Week of January 12, 2009

What was hot at this year's CES?

Friday, January 16, 2009

Last week Pollack Media Group President, Tommy Hadges, made his annual trek to the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas and updates us on the latest trends, starting with an HDTV update.

The general quality of high definition TV sets continues to improve, with all manufacturers now offering units capable of displaying 1080p images (which are the most detailed videos using existing standards, but only available via direct connection from BluRay DVDs, satellite or cable since the huge amount of data cannot be broadcast). Most top-of-the-line sets are also using the latest in HDMI connections (1.3a) which allows for improved quality of color & sound. Each of the 2 big flat-panel display technologies have also being improved, with plasma sets now less vulnerable to the burn-in of static images & LCD sets minimizing motion blurring by using faster refresh rates

In fact, Mitsubishi has a $7000 65" rear-projector set that uses a laser light source now, which is promoted as "3D-ready" & which uses only 1/4 the power of the average plasma display or 1/3 the power of an average LCD display. At the same time, the more basic HDTV sets are becoming more affordable, with Panasonic retailing a 42" 720p plasma for as low as $600. Sharp was showing the biggest (108") LCD display currently for sale (at $149,000), as well as 2 LCD panels (65" & 52") that are only 1" thick, but it was too bad that their picture quality wasn't as good as the best panels available. Meanwhile, to provide better sound, Mitsubishi showed some LCD sets with an integrated sound projector that uses 16-differently aimed speakers to create a surround-sound effect that was surprisingly effective, without the need for any actual rear speakers.

Next up in our series, the latest in HDTV technology, OLED displays.

AOL's New MediaGlow Strategy

Thursday, January 15, 2009

The New York Times has just done a piece about AOL's MediaGlow, the new corporate entity responsible for AOL's many web initiatives. The article describes the significant change in corporate strategy for AOL, moving from AOL-branded sites to specialty sites with their own identities and brands. Sites such as TMZ.com, TheBoot.com and Endgadget.com are all examples of this approach.

In reality, this is not a new approach for marketers, but a return to a trend which started to evolve in the 1980's. If you remember the popular marketing book from Ries & Trout, such as Positioning and Marketing Warfare, you'll remember the author's admonition that a brand can must own one thing in the customers mind and that brands that try to be all things to all people are likely to lose ground. AOL is proving that what was old can indeed be new again.

Viacom's Harmonix Announces '09 Plans

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Viacom's video game division, Harmonix, makers of the popular game Rock Band, announced its plans for 2009 at last week's CES in Las Vegas. According to CEO Alex Rigopulos, there will be no new edition of Rock band this year. Instead, the company is going to focus on two other initiatives: the debut of the new Beatles game, due in time for the holidays, and growth of the number of downloads for the existing versions of Rock Band. The library of downloads recently passed 530 titles and, to date, the Rock Band series has sold more than 30 million downloads.

PPM Accreditation for Riverside/San Bernardino

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The recent news that Arbitron has received MRC accreditation for the Riverside/San Bernardino market is a significant milestone. This southern California market, just east of Los Angeles, is the first market using the "Radio First" recruiting methodology to receive accreditation. "Radio First" is a recruiting methodology that's similar to the method used for dairy-based ratings. That is, the respondents are recruited through telephone calls.

In Houston, the only other PPM market to receive accreditation, Arbitron uses "address-based" recruiting. Panelists in Houston are recruited using both phone calls and in-person contact. Significantly, Houston is the only market to use the address-based methodology; all others use the "Radio First" methodology.

Of course, lack of MRC accreditation was one of the arguments that the Attorneys general of New York and New Jersey used in their recent battle with Arbitron over the adoption of the PPM. In fact, getting that accreditation in New York and Philadelphia are among the conditions of the settlement. Thus, the breakthrough for "Radio First" PPM markets in Riverside/San Bernardino is a big step.

TV Transition To Digital To be Delayed?

Monday, January 12, 2009

The drums are beating among some members of Congress to delay the scheduled February 17th transition to digital. On that date, all terrestrial TV broadcasters are scheduled to switch off their analog frequencies in favor of all digital broadcasting. The concerns are that many people will be left without TV reception when that occurs. Despite the deep penetration of cable (and satellite) TV, Nielsen estimates that 7.8 million households in the US still get their TV the old fashioned way.

While there's a chance that the deadline will be pushed back, the whole process shows the difference between the digital transitions of TV and radio. There are no plans to force radio to go to all digital, which continues to call into question the long-term viability of HD radio. The quality is great and the variety of format options is appreciated, but will it ever reach critical mass without a government mandate?