Digital Destiny

Ken Tomlinson survived a vote of no-confidence yesterday only because of White House support. Tomlinson, the chair of the Broadcast Board of Governors (BBG), kept his job with the key vote delivered by Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes (representing Sec. of State Condi Rice on the BBG board). In essence, it was the President—or more likely Tomlinson’s pal Karl Rove—that kept him in charge of the U.S. overseas propaganda/and news service. Tomlinson’s activities were criticized recently by a State Department Inspector-General report. Among the charges: Tomlinson spent time on the job working on his horse racing business.

Democrats on the BBG board supported two resolutions: his dismissal as chair while an inquiry continues and one that would have reduced his authority. Tomlinson, you will recall, was also forced to give up his other Bush Adm. high-level job last year—chair of the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Both at CPB and BBG, Tomlinson has engaged in a variety of activities that were deemed unprofessional—if not illegal. But he also gave the White House what it wanted. At CPB, Tomlinson created a behind the scenes pressure campaign to stifle the (occasionally) more serious journalism of PBS and NPR, and put GOP party operatives in overall control. At the BBG, we assume Tomlinson’s role has ensured that its various services are fully incorporated with the overall Administration game plan for its “war on terror.” Think `psyops’ and government PR. Tomlinson would have also actively quelled any internal dissent about the BBG’s mission, coming from the more idealistic news types at VOA. The blind loyalty he has received from the White House raises the question of exactly what Tomlinson’s has been doing for them at the BBG. We hope reporters and others will help us find out. I’d like to place a bet on it!

* toochis

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We are unleashing the most powerful media system every developed. Two-way, lightening-fast, personalized. Ubiquitous, as we are connected everywhere: PC, TV, mobile. How does some of the Fortune 500 intend to use this new medium? Well, Anheuser-Busch’s Bud.TV is about to unleash at least seven broadband video channels. They already have programs in production. One is called “Replaced by a Chimp.” For each show, they will “grab a profession, such as a waiter, or a bartender, or a trial attorney and replace those people with a chimp, and film the reaction of the consumers who happen to be in the same environment as the chimp. And then, at the end of the show, the consumer will vote on whether the chimp should stay and continue on the job…” That’s according to Bud’s VP of digital marketing and brand entertainment. [Read the three-part iMediaconnection series here.]

While we think such a show has some unthought-of of possibilities (replace a President, Congressperson or DC-based ad industry lobbyist anyone?), what Anheuser-Busch and so many others plan to do with branded entertainment raises many serious concerns (not the least of which is that though they claim otherwise, Bud will be reaching the under age drinking age population via these methods). Bud intends to air what it calls a “documentary,” –it will be peppered with “product placements.” They are signing up well-known actors, such as Kevin Spacey and his TriggerStreet Productions, to create short films—and ultimately help endorse– their adnetwork. Bud.TV is negotiating with Rupert Murdoch so it can get a MySpace page for one of their “characters.” They are talking to NBC/Universal as well. They will use viral strategies to get consumers to make commercials for their beer, which will be shown on its very own channel–named “BudTube.” (I couldn’t make all this up if I tried!).

But hey, broadband and digital media will soon all be about interactive marketing, brand pushing, and data collection. I guess I better chill. After all, I might miss Bud.TV’s “happy hour” program. They’ve named it the “4:55 Show.”

PS: As we noted yesterday, advertisers and programmers want to return to the good old days when they jointly created content. We acknowledge that the 1950’s Today show star J. Fred Muggs might approve of the Bud Chimp idea.

The so-called tattered “wall” separating editorial content and advertising will soon be totally obliterated. So eager/desperate for ad dollars, a vast array of websites, TV networks, and others on the broadband highway are willing to do anything to please marketers. Financially powerful brands are using their clout—and online access–to create a web of channels and other content designed to promote products. It’s going to be an ad, ad, ad, ad world.

Take, for example, Time Warner’s new “digital ad content division,” which it named “Studio 2.0.” This unit will “integrate brands and develop programming specifically for ad sponsorship,” noted Ad Age. Time Warner and others want to give us a torrent of ad-created content designed to promote greater consumption of the products which pay them the most [think junk food, fast cars, and beer]. A model for such efforts, they proudly claim, is radio and early television. Radio broadcasting broke its promise to the public that there would be substantial commercial-free (known as sustaining) programming. Program schedules were created and packaged by ad agencies. TV networks also worked closely with Madison Ave. to help promote brands. For example, NBC’s evening TV news program was called “The Camel News Caravan,” named after its sponsor—Camel cigarettes. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz could be seen smoking cigarettes on their popular “I Love Lucy” series. Philip Morris was the sponsor.

Here’s what a senior Warner TV exec. said about the mission of Studio 2.0. “We view this an a natural extension of what we do every day as content creators, and we’re adapting to the digital environment. Since advertisers were intimately involved in the early days of television, it makes sense for them to be involved in this arena, too.”

Yikes! I hope they add that quote in Time Warner’s annual corporate social responsibility report!

Here’s an excerpt from the Time Warner Studio 2.0 announcement: “What has become eminently clear is that our advertising partners in our traditional television businesses are anxious to work in collaboration with the creative community to develop original digital content,” said [Bruce] Rosenblum [president Warner Bros. TV Group]. “At our core, we are a content creation company and Studio 2.0 is a natural, yet extraordinarily exciting, extension of our television production businesses. We are confident that…Studio 2.0 will successfully provide advertisers with cutting edge tools that will integrate their brands with inventive digital content in fresh, impactful and meaningful ways. At the same time, Studio 2.0 will present our creative partners in our television production divisions with a vibrant platform to express their vision in expanding digital arenas…” The complete release is here.

The role that advertisers are playing in the creation of content (see Bud.TV, for example) and with media companies such as Time Warner, Viacom, and Fox is more than troubling. It will require more than disclosure, although such prominent notifications about the financial arrangements and placements will be necessary. Web 2.0 must become more than a series of virtual advertorials. We will be returning to this topic in the months to come.

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Perhaps one reason behind the recent changes at Facebook is that this social web outfit wants to make itself more advertiser-friendly. Last June, Facebook and giant ad agency powerhouse Interpublic Group (IPG) signed a deal that is all about the harvesting of data. IPG’s investment gives it the clout to engage in “mining Facebook for market research trends among its young user base.” In exchange for buying .05 percent of Facebook by agreeing to spend around $10 million worth of ads, IPG is able to “participate in marketing programs on the website, including online advertising and promotions, as well as pilot programs involving sponsorships, consumer research and content creation on behalf of its clients.”

Of course, there’s also the new major (last month) advertising deal with Microsoft. According to the press release, “[A]dvanced technology from Microsoft and Facebook will help connect advertisers with Facebook users in more relevant, innovative ways through a combination of graphical ad placements, as well as automated text-based advertisements targeted to content and, over time, aggregate user behavior on an anonymous basis.”

We’re glad there’s a protest, and users feel their privacy has been violated. But Facebook and other social networking sites, such as MySpace, need to come clean about how their mega-marketing deals with advertisers/marketers threatens everyone’s privacy (at the very least!). We hope there will be more protests focused on social networking sites and their advertising/marketing deals and plans.

All along, we said that one of the key reasons why cable and phone companies oppose network neutrality safeguards is that they plan to impose a whole new business model for broadband communications in the U.S. They want, in essence, a “pay-per-packet” scheme where they can install digital tollbooths all over cyberspace. Favored content ($$$) gets sent over the fast lane. Others placed on a slower and more limited “tier.” High on their target list as an enemy for profits are peer-to-peer applications (P2P). They don’t want users harnessing the power of the network to bypass their “monetization” plans for the Internet. Technology companies are working to help them give P2P the cold shoulder. Take this new [Aug. 29] announcement from Allot Communications, a company that manufactures a broadband control device called “Net Enforcer.”

Allot can now “detect and manage encrypted BitTorrent traffic,” which it says is taking up too much network bandwidth. Since some of the BitTorrent communications is encrypted, it’s difficult for ISPs, says Allot, to detect and manage it. But with its new service, Allot assure the phone and cable companies (and other places such as college campuses) that encrypted P2P can be sent to slower lanes, limited, or even blocked. Here’s what Allot says in its release: “Using deep packet inspection (DPI), Allot NetEnforcer allows service providers and enterprises to have greater visibility into their networks to inspect identify and analyze hundreds of applications and protocols, track subscriber behavior, prioritize traffic and shape traffic flows. DPI technology provides a comprehensive view of traffic and applications on the network, allowing providers to maintain greater control of quality of service (QoS) on both the subscriber and the application level, and to differentiate themselves in the industry based on tiered service offerings and guaranteed service delivery.”

For more industry documents that give us a digital “Rosetta” stone into our digital future, see here. And remember. The phone and cable companies must be defeated politically when Congress returns next week. We don’t want to have an AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner styled “Big Brother,” able to control our broadband travels. Nor do we want to see these companies use their power to help out the government—say the NSA!

Just a reminder, although I’m sure you all know. So-called Web 2.0 services are being shaped to help advertising and marketing. Users should beware—and be informed—about what kind of deals are being made now that big media companies such as Murdoch’s News Corp./Fox owns the 100 million user MySpace site. For example, what exactly happens when you visit all those “friends” pages placed by Burger King, Wendy’s and Jack in the Box? For a list of companies plying “profiles” of their brands on MySpace, click here.

Evidence that MySpace is for sale to marketers was yesterday’s announcement that its homepage was sold for a day to the new youth-targeted TV network run jointly by CBS and Time Warner—called CW. On September 20, which is the day CW officially begins operations, MySpace’s “skin will be made over in CW green, with prominent mentions of the debut that night of “America’s Next Top Model.”

We have nothing against folks making a digital dollar. But some limits and safeguards are required—including a clear delineation between interactive advertising/marketing and content. Full disclosure about exactly what advertisers are getting for their sponsorship is also a must. It seems that MySpace is becoming “MySpaceforsale Space.”

[source: “Inside Move: CW Marks a MySpace Page.” Josef Adalian. Variety, August 31, 2006. Subscription required]