Tag Archives: iPod

Forbidden cocktails in a swank pad

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Tiki Bar TVI think it’s great that the networks are making episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives and The Daily Show available as (video) podcasts. But the really cool stuff is fresh, original, creative videos like we haven’t seen before. Like Tiki Bar TV, “Forbidden cocktails in a swank pad.” (Check out Episode 10A, Drinkbot Outttakes)

Four Eyed Monsters is a feature film and a video podcast. “We are still working on distribution for the feature film but for the video podcast we already have that figured out. That is the cool thing about the web, distribution is a non-issue.”

Exactly. There have always been talented, creative people out there making videos. But we couldn’t find them and they couldn’t find/reach us. No more. I watched a few episodes just sitting here in front of my box but I can see where it would be fun to load up a video iPod.

I am now completely in charge of my “radio” choices. I’ve got more of exactly what I like than I have time to listen to. That’s going to happen to my “TV” viewing as well. And every everything else. Sample some of the video podcasts at iTunes and email me your favorites.

More TV on your iPod

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NBC has inked a deal with Apple to become the second network to sell television shows a la carte on Apple’s online iTunes store. More than 300 episodes from about a dozen prime time, cable, late-night and classic TV shows are now available for $1.99 apiece, viewable on computers or downloadable on the latest, video-capable iPod.

The programming spans from the 1950s to the present, including shows from “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Dragnet,” USA Network’s “Monk,” the Sci-Fi Channel’s “Battlestar Galactica,” and NBC’s hit series “Law & Order.” Sketches from “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” are also for sale.

I’m guessing that’s the toe-in-the-water list and we’ll quickly see last night’s stuff on iTunes in the morning. One more example of that Long Tail. Those programs were just gathering dust and now they’ll generate dollars.

Video iPods peg the cool meter

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video iPodA video is part of most of our presentations to universities when bidding on the athletic multimedia rights. I’ve never been at one of the presentations but I’ve seen the videos. Lots of snap, crackle and pop. In a recent presentation, our guys loaded up some video iPods (the sexy black ones) with the pitch video and threw in some highlights (TV and radio); a bunch of still images and anything else they could get their hands on. Very high cool factor. The university folks can’t keep such goodies but they can auction them off for a charitable cause or something. The point is, something magical happens when people get these things in their hands. The ear buds go in and they are in…the…zone.

Speaking of iPods… I was in a meeting with some department heads recently where blogging and podcasting came up as marketing tools. I opined that you really need to have and use an iPod to understand the podcasting phenomenon. The head of the division was running the meeting and told each of the department heads to purchase an iPod and learn how to use it. Smart move.

Is Jack FM the long tail of radio?

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The main problem with radio is not the relatively small size of the playlists (although that doesn’t help); it’s that music is polarizing–people may like one song but hate the next, so they’re prone to switch stations or switch off entirely. As MTV found out a decade ago, there simply is no single playlist that can keep enough people listening long enough to please the advertisers. MTV switched to reality shows because they’re sticky. Radio is switching to talk for the same reason.

It is the curse of broadcast: with just a few dozen stations in each city, most must aggregate audiences in the tens of thousands. In an era of infinite choice and narrowcasting, such mass-market broadcast distribution–the ultimate one-size-fits-all model–just can’t compete.

— Chris Anderson on the future of music on radio

I have not heard the Jack format and think it unlikely I will. The little nano is getting more and more of my limited listening time (mostly podcasts, some music). I’m even listening to XM less since getting the little iPod.

Jeff Jarvis: “Trapped by history”

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“When you think about it, satellite radio and iTunes are the best positioned in the new world for pay content … Print content is pretty much all free by now. Networks and cable and program producers and all bound up in their mutually destructive deals. But iTunes enables the sale of content and Sirius is producing content worth paying for and neither is trapped by their histories. — Jeff Jarvis

Our company has the multimedia rights for 19 of the biggest and bestest colleges in the country. Would those legions of fans pay $.99 for some video highlights from Saturday’s big game, if they could do it quickly and easily and have them download automatically to their video iPod? Ch-ching!

Best Songs of the Rock Era

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I was hoping someone had posted this and it makes perfect sense to find it on John Sandford’s “official website.” If you know who John Sandford is, you know who Lucas Davenport is: main character in a very popular series of novels. In Broken Prey, Lucas’ wife has given him an iPod and a certificate for 100 songs from iTunes. Woven throughout the novel are scenes in which Lucas tries to decide whether a particular song should or should not make his “Best Songs of thte Rock Era” list. A fun plot element that concludes with said list at the end of the novel. The thought of trying this myself is somehow exciting and frightening at the same time.

I suggested to Radio Randy that he should invited readers to nominate songs and he post the current 100. As a “better” song comes in, it bumps something else. Eventually, you wind up with his “best” and he heads off to iTunes. I’d love to see Terry McVey’s list as well.

Comedy Central’s Motherload Net coming November 1st

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“The Motherload Net will consist of five video-based channels featuring a mix of clips from Comedy Central’s programming as well as original content produced specifically for the broadband network.

“We’ve taken everything that is great about Comedy Central and shifted it into broadband,” explained Comedy Central president Doug Herzog. “They can program it themselves.”

The channels, offering more than 450 video clips at launch, are: Originals, TV Shows, The Daily Show with John Stewart, Comedians, and Cult Classics. Each channel will be updated five days a week, with a total of 50-80 new clips being added each week.”

Radio: Media comfort food

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A couple of new services from Sprint allows “some subscribers to stream live music to the phone in a radio-type format without having to buy a new phone or have lots of storage.”

I don’t have a mobile phone and wouldn’t buy one to stream live music (I didn’t think I’d buy and iPod either) but that’s not the point of this post. When I read this story (in the Seattle Times) I thought, “Where in the hell are the stories about cool things happening in radio?” I realize it is a “mature technology” but, come on… there’s got to be something going on out in radio land. Help me out here.

Dave, you work in/for/around radio. What’s the buzz? What has radio juices flowing? Bob, Morris… tell me something to get me excited. Send me a link and I’ll read/post it.

Then again, maybe radio is like your mom’s cooking. You take it for granted. No, it’s not hot or new or sexy…but it’s always there for you. A funnel cloud was sited near (?) Jefferson City tonight and I turned on my little transistor radio and listened to some pretty good coverage. Not very high tech but reliable and…comforting.

iPod Nano

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Zowie. Nobody needs to read one more gushing review of the iPod so I’ll try to tone this down, but…damn. The UPS man left a little cardboard box on the front porch today and inside was my iPod Nano. As in small. I already had iTunes installed with my meager music collection imported but syncing up with the iPod was about a 4 minute process. 259 songs…zip…in my shirt pocket.

I don’t remember very many computer experiences being this easy (I know, I know…the Mac thing). The user interface is…a thing of beauty. Sorted all my songs. Easy to navigate. And the sound? Well, I’m not audiophile but it sounded perfect to me. The iPod ads frequently talk about photos and I couldn’t imagine that being very useful, given the size of the screen, but I have to admit it’s kind of cool. I’ll put some more on.

It’s easy to see why these things (in all flavors) are selling so fast. I showed it to Barb and she immediately decided she wants one. Anniversary present, in the bag.

And you know what? I’ve had the thing for half a day and I’m already thinking, “Maybe I should head on over to iTunes and buy a few songs.” We’ll talk about podcasts in a future post.