About Brightcove Internet TV Service

About Brightcove Internet TV Service Good overview, even if it is a bit pro Brightcove.

As we come to the end of 2007, it’s time to reflect on the forces that shaped the Internet TV industry during the last year and the trends that will define it in 2008.

Internet video surged into the mainstream in 2006 with the explosive growth of consumer video sharing sites. The leader in the category, YouTube, became a household name, and everyone watched in awe as they were swallowed by Google for $1.65 billion.

But 2007 showed us that video isn’t just for aggregators—it’s fundamental to the Web. The last 12 months saw an explosion in video publishing across a wide array of websites. Video is becoming so pervasive that if you have a web property without video something is wrong with it.

The deep investment in online video publishing and distribution by media companies in 2007 brought a new category of online services into the limelight: Internet TV Platforms.

Internet TV Platforms, like Brightcove, give media owners the ability to control how video is published on their own sites and syndicated across the Internet. Rather than existing at a single destination, Internet TV Platforms underlie thousands of properties and brands creating economies of scale in technology, delivery and distribution.

Classical Youtube

The Classical music world is filled with the most horrendous copyright problems. And egos - you don't want to know. I guess that a huge number of recordings sitting in broadcasters' vaults are unusable - not because the tape has expired, but that the recording was made on the basis of a single broadcast and an "expiry" date for repeats. So it is interesting to see videos of quite a few classical music performances appearing on Youtube. The audio is far from perfect, but it is a step in the right direction. Digital recordings in the last 10 years have a problem - they don't deteriorate. So record companies are loathed to re-record works just for the sake of a slightly different interpretation. And unless public archives, paid for by the taxpayer, have the rights to use what they keep, they might as well throw the recording away. How about national erasure day to free up shelf space for artists who are proud and pleased that past performances will be used again.

Netflix Million Dollar Prize

I see that the Netflix prize which seeks to substantially improve the accuracy of predictions is doing well. Improve it enough and you win one (or more) Prizes. Winning the Netflix Prize improves their "ability to connect people to the movies they love" There are currently 28914 contestants on 23593 teams from 165 different countries. They have received 19774 valid submissions from 2710 different teams; 67 submissions in the last 24 hours. So you are not alone.

Roll on February 2008

I see TV B Gone is going for the biggie. Super High Power infrared fun starts in February.

Tengu

A Tengu is a character from Japanese folklore that plays tricks on people and generally gets up to mischief. The name has now ben chosen by the UK designer Crispin Jones, who explains, "The early prototypes of Tengu featured some slightly different behaviour which was more aligned with the kind of tricks that Tengus get up to. Later we changed the behaviour of the character, but we really liked the name so it stuck! We plan to introduce some of the more mischevious behaviours into future Tengu characters" So what is Tengu?

It is a USB-powered character that lights up and lip-syncs to music, or your voice, or whatever noise happens to be around at the time. Tengu has different facial expressions that you can match to different music. When there's no sound he'll simply fall asleep, as soon as he detects some noise he'll wake up again.

Can you live without Tengu? Of course.

Great News

Consistently the best calendars since Radio Peking sent them out in the 1980's. These are a lot funnier as well. Even has a customer dissatisfaction service. And now a blog.

Google Image Labeler

Google Image Labeler
Clever way Google is now pairing volunteers on line to get them to tag photos. Its a game where you can win points...

Dualog - The Maritime Communications Experts - Future Ready?

Dualog - The Maritime Communications Experts - Future Ready?

4th generation maritime communications. Ships and trucks have always been a challenge for broadcasters. Wonder what technology is going to win for them.

Brilliant AD - Part 2

Brilliant AD - Part 2
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks

The other side of the Ad. Things make sense with the bigger picture

Brilliant AD in Buenos Aires

Brilliant AD in Buenos Aires
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks

so what it happening? Someone going to jump? Why are the cars parked on one side, not on the other?

Precious Things - British Museum

Precious Things - British Museum
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks

Amazing to think that many of these pots are more than 2000 years old. I wonder how long my ipod will last?

Hyde Park Satellite Dish

Hyde Park Satellite Dish
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks

Is that a shield he has in his hand, or the uplink dish for Al Jazeera English over the road?

LCD Advertising in the Tube

LCD Advertising in the Tube
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks

I see some of the tube stations in London (like Bank) are putting LCD screens for some rather spectacular advertising effects. Reminds me of a football stadium. Wonder if it will ever do news headlines like in Prague's underground.

Italian Ice Cream at Harrods

Italian Ice Cream at Harrods
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Marks

I like the mint ice cream. Vanilla and Strawberry rather unspectacular for the price - £7.50 pounds please. Once in a lifetime treat...at Morelli’s Gelato counter in the food hall in Harrods which, it would seem, has a head waiter and, is now offering a bespoke service. Phone in your order 24 hours in advance and they will custom-make whatever flavour you like, with a minimum order of 1 litre. The service costs £12.45 plus cost of ingredients. Ice Cream in Buenos Aires (chains like Freddo) is much better in my experience.

Crash at Schiphol

 

Always wonder why they do maintenance on live screens like this. Makes you hope they have back-ups on the planes.

Cleansing Hotline

 

What on earth is the cleansing hotline? May be conversations from it would make a great radio programme.

Al Jazeera English

 
 
 

Paid a short visit to Al Jazeera English today on the way back to Heathrow. The main studio is in Qatar. The London bureau is in the basement (they call it Lower Ground Floor) of a large Arab bank in Knightsbridge. There is a great "little park" across the road (Hyde Park) and they must be the closest broadcaster in London to "Speakers' Corner". But not sure if I'd be happy working somewhere with no natural daylight -ever. Making some good shows out of that bank basement though.

AIB Awards 2007

 
 
 
Enjoyed being part of the AIB Annual Awards Dinner in the city of London tonight, a celebration of the best programming to be found on the international radio and TV scene. Being one of the judges, it was great to see genuine surprise on the faces of some of the world's best broadcasters.

Paul - Not at your service

 
 

Paul is a chain of French sandwich shops of the grab and go variety. The one at the Tower of London is an example of one that provides a great service. The one below is at Schiphol airport in the D-gate wing and I now use it in talks as an example of the worst run cafe in the world. Their sandwiches are good. Their service is the slowest in the world in the one place where people usually have little time to spare. It takes an average of 5 minutes to buy a sandwich because the people making the coffee are also trying to do the checkout. Customers can't grab a sandwich - no you have to ask someone to make it for you. In short, Schiphol should give the franchise to someone else.

Kindle to Kill the Irex?

We have been waiting to see what Amazon’s new Kindle reader would look like. Now its for sale. It turns out it is made in China, but I believe it uses the same e-ink technology developed in Holland by Irex technologies, a start-up offshoot from Philips. The Kindle is a wireless digital book with an e-ink display and in the US it has a $399 price tag. That's 2/3rd the price of what Irex itself is offering with its Iliad reader. So will Kindle kill Irex? Having seen both devices now, I don't think Kindle is a threat to Irex. The Irex Iliad is better made device. That said, I don't think we have yet entered an era where e-ink is ready for prime-time. All these readers (especially Sony' attempt) seem to lack clever search functionality and the kind of user navigation you can now already enjoy on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

So far on the Amazon Kindle, 8 newspapers are available for digital subscription ranging from $5.99 to $14.99 a month. You can also subscribe to magazines like TIME and Fortune. Over 300 blogs are available, too — you need to pay a ludicrous 0.99 a month for each you read. The e-ink technology is GREAT for reading books. It is truly terrible for surfing the web (MUCH TOOOOO SLOW) or showing video - remember it is black and white. The browser on the Kindle takes about 50 seconds to load - so that immediately means it is not a serious device for surfing. In fact it is better to think of e-ink as a printer, not a video screen technology.

Full acknowledgement needed here to Engadget who broke the story last year and had access to photos which turn out to be pretty near what the commercial model looks like. For the money, I think the device has a very cheap look and feel to me....not in the "i-Reader" line of products. Not much expense has been spared on the design.

Seth Godin posted some relevant comments today which I totally agree with. The Amazon business model here is flawed. If they offered a Kindle with free access to all the electronic versions of paper booked you have purchased through Amazon in the past, that might be a useful enticement to travellers. Paper is very heavy and I, for one, would prefer to read from e-ink if the navigation were better. The Irex has the best screen for me so far, but I still think the product is a huge work in progress. Books look fine. PDF documents are VERY diffucult to navigate.

Satellite Channels are always open

Katie Couric has a go at Dan Rather. This sort of rehearsal always gets out. It used to end up in engineers' collections. Now its there on You-tube.

Panasonic Anti-Commercial Schiphol

Just arrived home after a long trip across the Atlantic. Got here before my luggage it would seem. Outside the arrivals hall, I am waiting for the bus to the long-stay car park. A large advertising screen glares at me from the other side of the road. Sort of..

Now if, like Panasonic, you make LED screens for large outdoor displays, wouldn't you monitor that things are looking good with the display? The only large screen display outside the arrivals hall at Schiphol (Amsterdam) airport has gone wrong, with parts of screen not working or showing a single colour. The problem is so noticeable that the ads for some products (including a new Panasonic camera) are infact unwatchable. If I were Panasonic, I'd switch it off rather than let this thing advertise Megapixel failure. It is any HDTV owners worst nightmare.

Blimey, that's complicated

 

I know the Dutch media scene is difficult to explain to foreigners. But then you haven't seen this ownership map of the Argentine media scene, produced by the University of La Plata. They are working on an update I am told.

Printing Error

 
 

One advantage of being able to sit down and check out the books is that you're able to spot any printing errors. This copy had more white space than was bargained for.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid - Books with a Radio Past

 
 
 
 



Jose Zepeda, who heads Radio Netherlands Worldwide Latin American service, took us to perhaps the most impressive bookshop in the world. El Ateneo Grand Splendid is one of the most well-known bookshops in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located at 1860 Santa Fe Avenue in the Barrio Norte part of town. We walked there from the hotel, although it turned out to be a bit longer than the 8-9 blocks that we were promised. But the sight was well worth the walk. The building was originally constructed in 1919 by the empresario Max Glücksman as a theatre named Teatro Gran Splendid. When it was a theatre, it had a seating capacity of 1050 and staged a variety of performances including appearances by the tango artists Carlos Gardel, Francisco Canaro, Roberto Firpo and Ignacio Corsini. Wikipedia has an entry...

In 1924 Glücksman started his own radio station, Radio Splendid, which broadcast from the building where his recording company, Nacional Odeón, made some of the early recordings of the great tango singers of the day. In the late twenties the theatre was converted into a cinema and in 1929 showed the first films ever presented with sound.

In 2000 the building was renovated and converted into a book and music shop. The cinema seating was removed and in its place book shelves were installed.

Chairs are provided throughout the building, including the still-intact theatre boxes, where customers can dip into books before purchase, and there is now a café on the back of what was once the stage. The curtains and scene changing equipment are still there. The original painted ceiling, ornate carvings, auditorium lighting and many architectural details remain. What a great place for a coffee and a read. In fact, you can read all you like without people bothering you.

Saturated Argentine TV Market?

 

I have never seen so many different microphones from competing networks in a single country. And yes, flicking from one channel to the next had almost the same picture.

Grand Tour of RNA

Got the complete tour of Argentina's national radio station today. This is my second visit - came in 1999 and interviewed people in the English service of Radio Argentina Al Exterior, the overseas service. This time I talked with the people running the various domestic networks. This state network is moving more into the direction of public broadcasting, with far more talk shows and interactivity than was the case last time I came. Studios have mothballed the tape decks and record players, now everything comes off the computer using a software package called Hardata that has been made in Argentina (I see most stations using it). Cost is around 870 US dollars per work-station, considerably less than the European variants.


 
 
 
 

Flying visit to LR 11, oldest university station in the world

 
 
 
 

Just had an amazing trip to take part in a congress organised by the community media organisation ALER at the University of La Plata, around 56 km south of Buenos Aires. La Plata is also a beautiful city. Took an hour out of the schedule for a trip in the oldest taxi in the world (or it seemed that way) to visit the oldest university radio station in the world, which is LR11 in La Plata. The station director showed me a collection of material they broadcast regularly from Radio Netherlands Worldwide and how they make great shows for students in historic surroundings.

Compartiendo in Quilmes

 
 
 

I went outside Buenos Aires today, about 45 minutes South on the motorway to La Plata is a town called Quilmes. After some wrong turns we arrived at a great community radio station which serves the poorer areas of the town. They encourage kids to participate, offer all kinds of social services such as creche and Internet access plus a range of activities to keep in conversation with their audience. I was very impressed by what they were doing on a shoestring budget.

Jacaranda Trees in Buenos Aires

 
 
 



The Jacaranda trees in streets and parks of Buenos Aires, Argentina are just stunning this week. Definitely the best time to visit.

London? No, it's BA

 
 
 
 

The irony of the Falklands-Malvinas war continues to haunt me as I wander around the city. The Brits put in the railway system, the phone and postal service, there was even a branch of Harrods on fashionable Florida street, though it closed several years ago yet is still empty. Sotheby's seems to have shut too. But almost every corner store has a huge display of Cadbury's chocolate - made locally in Argentina.

Leather Girls

  You'd have to be blind to miss this shop. One of hundreds of leather shops - and the prices are excellent compared to Europe. The weak Argentine peso helps, even though it is much stronger these days than during the crisis of 2001. It's spring, 22 degrees C and no sign of rain, despite the forecast.

ex-Britannia Tower, Buenos Aires

 
 
 
 

This tower was originally a gift to Argentina from the local British community as part of the 1910 centennial celebrations of Argentine independence. The clock is a Big Ben look alike and the bell-tower at the top used to perform the "Westminster Chimes" but that was silenced with the outbreak of the Falklands-Malvinas conflict in 1982. On my first visit to Argentina 8 years ago, I remember you could take a lift to the sixth floor, 35 metres up. But today the lift is out of action and there doesn't seem to be a great hurry to do any restoration work. The tower is marked as the "ex Torre de los Ingleses" on one map, or Torre Monumental on official brochures.

Walking City of Tango

Best way to see Buenos Aires centre is on foot. Luckily my hotel, the Argenta Towers, is next door to San Martin's Square and within 5 minutes of interesting things to see and the main shopping streets like Florida. It was in one of the shop windows that I saw an interesting display - of foot cushions and other repair kits-, incase you overdo the walking or the tango lessons.

Plaza de Mayo, AM Radio Remembers

 

Between 1930 and 1973, Argentina suffered 30 military coups, with only a single president serving an entire term. In September 1975, the highest level of the military approved a coup that overthrew the established Peron government. During the next eight years, a military dictatorship characterized by government-organised terrorism aimed primarily at students, young workers and intellectuals, took control. Media censorship was rampant during this regime and all unions, political parties and universities fell under military control. At this time, General Jorge Rafael Videla stated that in order to guarantee the security of the state, all the necessary people would die. Suspected activists, their friends and relatives were often abducted from their homes in the middle of the night and moved to government detention centers in which they were tortured and eventually killed. These individuals who disappeared without a trace are referred to as the Disappeared. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 individuals disappeared over this time period. In March 1976, the figure was nine people disappeared for every two found murdered. People who protested these atrocities soon became one of the Disappeared or were murdered themselves.

Abducted women who were pregnant were kept captive in detention centers and military hospitals until the birth of their children, and then murdered shortly after delivery. Babies and young children of abducted individuals were also abducted, based on the assumption that subversives breed subversives. Abducted children were handed over to neighbours, given to orphanages or retained as war booty for childless couples who were part of the security forces. An estimated 220 children were abducted with their parents or born in captivity to abducted women.

On April 30, 1977, four mothers gathered at Plaza de Mayo to draw attention to their plight as they attempted to find their missing children. They were soon joined by the "Grandmothers", women who had given up hope of finding their own children, but believed that their grandchildren might have survived. This year is 30 years since the establishment of the "mothers of the disappeared". They meet at the Plaza every Thursday afternoon, partly to sell their literature, but also to process around the plaza for half-an-hour. I noticed in the front of the procession was a man carrying a radio sign. The mothers have their own website and AM radio station with studios near the Buenos Aires obelix, in the heart of downtown. The 10kW transmitter covers most of the capital city and up as far as Montevideo thanks to the marshy soil. I am surprised to note that the website claims I am only the 931st visitor - I guess counter has gone round a few times. The radio station has now taken a more revolutionary line than in the past. They were re-broadcasting a programme from Radio Rebelde in Cuba when I listened in.

 

Last Minute arrangements in BA

In Buenos Aires now as part of a team organising a series of debates on the precarious relationship between the media, public and politicians. The mobile phone is the lifesaver in this part of the world, where the culture is not to react (very fast) to e-mails. I notice a lot of companies have hotmail or yahoo accounts brandished on the side of the shop or the delivery van. The restaurant I'm in translates as "The Palace of the French Fries". They are indeed palacial.

 

Breaking News - Entire Internet Has Crashed...

Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Nearly crashed the Internet today with too many windows open at the same time. Great stuff from TheOnion.

Slick campaign

I am impressed by the Mobuzz team in Madrid who have been working on commercial projects like one for Cutty Sark Scotch Whisky (thats the drink named after the famous tea clipper being restored after its almost burned down). The graphics on this campaign are certainly hot.

Emerging from a darkened room.....

Have been hiberating for a few days. The floor in the office here in The Netherlands is covered with twelve piles of DVDs and scripts. That's because I'm one of the judges for this year's Association for International Broadcasting Media Excellence Awards. But, because I am also producing the awards presentation, I have had a chance to see entries in all the categories. Although I am sworn to secrecy until the awards dinner in London November 20th, I can say I am very impressed with the growing standard of entries from the new stations in the international broadcasting biz. Very refreshing to hear (and see) some very clever ideas being put into practice.

It is a challenging task trying to bring all these different formats together, but at the same time I feel I am helping to change the image of award ceremonies in general. This one is focussed on being a great get together of content professionals, at the end of which they hand out some appreciations of a job well done. Many of the ones in the US have turned into a cash cow for the organisers where questions are asked if you don't win. I am glad to say this is different. Er, enough gossip, so it is back to the editing suite. Have been experimenting with the new Sony Vegas Video 8 and very impressed at the new features. You can be creative, fast and that's important when the awards are just over two weeks away.

WWV Time Station

Back in the last century, WWV and several stations like it (e.g. JJY in Japan, VNG in Australia) were important for delivery of accurate time standards to scientists, broadcasters - in fact anyone with a need for access to precise time. WWV can still be heard ticking away on 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz. But, according to the official WWV (US NIST)website, it seems they no longer do tours of the transmitter site, unless you're very very special. I am curious if they still serve "millions of listeners" these days. I used to set the digital clock on the shortwave radio using WWV, waiting for the announcement from Boulder just before the full minute. If conditions were right, you could here the female announcer on the sister station WWVH in Hawaii. Just checked a few moment's ago and they're still there. I remember a colleague at Radio Netherlands Worldwide did a series of interviews there for Media Network, as did the late Dave Rosenthal. It is great that Dave's fantastic pictures are still up on the web for us to enjoy.


Must be kinda boring to work at WWV though, programming is a bit repetitive and predictable, there are no frequency changes to break the monotony and it is actually you're job to watch the clock ;-)

Radio Videos on Youtube

Mike Barraclough pointed me in the direction of a recently posted slide-show (with some video) about how evangelical radio station HCJB based in Quito Ecuador is now building (shortwave)radio stations in Africa. This one is in the Central African Republic. More and more radio-related videos seem to be appearing on You-Tube.

The vision behind this project is in this video below.

Small Print from Despair.com

The people at Despair make fantastic calendars. They have a great customer dissatisfaction department. And a curious comment when it comes to shipping overseas.


International Shipments

Despair ships to most international locations. Most orders to most international locations are delivered within 1 week, however- larger-sized orders often can take 4 to 6 weeks (and in a few cases, even longer) to deliver. For faster shipping, we recommend moving to the United States.
I guess not all at once.