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MediaBytes 07.18.2007

REVVER will begin testing a new ad model. The site currently offers a clickable billboard at the end of videos. However, this month it will experiment with pre- and post-roll video ads for the first time. As with the billboard model, content creators will share ad revenue 50/50 with Revver. CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS has revamped the Continue Reading →

MediaBytes 07.17.2007

TIVO has announced a new monthly commercial rating service. The “Top Commercial Rankings” are based on second-by-second data from TiVo DVR’s, and made available via TiVo’s StopWatch data service. The data undercuts many fundamental assumptions about commercial viewing. According to TiVo, four out of five of the most-watched commercials did not run during the ten Continue Reading →

MediaBytes 07.16.2007

Click for Today’s MediaBytes Video THE ASSOCIATION FOR DOWNLOADABLE MEDIA launches today. The new trade group brings together 15 companies involved in the world of digital distribution, and aims to standardize ad content and measurement in downloadable digital media. Founding members include Apple, Nielsen, and National Public Radio. The trade group will focus on monetizing Continue Reading →

When Will Radio Die?

Radio
When was the last time you went into a Best Buy and asked to see their Radio Department? That brilliant, but rhetorical, question was posed by Larry Rosin, co-founder and president of Edison Media Research at a Bill Sobel breakfast entitled, “The Future of Radio: 2007 and Beyond.” Larry was responding to a question about Continue Reading →

MediaBytes 07.13.2007

SOUNDEXCHANGE told a Congressional hearing on Thursday that it would not enforce the Sunday deadline for increased royalty rates, which was threatening to put many Internet radio stations out of business. The company will negotiate new rates with Internet stations. For now, those stations will continue operating. NEXT NEW NETWORKS‘s “Indy Mogul” generated over a Continue Reading →

MediaBytes 07.12.2007

AOL VIDEO and YAHOO VIDEO have both pulled ahead of MySpace for unique visitors on video-sharing sites. YOUTUBE still leads the pack, with 51 million visitors in June. GOOGLE VIDEO remains in second place, with 18 million uniques. THE WRITERS GUILD of AMERICA flatly rejected a plan from Hollywood producers to completely overhaul existing compensation Continue Reading →

MediaBytes 07.11.2007

FCC CHAIRMAN KEVIN MARTIN is proposing open access requirements for a 22 MHz block of the 700 MHz spectrum. In an interview on Tuesday, Martin pushed for a “truly open broadband network” available to any device and any application. He said that the current standard of bundling cellphone service with specific devices hinders innovation and Continue Reading →

MediaBytes 07.10.2007

TIVO will allow users to order and download digital movies and TV shows directly from their television sets, starting today. The new “Buy on TV” functionality connects TiVo DVR’s directly to the Amazon Unbox download service. The TiVo-Amazon partnership formerly required users to log onto Unbox.com to initiate downloads. NIELSEN/NETRATINGS will officially announce its transition Continue Reading →

MediaBytes 07.09.07

 GOOGLE is working on a “next generation” social-networking site called SocialStream. SocialStream aggregates many different online networks, allowing a user to manage their many online affiliations. The service has the ability to post photos and comments to multiple blogs and photo-sharing sites with one click. SocialStream is part of a Google-sponsored project at Carnegie Continue Reading →

iLove my iPhone

iPhone
As I have often said, Steve Jobs is the world’s foremost expert in making me buy stuff I don’t need with money I don’t want to spend. In this regard, the 8GB iPhone is his ultimate achievement. It is, by far, the most viscerally exciting, aesthetically pleasing piece of technology I have ever held in Continue Reading →