Slowly but surely, YouTube has been able to bump up the number of “premium” content creators willing to hand over some of their stuff to the world’s biggest video site. Here’s yet another one: Funny or Die, the comedy site backed by Will Ferrell, Sequoia and HBO, among others.
Wouldn’t you like to bump elbows with media moguls and hear from the likes of Eric Schmidt, Biz Stone and James Murdoch? Me too! Alas, Quadrangle’s Foursquare conference is closed to the public and the press. But at least I can tell you whom you won’t be hearing from.
What happens when one of the biggest bands in the world Webcasts a live concert on the world’s biggest video site?
You get a lot of video streams. Close to 10 million, says YouTube, adding that Sunday’s live Webcast of U2’s Rose Bowl concert was the single largest event it has streamed so far.
The man who helped shape CBS’s standalone Web video strategy explains himself, for the record.
AOL continues to prep for its impending spinoff from Time Warner. Today’s step: Announcing the board of directors for the company-to-be. Boldface names of note include William Hambrecht, former head of tech investment bank Hambrecht & Quist; Michael Powell, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; and Jim Wiatt, former head of William Morris. Notably absent: Anyone from Google, Tim Armstrong’s favorite recruiting ground, and any whippersnappers, unless you count 46-year-old Powell.
In certain circles, David Letterman’s extortion/adultery story is huge news. On YouTube? It’s overshadowed by an “Ultimate Fighter” match.
This is the way the Internet is supposed to work: Something amazing happens on TV on Thursday night and everyone talks about it, and watches it, on the Web on Friday.
Today’s example: David Letterman’s startling admission, broadcast on his CBS show last night, that a network employee had tried to extort him.
That’s something you’re going to want to watch, right? And sure enough, the world’s largest video site obliges, even if it’s a little bit unwilling.
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.
UGO, the dude-centric videogame site that Hearst bought for $100 million two years ago, needs a new CEO.
J Moses, who co-founded the company in 1998, left in June, as did Michael McCracken, his longtime COO. The company is currently being run by Hearst Interactive president Ken Bronfin.
Another big player has signed onto Comcast’s Web TV trial: Discovery Communication is handing over a few of its shows for the cable provider’s program, which gives subscribers online access to (some) of the shows they get on TV. Discovery joins other big names like CBS and HBO in Comcast’s “On Demand Online,” which launched last month in a few thousand homes.
As predicted, TV ad sales are down. And as predicted, TV networks are hoping they come back sometime in the next year, along with the economy. In the meantime, what do cheap TV ad prices do for Web video sales?
Web video publishers are desperately trying to figure out how to make money selling ads against their clips, but Viacom’s MTV Networks says it has figured it out: Use lots of ads in each clip!
Yet another addition to the growing list of programmers signing on to Comcast’s “On Demand Online”: CBS will join the cable provider’s trial program, which will allow subscribers to get Web access to shows they get on TV.
CBS will join previously announced partners Time Warner, which is offering up programming from its Turner channels and HBO; Liberty Media’s Starz, and smaller players like Scripps, Rainbow and A&E. The twist is that CBS is the only broadcaster to sign up for the trial.
Michael Jackson’s funeral service starts at 1 pm Eastern today and you will have to try very hard not to see it: In addition to wall-to-wall coverage on the news channels, any Web site capable of live-streaming the event will be doing so. Is the Internet ready for the coming traffic jam? I’m betting it is.
Does the world need another gadget site? Yes, say two of the gadget world’s biggest stars, who are launching gdgt.com today. The site is the work of Peter Rojas, who helped build Gizmodo and Engadget, and Ryan Block, who took the torch from Rojas after he moved on. Gizmodo and Engadget are the best known and most powerful of the new generation of gadget sites, which makes Rojas and Block revered by the gadget gang and able to cobble together funding. But they’re still taking on a very crowded field.
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.
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
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