By Jeremy Ambers

The other day, I came across this interesting website.  What originally caught my eye was that this website is for a new business venture in my hometown of Hoboken, NJ.  It’s for an Authentic Mexican Restaurant called The Taco Truck.  Well, I guess it would be a restaurant and a bunch of trucks that serve Mexican food.  I LOVE Mexican food.  But, beyond that, this site is a great example of how to utilize video on your website.

If you go to the website and click on the link for “Food”, you will see a bunch of options.  After you read through the mouthwatering menu, you’ll see a button for “Truck TV”.  This website, promoting a restaurant that doesn’t even exist yet, is offering something that is ‘outside the box’ in terms of traditional restaurant websites.  Not only do they offer information about everything concerning their business, but they also include short food preparation videos in a forum called ‘Truck TV’.  This way, their viewers can look at how the recipes are constructed, and also try to make them at home.  This is a new trend in digital media.  The user creates and controls which content they want to see.   This way, as the restaurant grows and develops, they’ll be able to document their growth, as well as share any new developments, recipes or even news notes with their customer/fan base by simply directing viewers to this simple location.  I’ve seen other, established restaurant chains that have similar things on their websites, but never have I seen one from a new business that is up and ready to grow along with the company.

Sure, utilizing video on your website is not necessarily a ‘new’ idea.  However, it’s important to realize that sometimes thinking ‘outside the box’ generates new interest in your product in ways that you never thought possible.  In this case, the owners of The Taco Truck have discovered a relatively low cost way of promoting their business on their own terms, in a way that allows the viewer to choose which message they want to receive.

I can’t wait for them to open!!!

By Jeremy Ambers

Yesterday, the United States Congress approved an extension of the Digital Transition deadline.  By law, all full-power television stations in the United States must begin broadcasting exclusively in digital format on or before June 12, 2009.  The date was changed from February 17th, 2009, after it was discovered that nearly 7 million people were not ready for the transition.   Even though the transition has been promoted for a number of years, and the federal government has been offering a $50 rebate to anyone who needs to purchase a digital converter for their television (ie. anyone who still uses rabbit ears to get their television signal), it is alarming to see how many people still have yet to make the switch.

If you are one of those individuals who have yet to make the switch, here are a couple of useful links:

• Frequently Asked Questions

• Converter Box Coupon Program

By Jeremy Ambers

This is not exactly ‘This Just In’ caliber news, but it’s still pretty interesting.  A couple of months ago, Radiohead premiered a new music video for a song called ‘House of Cards’.  What makes this so interesting is the fact that they did not use one camera in the filming of the video.  Instead, the video utilized two technologies: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne Lidar.  The Geometric Informatics scanning system uses structured light to capture detailed 3-D images at a close proximity.  This technology captured performances by singer, Thom Yorke, the female lead and several partygoers.  

The Velodyne Lidar system uses multiple lasers to capture larger environments in 3-D.  In the case of this particular video, there were 64 lasers, each rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute, capturing all of the exterior scenes and wide party shots.  Here is a ‘Behind the Scenes’ Video on the making of ‘House of Cards’.

By Jeremy Ambers

It was just announced this week, at the Annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas… television networks will soon begin broadcasting live to cell phones.

According to the Open Mobile Video Coalition, Mobile Digital Television will be broadcasting on cell phones in New York City sometime in 2009.  The OMVC, which includes all four major networks, PBS and the CW, have been working with LG and Samsung to develop the technology necessary to provide the service.

Mobile TV service would enable customers to watch live television broadcasts (both national and local) from wherever they can get a signal.  However, since most programming is already provided via download, the only programming that would really benefit will be news and sports.  

I personally see a number of pros and cons regarding this new concept.  I mean, it seems like a practical addition for someone who sits on a bus for two or three hours a day (although I would prefer a book or music).  They can get their Today Show fix while sitting in traffic.  But what about those people who send text messages while driving?  Are they going to start implementing tv time into their routine?  And I would hate to be the guy at a nice dinner trying to watch the big game under the table.

Ultimately, I am all for new technology that gives the user further control over what content they choose to view.  However, I hope that anyone who utilizes Mobile Digital Television will do so in a safe and sensible fashion.

By Jeremy Ambers

Over the past year, our nation has watched as the financial infrastructure has pretty much devoured itself.  Investment banks wish they had a “do-over,” while the “Big 3” have crawled on hands and knees (well, actually, flown in private jets) to the steps of the Capital, begging for some salvation from the government.  Pretty much everyone I know (from close friends, to large corporations) have begun to cut spending and save in preparation for the impending storm.  Gone are the days of careless investing and blindfolded development.  Which leaves one question for the Media Industry:  What about us?

“I can’t help but wonder why financial institutions and the automotive industry are considered so vital to our economic stability, yet media and communications are perceived as having so little relevance,” writes Jack Myers, a media insider. 

Sure, much of the Media and Advertising revenue depends on the auto industry.  Just watch an hour of television on any station and count how many car commercials and product placements you see if you don’t believe me (Jack Bauer, I’m looking at you and your shiny new Ford Expedition!).  But while the media is reporting all of the financial devastation in our country, it fails to reflect upon itself. 

I just read this morning that NBC has announced it will launch Jay Leno’s new show at 10 pm, five nights a week.  Great news for revenue as his viewership will undoubtedly grow in an earlier timeslot.  Bad news for anyone in the industry who was hoping to develop new content for the three hour primetime block, which is now reduced to two. “Can we continue to program 22 hours of prime time? Three of our competitors don’t,” NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said Monday at an industry conference, according to a published report.

NBC Universal also recently cut 500 jobs in an effort to cut their budget for 2009.  In fact, since 2002, the entire media industry has cut nearly 10% of its workforce.  Over 100,000 jobs have disappeared, with speculation that another 100,000 could fall by the wayside as early as next year.

Since the government likes to stick their hands into the media industry involving everything from defining “appropriate content” to forcing TV stations to invest billions of dollars into the digital conversion, why do they turn a blind eye when it comes to the slow death of mass media?

I’m not saying any bailout is wrong or right.  Only time will tell.  But who decides which industry is salvageable, and how?

By Jeremy Ambers

I recently came across this interesting article while I was perusing the internet.  I’ve often wondered how the current business model of the Newspaper Industry can withstand the tidal wave of immediate access to information that we’ve seen over the past decade.  After all, what use is a daily newspaper (with yesterday’s news developments) sitting in your driveway, when you can simply roll over to your night-stand and access the internet on your blackberry, or turn on any number of 24 hour news stations to hear what the ‘talking heads’ have to say?

Every morning, I ride the train to work, and I pick up a paper from one of the modern newsies.  Often times, I find that half of the paper is ‘old news’ I’ve already heard about through other means.  Still, it passes the time on my 20 minute ride.  With the constant bombardment of newer, shinier stimuli, newspapers don’t stand a chance.  Casually looking around the train car, I notice the number of people reading newspapers has significantly dropped over the past five years.  Now all I see are i-pods and blackberries. 

Sure, news media have started to embrace the concept of instant gratification.  Every daily newspaper has an accompanying website complete with everything you could ask for; the articles featured in every issue, as well as additional, web-only content that is used to draw more traffic.  What if these media conglomerates opted to end their print publication all together and focused their attention on web-based content?  Perhaps they could apply the costs of printing and distributing the daily paper to hiring new and original writers and reporters.  This would create more ‘voices’ who report the news rather than relying on the Associated Press for most of their articles.  In theory, more voices equal a more ‘fair and balanced’ news media.

Still, there’s something to be said about sitting with a cup of coffee and a morning paper.  Even that has been targeted by new technology.  Amazon.com recently released the Kindle.  Basically, the Kindle is an electronic book that weighs less than a typical paperback and allows you to download up to 200 titles at a time, as well as many of the top U.S. newspapers and magazines.  You don’t even need a computer or WIFI hotspot to download content.  If you are in an area with cell phone reception, you can download content right to your Kindle!  AND, without a discount (which there are many of), it costs only a little more than an annual subscription to The New York Times (which is available for download)!

From 2000 to 2006, newsprint demand in North America fell by 25%.  I don’t see that number going up anytime soon.  This is yet another example of a challenge that has been set forth by new media.  Unless the Newspaper Industry can grow and adapt to this change, the future does not look bright.

By Jeremy Ambers

I recently had an opportunity to visit my alma mater, Oswego State University, to attend the 2008 edition of the Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit, titled Media Revolution.  Cold, wind and snow aside, the trip was well worth the hassle.  

The Summit featured a Panel Discussion followed by a Q&A session where members of the audience were able to pose questions to professionals from all corners of the Mass Media industry.  The panel was moderated by  Jack Myers, who owns and operates the entertainment publishing company Myers Publishing.  The rest of the panel included J. Scott Dinsdale, executive vice president of digital operations and new technology for SONY/BMG Music Entertainment; Erica Farber, CEO of Radio & Records magazine; 1981 SUNY Oswego graduate Steve Leblang, senior vice president of strategic planning and research for FX Networks; and Patrick Stiegman, vice president and executive editor/producer for ESPN.com. 

Throughout the discussion, Jack Meyers led the panelists through a number of topics ranging from new media and the internet, to music piracy.  It was interesting to see where these media veterans feel the industry is headed considering the past decade has seen the most change in decades.  It was also fascinating to hear them discuss issues, like music piracy, that are most prevalent on college campuses, in front of students who more than likely contribute to illegal downloading.

To listen to the entire Panel Discussion, click here.