Week of October 29, 2007

Hollywood Writer's Strike

Friday, November 2, 2007

The looming Hollywood writer's strike has the potential to reverberatewidely across the media. The strike means much more than a potential delayto next season's CSI or Grey's Anatomy or the 4th sequel iteration ofvarious movie franchises. The last time the writers struck was in 1988.The writers are asking for higher residuals on sales of DVDs and materialdistributed across various digital platforms, including mobile phones.The significance of this negotiation is that the writers are the canaries inthe coalmine. The writers are first in a line of various entertainmentunions to fight this fight. The eventual agreement between producers andthe writers unions will have a spillover effect on future negotiations withdirectors, actors, technicians and other industry organizations.In the last such strike, TV and audiences got a taste for reality (so-calledunscripted) television that has yet to fade. So, besides the financialimplications, a long-terms strike this time might have other unknowncultural consequences.

TV Ratings Brave New World

Thursday, November 1, 2007

TV ratings have gotten a whole lot harder to follow in the last few months. That's when the world of Nielsen ratings was turned upside down by a new methodology that measures time shifting. Nielsen doubled the size of the sample of households that use DVRs and they now issues a report that separates the number of viewers who watch a show live from those that watch them a day later (live + 1), 2 days later (live +2) and up to 7 days later (live + 7).

Advertisers have decided that they're willing to pay for viewers who watch programming within 75 hours of broadcast, according to the LA Times. The disconnect between live viewing and the live + 7 viewing has been substantial in some quarters. So while TV ratings are down in terms of the number of viewers watching within a 3 day window (the advertisers' sweet spot), the live + 7 numbers for networks such as Fox and NBC has grown significantly.

Hulu Hoopla

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The big media news at the beginning of the week was the launch of the video joint venture between NBC and News Corp. This site will allow users to view TV shows from NBC and Fox, as well as some movies for the price of sitting through a few commercials. What's different about this project? Actually, there are several things:

1. It's the first major initiative by TV networks to put their programming under a separate brand.

2. Unlike Joost, this service is web based; users don't have to download special software.

3. Hulu will syndicate its programming to four of the web's most popular sites

4. Users will be permitted to embed streaming clips or even entire shows into their blogs and fan sites.

The interface is cleaner, the business model is doable, but what about the content? Both major partners will contribute some current shows, as well as a number of classic shows and a handful of moves. Ultimate success likely depends on their ability to talk other content providers into participating. Just like with the music industry, we're betting on the entity that creates a one-stop destination for viewers.

Which Tech Company Is Beating Google?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

When you look at the amazing growth of Google, it is easy to lose sight of the fact of just how much of a behemoth Microsoft is. Let's put it into perspective: Microsoft's net profit was the same as Google's total revenue. For a huge company, Microsoft's growth was impressive, as well, with a 27% increase in revenues.

Hat tip to www.techcrunch.com.

C|net Prepares For...What?

Monday, October 29, 2007

Last week we saw Facebook build a $750 million dollar warchest that made headlines. Not as top-of-mind but perhaps more interesting are the moves that C|net are making. They sold their Webshots business for $45 million and procured a line of credit for $190 million. Add to this the $60 million in cash the company has on hand, and C|net is sitting on roughly $300 million to use.

There are two possibilities: A stock buyback (analysts consider C|net's stock price extremely undervalued and the company a big takeover target) or an acquisition.

Stay tuned!