You know things are bad in the newspaper business when you wonder whether you should resubscribe to your favorite newspaper as a charity gesture.

Times are hard, and I’m still questioning whether I should renew my subscription, when I get everything I want online.

Then I read that my favorite newspaper’s revenue dropped 13.9% and, most worrisome, that its Internet revenue slid along with it. As Forbes notes, “those online revenues continued to account for a bigger and bigger piece of a smaller and smaller pie.”

I still remain convinced that the digital future of newspapers is strong. New technologies (successors to the Kindle and the iPhone) will bring serious readers back into the fold, even as paper dies. I just hope the New York Times and other newspapers can survive until then.

Posted under Michael's Blog

Warner Music's Led Zeppelin in Concert

Warner Music Group’s decision to take down videos and music on Google’s YouTube reflects the music industry’s frustration that video sharing on the Internet still isn’t paying off.

Warner Music, says the Wall Street Journal, had expected to garner more advertising revenue from the video site — proof once again the big audiences doesn’t necessarily guarantee big revenue. YouTube earns only about $200 million this year, a tiny fraction of Google’s total revenue.

Google pays licensing fees to music companies when users click on advertising content. But clearly, online video has a long way to go before it pays its way for Hollywood content.

Posted under Michael's Blog

3-D movies — from Jaws in 1983 to Spy Kids in 2003 — have long been staples of movie fare. Then as now, audience goers donned special glasses that make double images leap out of the screen. But today’s movies, using advanced cameras, are far sharper; and the prospect of standardized 3-D for all films and TV shows means the technology will likely become a DVD staple, too, over the next 10 years.

Or at least that’s director James Cameron’s message at Hollywood’s first 3-D Entertainment Summit. Cameron is currently producing Avatar, his eagerly awaited $200-million feature film, set on another planet in the far future. Shot entirely in 3-D, the film is set for release in December 2009. (More)

Posted under Digital Media Watch, Michael's Blog