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The two TV Academies have yet to resolve their differences over the Emmys and digital media.
The Hollywood Reporter covers it reasonably well here, but here’s the short version:
There used to be one TV Academy. It was based in New York, as was the TV business.
Then Johnny left for Burbank. Over a period of time, the primetime industry followed. Then the LA chapter of the Academy ceded from the larger Academy, with the view that it represented the majority of those working in television. A visual representation of the conflict can be found here.
As part of the ensuing settlement, the LA Academy (ATAS) won custody of the Primetime Emmy Awards, the ones we’re all familiar with. NATAS (the NY-and-elsewhere Academy) came to preside over areas including Daytime and Technology. An uneasy truce ruled.
Then digital media came along and wreaked havoc.
If you step back, it’s a valid philosophical question: if Primetime television is delivered via new technological solutions, such as IPTV, streaming or download service, does a recogniton of merit fall under dominion of the creative guys or the technology guys? The answer is obviously both. But someone has to preside over the statue, and so the debate continues.
One day we will all undoubtedly get along. Everyone’s trying to do the right thing. Till then hopefully no one loses an eye.
Posted: March 22nd, 2007 under » Editorial, » Media.
Comments: none
There are way too many columns about the future of online video.
I recently imported all of my 2006 email onto my current laptop. Thousands of pieces of text, containing a hundred predictions from friends and strangers on the future of media. Guess what? A year later, they were almost all wrong.
Helio didn’t change the face of mobile. YouTube didn’t go under. Microsoft didn’t buy Yahoo.
There must be some mathematical proof to this effect, namely: if it were easy to do everyone would do it. If it was easy to predict it would be easy to monetize.
The growth of any top growth media area is by definition unknowable.
Let’s let the future unfold a bit, and shut up.
Posted: March 21st, 2007 under » Editorial.
Comments: 1
Posted by Seth Shapiro
Speaking of which, analysts have speculated for some time on why profitable ringtones are more profitable than full songs. This weekend we took a stroll through the highest Google-ranked free ringtone sites. Guess what? It was cool, and slighty addictive. Mainly they were crap, civilians loading the system with UGC only their best friends would care about. But then just around the corner would be an occaisonal gem, a great Trane riff that looped just right, Beavis as Cornholio, The Munsters. Stuff that made the room say Ho!
Reminding us of what? Of a flea market, or a garage sale, or a 12 year old DJ rooting through his parents’ record collection looking for something funky to cut with.
The true spirit of hip hop is alive and well in the free ringtone cutout bin. Go see for yourself.
Posted: March 18th, 2007 under » Editorial, » Media.
Comments: none
Posted by Seth Shapiro
… look to the numbers. Re reviving the music business via digital, a recent metric speaks volumes: the year’s mobile revs are approximately $600B. The year’s music revenues are $30B. That’s a 20x differential. And how many handsets are there vs. dedicated music players? That delta is clearly a hell of a lot bigger.
Devices = # Users and # Users = Demand. The record industry has spent decades managing by inflating prices, oligopoly and constricting supply by providing $15 albums instead of $2 singles. As we said before, how’s it working for them? Not so good.
Whoever rides the music horse in the direction that TV and mobile move will have the stronger hand. Watch.
Posted: March 17th, 2007 under » Editorial, » Media.
Comments: none
Posted by: Seth Shapiro
As mentioned here, I dumped my Treo and got a Blackjack a while ago ? and hated it. Well, the new BBerry came this week and I’m happy to say that it’s superb - does everything a phone/email/PIM/SMS device should do, and all beautifully. The BBerry UI still destroys Windows Mobile, and the new model is QWERTY to boot ? a return to full keyboard after the Pearl, but much slimmer than the 8700 and 8703. They can be had from Amazon for $125 ? you have to deal with Wirefly, whose customer service is terrible… but it’s a great device at any price.
Posted: March 11th, 2007 under » Editorial, » Media.
Comments: none
Posted by: Seth Shapiro
The auteur of CD 101 and Songs of Praise moves on, his vision a reality… DIRECTV Entertainment president and FOX Sports CEO David Hill has returned to FOX after two years of triumph in original entertainment from the DBS broadcaster and creative powerhouse. Well not really.
Those of us who worked there, or have ever worked at an MSO, were confused by New Corp’s decision to devote major resources to creating DIRECTV Original Programming in the first place ? resources that normally would have gone towards developing better set-top boxes, and esoteric projects like an HD DVR that worked. Oh well, priorities differ. What never made sense was how the same brilliant corporation that created Sky could have bungled so badly at DIRECTV, throwing away vital years on broadband development while Comcast made brilliant strat acquisitions and Time Warner Cable prepped its IPO.
I miss the DIRECTV that existed before the News acquisition. It may have been a 1957 aerospace geekfest but it was real about what it was, and did what it did extremely well. Now it’s an arrogant frat boy that may buy off the Street for a while, but is not fooling its customers, at all.
I’m Andy Rooney.
Posted: March 11th, 2007 under » Editorial, » Media.
Comments: none
Posted by: Seth Shapiro
A Governor of the Motion Picture Academy crams for the Oscars
I love this one. Om Malik of Business 2.0 lambastes the Academy Awards with a completely incorrect (but pretty accurate) admonition : Oscar Academy: Go Back to School. Post is here.
Yes, he means the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. And no, it’s not a school, it’s a professsional academy, as in ?an institution for the advancement of art or science or literature. But his thrust is to highlight to the foolishness of the Academy’s demanding that YouTube remove clips of the broadcast from the site.
Right on Om.
I’m off to TV school now - my Spelling prof’s a ballbuster.
Posted: March 5th, 2007 under » Editorial.
Comments: 1
Posted by: Seth Shapiro
Couple pieces we just saw, us in CNET and Seattle Times.
Posted: February 26th, 2007 under » Editorial, » Events.
Comments: none
Posted by: Seth Shapiro
Had meant to do another piece on DRM (see previous screed here) but wound up doing it at PaidContent.org - full thread here.
Most music folks have seen Edgar (Warner Music CEO and Seagram’s heir) Bronfman’s quote that the argument against DRM is “without logic or merit”.
Hmm. Could it be knee-jerk protection that’s meritless? The labels have been trying that for years. how’s it working for em? Not so good. Re “without logic”? Try managing your LEGAL purchases on multiple devices. It’s a case study in awful product design.
So here are your customer’s options, Ed:
1. Download free versions and put them on any device, to your heart’s content.
2. Pay for downloads too crippled to know that you are the same person on your PC, Mac, iPod and PSP. Then waste many many hours failing to get the stuff (that you PAID FOR) onto the device (that you PAID FOR).
When a free product is more friendly and flexible than a priced product, the selling entity has no one to blame but itself. And if Sony Music had thought ahead, Sony CE might have held onto the portable market they owned with Walkman/Discman, and likely would never have handed the whole game to Apple in the first place.
It was the label’s game to lose - and they lost. They need to listen to their customers and suppliers (artists) or be disintermediated.
If you have any thoughts or complaints post em here or there… cheers.
Posted: February 26th, 2007 under » Editorial, » Media.
Comments: none
Posted by: Seth Shapiro
Yesterday, after months of speculation (see Jan 6), the good-natured uber-designer triumphed over the brooding nihilist. According to a witness, “Pavilack had a continual lead… but late in the night Dale pulled a 7-letter with the ‘guitars’”, yielding a decisive win. Neither the Vatican nor Anton LaVey could be reached for comment.
Posted: February 24th, 2007 under » Editorial.
Comments: 1