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The BBC wants to share
Goodies, goodies, lots of goodies
The BBC has offered up access to its iPlayer platform, potentially turning on its head the UK public service broadcasting review. The proposal, announced Thursday (December 11), would allow ITV, Channel Four and Channel Five to use the popular on-demand service and, perhaps, develop a shared service. There’s no altruism in this; it’s a business deal worth, says the BBC, £120 million a year. In return for this and other goodies the BBC would get to keep all the UK license fee revenue.
And the other goodies are goodies. The BBC has signed a deal with ITV and BT to rollout a Web-based digital TV set top box dubbed ‘son of Freeview’. Mark Thompson said it will be ready to go in a little over a year.
Reportedly the BBC is also ready to open up iPlayer to newspaper publishers.
Clearly the BBC is ready to leverage its overwhelming brand, content and technology assets to avoid sharing license fee revenue. It also wants hands off BBC Worldwide, a significant revenue producer. By the time the BBC Charter is up for review again its entire revenue model could be significantly different…and bigger. (JMH)
BBC goes to the phones
this time not a scandal
News junkies can now have BBC World Service and BBC Arabic streamed direct to their Nokia mobile phones. The Nokia Internet Radio platform comes preloaded on high-end Nokia devices. (See BBC WS presser here)
BBC WS is clearly acknowledging the new platform realm. And Nokia, equally, sees content driving the future of mobile media. The preloaded application does not, however, come with a Russel Brand icon or instant apology button. (JMH)
Regulator loses head, Commissioner Reding inquires
And go quietly
Slovakia’s telecom regulator TUSR has withdrawn a previously published tender for digital television multiplexes shortly after the Slovak government dismissed its director. A TUSR spokesperson said the DVB-T tender was withdrawn for “material changes in circumstances.” TUSR director Branislav Macaj was voted off this reality show December 5th.
EC Info Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding immediately ordered an investigation into the TUSR’s independence from political influence. “Should the European Commission conclude that EU telecoms rules have been infringed, the Commission will certainly consider launching an infringement procedure,” wrote Commissioner Reding to Slovakia’s Minister of Transport and Telecommunications Lubomir Vazny. The deadline to respond is December 15th.
Minister Vazny says Mr. Macaj was dismissed for dragging his feet over digital switchover. The digital TV multiplex tender was advertised in August, with the expectation of an award by the end of the year. One applicant, Telecom Corp, filed a lawsuit because the TUSR recommended MPEG-4 compression over MPEG-2, thus discriminating against some applicants. The tender was suspended due to the legal action.
Slovak sources suggest a variety of conflicts of interest involving potential multiplex operators. One, business publication SME (December 9), said Mr. Macaj might be offered a nice job at an embassy in an “exotic location” if he “went quietly.” (JMH)
So At Least Politicians Still Believe Newspapers Are Powerful!
With newspapers being told so often these days by readers and advertisers that they aren’t relevant any more, in a quirky sort of way it’s kind of reassuring to see that politicians, at least, do still care what newspapers write, and how they editorialize – witness the political shenanigans that allegedly went on in Chicago.
The Tribune had not been friendly on its editorial (opinion) pages to Governor Rod Blagojevich and this, according to federal prosecutors, allegedly got so much under the governor’s skin that he told emissaries to tell the Tribune if it wanted the state tax help in getting rid of the Wrigley Field baseball ground then, by golly, publisher Sam Zell had better first fire the Tribune’s editorial board.
That Tribune board is still there, and Tribune doesn’t have its state Wrigley Field deal, (we’re still waiting to hear from Zell for his side of the story) but it’s kind of reassuring to know that newspapers still seem to hold power and cause electoral concern within very powerful sectors of our society.
Even Publishers Quit The Newspaper Industry
Margaret Randazzo, publisher of McClatchy’s Modesto Bee in California, apparently has had enough of the newspaper business since she is quitting to become financial controller of a company that installs solar power systems. Apparently she figures there is more future, perhaps more fun, in solar power than there is in newspapers!
During her two years in Modesto, Ms. Randazzo presided over some profound job losses including closing down Modesto’s printing plant and instead having the paper printed at the co-owned Sacramento Bee and trucking the finished product back the 68 miles (109 km) south.
Good thing the $4 a gallon gas is now down to around $1.30.
How Many Agency Stories Do Newspapers Need Each Day?
There’s just no pleasing newspaper editors. They complain the AP provides too much copy and charges too much, yet when CNN comes along and says it will offer a service of around 30 of the top stories of the day they seem to be grumbling that’s not enough. So just how much is enough? And while at it, how timely do those stories need to be? And how accurate? And…well, you get the general drift.
TV TriesTo Stop Drifting To The Same Level As Newspapers and Autos
NBC Universal Chairman Jeff Zucker told analysts in New York Tuesday that newspapers and the auto industry are about as low as one can get these days, and he’s doing everything he can to stop NBC from joining them.
That mostly means downsizing. "If we don't, then the broadcasting networks will end up like the newspaper companies, or, worse, like the car companies. We've got to right-size our models today in a way that those companies and those industries did not," he told the analysts.
Well, that certainly puts newspapers in their place!
Singleton Says Denver Has Room For Only One Newspaper – His
E.W. Scripps has announced it wants to sell its Rocky Mountain News in Denver and the newspaper’s 50% interest in the Denver Newspaper Agency, the entity that publishes both The Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post under a joint operating agreement. But Dean Singleton, who owns The Post and the other 50% of the newspaper agency, says there is room for only one newspaper in Denver – The Post.
“This market produces enough profit for one newspaper, but not for two newspapers,” he told The Post. Singleton’s MediaNews has the right of first refusal but he hasn’t said if it will make a bid. The likelihood is Singleton will wait to see if a bid is forthcoming and if so then he will bid, but if no bid comes he believes Scripps will just plain close down the Rocky Mountain News and that won’t cost him anything.
Scripps says the Rocky Mountain News lost $11 million in the first nine months of the year, and is forecast to end the year with a $15 million loss. The company says if there are no acceptable offers by mid-January the 149-year-old newspaper could shut down. Scripps has owned it since 1926.
One-Year Anniversary For Murdoch’s WSJ
My, how time flies. Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of News Corp. owning Dow Jones, therefore the Wall Street Journal.
And reports from the WSJ newsroom indicate staff there are just real pleased with the way Murdoch has been running things – remember how they thought he would be an absolute pariah?
But as he himself told staffers at the time he wasn’t about to spend $5.6 billion to screw up the product. And it looks like on that he has more than kept his word.
Will A GM Bailout Help Media?
General Motors actually dropped out of being one the top three global advertisers last year according to Advertising Age, and this year matters must have gotten even worse given that the auto maker says it is rapidly running out of money and needs a U.S. government bailout. So one question that must be out there is that if GM gets its government money will it increase its ad spend?
The idea of the bailout is to enable the company to start selling as many cars as possible so will sales and marketing gear up? But then again brands like Saab, Saturn and Saturn may disappear in the new business plan and they accounted for around $400 million in ad spend last year, according to Advertising Age, so maybe it will just be gain with one hand and lose with the other.
P&G Spends More Ad Money Outside US Than Within
It’s no secret that Procter & Gamble is the world largest advertiser, but what may not be so well known is that more than 50% of its ad spend is outside the US, according to 2007 figures from Advertising Age.
The US was still the largest single market at $3.7 billion, but Europe got $3.11 billion, there was $1.94 billion in Asia and $251 million in Latin America.
P&G’s spend is well ahead of rival Unilever -- $9.36 billion compared to $5.3 billion.
Connecticut Newspapers May Get State Help
We wrote a couple of weeks back that the top political leaders in Connecticut – the governor and the attorney general – said they favored some sort of state action that could save two daily newspapers and 11 weeklies that the Journal-Register Company says it will close in January if no buyers can be found.
Since then lawmakers have met with the state’s top economic development administrator to look into specific ways help can be achieved – whether it be via low interest loans or various tax incentives to encourage buyers.
If the newspapers fold about 100 jobs will be lost. One possibility the state is said to be looking at is an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), but given Tribune’s bankruptcy Monday – it is also was controversially set up as an ESOP – see Tuesday’s feature -- maybe the state might want to rethink that one.
BBC replaces Eurovision host
Goodbye Terry – Hello Graham
The BBC announced its new host for the Eurovision Song Contest. Comedian Graham Norton will replace Sir Terry Wogan who served up sometimes humorous, sometimes insidious commentary to the BBC’s broadcast of the annual television event. During last years telecast Wogan suggested it might be time for Elvis to leave the stage.
British audiences will no doubt miss Sir Terry’s spice to the Eurovision Song Contest mix. The BBC will miss it too. Wogan’s tradition of skewering most every performer kept the audience ratings growing year after year.
Wogan’s advice to Norton, reported in the Telegraph, is to not start drinking until after the fifth song. In Moscow even that could get interesting. (JMH)
Digital radio applicants abound
Receivers to arrive next
French media regulator CSA has accepted a whopping 377 applications for digital radio frequencies in 19 cities, its press statement said (December 5). All the usual suspects are lining up for licenses, which the CSA will award in March.
RTL has applied for a sports channel RTL L’Equipe and an urban music channel Radio 128. NRJ Group has proposed three of its web radio channels, including Cherié Zen. Les Echos (LVMH) wants to add Easy Classique and Intégrale Classique to its Radio Classique holding.
Television broadcaster TF1 also wants into the digital radio action, applying for three channels - Plurielles, Wat Radio and LCI Radio.
Most applications (166) were for Class A radio associative, 102 for Class B local, 64 Class D regional and 7 Class E national. In 2007 the CSA chose the T-DMB standard for digital radio. A prototype receiver was displayed at the La Radio expo in October. (JMH)
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