This is new.

I was surprised to see this ad, a display unit for YouTube HD running in my Google RSS Reader on a feed from Silicon Alley Insider. Google serving house ads for its own video service, YouTube?

The ad is running in the Google Ad Sense network, the search giant’s broad, yet targeted hyper-advertising distribution network. It’s what amounts to a house ad, meaning either YouTube is spending to advertise its service, which I doubt, or Google is undersold on their inventory and they’re running free ads for their video service. (more…)

Who isn’t fascinated with the deconstruction of the media business as reported by, wait for it… the media?

Implosion Reporting has developed into its own cottage industry, not quite as tabloid as Octomom headlines, but just about as ubiquitous. Is there any less irony in the blogosphere selling pageviews on the backs of dead start-ups as there is in E!’s coverage of the Rhianna assault?

Tragedy sells. If it bleeds, it leads. Misery loves company. The Titanic has hit an iceberg and it’s on Youtube.

(more…)

Charlie Rose gives an enlightening looks into the thought processes of newspaper and print media executives as they confront the uncertainty in the future of their business. At the table are Time cover story writer Walter Isaacson, the Daily News’ Mort Zuckerman and the WSJ’s Robert Thomson. Who ever thought hanging out with four old white guys could be so much fun!

(more…)

Lots of live-to-tape variety shows. Girls in short skirts and low tops with big smiles. Guys with glasses holding mics and clipboards. Music acts and comedians with props. Great for the in-laws. Low cost programming that does big numbers.

Sound like some of the programming we’re increasingly seeing on network TV in the states? Get ready for more. A lot more.

Great article by Michael Hirschorn in the Atlantic about the future of broadcast network programming and the inevitable decline in high-production value, scripted, serialized shows.

It’s worth reading the full article, but here’s the short version courtesy of The Business Insider:

(more…)

A few months ago my buddy got married. As favors, he gave away t-shirts with his image in the Obamaesque Shepard Fairey design. Awesome.

Last week I bought an Obama T-shirt. It cost way too much. I wore it to a Superbowl party yesterday and three people said they were going to buy one (get yours here).

Today I read that the “Obama Brand Stimulates Big Sales” and that, according to the New York Times, Obama merchandise did over $200 million in sales. In the one month of November!

All this got me thinking about how to use this global celebrity to lift up the economy. (more…)

How contagious is the Wii? How great is their marketing?

My Italian, septuagenarian father-in-law visited our home a few months ago and was exposed to the Wii (I’ve always wanted to say that). He promptly went out and bought one and now the in-laws are Wii Sports fans.

My father came down to visit LA last Fall. We went to a Dodger’s game where they had a Miller Lite promotion with a home run contest on a customized Wii. He took 10 pitches and struck out nine times, but on the final pitch he put one over the center field fence. He batted .100, but it was enough to encourage him to make the purchase. Now my parents play Wii on a regular basis.

Casual gaming for the baby boomer generation. It sells itself. Geniius.

Good piece on DigitalMedia Wire today about the increasingly explicit consumption trend towards interactive entertainment and gaming platforms. Puts the recently announced studio layoffs into perspective. Worth a read.

Also interesting to note that in Microsoft’s earnings report today, Xbox was one of the few money-making business units.

I just got an alpha account and have started playing with Boxee, the new, free, open source software that allows a frictionless way to watch web video (and much more) on your TV. Just getting into it, but Boxee already feels like a game changer:

(more…)

Tip of the hat to Kirk for the heads up: Hulu has had to restrict the availability of one of its top performing shows (and a personal favorite) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia due to rights issues with FX, the show’s cable network. They’re going with a sunrise / sunset release, where the older episodes expire as new ones come online.

Ouch. (more…)

Because FCC rules stipulate you cannot use “Jesus Christ” as an exclamation unless the deity himself is present.

This and other fascinating insight into Seth MacFarlane, his Family Guy empire, his creative relationship with Fox, his Google deal and perhaps most importantly, what the future of digital entertainment (i.e. why it pays to take risks and create edgy, even offensive content) comes from an excellent Fast Company article from November ‘08.