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A First Look at YouTube on TiVo

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When we talk about “convergence” here at Loper HQ, what we aren’t talking about is getting our internet, cable and phone from the same evil multinational corporation.

Instead, we mean devices that combine several formerly disparate functions into a single, easy-to-use interface. Like, of course, the iPhone, which Tim Gaskill declared this weekend to be the greatest thing ever made.

While the iPhone is most certainly a major step in portable convergence, there hasn’t yet been a device in the home video space that allows me to watch a combination of internet video and recorded TV with a single, easy-to-use interface.

You know, the One Box.

One Box to rule them all
One Box to find them
One Box to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them

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Why is Prince Being a Creep About that Radiohead Cover?

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You’d think that it would be so easy: as a wink and a nod at the audience for whom he’s performing, Prince does a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” at Coachella, a bunch of cell-phone videos gets put up on YouTube, and everybody marvels — for the eighty zillionth time — at what a versatile mother-fracker Prince is.

And, oh yeah, what a great song “Creep” remains. Sure, it would have been cooler had Prince covered “Karma Police” or “Everything In Its Right Place,” (especially if Prince had changed the opening line to “Yesterday I woke up, you were sucking my lemon”), but, all things considered, “Creep” was good enough, and the whole thing just becomes part of the legend of both artists.

You’d think. But, as it turns out, things are a bit more complicated. Which since it’s Prince and Radiohead, makes a lot of sense, since inherent in the greatness of each artist is more than a touch of madness.

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9 Things That Sound Like April Fools Jokes (But Sadly, Aren’t)

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Kassia is fond of saying that around ‘Loper HQ, April Fools isn’t a day, it’s a season. However, this year, real life has gotten in the way, so in honor of that, I’ve decided to point out a few actual real things that are far more absurd than most of the jokes you’ll see today.

Let’s begin, shall we.

Potpourri: Download Service Explosion, Miss South Carolina, iPhone Hacking

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I don’t have the juice to go in-depth about anything this week, so I thought that I’d take a few swipes at some things:

Download Service Explosion — With Nokia’s recent announcement announcement of their download service on the heels of CD Baby and Wal-Mart’s services, it looks like we are in another round of download service offerings. Add these to the DRM-free service that Universal announced last month, and the long-rumoured Amazon download stores, and consumers will have every type of choice.

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Looking At Bud.TV

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Throughout the year, we are going to be subjected to various and sundry “YouTube killers”. One such animal is (was?) Bud.tv. Launched with the full faith and credit of the mighty Budweiser empire behind it, the site promised to be an edgy, Bud-oriented alternative to existing online video services.

Since then, numbers have declined from the reported 250,000+ viewers per month to approximately 150,000 viewers. These are not bad numbers, you might think, especially for a new venture. Today’s audience is fragmented enough that these numbers should not the be reason for the Bud.tv to commit the virtual version of hari kari (see: the short-lived Pirate TV or whatever it was called).
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Examining NBC Universal and News Corp’s So-Called YouTube Killer

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It’s not easy being an industry leader these days. The moment you hit the top, every time your competition releases a new product, it’s going to “kill” you. The Zune was the iPod killer. Microsoft’s new and improved search was the Google killer. And NBC Universal/News Corp’s new service is, naturally, being touted as the YouTube killer.

All which makes for violent headlines, but the proof, as we all know, is in the audience. It’s not enough to release a new service into the wild and expect it to take the Internets by storm. YouTube didn’t become the go-to online video service simply because it was there. And that is the lesson big media needs to learn.

I think it’s important to review what makes YouTube, well, YouTube. It’s obviously not the only video sharing site out there. Grouper, Revver, and a host of other services allow users to easily upload video. If rumors are to be believed, Revver is the place to go if you’re trying to make a buck off your work. But the zeitgeist — that intangible thing — is with YouTube. Users cross the myriad cultural divides. My mother-in-law finds stuff on YouTube, because YouTube is pretty close to foolproof. It’s designed for the casual user.
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Viacom vs. YouTube – Guess Who Lost?

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I’ve started and stopped a good half dozen posts about the Viacom/YouTube breakup. Like most business deals, this one came down to money. The amounts offered by the Google team didn’t meet Viacom’s notions of what their programming is worth. This makes me wonder if Viacom has a clue how the Internet works — to date, I have not seen evidence that anyone is better at leveraging online eyeballs and advertisers than Google.

For all of the press and hype, it is still not known whether or not YouTube is just a flavor-of-the-month. The kind of audience we’re talking about is very fickle. Yet, the evidence shows that right now, the viewers are at YouTube. Water cooler discussions make it clear that the site is the first, second, and third choice for those who don’t TiVo — “I’m sure it’s on YouTube” isn’t just conversation, it’s a belief.
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The Web’s Next Get Rich Scheme

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I am mildly fascinated by the recent revenue sharing (for lack of a better term) announcement from YouTube. Now that the site is strong and part of the Google family, content owners will get a bit of the advertising dollars that will inevitably flow into the site’s coffers. It will also require a lot more of the diligence that copyright owners desire — demand — from the Internet.

This might appease some of the major players who are reluctant to “share” their videos with the YouTube nation. Once their eyes grow glassy with visions of millions of passive dollars flowing into their company coffers, surely they’ll open the vaults o’content, eager to offer more, more, more to make more, more, more.
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P-Diddy and Burger King: Brand-Destruction in the World of YouTube

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Recently quasi-celebrity P-Diddy and Burger King conducted a master class on how NOT to use the evolving Web 2.0 environment to build a brand. profile_header.jpg This cautionary tale is not only highly amusing to those who have any leanings towards schadenfreud, but also speaks volumes about the dangers of trying to import traditional “talking at consumers” brand-building approaches into the Brave New World of user-generated content.

This e-disaster started with a tin-ear, cringe-inducing video posted on online video megasite YouTube, which showed famous-for-being-famous P-Diddy going into “his local Burger King” to “have it his way.” Implausible as it is that Mr. Bling would actually deign to enter a Burger King, the brand destruction really gets under way when Diddy says that “Burger King has named me ‘The King of Music and Fashion.'” This hit another false note, with the wanna-be icon spouting a blatant attempt to connect his brand with that of BK.

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Asleep On Patrol: Old Media Misses The Real Enemy

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So, reading Monday’s New York Times business section was like reading a week’s worth of Medialoper articles. Except, of course, that the Times did actual reporting, but, really, did they have to pay salaries and benefits to come up with an article entitled Hollywood Asks YouTube: Friend or Foe??

I think not.

A key quote in an article at Newsfactor, says it all:
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