See? People still read the New York Times! Stung by an article columnist Nick Bilton, which suggested Facebook was gaming its newsfeed so that users would have a reason to pay to promote their posts, the social network is publishing a lengthy post of its own. Summary: No, that’s not true.
US consumers spent more on mobile data than on voice for the first time in 2012, an telecommunications group reported, confirming that shifts in how Americans use their phones have reached a long-expected tipping point.
The data point, included in a study released by the Telecommunications Industry of America, is more than a fun fact about the way Americans use their cellphones, said TIA president Grant Seifert, whose group represents network infrastructure for companies such as Cisco, Ericsson and Nokia. Consumers’ increasing appetites for data have brought to a head debates over how the country should use its wireless spectrum, he said. “What this report does is heighten the urgency that we need action,” Seifert said. “We need a clear understanding of what’s going to happen.” Data consumption is expected to continue outpacing voice service, the study said, and it predicted that spending on mobile data will grow from $92.4 billion in 2012 to $118.6 billion in 2013. Spending on voice services, meanwhile, are expected to fall from $92.4 billion to $86.4 billion in the same period of time.
According to Vanity Fair/60 Minutes poll, the "vast majority agree violent games and films contribute to violence in society," while most believe stricter gun laws would not make most people feel safer.
According to the poll, 80% of respondents said they believed depictions of violence in popular culture -- some "movies and video games" -- contribute to violence in society. Of those, 45% said it contributed a lot, while another 35% said it contributed "some." Only 6% of said they thought it did not contribute to real-world violence. Women were much more likely to say entertainment violence contributed a lot (55%) than were men (35%).
Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman criticized Cablevision for filing an "ill-advised and frivolous" antitrust lawsuit against Viacom that he said would just turn into a waste of legal fees.
Dauman's remarks, his first public response to the lawsuit, come a week after Cablevision accused Viacom Inc of illegally forcing it to pay for more than a dozen low-rated cable networks in order to get access to Viacom's most popular channels, including Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central. "The bottom line is that the lawyers will get rich on this," Dauman said adding that Cablevision's money would be better spent providing its subscribers with better customer service.
Launching a TV series just on an on-demand digital service? One big media company chief executive believes a TV network is still important when it comes advertising-promotion and discovery of TV shows. Speaking at an investor conference, Jeff Bewkes, chairman/chief executive officer of Time Warner, commented about Netflix's recent original "House of Cards" series -- where the entire season was available immediately. "We don't think it's the best way to launch a series," says Bewkes. He says shows need the "water cooler" effect that comes with a network.
Canada's Competition Bureau conditionally approved a C$3 billion ($2.9 billion) plan by BCE, the country's biggest telecom company, to buy Astral Media, but the offer must still pass muster with the telecom regulator.
The competition watchdog said its approval is contingent on BCE, a growing broadcaster, selling a range of Astral's pay- and specialty-TV channels, including several Disney channels. In addition, the bureau said that BCE, whose telecom operations use the Bell Canada name, must not impose "restrictive bundling requirements" on any rival provider seeking to carry Astral's flagship movie channels in either English or French. In a separate statement, BCE said Corus Entertainment Inc would buy Astral's share of six television joint ventures as well as two radio stations for C$400.6 million, and that a process in under way to sell more assets.
Smartphones will overtake so-called feature phones in worldwide shipments for the first time this year, lifted by more affordable models and surging demand for Internet-connected mobile devices overseas, IDC said.
Manufacturers will ship 918.6 million smartphones in 2013, representing 50.1 percent of the industry’s total, the research firm said in a report. Smartphones typically differ from feature phones by making it easier to surf the Web, run applications and play videos. By the end of 2017, smartphones will reach shipments of 1.5 billion, or more than two-thirds of the total, IDC predicts. The growth is being fueled by demand for the devices in economies such as China, Brazil and India. The spread of fourth-generation networks also is making smartphones more attractive, IDC said.
[Commentary] DVRs were supposed to kill linear TV, and in spite of the fact that penetration continues to increase, overall time-shifting activity has remained constant. Nielsen's most recent Cross Platform Report demonstrated that 87% of broadcast viewing is still done live. Broadband video was also supposed to kill linear TV, but the average PC-streaming session is still only a few minutes in length. To be fair, we are starting to see evidence that young adults are spending less time watching TV than they were a few years ago, but it's hardly a mass exodus. And it's definitely not because they don't care about TV. In fact, SocialGuide reports that in the month of January alone, there were nearly 100 million tweets related to TV programming, all generated within three hours of each telecast, if not during the telecast itself. Viewers want to see what will happen next and comment on it in real time. Nowhere is this more evident than with live tentpole events like the Super Bowl, the Grammys and the Academy Awards, which generate millions of tweets as they happen. Social media is the ultimate virtual watercooler, and spoilers are a very real risk if you are not in the know.
[Hughes is senior VP-audience analysis practice lead at Magna Global]
[Commentary] I don’t think Sprint and T-Mobile are swallowing the data-sharing pill just yet. For them unlimited is still a key differentiator in the consumer market, but they are likely very concerned that Verizon and AT&T will steal their business customers with these new shared pricing models. That has forced them to respond in kind. In Sprint’s case at least, it isn’t just responding, it’s attacking. Sprint’s new plans undercut Verizon’s recently launched small business tiers. For instance, Verizon is charging $375 a month for 50 GB of shared data between, while Sprint is offering 60 GB for $350. Sprint and T-Mobile may be forced to play the data share game, but it looks like they’re going to maintain their reputations for offering cheaper service.
Roger Ailes is used to being in control.
For almost a half-century — from his days as Richard Nixon’s media strategist to his creation and expansion of the Fox News empire — he has exerted incalculable influence over the public image of politicians, presidents, even the Republican Party. Now, with his career heading toward its twilight, Ailes is in a war for control of his own legacy.
Vanity Fair will publish an excerpt from a forthcoming biography of Ailes, due out March 19, by Zev Chafets, the author of a largely favorable biography about conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh. Three sources familiar with the Ailes-Chafets dealings on the book believe that Ailes — who provided Chafets with interviews and access — is using the book to counteract another forthcoming Ailes bio, tentatively titled “The Loudest Voice in the Room: Fox News and the Making of America,” by Gabriel Sherman, a contributing editor at New York Magazine. In the wake of that publishing one-upsmanship, a strong effort has been made to discredit Sherman — with much of the criticism being leveled by commentators on Ailes’ Fox News network. Fox News pundits have taken to Twitter to call Sherman “a [George] Soros puppet,” a “phony journalist,” a “stalker” and “harasser.” He has also come under fire from other conservative commentators, anti-gun-control activist John Lott and the editors of Breitbart.com. To date, no evidence has emerged that Ailes ordered his employees to stir up the attacks on Sherman — which have gone beyond the usual confines of professional critiques and into the realm of personal insult and innuendo.
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