2011 highlights: Tablets, social media stole the show

The newsmedia landscape continued to change in 2011, shaped by tablets, social media, and the advancement of how digital content is served up the world over.

The devices upon which news and other content is accessed has been a running theme for years, but 2011 saw tablets and e-readers becoming more mainstream, with increasing market penetration. Thanks to smart phones and tablet devices, media consumers’ habits are shifting increasingly to using apps to sift through news and information.

Proving this, Yahoo! and Google released news reader apps this year, competing with already popular apps like Flipboard.

A study out in July showed tablet owners in the United States prefer to read content including news, weather, music, games and information on their tablets instead of their PCs.

The study also showed that tablets contribute to an increase in social network usage, but also significantly cannibalized the usage of print media, and to a lesser degree, mobile devices.

Social media also saw high usage and the first signs of saturation in many markets this year. Facebook, for example, found that in some of its biggest markets, including U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, the usage for activities, such as status updates, sharing content, messaging and installing apps, has plunged. By contrast, total active usage of all social network sites has boosted significantly worldwide across all age groups. For example, usage was up 26 percent among group ages 16 to 24 and up 35 percent among those ages 35 to 44.

In general, emerging markets such as Malaysia and Indonesia are the driving forces for the growth of social networks, while users in more mature markets, including U.S. and the U.K. are shifting focus on e-commerce. Some markets, such as Singapore and Turkey, have both activities significantly popular, but tend to skew slightly one way or the other,

Attempting to compete with Facebook in the social media realm, Google launched Google+ this year. However, the battle against its rival won’t be easy. “Facebook is an entrenched rival with more than 750 million users,” analyst Charlene Li pointed out to Bloomberg.

Another social media site that did well in 2011 was LinkedIn. Its revenue was up 120 percent to $121 million from $54.9 million as membership gained 61 percent to 116 million, while profit totaled $4.5 million, or 4 cents a share, versus $4.3 million year-over-year. Since filing for an IPO in May, the site’s shares more than doubled from the initial price of $45.

Image of 2011: Topleftpixel.com

Times Co. to sell regional newspapers

As it continues its “transformation to a digitally focused, multiplatform media company,” the New York Times Co. will sell its Regional Media Group to Halifax Media Holdings for US$143 million, the company announced this week.

The Florida-based Halifax is paying cash, and after-tax proceeds from the sale are expected to be about $150 million. The regional group is made up of 16 regional newspapers, including The Gainesville Sun, The Sarasota Herald Tribune and The Tuscaloosa News.

The deal follows the announcement that Times CEO Janet Robinson will leave at the end of the year, but will be paid $4.5 million to continue on as a consultant for 12 months. Chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. will take over Robinson’s role on an interim basis.

Image: The Herald-Tribune, of Sarasota, Florida, is among one of the newspapers being sold.

UK has highest mobile news consumption

Mobile news usage is climbing worldwide, but it is the highest in the United Kingdom, where about 8 percent of all traffic to UK newspaper websites comes from devices other than computers, paidContent reported today.

In addition, 25 percent of people have accessed mobile news in general, up from 15 percent just six months ago, according to comScore Device Essentials research in Ofcom’s International Communications Market Report 2011.

“One factor that might contribute to the popularity of newspaper websites on mobile devices in the UK is the availability of mobile versions of newspaper websites,” Ofcom concluded. “These mobile sub- sites format the width of the page and navigation to suit the smaller screens of mobile devices, while some newspapers offer mobile applications which allow the content of newspapers to be downloaded to mobile devices and read offline.

“Eight of the top ten national newspaper websites in the UK had mobile-specific websites, and these eight sites accounted for 99% of page views of the top ten sites.”

Netflix partners with BBC for UK launch

Online film provider Netflix has signed a deal with BBC Worldwide to offer UK television programmes at its launch in the United Kingdom and Ireland in early 2012.

Netflix will give users a chance to stream shows like Little Britain, Top Gear and Fawlty Towers, among others, and allow them to watch programmes from six months after they have been broadcast on television, MediaGuardian reported.

The deal with BBC is not exclusive, and BBC Worldwide has made similar digital licensing agreements with other companies, such as Virgin Media and BlinkBox. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"BBC shows are a big favourite of our over 20 million streaming members in the U.S., Canada and Latin America," said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer, in a press release. "Members love watching back-to-back episodes of BBC series where and when they want, at the click of a button. We are incredibly proud to make these high quality programmes available to Netflix members in the UK and Ireland."

AP steps into digital age with Stylebook tool

The Associated Press last week unveiled software that will make it a little easier for journalists and editors to follow AP Style.

AP StyleGuard proofreads content using the AP Stylebook’s guidelines spelling, punctuation, language, usage and style, Mashable reported. Just as Microsoft Word checks spelling and grammar, the new software saves time so users don’t have to refer to the print copy, and also “offers recommendations on items you might not have realized are covered by AP style,” the AP stated.

The StyleGuard is currently only operates on Windows XP and higher, and on Microsoft Office 2007 and higher. Unfortunately, it is only available for non-Mac computers, and many newsrooms use Macs. However, @APStylebook hinted in a tweet that it might release a version for Macs, Mashable noted.

The tool is available in beta for online Stylebook subscribers Dec. 16; print subscribers will be able to access it Jan. 16.

Study: Special effects make video ads more successful

Advertisers have more success when they use visual effects in their online videos, compared with no visual effects, a new study from visual special effects software maker GenArts has found.

When ads contained specialised video effects, they saw a 13 percent increase in downloading a coupon, 9 percent lower abandonment rate, and a 12 percent increase in purchase intent, the study found.

GenArts used videos featuring sports company Puma to measure the impact visual effects have on the overall effectiveness of video promotions. The study tested two versions of the same Puma sneaker promotion, one with visual effects and one without. The video with effects significantly outperformed the one without.

“Advertisers are challenged to make their ads as effective as possible, but it's not always clear which tools enable you to do that. This case study shows that visual effects are a cost-effective and actionable way to significantly increase the appeal and credibility of your brand, and ultimately increase viewer purchase intent by as much as 12 percent,” Katherine Hays, CEO of GenArts, said in a statement.

According to comScore, advertising currently makes up 15 percent of online video. In October alone, 7.5 billion video ads were viewed in the United States, MediaPost reported.

Study: TV, Internet and mobile gain in viewing time

U.S. adults spend most time on traditional TV and video, including DVR and DVD, up 10 minutes from last year to about 4 hours and 34 minutes each day. Internet consumption is about 2 hours and 47 minutes, up 7.7 percent year-over-year, according to a recent study by eMarketer.

Time spent on mobile phones also increase 30 percent to 1 hour and 5 minutes, which surpasses print magazines and newspapers combined, with only 44 minutes.

Adults spend less time on radio and print publications compared to last year, while the increases to TV and digital contribute to the increase of the total time spent with media, to 11 hours and 33 minutes.

While comparing the U.S. ad spending share to the time spent on individual medium, TV is the one getting its fair share. Internet, radio and mobile, however, has higher share on average time spent but lower ad spending share, which indicate an unmet market. Mobile, for example, accounts for more than 10 percent share of adults’ media time each day, but only makes up less than 1 percent of ad dollars.

On the other side, print media continue to command ad dollars far ahead of their share of time spent, eMarketer reported.

Image: eMarketer

Facebook app enables Web TV viewing on site

Facebook now allows users to watch Web-based TV channels directly within Facebook, through an app. The service is all free, FreeCast.com, the service provider, said.

FreeCast did not specify any channels but said the service includes "content originates from numerous sources around the world, such as TV and cable networks, YouTube, Vimeo, movie channels and radio stations -- all major content distributors."

The revenue will stream from display advertising, not video advertising, Media Post reported.

Facebook users can opt in for getting alerts when the new contents they are interested are available.

Apart from Facebook, FreeCast recently launched as a program guide targeting users' networks and videos that are free.

Netflix wants to tell your friends what you’re watching

Hoping to become the video version of Spotify, Netflix wants to let your friends know what you’ve watched, sending a constant stream of updates via Facebook.

However, a U.S. law requires a company to have permission before it discloses videos you have watched, and Netflix is backing a bill that would change the law from requiring permission each time you watch a video to giving blanket permission once.

The Video Privacy Protection Act states a customer must get written consent from a customer when disclosing personal information, such as rental history. The new bill was past by the House last week, The New York Times reported.

The bill is “really is meant to empower the consumer to be able to share with their friends,” said David Hyman, Netflix’s general council, according to The NY Times.

But not everyone agrees. Privacy advocates say the bill takes away an individual’s ability to decide what to share, and with whom. Should the Senate pass the bill, the law would “undermine consumers’ control over information collected about them even as it empowers customers to create and share more detailed customer profiles. Netflix isn’t lobbying for a mere amendment, they argue; it wants Congress to dismantle a gold standard among privacy statutes,” the article explained.

Legal and privacy issues aside, this also means streaming media with friends via Facebook could happen soon, PCWorld reported.

There are already many ways to share movie choices on Facebook, whether through link-sharing, likes or third-party apps, and a blanket permission from users to automatically share what they’re watching via Netflix streaming is the next logical step, the article stated.

HuffPo partners with El País for Spanish version

The Huffington Post has made a deal with Spanish newspaper El País to launch a new version in Spain.

El Huffington Post will have a space in the Madrid offices of the market-leading newspaper for its local website team. The Spanish version will be “very, very rooted in Spanish culture and politics, but with The Huffington Post template of curation, original reporting and blogging,” Arianna Huffington told Capital New York.

HuffPo has “reached a mass audience in America thanks to a mixture of original content, news aggregation, involvement of users and an important platform for bloggers and experts from all areas,” said Rosalia Lloret, CEO of PRISA Digital Development News, which owns El País, according to the newspaper.

“Both partners will also enhance the original editorial content through a network of journalists and blogger affiliates. The Huffington Post is bringing together an editorial team before its release,” the article explained.

In the United States, HuffPo hasn’t always had a smooth relationship with newsmedia companies, as its aggregation practices make up a good portion of the website’s traffic. However, outside the U.S. HuffPo will benefit from partners’ “infrastructure, credibility and resources; their partners in turn benefit from HuffPo’s digital savvy and from having access to the prodigious volume of content it is known to churn out on a daily basis,” Capital New York reported.

HuffPo has already partnered with Le Monde Group and Les Nouvelles Editions Indépendante for a French version of the site; however, in that deal, the French publishers will share equity with AOL in the site. The Spanish version does not appear to be sharing equity, paidContent noted. The French site has not yet launched. Huffington Post UK launched in the summer.

China’s state TV pursuing international audience

China’s state broadcaster is expanding, increasing its overseas staff by fivefold by the end of 2012, and almost tenfold by 2016, MediaGuardian reported today.

China Central Television is going after an international audience, especially in the United States and Africa, with its English-language services produced in Washington and Nairobi.

Not content to be a global economic powerhouse, China wants to compete culturally as well, MediaGuardian noted.

But will audiences be interested? The new president of CCTV has not won friends lately, when he urged journalists to “drop their pretensions of professionalism and submit to being mouthpieces of the government,” The Lede NY Times blog pointed out Monday. Hu Zhanfan, a former newspaper editor and former vice minister of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, has been compared to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

While Hu’s comments may reflect the norm in Chinese media, the public wants “objective, neutral, and diverse media,” said Jiao Guobiao, a former journalism professor at Peking University, according to The Lede.

Image via Popsci: CCTV’s headquarters went under construction in 2004 in Beijing

Amazon adds self-publishers to Lending Library

User generated content’s new frontier, book publishing, is expanding even further.

When self-published authors make their e-books available exclusively on Kindle for 90 days, Amazon is allowing them to add their books to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which gives them a chance to earn extra money.

This is part of the new KDP Select, an annual US$6 million fund for Kindle Direct Publishing Authors and Publishers, which gives independent authors and publishers a way to reach more readers and royalties, Amazon said in a statement.  The authors can earn money from the $6 million fund when they agree to the deal. The fund for this month is $500,000.

Authors can enroll a single book, select items or their entire catalog.

Amazon launched the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library last month. With this system, customers with a yearly $79 Amazon Prime membership and a Kindle device can borrow e-books for free. They are limited to one e-book per month, one at a time, and any notes or bookmarks are saved if the reader re-borrows the book later on, PCMag reported.

"By choosing KDP Select, independent authors and publishers have an opportunity to make money in a whole new way and reach the growing audience of Amazon Prime members," Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle Content, said in a statement. "A short 90-day commitment allows authors and publishers to experiment at very low risk. In addition, free promotions are a new tool for KDP Select authors, and we hope to add more such tools over time."