iDaily Could Be Game Changer

Out of adversity comes innovation, and perhaps nothing more illustrates that leap forward than the Daily, a joint venture by Steve Jobs and Rupert Murdoch to offer an iPad news publication exclusively via download.

It could provide a much-needed digital game changer which the print newspaper industry, battered by online information competition and sharp advertising declines, has sought desperately during these recession years.

Simply put, the idea is to have the news you want at your fingertips whenever and wherever you want it – something dead-tree publishing by its very format could never do. The Daily could be the business model for news publishers now and in the future.

The collaboration between Murdoch (right), head of the media giant News Corp., and Jobs, chief executive of Apple, was done secretly in New York for several months.

The Daily promises to be the world's first “newspaper” designed exclusively for new tablet-style computers such as Apple's iPad, with a launch planned for early next year.

Intended to combine “a tabloid sensibility with a broadsheet intelligence,” the publication represents Murdoch's desire to push the newspaper business beyond the realm of print in the 21st century.

There will be no “print edition” or “web edition,” or competing/overlapping formats. The central innovation, developed with assistance from Apple engineers, will be to dispatch the publication automatically to an iPad or any of the growing number of similar tablet devices.

With no printing or distribution costs, the United States-focused Daily will cost 99 cents a week.

Reports say it will operate from the 26th floor of the News Corp. offices in New York, where 100 journalists have been hired, including Chris D’Amico, former managing editor of The Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest daily newspaper (and a previous employer of this author).

Murdoch, 79, whose News Corp. owns the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal, is said to have had the idea for the Daily after studying a survey that suggested readers spent more time immersed in their iPads than they did – comparatively speaking — on the Internet, where unfocused surfing is typical.

Sources say Murdoch is committed to the project, in part, because he believes the Daily will demonstrate consumers are willing to pay for high- quality, original content online.

That position runs counter to current thinking that Web publications need print editions to justify themselves to advertisers.

Putting aside personalities, we, at WMB, see merit to the Murdoch-Jobs partnership because it represents the entrepreneurial spirit that leads to innovation. You need visionaries with leadership and daring to make advances regardless of the type of industry.

Murdoch and Jobs (left) have proven themselves in previous endeavors, so there is no reason to believe the Daily cannot succeed. This product is not a bridge (bandage?) between online and print news editions; it’s something completely different under the sun.

WMB believes there always will be a place for good journalism, regardless of the format, so why not increase access for the average consumer. Projections are there will be 40 million iPads in circulation by the end of 2011.

A source says of Murdoch: “He envisions a world in which every family has an iPad in the home and it becomes the device from which they get their news and information. If only 5 percent of those 40 million subscribe to the Daily, that's already 2 million customers.”

WMB believes there’s no fuzzy math in that assessment, just the logic of a businessman who sees a big opportunity within reach through the marriage of smart technology and quality content by professionals.

There also could be some new, strong branches for dead-tree journalists sidelined by the abrupt shake-up in the print news industry. While many of these professionals remain computer savvy enough to change with the times, their employers were stuck in the information highway’s slow lane.

The Daily could be the catalyst, or game changer, for competitive journalism on a scale not seen since the days of multiple daily papers in America’s largest cities. It could be the “what next” for journalism.

As for me, I practice what I preach at writenowworks.com. If you like this post, please share it!

Google TV Rocks Media World

Tensions are rising between mainstream TV networks and Google, with word on the street that ABC, CBS, and NBC are blocking their programming from viewership on Google’s new Web-TV service.

This phenomenon of competitors joining forces to fight a common foe reinforces the growing controversy between technology giant Google and traditional media companies. There’s distrust both ways, for good reason.

There is no doubt Google is gaining the lion’s share of Internet business (leaving Yahoo and Bing search engines far behind in market share) and expanding its reach across a variety of industries. We at WMB believe this growing power rivals that of our national security system.

Will the U.S. government attempt to place limits on Google? Can our government even regulate this powerhouse since it is driven by Internet standards that literally encompass millions of people throughout the world? It may even defy anti-trust and free enterprise.

The message from broadcasters is clear: They want to be paid for their shows wherever they are seen – just as new devices are making it easier to watch those shows on regular TV sets, according to the Associated Press.

“Basically, they're trying to work hard to ensure that 'cord-cutting' is not an attractive option anymore,” said analyst Derek Baine of research firm SNL Kagan, referring to the trend of people cutting their cable subscriptions and catching shows online to save money.

BTIG Research analyst Rich Greenfield put it this way:
“Consumers must be made to realize that nothing is free anymore.”

Spokespeople from ABC, CBS and NBC confirm the programming embargo affecting Google TV, which WMB wrote about in an earlier post.

But both ABC and NBC are allowing people to access the Internet and search for Web videos on their televisions as well as to search live TV listings. ABC is owned by Walt Disney Co.; CBS is part of CBS Corp.; and NBC is a unit of General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal.

Earlier this month, Logitech and Sony Corp. began selling devices running Google’s software.

“Google TV enables access to all the Web content you already get today on your phone and PC, but it is ultimately the content owners’ choice to restrict their fans from accessing their content on the platform,” according to a Google spokesman.

This move shows an increasing escalation of ongoing disputes between Google and major media companies, which are skeptical Google will maintain a business model that will compensate them for potentially cannibalizing existing and established business operations.

Last summer, Google influenced major media companies to optimize their websites and videos to work more seamlessly with Google TV. Some broadcasters, including Time Warner’s HBO and Turner Broadcasting network, cooperated. In fact, even NBC Universal’s CNBC supported the new paradigm service. Traditional broadcasters optimized some of their content to work specifically for Google TV.

Not everyone obliged, and other companies refused to specifically optimize their websites for Google, and some held out the possibility they could block their content from the service. This is exactly what the three major broadcasting networks have now decided to embrace.

Several TV producers fear their series and shows would be lost in the larger Internet space. Some including Disney and NBC were even concerned about Google’s position on websites offering pirated content, according to analysts familiar with the situation.


For example, Disney executives asked that Google eliminate pirate sites when users search for Disney content like “Desperate Housewives.” Interestingly, companies including Disney were unsatisfied, if not furious, with Google’s response, according to industry sources.

On the other hand, News Corp.’s Fox Broadcasting and Viacom’s MTV are not going to block Google TV from playing episodes on their websites. Accordingly, representatives from Fox and MTV confirmed they are not currently blocking Google TV. But the Fox spokeswoman says “a firm decision has not yet been reached.”

Not surprisingly, Google is trying to assure content owners (like Disney) that Google’s search engine feature is optimized to promote their TV broadcasts and own websites’ video content rather than pirated content, according to independent sources.

In addition, Google has told broadcasters and content owners that they can submit requests to Google to delete unauthorized results from the Google TV search feature, in similar fashion as they do in Google’s traditional Web search engine.

Google won’t directly make money from the sale of Google TV software. But the software’s use will benefit Google’s ad-supported Web search engine and is expected to increase viewership of the ad-supported You-Tube site, owned by Google.
Google also is in talks with Madison Avenue’s media-buying firms. These discussions are centered on how to sell ads on the Google TV interface without interfering with regular TV commercials, according to industry experts.

Given this, the three traditional networks are not alone in blocking their content.

For instance, Hulu, whose owners include Disney, NBC Universal and News Corp., also block their videos from being played through the Google TV interface. Sources indicate Hulu and Google are in discussions to bring the Hulu Plus subscription service to Google TV.

In the end, WMB believes Google will prevail. It’s simply a numbers game, and advertisers will prevail where they can get their best return on their investment. The pawns in this tug of war between Google and the media companies are consumers.

Freedom of choice always is preferable to having total government regulation or a single company having a monopoly involving a product or service. The trick is to strike a balance that allows for free enterprise and consumer protection.

This post is by TechMan, WMB co-author who blogs about trends, issues and ideas affecting business, industry, technology and consumers. Please share this post!