Bing and News Corp

It’s interesting that this interview done about a month ago was so right in predicting the current intrigue going on between Microsoft and News Corporation. Basically, Jason Calacanis laid out his theory that one way to finally break Google’s hold on the search market was to partner with various news organizations, pay them for their content, and get them to exclusively let that content be accessed by a search engine like Bing.

The New York Times published a piece today on the negotiations that News Corp is currently in with Microsoft to do exactly that. Basically, Microsoft would pay them for the opportunity to exclusively index it’s content and News Corp would then completely remove all of it’s content from Google. This is an interesting idea that would obviously largely affect consumer’s access to all of the online video content of News’ Corp’s publications. Additionally, it could largely affect the business model of future media endeavors on the Internet from the current model to something similar to the “cable” model that we’ve been studying in class.

Is this a good business decision? Wired thinks not.

YouTube Direct

Here is a really fascinating piece, published by the New York Times last week, which describes the new Youtube technology that various news organizations are beginning to take advantage of, and incorporating into their business models. “Youtube Direct” is a service that outlets such as The Huffington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR are using to manage user-generated video content for their sites.

This is exciting because it provides an easier way for a sense of communication to be established through video content on MSM channels. For example, a publication such as the Rocky Mountain News could ask for funny or interesting video on local Colorado news, people could submit it through this service, and it would then find a new home of the outlet’s site. This could be an effective business model not only as a result of driving people to a site, but also a new model on online video citizen journalism.

NPR Reports On Future Of Web Video

On yesterday's All Things Considered, Omar Gallaga discussed the future business models and technology that may support the viewing of web video content on HD televisions. In addition to various companies and technology that I've previously discussed on this blog such as Boxee, Gallaga also brought up some really interesting new ventures that I had not been previously aware of.

First of all, The New York Times reported earlier this week on the new company "Clicker." Clicker hopes to be a "TV Guide for the web." It seems to be an appropriate company to bring up this week since we've been discussing the importance of search for the future of media. Clicker hopes to act as a sort of "search" for online video. Where you may be able to easily find some select network's shows on sites such as Hulu, Clicker will be able to point you to content as far-ranging as TED talks to video from NYTimes.com!! Exciting! If this takes off, the focus and importance placed on legally uploaded footage from established media companies could be great for those businesses.

Telegraph Arts Videos

I'm in love with this video, and a lot of the other videos on The Telegraph's website. I think that they are doing a great job of creating captivating online video content that can stand alone on their own merits. I think this piece does just that. First of all, the video content in the piece really centers around strong sound bites. The reporter was sent to Georgia to document the way that women live there, and framed his journey as a search to “find the most beautiful woman” in Georgia. Through the interview with the older man and later the conversation in the car, the treatment of women in the country is explored in interesting ways. Also, the clip of the women singing is fascinating, even if it adds less to the story. 

NBC To Feature HD Video on Olympics Site

NBCOlympics.com, scheduled to go live tomorrow, features a lot of great interactive video content. NBC will be using Microsoft Silverlight technology to offer full HD videos on the site reports Tech Crunch. Additionally, the video player will have a DVR-like feature! This will allow visitors to the sit to rewind videos, highlight clips, save them etc.

Another cool video feature, that NBC will be unveiling tomorrow is the incorporation of facebook chat with the videos.  With this, people will be able to chat with friends while watching videos. I definitely think that this added connectivity could greatly increase view counts. It will be interesting to see whether it will prove popular enough to be added to video content in the future.

Truce Between White House and Fox?

As the intriguing “war” between Fox News and the White House raged on for the last few weeks, I think everyone was curious as to how it might end. Well, Fishbowl DC reported last week that a sort of “truce” had apparently been brokered. Putting aside whether or not this conflict was good for the country, was fanning the flames of this war of words good for Fox News?

From a business perspective it seems to have been. After displaying graphics across their opinion programming such as “Not White House Approved” on Hannity, Fox saw it’s ratings increase over the past week. It is interesting what the effect of “becoming the story” is on news’ organizations. Whether or not it’s good for their news, it does seem to be good for their business.

Is Journalism in a Crisis?

Jeff Jarvis argues against the popular notion that the journalism industry is currently facing a huge crises in today’s issue of The Guardian. The main reason that he sees for realizing this fact is the current push for government supported media. With the recent publication of The Reconstruction of American Journalism by Columbia University there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the idea of government sponsored media like the BBC in England.

Jarvis argues that a government supported business model of journalism is unnecessary and may prove detrimental to journalism’s purpose in society. He cites the fact that some view the BBC as an unfair competitor in England, and that it creates a distortion on the internet.

I’m not that familiar with England’s media landscape to know whether that it is true or not, but I do think that there’s something to be said for embracing change rather than surrendering to it. Perhaps more attention should be paid on developing solutions for the former.

OWLE Creates Amazing Video With iPhone

In this incredibly impressive video recorded from an iPhone, OWLE has created some pretty remarkable footage. After a whole bunch of modifications, the team was able to record was appears to be almost broadcast quality footage from a simple iPhone. The comparisons between the before and after shots are pretty crazy.

If this technology developed it would be amazing for any media company interested in creating cheap video content. I know many media outlets are currently depending on flip cams for this sort of footage, but just think how much more watchable their finished products would be with after taking advantage of improved technology such as this. Hopefully, OWLE will be able to develop their project further!

Condé Nast Plans iPhone App

In another example of a traditional media company branching out into new mediums, Condé Nast has recently announced their attention to create an iPhone App for some of their popular publications. This December, an app of the latest GQ issue will go on sale for $2.99 as opposed to the $4.99 price of the print version. The most interesting news surrounding this upcoming app, however, is that the app will basically consist of a digital version of the magazine. It will replicate the print version on a page by page basis but also include additional content such as videos!

It will be interesting to see whether this new venture will generate that much additional revenue for Condé Nast, but I do think they are heading in the right direction with it’s development. Also, as Peter Kafka points out, this will perfectly situate them to take full advantage of any tablet technology emerging in the near future.

CNN.com Relaunches With Emphasis on Video

This Monday, CNN.com, one of the most popular websites on the internet, will relaunch with a greater focus on video content reports The Guardian. The homepage will now focus much more on photo and video content rather than the previous text-heavy design.

Nick Wrenn, CNN’s VP of Digital Services, said that a lot of their “deep, rich content” was falling off the homepage too quickly. Another interesting change is the new website’s focus on Entertainment news. This could be a result of the Huffington Post’s mixture of Political and Entertainment news and the success that mixture has had driving viewer’s to their site.

Other interesting tidbits from Wrenn: 1. There will be more TV material online. 2. The new design will focus on getting “all of the multimedia within the field” and 3. 50% of CNN’s users watch both the video and read the story of an article!!

Craig Newmark Looks Into The Future of News

Craig Newmark wrote an interesting article in The Huffington Post today regarding the changing face of journalism. One important change that he highlighted was the emergence of “new display systems” which will better incorporate multimedia reporting. Newmark went on to discuss what issues news organization should be focusing on in the coming years. The problems, he says are less in the changing format of news, but with ideas such as “trust” and “curation.”

Newmark says that news organizations top priority should be to restore the public’s trust in their work which has been somewhat lost after occurrences such as the financial crises and the lead up to the war in Iraq. He goes on to argue that their problems involve not only constructive demonstration of trustworthy reporting, but also in the fact that the GOOD journalism of these times was buried by the structures of newspapers rather than highlighted.

Here’s a problem that incorporating more video content into publications may help fix. By highlighting important content with video, news organization can draw more attention to it, and therefore work towards repairing a damaged relationship with the public.

Barnes and Noble Announces The ‘Nook’

The big tech news the last few days, has been surrounding the release of Barnes and Noble’s new ‘Nook’ E-Reader. Other than a somewhat unfortunate name (“nookie” reader, anyone?) the device looks pretty promising. In fact, I would really like one just in case anyone out there was feeling generous. Email me!

There are a few big differences between the Nook and other E-Readers such as the Kindle or Sony E-Reader. With the nook, you have the possibility to “lend” out books to friends. This can only be done once per book, and you can only lend a book out to one person at a time, but it might still prove to be a big enough impetus to spur sales.

In addition, however, the Nook offers two different screens in their device. The top screen is your average “electronic ink” reading screen, but the bottom screen features an LCD display which allows readers to flip through available titles as well as find newspaper and magazine content to display above. With such content being offered on this tablet-like a device, and google android capability being incorporated into the model, it seems like only a matter of time before this or a similar device may start displaying video.