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Media trends digest
– 2008
Cable TV -- over-priced & under-used 28 May
NY Times: Americans discouraged by higher gas prices
and airline fares may decide to spend more
vacation time at home, perhaps watching
television. But that, too, will cost them more
than ever. Cable prices have risen 77 percent
since 1996, roughly double the rate of inflation,
the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this
month. Cable customers, who typically pay at
least $60 a month, watch only a fraction of what
they pay for — on average, a mere 13 percent of
the 118 channels available to them. And the
number of subscribers keeps growing. The
resiliency of cable is all the more remarkable
because the Internet was supposed to change all
things digital. Technology has led to more
choices and lower prices for news and music as
well as cellphone and landline minutes — not to
mention computers, cameras, music players and phones themselves.
More
Murdoch for Boyer lectures
ABC: News Corp Chair Rupert Murdoch AC will present the Boyer Lectures for 2008, to be broadcast on ABC Radio National ver six weeks commencing in November.
Each year the ABC Board invites a prominent Australian or group of Australians to present six radio lectures expressing their thoughts on major social, cultural, scientific or political issues.
More
Also…
Ray Martin will deliver this year's annual 702 ABC Sydney Andrew Olle Media Lecture on the evening of 17 October.
More
Online ads boom in '07, growth slows
Online Publishers Assn: The official online ad revenue numbers are in from the IAB, and they still show a banner year in 2007. Spending was up last year by 25.6%, hitting a record $21.2 billion, with search ads leading the way with 30% growth to hit $8.8 billion. Display ads weren't too shabby either, growing 31% to hit $7.1 billion. The only downside was that overall growth slowed from the year-before rate of 35%. Plus, the numbers don't take into account the slowdown that likely hit in early 2008. Still, IAB pegs online as beating out radio and cable TV spending in 2007, a big milestone.
Network news is sexist
Broadcasting & Cable:
(USA) The Women's Media Center (WMC) has launched a
petition targeting what they say is sexist media
coverage on the major cable news networks. The
group, whose board includes Jane Fonda, Gloria
Steinem and former PBS President and current
Museum of Television & Radio President Pat
Mitchell, combined the online petition with a
YouTube video of news clips they posted, "Sexism
Might Sell, But I'm Not Buying It!"
More
Phone giant tracks leaks
NY Times: Germany was engulfed in a national furor over
threats to privacy on Monday, after an admission
by Deutsche Telekom that it had surreptitiously
tracked thousands of phone calls to identify the
source of leaks to the news media about its
internal affairs. In a case that echoes the
corporate spying scandal at Hewlett-Packard,
Deutsche Telekom said there had been “severe and
far-reaching” misuse of private data involving
contacts between board members and reporters. The
disclosure, which was prompted by a report on
Saturday on the Web site of the news magazine Der
Spiegel set off a storm of protest from privacy
advocates, journalists, and labor representatives
at the company. The German government, which
effectively controls Deutsche Telekom through a
32 percent stake, demanded a thorough
investigation, describing the spying operation as a “serious breach of trust.”
More
PubMatic: Prices down for display ads on big sites
Online Publishers Assn: Big sites are out, and small is in. That's been the lesson of the Long Tail, and it's something that has pushed media companies like Viacom to launch dozens of micro-sites -- while portals have lost market share. Now, PubMatic has backed the trend with figures on the CPMs charged by various ad networks on small, medium and large sites. They found that from March to April of this year, large-site CPMs dropped 52% from 38 cents to 18 cents, while medium sites held steady and small sites were up from $1.18 to $1.29. Blogger Mike on Ads said the April drop was due to higher buying in March for many ad agencies, but PubMatic pointed out that there was still a 42% drop from January to April for big sites, according to ClickZ. "The overall trends you pick up from the report are not that surprising," wrote Om Malik on GigaOm. "For instance, the improved monetization of small websites is because they have more focused content, which presents a more targeted advertising opportunity."
A very slow death: e-readers versus books 26 May
Since the mid 1990s, critics have proclaimed the death of the traditional book to be imminent. Beth Lasser looks at the latest e-book developments to see if they are right…
Full story
iPhone soon to be global 25 May
Apple’s iPhone, being sold as it is
through exclusive deals with wireless carriers,
is currently only available in the US, UK,
France, Germany and Austria. While plenty of
folks outside of those countries would love to
buy an iPhone, they can't -- at least, not
without modifying the device’s firmware and
violating Apple’s end user license agreement.
Fortunately, it looks like the iPhone is set to
become a truly global phenomenon next month.
According to carrier announcements, rumors and
speculation, the second-generation iPhone may
launch simultaneously in as many as 42 countries
worldwide. That means that the device will
finally be available in Asia, Australia, Africa,
Latin America, Canada and previously unserved
markets in Europe. Will there be any corner of
the globe left untouched by the iPhone? Sure—just
try the faraway locales known as Alaska, Vermont and Arizona.
More at Public Knowledge.org
Web targeting under challenge in US
Washington Post: The growing practice of behavioral targeting,
or sending ads to online users based on their
Internet habits, is now under scrutiny by the
Federal Trade Commission, whose review could
shape not only Web advertising rules but the
character of the Web itself. For while public
interest groups argue that compiling profiles of
largely unsuspecting Internet users ought to be
illegal, online advertisers and publishers
respond that their ad targeting tactics protect
privacy and may be essential to support the free
content on the Web. Behavioral targeting allows
many Web sites to raise ad prices, because
advertisers will pay more when they can isolate a
particular audience. Limiting behavioral
targeting could "jeopardize the consumer's
ability to get free content on the Internet,"
said Paul Boyle of the Newspaper Association of
America, a trade group that represents the
business interests of most US dailies,
including The Washington Post. The FTC is
considering guidelines, for now voluntary, that
would make it harder to target behavior. The
principles were issued in December after town
hall meetings, and the public comment period
ended last month. As the commission's
deliberations begin, some federal and state
lawmakers are weighing measures that would be
mandatory. New York lawmakers, for example, are
considering a law similar to the FTC guidelines.
More
Australia ranks 16th for broadband
Australia ranks 16th among the 30 OECD countries when it comes to broadband take-up per head of population, according to recently released OECD figures. This places it just behind the USA.
“Broadband not only plays a critical role in the workings of the economy, it connects consumers, businesses, governments and facilitates social interaction,” says the OECD.
The organisation has a massive portal online which will be invaluable to researchers in the area.
OECD broadband portal
Media sexism haunts Hilary
Editor & Publisher (USA): Hillary Clinton hit "sexism" in media coverage of
her campaign as "deeply offensive to millions of
women." She criticized "misogynists" and said
that the race factor was often discussed but not
gender: "[E]very poll I've seen show more people
would be reluctant to vote for a woman to vote
for an African American, which rarely gets
reported on either." She said her treatment by
the media has "been deeply offensive to millions
of women. ... I believe this campaign has been a
ground breaker in lots of ways, but it certainly
has been challenging given some of the attitudes
that have been forthcoming in the press, and I
regret that because I think it's been really not
worthy of the seriousness of this campaign and
the historical nature of the two candidacies that we have here."
More
But McCain's okay
Fair.org: If you pay even passing attention to national
politics, you know that presumptive GOP
presidential candidate John McCain is a maverick
who bucks his own party’s line and never wavers
in his political beliefs. At least, that’s what
the corporate media say—reality tells a very
different story. A candidate could only get away
with such an elaborate and long-running con with
the media as willing accomplices. “The press
loves McCain,” explained NBC host Chris Matthews
(9/10/06). “We’re his base.” For much of the
press, the early stages of the 2008 presidential
campaign were a chance to fall in love all over
again. “Those of us on the Straight Talk Express
eight years ago got a breathtaking journalistic
opportunity: to be inside the lively mind and
heart of a leading contender for president,”
Newsweek’s Howard Fineman recalled (3/3/08).
“McCain was as joyously combative as Popeye and
as earnestly confessional as Oprah.” Fineman was
actually restrained when compared to some of the
coverage from eight years prior. “I know it
shouldn't be happening, but it is,” wrote Charles
Lane in the New Republic (10/18/99). “I'm falling
for John McCain.” Lane’s confession was in turn
surpassed in awkwardness by another writer in the
same magazine: Michael Lewis (9/30/96) declared
that his feelings for McCain were like “the war
that must occur inside a 14-year-old boy who
discovers he is more sexually attracted to boys than to girls.”
More
Embedding a Pentagon victory
Editor & Publisher (USA): Debate over the "embedded journalist" program run
by the Pentagon since the weeks before the Iraq
invasion in 2003 has long raged, with some
claiming that it gave reporters valuable close
access to action while others saying that the
journalists were severely compromised within it.
Now sociologist Andrew M. Lindner, writing in the
spring issue of the American Sociological
Association's "Context" magazine describes what
is billed as the only sociological study to date
of the substantive content of media coverage
during the first six weeks of the Iraq war.
Lindner found that journalists embedded with
American troops emphasized military successes
more often than they covered consequences for
Iraqi citizens. "The embedded program proved to
be a Pentagon victory because it kept reporters
focused on the horrors facing the troops, not the
horrors of the civilian war experience," wrote
Lindner, who is completing his doctoral
dissertation at Penn State University. "The end
result: a communications victory for an
administration that hoped to build support for
the war by depicting it as a successful mission
with limited cost." Lindner's conclusions are the
result of a content analysis of 742 news articles
written by 156 English-language print reporters
in Iraq during the first six weeks of the war.
More
Africa access improving
Reuters via Benton: Improving Internet access in Africa is a fight on
several fronts -- building undersea cables,
setting up regional exchanges and bridging the
last mile to homes and businesses -- but the
continent is making progress. For example,
Africa's mobile industry is booming --
subscribers grew by 33 percent over the past year
-- and carriers say they will invest $50 billion
over five years to boost cellphone coverage. But
more than 300 million people in rural parts of
Africa are not yet covered by any mobile phone
network, let alone one that would support
Internet access, and the continent has only 35
million fixed telephone lines for almost a billion people.
Reuters report; Infoworld on how the tech is used
Journal launches at women
Editor & Publisher (USA): Wall Street Journal Online has launched a new section, described by a Dow Jones press release as "a place where ambitious professional and executive women can come together to read and share ideas on work, family and the intersection of the two."
Two of the Journal's better known female columnists, Carol Hymowitz and Sue Shellenbarger, will write for the section.
The new section will also feature a blog called The Juggle, which will examine the difficulties in balancing work and family life.
Said WSJ Online executive editor Alan Murray: "Our experience has shown us that there are a lot of business and professional women out there who crave not just fashion and beauty advice, but an intelligent news-oriented community where they can share experiences and swap ideas."
Journal Women
Kindle to catch fire? 20 May
Amazon’s e-book, the Kindle, will be a media platform to watch in coming months, according to several international analysts.
Though suffering a very troubled history, littered with failed experiments, it seems electronic book and magazine readers may finally be making progress.
Likened to an iTunes for text, this device and network (which allows wireless downloads in some prime market areas) has sold something in the region of 20,000 units so far – catching even the normally optimistic Amazon by surprise.
Some of the more bullish pundits predict it will be selling 120,000 units per month by the end of the year, outstripping iPod sales. It has some interesting, if complex, implications for marketers looking to extend their reach via text-based publishing.
Green revolution for newspapers
The twice-weekly California newspaper Sonoma Index-Tribune is to convert to a "hybrid news medium" in the next six to 12 months, after launching an electronic edition in addition to its website.
The community newspaper currently offers, in addition to its home-delivered print edition, a subscription e-edition, a paperless "SmartEdition" produced in partnership with NewspaperDirect (which also produces electronic editions for The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph in the UK or Le Figaro in France).
"We already use recycled newsprint and soy-based ink and recycle every bit of waste we can," said Index-Tribune publisher Bill Lynch.
"We cut back on the number of sections and pages we print and deliver by more than 30%. But the most important change, the one that can really make a difference, is getting our readers to join us in the biggest green revolution in the history of newspapers -- going paperless."
The e-edition already offers a number of useful features: subscribers can read their newspapers from PCs and Macs, smart phones and iPhones while having access to 90 days of back-issues. (Source: Editor & Publisher)
Readership woes for mags
Recent Morgan Research readership figures have sounded some ominous warnings for some specialist print magazines, with the sector aimed at young women and teens taking a nasty dive in the year to March, 2008.
Cleo, Cosmopolitan and Madison all suffered a 20%-plus drop, though this is not necessarily reflected in sales figures. Meanwhile teen mastheads Girlfriend and Dolly suffered similar losses.
The internet will be seen as a major factor, though the numbers deserve more thorough analysis, as the readership drops were not across the board.
For example, with OK! Is up a staggering 26%-plus while Better Homes & Gardens, Men’s Health and Delicious all scored a lift of over 15%.
Meanwhile things are tough over at BRW, which has fallen 45,000 to 160,000. This, as Crikey gleefully points out, is below the respectable numbers for kerbside-sold The Big Issue at 1740,000.
Tables (PDF)
Young women an international challenge
Reaching young women is proving to be a challenge internationally, with Australian magazines aimed at the sector losing readership (according to Morgan) and now a USA TV network is struggling for traction. The CW channel in the USA – a joint enterprise between Time Warner and CBS – is in trouble.
The Wall Street Journal reports: Despite
the buzz about Gossip Girl, a prime-time soap
opera about a group of rich kids on the Upper
East Side of Manhattan, the network has lost
about 28% of its target audience of 18 to 34 year
olds so far this season. Its ratings during this
month's "sweeps" period -- the all-important
measure upon which future advertising rates are
set -- are down about 22%. Advertisers eager to
reach a young demographic initially clamored to sign on to the CW, but have since cooled. (See: CWTV.com)
Getting closer to the market
While mainstream newspapers slowly bleed audience numbers, the owners are getting more creative when looking for ways to get closer to their market and involve readers.
Journalism.co.uk reports that the Liverpool Daily Post has experimented with live streaming of its publishing process.
Readers of the live blog could submit ideas for stories and questions for journalists, about editorial decisions, design and more, both for the print and online editions.
"The success of the live blog during our local election coverage proved that our readers enjoy being a part of the newsgathering process, asking questions and sharing information," said Mark Thomas, Liverpool Daily Post editor.
"Now we want to take this a stage further and invite people to get involved in the production of their newspaper." (Source: Editors Weblog)
CBS joins online goldrush
CBS in the USA has joined the online ‘goldrush’ by adding the CNET empire to its portfolio.
The Wall Street Journal reports: Mass media company CBS will acquire new media,
technology-focused, online news company CNet
Networks for US$1.8 billion. CNET owns such Internet entertainment, news and information
sites as CNET, ZDNet and GameSpot.com. CNET's
sites will be combined with CBS's news and sports
sites as well as CBS Radio and CBS Television
Stations digital media platforms, and the
distribution network of the CBS Audience Network,
which is made up of more than 300 partner Web
sites and reaches 82% of all US online users.
Ed’s note: This continues a pattern of major ‘old’ media players mining new media for opportunities. News Corp has been one of the more aggressive players in the sector for several years.
Web is not universal
Even in rich markets, the web is yet to become universal. Roughly one-fifth of all US heads-of-household have never used e-mail, according to National Technology Scan, a forthcoming study from Parks
Associates. This annual phone survey of US
households found 20 million are
without internet access, approximately 18% of all households. “Nearly one out of three
household heads has never used a computer to
create a document,” said John Barrett of Parks Associates.
Wild web gold can be hard to find
Trying to make money from popular social media sites is like turning lead into gold. There is the tantalising prospect of turning all that time and all those page views into ad money, but one problem remains: Getting people to pay attention to those ads.
MySpace was snatched up by News Corp and trumpeted at being valued at US$6 billion or more, yet the unit will fall short of its $1 billion revenue goal by 10%, according to News Corp COO Peter Chernin.
Why the trouble? Chernin gave three reasons: 1) a surplus of page views and inventory; 2) new methods are required to do ads on social networks; 3) it's hard to quantify the value of a “friend” on a social network.
ZDNet's Larry Dignan translated those three reasons handily: “Social media has a supply and demand problem. Some so-called friends may be worthless so we'll never monetize everything.”
Also in the Failure to Monetize Deptartment is YouTube, which has tried overlay video ads, banner ads, contests, paid placement, and more -- but analysts don't expect the unit to bring in more than $100 million in revenues this year. BusinessWeek's Jon Fine said that the video ads require agencies or big brands to provide creative, while big brands are put off by the wild-and-woolly content on YouTube. (See: Online-Publishers.org)
Getting cut-through
If web visitors are increasingly tuning out banner ads, interstitials, video ads and everything else, what's left? Marketers are hoping that non-traditional sponsorships, user-generated ads and viral videos will bring them attention in the cluttered online space.
For instance, Microsoft recently unveiled a user-generated video contest where Vista users will shoot their own ending to a video posted on a special site. The software giant is hoping they don't get hit with anti-Microsoft video content. (See: Online-Publishers.org)
UK web ad spending to outstrip TV
Next year UK advertisers are expected to spend around £3.6bn on the internet, an amount that will outstrip the £3.4bn that is forecast to be spent on TV ads. Internet advertising has unquestionably reached a point of maturity where digital spending is not just about search advertising. "The internet is not one medium, its growth rate is a blend of three distinct businesses growing at different speeds: search, display and classified," says Adam Smith, the futures director at WPP-owned media agency Group M. (Source: The Guardian)
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