The Micro Mosquito

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The Micro Mosquito from Interactive Toy Concepts is a tiny high-tech toy helicopter that flies like the real deal. This radio-controlled copter can soar, dive and even hover in place. Available now at Radio Shack for $70, the Mosquito is rechargeable and flies for about eight minutes on one charge. This indoor toy includes a controller and a landing pad that doubles as a recharging platform.

The entire helicopter is six inches long with rotors 6.3 inches in diameter, and weighs less than an ounce. You can launch the Mosquito from any surface — a table, a hand or the floor — and it has two beady green L.E.D. eyes for night missions. It is made to work in small spaces but is susceptible to breezes and fans, making flights a bit dangerous if the window is open. (NYT)

Internet advertising closing in on radio

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The Internet will receive a greater share of global advertising spending this year than do outdoor outlets such as billboards, and it is set to overtake radio soon. That’s one of the findings in a report by ZenithOptimedia, a media planning and buying firm. The growth is being driven by smaller brands, which are turning to the Internet because it is relatively cheap and can target their markets effectively. (see The Long Tail) The company said it expected the spending share gap between the Internet and radio to narrow from 3.9 percentage points in 2005 to 0.7 in 2008. (Yahoo! News/Reuters)

If you understand how to market and sell online, this is not necessarily a bad thing. If you don’t… then pray that these are new dollars that won’t impact your sales.

NETWORK: “Television is not the truth…”

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“When the 12th largest company in the world controls the most awesome propaganda force in the whole goddamned world….” This scene from the movie Network (1976) is the reason the Academy gave Peter Finch the Best Actor award posthumously. The “Mad Prophet of the Airways” rants how it was, is, and always will be.

It’s gratifying to see that others remember this film and recognize its relevance in 2006.

Media Study: Radio Makes People Happy

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That’s one of the findings in a new study by the Radio Advertising Effectiveness Lab. Harris International surveyed more than 2,500 people between the ages of 18 and 54 in June and July. (MediaWeek)

Less Annoying“Fifty-five percent of respondents said radio was the medium most likely to improve their mood compared to the other three media studied. The findings were generally true across all ages, genders, and ethnic groups, but especially strong for African-Americans and Hispanics.”

“Advertising on radio was also found to be less annoying than on other media. Comparing Internet ads to radio ads, 45 percent of respondents said radio ads are “repeated too often,” compared to 53 percent who said the same about Internet ads; 24 percent said radio ads “appear at inconvenient moments,” while 60 percent said the same of Internet advertising.”

The simple truth is most radio stations just have too many commercials. And too many of those commercials have no relevance for me. Yes, I understand that they ALL have relevance for someone… but in an iPod world, that truth is no longer relevant. I have to stop now, I’m out of italics. [Thanks, Chuck]

How to ruin a podcast

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Mark Ramsey points to a classic example of MSM cluelessness (CBS in this instance). His post makes me uncomfortable because our networks produce a lot of programs (newscasts and sports reports) that are comprised of 3 minutes of programming and one minute of commercial.

What if we were only podcasting that program. Would listeners swallow that? I’m thinking not.

Back in the dark old days, when one of our networks was oversold, we’d just jam in more spots and ask stations to air programs that had more commercial content than programming. Shudder.

Mark sums it up nicely:

“In our zeal to monetize our online content, remember that podcasts are downloaded and played voluntarily. It’s because we like you and want more of you. Yes, we’ll tolerate advertising in podcasts – but not 30 out of 90 seconds!”