SpectatorBytes

For many years now, I have written off “software clients” or “desktop applications” as viable consumer experiences. To me, the web browser paradigm is much more user-friendly and convenient. However, there are signs that suggest that “clients”/ “applications” are poised to make a comeback with users. As a consumer, I have never been a big [...]

The art of developing strategies for digital media businesses has become increasingly difficult. The dynamics of the Web continue to evolve at such rapid pace that media companies struggle to stay ahead of the curve. Changes in the marketplace force digital media players to focus on constant reinvention of their businesses. This is the reason [...]

The growing number of social tools that have emerged over the past few years (MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, WordPress, and Twitter among others) are contributing to the emergence of new type of users which I call “social leaders.” After all, in a world where we are increasingly “following” our friends, acquaintances, colleagues and celebrities, the “social [...]

As web services and open platforms become more popular, the opportunity to change the ways Internet businesses operate is dramatic. Amazon and eBay (among the large players) pioneered these efforts starting in 2003. Today, with open source initiatives such as WordPress and Open X, more and more companies are leveraging “openness” to enable rapid adoption [...]

Digital media companies would benefit from embracing technological innovation and taking proactive measures to avoid falling victim to the innovator’s dilemma. The Innovator’s Dilemma is the title of a book by Clayton Christensen in which he studies why successful market leading companies fail when faced with disruptive-innovations (i.e., simpler, cheaper, less functional products/services) in the [...]

Over the past few years, we have witnessed the transformational impact of digital technologies on traditional media. The music industry was the first to be overwhelmed. Currently, the digital spotlight is on the newspaper and magazine industries whose business models are under intense pressure. The television business appears to be next in line as consumer [...]

YouTube’s recent programming and advertising initiatives are pretty exciting. In them, I can see that YouTube is taking steps to unlock the value of online video. First, YouTube recently allowed one of its content partners, CBS, to use their own video player to broadcast “March Madness” on YouTube.com. The second was YouTube’s experiment with a [...]

Over the past couple of years, I have advised the digital companies with which I am and have been involved to minimize their marketing spending. Instead, I have advocated that management teams focus on product development and maximizing distribution, which I strongly believe is a superior recipe for success. The list of digital products that [...]

Nowadays, it seems that radio is one of the most unattractive media businesses. Radio stations are facing a significant slowdown in local advertising. The drama surrounding the recent financial difficulties of the merged Sirius and XM highlight the challenges satellite radio faces. However, in recent months, I have found myself listening to more radio than [...]

The emergence of Twitter as a major consumer application on the Web has put the spotlight on “real-time” information delivery. Facebook is quickly jumping on the bandwagon with their recently announced updates to its user experience. Real-time news and information delivery has been one of the great promises of the Web. For many years, real-time [...]

Ever since I updated the software on my iPod Touch, I have increasingly found myself using it to watch full-length TV shows. I am able to watch the evening news, news talk shows, old sitcoms and some ESPN content. I enjoy my TV experience on the Touch because it is personal but more importantly on [...]

In our recent company portfolio summit, Nova Spivack, CEO of Twine, crystallized a concept about the dynamics of content on the Web, which I shared and have been trying to succinctly outline for some time. Spivack stated: “Individuals are becoming the primary way that content gets distributed and discovered [on the Web] – rather than [...]

The formal creation of AOL’s MediaGlow and the most recent numbers from the Magazine Publishers Association of Americahave gotten me thinking about the future of Magazines. It is easy to be a pessimist and dismiss Traditional publishers in light of the shift in consumer behavior towards the Web. However, Traditional publishers still have some key [...]

Yesterday, AOL announced the formation of its publishing unit MediaGlow. This event marks an important milestone in the evolution of publishing on the Web. Big congratulations to Bill Wilson. It is a formal recognition that the value of publishing on the Web will primarily be accrued by highly-targeted sites that are able to create deep [...]

ComScore reported that the average online video viewer watched 273 minutes (4.55 hours) of video per month in 2008.  This compares with 73 minutes of online video streaming per viewer in 2005. This is an increase of more than 3 hours per month. As a reminder, 2005 was the year AOL established a major milestone with [...]