Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Will YouTube Music Become a Reality? Here’s Hoping.
YouTube, the world’s biggest video site, and Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music label, are talking about creating a YouTube Music site. About time.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
YouTube=MTV 2.0. Time to Turn That Into a Business
Remember when MTV used to mean music television? Those days are long gone, but music videos thrive on YouTube. And it shouldn’t be hard to turn that into a real business worth serious money–if the labels and Google can get their act together.
Comcast’s Customers Give The Cable Guy the Boot
Even in the worst of times, people are supposed to hold their TVs close to their hearts: Turn off the heat? Sure. But don’t you dare take my cable away. So this can’t be good: Cable giant Comcast turned in a fourth-quarter report card this morning that beat Wall Street’s revenue and earnings expectations. But it lost more basic subscribers than analysts had expected and added fewer higher-end digital subs than anticipated.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
RealNetworks: That Game Spinoff Isn’t Happening (Obviously). But We Do Have Plenty of Cash…
Last spring, RealNetworks announced plans to spin off its fast-growing casual games business into a separate company. That’s not going to happen in the midst of a meltdown, and today the company formally acknowledged the reality. But keep an eye on Real, which has a pile of cash and may be in an acquiring mood at some point this year.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Want Bob Pittman’s Money? Start a Newsletter Business.
Are you an aspiring media entrepreneur trying to figure out how to raise money during brutal times? Here’s one method: Start an email newsletter business, then give Bob Pittman a call. The investor behind DailyCandy and Thrillist is trying it again, via a $1 million stake in VitalJuice, a “wellness” newsletter.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Coming to Sling.com: Viacom Shows That YouTube, Hulu Can’t Show You
Sling.com will soon get Viacom shows like “SpongeBob Squarepants,” which you can see on Joost but not on Hulu or YouTube. Confused? Of course you are. And Hollywood wonders why pirate sites are popular.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wall Street Beats Up Sumner Redstone, Rupert Murdoch: Cuts Estimates for Viacom, News Corp.
You don’t need a particularly good crystal ball to foresee that big media are in for a bad year (at least). But Wall Street singled out Sumner Redstone’s Viacom and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. for special treatment this morning, by whacking estimates for the next few quarters. The short story: The lousy ad market will be even worse than people think.
Monday, January 5, 2009
How to Solve the Big Music/YouTube Spat: Copy MySpace
Forget the blowup between Warner Music Group and Google over YouTube money: The big labels need to be on the world’s biggest video site, and YouTube could use the music videos. Which is why the solution may look very much like the arrangement the labels made with MySpace last year. Call it YouTube Music.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Why the Web Matters in the Viacom/Time Warner Fight
The Viacom-Time Warner Cable fight is just like every other fight we’ve seen between the cable guys and the content guys. The new twist here is broadband video sites like Hulu, which give the content guys a little bit more leverage and irritate the heck out of the cable guys.
Friday, December 19, 2008
A Taco Truck in the Office and a Dude in a Cage: Behind the Scenes at College Humor’s New MTV Show
Working for Barry Diller is hard. But so is running a business while shooting a new MTV show in your office. College Humor’s Ricky Van Veen and Josh Abramson explain.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
How to Make a Viral Video: HBO Asks YouTube Users to Promote “Flight of the Conchords”
Viral videos–you-gotta-see-this clips Web surfers pass along to each other without any prompting–are every marketer’s dream. Here’s HBO’s clever attempt to create one: Use an existing video that’s already popular on YouTube and try to piggyback off that to promote its excellent “Flight Of The Conchords” show.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
RealNetworks Cuts 130, 7.5 Percent of Workforce
Next up on today’s layoff parade: RealNetworks, which is cutting 130 jobs, or 7.5 percent of the workforce. Standard explanation: The company is trying to “bring expenses in line with revenues in a time of economic turmoil.”
Viacom Lays Off 850, Takes $450 Million Charge
Viacom’s long-rumored cuts are here. The cable network is firing 850 people–seven percent of its workforce–and will take a charge of up to $450 million. It says the cuts will save it up to $250 million next year. The cuts will go into effect this month and will be spread throughout the company. Click through for the official release, as well as internal memos from CEO Philippe Dauman and MTV Networks CEO Judy McGrath.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
MySpace Music CEO Debuting Tomorrow?
MySpace’s very, very long search for someone to run the social network’s new music site is just about over: A person familiar with the situation says the company has just about wrapped up negotiations with Courtney Holt, who heads up digital music at Viacom’s MTV.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Viacom: No Layoffs Yet. But No Hiring, Parties, Either.
A rumored Election Day mass firing doesn’t materialize. But there will be plenty of budget-tightening at Sumner Redstone’s cable networks.
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About Peter
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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