2007-09-06T22:53:56Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2008:/analysts/laszlo//18 Movable Type Copyright (c) 2008, Joseph Laszlo 2007-09-06T22:53:56Z 2007-09-06T22:40:29Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8899 2007-09-06T22:40:29Z

Valleywag reports that eensy weensy (771K visitors for July, according to compete.com) Web 2.0 content tools provider Lulu.com is suing huge behemoth NewsCorp/NBC JV Hulu.com for trademark infringement and deceptive trade practices. Lulu clearly hasn't thought this through; their traffic's bound to go up, at least a bit, from the...

Joseph Laszlo Media Valleywag reports that eensy weensy (771K visitors for July, according to compete.com) Web 2.0 content tools provider Lulu.com is suing huge behemoth NewsCorp/NBC JV Hulu.com for trademark infringement and deceptive trade practices. Lulu clearly hasn't thought this through; their traffic's bound to go up, at least a bit, from the occasional (if somewhat unlikely) typos that Hulu visitors are going to generate. Actually, if anyone's going to sue Hulu it should be Mr. Sulu. There's not, after all, that much difference between the ability to navigate to the stars of online video and the ability to navigate among the stars on video. Okay that should get the geekiness out of my system for a while. 2007-08-31T19:50:33Z 2007-08-31T19:34:29Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8871 2007-08-31T19:34:29Z

Argh. I try to put personal feelings aside when I'm in analyst blogging mode, but this is a tough one. I watched a fair chunk of the previous season of Sci-Fi's awesome "Battlestar Galactica" (BSG) via iTunes downloads (I was traveling a lot, don't have a slingbox, and it was...

Joseph Laszlo Media Argh. I try to put personal feelings aside when I'm in analyst blogging mode, but this is a tough one. I watched a fair chunk of the previous season of Sci-Fi's awesome "Battlestar Galactica" (BSG) via iTunes downloads (I was traveling a lot, don't have a slingbox, and it was easier to view them via laptop). $1.99 was a fine price to pay. Now NBC's had a spat with Apple, and is withdrawing its content. As Michael pointed out, Apple's spinmeisters have masterfully seized control of the situation, making NBC look downright rapacious ($4.99 an episode! Highway robbery!) Apple's also pulling the plug on NBC's shows before the new season starts (robbing NBC of the opportunity to promote new programs via iTunes). That hurts both sides, but shows Apple's dead serious about this. I suppose if NBC's JV with News Corp, Hulu.com, offers BSG next day for free, that's a fair enough alternative in my book, and lets me keep watching online legally if I need to. But it's our view that in these early days of online video, it makes more sense to distribute video content far and wide (controlling piracy of course) so that it is where the audience is, rather than making the audience seek out the video. And iTunes is where the audience is today. Here's hoping this all gets resolved before the year is out and I can still get my cylon fix on my laptop or iPod if I want it there. 2007-08-29T17:17:39Z 2007-08-29T16:57:23Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8858 2007-08-29T16:57:23Z

It's been ages since I blogged about telecoms stuff, ever since I handed off broadband coverage to my colleague Doug, in favor of the wild world of online video. But once in a while, nostalgia wins out, as in the story in the LA Times about the end of Time--that...

Joseph Laszlo Broadband It's been ages since I blogged about telecoms stuff, ever since I handed off broadband coverage to my colleague Doug, in favor of the wild world of online video. But once in a while, nostalgia wins out, as in the story in the LA Times about the end of Time--that is, the service where you could dial a free local number and get a recorded woman's voice, well, telling you what time it was. For the kids reading this, this was useful if you wanted to synchronize watches, or reset the clock if you had a blackout, back before the Internet and cellphones. The article's well worth reading, even if it does go overboard with the time-related turns of phrase ("To be sure, time marches on. Yet for many Californians, the looming demise of the "time lady," as she's come to be known, marks the end of a more genteel era, when we all had time to share.") It turns out that in every state but CA and NV, Time ended long ago, but for whatever reason, it hung on there until this year. For telecom history geeks, there's some good historical stuff about the Time Ladies over the years, and how the gear worked, and even, if you're particularly geeky, the interesting fact that: "AT&T says doing away with time would enable the creation of about 300,000 new phone numbers in California beginning with the 853 or 767 prefixes. (No such numbers have been issued to date because, when coupled with any four other digits, you get time.)" So another little piece of Ma Bell history fades in our new, dynamic age of communication. This one probably was a little past its prime, to be sure. At The Tone, The Time Will Be...The Future. Beep. 2007-08-22T20:16:39Z 2007-08-22T20:09:45Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8835 2007-08-22T20:09:45Z

Just when everyone thought that the silver lining to Paramount going HD DVD exclusively was at least we wouldn't have to see Transformers 2, director Michael Bay has backed down from his earlier strong condemnation of the decision. His reasoning for this? "So today I saw 300 on HD, it...

Joseph Laszlo Media Just when everyone thought that the silver lining to Paramount going HD DVD exclusively was at least we wouldn't have to see Transformers 2, director Michael Bay has backed down from his earlier strong condemnation of the decision. His reasoning for this? "So today I saw 300 on HD, it rocks! So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!" The Gizmodo folks speculate entertainingly about some of the other persuasive things Paramount could've done to inspire this sudden about face, but then again 300 buff, mostly naked, hi-def Spartans wreaking mayhem can be very convincing. 2007-08-22T15:28:10Z 2007-08-22T15:26:13Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8824 2007-08-22T15:26:13Z

In a bid to, what?, keep Monday Night Football in line with the times? ESPN's going to be inviting people to submit their own videos via the Internet, and will be picking two (count 'em) that will be broadcast each week. It's certainly an example I'm going to be citing...

Joseph Laszlo Media In a bid to, what?, keep Monday Night Football in line with the times? ESPN's going to be inviting people to submit their own videos via the Internet, and will be picking two (count 'em) that will be broadcast each week. It's certainly an example I'm going to be citing often of the ever-more-blurry line between professionally created and user-generated video. Or at least of the co-opting of the latter by the former. But does anyone think this is going to make Monday Night Football any more appealing? I mean, outside of the families of the folks whose videos get selected... 2007-08-21T13:04:18Z 2007-08-21T12:52:52Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8821 2007-08-21T12:52:52Z

Paramount created a stir yesterday by announcing that it (and Dreamworks) would go HD DVD only for movie releases. This bucks an industry trend; while Jupiter hasn't made a call on which format we think will win, with Blockbuster and Target Blu-Ray only, and Blu-Ray disks outselling HD DVDs 2...

Joseph Laszlo Media Paramount created a stir yesterday by announcing that it (and Dreamworks) would go HD DVD only for movie releases. This bucks an industry trend; while Jupiter hasn't made a call on which format we think will win, with Blockbuster and Target Blu-Ray only, and Blu-Ray disks outselling HD DVDs 2 to 1, the momentum seemed to be in the other direction. I think smart consumers are going to be all the more reluctant to buy both Blu-Ray AND HD DVD after Paramount's announcement. And it's not just consumers who are in a bad way; Paramount has also apparently ticked off director Michael Bay as well, who posted on a message board yesterday: "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!" Creative types are SO sensitive about these things! There's hope for Michael Bay, though: Spielberg's movies for Dreamworks will still be available in Blu-Ray. Perhaps other directors will be able to negotiate similar arrangements. 2007-08-13T17:51:38Z 2007-08-13T17:34:02Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8799 2007-08-13T17:34:02Z

A number of collegues and I have been having a conversation via e-mail about the future of YouTube, the likelihood of its being sued out of existence, who was likely to do the suing, and whether the whole analogy to Napster [InformationWeek] really applies. In the course of this, one...

Joseph Laszlo Media A number of collegues and I have been having a conversation via e-mail about the future of YouTube, the likelihood of its being sued out of existence, who was likely to do the suing, and whether the whole analogy to Napster [InformationWeek] really applies. In the course of this, one of us mentioned "Battle at Kruger," a current huge (and non-copyright-infringing) YT hit-- 12.7m views and counting!-- featuring some exciting African wildlife action. It's an example of YT video becoming part of the culture, as everyone (at least everyone at a birthday party for a small kid in the UK) seemed to know about it. On seeing it, it occurred to me that the one kind of illuminates the other. Watch "Battle at Kruger," with the following in mind: Buffalo calf: YouTube Hungry lions: Media companies Crocodiles: Lawyers Big herd of buffalo: Google The moral is something like: if you're a juicy young buffalo calf, everyone wants a piece of you, but sometimes the big herd wins in the end. Oh and the tourists? I'd say "press"...but "analysts" might work as well. 2007-08-10T17:38:04Z 2007-08-10T17:20:07Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8794 2007-08-10T17:20:07Z

Comcast's long-awaited foray into the online video destination (or perhaps e-EPG?) business took off today with the beta launch of Fancast. It's definitely worth checking out. One early surprise: Comcast's famous Fan, the UI for video on the Comcast.net portal, is apparently not a part of Fancast. Comcast's doing 3...

Joseph Laszlo Media Comcast's long-awaited foray into the online video destination (or perhaps e-EPG?) business took off today with the beta launch of Fancast. It's definitely worth checking out. One early surprise: Comcast's famous Fan, the UI for video on the Comcast.net portal, is apparently not a part of Fancast. Comcast's doing 3 things at present: national TV listings, movie tickets (hello, Fandango), and online video (heavily geared toward pro content--movie trailers, TV episodes, etc.) The most interesting thing I've run across so far is something called "Six Degrees." On most show info pages, you can click on the six degrees button and it pops open a new window with the show or actor you're looking at and an array of 5 other related things, presented in an interactive flashcard style. Click on one of the other cards and you see 5 new things. Breadcrumbs indicate past things you've clicked on, and related titles, actors, and tags are presented in a more traditional list form at the bottom of the screen. Haven't played with it enough to give a thumbs up or down yet, but I'm intrigued by it. Although the video destination market is getting extremely crowded, Comcast brings a lot to the table. I'm looking forward to seeing how Fancast evolves. 2007-08-08T17:42:07Z 2007-08-08T17:18:41Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8780 2007-08-08T17:18:41Z

NBC-U (actually USA Networks) announced today the creation of "Didja," which they describe far better than I could, so I'll just quote from the press release: "A free online archive of current and classic television commercials, movie trailers and other brand-related content, Didja.com is a social networking destination that reinvents...

Joseph Laszlo Marketing NBC-U (actually USA Networks) announced today the creation of "Didja," which they describe far better than I could, so I'll just quote from the press release: "A free online archive of current and classic television commercials, movie trailers and other brand-related content, Didja.com is a social networking destination that reinvents the commercial viewing experience by celebrating advertising as entertainment." I fully respect the notion that the best commercials attain the status of cultural reference points, and more than that, they're art (Sony did an ad for its Bravia TVs in Europe featuring a kajillion bouncy balls in San Francisco that takes my breath away every time I see it). And sure, those greatest ads are things people might want to watch online. But does that really call for a destination site that sounds like it's going to bury the very best amongst, well, every other commercial ever made? I'm kind of doubting it. Only about 8% of consumers said commercials were a genre of video they watched online in the past year; better than movies and traffic video, but way behind the leading genres (news clips, music videos and movie trailers, and yeah, the last one (or two) are kind of commercials, but cut me some slack). There's industry interest around commercials of course, but that's pretty well served already, for example by AdForum. I've been a fan of video sites on specific topics as an antidote to YouTube's catholicism. But whereas topics like travel and anime come with ready-made audiences, I'm not so sure I think commercials do as well as a standalone motivator to go to a destination. 2007-08-02T19:16:44Z 2007-08-02T18:51:42Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8750 2007-08-02T18:51:42Z

Disney yesterday announced it was acquiring kid-oriented, web-based "virtual world" Club Penguin, for $350m cash up front and another up to $350m performance-based over the next couple years. The price seems high, but this is very smart. It's probably easier to buy a virtual world phenomenon than to create your...

Joseph Laszlo Media Disney yesterday announced it was acquiring kid-oriented, web-based "virtual world" Club Penguin, for $350m cash up front and another up to $350m performance-based over the next couple years. The price seems high, but this is very smart. It's probably easier to buy a virtual world phenomenon than to create your own. Despite lots of competition in the kid social space (Neopets--which Viacom bought a couple of years ago, Habbo Hotel, Webkins, etc etc), CP has a strong community, good buzz, and it's growing fast. Still, Disney has to be careful not to alienate the user base; while community-based social offerings have some inherent stickiness to them, if groups of friends decide they'd rather play elsewhere little will stop them. Disney has been talking about launching a pirate-oriented massively multiplayer for years now (planned for this fall), and of course pioneering kids' MMOG Toontown is still around, too. But with the end of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, who knows how long pirate chic will endure? And Toontown's been around for ages. By contrast, penguins are cool, and assembling a stable of multiplayer offerings aimed at different ages and interests is better than putting all your eggs in one virtual basket. 2007-07-20T21:17:23Z 2007-07-20T21:08:50Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8690 2007-07-20T21:08:50Z

Two things: first, among my favorite online video sources these days, I must highly highly recommend the Onion's video news foray, which so far they've executed just as pitch-perfectly as their print edition. Case in point: when the Internet crashes someday, it'll go something like this: I'm embedding a version...

Joseph Laszlo Media Two things: first, among my favorite online video sources these days, I must highly highly recommend the Onion's video news foray, which so far they've executed just as pitch-perfectly as their print edition. Case in point: when the Internet crashes someday, it'll go something like this: I'm embedding a version of this from YouTube b/c even though the Onion has an "embed this link" option, I couldn't copy the vast URL into Movable Type. Shrug. Second, I sure hope the Internet DOESN'T crash. I'd be out of a job. 2007-07-16T20:54:49Z 2007-07-16T20:34:45Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8659 2007-07-16T20:34:45Z

Last year Sony spent $65m getting into the user generated video game by buying Grouper, one of countless small aspirants to the then-fashionable YouTube model. Now that everyone's woken up to the fact that the Long Tail isn't taking over anytime soon, Sony's remade Grouper into Crackle, which is decidedly...

Joseph Laszlo Media Last year Sony spent $65m getting into the user generated video game by buying Grouper, one of countless small aspirants to the then-fashionable YouTube model. Now that everyone's woken up to the fact that the Long Tail isn't taking over anytime soon, Sony's remade Grouper into Crackle, which is decidedly not about user generated content, but rather like Revver and Veoh (and a host of other small aspirants) is trying to make a business out of "semi-pro" or "mid-tail" content. User-generated video sites consist of a community, a brand, and maybe a library of content--but little else. Sony's evicted the community, dumped the brand, and I don't know how much Grouper content made it through to Crackle, but I bet it's not going to be featured. Sony may get lucky, nurture an Internet hit or two, and see Crackle start to attract viewers and advertisers. Still, though, they could've built it from scratch for way cheaper than they paid for Grouper. 2007-07-06T18:04:07Z 2007-07-06T17:55:41Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8625 2007-07-06T17:55:41Z

So, the question arises, WHO has reaped the most benefits from most spectacular launch of a consumer device in recent memory? Steve Jobs? Arguably. Would-be eBay resellers? Not a chance, actually. I'm tempted to argue that Times tech columnist David Pogue has perhaps gotten more (and certainly more amusing) mileage...

Joseph Laszlo Marketing So, the question arises, WHO has reaped the most benefits from most spectacular launch of a consumer device in recent memory? Steve Jobs? Arguably. Would-be eBay resellers? Not a chance, actually. I'm tempted to argue that Times tech columnist David Pogue has perhaps gotten more (and certainly more amusing) mileage out of the iPhone than just about anybody. And he gets to sing about it, too. 2007-07-02T16:32:35Z 2007-07-02T16:13:18Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8594 2007-07-02T16:13:18Z

Sad to say, I've generally used cnn.com as an example when I talk about news sites deploying video online. Sad because I didn't think it worked too well: the lack of embedded video, pokey pop-up player, big buffering time, and preroll ad generally trained people NOT to click on links...

Joseph Laszlo Media Sad to say, I've generally used cnn.com as an example when I talk about news sites deploying video online. Sad because I didn't think it worked too well: the lack of embedded video, pokey pop-up player, big buffering time, and preroll ad generally trained people NOT to click on links with the little camera icon next to them. So it's interesting to see cnn's relaunch. I like a lot of the stuff they're doing. Most importantly, given the thing I found less than sanguine about the old site, the new flash video player is much slicker, starting to play almost instantly once it loads. If you choose not to embed video, fast playback is the next best thing. There's other nice things about the site as well: CNN now features "video search" as an option at the top of the page, something I'm sure we'll see more of from other news organizations. And there's a little video box prominently off to the top right with previews of video topics. What would I still change? Well, there's some finicky layout stuff but I leave thinking about that to Barry Parr. One video-related suggestion: in the video box, CNN includes in gray the length of each clip. That's a great practice, one that I wish they would pull into the video links under "Latest News;" consumers looking for the latest on a topic would probably be more inclined to click if they knew how much of a commitment they were getting into. My next report is for Jupiter's News and Info service, it'll look more at best practices for delivering news video online. Clients should keep an eye here over the next few weeks. 2007-06-19T19:59:15Z 2007-06-19T19:46:52Z tag:weblogs.jupiterresearch.com,2007:/analysts/laszlo//18.8500 2007-06-19T19:46:52Z

Far be it from this blog to provide weekend activity suggestions, but if you're in Brooklyn this Saturday, maybe you want to check out Wiimbledon. Two reasons for mentioning it here: one is that it's an amazingly clever coinage; I know one of the organizers, this is one good demonstration...

Joseph Laszlo Media Far be it from this blog to provide weekend activity suggestions, but if you're in Brooklyn this Saturday, maybe you want to check out Wiimbledon. Two reasons for mentioning it here: one is that it's an amazingly clever coinage; I know one of the organizers, this is one good demonstration of why he's a brilliant PR guy and I'm not. Related: remember when everyone was hating on Nintendo for choosing the name "wii"? Between this and Nintendo's own smart "wii would like to play" tagline, I've come to really like it. Second it's just another good example of Wii as cultural phenomenon; Jupiter's in the midst of revising our console games forecast for the year; I don't think it's giving anything away to say that last year, based on the best available data and expectations, we undershot on Wii sales; look for an upcoming report in our games service to fix that.