Digital Video Revenues Start to Matter

Silicon Alley Insider noted an interesting tidbit this morning in Disney’s earnings. Apparently Internet revenue helped offset lower broadcast ad revenues last quarter for ABC, lending credence to the reasons behind the writers’ strike last season. From the SEC filing: Broadcasting revenues increased $7 million reflecting higher internet revenues, partially offset by lower advertising revenues … Read more

Pandora Introduces Ad-Supported Audio

Taking a page from Slacker’s book, Internet music service Pandora is augmenting their paid service offerings with ad-supported streaming – think audio commercials. Thus far, home audio hardware (Sonos, Squeezebox) had required a subscription ($36/yr) for service. Now, a free ad-supported Pandora service offering is being made available as an option for the Squeezebox platform. … Read more

The End of Commercial Skipping Nears?

I was lucky enough to get a DVR back in 2001, and I’ve enjoyed a largely commercial-free television experience since then. But I’ve always known my ad-free days are numbered. On the one hand, there’s the Web, where pre-rolls, interstitials and sponsored ad banners are pretty common. On the other hand there are DVRs themselves, … Read more