On Digital Media, Episode #34
In this episode John Federico, Chia-Lin Simmons and Steve Hatch ponder:
- The viewers: where have they all gone? They’re definitely not watching network television.
- We think they’re programming their own media diets when they want, how they want, where they want.
- Want an invitation to Joost? Send us email to comments AT odmcast DOT com. (Thanks to listener José Moreno for the original Joost invitation that started it all.)
- Chia-Lin has discovered Jaman.com and is in love with it. She may leave her husband to go work for Jaman in San Mateo, California. Are you listening, Gaurav Dhillon and Carlos Montalvo?
- John and his wife have occassionally watched DVD’s in bed, using her 15″ Powerbook. Jaman could be the next thing they start watching in that way. Steve thinks that’s impractical for most people. He prefers Slingbox and its ilk.
- The demise of the traditional media in the digital age is overblown…according Dick Parsons, CEO of Time Warner, one of the largest traditional media companies in the world. Dick needs to choose better analogies for his public speaking engagements.
- John is now reading real paper books on the train to work! (Go figure.) Steve still prefers to listen to podcasts on the train. Chia-Lin geeks out, reading books on her Treo 700P.
- Steve’s looking for a good podcatcher for Windows Mobile. Anyone care to make a recommendation?
- “Prime Time” is any time for today’s media consumer.
- Cox Cable has disable ad skipping on ABC and ESPN content delivered as Video-On-Demand. Fix that!
- Peter Chernin, President of NewsCorp, thinks that the big will get bigger thanks to consolidation. Traditional media will join with digital media to make for even larger media entities. We say, “Duh. Welcome to the party.”
- Odeo was sold to SonicMountain for a little more than a million dollars.
- NewsCorp and NBC have signed CNET video properties to its “YouTube Killer” video service
- Yahoo is closing Yahoo Auctions. And Yahoo Photos. And…who knows what’s next. Apparently, a good number of people from the Yahoo Mobile team have left for mobile and wireless startups.
- What is Yahoo’s “Core” anyway?
- Correction from last week’s show: YouTube’s new advertising program will compensate its top contributors/producers
Our wine this week was a Bogle Merlot and a 2004 Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir. (We loved the Pinot.)
Our closing music is Democracy from Alexander Blu.
Send us email to comments AT odmcast DOT com or call our comment line and leave a message: 775-860-2263.
You can also reach us via Gizmo Project by contacting username ondigitalmedia.
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Technorati Tags: Gaurav Dhillon, Carlos Montalvo, Jaman.com, Jaman, Yahoo, Yahoo Photos, Yahoo Auctions, Flickr, Online Advertising, Advertising, NBC, Newscorp, CNET, Tv.com, Gamespot.TV, John Federico, Ken Gellman, Chia-Lin Simmons, Viacom, Sequoia Capital, CBS, VC, Venture Capital, Joost, Wine, Digital Media, On Digital Media, Podcast, Podcasting, Digital Audio, Downloads, Independent Films, Foreign Films, Media, Dick Parsons, Richard Parsons, Time Warner, Traditional Media, Big Media
Reader's Comments
Hi John,
I’ve just heard your #34 podcast. No need to thank the original Joost invitation: you’re wellcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Just one correction though: I’m not from Brazil; I’m from Portugal. Don’t worry, it’s a common mistake.
Keep up the good work!
Regards
Jose Moreno
Lisbon, PORTUGAL!
Hi John
I’ve just heard your #34 podcast. No need to thank for the original Joost invitation. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it. Just one correction though: contrary to what you said “on air”, I’m not from Brasil; I am from Portugal. But don’t worry, it’s a common mistake.
Keep up the good work.
Regards
Jose Moreno
People are not leaving they are just going elsewhere and their metrics (Neilson) cannot cover it. Basically, millions are downloading it off BitTorrent in HDTV AC3 audio.
Look at the stats here if you have access:
http://www.divinitymetrics.com
As to “where have all the viewers gone?”, I doubt illegal downloading is the reason for the large drop in TV viewing. Instead, I think it’s a combination of the following factors (among others):
- The launch of 2 major consoles (the PS3 and Wii)
- A handful of blockbuster hits on the 360 (Gears of War, Crackdown)
- Tons of downloadable content on the Xbox Live Marketplace
- Several MMOs on the PC (World of Warcraft now has 8 *million* players), including Guild Wars, City of Heroes/Villians, Everquest, etc.)
- a plethora of downloadable TV content on the iTunes store
- Apple TV
- NetFlix, Blockbuster, and other DVD sales or rentals
- YouTube, GameTrailers.com, and other online video sites
- And last but not least, ABC, NBC and others showing their TV content on their websites
Combine all that with the crappy TV viewing experience, what with large, ugly, distracting station IDs in one corner, huge ads that block a 3rd of the content along the bottom, and TV schedules that are erratic at best (Lost, Heroes and BSG were off-the-air mid season for 8 weeks, other popular shows pulled the same stunt), and is it any wonder that a lot of people are tired of TV and going elsewhere for their entertainment?
And I don’t think you’re the exception in not having a TV. Even with the allure of HDTV, even with falling prices falling, I think a lot of people are simply going to not bother, and continue the exodus away from TV on a schedule, and towards more space- and time-shifted content delivery methods like NetFlix, the iTunes store, or towards more original content via YouTube and other online video providers.
I do feel bad for the content producers, as the networks were the easiest way to get their content in front of a large audience, but hopefully with the growth of Jaman and Joost, and with more dark fiber being lit, and better compression standards, more of them will be able to profit from taking their content directly to the users/audience, and cutting out the middle man completely.
By the way, love your show (duh :-). Keep on producing, and we’ll keep on listening.
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