“I’m okay coach – I can go.” Thousands of injured athletes have said that to their coaches or their trainers. The athlete doesn’t care whether he can go or not – he just wants to be there, in the arena, delivering. But that’s why trainers and coaches and doctors exist – to be the dispassionate […]
Michael Bay – Lessons Learned
January 8, 2014 by
I face potential problems like the one experienced by Michael Bay constantly both doing brand-centric corporate video as a sideline gig, and as a public affairs talk show as a full time job. So as a media consultant and video producer, I am CONSTANTLY pitched on the idea of having the CEO or the big […]
Really Facebook? Autoplay?
December 17, 2013 by
So you know that setting your online videos to “autoplay” is bad manners right? Seriously, nobody who works in the video brandbuilding space would ever subject the eyeballs they’re trying to woo to something as obnoxious as autoplay. Unless you’re Facebook I guess. Autoplaying videos are supposed to start this week on The Book – promising to piss […]
Whoring the News
December 2, 2013 by
“Whoring the News.” That’s what my first news director used to call it when a newscast was hijacked for commercial purposes. He was relentless and made life a living hell for advertisers, GMs and ownership. Probably to a fault. But over the years, we all slowly come to realize that the news is nothing more […]
Counting Tweets – Answering the “So What” Question
October 8, 2013 by
Commercial media can’t get paid unless somebody is responsible for counting eyeballs. So today’s announcement that Nielson is going to measure Twitter chatter surrounding television shows is an important step toward monetizing our favorite micro-blogging site. The New York Times report on this topic doesn’t indicate there are any buyers out there for the numbers, […]
Ain’t It Great?
September 9, 2013 by
No, it ain’t. Despite all the high-fiving you see coming out of the promo department and station management, cranking up the assembly line at the news sausage factory doesn’t come as good news to the staff at KING5. Since they have to keep their feelings to themselves, I will perform the near miracle of reading […]
Is cable TV a right?
August 27, 2013 by
Like the editorial team and Pete Callaghan at The News Tribune, I too am very, very curious about what KOMO charged CLICK! for carriage. KOMO and CLICK! were locked in a re-transmission fee battle recently and the paper, wisely, is fighting in court to use the public records laws to find out what KOMO charges […]
What a black eye for TV news
August 16, 2013 by
I was watching Conan last night, and was confronted with a “comedy” clip that, while sitting alone, made me uncomfortable to even watch. It’s a string of local news anchors (not “ours” thank goodness) reading the same lead in to the same story across about 20 different markets. What happened here is that one of […]
“Engagement” at what price?
August 13, 2013 by
Local media organizations work hard, and spend a lot of money to build their brands, and associate their brands with solid content and thoughtful information. But the “comment” sections on their news sites undo all that hard work in seconds. It is time to end comments. Just a couple of very small, relatively mild examples […]
Sinclair, Gannett & Seattle’s Exceptionalism
July 31, 2013 by
Disclaimer: This blog is pure speculation on my part. I have no inside information or any real insight to the discussions happening “in the room” at the corporate entities of which I speak. I write this to stimulate discussion. I don’t think blogs are very good at telling readers that we’re sometimes just pulling a […]
TV Tornado Chasing Run Amok
June 3, 2013 by
I was sorry to learn three storm chasers were killed in Oklahoma. But let’s face it, we knew this was coming. What’s sad is that those who were killed were among the most scientifically legitimate of the pack of thrill seekers out doing this “job.” Not that we want anybody killed – but the three […]
May Day mayhem
May 2, 2013 by
The Seattle TV stations did a great job covering the May Day “protest.” Seattle has always been blessed with great TV stations. I don’t think the people here know or understand that because their view of the relative strength of TV news operations between markets is limited – of course. Only weirdos who watch three […]
Do You Suffer From V-V-S?
April 29, 2013 by
I have been complaining about the general public’s seeming indifference to V-V-S for years. V-V-S is a killer – rendering HD video production useless, and contaminating the visual acuity of an entire generation. Please help us stamp out VVS – with you generous participation – we CAN make a difference. http://youtu.be/Bt9zSfinwFA
Broadcasters on the air in Boston
April 15, 2013 by
Seems like something we should take for granted. Well, it isn’t. These are the times when infrastructure, a tradition of coming through in a pinch, and decades of investment count. In Boston, the cell phone providers are down, as they are apt to be when big disasters hit. But local TV and radio stations are […]
Sinclair & Aerial Newsgathering
April 11, 2013 by
One of my strengths is creating coherent headlines. So with SBG’s purchase of Fisher, there’s a chance news gathering tools like Air4 could be on the block. I hope not. Let me say it again: I hope not. But if you say that there is NO way to cover this large and geographically challenging market […]
BREAKING NEWS: Fisher Sells
April 11, 2013 by
Baltimore based Sinclair Broadcast Group has entered into an agreement to buy Seattle’s last locally owned major TV station – and the other stations in Fisher’s group. I worked for SBG for 12 years, and some big changes may well be coming to 4th Avenue North. Will dig into this in the not-too-distant future. Deal […]
