Liçoes do mundo virtual de música

Digital Lessons TV Should Learn From Music Companies: Watch The Rising Waters
A media critique by Wayne Friedman , Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Traditional big media will only really become new media when there is a digital revenue tipping point -- so one theory might go. One music company, Atlantic Records, seems to have hit that mark, now getting more revenues from digital platforms than its traditional businesses. How far behind are TV companies?

Atlantic Records, a unit of Warner Music Group, says more than half of its music revenues in the United States are now from digital sales -- downloads from iTunes, other music services, as well as ringtones for mobile phones. CDs sales now represent less than half of its business.

NBC, as a mostly traditional TV and film company, would tell you it is far behind in this regard. In 2009, digital sales will bring in $1 billion a year at NBC -- or about 7% of the $15 billion in revenue it brings in from traditional media.

TV isn't the music industry -- it's still growing. As we know, the traditional music business has been in freefall over the last several years, showing double-digit percentage decreases in CD sales since 1999, when the business pulled in $14.6 billion. In 2008, CD sales were at a $10.1 billion level.

And while it's good news that at least one music company has found a formula to profit from the new digital age, the song hasn't ended. Digital revenue rose 39% to $639 million for Warner Music Group's most recent fiscal year. But overall, revenue still fell 1%, to $854 million. (The company doesn't break out revenue for Atlantic Records).

What are the lessons TV companies can learn from music companies? That the consumer is always right. Free music? That still sounds like business heresy. Free TV? That sounds like business sense -- the difference being where advertising and big marketing deals can work their revenue magic for TV companies.

Perhaps there is another music industry lesson lurking: There will be pain as TV companies attempt to steer their analog businesses into easy-travelling digital waters. But these are not speed boats -- more like massive oil tankers guessing the direction the next big tidal wave will come from.

Caso de fracasso de uma campanha em mídias sociais

AT&T's iJustine Web Series Doesn't Exactly Go Viral

YouTube Stars as Spokesmodels May not Be Such a Great Idea After All


What do you do if you're a big mobile carrier hoping to connect with digital youth? Tap a YouTube "star" and a popular blogger to extol the virtues of AT&T mobile phones.


The premise of AT&T's series is that iJustine and blogger Karen Nguyen get lost together in various locales such as Austin and Anchorage, and have to solve various mysteries of their surroundings using AT&T phones.

http://www.attlostinamerica.com/index.html

That was the idea behind AT&T's "Lost in America" campaign with iJustine (Justine Ezarik) and blogger Karen Nguyen. But the result is an example of how YouTube fame tends not to translate outside the world of "Fred," "kevjumba" and "sxephil."

The premise of the series is that the two get lost together in various locales such as Austin and Anchorage, and have to solve various mysteries of their surroundings using AT&T phones ("It is a slick phone; it's so tiny!").

So far, AT&T and its vloggers have published 11 episodes, produced by Tremor Media, but it's hard to imagine anyone watching more than one, if that. The series is heavy on AT&T, but light on storyline, unless you find it interesting that Justine could be booted out of the competition if she drops her phone a fifth time.

After two weeks, the series had generated just 31,000 views across YouTube, MySpace and four other sites, according to web video distribution firm Tubemogul. The only reason they racked up that many is that iJustine posted episodes one and six on her blog, bringing in 20,000 of that total.

Compare that to the videos starring or mentioning iJustine on YouTube, which have been seen 16 million times. iJustine did more for AT&T in this video, not a part of the series, about getting lost in the jungle, which has been viewed 117,000 times: "No swimming, no paved roads, but I have my iPhone, but there's no service."

Blockbuster lança set-top para video-on-demand nos EUA

Convergência
25/11/2008, 17h15
A Blockbuster lançou nos EUA um set-top box que permite que seus usuários façam downloads de filmes em alta definição e assistam os conteúdos diretyamente em suas televisões.
A locadora vende o set-top, com um pacote de 25 filmes incluído, por US$ 99.
A rede ainda não divulgou quantos filmes estarão disponíveis no acervo para download. A Blockbuster já oferecia o serviço de "locação virtual" com o download de filmes para o computador. Com a nova caixa, o serviço se assemelha a um video-on-demand de TV a cabo.
A maior concorrente da Blockbuster nos EUA, a Netflix, que oferecia originalmente a entrega de DVDs pelo correio (serviço que mantém), conta com mais de 12 mil filmes em seu acervo para download, também diretamente ao set-top box.
A caixa da Blockbuster se conecta à rede por cabo ou Wi-Fi, e tem saídas de vídeo componente e HDMI. Da Redação - PAY-TV News