Media week in review

New media is in, longtime newsman says good-bye

TIVO TAKEOUT

The News
On Monday, TiVo, the maker of digital video recorders, announced that its subscribers will be able to transfer recorded television programs onto their Apple video iPods and Sony handheld PSP game machines. The new service builds on the company's TiVo to Go feature, which allows some subscribers to transfer shows to a laptop or personal computer.

Behind the News
The television networks have yet another reason to hate TiVo, which first encroached on their turf by offering viewers the ability to watch television shows when they wanted, without the commercials.

Now, TiVo could hurt the networks' attempts to develop another revenue stream by selling shows by the episode. For instance, ABC plans to sell downloads of "Desperate Housewives" on Apple iPods for 99 cents. But why pay, when you can download from TiVo for free?

X-GAMES BEGIN

The News
Microsoft released its Xbox 360, its next-generation game machine, at midnight on Tuesday. Buyers lined up for hours to be among the first to purchase it.

Behind the News
Industry analysts said the early buzz around the Xbox 360 might not mean much in the long run. The real question is whether the 360 can outsell Sony's next-generation game console, PlayStation 3, which is not due out until spring.

LIBRARY DOWNLOAD

The News

Google gave $3 million to help the Library of Congress build a World Digital Library on the Web. For the project, the National Library of Egypt has already agreed to digitize documents of Islamic science from the 10th century.

Behind the News

Google's gift may be good public relations. The Library of Congress emphasized that Google's gift comes with no strings attached and no copyright problems. That would be welcome news for Google, which has faced copyright issues because of its Book Search project, a book- scanning effort in partnership with five research libraries.

GOOD NIGHT, TED

The News
On Tuesday, Ted Koppel, the anchor of "Nightline" ended his 25-year reign as late night's Mr. Serious.

Behind the News
Will "Nightline" survive? Under Mr. Koppel, it has struggled in the ratings, generally falling behind NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and CBS's "Late Show With David Letterman." Now, three anchors will replace Mr. Koppel, and it's unknown how quickly ABC expects ratings success.


Source: New York Times

Tag: Media by Sistrunk