BBC News announced a breakthrough recently by opening its news archive to the public under a Creative Commons-like license.
Available only to UK residents, the news archive currently houses around 80 clips of many of the top stories of the past 50 years, including the uprising in Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall and other landmark events.
Users can then use this footage to create new works that build on the existing BBC material, without fear of reprisals from the British media giant. The license utilized, BBC’ own Creative Archive license, is similar to the Creative Commons license, with stipulations for non-commercial, non-endorsement use, as well as for share-alike and attribution usage.
Although the offerings are currently small, opening the archive is another step forward for the BBC following their move last fall to allow users to remix BBC content. Free to use.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/calc/news/index.shtml
BBC opens news archives
Reuters offers free breaking news video
Free breaking news video player for your site: Reuters Video
If you have not yet seen the new free news video player from Reuters, you should certainly give a good look at it. Launched this week, this Flash-based video player can be integrated within any web site or blog in a matter of seconds providing your readers with the ability to watch the latest Reuters video stories as they break, directly on your web pages.
Just apply, and receive via email a snippet of code to place inside your next article or within the template of all your web site pages. That is right: you can place and display the news video player on as many pages as you want, while Reuters keeps all maintenance, publishing and bandwidth costs for itself.
The Reuters news video player has up to 20 of the latest breaking stories from around the world which your readers can watch right in the context of your page. No pop-ups, no software installs. The Reuters video news player is free though it, next to news items, it may display some advertising.
http://labs.reuters.com/video/
Are heterosexual Internet users antisocial?
Put another way (and paraphrasing the old Breck’s television campaign), do straights have less fun? Well, online, at least, maybe so…. (here)
The results of a recent survey commissioned by Witeck-Combs Communications and conducted by Harris Interactive suggest that online social network sites are more popular with gay, lesbian and bisexual (GLB) Internet users than they are with heterosexual Web surfers.
An online survey of over 2,500 US adults (ages 18 and older) showed that, proportionately, GLB Internet users visit social networking sites Friendster and MySpace more often in an average week than do heterosexual Internet usrs, with Facebook used about equally by the two groups.
Additionally, 27% of GLB Internet users reported that they visit YouTube for an hour or so each week, compared with 22% of heterosexual respondents.
GLB respondents to the survey were also slightly more likely to visit Craigslist, with 20% spending around an hour each week there, compared with 13% of heterosexual Internet users.
Overall, GLB Internet users spend significantly more time online than their heterosexual counterparts, according to the survey results. Excluding e-mail usage, nearly twice as many GLB respondents (32%) said they are online between 24 and 168 hours a week, compared with only 18% of heterosexual Internet users who reported the same.
“We have consistently benchmarked strong online usage by the gay community,” said Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs. “Social networks also appear to be second nature for the gay and lesbian consumer [and] that translates directly into significant market opportunities.”
For more on social networking site opportunities, read eMarketer’s Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending Update report.
Online video becomes a real business
Welcome to the MoneyTube (here).
eMarketer estimates that more than one-third of the total US population ages 3 and older viewed video on the Internet at least monthly during 2006, and in three years more than half of all Americans will be part of the online video audience.
“At this point, nearly 60% of all Internet users watch video regularly, and that share will increase to over 80% by the end of 2010,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and the author of the new Internet Video Audience report.
There were will be 108 million US Internet video users this year, and 157 million by 2010.
But do millions of viewers constitute a market?
According to “The Video Store Goes Virtual: The Global Outlook for Online Video Sales” report from Strategy Analytics, yes, online sales of television shows, movies and other prerecorded video products will become a billion-dollar business — next year.
Although video-download sales made through iTunes and other online sources will total just $298 million this year, Strategy Analytics predicts that by the end of 2007 the online video market will grow to $1.5 billion.
“2007 will be remembered as the year in which online sales of prerecorded video finally become a real business,” said Martin Olausson of Strategy Analytics. “Just like with music, online delivery of video content is now emerging as a viable and increasingly important distribution channel for content owners.”
By 2010, the report estimates that global revenues from online video sales, rentals and subscriptions will reach $5.9 billion, and account for 8% of total home video industry revenues.
Although pay-to-own downloads account for most online video revenues today, other payment models will emerge. By 2010, Strategy Analytics projects that rentals and subscription-based services will account for about one-quarter of annual online video sales to consumers.
For more on this subject, read eMarketer’s recently released Internet Video Audience report.
Americans continue to leave newspapers for other media
‘I want my media!’
The TV and MTV generations (and that includes almost all of us now) are not satisfied with one channel any longer — we have become multi-channel media omnivores.
In fact, when you add it all up, according to the data in the new “Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007,” from the US Census Bureau, Americans spend more time every day consuming media than they do eating.
According to the Census Bureau, Americans spend nearly half their lives with TV, radio, the Internet and newspapers — often using more than one at a time.
In the US, adults and teens will spend nearly five months (3,518 hours) next year watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to personal music devices.
The report states: “People will spend 65 days in front of the TV, 41 days listening to radio and a little over a week on the Internet in 2007. Adults will spend about a week reading a daily newspaper and teens and adults will spend another week listening to recorded music.”
That means every day next year, on average, Americans will spend almost 10 hours watching television, surfing the Internet, reading books, newspapers and magazines and listening to music.
“The demand for information and entertainment seems almost insatiable,” James Rutherfurd of Veronis Suhler Stevenson told The New York Times.
Here is how the typical American’s media day breaks down. He or she will spend nearly four and a half hours watching television, two and a half hours listening to radio and a half hour listening to recorded music. The other two and a half hours will be spent reading newspapers, surfing the Internet, playing video games and doing other reading.
Obviously, the amount of time Americans spent on media every year is rising, from 3,340 hours in 2000 to 3,543 hours last year — and that figure is projected to rise to 3,620 hours in 2010.
The time spent with each media category varies. Americans spend less time watching broadcast television, which dropped from 793 hours a year in 2000 to 679 hours in 2005, and more time on the Internet, which rose from 104 hours a year in 2000 up to 183 hours in 2005.
Not surprisingly, Americans spend money consuming all that media.
Consumer spending for media is forecast to be $936.75 per US citizen next year.
Of course, media is not the only thing Americans consume.
The report found that Americans drink about a gallon of soda a week, along with a half-gallon each of milk, bottled water, coffee and beer. Which helps explain why two-thirds of us are overweight, including one-third who are obese.
Dessert Item
Looking back at Internet activity in 2005, the report found that, among US adults, 97 million Internet users sought news online in 2005, 92 million purchased products and 91 million made travel reservations. About 16 million used social or professional networking sites and 13 million created blogs.
If reading this article has made you hungry for more on media consumption, you may enjoy reading eMarketer’s new Internet Video Audience report.
Online video becomes a real business
Welcome to the MoneyTube (here).
eMarketer estimates that more than one-third of the total US population ages 3 and older viewed video on the Internet at least monthly during 2006, and in three years more than half of all Americans will be part of the online video audience.
“At this point, nearly 60% of all Internet users watch video regularly, and that share will increase to over 80% by the end of 2010,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and the author of the new Internet Video Audience report.
There were will be 108 million US Internet video users this year, and 157 million by 2010.
But do millions of viewers constitute a market?
According to “The Video Store Goes Virtual: The Global Outlook for Online Video Sales” report from Strategy Analytics, yes, online sales of television shows, movies and other prerecorded video products will become a billion-dollar business — next year.
Although video-download sales made through iTunes and other online sources will total just $298 million this year, Strategy Analytics predicts that by the end of 2007 the online video market will grow to $1.5 billion.
“2007 will be remembered as the year in which online sales of prerecorded video finally become a real business,” said Martin Olausson of Strategy Analytics. “Just like with music, online delivery of video content is now emerging as a viable and increasingly important distribution channel for content owners.”
By 2010, the report estimates that global revenues from online video sales, rentals and subscriptions will reach $5.9 billion, and account for 8% of total home video industry revenues.
Although pay-to-own downloads account for most online video revenues today, other payment models will emerge. By 2010, Strategy Analytics projects that rentals and subscription-based services will account for about one-quarter of annual online video sales to consumers.
For more on this subject, read eMarketer’s recently released Internet Video Audience report.
Canadian online retail spending to double by 2009
There are signs that Canada’s slow-to-develop retail e-commerce market is finally gaining momentum. Not only are more Canadians buying online, in a wider array of categories, a number of large retail chains and smaller, specialized retailers have launched online stores in Canada over the past year.
Attention: Online Marketers, Advertising Agencies, Retailers and Software, Hardware and Internet Providers.
The Canada B2C E-Commerce report analyzes the forces that are — finally — opening up the Canadian online retail market.
Statistics Canada found that 57% of Internet users like to window shop online, while a quarter less are willing to buy online. But Canadians are relatively comfortable buying services such as event tickets and travel reservations online, and comScore reported that experienced online shoppers up North are now venturing into expensive product categories.
In fact, Canadians are poised to double their online spending for retail goods from $8 billion this year to $16 billion by 2009.
Key questions the “Canada B2C E-Commerce” report answers:
- What is the current state of Canada’s retail e-commerce market?
- How large is the market currently?
- What is the potential size of the market?
- What critical factors are driving Canadian e-commerce?
- What factors are still holding development back?
- And many others…
eMarketer Reports—On-Target and Up-to-Date
The Canada B2C E-Commerce report aggregates the latest data from leading marketing and communications researchers with eMarketer numbers, projections and analysis to provide the information you need to make the right business decision — right when you need to.
10 key predictions for 2007
eMarketer’s 10 Key Predictions for 2007
JANUARY 2, 2007
What to watch for in 2007….
- Online Ad Spending Will Hit $20 Billion
- Some Money and Lots of Hype for Online Video Advertising
- Social Networks Are Set for a $1 Billion Windfall
- Downloadable Games Will Get Hotter
- Thirty-Seven Million Strong: A ‘Minority’ Bigger than Canada
- Mobile TV Arrives
- US B2C E-Commerce Will Cruise Past $200 Billion
- The Retail Power of Word-of-Mouth
- Broadband Services Will Matter as Much as Speed
- DVRs Pump Up TV Viewing
Online Ad Spending
Total US spending on Internet advertising will reach at least $19.5 billion in 2007. This is 19% more than total spending in 2006. This rate of growth is sharply down from the 30% or more that has been the norm for several years. However, even this reduced level of year-on-year growth would be considered spectacular for most industries. With total US advertising spending projected to grow by a mere 1.4% in 2007, the shift to the Internet is clearly set to maintain its heady momentum in 2007.
Online Video Advertising
Internet video advertising will get more media play than dollars in 2007. eMarketer projects that spending on this format will total $775 million in 2007. To put this figure in perspective, remember that it represents only 4.0% of projected US online ad spending. Although marketers are increasingly keen on including video in their online ad campaigns, they will continue to face a shortage of appropriate premium placements.
Social Networks
Worldwide ad spending on online social networks should top $1 billion in 2007, up from an estimated $445 million this year. Fueling this growth will be factors such as international expansion, “niche” networks and Google’s deal to supply search technology to MySpace.
Video Game Downloads
Digital downloading of video games will take off in 2007, and by 2010 this distribution method will account for 22% of all worldwide game software revenues. Besides online stores pushing the new generation of games consoles, look for Time Warner’s GameTap service to position itself as the HBO of PC gaming, focusing on original content to drive its subscription service. Video-on-demand (VOD) marketers may find their skills in demand for promoting these platforms, which play on subscriber taste for instant gratification via download.
Hispanic and African-American Internet Users
The number of African-American and Hispanic Internet users in the US will rise to 37 million, from 35 million in 2006. This market will continue to grow faster than the total US online population for several more years, giving advertisers with the imagination to reach out to them fresh opportunities. (The population of Canada is 33 million.)
Mobile TV
Mobile TV took its first baby steps in 2006 with professional content. The World Cup offered a first glimpse of what the broadcasting future for mobile might look like, and in 2007 another crucial element will be added to the mobile-TV mix — user-generated content (CGC). Given the impact the Web equivalent of this development has had in 2006, advertisers and marketers are likely to face a dizzying array of new choices.
US B2C E-Commerce
US B2C online sales will comfortably pass the $200 billion mark in 2007, reaching a new record total, which eMarketer projects will be $223 billion. Online retail sales will account for $132 billion of this, with online travel accounting for $91 billion. Some of the impetus for this growth will come from existing online buyers increasing their spending. A significant force driving online travel sales is the demand from travel-loving and relatively affluent baby boomers.
Word-of-Mouth
The influence of consumer generated content (CGC) on US consumers’ purchase decisions will continue to grow in 2007. A recent study from market research firm Compete found that consumers were more likely to be swayed by CGC than by information coming directly from brand advertisers and marketers.
Broadband Services
When broadband emerged, it was distinguished from dial-up by its always-on nature and the greater bandwidth available to users. These characteristics were seen as reason enough to trade up from dial-up. Now, however, broadband is about value-added services and is driven by providers bundling voice, video and data together. Services such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) are approaching the 30% penetration range. eMarketer predicts that one in four broadband households in 2007 will subscribe to a VoIP service, rising to nearly 40% of broadband households by 2010.
DVRs and TV Viewing
The alarmist claims that digital video recorders (DVRs) and video-on-demand (VOD) would cause the death of TV and the loss of billions of dollars worth of advertising dollars are increasingly looking just plain wrong. TV distribution and access are changing and audiences are increasingly fragmented. However, every challenge presents an opportunity. More people will watch more TV and video content in the future, not less. They will just be doing so in different ways — via the TV, the Internet, the PC and their portable devices. eMarketer predicts that VOD will be in 30% of US TV households by the end of 2007 and that DVRs will be in 30% of TV households by 2009.
Peak online shopping hours: 9 to 5
I don’t have time for a meeting now, I’m shopping.’ (here)
In the early days of the Internet, the overwhelming majority of online shoppers logged on from work. The reason was simple. They had access to high-speed connections at work, but not from home (where most were still on dial-up), so shopping was easier and quicker from the workplace.
Now things are different.
According to the latest figures from the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future, more homes in the US now connect with broadband than by dial-up.
So why are shoppers still going online from work?
Despite the proliferation of high-speed Internet connections in US homes, a new survey from CyberSource shows that most e-commerce shopping happens during work hours.
CyberSource found that the peak shopping hour on a recent high-volume week (December 3 through December 9, during the critical online holiday shopping season) was 1 pm Pacific time (4 pm Eastern time) — work hours by anyone’s definition.
On the other hand, online transactions hit their low point between the hours of 11 pm and 4 am Pacific time (2 am and 7 am Eastern time). After that, as employees began going in to work on the East Coast and then across the nation, shopping volumes also began climbing to their midday peak.
The survey found a marked difference between workdays and weekends, too. The highest-volume online shopping days were Monday and Tuesday, while Saturday and Sunday had the lowest volumes.
“We’ve all seen the numbers — broadband is now in two-thirds of American homes equipped for the Internet,” said Doug Schwegman of CyberSource. “But our processing stats say the majority of people are still doing their online shopping from the office.”
The survey did indicate some change. The difference between the highest- and lowest-volume hours is diminishing.
For instance, in the same week in 2004, the difference between the lowest and the highest number of transactions was approximately 300%. In 2006, that difference had decreased to roughly 160%.
“The graphs are flattening — albeit with much higher numbers. Online shopping is not only getting bigger, it’s becoming more of a 24-hour phenomenon,” said Mr. Schwegman.
For more of the retail picture online, read eMarketer’s Online Holiday Shopping Preview report.
Survey: 95% of shoppers check online deals
ShopLocal Survey, Says 95% of Shoppers Check Online Deals
Chicago, Illinois - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - January 5, 2007 - A new survey from ShopLocal, reports that consumers who visit retail web sites, are likely to shop and spend more at local stores. According to the multi-channel shopping service firm, the survey of 37,500 people underscores the prevalence of the Internet as a shopping research tool.
In the survey, 69 percent of those asked, said they made an in-store purchase after gathering information on products via online advertising circulars compared with 27 percent who bought items over the Internet after viewing the online ads. The majority of respondents (56 percent) went to the online advertising circulars specifically to browse sales and discounts before purchasing and another 35 percent cited new specials piqued their interest.
There was some variance from category to category with respondents indicating they glanced through the advertisements for less costly items, such as comparing groceries and beauty specials, but when it came to big-ticket items such as a consumer electronic product, people often used the online advertising circulars to research and compare specific items before visiting their local stores.
Bob Armour, Chief Marketing Officer for ShopLocal opined, ”The power of the Internet has improved the quality and quantity of today’s shopping experience, both for online purchasing and local in-store shopping. Online purchasing offers convenience but lacks the social aspects of in-store shopping, such as seeing, feeling and holding items and it offers the greatest satisfaction of walking away with something right away and having it in-hand.”
ShopLocal conducted the online survey from October 26 through December 5, 2006. The survey covered 32 retailers across five major categories: consumer electronics, food/beverage and health/beauty, home and garden, mass merchant and office supplies. Over 37,500 shoppers who went to the retailers’ web sites responded to the survey. In a press release distributed last month, ShopLocal also reported an 84% increase from last year in visits to online circulars on November 24th’s ”Black Friday,” one of the holiday season’s busiest shopping days, as consumers took advantage of finding online ads early in the day to help them pinpoint bargains available at local offline retailers.
Mr. Amour continued, ”The conclusion to draw is that the Internet in general is becoming a mainstream source of information for consumers, and specifically, the online circular is becoming a must-have resource for shoppers and retailers. The more frequently shoppers use these circulars the more likely they are to visit a store in the near future.”
ShopLocal provides consumers and retailers with a comprehensive marketplace for multi-channel shopping and advertising. With ShopLocal.com (http://www.shoplocal.com) and The ShopLocal Network - made up of more than 200 affiliate media, search and shopping sites - consumers have access to a source of information on millions of products from local stores side-by-side with online options. With ShopLocal’s SmartCircular, SmartCatalog, SmartMedia and MyStore services, retailers can distribute localized sales and promotional advertising, wherever their customers are on the Web. ShopLocal is owned by Gannett Co, Inc, Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company who also invest in other joint ventures to provide consumers online products such as CareerBuilder.com, Cars.com and Apartments.com.
To learn more, please visit: www.shoplocal.com.
