August 17 2009

I have been waiting for this season premiere and wasn't disappointed. The first scene with Don reliving his early life, including his birth was disturbing and moving at the same time. Loved Betty's comment to Don after Sally broke his valise that she was 'taking to his tools like a little lesbian'

Must agree that of all the characters, I really enjoy watching Peggy evolve. Here is a woman that started out acting little a frightened little mouse and has now become a force to be reckoned with. If you could fast forward the agency 4o years, I think she and Joan would be running the place and taking no prisoners.

I have to admit, I didn't see the foreplay scene coming with Sal and the bellhop that came to fix the air conditioning. And the look that Don gives him when he sees him is priceless-amused, disturbed and understood all in that 30 second shot.

All is not what it seems on'Mad Men' -and that's what makes it so amazing.

http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/

And while your here, Mad Men Yourself -;) Here I am-circa 1963

August 15, 2009

As summer is coming to an end, the fall TV 2009 will soon be upon us. I can remember getting new school clothes, leaves falling and all the new shows on TV happened all around the same time. In celebration of autumn (I'm not wishing the summer away!), here are the must watch shows and the not so much shows. Add to the list, make comments and suggestions - I may turn this into a radio show & web cast.


Must watch

'Caprica' -SyFy
'Flashforward' -ABC
'Fringe' -FOX
'The Good Wife' -CBS
'Human Target' -FOX
'Lie To Me' -FOX
'Spartacus: Blood and Sand'-Starz
'Mad Men'-AMC
'Vampire Diaries'-CW
'Community'-NBC

Not so much
'Witches of Eastwick'-ABC
'Cougar Town'-ABC
'So You Think You Can Dance'-FOX
'Accidentally on Purpose'-CBS
'The Beautiful Life'-CW
'Brothers'-FOX
'Hank'-ABC

Check out the pilots here:
http://www.thrfeed.com/player.html

August 9 2009

Newscorp CEO Murdoch is wasting any time. According to The Guardian, The Times will be relaunched as a stand-alone website and access to certain sections will require a fee begining in November. The Sunday Times is the largest weekend newspaper in the U.K with over 1 million weekly copies sold. Murdoch is betting that this move will prompt other papers to do the same-“Quality journalism is not cheap,” Murdoch said (via Australian paper The Age). “An industry that gives away it's content is simply cannibalising its ability to produce good reporting."

Interesting viewpoint. Has sort of a 'better than you' attitutude, doesn't it. It seems that Murdoch is truly believing that readers will enjoy what each property's reporters and writers have to say, that they will open their wallets to prove it. What's worse is that if other publications see that it can be done, they will follow suit and began to charge as well.

What you will begin to see is a wave of consumer protest, cancellation of any print subscriptions and an influx of Ihate(insert publication, website, TV here).com blogs and websites.

The bottom line is its all about value. Users will pay for something they feel adds something to their life that they can't get somewhere else.

August 7 2009

News Corp President Rupert Murdoch announces to analysts and reporters that the company will start charging for all news websites in the struggling newspaper division as well as strong revenue generator FOX News Channel. Q4 showed a loss of $203 million dollars.

So now that the business model doesn't work and the company is experiencing one of the worst years ever, its time to charge consumers for reading newspaper content on line. Guess what-that concept is going to backfire. The argument here is that quality journalism is expensive. Yet, I'm still trying to get my head around paying for content on-line when there are literally thousands of other sources to turn to- other news outlets, bloggers, and Twitter feeds. The argument I often make with local media properties when pitched 'news' is by the time I see it or read it, its already 'old news'.

I think the only way to make paying for news content work, is for it to have tremendous value to the user. Offer up something they cannot get elsewhere. Deliver an integrated approach that includes a customized home page, rss reader, free print delivery, Iphone app and incentives and discounts for using multiple services. Its a business and I am all for making money-but it's a bad move for media properties to just start charging for content that was delivered up free. Its a recipe for disaster.

August 4 2009

Last Friday on the Media Man radio show, we discussed breaking down the 'walled gardens' of media outlets. In fact, one of my guests, Heather Way says she no longer even uses the term traditional media as it really has become more and more digital with each passing day.

A recent article in TV Week from CBS Chief Research Office Dave Poltrack has a vision of media where the DVR is really a passing fad. What? No more recording of shows or restart what you've missed? Potrack sees a world where most of the viewing won't be seen on the square box in your living room, you'll be doing it via the internet and not neccessarily on your computer. Highspeed internet providers will stream the content to your big screen TV.

However, its all about revenue, so lets follow the money trail: the highspeed ISP would pay a fee to the broadcast property for any users that want to access the content, users would then view for free or pay a moderate subscription cost (similar to Itunes) to view commercial free. Great for broadcast properties as they will know have a dual revenue stream-ad dollars and funding from the internet providers.

Keep in mind, since both the ISP and the broadcaster have details on the household, this makes for a perfect addressable ad opportunity, only serving advertising messages that are appropriate for that household in that market. What a concept. No more ads for retailers or restaurants that don't exist near you. No more ads for luxury cars or Florida retirement homes. What if you take this one step further and use the technology that is currently available to find out about Miami while you're watching 'Burn Notice' or purchase diabetic equipment while viewing 'Nurse Jackie' or order up a case of Grey Goose Vodka during 'Mad Men.

The walled gardens are crumbling and media is headed this way-I am hopping on for the ride.

August 3 2009

Great meeting with the software development partner today. Funny thing is, the path we started on may not be the path we eventually take -;) After a coffee filled discussion today, we started to realize we had uncovered another possibility that is NOT being exploited now, can make money and may have a much lower barrier to entry. Stay tuned. BIG things are happening.

August 1 2009

Discovered what I really love about being an entertainment host is the interaction with the guests and the chance to keep learning. Yesterday's show on mobile media was an eye opening experience. Having Heather Way from Parks Associates and Barry Bryant from Ad-Venture Media was amazing. Who knew that the technology is available NOW to walk past a vending machine, push an app on your mobile phone and get your beverage right out of the machine! And that all of the walled gardens between media are starting to crumble. Heather Way actually mentioned that she no longer uses the term 'traditional' media-love that. Barry Bryant shared his insight that advertising still has a 'bad name' and is there to be 'tolerated' but that with creativity and education it will become seamless and entertaining. And I think that is the key right there: entertain me, wow me-don't ever sell me -:)

http://www.ad-venturemedia.com/

http://parksassociates.com/