MaxxoMedia Digital Media and Entertainment Trends

FROM KENRADIO.COM

People who use wireless internet “show deeper engagement with cyberspace,” according to an American study. While 54% of internet users check e-mail “on the typical day,” 72% of wireless users check daily. Just under half of wireless users get news online every day, compared to 31% of internet users at large. The Pew Internet and American Life Project survey asked 798 US internet users about their wireless habits and sampled almost 2,300 people overall. The report characterised wireless as connecting to the internet using a wi-fi or mobile network. The survey found that the number of internet users with wireless at home nearly doubled, from one out of 10 in January 2005 to one in 5 by December 2006. About 80% of those with wireless access at home also had broadband internet. According to the survey, about 80% of laptops had wireless capabilities and 88% of laptop users said they had used a wireless network at home. About six in 10 had connected somewhere outside their home or office. Just over a third of laptop users used a wireless network at work. People under 30 were also the most likely group to access the internet wirelessly. Of those surveyed, 37% of the category had connected wirelessly from any location, 40% have laptops, 26% have wireless networks at home, and four in 10 have internet-enabled mobile phones. The Pew survey sampled 2,373 US adults, 18 and older between 30 November 2006 and 30 December 2006. Of these, 1,623 were internet users and 798 of those were given wireless internet access questionnaires.

KENRADIO.COM

By Ward Triplett and David Frese
McClatchy Newspapers

Some day soon, the television and the personal computer will be nearly indistinguishable.

It’s happening before our eyes. We’re able to time-shift when we watch “Heroes” on our digital video recorders, and we’re sneaking peeks at snippets from last night’s “Colbert Report” on YouTube. To say nothing of downloads for our iPods.

Not one to overlook an audience (or a revenue source), the networks are taking their first steps in streaming video of old episodes of our favorite shows. We took a quick tour of the networks’ sites, and here’s what we found.

But first, a couple of notes: Some of this content is changing daily, so what’s here today may be gone later today. Plus you’ll need a broadband or high-speed connection. And sometimes even that’s not enough to watch the videos uninterrupted.

Online sales of TV shows, movies and other prerecorded video will become a billion-dollar business in 2007, according to Strategy Analytics. While video download sales made through Apple’s iTunes store and other sources totaled just $300 million in 2006, by the end of 2007 the market will grow to $1.5 billion. By 2010, global revenue from online video sales, rentals and subscriptions will surge to $5.9 billion, and account for eight percent of total home video industry revenues. 2007 will be remembered as the year in which online sales of prerecorded video finally become a real business, just like with music, online delivery of video content is now emerging as a viable and increasingly important distribution channel for content owners. Along with broadband growth and consumer demand, online video sales will also be spurred by a growing number of distributors and payment models. While Apple’s iTunes store is the leading source for paid video downloads today, other major players such as Wal-Mart, Time Warner, and NetFlix are expected to enter the market in the near future. Although pay-to-own downloads account for most online video revenues today, other payment models will become a significant part of the market over time. By 2010, projections show that rentals and subscription-based services will account for about one quarter of annual online video sales to consumers. KENRADIO.COM

New device will send Web videos to TV. Makers of Slingbox will release sub-$200 Sling Catcher mid-year. Sling Media Inc. will unveil its upcoming SlingCatcher product at the International Consumer Electronics Show, joining a growing group of companies that aim to bring Web content into the living room.

An article by Alex Woodson of The Hollywood Reporter predicts the trend of US consumers interacting with the web while watching TV, will pick up steam as the 2009 deadline for broadcasters to switch to full digital transmissions approaches. Already there are a number of companies including Jacked and DigWorks aiming to provide new content and services that take full advantage of this multi screen interactivity and multi platform storytelling.

The Hollywood Reporter – NEW YORK — As consumers become more connected to broadband and digital television, they are more likely to become engaged in primetime television programming, according to a report released Thursday by CBS Corp.

According to the report, which was conducted by CBS chief research officer David Poltrack, 30% of the population was “fully connected” by last fall, meaning they have both a broadband and digital television connection at home, up from 22% in fall 2005. The network’s research found that this group, which they describe as “upscale” and “better educated,” is 20% more likely to watch the top 10 primetime programs than the national average. read the rest of the article at HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM

Much like the predictions that Reality TV would put hollywood out of work a few years back, the media makes it appear that UGC is poised to take over the old media world. That’s not going to happen but it will end up as a staple of media programming both online and off.

By Kate Holton REUTERS

LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Traditional media companies are ideally placed to benefit from the explosion of user-generated content and should see it as an opportunity and not a threat even though the potential revenue is limited, a report says.

Howard Davies, a director of media strategy at Deloitte, said print and TV had been wise to stand back and see how the practice developed.

Musicovery is a very cool site now in beta -Like a customized online radio, Musicovery is a free flash-based site streaming a playlist of music dictated by an easily navigable set of criteria that the user chooses. Animated star-like graphics, in colors that correspond to genre, map the current lineup and an intuitive sidebar enables quick selection of different criteria. Organized into 18 genres, you can eliminate types you don’t like, choose between hits, non-hits and “discovery,” pinpoint mood and dance factors on a matrix, and define by era. Though the sound quality isn’t much better than FM, for €2 monthly you can get CD quality.

via Thrillist and Josh Spear and Cool Hunting.com

Dec 29

(AP) Chefs surf website on internet at an internet cafe Wednesday Aug. 3, 2005 in Shanghai, China…. Full Image

Share/Bookmark