So, seated in front of me on a flight from Seattle to LAX was Arianna Huffington, she of political gadfly fame. This is a clip of her in pre-flight repose, feet up on the wall attached to her Blackberry. On her (rather loud call) she did refer to herself in third person which is rather odd, but part of the faux-celebrity lifestyle.

What’s there to say about CES—it’s exhausting, exhilarating, a pain in the ass and there’s a lot of waiting in lines. My feet hurt, but I saw the immediate future of the media-technology world. It’s a world going in opposite directions. We are looking to connect everything together and we’re looking as having the freedom to roam. We want portability but we want to have all our gadgets and gizmos connected to alow us to play anything, anytime, where.

This “clip” is long, but has lots of cool stuff inside. Enjoy.

A short 'cast on Yahoo!'s ad deal with leading newspapers.

More news from the world of consumer video.

When I started this site back in Dec. 2004, it was my intention to explore the options facing consumer creators and to create videos and Podcasts to experiment with platforms, technologies, and so on. To a large degree, I think I have been successful. Hundreds of thousands of folks have looked my videos and/or listened to Mike and my Podcasts (MADCasts). I am looking forward to continuing that journey. Maybe I will be not be a cheap you-know-what and replace my JVC Everio that was stolen in Amsterdam.

 

My next project takes me in a different direction and will also be chronicled on this blog. I am among those who hate watching long-form video on my PC in my office. Two-three minute clips in my office on my Media Center PC are fine, but watching the hour CSI Miami episode I downloaded from Amazon was a painful experience. I watched it four minutes at a time, so do the math. Also, I just found out about a great New York TV Festival that takes place this week. The event features 30 minute home grown TV shows that may make it to air or might live on the Internet for distribution. AOL will air NBC’s new shows the week before they air on TV. CBS will air its shows after they air, etc…

 

So, I am wondering, how do I get the TV-PC experience outside my office? I have a Media Center PC with extender box, but that has some network limitations and only allows me to watch programs that live inside Microsoft’s Media Center Platform. I want to have a TV-like experience and want to watch anything I want anytime I want. I am lucky enough to have a larger enough home to create a “living room media center” to become a lab or sorts for this experiment.

 

My options under consideration:

 

1. Those TV’s that take streamed content from the PC. I think Sharp makes one. My hunch is it’s costly.
2. A new media center PC with Wi-Fi with a big sucker monitor. Sounds OK, but I cannot find a good monitor larger than 20-inches. This requires further investigation.  
3. A dual-core Apple machine with Front Row. My problem is I don’t know that much about Front Row. Still, these seems like it could provide me the best of all worlds. This requires further investigation.

 

So, I will examine these and other choices and keep you posted. I believe this experiment represents the future of TV consumption, so I am willing to try several approaches. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, I had to drive 40 minutes each way to a studio down by the airport and spend 30 seconds on CNBC talking about the impact of the Youtube ad deal. I figured it makes more sense for me to cut out the middleman and do my own “talking head” segment with opinions about media and tech news.

Over time, I assure you the lighting and sound will get better.

The other day, while at a client’s office, we began to talk about this cool camera that we’d each heard about–the Pure Digital Point & Shoot Video Camcorder. I first saw it on Jeff Graham’s videoblog on USA Today and made a mental note to check it out.

Well, I now own one, finding both a $20 online rebate as well as availability as my local Target. (Costco also carries it, but the closest one was in Gilbert, AZ). I have to say it is quite amazing. It’s better than my original Sanyo (the cool red one) and shoots MPEG-4s for Mac editing and AVIs for Windows editing.

The key feature (in addition to good sound and a small but decent zoom) is the built in USB adapter that flips up when you need it. The camera runs on two AA batteries. Picture quality? Judge for yourself–below is a clip from today’s Duck Derby Race.

With the first item, Allen and Mike ruminate (aloud) on what Real Networks' freshly minted patent for online streaming video will mean to the nascent online video market.

As for the second item about EMI and Skype? Beats the heck out of us.  We're going off of one press release.

More troubling news on the Sanyo HD-1, this from Gizmodo, calling the video from the camera “Disastrous.” Makes me that much happier with my JVC Everio. Still, the Sanyo intrigues me but for $800, it seems too much to risk to determine whether it’s a good videoblogging tool or a cool-looking paperweight.

I saw this quote, and shook my head. I said this in my little video clip about the future of the Olympics on TV. The networks are way too excited about low ratings and high Web traffic. It’s not an even exchange in one medium for the other.  I see danger ahead for shortsighted media execs.

 

From the World Association of Newspapers' Advertising Conference in Paris. Vin Crosbie says  "The revenue generated from a print reader is 20 to 100 times more than the revenue generated by the user of a newspaper's website. To put it another way, for every print edition reader lost, the newspaper would have to gain between 20 and 100 website users to replace the lost revenues

 

NBC is stepping up to show its ability to peer into the future. The Peacock Network is offering free Apple iTunes downloads of the pilot episode of “Conviction,” a new show from Emmy-winner Dick Wolf, set to debut on March 3^rd. Given the ratings success NBC has had for “The Office” by selling downloads, this move is a logical progression of its future digital strategy.

 

When incumbent media companies team up with smart partners (such as Apple) the net result is powerful.

Here’s a statement of the obvious from Daniel Okrent, former NY Times ombudsman:

Blogs will overcome mainstream media as a source of news unless traditional media organizations successfully transfer the integrity of their brands onto the Internet, the former ombudsman of The New York Times says.

Is the game already over? A number of newspapers are stumbling in their efforts to incorporate blogs into their coverage maps, because they are hung up with old rules of workflow and editing. I particularly like the one newspaper that has separate blogging systems-- one for staffers (reporters and columnists) and another for consumer contributors. Who dreamed up that IT nightmare?

The window for newspapers is rapidly closing. The social community notions of Web 2.0 fall smack in the middle of what most newspaper used to be about. Get with it, or get out of the way.

For the better part of the last three years, Mike and I have been wondering when Starbucks would step up and take advantage of its large Wi-Fi network. The possibilities are endless, ranging from an in-house TV network that can be accessed by all manner of devices in its cafes to turning Starbucks cafes into media centers for Podcasters and Videobloggers. Come to the café, have a coffee and record your Podcast or upload the video you just shot.

 

It’s a no brainer. The clock is ticking.

In today's offering, Allen and Mike discuss Microsoft's refinement of its policies regarding Spaces blog content that violate "local laws." This particular case involves a Chinese journalist whose blog was removed from MSN Spaces after complaints by the Chinese government officials.

I was excited to see that ESPN would be airing the World Baseball Classic games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Desportes. I am looking forward to my coverage of the WBC games (here in Arizona and in San Diego). I am not looking to encounter the wrath of Major League Baseball, Fidel Castro or the Treasury Department, so I will have no game footage. I will, however, have lots of pre-game action, events in and around the semis and finals in San Diego and whatever cool stuff related to the game happens to unfold in front of my lens.

According to published reports, Amazon plans on offering streamed downloads of movies. OK. Interesting plan as Amazon experimented with movies on its site a while back (independent feature-ettes that actually were quite cool). But this? Not sure what the plan is and how it will prevent people from capturing the streams (no brainier) and circulating them on the Web. I imagine there will be some sort of DRM scheme, but that remains to be seen.. When companies proclaim that by using streams consumers cannot download them, they are naive and shortsighted (and don’t spend much time at hackers sites).

Lots of pieces of this puzzle are missing, but the cognoscenti have been waiting for Amazon (and eBay as well) to enter the digital download fray. Does Apple have anything to worry about? Doubtful.

In the past week, I have spoken to a few executives in the video hosting/community space, attempting to get deeper insight into the trends for 2006. Specifically, I am anxious to get a handle on what business models will be tried and what business models will likely work.

 

It’s clear (just look down the page) that I use vSocial as the host for my clips (although you also can download them from this blog). After talking to the execs from Revver yesterday, I decided to try out their model in which consumer creators get paid a percentage of ads that are viewed when surfers click through on their videos. So, I tried it. I added a Revver-hosted clip for an older video that’s popular (I know from Google video logs). So, I am here to report I made $1.20 yesterday on that video. Now, that’s one video—an older one at that. Am I tempted to try more? You betcha. Will the ad model that rewards consumer creators who offer up interesting clips work? Not sure, but it looks promising.

As 2006 becomes the year in which the monetization of digital media moves forward, here are two blows against the incumbent radio empire:

 

**Podtrac, a leader in connecting podcasters and advertisers, today announced the availability of the first on-line advertising auction to determine ad rates for the podcasting market.  Podtrac also announced that beginning today, advertisers and advertising agencies can buy advertisements in individual podcasts from Podtrac.  To facilitate ad sales, Podtrac offers customized podcast media plans, access to Podtrac Demographic Profiles and Podtrac Media Kits.  The combined ad offerings give the advertising industry, for the first time, the services they need to include podcasting in their advertising and media strategies.

 

**Google Inc. announced it has agreed to acquire dMarc Broadcasting, Inc., a Newport Beach, Calif.-based digital solutions provider for the radio broadcast industry.

 

dMarc connects advertisers directly to radio stations through its automated advertising platform. The platform simplifies the sales process, scheduling, delivery and reporting of radio advertising, enabling advertisers to more efficiently purchase and track their campaigns. For broadcasters, dMarc's technology automatically schedules and places advertising, helping to increase revenue and decrease the costs associated with processing advertisements.

 

In the future, Google plans to integrate dMarc technology into the Google AdWords platform, creating a new radio ad distribution channel for Google advertisers.

Starbucks’ partnership with Lionsgate (see below) is just the start. At the outset, this might look like a cool affinity marketing deal, but Starbucks continues is drive to be on the edge of the digital media distribution revolution (what Mike and I call Media Titans). In addition to selling DVDs of the movies at their store, how long will it be before they over the air downloads of movies (and other related content) at their coffee bars?

 

A few thoughts for Starbucks: why not follow the Myspace lead and take advantage of the viral nature of “consumer as network” to create buzz on these movies? Create embedded players that allow bloggers to put movie trailers on their pages. Jazz up the Starbucks page to be a venue to allow movie fans to communicate with one another. Why not buy some Tv ads to be put on videoblogs and/or sponsor some Podcasts? Heck, why not make the coffee bars Podcasting and videoblogging centers…well, that’s a start.

 

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) Entertainment announced today a truly transformative partnership with Lionsgate (NYSE and TSX: LGF) in which Starbucks will participate in all aspects of the marketing and distribution of Lionsgate and 2929 Entertainment’s new film, Akeelah and the Bee, which will release theatrically on April 28, 2006. With its national footprint of stores, strong trust from its huge and diverse customer base and proven track record with word-of-mouth marketing, Starbucks is in a unique position to help its customers discover this film.

 

Starbucks has already demonstrated success in marketing in the entertainment industry with its multifaceted strategy to reconnect its customers with new and unique music options that enhance their overall Starbucks Experience. The Company has since been recognized by entertainment authorities as a significant force in the music industry. Today’s announcement extends that powerful reach to film and provides a unique opportunity to elevate an inspirational motion picture to a discerning audience at a time when the industry has seen flat admissions in recent years.

 

Lionsgate has achieved feature film success with innovative and cost-effective marketing strategies and its focus on large niches that have historically been underserved.  The two companies, both renowned for defying conventional orthodoxy, believe that they can collaborate on a unique marketing approach to the domestic box office that reaches a much larger audience and, in the process, maximizes Akeelah and theBee’s commercial potential.

 

Through an innovative and interactive marketing campaign, Starbucks will uniquely engage its store customers in the U.S. and Canada to introduce the film to them. Beginning immediately, Lionsgate and Starbucks will provide a large number of Starbucks baristas the opportunity to screen the film prior to its release. In addition to creating strong buzz and word of mouth among the baristas, in early April Starbucks will launch an in-store promotion to allow millions of Starbucks customers to experience the fun and inspirational feeling of the movie. Starbucks multi-dimensional marketing support includes opportunities for sneak previews for its customers and a Wi-Fi network promotion. Starbucks will also utilize its relationship with XM Satellite Radio to offer special programming on Hear Music™ Channel 75 on XM Satellite Radio. Beginning April 4, 2006, Starbucks will begin carrying the Akeelah and the Bee soundtrack and will carry the DVD when it is available later in 2006