The new conventional wisdom is that sooner or later, consumers will have to start paying for some of the stuff they currently get for free on the Web.
But will they actually pay up? Here, the conventional wisdom is not so helpful. Nor are studies predicting consumer behavior.
Is there anything you people won’t watch online? Doesn’t look like it, based on the newest Web video numbers from Nielsen. While stats show that the overall size of the Internet video audience has increased by 12 percent in the last year, the amount of video consumed has shot up 25 percent.
Adam Carolla, the former CBS radio host who started a podcast once he lost his job, has figured out how to turn his talent and Internet audience into money. He’s going back to work for CBS.
Still have a job in media? Looking for a wee bit of inspiration in a gloomy week in a miserable year? Here’s a free pep talk.
Remember when Michael Jackson was one of the biggest things on the Web? So 10 days ago. Cable TV and gossip magazines are still cranking out as much Jackson stuff as they can, but Web video viewers have moved on.
YouTube, the world’s biggest video site, is a money loser for Google. But it may not stay that way for long, the company hinted today.
In response to a question during Google’s, quarterly earnings call today, chief financial officer Patrick Pichette contended that the company could begin making a substantial profit, someday soonish. If Google really does pull this off, it will be a remarkable turnaround project.
Here’s the beginning of the inevitable online video shakeout: Joost, the once-hyped video service that was supposed to rival Google’s YouTube, is restructuring to focus on “white label” services, i.e., a back end for other video players.
The site is laying off the majority of its 100-plus employees, and CEO Mike Volpi is out, replaced by Matt Zelesko, who had been SVP of engineering.
You can hear the head-scratching going on at movie studios and music labels across the world: What just happened to The Pirate Bay? Reports out of Sweden are murky at best. But supposedly, a Scandinavian software outfit is buying the world’s most notorious file-sharing site for about $8 million and will create a service that pays copyright owners when people download their work. But let’s be honest: That’s never going to happen.
The founders of Last.fm, the London-based Web music start-up CBS snapped up for $280 million two years ago, are leaving the company. No word yet on whom CBS will appoint to replace the founding trio of Felix Miller, Richard Jones and Martin Stiksel, or what any of the men intend to do next.
Miller announced the deal in a short blog post today. More shortly….
Just because Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners is stepping down from the Forbes Media board, to be replaced by a cost-cutting expert, doesn’t mean more cuts are coming, says CEO Steve Forbes: “Various media outlets today noted that Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners has stepped off the Forbes Media board and that this portends an imminent round of additional cuts. It does not.” Here’s the complete internal memo.
Remember all the way back, a couple weeks ago, when everyone was talking about Twitter and Oprah and Ashton Kutcher and the millions of people who were joining Twitter every week? Turns out the majority of those new Twitterers–three out of every five–won’t be back in May. That’s a problem, says Web measurement service Nielsen.
Everyone who wondered why Randy Falco and Ron Grant were still running AOL finally got an answer today: Time Warner was lining up their replacement. Google sales chief Tim Armstrong becomes chairman and CEO of the troubled Web property, effective immediately.
Chris Anderson’s influential Web theorem says that endless choice equals unlimited demand. But a new study argues that most people want the same stuff–and no one wants that unpopular stuff, period.
Google is letting advertisers who buy AdWords–its main revenue engine–automatically buy mobile advertising, too. The company says AdWords buyers can choose to have their AdWords automatically show up on phones that support “real” Internet browsers like T-Mobile’s G1 phone and Apple’s iPhone. That’s a relatively small market, but one that’s growing fast, and Google’s first real opportunity to show that it can make money on mobile.
It’s no surprise that financial advertising has slowed down in the first three quarters of 2008. The surprise is that it’s only been a 10 percent reduction, according to Nielsen. But next year will be worse, of course.
Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider. Read more »
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