Fixing a Home Wi-Fi Problem
Posted on June 9, 2011
This past weekend I decided to rent a movie from Amazon-Video-on-Demand. The service is available via my TiVo, which makes it easy to watch the movies on my TV-set instead of a computer. I’ve done it about a dozen times before. Except when it was a new service, the experience has been generally satisfactory.
But, not this last time.
Download audio narration to iPhone, iPad, or iPod — three minutes.
Unfortunately my TiVo simply gave me an error message. So, like most of us, I shrugged my shoulders and repeated the selection process. TiVo threw-up on me a second time.
Frowning, I proceeded to TiVo’s troubleshooting instructions which suggested I check “Network and Settings”. After a few button-clicks, I learned that TiVo was receiving a “marginal” (35%) Wi-Fi signal from the router in my home office in the adjacent room. My current TiVo uses Wi-Fi to access the Internet to keep its program guide up-to-date and fetch movies from Amazon-Video-on-Demand. Older models typically used dial-up telephone lines which makes the Amazon service problematic. Read more…
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Future of Television - Video Podcast
Posted on May 23, 2011
Today’s post is a video narration of our PowerPoint forecast of the Future of Television. Since it only takes eight minutes to watch it, we provide only a brief text summary.
Download video presentation here if you don’t want to watch the stream.
First, ultimately content migrates to the Internet where it is accessed via browser-centric or app-centric devices.
Second, the socket panel available on modern flat-panel TVs is the “Trojan Horse” that prompt’s the paradigm shift.
Third, the future TV remote control units are likely to be smart-phones and tablet computers using apps such as Peel.
Fourth, eventually sponsors will demand that they only pay for TV commercials that are actually watched. This is already starting on the Internet. However, since conventional TV already has digital watermarks embedded in the audio stream, it can also be implemented in regular television via smartphones and tablet computers. The key is to augment content identification with recognition of commercials that can be made interactive.
Fifth, consumers will eventually expect constant access to the Internet cloud thereby leading to the emergence of massive high-speed unlicensed wireless networks utilizing Wi-Fi and TV Band White Spaces.
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How Interactive TV Ads Will Become Standard
Posted on May 17, 2011
A little under two years ago, Inside Digital Media predicted that sponsors would ultimately demand they only pay for video ads that actually get watched. (Thinking the Unthinkable About Video Ads – September 18, 2009). We reasoned the success of the cost-per-action pricing of Google AdWords would force change. Since sponsors only pay Google when viewers “click on” AdWords text, they would ultimately apply such a cost-per-action standard to banner and video ads as well.
Download audio narration to iPhone, iPad, or iPod — seven minutes.
Last week a YouTube executive provided confirmation at WPP Group’s Global Video Summit. WPP Group is a leading advertising and media management company. YouTube’s Product Manager for Video Monetization, Baljeet Singh, was a Summit guest where he forecast half of video ads by 2015 would be cost-per-view. He explained how it is starting on the Internet.
YouTube is offering “TrueView Video Ads” permitting viewers to choose the ads they want to watch. There are two options. In one, after the ad plays for five seconds, viewers get a choice to skip or watch the ad. The advertiser is not charged unless the viewer lets the ad play to completion, or for at least thirty seconds. A second option gives viewers a choice of ads to watch during regular commercial breaks. Sponsors are only charged when their ad is selected. Read more…
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eBook Implications for Hollywood
Posted on April 26, 2011
Years from now February of 2011 will be considered a media turning point.
It was the first month when e-books outsold all other categories including paperbacks. According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), domestic e-book sales tripled from the year-earlier month to over $90 million. Unfortunately for the established industry the news is probably worse than reported because AAP only records e-book sales for sixteen traditional publishers. Yet activity at Amazon.com confirms an enthusiastic surge of self-published titles not included in AAP numbers.
Download audio narration to iPod, iPhone, or iPad here — five minutes
Even more significant, self-published authors are discovering that low price is a viable path to popularity. As the chart below illustrates, the statistical distribution of e-book sales at Amazon.com last Wednesday was bimodal. Over half of the top fifty titles sold at two price points. Sixteen sold for $12.99 and were provided by traditional publishers. But twelve sold for only $0.99 and were presumably self-published. Read more…
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Congress on TV Spectrum Reallocation
Posted on April 14, 2011
Earlier this week (April 12th) the House Subcommittee on Communications held hearings about a FCC proposal to permit local TV stations to auction-off part of their spectrum and share the proceeds with the Federal Government. Generally, broadcasters oppose the initiative while nearly everyone else favors it.
Download audio narration to iPhone, iPad, or iPod — three minutes.
An Intel representative went so far as to testify that the auctions should not be voluntary, but mandatory owing to the pressing need for bandwidth in mobile applications. The FCC’s chief of engineering and technology, Julius Knapp, provided supporting data. He predicted 55 million tablet computers will be sold worldwide this year making a $35 billion industry that didn’t even exist two years ago. He similarly noted that online shopping more than doubled to $4 billion in 2010 compared to $1.9 billion in 2009. Knapp predicted a spectrum crunch in which demand will exceed supply by early 2014 if nothing is done. He warned the consequences would be more dropped calls and higher prices for mobile service. Read more…
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How the TV Industry Can Combat DVRs
Posted on March 24, 2011
During the past dozen years the percentage of American households with DVRs increased from zero to forty percent. Viewers became increasingly accustomed to skipping commercials and viewing shows on their own timetables as opposed to broadcast schedules. The growth intensifies apprehension among sponsors that TV advertising is losing effectiveness. While to date industry efforts to combat the trend have been unproductive, recent developments suggest the tendency can be mitigated, and even reversed. When combined with better ad targeting and commercials permitting viewers to segue into spontaneous online merchandise purchases, the TV industry could advance to a new era of prosperity.
Download audio narration to iPod, iPhone, and iPad, eight minutes.
The “trick” is to transform scripted shows into realtime events. As the chief executive of CBS noted last month, “Every major (live) event over the last year – Academy Awards, Grammy’s, etcetera – did exceedingly better than the previous year.” While live performances such as athletic contests and awards ceremonies are classic examples of events, it’s increasingly feasible to convert scripted programs into realtime shared experiences as well. The key is to involve audience members in silent chatter over social networks as they watch the TV shows at scheduled broadcast times. The two most important of such networks are Facebook and Twitter. Although viewers may actually be alone, they get a sense of congregating in the living room, watching the show together. Read more…
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Interactive TV Commercials Arrive
Posted on March 4, 2011
Future television commercials must be more innovative if the industry expects to remain profitable and simultaneously retain traditionally superior employee compensation. As we’ve repeatedly noted, the two keys to better advertising are (1) improved targeting — especially behavioral targeting — and (2) interactive commercials.
Download audio narration to iPod, iPhone, or iPad here — five minutes.
The cable TV industry has promised better targeting for over three years via its Project Canoe. But as explained in our analysis nearly two years ago we conclude that Project Canoe will fail because it can never match the innovative pace of the Internet.
Now arrives Old Navy using the popular Shazam mobile Internet application to bring Interactivity to a conventional television commercial — today.
By way of background, Old Navy is a mall store chain selling casual clothing targeted at ladies aged 25 – 35. Their shoppers are also often moms and owners of smartphones. Shazam is a smartphone application normally used to identify songs playing on the radio. Users activate the app, point their microphone-embedded smartphone at the music source, and Shazam normally identifies the track within thirty seconds. There are over 100 million Shazam users. Read more…
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Two Years Ahead of the Market
Posted on March 2, 2011
Earlier this week The Diffusion Group released market research reporting that one-third of domestic broadband subscribers have connected their TVs to a computer.
Almost precisely two years ago – March 10, 2009 — we posted a video demonstrating how to connect a laptop computer to a television as a means of getting unrestricted Internet videos on the TV. Our instructional video has been viewed almost 200,000 times. Furthermore, we emphasized the process was not “geeky” and would not be limited to Early Adopters as was popularly believed at the time. We concluded that browser, or app-centric, Internet TV would ultimately become a wave of the future.
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Thus we note with interest some of the findings from The Diffusion Group report. Read more…
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