Allen Weiner

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Entries from January 2009

Digital Transition Delay Shot Down

January 28th, 2009 · 2 Comments

This just in: the House failed to pass legislation approved by the Senate that would delay the digital transition (shut down of analog broadcast in the U.S.) The house vote required a two-thirds majority and fell short thus blocking President Obama’s effort to serve the approximately 6.5 million households not ready for the Feb. 17 [...]

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Tags: Uncategorized

Yahoo’s Bartz: I Am Not Here to Sell the Company

January 27th, 2009 · No Comments

Yahoo’s Q4 and 2008 full-year earnings call yielded few surprises in the wake of the economic downtown: Revenue is down, expenses are being controlled and the company will continue to focus on core strengths while offering cautious guidance for Q1 2009. Yahoo watchers know the call was less about dollars and cents and search share [...]

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Tags: Search · Television · Web 2.0 · social media

Senate Votes To Delay Digital Transition: To What End?

January 27th, 2009 · No Comments

Even though U.S. broadcasters are ready and 95 percent of consumers are ready, the fabled Digital Transition, scheduled for February 17, the Senate, at the urging of President Obama, voted to delay the full switch from analog to digital TV for four months. Citing data from Nielsen, some 6.5 million households would go dark if [...]

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Tags: Television · broadcasting · economy · regulatory

Social Media Turns A Page

January 20th, 2009 · 2 Comments

Online coverage of President Barack Obama’s inauguration brought new clarity to the media opportunity for social networks, proving the inherent value of varying social graphs and demonstrating what it takes to ignite powerful, meaningful conversations at a huge scale.
With a dizzying array of online coverage, ranging from Hulu’s feed of Fox News to Livestation’s [...]

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Tags: Television · broadcasting · citizen media · social media

Portal Coverage of the Inauguration

January 20th, 2009 · No Comments

Yahoo has a live ABC feed, MSN has a live MSNBC feed (natch) but Google/YouTube has no “TV” coverage. Guess YouTube Live was more important. When Google said it was not a media company, I guess they were serious.
So far, the CNN/Livestation joint coverage is a clear winner.

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Tags: Uncategorized

Simulstreaming Works

January 20th, 2009 · No Comments

Shameless self promotion: Last year we wrote about social TV viewing in our report “With Careful Execution, Simulstreaming Holds TV 2.0 Promise.: Do not miss the CNN-Facebook coverage which combines live a CNN feed with Facebook comments. Simulstreaming works…not in all situations, but it sure works here.

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Tags: Uncategorized

Online Coverage of the Inauguration

January 20th, 2009 · 1 Comment

As someone who vividly recalls the day JFK was sworn in, I am trying to draw parallels between 1961 and 2009 (aside from the fact that JFK’s historic day was shown only on three TV networks). I am hoping the massive online and broadcast coverage helps provide me insight.
I will be deploying multiple PCs and [...]

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Tags: Television · Web 2.0 · broadcasting · citizen media

Carol Bartz To be Named New Yahoo! CEO

January 13th, 2009 · 3 Comments

Less than one week after making a significant announcement at CES related to its new connected TV platform, Yahoo! appears to be about to follow up with a another blockbuster, planning to name Carol Bartz, former Autodesk CEO, as its new CEO according to multiple published reports.
Bartz is a solid and safe choice that will [...]

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Tags: Search · Web 2.0 · blogging

Seattle: You Are A One Newspaper Town, Get Over It

January 12th, 2009 · 2 Comments

As someone who worked in the Seattle-area newspaper market for more than seven years, it came as little surprise that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer announced it was taking itself off of life support. Hearst, owner of the P-I, announced that the paper was for sale, and if a suitable buyer is not found in 60 days, [...]

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Tags: Newspapers · Publishing · Web 2.0 · citizen media

A Hidden Video Gem @ CES

January 10th, 2009 · 2 Comments

I am a sucker for cool video gadgets and I found ViewVu tucked away in an out of the way section of the auxiliary CES exhibition floor at the Sands Convention Center. This PVR-Pro camera is a wearable camera that allows you to clip the camera onto your shirt or jacket and shoot video while [...]

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Tags: Television · Uncategorized · Video · blogging · broadcasting · citizen media