VCs Have It Wrong: No Elevator Pitch? No Problem!
23 Jul 2008 6:32pm GMT The accepted wisdom is that every great idea -- or every fundable idea -- has to have a good elevator pitch. In order for an idea to be great, it needs to fit neatly into a one-minute description that knocks people's socks off. Or at least makes them extremely curious. Bull. The truth is that for some ideas, an elevator pitch works great. For others, not so much. And there is no direct correlation between ease of explanation and appeal or value in the marketplace. The reason for this is...
CBS.com Adds Even More Shows For Oldsters
23 Jul 2008 6:06pm GMT CBS doesn't seem too worried about porting its industry-oldest TV demographic online. The network said today it's releasing some more shows from deep in the Paramount/CBS library: "Dynasty" (1981), "Beauty And The Beast" (1987), and "Have Gun - Will Travel" (1957). That's in addition to the last library-dump that included "Hawaii Five-O" and "Perry Mason." CBS's average age online: 39. Average age on TV: 54. Weirdly, CBS isn't allowing embedding on any of these new (old) series, and seems to...
YouTube (GOOG) Dangling New Ad Strategy To Lure Hollywood. Can It Deliver?
23 Jul 2008 5:44pm GMT At least three Hollywood studios are talking to Google and YouTube about deals like the one video site struck with Lions Gate (LGF) last week, CNET reports. That's interesting, but not revolutionary: The LGF pact, which gives the studio a cut of revenue generated when users watch clips from movies like "Dirty Dancing", is itself modeled on other deals YouTube has cut with content producers. Like, say, CBS, which puts up a smattering of clips like this Letterman monologue on its own branded...
Sirius-XM FCC Approval Down To One After Democrat Adelstein Votes Against (SIRI, XMSR)
23 Jul 2008 5:20pm GMT The FCC's embarrassingly long review of the Sirius-XM satellite radio merger continues. The latest: Democrat commissioner Jonathan Adelstein has voted against the merger, putting it in a 2-2 tie, according to the AP. Why? Because the absurd conditions Adelstein recommended didn't get any support. Why not? Because they're absurd! As we mentioned yesterday, via the Motley Fool: Adelstein is looking to freeze subscription rates for six years, with 25% of the channels earmarked for public-interest...
NYT: Our Online Ad Rates Are Holding Steady. We Just Need To Sell More Ads...And Fire More People
23 Jul 2008 5:15pm GMT A silver lining in the New York Times' dismal Q2: online display ad rates are holding steady on NYTimes.com in the face of a pretty challenging ad market, the company says. The problem? They're not selling enough of them. Some notes from the Q2 call on NYT's digital businesses: NYT digital chief Martin Nisenholtz says pricing of "premium" online ad inventory was up over Q1, but saw continued "bifurcation" between rates for premium ads and remnant banner ads sold by ad networks. 50% of ad...