NAB Webcast Connects with the Troops

Broadband TV is the Buzz

RAIN Summit Draws Huge Attention

Even though I’ve attended and worked in some capacity at the NAB show for over 20 years, I still can’t help but be overwhelmed by the sheer velocity of the technology adaptations that take place from year to year. This year, the good news to report for webcasters is that “Broadband TV” was the pre-eminent buzz phrase. Needless to say our webcast from the floor of NAB 2006 at the TV Worldwide booth, with help from IWA members, was a main attraction. “So how do you actually ‘do’ this webcast thing anyway?”, was a popular refrain.  Most importantly, this year we ‘did our webcast thing’ to feature the efforts of NAB exhibitor Operation Interdependence, oidelivers.org, a civilian to military delivery system which collected care packages (c-rations) and webcast video greetings (v-rations, as we dubbed them) for the troops overseas. Show attendees were supportive as we webcast the video greetings of support to service men and women in Fallujah, Iraq and other locations who then uploaded video responses back through the satellite network of fellow NAB exhibitor DVIDS, a digital video and imagery distribution system. We were able to include all of this in the live webcast which is now archived for free viewing at TV Worldwide.com.

IWA volunteers pitched in with webcast duties and Operation Interdependence responded by hosting the IWA reception at their outdoor booth in the warm Las Vegas sun, where we were pleased to meet up with new and current IWA members from around the world. We were all pleased to have NAB President David Rehr, spend nearly an hour pitching in to help load the U.S. Post Office truck with the c-rations for the troops (photo below).  We were able to include all of this in the live webcast which is now archived for free viewing at TV Worldwide


IWA President and TV Worldwide CEO Dave Gardy and NAB President David Rehr receive awards from Operation Interdependence representatives for supporting the OI organization's effort to get care packages and webcast video greetings to troops stationed overseas during NAB 2006

Overall, it was clear that Internet TV has arrived in the NAB lexicon. More importantly everyone in the industry remarked about the rapid pace at which Internet TV is being adopted and how it has potential as the next Internet gold rush.

But just as important is the sea change that is occurring in Internet Radio which was featured in our coverage of Kurt Hanson’s well-attended RAIN Summit, (also archived at our webcast link above) as detailed in the report below from IWA Executive Director Kevin Shively.

Next up…Streaming Media East in New York, May 22-23 at the Hilton New York.  Please join us there at the TV Worldwide official webcast booth where IWA representatives will be on hand. There will be an informal IWA reception at 6PM on May 23rd at a Hilton New York bar/room/location TBA, after the main Streaming Media East exhibitors’ reception in the exhibit hall. Stay Tuned at www.webcasters.org for the latest!

Thanks, Dave Gardy,
President, IWA. 

A great crowd of radio broadcasters and webcasters gathered again this year in Las Vegas during the NAB show for the RAIN Internet Radio Summit 2006.  Speakers covered a wide range of important issues including how to grow audience and revenues, developing a positive relationship between the Internet radio and recording industries, legal updates from copyright royalty proceedings and where the medium is headed as both a mass medium and a profitable business opportunity.  In addition, several leading companies presented products and services to serve Internet radio stations. IWA member TV Worldwide partnered with RAIN to cover the entire event as an archived webcast, which was made possible by support from dotFM and Abacast.  All 9 segments, including a showcase of products and services available to the Internet radio community, are available at TV Worldwide.com

Kevin Shively, Executive Director, IWA

 
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Spitzer Decries Digital Divideby Shankar Gupta, Media Daily Online

Eliot Spitzer, New York State Attorney General and a candidate for New York governor, calls for breaking down the “digital divide” and making broadband universally available and affordable. Citing areas such as disaster preparedness, education, public health, and e-government, he said, "Internet access is no longer a luxury--it is a necessity," adding "The state must do more."

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MTV to Stream its Top Shows
by Mike Shields, Mediaweek

MTV plans to stream some of its top shows beginning with the 2006 Video Music Awards in August on its broadband channel MTV Overdrive. Dave Sirulnick, executive vp, MTV Multi- Platform Production, News and Music said,  “The live MTV Overdrive companion programs for TRL and the VMAs will enhance the experience for our audience by creating an entirely new level of connection to these established shows.”
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C-Span Asks Web Sites to Pull Colbert Clip
By NATASHA T. METZLER, Associated Press Writer on 101 wins

C-SPAN asked internet providers YouTube and IFILM to remove video clips from their websites. The public affairs network said clips of satirical comedian Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents Association dinner were posted online without permission. The companies complied but the violation may have occurred because of an erroneous public conception that C-SPAN is government-funded and therefore in the public domain. 

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Investors piling into internet media
By Aline van Duyn and Kevin Allison in New York, on Financial Times.com

Investors seeking the next internet phenomenon are rushing cash into internet media start ups. US venture capital firms invested $ 396 million in he first quarter of 2006 and about half were with content delivery companies.

A related article looks at the question of whether this portends another bubble.

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PCs Will Lose Grip On Digital Media, Set-Tops May Be Top
By Erik Sass, Media Daily News

Although PCs are still the way most American’s now view digital media, set-top devices like DVRs and video game consoles are catching up. There is no guarantee that PCs will continue to lead the digital revolution when the same content can be viewed on the big screen in the living room.
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CBS Set To Debut Broadband Channel
By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable

CBS is set to unveil its ad-supported broadband channel, which will feature original content as well as content related to broadcast programming. The broadband site is free but the network is experimenting with pricing for some online offerings of programs.

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Old Media Fights the New for Audience Share
filed by Astrid Zweynert, Reuters

Varying opinions were presented at the We Media conference in London on whether old media can compete against the new media with some saying new media’s survival depends on how they adapt.  Mark Thompson director general of the BBC had an interesting view, saying “There are people working in our industry who still don’t have computers and mobiles and imagine that these are the possessions of a few anoraks in Western society. In fact, you can drive for hours across Africa to get to water yet see many people there with mobile phones.”
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Tech Giants’ Internet Battles
Web titans like Google and Yahoo are battling some of the smartest lobbyists in the business. And they’ve just lost a big one on Capital Hill.
By Burt Helm, in Business Week online

UPDATE ON NET NEUTRALITY The House Committee on Energy and Commerce rejected an amendment to a broad telecommunications law that would have given the FCC power to prohibit discrimination in sending traffic over the internet. That effectively gives telecom carriers and cable companies control of the internet.

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AT&T, Yahoo Bolster Broadband Service
by Gavin O'Malley Online Media Daily

AT&T and Yahoo will provide subscribers to their co-branded high-speed Internet service with faster broadband service to keep up with ever-increasing demands for multimedia content. They also enhanced their instant messenger with voice mail and partnered with Starz Entertainment for a new video download service.

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Report: Streaming Video to Reach $27B
By Nicholas Carlson, Internet News.com

According to an Insight Research report, streaming video and music accessed through the internet and mobile devices will generate $27 billion revenue by 2011. The report also conservatively projects a 32% annual compound growth for the streaming media market, provided certain conditions prevail.

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One In Five Say Web Ads Most Effective
by Shankar Gupta, Online Media Daily

Twenty two prcent of American adults say the internet is the most effective way to get their attention to advertise products. But they also reported that while online ads got their attention they were not impressed with the quality and originality of the ads. Fifty percent of responders reported that TV ads were most effective at getting their attention.
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(BW) GoStream(TM) Provides Portable, One-Button Streaming Video Technology; ViewCast's Compact Encoder Creates Streaming Content for Internet TV and Mobile Video Devices
By Business Editors, Business Wire

ViewCast Corporation introduced a special market offering. The compact GoStream encoder permits the creation and presentation of video and video on the internet with a single-button operation designed for ease of use by both professionals and novices. ViewCast President Dave Stoner said, "Shifts in the industry have refocused our efforts to satisfy our customer's needs. Designed more for the user's requirements rather than a technology, GoStream offers a purpose-built product targeted at enterprises looking for a low-cost solution to their needs."

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Media Revolution Is All About Small, Not Large, Audiences
By Andreas Kluth, in The Economist, British-based weekly

The advent of high-speed broadband has created a global revolution by allowing communication to small, even micro, audiences – with profound business implications.

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New Service Offers Online Video Syndication
by Laurie Sullivan, TechWeb.com on Information Week

Subscribers who syndicate video clips receive a thumbnail, headline, and summary directly through the ClipSyndicate platform.
Critical Mention, Inc, a media monitoring company allows companies to  syndicate  video clips through agreements with content partners. About 200 companies are now testing the service.
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The boom is back
Net companies are on fire again. Here's the smart way to invest without getting burned

By Adam Lashinsky, FORTUNE, on CNN Money

 The burst of the Internet bubble at the turn of the century is a nightmarish memory but the industry is back and it’s improved. Many financial gurus think this time around there is a legitimate boom in internet stock. One thing that is different now is the expanding use of broadband, making the online experience faster and easier. And companies are figuring out how to make a profit from the internet.

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Mags Use New Video Platforms To Become TV Channels
by Erik Sass, Media Daily News

Publishers of niche magazines are using both broadcast and broadband to deliver their content via video to their demographic. For example, Primedia will employ broadcast for its Motor Trend TV channel while Make, a do it yourself magazine for high tech hobbyists distributes content through YouTube, a site that allows customers to post videos.
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Is there an online video bubble?
Plenty of start-ups are hoping to cash in on the online video craze. Is there enough money to go around?
By Paul R. LaMonica, CNN Money.com senior writer

In a survey of over 1,200 internet users, 24% reported watching online video at least once a week and 46% watched at least once a month. Two thirds of the viewers watched ads and of those, 44 percent took action based on online content such as visiting an advertisers site or making a purchase. Advertisers can use the new media to reach specific audiences. The article also gives a number of examples of companies using online video and their business models.

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Marketers are into YouTube
By Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY

The highly popular  video sharing site YouTube has found a way to monetize its video streaming services through advertising.  Recent high level advertisers include Nike, Warner Brothers, MTV2 and Dimension Films.

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Study: Radio Holding Up Against New Media

Radio Ink

According to a study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research, despite the popularity of Intenet radio and satellite radio, listeners aren’t cutting back on terrestrial radio listening time. The study found that listeners of traditional AM and FM radio spend 2 hours and 45 minutes per day consumers of digital service listeners -- internet, satellite, or podcast radio -- spend 2 hours and 48 minutes listening. According to Edison Media Research President Larry Rosin, "Our research shows that regardless of the platform consumers see all these options as merely being new forms of 'radio.'

Click here for April Issue of Webcasters Wire

Word of Mouth Communications Study Report Available

Word of Mouth (WOM) Marketing can help a company build on positive consumer experiences and hard data is a useful marketing tool. Lucid is offering a free report that examines consumers WOM tendencies by gender, generation, employment status and income level.

Lucid is also offering a Webinar, "WOM: Who's Spreading the Word," based on the study on May 23, 2006 at 9am PST / 12:00 EST

Download the report and sign up for the free webinar about the report.

Interested in helping our IWA organization as part of our leadership structure?
WE’D LOVE TO HAVE YOU! We have chairman and member vacancies in all of the committees, below. Please contact us via e-mail.

  • Membership Committee
  • Technology and Standards Committe
  • Industry Policy and Best Practices Committee
  • Legislative Committee
  • A whole bunch of other committees we haven’t figured out yet…got any suggestions?

Streaming Media East
New York City
Hilton New York
May 23-24, 2006
www.StreamingMedia.com

The IWA will be holding a membership reception Tuesday evening, May 23, tentatively scheduled for 6PM at a location TBD. Streaming Media East 2006 features 35 round-table panels, case studies, and practical sessions covering a wide range of business and technology topics. You will hear and see many new speakers on topics ranging from the surge of video over any IP device to new content business models to podcasting and video advertising!  Stay tuned for more information in the May Webcasters Wire and www.Webcasters.org.

STUNNING STREAMING STATISTICS

A recent Online Publishers Association Study concluded the following: 

Internet video is the fastest growing sector of online media today.

  • Over 10 million of American Internet users watch online video daily (5%)
  • Nearly 50 million watch online video weekly (24%)
  • Nearly 100 million watch online video monthly (46%)
  • Over 140 million have watched online video (69%)
  • Over 190 million are aware of online video (93%)

Other findings included:

  • Common Activity: Online video viewing has become a routine practice for many Internet users and a daily addiction for some
    • –5% daily viewers = millions of desirable consumers
    • –Heavy viewers –the usual early adopters: Males, young adults, singles, broadband users, high SES
  • Specific Destinations Are Popular: Visiting specific Web sites is a very popular way for consumers to get online video; general surfing is nearly as common
  • Opportunity for online video content providers to take more advantage of viral aspects since sharing online videos is common among viewers and can drive traffic
  • Acceptance of online video ads: Consumers are viewing video ads and are taking action, including checking out related links & Web sites as well as purchasing

See the complete report with a comprehensive analysis of the latest Internet TV statistics