|
|
Posted by Biz on 11/15/05 01:09
The best way to fix AOL is to just close the doors on that part of their
business.
"SBFan2000" <weareborgNOSP#M@wcnet.org> wrote in message
news:1132012865_7749@spool6-east.superfeed.net...
> If its true they'll just screw it up like they do everything else. They
> really should spend time getting their ISP working properly.
>
>
> "Goro" <evilninjax@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1132000068.528407.83720@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/business/14warner.html
> >
> > My initial reaction is that this is an amazing plan. WB is buying
> > into the existing and emerging technologies and attempting to provide
> > customers with product they want while still tring to generate some
> > revenue out of it. 1-2 min of commercials. Hmm?
> >
> > CBS and NBC in particular ought to feel downright embarassed and
> > meanwhile even ABC might be feeling it.
> >
> > I'm interested in what exactly the form of these tv eps will be. Is it
> > a streaming video? I'd guess so as they mention that the ads cannot be
> > skipped. I'm also guessing from what they said that it will be better
> > than the 320x240 res of the iTunes downloads.
> >
> > Now having said that, since this is still AOL/TW there's great room for
> > them to fsck it up but it's a great first step and one that's well past
> > due.
> >
> > -goro-
> >
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/business/14warner.html
> >
> > Looking for "The Fugitive?" Didn't get enough "Eight Is Enough?" Would
> > you like to "Welcome Back, Kotter" one more time?
> >
> > Warner Brothers is preparing a major new Internet service that will let
> > fans watch full episodes from more than 100 old television series. The
> > service, called In2TV, will be free, supported by advertising, and will
> > start early next year. More than 4,800 episodes will be made available
> > online in the first year.
> > Skip to next paragraph
> > Associated Press
> >
> > David Janssen in "The Fugitive," the kind of fare expected to be
> > available.
> >
> > The move will give Warner a way to reap new advertising revenue from a
> > huge trove of old programming that is not widely syndicated.
> >
> > Programs on In2TV will have one to two minutes of commercials for each
> > half-hour episode, compared with eight minutes in a standard broadcast.
> > The Internet commercials cannot be skipped.
> >
> > America Online, which is making a broad push into Internet video, will
> > distribute the service on its Web portal. Both it and Warner Brothers
> > are Time Warner units. An enhanced version of the service will use
> > peer-to-peer file-sharing technology to get the video data to viewers.
> >
> > Warner, with 800 television programs in its library, says it is the
> > largest TV syndicator. It wants to use the Internet to reach viewers
> > rather than depend on the whims of cable networks and local TV
> > stations, said Eric Frankel, the president of Warner Brothers' domestic
> > cable distribution division.
> >
> > "We looked at the rise of broadband on Internet and said, 'Let's try to
> > be the first to create a network that opens a new window of
> > distribution for us rather than having to go hat in hand to a USA or a
> > Nick at Night or a TBS,' " Mr. Frankel said.
> >
> > Warner's offering comes at a time when television producers and
> > networks are exploring new ways to use digital technology to distribute
> > programs.
> >
> > Many of the recent moves include charging viewers for current programs.
> > ABC has started selling episodes of some programs to download to Apple
> > iPods for $1.99. And NBC and CBS announced last week that they would
> > sell reruns of their top new shows for 99 cents an episode through
> > video-on-demand services. CBS is working with Comcast and NBC with
> > DirecTV.
> >
> > (The CBS programs to be sold on Comcast include commercials, but
> > viewers can skip them. The NBC programs on DirecTV and the ABC programs
> > from Apple have no commercials.)
> >
> > Of the media companies' new experiments, Peter Storck, president of the
> > Points North Group, a research firm, remarked, "They are saying let's
> > take the plunge, put the content out there, and figure out how to
> > monetize it." Programs on In2TV will range from recently canceled
> > series like "La Femme Nikita" to vintage shows like "Maverick" from the
> > early 1960's . Other series that will be available include "Chico and
> > the Man," "Wonder Woman" and "Babylon 5."
> >
> > The company will offer a changing selection of several hundred episodes
> > each month, rather than providing continuous access to all the episodes
> > in a series, Mr. Frankel said, so as not to cannibalize potential DVD
> > sales of old TV shows.
> >
> > And in the future, when Warner negotiates with cable networks to
> > syndicate popular programs, Mr. Frankel said, the price will be higher
> > if the network wants it kept off the Internet.
> >
> > For AOL, the In2TV deal is part of a broad strategy to create a range
> > of video offerings to attract people to its free AOL.com portal. It
> > already offers some video news and sports programs from CBS News, ABC
> > and CNN.
> >
> > At the same time, it is creating programming aimed at women and young
> > people, including an online reality series called "The Biz," giving
> > contestants the chance to become a music producer, in conjunction with
> > the Warner Music Group (which is no longer owned by Time Warner).
> >
> > Next month AOL will introduce TMZ, an entertainment news service, in a
> > joint venture with another Warner Brothers division, Telepictures
> > Productions. TMZ, named for the 30-mile zone around Hollywood that is
> > mentioned in some film-union contracts, will mix breaking entertainment
> > news and gossip with a database of information and video about
> > celebrities. It will be run by Harvey Levin, former executive producer
> > of " Celebrity Justice," a syndicated program about the legal woes of
> > entertainment figures, which Telepictures canceled last spring.
> >
> > TMZ and most of AOL's programming effort, so far, have been built
> > largely around short video segments, reflecting the conventional view
> > that Internet users are less likely to want to watch full-length
> > programs on a computer screen.
> >
> > Yet a recent survey by the Points North Group of 1,098 Internet users
> > found that 28 percent said they wanted to watch regular television
> > shows on their PC's or laptops, Mr. Storck said.
> >
> > Full-length TV shows on the In2TV service responds to that demand,
> > particularly as more people hook their computers up to their television
> > sets.
> >
> > AOL will offer a version of the service meant to be watched on a
> > television set connected to a Windows Media Center PC, and it is
> > exploring a similar arrangement to link the Internet programming to
> > television through TiVo video recorders.
> >
> > For those who want to watch on a big screen, AOL is introducing
> > optional technology that it says will produce a DVD-quality picture.
> > Even with a broadband connection, most Internet video looks grainy at
> > full width on a computer monitor, let alone a big TV set. The new
> > option, called AOL Hi-Q, will require the downloading once of special
> > software, and the program may not start for several minutes, depending
> > on the speed of the users' connection.
> >
> > There is a catch. To use the technology, viewers will have to agree to
> > participate in a special file-sharing network. This approach helps AOL
> > reduce the cost of distributing-high quality video files by passing
> > portions of the video files from one user's computer to another. AOL
> > says that since it will control the network, it can protect users from
> > the sorts of viruses and spyware that infect other peer-to-peer
> > systems.
> >
> > AOL is using file-sharing technology from Kontiki, a Silicon Valley
> > company providing a similar system to the ambitious Internet video
> > program of the BBC.
> >
> > Warner is also adding shorter segments and interactive features for
> > users who do not want to watch entire episodes. Each month, there will
> > be a series of one- or two-minute excerpts drawn from the full-length
> > episodes, featuring funny scenes or segments showing famous actors when
> > they played bit parts on TV. (Brad Pitt, for one, had a small role on
> > "Growing Pains" in 1987.) These excerpts can be sent to friends by
> > e-mail or instant message, and will eventually be offered on mobile
> > phones.
> >
> > Other programs will be accompanied by interactive features that can be
> > displayed side by side with the video, like trivia quizzes and video
> > games related to the shows. One feature, to accompany "Welcome Back,
> > Kotter," will allow users to upload a picture of themselves (or a
> > friend) and superimpose 1970's hair styles and fashion, and send the
> > pictures by e-mail to friends or use as icons on AOL's instant-message
> > system.
> >
> > "This is great goofy stuff that fans are going to love," Mr. Storck of
> > the Points North Group said.
> >
>
>
>
> ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet
News==----
> http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+
Newsgroups
> ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption
=----
Navigation:
[Reply to this message]
|