Joost, the Internet TV company founded by Europe’s top Web entrepreneurs, has taken a big step towards commercial viability by signing up 31 advertisers worldwide ahead of the launch of its free service. The company, aiming to become a new kind of global cable TV network on the Web, was started last year by Niklas Zennstrom and partner Janus Friis, founders of Web phone company Skype, now owned by eBay Inc., and music-sharing site KaZaA. Joost aims to combine TV-like viewing with the wide choice and user control of the latest generation of Web services. Luxembourg-based Joost has already signed broad programming partnership deals with Viacom Inc., CBS Corp. as well as independent producers. It said marketers that have agreed to support its ad-supported network worldwide include Coca-Cola Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp., and Nike. U.S. backers include Visa, United Airlines and the U.S. Army, consumer goods suppliers such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Kraft Foods Inc. and technology companies Electronic Arts Inc., Sony Electronics Inc., Microsoft and Motorola. In Europe, advertising partners include General Motors Europe; IBM; L’Oreal Paris; Nokia’s N-series phones; Vodafone; and Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. the company said. (Reuters)
Women prefer the remote over the mouse when it comes to watching videos even though they outnumber men in cyberspace. About 97 million women in the United States will use the Internet this year compared with 91 million men, according to a study by eMarketer. But the report also says only 66 percent of those women are watching videos online compared to 78 percent of men. ‘Men are more visual than women, who tend to communicate in writing and or in words,’ said Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst with eMarketer and the author of the report. ‘Women are more likely to use the Internet to get things done,’ Williamson said. ‘Men are more likely to use the Internet to have fun. And a lot of what you see on youtube.com is silly, time-saving kinds of things that maybe women don’t feel they have the time for, or don’t want to have the time for.’ Williamson said that despite the growth of youtube.com, women have not been part of the site’s traffic spike. The study suggests however that women will not lag behind for long. By 2011, 84.6 percent of women will be Internet video viewers, right behind men at 88.8 percent. ‘The gap is going to close pretty quickly as the content becomes available that women are interested in and they become more comfortable with it,’ Williamson said. (Reuters)
A columnist in Zimbabwe’s state-run Herald newspaper on Tuesday accused a senior British diplomat in Harare of directing an anti-government ‘terror and propaganda campaign,’ and warned she could end up dead. An opinion column signed by David Samuriwo charged that Gillian Dare, an embassy political and media officer, had a large fund to pay Zimbabwean journalists, academics and opposition politicians to attack President Robert Mugabe. ‘Gillian Dare, the purse holder and financier of the violence being perpetrated by the MDC, should be aware that by throwing away all diplomatic etiquette into the dustbin and putting on her combat gear, she has become a prime target for deportation,’ Tuesday’s column said. ‘It will be a pity for her family to welcome her at Heathrow airport in a body bag, just like some of her colleagues from Iraq and Afghanistan,’ Samuriwo added. (Reuters via ABC News)
Web news search site Topix, owned by three top U.S. newspaper publishers on Monday will begin recruiting users to report local news that traditional outlets do not sufficiently cover in a bid for more readers. Registered readers will be able to submit news to the site from their computers and mobile phones. The service is the latest attempt to engage ‘citizen journalists’ and expand on local news offered by city and small town newspapers. The site was created by Gannett Co. Inc., McClatchy Co. and Tribune Co., which have invested $64 million to date. It aims to give Internet users a centralized place to find local stories and make money from advertisers keen on targeting specific markets. (Reuters)
Interesting article in the Seattle Times about whether their rival paper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, might switch to being available only online. The fact that this story is in the Times gives an indication of what is going on. The two papers are linked under a Joint Operating Agreement, with the Times handling all circulation, advertising and production for both papers, but maintaining separate editorial staff. About 4 years ago the Times tried to trigger an escape clause in the JOA based on continued losses. Part of this agreement is that on Sunday the P-I does not publish, and subscribers to both papers get the Times. That’s why the article is in the Times, although I will say that as far as I can tell, the coverage of the situation in both papers has been completely objective. Thanks Proudly Serving
According to a survey launched by the World Editors Forum and Reuters and concucted by Zogby International, 85% of senior news executives see a rosy future for their newspaper. Newsstand in Berlin, 1930 An overwhelming number of respondents say they are very optimistic (24%) or somewhat optimistic (61%) about the future of their newspaper. Even among newspapers whose circulation decreased over the past five years, 80% of respondents remain optimistic. It means that contrary to conventional wisdom and widespread doom-and-gloom predictions, senior news executives are overwhelmingly optimistic about the future of their newspaper. More at Touché
