Medialoper

Don’t Look Back: Start Over Might Be Gaining On You

April 10, 2006 by Jim Connelly

Time-Warner Cable, who seem to be at forefront of trying new things with cable programming, are expanding their “Start Over” service beyond their original test market in South Carolina.

In and of itself, “Start Over” is a pretty good idea: if you’re flipping around, and you find a show that you’ve missed the first few minutes of, you can use this service to watch that show from the beginning.

There is a catch, however: you cannot fast-forward through commercials.

Here is my reasoned analysis of that limitation:

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Daily Loper – April 9, 2006

April 9, 2006 by Lopy

Todays links of interest:

Singer Robbie Williams takes new step into digital music
It is unclear if this is terrifying or visionary. Either way, it’s fascinating.
Now Starring on the Internet: YouTube.com
Um, wow, there’s this thing called YouTube. And it’s getting all kinds of mainstream news coverage. Can our favorite time-waster hang with the popular kids and still retain its cool edge?
Hollywood Finds No Reviews Are Good Reviews for Some Flicks
H’wood is using the social networking sites to market directly to the audience.For critic-proof genres like horror and teen comedy, this is paying off with 1st week #1 box office grosses. Nothing, however, coulda helped "Basic Instinct 2"
Phone, Cable May Charge Dot-Coms That Want to Race Along the Internet
If ever there was an issue that should get consumers riled up, it’s network neutrality. Do not let the phone and cable companies decide who gets to go faster over their lines. The consumer is already paying for the service.

The Weekly ‘Loper – April 9, 2006

April 9, 2006 by Jim Connelly

While you were busy rationalizing leaking classified information in order to embarass your critics, here are some of the things that we’ve been covering on Medialoper in the past week or so:

The Prism DuroSport 6000 – Worst Digital Audio Player Ever! – The controversial review that put the heretofore little-known DuroSport Electronics company on the map. Considering their response to our reviews of their player and accessories, I have a feeling that we haven’t heard the last of them.
Why People Download Shared Music – The thought process, broken into four easy steps! Also: The Replacements!!
Piracy, Perks, and DRM – How buying used CDs hurts artists. The solution: no more physical promo copies, and DRM for downloadable promotional music. Whaaaa?
Why People Steal Movies – At least partially because the much-touted movie downloads are more hat than cattle at this point.
Why Google Music Won’t Matter – iTunes has the lead, and the only way to really break that lead is to offer something different to the consumer by doing things that the Music Industry doesn’t like. Different things, BTW, than the things that iTunes is already doing to piss the Music Industry off.
Podcasting Versus Fundraising: The Public Radio Challenge – How podcasts can help public radio stations build audiences who will give during fundraising.

The Daily Loper – April 8, 2006

April 8, 2006 by Lopy

Todays links of interest:

Radio Stations Play It Safe Amid Legal Probe
How disingenuous: Radio programmers claim that the payola probe is causing them to experiment even less with music than before. Is that even possbile? Christ. Has radio sunk so low that Payola 2.0 was actually a good thing for listeners?
Sonic Youth gigs with "Gilmore Girls"
The only way this could be any cooler was if they jammed with Hep Alien. Thurston Moore, Bret Michaels, Keiko Agena, Kim Gordon and Joel Gion: now that’s a supergroup!!! Maybe they could work up an arrangement of "Fuzzy."
Media tune in to ethnic audiences
Just as the Republicans are trying to throw ’em out.

Life in the Medium Lane

April 8, 2006 by Jim Connelly

One of Stephen Colbert’s recent running jokes has been that he’s all bought into the current Sopranos hype, but that he’s only watching it on DVD. So he’s always talking about how Big Pussy is his favorite character.

So when a recent Slate article discussed the travails of someone who purposely didn’t subscribe to HBO, but waited for the DVDs, it made me think about how difficult it is for us to even wait a full day to watch our tivoed episodes of Lost and Veronica Mars, much less weeks, months or even years.

The Daily Loper – April 7, 2006

April 7, 2006 by Lopy

Todays links of interest:

Spielberg Gets Real for Fox
On The Lot — coming to a major station near you. Terrifying.
‘Star Wars Kid’ cuts a deal with his tormentors
0k in cash AND he retains his status as a viral video superstar
Beginner’s guide to podcasting
Yes, but does the world really need more podcast beginners?
RIAA crying wolf all the way to the bank
The RIAA continues to use declining CD sales as a metric for piracy. It isn’t. The CD format is dead.
Download movies at home? Not so fast.
The coolness factor wears thin as the limitations kick in. No extras, too pricey and that evil DRM.
EarthLink, Google to provide San Francisco Wi-FI
This, hopefully, is just the beginning of worldwide Wi-Fi.

Podcasting Versus Fundraising: The Public Radio Challenge

April 7, 2006 by Kassia Krozser

Wired has an article on an idea I floated a few weeks back, discussing the way podcasts are changing the public radio landscape. Then I only touched upon the idea that podcasts of popular programs both dilute and expand audiences. Since the idea is in the air — and, of course, since it’s pledge season — let’s talk more about this revolution.

There is nothing more annoying than public radio (or public television) fundraising. I’m a member of my local station, but I’ll confess to changing the channel during the fund drives. I only have so much time during the day to access world, national, and local news, and I’m going to maximize my own limited resources.

And, gods, those pleas for money are painful.

Et Tu, Indie?

April 6, 2006 by Jim Connelly

Indie 103.1, broadcasting somewhere on the Southern California coastline, is a radio station that is an absolute blast of fresh airwaves. It is one of the few radio stations out there that seems to take it as a mission to surprise its listeners.

Which is exactly what happened this morning, when I heard something which has bugged me for the rest of the day.

[Read more…] about Et Tu, Indie?

The Daily Loper – April 6, 2006

April 6, 2006 by Lopy

Todays links of interest:

RIAA Suggests Students Drop Out Of College To Pay Settlement Fees
And just where are these college drop outs supposed to find work? The music industry, of course.
Podcasting Roils NPR Fund Raising
Is nothing sacred? Can it be that people tune out during fundraising drives? Perish the thought…and load up the iPod.
Report Faults Video Reports Shown as News
Omigosh! Fake news. That’s why we prefer to get our information from blogs. Far more reliable and you know bloggers never Make Stuff Up.

Some Questions for AT&T

April 6, 2006 by Jim Connelly

AT&T — formerly SBC; formerly Pacific Bell; formerly AT&T — wants to provide many many services for me, including:

Local Phone
Long Distance Phone
Cellular Phone
High-Speed Internet
Digital Satellite TV

Currently, through sheer inertia on my part I have my local phone service from AT&T; who swallowed up SBC; who swallowed up Pacific Bell; who were broke off from AT&T twenty years ago. And other nice large conglomerates provide those other services. However to save me money, AT&T are willing to bundle them into a single package of services that will make my life simpler.

Golly! I’d like to have my life be simpler. I barely have enough time anymore to worry about how little time I have anymore to worry about the little time I seem to have to do anything.