Online Video Presentation WIFT

Election Fever Sites

From Cynthia Cynopsis -- very good overview of some great sites /g

The first web 2.0-powered election is upon us and it's worth a look back at some trends in the space. Politics was the leading category gainer in August according to comScore, responsible for 14 million+ uniques during the month - a third more traffic than in Aug. 2007. Politically-themed sites such as Huffingtonpost.com, realclearpolitics.com and politico.com exploded onto the scene, establishing themselves as important resources users and established media brands have come to rely on. Mostly terrific online efforts by CNN, MTV, YouTube and other outlets have increased awareness immensely and are expected to help drive the best voter turn-out we've seen since the 1960's. And, of course, the candidates themselves have relied on their perspective web sites to reach voters. If web traffic equates to votes then Obama would seem to be riding a wave. Unique visitors to BarackObama.com outpaced those to JohnMcCain.com nearly 2 to 1 in September, according to Nielsen Online. The unique audience at BarackObama.com went from 6.1 million in August to 7.9 million in September, almost double the 4.2 million visits to JohnMcCain.com. Finally some excellent resources have emerged to provide unbiased data to voters who still may not have made up their minds. Check out VoteSmart.com for a comprehensive database of information on candidates' voting records, issue positions and public statements. OpenSecrets.com is a good a place to, in the words of Lester in The Wire, to "follow the money."

New Joost Goes Live Today

After months of hard work the NEW JOOST is LIVE.

Below are some articles from this mornings press as well as some screen shots in the posts below:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/18/new-joost-launches-now-and-next-month-joost-will-be-100-flash/

http://newteevee.com/2008/09/18/no-download-required-joost-to-go-flash/#more-8702

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/broadband/e3i91c8d15e4e31620505f47dc542c2e908

Ping me with feedback or comments.

New Joost - New Dashboard

My favorite part is the Joost activity feed. It shows what everyone is doing on the platform. A great way to find new content and share with your friends.

New Joost Screen Shot

This is the new electronic program guide for the platform. Much easier to use and makes content discovery so much easier.

New Joost 'Friends' Screen Shot

It finally happened

I was searching for the hair salon I usually go to in Toronto. I can never remember the address of phone number so I Googled it -- wax hair salon, toronto -- nothing. Wax hair, toronto - nope. Thought I spelt it wrong so I tried Waxx hair, toronto -- zero. Then I remembered yellow.ca. I had tried it once before a while back and noticed that it had really quick search that was remarkably accurate. I could also call directly from my mobile. Typed in Wax. Bingo. Address and phone number. Google look out.

Does Online TV Have a Short Shelf Life?

From: NewTeeVee --- New research indicates that online videos get the majority of their views soon after they’re posted. Of 10,916 videos with at least 1,000 views after 90 days, half of those views happened over the first two weeks, according to a study by video analytics firm TubeMogul. Views peak on day three, with 11 percent of all views happening on that day, according to the study.


Full article

Where's the Audience Panel - Banff World TV Festival

One of the best sessions I was lucky enough to moderate with interesting statistics from both sides of the fence - TV and Online. Having a broadcaster, Anna, giving us the reality of the situation on the ground was very useful.

Links:

Barry's CRTC report
Slice.ca
HGTV.ca
English speaking stats and online users

The Biz (NEW!): Where's The Audience?

Tuesday June 10th
14:30 - 15:30

Session
Sir Edward Beatty

In Partnership with:
TELUS

New online series and the recent Writer's strike sent a lot of viewers to the web. How has this fragmentation of the audience affected TV viewership? What are the ramifications for TV producers and broadcasters?

Partner Introductions:
Michael Hennessy, Vice-President -- Wireless, Broadband & Content Policy - TELUS

Moderator
Gavin McGarry, Content Acquisition and Strategy - Joost

Panelist
Anna Gecan, Vice President of Content, HGTV - CanWest Broadcasting Inc.
Barry Kiefl, President - CMRI
Bryan Segal, Senior Director - Comscore Media Metrix

Pitching - Rita Carbon Flurey

Things you need to know:

No Baggage Line: if you don't have the experience someone is looking for consider it a benefit as you will have no preconceived notions. Rita uses this strategy regularly.

1) Pitching is telling a good story. Know your projects story.

2) Ask for advice on the project rather than sell the idea to them. It

3) Passion for the idea is almost as important as the story.

4) Research, research, research. Know who you are pitching too. There is no excuse not to know who you are pitching too.

5) If you are not experienced collaborate with veteran producer.

6) Don't get defensive if they don't like your idea. Listen to what the broadcaster is saying. They understood your pitch, use it to explore and heighten the idea.

7) Practice pitching to industry people or your Mom. Your Mom will always love you and your stupid ideas.

8) Have a goal for your meetings - I will get a second meeting, they will ask for a one sheet, etc.

State of the Video Nation Address

Microsoft Surface - www.billbuxton.com
Mashup


Experiment: Not to spend hours creating a Power Point.


My Blog - gavinmcgarry.com



Agenda: Stats, Cost, Money, Advertising, Other



Stats, Stats, Stats - Canada: the Humble Leader

Over 2 Billion people speak English around the world and more than 400 million are online.

Bryan Segal - comScore slides

Dominique-Sebastien Forest - canoe.tv

comScore Video Views

Nielsen Netratings



How much does one minute of online video really cost to deliver to the viewer?

Link




Is there anyone making money in online video?

Save The Internet.org



Are there advertising standards for online yet?
Tubemogul
Youtube Insight
Freewheel
IAB - Video





What is the future?

Video Tool Box
Tube Mogul
Alexa



Gavin will also touch on the rise of the mobile and gaming platforms as well as how innovative new set top boxes may revive the television industry.

Mobile 3 year old

At Next Media Conference in Banff

Full Disclosure: I'm on the Next Media executive advisory board

I am mentoring 10 Telefilm Fellows and they have some fantastic projects.

The first half day yesterday was really good. Marty Avery from "What if" got everyone chatting with each other in a fantastic networking exercise in the Start Up session.

Bill Buxton from Microsoft did a brilliant opening keynote this morning.

Check out Scribble Live for a live blogging of each of the sessions. Canadian company and great idea.

The Simpsons - I Said Ha Ha

Hulu using Youtube to promote Hulu. Slick.

When Branding Goes Bad

Oh man, I have no idea what Home Depot did to the Onion News Network to deserve this - maybe pulled some advertising - but this is cringe-tastic.


Home Depot Honors Fallen Soldiers With Great Prices On Tools

Get Paid to Look for Jobs...Yes, Seriously

My friend Cat sent me this site Notchup -- they pay you (and handsomely) to go for job interviews. *head shake* -- is it really that competitive out there?

ibeatyou.com

I'm sure you've all seen the recent rise of this site. With Jessica Alb competing against Kev Jumba in a staring contest or beating Steve Nash in free throws. If you haven't you should check it out.

CAUGHT: Comcast paying to push public out of Internet debate

This debate is heating up. Very scary.

Church of the Child Molester

On MTV and pushing the limits Mark McKay is doing what most others won't. He desperately wants to be famous and his hip hop style crossed with Rick Moranis characture is engaging.

Check out his other videos as well. I see a reality show for this guy.

WARNING: I said he is pushing the limits and I mean it. If you don't like swearing and other vulgar stuff give this a miss. Now you just want to watch it more dontcha?

I Opt Out - Do Not Call List

From Michael Geist: IOptOut takes advantage of this approach by allowing Canadians to create and manage a personal do-not-call list that begins where do-not-call legislation ends.

Disney Copyright Law

Very, very good.

The Rant Puppets - Stop the Canadian DMCA!

From Michael Geist. Copyright in Canada.

Mesh Conference 2008 - Toronto

I am sitting at the conference now blogging live.

This is link to the schedule for today. It's easy to see why it is sold out when you look at the selection of speakers.

I'm currently listening to Ethan Kaplan from Warner Music. When he arrived at Warner he got rid of all the Flash websites that Warner had and switched to Druple as well.

More later...

Youtube has a stalker - Youtomb

YouTomb is a research project by MIT Free Culture that tracks videos
taken down from YouTube for alleged copyright violation.More
specifically, YouTomb continually monitors the most popular videos on
YouTube for copyright-related takedowns.

Jessica Alba The Stare Response

Staring at celebrities. Interesting concept. The whole I Beat You thing is interesting too. Heck, it's all interesting. Bet you blink first.

Apple Bloopers

If you think Apple has never had problems, think again. Very funny.

all about Steve - Boom!

This is part of a Youtube called a Supercut - editing together words or phases from your fave characters. Boom.

Growing Pains

Created by Rajan in Vancouver for Daily Motion. A good example of how brands may integrate into content.

How did I find this? I clicked on the banner on the Daily Motion website. Yes, yes I did. I wanted to win $10,000.

Click Link Here

Bill O'Reilly LOSES IT!

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Very clever.

Report: YouTube, Yahoo Relax Standards to Inflate Views

In the last year, both YouTube and Yahoo, two of the three biggest online video sites, have become more lenient about how they measure video views, according to TubeMogul, a video analytics startup.

Last June, we asked “Hey Guys, What Constitutes a View?” after Emeryville, Calif.-based TubeMogul released the first edition of this report. We were surprised to find out how much counting methodology differed between sites. This time around, we’re surprised to find that counting methodologies seem to have changed. It appears that YouTube and Yahoo now register a view every single time a visitor clicks play.


Full NewTeeVee article here

Lonelygirl becomes Hotpopulargirl

Cynthia Cynopsis

In a true marriage of new and old media, CBS has struck a partnership with viral web drama studio EQAL to create a slate of multiplatform programming for existing and future CBS television productions. The creators of lonelygirl15 and KateModern - Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried - will consult with CBS to help create social experiences around traditional shows, working with CBS writers at the script level to tie online narratives in directly with TV plot lines. The deal also gives CBS "first look" at any new multiplatform show concepts developed by the studio.

Facebook's Beacon A Bust

ONLINE AD SPENDING ESTIMATES DROP FOR SOCIAL NETS
By HOLLY M. SANDERS -NY Post

May 14, 2008 -- Web ad tracker eMarketer cut its ad spending estimates for Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking sites amid growing questions over whether such sites will attract major ad dollars. Advertisers in the US will spend $1.4 billion to place ads on social-networking sites this year, down from an earlier estimate of $1.6 billion, eMarketer said in a report released yesterday.

The firm also cut revenue projections for MySpace and Facebook, the two largest social networks. Spending on Facebook will total $265 million, down almost 13 percent from a previous forecast of $305 million. The firm also cut its estimate for MySpace by 11 percent, to $775 million, down from $850 million. (The Post is part of News Corp., which also owns MySpace.)

While the weak economy is partly to blame, the bigger problem facing social networks is they're still trying to figure out what kinds of advertising will work on their sites. Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking sites boast massive online audiences, but they are having a tough time turning those eyeballs into ad dollars.

Last week, News Corp. said its Fox Interactive Media arm, which includes MySpace, would fall short of its $1 billion revenue target this year by about 10 percent.

Meanwhile, Facebook's much-hyped advertising program, Beacon, is considered a bust.

comScore: 11.5B Video Views in March

From Newteevee Article


Online video continued its ascent in March, with comScore reporting U.S. Internet users watched 11.5 billion online videos during the month. This was a 13 percent bump up from February, and surpasses the previous record-setting total of 10.15 billion video views in December.

Nearly 139 million unique U.S. viewers watched an average of 83 videos each in March. The average online video duration was 2.8 minutes with the average online viewer watching 235 minutes of video. Notably, the average duration has remained relatively flat since September, moving only slightly, between 2.7 minutes and 2.9 minutes. But the number of videos per viewer jumped to 83 in March from 75 in February.

YouTube continued to stomp the competition with 84.8 million viewers watching 4.3 billion videos, or 50.4 videos per person. To compare, second-place Fox had 47.7 million viewers watching 400 million videos on MySpace, or 8.4 videos per viewer. Altogether, Google/YouTube sites accounted for 38 percent of all video views, gaining another 2.6 share points over the previous month.

The Lord Blackberry Cometh

RIM has finally made the new version of its messaging phone, the Bold, official. No exact release date yet, but the press release does mention that the Bold should be available “around the world beginning this summer. ”

Full article at TechCrunch

Key points from the announcement:

* 624MHz CPU
* 802.11 a/b/g and GPS
* Half-VGA screen (480 x 320)
* Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support
* microSDHC support up to 16 GB
* Quad-band EDGE, Tri-band HSDPA
* 2MP camera w/ flash and 5x digital zoom
* Replaceable “leather-like” backplates

Interestingly there is no touchscreen and the pricing should hit the $300-400 range, according to sources.

Many DVR owners largely tune out TV, Web ads

IAB SmartBrief | 05/09/2008

About 35% of DVR owners pay some notice to TV commercials when they screen shows, while just 9% pay some attention to the spots when watching programs online, according to a new study from Google's DoubleClick Performics unit.

Link to full Adweek Article

Advertising: What constitutes a unique visitor?

I am going to post a bit more about the advertising side of online in the weeks to come. In my opinion this is where the heavy lifting is being done. Once standards are established and the ad world feels in control again, I think, you will see a rush to the net like never before.

This is a great overview of what some of the challenges are at the moment.

From Cynthia Cynopsis

The IAB issued revised Ad Unit and Rich Media Creative Guidelines yesterday, asking for input from ad agencies, advertisers, online publishers and technology vendors. The guidelines cover formatting standards for banner ads, buttons, floating ads and other rich media products. Companies have 30 days to comment via the IAB site.

The IAB's Audience Measurement Working Group also expects to release guidelines soon that will finally define many of the metrics terms publishers throw around. If only standards could be set in time for the upfronts where web metrics are expected to play a major role. Experts say inconsistencies and confusion over web measurement issues have a more adverse affect on digital ad spending than practically any other issue.

Some of the issues that need reconciling include:

* What constitutes a unique visitor? A recent comScore study found that approximately 31% of U.S. internet users clear their cookies once a month or have them cleared by default. Some users clear cookies after each use, and these users have a profound effect on web metrics. Why? A cookie is a string of text counting programs use to determine unique visits, and if they're cleared monthly or more frequently, these users are then counted as "unique visitors" each time they return to favorite sites. Measurement firms say they factor in cookie deleters when counting unique visits, but estimates vary dramatically and accuracy remains a deep concern.

* How is time spent on a site measured? The explosion of widgets, blog posts and online video has lessened the impact of page views and put more weight on the average time spent metric. Nielsen Online announced last July it was scrapping page view rakings in favor of time spent. Time spent may be an improvement, but it's not without its own issues. Many browsers allow multiple windows to remain open simultaneously and indefinitely. Nielsen says it solves this by only measuring which tab is "in focus," but who's to say you're reading what you last clicked on? It's like the TV being on, but nobody's in the room watching. Time spent rankings also tend to reward sites that are clunky and hard to navigate, thus taking more time to wade through.

* How can panel based and server based measurement be reconciled? Advertisers get confused when web metrics vary considerably between third party estimates (usually based on a panel of users) and internal estimates (based on internal server log data). When numbers diverge by a factor of 2 or more, serious trust issues ensue. Media Ratings Council audits of both Nielsen Online and ComScore should help allay some concerns.

TimeTube - pure genius

I read the article below. I had to try it...so I typed in Star Wars. Above is the screen grab. 5 words: when will Google buy them.

Article from NewTeeVee -- Check out TimeTube, a mashup from San Francisco startup Dipity, which makes an interactive timeline out of any YouTube keyword. Videos are embedded directly into the timeline on the dates they were added. I’m a little unclear on what garners more emphasis within the timeline– it doesn’t appear to be number of views. Anyways, then you can grab whatever you make and embed it directly in your blog. Would have been great to have this for our Rickroll timeline last month!

Stats: Global Media Content Survey

Accenture's annual Global Media Content Survey indicated media executives are determined to focus on new platforms to drive growth in advertising, film, music, publishing, radio, the internet, videogames and television. When asked to identify the largest drivers of revenue growth over the next five years, two-thirds (66%) of respondents cited new platforms or new ways of delivering content. And nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents said they will pursue a "multi-screen" distribution strategy, which includes television, online and mobile delivery.

* A leading 38% cited short-form video as the genre with the most potential, followed by online portal/publishing second (23%) and video games (18%).
* Social media and user-generated content are high-growth opportunities. Two-thirds of respondents also identified social media and user-generated content as a high-growth opportunities.
* When asked to identify what they believe will be the number one business model in five years, nearly two-thirds (62%) of respondents selected advertising-supported business models, compared with 25% who cited subscription-based services and 11% who cited pay-per-play services.

Sulekha merges Facebook and Craigslist in India

Link to article - Cecilia Aronsson May 6th, 2008

A merger between Facebook and Craigslist may seem like a pipe dream — but in India it’s already happening. The web community Sulekha has quickly grown to become India’s largest user-generated content site with 6 million users, a number set to double this year. Social networking features and classified ads take up equally big parts of the site.

The site targets Indians worldwide. India holds 60 percent of the users. Another 30 percent live in North America, which is gathering pace in many cities (more on that later). Almost every person online in India is fluent in English, so Sulekha knew from the start that competition from other social networks would be tough. There is no pure social network based in India that competes favorably with American social networks Myspace, Facebook or LinkedIn.

But Sulekha decided to expand beyond personal social networking. The network part of the site is divided in vertical sections like travel, news, sport and food. The idea is to provide useful content to anyone with interest in Indian culture and news. The Indian Premium League in cricket, IPL, attracts particularly strong interest with hundreds of people writing comments about it under a special “cricket caption”. Satya Prabhakar, CEO of Sulekha, says that the aggregation of social network content in vertical sub-sections makes it easier to attract advertisers who want to know their audience’s interests. General purpose social networks like Facebook and Myspace are all struggling to find a sustainable advertisement solution.

The Tangled Woven Web

This is a very good article about some of the challenges facing the Internet from a video perspective. Even if you don't really understand the technology try and muddle through. There are some good nuggets about how the big ISPs are going to deal with net neutrality. /g


The DCIA kicked off its P2P Media Summit on Monday with a panel discussion about P4P -- technology designed to ease the flow of peer-to-peer traffic by managing connections. Proponents of the system say it's no threat to privacy and proves that Net neutrality legislation isn't needed. But questions remain as to how much control P4P actually represents.

Rest of article here

Why no Hoosoft posts?

You may be wondering why I have said nothing about the Microsoft and Yahoo merger. It's like this, everyone in the valley knows that Jerry hates Microsoft. He will do anything to avoid a merger. His shareholders may have other ideas but for Jerry to sell out to Stevie B would make him a pariah in the Valley. When you have as much cash as these guys do it's all about the street cred in the end. Besides everyone is writing about this story and even the people I know inside Microsoft are bored of it.

Internet ad standards get , well, standard

This is what is going to change the growth of the internet. No ads, no money, no growth. Once everyone agrees on advertising standards for online the ad agencies and media buyers will feel more comfortable. I have even added the RSS feed from the Interactive Advertising Bureau to the right hand column of my blog just so we can all have the latest. /g

The Interactive Advertising Bureau released its long-awaited Digital Video in-Stream Ad Format Guidelines to help provide a template for digital media firms to deploy, track and monetize non-linear ads. The goal is to develop common formatting and practices to make video ads more interchangeable between publishers and advertisers. Included are guidelines on overlay ads and companion ads agreed upon so far by some 145 video providers and ad firms. The IAB has even provided a handy dandy Glossary of Digital Video Terms. Look for it on the Cynopsis: Digital homepage later this week.

Charlie The Unicorn

22 million+ views. Fantastic ending. It has been on YT over 2 years. Great example of the 'long tail' in action. The animator turned down a deal with Adult Swim saying he makes more money selling merchandise.

How Google Works

If you were wondering now you will know. A good little doc complete with snotting British woman doing voice over to make you feel inferior and 'stoopid'.

Rant: Musings of a conference survivor

Here's the question -- disclosure: I lifted it from a someone who was also at the CIX conference with me -- he asked, "Why - at conferences filled with smart people hearing excellent presentations - does anyone fail to pose questions? I can't figure it out: is it the venue, is it a Canadian thing, an ego thing?"

I say it's a combination of the venue and the Canadian thing but mostly, in my opinion, it's because they are all thinking about porn ;-)

I was very interesting how an entire room full of very intelligent (and rich) individuals who are used to grilling companies failed to do so during many of the presentations.

My feeling is this. The venue was big enough to be a 'bit too big' (it held about 400 people at round tables). With only one young runner - mic in hand sprinting back and forth across the room - led to a delay from 'hand up' to asking question that was awkwardly long. More mics peppered about the room would help this. Also, maybe more Americans to show us how it's really done.

Stats: Pity the fool who don't have a mobile site

A new cross-platform report from Nielsen Online finds that mobile internet sites are boosting traffic to conventional internet sites by 13% on average. Content that is easy to digest on the road such as weather and entertainment are getting even more of a lift. Adoption rates remain low in the U.S., however. Only 13.7% of the 87 million U.S. mobile users actively surf with their phones, according to Nielsen.

Total Web - Average Online Audience Lift Provided by Mobile Web (Q4 - 2007)
Category Ave. Lift (%)
Total 13%
Weather 22%
Entertainment 22%
Games 15%
Music 15%
Email 11%
Sports 10%
Business/Finance 4%
Source: Nielsen Online

From Cynthia Cynopsis

CIX Innovators

For the last two days I have been at the Canadian Innovation Exchange or CIX here in Toronto. A really good conference for understanding the Venture Capital world.

The best part for me was the 20 Canadian innovators who were selected, and then paid, to pitch to the room full of VC's. I didn't find out until the afternoon session that the companies had paid to present. I thought it was like a DemoCamp. I asked some probing questions that I though would help -- they didn't -- I sort of wished I hadn't now. Good times.

Some of the presentations were better than others, some of the ideas were better than others but the electricity in the room was palpable as you knew that some wily VC might be financing the next Apple or Ubisoft. I heard there were some deals done.

I must admit I drifted off during a couple of the presentations as a) I didn't really care about the idea or b) their presenting skills weren't up to snuff.

We all voted by text after the presentations and the winner was Octopz.

Most you can google easily so I haven't put links. But one was hard to find so I've put a link in.

Morning
Accipiter Radar Technologies Inc., Fonthill, ON - Radar technology
Acquisio, Saint Lambert, QC - Paid Search Management software
Brainpark, Inc., Toronto, ON - 'What are you working on' secure solution for business (Facebook meets Linkedin for your business).
CellWand Communications, Toronto, ON -#TAXI (mobile texting)
Coveo, Quebec, QC -Search powered info finding for business (like google mail)
HomeZilla, Toronto, ON -Real Estate search
Octopz, Toronto, ON -rich media sharing/ creative collaboration
Standout Jobs, Inc., Montreal, QC - Job / HR help
Streametrics Corporation Inc., Montreal, QC -video metrics
TimePlay Entertainment, Toronto, ON -Interactive devices for theatres

Afternoon
Akoha Inc., Montreal, QC - pay it forward game
Bitcasters, Toronto, ON -fantasy social networks
Blueprint Software Systems, Toronto, ON -in the requirements space
Digital Payment Technologies Corp., Burnaby, BC - speaks for itself
dthree Inc. Mississauga, ON - not sure what they do
Kaben Wireless Silicon Inc, Ottawa, ON - semi conductor designs
Mobidia, Inc., Vancouver, BC -wireless software
Planeteye Inc., Toronto, ON -travel aggragetor
Redwood Technologies, Calgary, AB -mobile billing
Level Spatial View Inc., Toronto, ON - 3D

Ad Agencies May Be 'Getting It'

GroupM, Ogilvy launch branding venture

Two WPP-owned companies, media agency GroupM Entertainment and advertising giant Ogilvy North America, have joined forces in a co-venture to create and distribute branded entertainment content across multiple platforms on behalf of their shared clients.

Full C21 Media Article Here

CaseCamp 7

If you haven't been to a CaseCamp in Toronto yet I suggest you get to one soon. A great mix of the next generation of digital media marketing and content types. Eli Singer (Segal/Facebook) lead a packed house at Circa Night Club last night with more than 500 people in attendance (they started a few years back in a basement pub with 75 people). The event is free. Just let them know you are coming via the Facebook Group then show up and pay $4.50 for bottle water and $7.50 for bottled beer (hey, it's free but not THAT free). Eli said they printed 420 name tags and they blew through those by 6:40pm. Over 500 people responded to the Facebook Group.

I was only able to stay for one of the 15 minute 'cases' Red Flag Deals. I encourage you to check out their site for uber Canadian bargins on everything. They are doing millions of impressions a week and transfered $8 million in sales in 2007. However, their site seems to lock up the tab function on my Firefox when I go it -- shrug. Maybe they don't want you to navigate away from the site ;-) For details on the other presenters go to the Facebook group.

Eli says needs to catch his breath but expect the next one in a couple of months. Once he names the date I will post it here. If you don't live in Toronto maybe you should start a Casecamp in your hood. They are the future of conferences IMO.

iPhone coming to Canada FINALLY

It will probably cost $200 a month to run but still...iPhoooone.

Here is the post from Engadget

Thinking of IPOing in Canada

Here is the site you need to go to.

Go Public In Canada

Microsoft Live Meeting

As you know, I'm not big on Microsoft products. Their UI (user interfaces) seem to be getting more complex and less user friendly. I have been struggling with a Vista machine for the last year and I keep having to migrate back to my Mac.

However, Mark Greenspan from Next Media just told me about this today. He said he had used it for a conference call with a group of people in cities all over the world and it was a great experience.

If you give it a try could you let me know how it was to use by leaving a comment on the blog under this post.

From the MS Live Meeting Website

Find out more about how the 2007 release of Office Live Meeting lets you host real-time web-based meetings and collaboration sessions online.

See how easy it is to schedule meetings, invite attendees, and host fully interactive sessions in just minutes.

You can host your web-based meetings and collaboration sessions online with up to 1250 simultaneous participants.

Bell In Hot Water Over Throttling

April 29, 2008 - Ottawa, ON - Canada's largest Internet association has submitted its reply to Bell Canada's response to a regulatory complaint filed with the CRTC by the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP). CAIP's reply states that Bell's response confirms that the association's arguments of wrong-doing by the country's largest phone company in what has become known as "traffic shaping" or "throttling" were well-founded.

Full article link

CIX - Canadian Innovation Exchange

I'm at CIX blogging live.

CIX is a conference bringing venture capital and angel funds together with entrepreneurs. For old school TV producers this may be the 'new' way of building and financing cross platform projects.

At the moment I'm listening to a panel session on 'What do VC's and Angels Want?'

Interesting points:

-don't take the money just cause it is there -- it can hurt your company
-take the smart money: watch milestones
-public venture capital: taking your company public too soon is irresponsible
-be careful of 'cramming'
-pitching is one of the most important things and if done improperly can lose you your money
-bootstrapping your company is the most important thing
-protect the farm team
-best person to hire is someone who lost in the dotboom


-Turn offs:
don't tell the VC how much they will make
don't tell the VC that this is the best deal they will see all year,
need a fire in the belly entrepreneur leading the team
don't like solo entrepreneurs

Youtube Warp

An interesting new way to watch and discover Youtube videos. Go to YT and under What's New click on Warp. Visually fly through YouTube videos in the Fullscreen player.

ASOS = As Seen On Screen

Note from G: ASOS is a UK fashion etailer I have been following for the last couple of years (I met with them once about a project). They troll the red carpets and celeb hangouts with camera in hand. See what the lastest 'expensive' fashion is then, in 6 weeks, knock off a similar type of outfit for all the cool girls (and it is mostly women) to buy for next to nothing. Make sure you click on the 'catwalk' button. They have models walk each dress down a catwalk. Great idea for showing clothing on the web IMO.

ASOS sees annual sales almost double to £81m
Full article from NMA link here

Pure-play fashion etailer ASOS has seen annual sales almost double, with profits set to beat forecasts. ASOS saw sales up by 90% year-on-year to £81m for the 12 months to 31 March, and the company claims strong sales continued in the first four weeks of the current financial year.

Nick Robertson, ASOS co-founder and CEO, said he anticipated profits to exceed expectations and that he expected the growth to continue.

"Despite the uncertain economic conditions, I remain optimistic about the prospects for ASOS," he said. "We continue to benefit from the increasing popularity of online shopping and we have made considerable investments in management, infrastructure, product ranges and marketing to support and sustain future growth.

The site includes 8,300 fashion lines, including its own range, and says it attracts over 2.9m unique visitors a month.

Google Pricing System Plagues Players Like P&G

Note from G: As you know I am tracking the ad agencies and their big clients in the integrated media space. I'm still scratching my head as to why it is taking so long for them to get online but the shift is happening...slowly. This story below shows some of the challenges advertisers are facing with Google.

Full article from Ad Age

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- For years, consumer-package-goods marketers saw search advertising as mainly for direct response, not branding. But now that more are heeding data showing search's potential as a branding vehicle, they're running into a new problem: The pricing model wasn't really set up to serve them, and in some respects it thwarts them.

2.0 Expo 2008: Clay Shirky

A very good overview of how TV producers need to be thinking about the media space delivered in a compelling short lecture by Clay Shirky author of 'Here Comes Everybody'

Are independent online video services dead?

Without the option of public markets, and with big media companies finally getting the hang of things on their own, will the online video backers stick around for the long haul? This question has big implications for companies like Metacafe, Veoh and Dailymotion, which continue to do well, but not well enough. What do you think?

Full NewTeeVee article

Great App for Your Blackberry

I've been using Viigo for a week now and I love it. Quick install on your BB and you are slurping feeds like a 7/11 Super Gulp fiend. I was warned that it might suck battery life but I have noticed no difference. I was able to add feeds quickly and easily. The UI (user interface) is clean and simple to navigate not to mention blazing fast.





Viigo is a way to access content and services on your mobile device that's better than anything you've ever experienced. For more about Viigo click here

Google Cheat Sheet

This two page Google Cheat Sheet lists all Google services and tools as well as background information. The Cheat Sheet offers a great reference to grasp of basic to advance Google query building concepts and ideas.

Google Cheat Sheet

DivX moves towards web TV on TV

I think we are going to see much more of this in the future. G

C21 Media - Jonathan Webdale
The convergence of television sets and internet TV has moved a step closer after digital media company DivX certified over 80 models from manufacturers including LG and Hewlett-Packard.

Full article

Graffiti Research Lab Project

Some great technology in this short doc.

Great way to organize content

http://www.getback.com

From Cynthia Cynopsis -- Betting nostalgia will attract users and ultimately dollars, a new digital storefront called GetBack.com launched in beta yesterday, organizing streaming radio and video content as it relates to iconic moments in history. Click on one of the thumbnails at the top of the page to be taken back to a moment in time such as 1982 when Kareem's Lakers beat Dr. J's Sixers and Pat Benatar & Loverboy topped the charts. Songs can be sampled before purchasing single tracks or full albums.

P2P Not Clogging the Web

From Cynthia Cynopsis - Digital

Here are some interesting facts about broadband consumption attributed to IP network management firm Arbor Networks, courtesy of GigaOM. On fixed and mobile consumer-focused broadband networks:

* 10 percent of subscribers consume 80% of bandwidth
* 0.5% of subscribers consume about 40 percent of total bandwidth
* 80% of subscribers use less than 10 % of bandwidth

This supports ISP's argument that only a few heavy users are taxing the network for everyone. But it turns out peer-to-peer networks aren't the real culprit. According to Arbor:

* Only 20% of traffic is P2P applications
* During peak-load times, 70% of subscribers use http, while 20% use P2P
* Http still makes up the majority of the total traffic, of which 45% is conventional text & images
* Streaming video and audio content from services like YouTube accounts for nearly 50% of the http traffic

Human Powered Search Engines

This is a trend that is rising and I have heard about a few of these now. Search engines that use humans to make links relevant. Give Mahalo a try and see what you think. They claim to be the first.

What is Mahalo?

* Mahalo is a human-powered search engine that creates organized, comprehensive, and spam free search results for the most popular search terms. Our search results only include great links.

Hot Docs Panel - Toronto

The problem with panels at conferences is you are never really sure who you are talking to. A quick scan of the room and I could see the intelligence staring back. These were people who looked skeptical and curious. However, there was little Blackberry use so I am assuming we had something interesting to say.

Here is the link to the panel details

Notes:
-discussed Youtube Insight
-how much video costs to serve on the web (see other posts on my blog)
-marketing opportunities - Search Engine Optimization, seeding blogs, etc
-geo targeting
-rights issues and how to ensure broadcasters don't take them all

Google Video Redesign

Google Video has given itself a redesign, adding some nice search tweaks and a fresh new look. Now when you search for a video, results can be viewed through a regular list, a grid, or a TV view that lets you watch a video while you scan through other results.

Full article from NewTeeVee

TV-eh?

Well, well, a site about Canadian television shows. I was unaware there was such a thing as we watch so much American rebroadcast. Quite a good site.


This is from their FAQ:
"TV, Eh? is your source of information on Canadian television shows, with links to articles plus scheduling information and network media releases."

Click here to link

CBS: March Madness Eyeballs Worth More On Web Than TV

Silicon Valley Insider -- Michael Learmonth | April 17, 2008 1:40 PM

The numbers are in for CBS's March Madness: 4.8 million viewers online vs. 132 million on TV. TV ratings were slightly down for the tourney this year, enough that we asked whether the availability of free online games were to blame.

Answer: who cares? CBS (CBS) made $4.83 in advertising per online viewer vs. $4.12 for each of its TV viewers, according to the Washington Post, citing data from CBS and ad research firm TNS.

Full Article Here

the big pipe

I wrote the above subject line in lower case so as not to scare you. Yesterday, I got the new Rogers Extreme Plus high speed broadband.

I had been struggling with Bell's portable 3Mbps WiMax service. Recently, Bell had serious problems with the service in my area and were shocked when I called and said I was blazing with 162kbps down and 112 kbps up. I tried for two weeks to fix the problem with endless calls to call centre in India and Markham before I finally got to a tech who said that they were having big problems with too much traffic. Gavin strokes chin - interesting. So I bailed.

Back to Rogers. I had Extreme a few months ago but took it back cause it was always less than extreme -- I was supposed to get 10Mbps I regularly got 7 but mostly 5. Sad.

However, with Extreme Plus I am consistently getting 10Mbps when I am supposed to have 18 but I'm on an Apple Express wifi system and there is some over the air loss. I bought an Apple Airport Extreme with n frequency. I will let you know if that helps.

Overall, it is blazing with the Extreme Plus compared to my WiMax. Begrudgingly I say I love it. Ack. However, I work faster, I type faster, I am just faster all round...and a better person for it. Should you pay $50 extra per month for all this speed? If you can afford it yes. If not, well, there is always petty crime to pay for your broadband addiction.

Extreme Plus

* Our fastest residential service for those who want the ultimate in speed. Music, video streaming, downloading large files and playing games. 18 Mbps 9 $1.25/GB 95 GB $99.95 (includes modem charge of $3 per month)

Extreme
* Blistering speed, for sharing large files and much more. Music, video streaming, downloading and playing games. 10.0 Mbps 9 $1.50/GB 95 GB $54.95

MID - Mobile Internet Device

This guy says he has a world exclusive. I think not but I still love his zeal.

World Exclusive Article

Peter Gabriel launches recommendation site The Filter

Writer: Christina Hansen
News, Published online on 16 Apr 2008

Peter Gabriel has launched a new website dedicated to helping users find music and movies to fit their taste.

The Filter is described as a discovery service: tell it the movies, music and web videos that you enjoy, and it will make daily recommendations of new material you might like. The site will not go public until next month, but users can register with the site right now to participate in its private beta testing phase.

Full article link here

Drug appreciation groups land Facebook in trouble

Source: nma.co.uk | Published: 17.04.08

The unregulated nature of Facebook groups has again landed the social network in controversy this morning.

Following an investigation, The Sun has revealed details of drug appreciation groups and drug-dealers on the site.

Groups such as Cocaine is the Ruler of the Brain and Make Poverty History - Cheap Cocaine for Everyone have landed the social network in trouble with anti-drug groups.

Citizen Journalist Widgets

Cynthia Cynopsis -- WorldNow announced it is offering customizable citizen journalists widgets from white label provider KickApps to its local station partners. The applications enable sites to add photo and video sharing, blogging, message boards and content syndication features to increase traffic, engagement and ad revenue via contextual ad inventory.

The New Box Office Hits - Games

From Cynthia Cynopsis

Take-Two Interactive's hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV, driving off the lot on April 29, will sell 6 million units and break $400 million in sales during its first week, predicts Variety. This would best Xbox exclusive Halo 3's $300 million first week take to make it the biggest entertainment release of all time. A first-ever multiplayer option is one of the features that has gamers salivating.

Writers Guild of Canada Presentation

Yesterday the Writers Guild of Canada was kind enough to invite me along to their national forum to give my perspective about emerging trends online. As usual I ran over the allotted time and was able to take only one question at the end.

Link to Presentation

Microsoft Surface Parody

Digg Labs

Canadians are NOT happy

Well, it's happened. Here in Canada the net neutrality debate has exploded over the last couple of days as the two big 'last mile' providers Bell and Rogers have introduced capped monthly usage amounts ranging from 60 to 100 gig depending on the plan. Further, they are now openly saying they will 'shape' peer to peer traffic (read Skype, Joost, Bittorrent) among other things. They are focusing on these services to protect their TV assets. There was no mention of 'shaping' spam which is a huge bandwidth hog. No question they are focusing on content provides that compete wit them. However, video services are not the only casualties as online gaming will take a big hit as well apparently.

Some good articles:

michael geist - From Toronto Star -- Bell's 'Throttling' Plan a Threat to a Competitive Net

Article from Ars Technica - Canadian ISPs furious over traffic throttling

Google Map of Bandwidth Throttling in Ontario

My 5 Min Rant at ICE08 conference in Toronto

The Techno Peasant Empowerment Manifesto

Ladies and Gentlemen, I stand before you a sinner, a heathen, a digital pagan if you will. What is wrong with me that I must point out the folly of those less fortunate than myself? Those poor sods who will never know the joy of spending hours in the basement programming a Sinclair ZX81, the wily buzz I feel when a truly cross platform project is created, or that using Google Apps makes me feel like a man. They...just...don't...get it.

So, there it is. The cry of religious frustration for us the disciples of the binary code. "They just don't get it." The phrase that separates us; the whisper in the ear and the pointed finger of difference. They are not like us. They don't understand. They will never be as geek as we are.

"Who are they?" I hear you bellow. Well, we could talk about old people, I mean, people older than us anyway. But that's not who they are. Vint Cerf the father of the internet isn't a 'they', Bill Gates isn't a 'they', and Apple co-founder, Woz, certainly, isn't a ‘they’. They are the people who haven't kept up. Who haven't slaved alone in dark rooms with only the friendly glow of the monitor and the typing of the code to keep them company as their high school social skills withered like grapes on the vine. They haven't canceled a date to save money for an iPhone, they don't know that TED is not a person, and they didn't cry when their school was put on the waiting list for the Apple IIe. They...haven't...paid...their dues.

Now, it's our turn, us of nimble mind and questionable social graces; of open source and beta stages. We are the new power and how we wield that power will show our true colours to the world. We have beliefs and openness. Sharing and joy. We love technology. We embrace technology. Technology, we believe, will save the environment, the government, and the future of the human race.

Therefore, I ask you, one and all, to stop using the awful phrase -- "they don't get it". We are above this. Rise up. Empower a techno peasant you know. Show them the way to the geek alter. “How?”, I hear you cry. Install the Facebook app on their Blackberry, help them understand peer to peer networking, show them the power of Basecamp, download Flock as their new browser, give them the power to make a digital change in their lives and the lives of their families without fear.

Let me be clear, I am not saying you need to become their 'geek on call' like we all are for our mothers, grandmothers, and those beautiful nubile women struggling with their laptops in coffee shops across this great nation. No, I am asking that you give back to those less fortunate than yourselves. The technologically challenged unwashed masses. The people for which the world of binary is like watching a slasher film on meth - terrifying yet strangely pleasing.

In the end it is all about fear my friends. They fear technology. They fear those who understand the technology. And the fear -- it paralyzes them.

In closing, I ask you to sally forth and free our beloved techno peasants from the shackles of analogue by gently coaxing them into the digital age. They are our next clients. Without them, and the masses that follow, we will once again be relegated to the rank basements of suburbia.

And that, my friends, is no place for the saviors of human race.

Thank you

ICE 08 Panel - Pipelines - Making Money Online

PIPELINES: The Future of Online Video

A look at how much video online really costs and why no one is making big money in online video - yet.


Moderator:
* Gavin McGarry, Independent Consultant, Joost, MELT, North West Vision and Media
Panelists:

* Kevin Bartus, Vice President Digital Media, Rogers
* Scott Bushman, VP, Business Development, Metacafe (USA)
* Richard Kanee, Director, Digital Business Development, CTV
* Jason Roks, Digital Alchemist

Link to ICE08 website


OVERVIEW OF VIDEO

Link to PPT slide on Google Apps

CAVET
The numbers we discuss here are very, general and very approximate. The idea was to give the audience an idea of some of the costs involved in delivering video online to help with the discussions during the panel.

CONTENT
Our challenge: how much does it cost, very approximately, to serve 1 minute of Youtube quality video with one 15 second ad in it on the web?

Results: there are a lot of factors to consider and if math was not your strong suit in school -- get a tutor.

ENCODING

Free:

Flash encoders: FFMPEG, Adobe Flash Encoder, Rivavx.de,

Paid:

From BetaCam TV Master including removal of 10 second commercial blacks and encoded into MPEG2 (DVD quality) - $5 per minute

With commercial blacks left in - $3 per minute

If you shoot and edit in digital and then upload to Youtube via your own machine - free.

CMS (Content Management Systems)
The software or service you use to program, track, manage, deploy, syndicate your content.

Free:

Brightcove with Ads

Sharing sites: Youtube, MyAccount, Veoh, Metacafe (trade off you giving up rights and advertising placement - non exclusive to each platform).

Paid:
Maven - $5000 per month
Platform - $5000 per month
Brightcove - $27,000 ($10K for white label + $17K against bandwidth usage + bandwidth 60cent a gig)
Ooyala - (new co) per transaction fee + bandwidth + other


STORAGE
These are the servers you will store your content on. You could build your own but when you assistant drops their organic orange juice on the machine you'll wish it was off site.

Approximately $1 per gig per month but can go as low as 20 cents a gig depending on many factors and your negotiating skills.

Free:

Archive.org, any video share sites (Youtube, metacafe, etc)

Paid:

Regular internet host - (most expensive option) mediatemple, rackspace, godaddy, allstream (MTS).

EDGE - CDN (content delivery network) -Akaimi, Limelight, Level 3, Vital Stream

Web services - Amazon S3 (s3 stands for 3 services: hosting, delivery, processing power)

DISTRIBUTION
Someone has got to get your content on the pipes of the internet. For that, you pay Pedro.

Costs about $1.50 CPM but can go as low as 20 cents CPM.

Free:

Archive.org (must own your own content or have the rights), Youtube, metacafe

Paid:

Same as players as Storage.

GEO TARGETING
Maybe you don't want the whole of the world to see your documentary on Canadian knick knacks. These companies will limit your content to IP addresses in a geographical region.

Cost $1.00 CPM

DIY

Free:
No services at the moment

Paid:
Note: most of the big CDN's and CMS's offer geo targeting for an add on fee
Quova.com

AD SERVING
If you want to make money and not charge your viewers a subscription fee (shame) then you will need to engage the services of someone who will serve the advertising.

Cost: vary widely but work on $3.00 CPM for a 15 second commercial + bandwidth

No free services

Doubleclick (Google)
Freewheel
AOL Networks
Microsoft (Avenue A/Razorfish)

DRM - (Digital Rights Management)
Someone has to clear all the rights otherwise we would have anarchy on the net. Oh wait, we already do.

Cost: $3.00CPM

Free:
you don't use it ;-)

Paid:
Microsoft
www.EZDRM.com (reseller of Microsoft)
Apple Store has it build in

REVENUE SHARES
Most of the online video is done on a revenue share basis. Some use a net of costs version and then split a percentage based on who sells the advertising.

Link to Spreadsheet of Money and Glory

QUESTIONS

Where is revenue coming from now and next?


What are traditional content distributors doing?


With ever expanding options where to watch content, what are the unique offerings of the major online video pipelines?

P2P (Peer to Peer)
-high quality
-mitigating of bandwidth costs

Joost
Babelgum
BitTorrent

PORTALS
-audience
-rev guarantees (sometimes)

MSN
AOL
Yahoo

SHARING SITES
-audience
-bandwidth
-onsite monetization

Metacafe
Youtube
Dailymotion


OBSERVATIONS

-Bell, Rogers, Cogeco now capping bandwidth
-Bandwidth shaping


TOOLS
Flash Bitrate Calculator