Tag Archives: tv

by Brian Solis, originally posted in PR 2.0

Credit

As a follow up to my post, Extra Extra, Read All About It! Newspapers Respond to the Social Web,” new research emerges that documents the looming exit of print newspapers as a primary source of national and international news.

According to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, a new survey indicates that 40% of respondents claim the Internet as their primary source for national and international news, versus 24% in 2007. In comparison, 35%, up 1% from 2007, rely on newspapers and 70% count on television as their main source for news, down from 74% in 2007.

Perhaps the harbinger of things to come is embodied in the response from Americans under the age of 30. A staggering 59% indicated that they get most of their news from the Internet, up from 34% in 2007. In the group, television tied with the Internet at 59%, but for broadcast TV, it’s a steep decline from 68% in 2007. As Dan Farber of CNET points out, these figures add up to more 100 percent because people have the ability to offer multiple answers.

Clearly, printed newspapers as well as television are under tremendous pressure to reinvent themselves in the social economy. It’s not just about the socialized mechanisms and channels to source and broadcast news however, a successful metamorphosis requires the creation of an active and enlivened community supported by a profitable business model.

As I’ve stated previously, through social networks, blogs, and micro communities, consumers have access to information literally as it happens. Their peers become sources for news and information, reinforced by social frequency and reverberation. Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, and other networks ARE emerging as trusted and oft referenced newsfeeds. And, they’re fueled by immediacy, brevity, and connectedness.

You can download the study as a PDF here.

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by Michelle Lentz

Oh no! You’re on the road to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving turkey and you realize – you forgot to tell your Tivo to record the Peanuts Thanksgiving Special. After all, what’s a holiday without Snoopy?

Tivo to the rescue.

Yesterday on MobileCrunch I read about the new Mobile Tivo site at http://m.tivo.com. You need an internet-enabled phone and an internet-enabled Tivo. That’s it – you’re all set. The new site, which is in beta, allows you to search, view, record, set your preferred DVR, and more.

As I said, the site is in Beta. I seemed to run into a wall whenever I tried to assign a show to my DVR. We’ll see if it actually worked (and if I end up with a Snoopy Thanksgiving special). The site is new, so give them some time. It’s a great idea though. I fully admit to having used both my Blackberry and my iPhone at different points to access the full Tivo site and program a show remotely. I’m such the TV junkie.

Cheers!

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Contact Michelle with your news, apps, and events via email at michelle[at]writetech.net, Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed. Visit Michelle at Wine-Girl.net and Write Technology.

by Michelle Lentz

I’m a child of the MTV Generation. The videos (yes, music videos) on MTV affected my already-angsty high school fashion choices and musical taste. I could come home from school every day and watch videos on MTV. I even still have, somewhere in storage, a couple of VHS tapes filled from end to end with my favorite MTV videos. My guess is that they are filled with a combination of ’80s hair bands and Madonna. If I had a VCR, I might even dig them out of storage for a quick trip down memory lane. The memory? When MTV had music videos.

There’s nothing like leveraging social media for a little nostalgia. Last week, MTV launched MTV Music, an online repository of over 16,000 music videos. According to the MTV blog, the site was made for folks like me.

For all of you haters out there griping about how MTV doesn’t play music videos anymore, here’s something to calm the waters. Check out MTV’s new website, MTVMusic.com — our new online catalog that finally opens up MTV’s massive music video archive.

While MTV.com has always been a source for the latest music videos, MTVMusic.com offers up a more in-depth library, including over 16,000 videos, “Unplugged” performances and exclusive MTV concert footage. And if a video you’re looking for isn’t there yet, check back regularly as more and more vids are added daily.

You can browse by genre, artist, and most viewed. You can also rate the videos and then view by rating. I’ve heard some bad things about the user interface, but I don’t mind it that much. I find it rather clean and simple – very un-MTV, come to think of it. But there are a few things I think could be improved:

• Some of the older ones, obviously transferred from tape, have scan lines and just look a bit beat up. I’m not  video expert in the slightest, but isn’t there a way to clean those up?
• I’d like to have access to more information about the artist. Also, when watching a video, I’d like to see related videos listed somewhere, or more videos from that artist instead of starting my search over again.
• I’ve been spoiled by the awesome shuffle capability on my iPod. I’d love the ability to build a playlist and watch it on shuffle.

In true YouTube style, you can build your own profile, comment on videos, and favorite out videos to your profile. MTVMusic seems not quite like an afterthought, but often like a great idea in progress, and it is a beta. I hope they continue to add to this site and improve the features. In the meantime, it’s fun to dig through the archives. I leave you with what I believe was the first video played on MTV.

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Contact Michelle with your news, apps, and events via email, Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed. Visit Michelle at Wine-Girl.net and Write Technology. You can also catch Michelle presenting on Twitter at the upcoming DevLearn ’08 in San Jose.

by Michelle Lentz

Apple today announced that iTunes will now carry High-Def shows from the four major TV networks: NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox. Apple also made sure to announce that since it started offering HD downloads last month, there have been more than one million episodes downloaded.

“We’ve got an incredible Fall 2008 TV lineup with over 70 primetime comedies and dramas, including many of the most popular shows on TV in stunning HD,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “With over 200 million episodes sold, iTunes customers have proven they love watching television on their computer, iPod, iPhone and TV with Apple TV.”

You name a show and it’s probably there. The HD lineup includes“Brothers & Sisters,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Eli Stone,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Life on  Mars,” “Lost,” “Ugly Betty,” all three CSIs, “NCIS,” “Numb3rs,” “Bones,” “House,” “Prison Break,” “30 Rock,” “Heroes,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Life,” “Lipstick Jungle,” “My Own Worst Enemy” and “The Office.” Basic cable shows owned by the networks are also available and include shows from Sci-Fi, USA, and FX. Standard definition television shows on the iTunes Store are $1.99 per episode, while HD programs from ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX are $2.99 per episode, with a “bulk” season pass pricing option.

I often feel that traditional media is a bit behind, so I’m pleased to see that the traditional networks are acknowledging that we might watch their shows if our time-shifting options are expanded.

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Contact Michelle with your news, apps, and events via email, Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed. Visit Michelle at Wine-Girl.net and Write Technology. You can also catch Michelle presenting on Twitter at the upcoming DevLearn ’08 in San Jose.

words and pictures by Brian Solis

Gary Vaynerchuk rocks! This is one of my favorite pictures of him…

It’s a little late, but in this case, late is definitely better than never…

Gary Vaynerchuk is amazing and one of those truly special people in life that we’re all better off for knowing.

Garyvee was recently in town celebrating a very special milestone, his 500th episode of WineLibraryTV.  CrushPad in San Francisco hosted the momentous taping at its San Francisco crushing and storage facility. And, since they were pulling together the local wine and geek communities, they also invited a series of incredible wineries to keep our glasses filled in  celebration of Gary and his achievements.

Congrats Gary, you deserve everything you’ve worked so hard to earn! You’re a inspiration to us all!

I’d also like to thank Erik Kastner who was kind enough to lend me his camera that night as my battery gave out shortly before arriving.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story:

Gary Vaynerchuk and Brian Solis

Andrew Mager

Erik Kastner

Sniffy sniff

Willo O’Brien and Amanda Schain

Erica Ogg and Robert Balousek

Jim Louderback of Revision3

For more pictures from Gary Vaynerchuk’s 500th episode of WineLibraryTV party, please visit my album on flickr.

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