Sex and Scandal: My view

In my first post here I promised an occasional rant on things sexual. The Eliot Spitzer scandal seems like the perfect opportunity, so here are a few observations.

First let me say it was not the sex that ultimately got Mr. Spitzer in trouble. He’s in trouble for hypocritically flaunting laws that as a lawyer, prosecutor and governor he helped create and enforce.

One political opponent said “The pattern of Eliot Spitzer is that there’s one set of rules for him and another set for everyone else.”

Actually, I support legalized prostitution, no I don’t support the slave trade or abuse of women. But I do support the medically supervised sex business when everyone involved is a willing participant and no one is hurt. Of course, you might try to change my mind in the comments section below.

Let me just wrap this up by saying I think a majority in our society understands that sexual freedom is important to our health and well being but like anything else we enjoy it must be handled responsibly with thought and moderation.

Selling Ads, Photos vs Videos

It's not easy generating ad dollars from online video. There are no good standards for tracking audience interaction. Stories and still photos are much easier to track and sell. Advertisers want to know who is looking, how long they stay and how they interact.

The statistics on still photo use is amazing. Many sites get from 50% to 80% of their total page views from people clicking through pictures. They make money too. Interstitials, page refresh, sponsorships are all easy ways to monetize a photo gallery or slide show. Statistics are easy to obtain and advertisers love detailed information about potential viewers.

It's not so easy with video. I'm looking for comScore, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and others to push for standards that will help companies monetize video in the same way they do with photos.

The short video below, by John Shinal of vator.tv, gives an excellent description of the problems in selling web video ads.

Getty Sold, Licensing Model May Change

Getty Images is such a great resource for rich visual information. Within 10-years they have grown to be the best and most respected provider of visual content for publishers, in any media, around the world. I dare say that anyone who consumes media has been touched by the images they produce.

Of course like other large media companies they are facing difficulty maintaining profits high enough to please shareholders and Wall Street analysts. Hopefully this acquisition by Hellman & Friedman LLC will give the company some breathing room. I've placed some links below with details of the deal.

I expect big changes are in store for the content licensing business. I'm guessing companies like Getty will slowly move to more of an ad based / revenue sharing model and away from selling subscriptions and one-offs.

Big content producers do not want to pay for licensed content and why should they when they can pass the costs onto advertisers or get user generated content for almost nothing.

Related Links:
Hellman and Friedman's Press Release
Getty Images' Press Release
New York Times Story
Getty Images' Home Page

Sam Zell Makes Sense

I've posted a video below that seems typical of Mr. Zell’s comments to employees since taking over the company. He makes a lot of sense to me. I've always thought it was crazy that The Tribune and many other large multimedia companies were not operated more efficiently.

I’m sure Mr. Zell feels he is not running a newspaper company but a multimedia company that creates compelling content and sells effective advertising for distribution on any type of media: print, broadcast or web.

Consolidation of newsrooms, ad sales and supporting infrastructure, at a national/world level, is absolutely the right thing to do. It will make a more efficient and profitable organization.

Profitable media companies can then concentrate resources on local news. The next challenge is to find the right mix user generated and licensed content for audiences at the community level and the ability to handle very “hyper-local” advertising.

This video gives you a flavor of Mr. Zell. See You Tube for more.

The LA Times and Tribune Ignominy

As a former Newsday, LA Times, Times Mirror, Tribune employee I’ve followed with great interest the ups and downs of that great company. The Tribune Company merged with the Times Mirror company in June of 2000, that’s when I left The Times, and things went downhill until the recent takeover by Sam Zell and company. HA, If only I had stayed and helped out!

I believe Times Mirror and the LA Times were run by progressive employees who could usually balance the need for profit against producing quality editorial products, Tribune executives did not seem to have the knack for it or the management skills to run all the various pieces.

Admittedly it was a daunting task. Managing properties as diverse as WGN radio, KTLA television and the Chicago Cubs would test any public company. Stockholders wanted immediate profits and the pressure was great to sell off the pieces.

A hopeful savior arrived in 2007. Eccentric real estate billionaire Sam Zell scooped Tribune up for a bargain 8.2 billion, about what Tribune paid for Times Mirror alone in 2000, and privatized it.

It turns out the Chandler family (founder and major Times Mirror stockholders) were smart, probably selling Times Mirror at its peak value in 2000.

Now without all of those pesky Wall Street types hounding Tribune management for obscene profits all would be well. Or would it? In my next post I’ll tell you how I feel about Mr. Zell’s approach and share some of his controversial wisdom.

Beginning

This blog will host discussions about the best and worst of visual storytelling. Everything is on the table including still photography, video, and every type of interactive presentation.

I hope to review it all and add my two cents on how to improve things. Let me know if you disagree with my ideas or have ideas of your own to share.

I'll also use this forum to talk about the state of multimedia industries, including companies involved in delivering content via the internet, print and broadcast.

I'm sure I'll even throw in some sex stuff from time to time to make things less dull. Let me know when I go over the top!

So here goes my first attempt at blogging. Let's see what happens.