rejected Mr. Stevens's bid for re-election last month, just days after a jury convicted him of federal ethics violations, it was in some ways like the closing of the plant in a company town. Stevens's former aides are hardly the only Washington lobbyists to rise and fall with a single Congressional patron. Representative John D. Dingell, the powerful Michigan Democrat first elected in 1955, long sustained a coterie of lobbyists sometimes known as the Dingell Bar. They, too, are feeling the pinch at the moment from his recent loss to Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, of the gavel as chairman of the House Commerce Committee. But Mr. Stevens — Alaska's "Uncle Ted" — is in a class by himself.
http://benton.org/node/20111
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
ADVANCED IT POLICY FOR A NEW AMERICA
[SOURCE: Science Progress, AUTHOR: Mark lloyd]
The obvious good news is the incoming Obama administration recognizes that a national advanced communications and information technology policy should cut across all the "silos" of our government, including the departments of Commerce, Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, Defense, Homeland Security, Energy, and, of course, the Federal Communications Commission. The potential bad news is that the new administration will simply embrace the easy answer of more broadband for the different parts of society these departments serve, falling for the false promise of more competition and new technologies providing all Americans with speedy access to the new, online public square.
http://benton.org/node/20117
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'NETWORK NEUTRALITY'? NEVER MIND.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] We just had a never-mind moment on the most controversial public-policy issue relating to the Web: network neutrality. It's not so funny that it has taken so long to reach this logical conclusion. Regulators treat the Web as if it were a common carrier like a railroad, discouraging efficient network management and pricing. The issue of network neutrality had been so politicized in Washington that it's driven underinvestment. President-elect Obama has said he supports "network neutrality," whatever the phrase now means. Networks such as those provided by telecom and cable companies should be able to deliver Web content as quickly and reliably as competitive markets will bear. When the Web was text-based, these issues were straightforward. Now, bandwidth usage is growing by an estimated 50% a year, especially due to online video and real-time applications, such as games and telephone calls, which require no-jitter connections. These services are great for consumers and the companies that offer them, but regulators have not let network management evolve to serve these new needs. It's time to let the big boys among the content providers and network providers fight it out to see who pays how much for what level of service. Until they work out a new approach, consumers in the U.S., who once had the best Web experience, will fall further down the Internet ranks.
http://benton.org/node/20115
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UNDERSEA CABLE BREAKS CUT INTERNET IN MIDEAST, ASIA
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: James Regan]
Breaks in three submarine cables under the Mediterranean, possibly caused by a ship's anchor, have disrupted Internet and international telephone services in parts of the Middle East and South Asia. A ship carrying a submarine repair robot was on its way to the site between Sicily and Tunisia on Saturday, with work expected to take until the end of the year.
http://benton.org/node/20108
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NTIA CHIEF SCRUTINIZES ICANN PLANS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
National Telecommunications and Information Administration Acting Director Meredith Baker called on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers this week to resolve a list of potential problems before making sweeping changes to the way top-level domains, such as .biz, .info, and .us, are assigned. In a Thursday letter to ICANN, Baker said the organization must carefully consider public comments received on their plan and initiate further consultations, including the creation of a revised guidebook for those wishing to apply for a flurry of new domains -- a process projected to start in 2009. Baker said ICANN must ensure the introduction of a potentially large number of new domains, including internationalized domains, will not jeopardize the stability and security of the Internet and said the group must prove it has the sufficient capacity to enforce contract compliance with an as-yet-unknown number of new contracting parties. ICANN should also state how it will conduct legal reviews of applications, consider objections from third parties, and ensure that the introduction of new domains complies with domestic and international law, including intellectual property rights statutes. She also argued that the ICANN board's October 2006 request for an economic study to address a variety of domain name market related questions needs to be completed and the results be considered by the Internet community before new domains are introduced.
http://benton.org/node/20085
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BROADCASTING
CHAIRMAN MARKEY WANTS SOME DTV ANSWERS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) has asked the heads of the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration for a status report on the digital television transition. One of his concerns is the NTIA's digital-to-analog converter box coupon program -- 1) will there be a shortfall of those boxes as IBM estimates there are 11.2 million boxes currently in inventory, production, or shipping, while NTIA estimates the total demand at 33.5 million boxes and 2) is their sufficient funding for coupons and call centers. If NTIA's DTV coupon redemption rate remains at about 50%, there would technically be plenty of money for the program, with NTIA estimating being able to return several hundred million to the US Treasury. But an accounting lag between sending out coupons and their expiration dates, which frees up the money to be used for new coupons, could slow coupon distribution by mid-January, NTIA has said. Congress, which set the funding cap ($1.34 billion including administration costs), would likely have to lift it to make sure that the program was not delayed, though Chairman Markey said in his letter to NTIA chief Meredith Baker that there was "precious little time remaining to act legislatively." He also asked Baker whether she thinks the cap will need to be lifted to meet expected consumer demand. NTIA is said to favor that move. Chairman Markey asked a number of questions of both Baker and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to be answered by Dec. 23, including whether Martin believes the transition is on track, whether he thinks there will be enough money for the converter box program, how the FCC plans to spend its remaining converter box education money, whether he thinks the FCC has enough folks and money to handle phone calls about the transition and whether he thinks private-sector call center efforts will make up the difference.
http://benton.org/node/20089
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NIELSEN: 7 MILLION HOMES UNPREPARED FOR DTV TRANSITION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
As of this month, 6.8% of (or about 7 million) US households are completely unready for the DTV switch, meaning they have only over-the-air analog service and have yet to do anything about it. By completely unready, Nielsen means that none of the TV sets in the house are digital, or have a DTV-to-analog converter box, or are hooked up to cable or satellite. That is according to Nielsen's latest tracking of DTV-readiness. But that percentage is down from the 7.4% who weren't ready in November. They will need to be ready by Feb. 17, 2009, when the analog signal is being shut off (except possibly for a brief period for DTV info and emergency info only). The number of households that are "partially unready," meaning they have at least one unconnected, non-DTV set, is 10%, down a hair from November's 10.3%. The least prepared markets are Albuquerque-Santa Fe at 13% unready, followed by Tulsa at 12.65%, Houston at 12.41%, and Dallas-Fort Worth at 11.71%.
http://benton.org/node/20088
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KUDOS TO NAB, NOW DTV IS UP TO THE FCC
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] With the National Association of Broadcasters' latest commitment to set up a digital television transition hotline, Jessell now thinks the NAB "has finally done quite enough." Attention should now turn on the Federal Communications Commission which last September received an extra $20 million from Congress to educate Americans about the transition. NAB President David Rehr last month urged FCC Chairman Martin to use the money to make the FCC call center "as robust and prepared as possible for the massive number" of expected DTV calls. A "robust and prepared" FCC call center would be a perfect complement to the planned NAB hotline. The NAB automated system would relieve the FCC of having to deal with the initial flood of calls. Instead, the FCC center could perhaps focus on the toughest cases passed along by the NAB, the ones that cannot be quickly resolved elsewhere.
http://benton.org/node/20087
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IN MOVE TO DIGITAL TV, CONFUSION IS IN THE AIR
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Taub]
The Federal Communications Commission sponsored a NASCAR race car as part of its effort to inform Americans that on Feb. 18, television signals transmitted over the air will be transmitted solely in digital format. Old TV sets will no longer work. It paid $350,000 to emblazon "The Digital TV Transition" and other phrases on a Ford driven by David Gilliland. So how's that going? In November, the car crashed during a NASCAR race in Phoenix. It was the second crash in as many months. And how is the digital TV transition going? According to critics, about as well, despite a major marketing campaign that includes nightly ads on TV. According to surveys conducted by the Consumers Union, while 90 percent of the nation is aware of the transition, 25 percent mistakenly believe that one must subscribe to cable or satellite after February, and 41 percent think that every TV in a house must have a new converter box, even those that are already connected to cable or satellite. "This transition is possibly one of the worst understood consumer education programs in modern times," said Richard Doherty, an analyst with the Envisioneering Group. While the government and industry have invested large sums to get the message out, the problem is that the effort is too little and way too late.
http://benton.org/node/20113
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CITIES' EARLY DIGITAL SHIFT MAY LEAVE SOME TVS DARK
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Hundreds of Northern California residents could wake up Monday to discover that their televisions no longer work as well. Three of four network stations in Chico and Redding, Calif., will begin broadcasting only in digital Monday, two months before the rest of the country. The worry is that some of the 20,000 residents who rely on over-the-air TV still aren't ready, despite local broadcasters' airing of thousands of ads and screen crawls to alert viewers. The transition in Northern California could be a harbinger of what happens on Feb. 17, when the whole country is required by Congress to switch to digital-only TV. (The ABC affiliate station for Chico and Redding also plans to go digital on Feb. 17.) Last week, 40 stations in Ohio shut off their analog signals for five minutes to show viewers what their analog TVs would look like without converter boxes: a blank screen. Viewers flooded a broadcasters' hot line with calls to ask how to get the government coupons and how to operate converter boxes, among other questions, said Christine Merritt, executive vice president of the Ohio Association of Broadcasters. She added that the hot line got so many calls -- about 7,500 -- that the phone system overloaded and crashed.
http://benton.org/node/20112
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FOR CONSERVATIVE RADIO, IT'S A NEW DAWN, TOO
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
Amid all the pressures on the radio industry, news-talk stations see an opportunity — and his name is Barack Obama. After eight years of playing defense for President Bush, the conservatives who dominate talk radio are back on offense. Radio, at least for now, still acts as a national megaphone for influential voices. This year, news talk ranked as the most popular radio format in the United States, surpassing country music for the first time ever. Forty stations have added news talk in the last year, for a total of 2,064 that use the format, up from about 1,500 a decade ago, according to the trade publication M Street. That means 2,064 stations need 24 hours of programming every day. Stations with tight budgets increasingly rely on programs from Premiere Radio Networks, ABC Radio Networks and other syndication companies. Five of the most popular syndicated names in news-talk radio — Mr. Limbaugh, Mr. Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage and Laura Ingraham — signed new contracts in the last 12 months, all but guaranteeing that they will be rallying listeners for the duration of Mr. Obama's four-year term. Mr. Limbaugh's landmark contract, announced in July, promised a total of $400 million through 2016.
http://benton.org/node/20114
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LIMBAUGH IS RIGHT ON THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jon Sinton]
[Commentary] The founding president of Air America Radio agrees with conservative talk radio hosts: The Fairness Doctrine is an anachronistic policy that, with the abundance of choices on radio today, is entirely unnecessary. When conservative talking heads wave a red flag about the possible revival of the Fairness Doctrine, they know it's a great way to play the victim and rally supporters. But Sinton'll let Rush Limbaugh continue with his self-righteous indignation -- and he'll tune into Rachel Maddow, or one of the thousands of other voices that populate radio today.
http://benton.org/node/20109
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GE CAPITAL REPORT OFFERS GOOD AND BAD NEWS FOR TV STATIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Claire Atkinson]
GE Capital delivered some rare positive news for local media with a report on the health of the TV station business. The General Electric company pointed out a handful of reasons why the business has good long term prospects despite the current ad crunch. The report states that the TV station industry is seeing "new revenue streams from retransmission fees, digital multicasting and the Internet, with mobile revenue on the horizon." Better picture quality and the shift to multicasting will improve business models, says the report adding that TV stations have responded to the threat of time shifting, increased viewing choice and competition for ad dollars by emphasizing their local news and sports content and making content available via streaming video. However, the report didn't mince words about the state of the challenging ad environment. According to its numbers auto advertising in the sector is down 17% while retail is down 15-20%, even as political dollars gave 2008 coffers a big boost. Still, GE Capital sees TV stations holding increased importance in future elections given the strong local reach.
http://benton.org/node/20086
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JOURNALISM
NEWSPAPER SHUNS WEB, AND THRIVES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
With 2008 drawing to a brutal close on the media beat -- bankruptcies, daily newspapers that are no longer daily, magazines that are downsizing into brochures -- a little ray of light appeared. It was from a newspaper owner. Into the teeth of a historic recession, the newspaper had just published the biggest issue in its history. The product is double-digit profitable, and it has been growing at a clip of about 10 percent a year since it was founded in 1999, right about the time the Web was beginning to put its hands around print's neck. Finally, a story about a print organization that has found a way to tame the Web and come up with a digital business approach that could serve as a model? No, the TriCityNews of Monmouth County (NJ) is prospering precisely because it aggressively ignores the Web. Its Web site has a little boilerplate about the product and lists ad rates, but nothing more.
http://benton.org/node/20110
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APPRAISING THE STATE OF DIGITAL NEWS MEDIA
[SOURCE: Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, AUTHOR: ]
Despite the demonstrated success of many new media enterprises, the euphoria over the rise of participatory media has been tempered by concerns over the quality and credibility of online media, the possible fragmentation of audiences, a decline in editorial standards and the persistent challenge of effectively reporting the news. Over the past year, researchers at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society have reached out to a broad range of media experts to help in this assessment of the changes in new media over the past several years and to take a sober look at the successes and ongoing challenges.
http://benton.org/node/20080
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2008-09
THE TOP TEN MEDIA BLUNDERS OF 2008
[SOURCE: Politico.com, AUTHOR: Michael Calderone]
The media took its share of lumps this year, with persistent claims of bias and complaints about often wrong-headed speculation from a seemingly endless parade of talking heads. Of course, there was great reporting, with journalists breaking news and penning terrific profiles of the candidates and the campaigns. TV ratings and Web traffic were through the roof, evidence of huge voter interest. But there were plenty of missteps on the way, and Politico's compiled a list of 2008's greatest blunders (along with a look at how the media responded to each). See #2 -- The New York Times' McCain-Iseman story: There was so much hype leading up to The Times front-page investigation of John McCain's relationship with lobbyists—dating back at least to a Drudge leak two months earlier—that without something concrete, the story was doomed to fail. Executive editor Bill Keller said there's more to the piece than the strongly suggested, never outright stated, romantic relationship between the senator with lobbyist Vikki Iseman, but that's what the public seized upon. The Times put it out there, but couldn't prove it, leading both the right and left to slam the piece. Response: The campaign sparred publicly with the Gray Lady throughout the campaign, using the liberal media as a whipping boy when needing to rally the base, and the paper often appeared to return the favor, most notably in an hostile October profile of wife Cindy McCain.
http://benton.org/node/20107
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KEEP IT REAL: PRAGMATIC PREDICTIONS FOR 2009
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Diane Mermigas]
[Commentary] Although 2009 is expected to be as difficult an economic year as companies and individuals have experienced, the continuing entrenchment and endearment of digital interactivity suggests a glass half-full future. Here is a list of predictions from a pragmatist seeking the upside: 1) Television broadcasters and newspapers have their moment of truth. 2) All media will hang on and gear up for post-recession consolidation. 3) There will be big media sellers and buyers. 4) Media companies will wrestle with their legacy demons through bankruptcy, going digital, going green and infrastructure redos. 5) Only the strongest niche enterprises will survive, others may be folded into larger entities. 6) Advertisers will spend less -- even less than being predicted. 7) Major advertisers such as automotives, financial services, retail and real estate will be diminished and different when they rebound a year from now. Local media could see half of their ad revenue base wiped out in 2009. 8) Consumers continue to embrace and drive digital. 9) A new player will emerge and do for local content and services online what Craigslist did for regionalized classified advertising. 10) At least one broadcast television network will disappear (most likely CBS).
http://benton.org/node/20084
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PREDICTIONS: 9 FOR '09 MEDIA
[SOURCE: CNBC, AUTHOR: Julia Boorstin]
[Commentary] Media faces a perfect storm in 2009—transitioning to a challenging new digital world and a very weak economy. Media giants will continue to move from traditional content distribution models to anytime, anywhere, content-on demand. While building new digital revenue streams they face a dramatic pullback in consumer spending, which means advertising threatens to fall off a cliff. Can entertainment prove recession resistant? Here's 9 predictions: 1) Media ownership faces mega shifts with GE and News Corp seen as buyers, CBS and Viacom as sellers. 2) Movie studios will focus and streamline to ride out financial downturn. 3) Movie theaters will pull out the stops to keep you buying tickets. 4) TV networks will fight to maintain their dominance. 5) You will treat the Internet like another TV set. 6) The music industry will find a new model, with concert tours and megastars at its core. 7) The publishing industry will continue to suffer and will shift more online. 8) Social networks will start translating their members into advertising dollars. 9) Video games and Hollywood will become more intertwined.
http://benton.org/node/20083
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117 MAGAZINE AND MEDIA PREDICTIONS FOR 2009
[SOURCE: Folio, AUTHOR: Dylan Stableford]
It's that time of year again! A time when the media industry boldly looks into its proverbial crystal ball to cast 2009 predictions. Will the economy recover? Which magazines will survive? Which will fail? Which will go online-only? Will Obama save us all? Folio asked a diverse cross-section of the magazine/media industry—publishers, editors, dealmakers, designers, bloggers—for their predictions. Not surprisingly, perhaps, some said the magazine industry in 2008 was so incredibly depressing that they didn't dare predict the grim year ahead. Others, though, dared.
http://benton.org/node/20082
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FOR MEDIA, THE YEAR THAT WASN'T
[SOURCE: Fortune.com, AUTHOR: Richard Siklos]
All the much-hyped trends for 2008 did not go exactly as planned. The colliding worlds of entertainment, media and technology remain wildly unpredictable and easily oversold. 1) Google rules the Web -- and paid search advertising in particular -- but has not had nearly as much success branching into other areas, particularly traditional media advertising like television, radio and print. 2) The biggest fears of Rupert Murdoch's ownership of the Wall Street Journal -- meddling to pursue his personal and corporate agendas -- have not yet materialized. 3) Excluding Internet spending, ad spending across all traditional media in this year's third quarter was down 8.5 per cent, the sixth consecutive quarter of declining spending. And that was before the meltdown really got going. 4) Very few of the scores of online video creations launched by so-called professionals failed to capture the popular imagination this year.
http://benton.org/node/20081
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QUICKLY
TALKS BREAK DOWN; WARNER MUSIC PULLS VIDEOS FROM YOUTUBE
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Greg Dandoval]
Negotiations between Warner Music Group and YouTube over renewing the licensing agreement for the record label's music videos broke down Friday. Early Saturday, Warner, the third largest record label, removed videos from the Google-owned video site. The impasse comes at a time when all four major labels, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and EMI, are renegotiating their licensing deals with YouTube.
http://benton.org/node/20079
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