Paul Sweeting

Analysis: Raising the a la Carte Alarm

Authored by Paul Sweeting on May 6, 2008 - 10:17am.
The talk of the digital media blogosphere over the weekend was a report by written by Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffet headlined, And Now for the News...The Emperor Has No Clothes. It's well worth a read if you can get your hands on it. For those who can't (and even those who can), digital maverick Mark Cuban has a looong post on his blog about the report in which he reproduces many of the juiciest parts.

A Hole in the Apple?

Authored by Paul Sweeting on May 2, 2008 - 5:37am.
If further proof were needed that Apple's much-ballyhooed deal with the major studios to start selling movies through iTunes on the same day they become available on DVD is somewhat-less than a game-changer, the Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that Apple is taking a haircut on every movie it sells. Citing a "person familiar with the matter," the Journal said the studios are getting a wholesale price close to $16 for the movies Apple plans to sell for $14.99.
tags: Video | Marketing | Apple | Movies | iTunes | Film |

Google's Priority: Make Some Money Off YouTube

Authored by Paul Sweeting on April 30, 2008 - 10:50am.
It's a good thing Google makes so much money from its core business of placing text ads next to search results, because it's still searching for the special sauce on its other big initiatives. Google CEO Eric Schmidt told CNBC's Maria Bartiromo in an interview that aired today (transcript) that the company groping for ways to monetize the enormous traffic and reach of YouTube (although it has a new, secret plan that will roll out later this year), and for a working advertising model for social networks.

Analysis: Netflix Guidance Disappoints - Here's Why

Authored by Paul Sweeting on April 22, 2008 - 6:38am.

After a spasm of irrational exuberance pushed shares of Netflix to new highs over the past few weeks investors abruptly reversed course late Monday, hammering the shares in after-hours trading after the company's Q1 earnings report included lower-than-hoped for guidance for the rest of the year. After officially closing up almost 2% on the day, the shares plunged more than 14% in the after-hours market, losing $5.52 a piece. The company shaved 1 cent off the upper end of its projected full-year EPS to $1.29, quickly deflating a bubble of expectation that had lifted the shares by nearly 50% over the past year.

Analysis: Blockbuster, CinemaNow, Devices and Desires

Authored by Paul Sweeting on April 15, 2008 - 6:49am.
It's probably not enough to rescue Blockbuster's share price from the shellacking it's taken since announcing its unsolicited bid for Circuit City, but you can hear an echo of Blockbuster's logic in the deal being announced today between online movie service CinemaNow and Technicolor's Electronic Distribution Services unit. Under the deal, Technicolor will provide the "digital supply chain" for CinemaNow's strategy of embedding its virtual storefront on consumer electronics devices.

Analysis: Three Strikes Strikes Out - The End of ISP Policing?

Authored by Paul Sweeting on April 11, 2008 - 10:30am.
You can forget about French president Nicolas Sarkozy's original proposal for policing piracy on the Internet becoming a model for the rest of Europe. Not only has the plan been dropped from the French Parliament's current legislative agenda, but the European Parliament this week approved a resolution harshly denouncing a lynch-pin of the French plan: the proposal to require ISPs to monitor their subscribers' Internet use and cut off those found repeatedly to be downloading illegal copyrighted material.

RupertSoft AOLHoo (Updated)

Authored by Paul Sweeting on April 10, 2008 - 8:42am.

Pity the poor regulator who, someday soon, will be faced with evaluating some proposed combination of all or parts of Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL and/or News Corp. (is there anyone else left?). What yardstick would you even apply? Someday, they're all going to be in the same combination of the content creation/distribution business, online advertising, applications development and platforms and social networking anyway. It's really only a question of how they get there and when, not whether or even should they. Trying to come to grips with that through the keyhole of any one deal or company is probably not a formula for a coherent regulatory framework for the future of the digital media industry.

Analysis: Building the Digital Superhighway

Authored by Paul Sweeting on April 3, 2008 - 6:17am.
Verizon chairman/CEO Ivan Seidenberg is a smart man, working his way up from splicing line to running one of the world's biggest telecommunications companies. But he needs to brush up on his American history. Accepting the Digital Patriot Award from the Consumer Electronics Assn. last night, Seidenberg lauded the "unprecedented" progress being made in the U.S. in building out broadband networks, nearly all of it accomplished with private capital investment. The only projects of comparable scope and speed, he maintained, were construction of the Interstate Highway system and the Apollo space program, "both of which required billions of dollars of taxpayer money."

Spotlight: Recorded Music Gets Smoked

Authored by Paul Sweeting on March 31, 2008 - 6:32am.

Last week, scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were able to listen to a play back of what is believed to be the earliest mechanical sound recording. Made in 1860 by the French typesetter Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, the "phonautogram" features the voice of a woman, believed to be Scott's daughter, singing a line from the French folk song, "Au Clair de la Lune." It was made with a device invented by Scott that used a stylus to etch patterns onto paper coated with smoke from an oil lamp.

tags: Law | P2P | Music | Business Models |

Who Will Rule The Digital Livingroom?

Authored by Paul Sweeting on March 26, 2008 - 10:50am.

From Future of Television Forum West - What will be the evolutionary path of the digital living room? Will devices drive functionality, or will it happen the other way around, where functionality dictates the design of devices? Speakers at the Future of Television conference disagreed.

Integration With Online Video Search And Discovery is Critical to Advertisers

Authored by Paul Sweeting on March 25, 2008 - 7:02am.
From Future of Television Forum West "The killer video app," according to Veoh CEO Steve Mitgang, "will be an intelligent piece of software that creates a mode-sensitive, personalized [electronics program guide]," so that people can find content they're interested in amid the flood of video moving online. Speaking at Digital Media Wire's Future of Television conference in LA Monday, Mitgang and other panelists focused on the problem of search and discovery of video online and across platforms.

Has Google Topper Eric Schmidt Lost His Mind?

Authored by Paul Sweeting on March 18, 2008 - 6:17am.

Or is the Google CEO crazy like a fox? He certainly has been talking some crazy smack lately about Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Yahoo, as in this recent exchange in Portfolio in which me suggests that a Microsoft/Yahoo combo might "break the Internet":

Analysis: HD VMD - Better Red Than Dead?

Authored by Paul Sweeting on March 10, 2008 - 1:37pm.

I'll say this for the folks at New Medium Enterprises: They're nothing if not persistent. The British company has continued to put out press releases and pester reporters for years with tales of imminent developments and breakthroughs for its red-laser based HD VMD disc format despite few of its promises actually being borne out. And yet the company refuses to give up, recently going so far as to hire Michael Solomon, a well-regarded TV industry veteran, as its new chairman to try, once again, to attract interest in the format from U.S. program suppliers.