Last year saw the lowest number of movie tickets sold since 1995, coming in at 1.3 billion. That summer, only 543 million movie tickets sold, compared to the 629 million during the summer ten years ago.
Although 2012 has seen slightly better attendance and revenue than 2011, only an estimated 529 million tickets were sold this summer, reports TIME.
“That’s 100 million fewer tickets,” Exhibitor Relation’s Jeff Bock told USA Today in a related article. “That’s a really troubling number for the industry if you look at it that way, which reflects how the movie business is really doing.”
“While some experts say that ‘rising ticket prices mask attendance drops,’ there’s also an argument to be made that attendance drops have come directly as a result of rising ticket prices,” notes TIME.
“Nonetheless, despite declining attendance, and the obvious cause-effect in which raising prices will decrease attendance further, plenty of analysts have suggested that jacking up ticket prices is the solution for the struggling movie business.”
The article suggests that making better movies could help the issue. Social media has allowed people to quickly determine if a movie is worth seeing, and the high ticket prices make viewers much more selective. Good movies would validate spending the money on tickets, especially for expensive 3D.
Many small television stations are unprofitable or bankrupt, unable to compete with cable and the Internet. Some investors are hoping to flip these failing stations by taking them over and selling their airwaves at premium prices.
The Federal Communications Commission is planning an incentive auction to “reclaim spectrum for use by wireless phone companies and other bidders,” in order to meet expanding demand for wireless broadband services, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Private investors are planning small TV station purchases in major markets where the demand for spectrum is high. When the FCC auction comes — which may not even begin until 2022 — these investors hope to sell off airwaves at a significant profit.
“While the private-equity funds are buying stations for as little as several million dollars, observers say their value could be many times higher once the FCC auction gets under way,” the article states. “The speculative buying is providing an opportunity to small-station owners who want to cash out but don’t want to wait for the auction, which could be years away.”
For investors, buying the stations could be “a big payday,” says Marci Ryvicker, a cable and media analyst at Wells Fargo. “But there’s no guarantee.”
Tribeca Film released a new documentary this weekend in New York and Seattle. Directed by Chris Kenneally and narrated by Keanu Reeves, “Side by Side” examines the impact of digital technology on today’s moviemaking.
“For a film geek this movie is absolute heaven, a dream symposium in which directors, cinematographers, editors and a few actors gather to opine on the details of their craft,” writes A. O. Scott in his New York Times review. “It is worth a year of film school and at least 1,000 hours of DVD bonus commentary.”
Scott suggests the film is not merely “pro-digital propaganda,” but features a balance of tech enthusiasts and skeptics, while “the discourse tilts toward triumphalism.”
“Not only do you get to sit at the feet of Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Christopher Nolan and other heroes of modern cinema,” he writes. “You also get to check out the latest high-definition cameras from Panavision, Arriflex, Canon and Red.”
Scott notes the importance of discovery, experimentation and invention as part of filmmaking’s history and how crucial it has been for filmmakers to adapt to big changes over time including “the arrival of sound, of color, of wide-screen, of television.”
The film addresses both sides of arguments involving digital utopianism, instantly available dailies, and advances in editing and color timing.
Scott’s only criticism: “Kenneally might have paid more attention to the world beyond Hollywood, and also to the impact of digital technology on lower-budget, independent filmmaking and on restoration, but within the parameters it defines, this film does an excellent job of presenting complex material in an enlightening and exciting manner.”
“What it cannot do is provide the last word on the digital revolution in movies, since the revolution is in its early stages,” concludes Scott. “For now the mix of agnosticism and optimism — of respect for the old and enthusiasm for the new — seems reasonable. But we will have to wait for the sequel to know for sure.”
SecurityWeek writes of a “new malware intelligence system developed at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)” that’s “helping government agencies and private companies share threat intelligence and work together to understand attacks.”
The system is called Titan and allows “member organizations to submit threat data and to collaborate on malware analysis and classification,” according to the article.
The data is contributed anonymously. “You are asking people to submit information about targeted attacks, so anonymity is built-in to the platform,” says Chris Smoak, project leader and branch head for malicious software analysis at GTRI’s Cyber Technology and Information Security Lab.
According to Smoak, Titan can do more than the average malware detector like VirusTotal.
“Generally speaking, people can upload suspicious files to VirusTotal to find out if it is malicious, and whether existing security tools can detect it,” explains SecurityWeek. “However, there is no way for VirusTotal to look at two variants of malware and correlate it to say they are the same, while Titan can do that, Smoak said.”
The system has been in public beta since May collecting data from members across the industry including government agencies. “There is no push to add new members for the remainder of the beta period, Smoak said. The system will be expected to be final in ‘a few weeks,’ at which point the platform will likely be expanded to add more.”
In his Dashes.com blog, entrepreneur and tech writer Anil Dash suggests that Web pages are outdated, and cites the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and Tumblr as evidence of people’s preference to streams of data rather than Web pages.
Effective streams of data allow for customization. Sometimes customization means choosing friends on Facebook or who to follow on Twitter. Other times customization means filtering a writer’s stories by topic, and only receiving these types of stories within a stream.
One reason Web pages still persist is because advertising operates on a page-view model. Dash suggests in-stream advertisements that deal with the user’s interests are not only more effective, but do not stop the flow of reading and will not disturb the reader as much.
Dash concludes that effective Web publishers should adopt a more fluid style. He suggests trusting “readers to know how to scroll down and skim across a simple stream, since that’s what they’re already doing all day on the Web.”
“Pay attention to the fact that all the links you click on Twitter, on Facebook, on Pinterest, all take you to out of the simple flow of those apps and into a jarring, cluttered experience where the most appealing option is the back button,” he notes. “Stop being one of those dead-end experiences and start being more like what users have repeatedly demonstrated they prefer.”
Dash wants publishers to give readers “the chance to customize those streams to include (or exclude!) just the content they want.”
“Google has decided to pull the plug on Google TV Ads, its five-year attempt to convert the cable and broadcast TV industry into selling its available ad inventory on an online ad exchange,” reports Business Insider.
The announcement arrives amidst rumors that Google is considering a sale of its Motorola Mobility set-top box unit.
Google TV is not affected, and the company continues its Google Fiber efforts, which delivers high-speed Internet access (and possibly pay TV) to early users in Kansas City.
“We’ve made the hard decision to close our TV Ads product over the next few months and move the team to other areas at Google,” explains Shishir Mehrotra, VP of product, YouTube/video. “We’ll be doubling down on video solutions for our clients (like YouTube, AdWords for Video, and ad serving tools for Web video publishers). We also see opportunities to help users access Web content on their TV screens, through products like Google TV.”
“The death of Google TV Ads is a huge victory for the broadcast and cable networks, who are fighting an epic war against the Web, which threatens to turn traditional TV viewing into the newspaper business of the 21st Century,” suggests the article.
“Google TV Ads was the third major attempt to start an online electronic exchange for TV ads, all of which have been rendered extinct by cable and network TV’s refusal to allow any programming inventory to be sold on them.”
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is among the ten celebrities who will be competing in Canon’s Project Imaginat10n initiative — a fresh new take on the short film competition.
The directors (including Jamie Foxx, James Murphy and Eva Longoria) will gain inspiration from fan submitted photos. Photo categories include “setting, time, character, mood, backstory, relationship, goal, obstacle, the unknown and an unannounced 10th theme,” reports Wired.
The celebrities will work with director Ron Howard and will be partnered with professional production teams.
“The concept behind Project Imaginat10n showcases the power still images can have on narrative storytelling, but more importantly, it demonstrates there are no limits with creativity, and sources of inspiration can come from anyone or anything,” Howard explained in a statement. “I’m thrilled to work with this talented group of new directors… to help them on this creative journey.”
Stone worked as an artist before founding Twitter, and hopes his combination of talents will help him succeed in the competition.
“When you’re building software that millions of people use at the same time, you really have to be prepared in advance,” he explains. “I still think of myself as an artist and maybe the way that I express myself now is by creating platforms for millions of others to express themselves… This project allows me to get right in to the more traditional definition of the word.”
Twitter has been tracking presidential campaign-related tweets for months. The microblogger is using the data for its Twitter Political Index (“Twindex” for short).
“What is the Twindex? Simply put, it’s a day-by-day guide to the online conversation and sentiment surrounding Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and other key players in the 2012 presidential election,” notes Mashable.
The Index scans tweets for mention of the candidates and creates a sentiment score relative to all tweets. It is the result of a partnership between Twitter, Topsy, USA Today, The Mellman Group and North Star Opinion Research.
Adam Sharp, head of Twitter’s government, news and social innovation team, provides a 6-minute Twindex video tour on the Mashable post.
“We’re very careful to point out this is not designed to replace polling. In fact, we believe it strengthens it,” explains Sharp in the video. “The same way that radar and satellite didn’t replace thermometers and barometers, but joined them to give a more complete picture of the forecast. We believe the Twindex can do the same for traditional polling.”
Facebook and Fox Sports will offer integrated social engagement with broadcast events via “Social Sidelines.”
It started this past weekend with Saturday’s coverage of the Hawaii-USC football game and has plans to expand into MLB, NBA and NFL games.
“The partnership will in part use chatter on Facebook to track which teams are sparking the most buzz and gauge fan sentiment,” reports Mashable.
“Fox will provide updates on the ten most buzzed-about teams of each week of the season, tap Facebook users to crowd-source answers to relevant questions and run regular fan-of-the-week contests,” notes the post. “All of those integrations will then be featured at times on Fox channels.”
“College football is the perfect environment, with the right demographics, for integrating game telecasts and social media,” according to Fox Sports Media Group exec Chris Hannan. “Our partnership with Facebook creates unique content for fans to engage with all week, especially on game-day across our entire family of networks.”
DirecTV offers its “Sunday Ticket” package each season for football fans who want to access every NFL game on their televisions.
Traditionally, only DirecTV customers could get the service — which led to many NFL diehards switching to the satellite service.
Last year, DirecTV allowed viewers with geographical restrictions regarding satellite TV to purchase Sunday Ticket through their PS3 game consoles.
But while the option is meant to be an extension of existing subscriptions (Sunday Ticket subscribers can watch on their PS3 at no additional charge), the offer also allows people to purchase Sunday Ticket a la carte.
When signing up for the service, people must say “no” to the question of whether they can receive satellite service. They can then purchase Sunday Ticket for $300.
AllThingsD cautions that if too many people exploit this loophole, DirecTV and Sony may take steps to close it off, but as of now the option seems to be alive and operational.
TP Vision, a joint venture of Philips and TPV, is adding cloud services to its line of Internet-connected TVs through a new cloud platform from IBM. The announcement was made during the recent IFA consumer electronics event in Berlin.
The IBM cloud service will be made available to millions of television viewers in 30 European countries, Brazil and Argentina.
“As the Internet and smart devices continue to infiltrate home entertainment, today’s consumer electronics manufacturers are looking to deliver new interactive entertainment services,” said Bruce Anderson, GM of IBM’s global electronics industry.
“Televisions are about to become the next open application platform, similar to the application platforms on mobile devices,” he added. “Organizations are turning to the IBM cloud as the channel for their innovation.”
Separately, IBM is also joining forces with Vodafone to offer “smarter home” services for home appliances.
It’s been five years since Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduced the very first Kindle device in New York City.
“On Thursday, September 6, Bezos will again speak to the media, this time in Santa Monica, California, and the stakes will again be sky high,” reports Businessweek.
Last year, Amazon expanded the franchise with its launch of the $199 Kindle Fire, which made an initial commercial splash.
“But the Kindle Fire was also something of a critical disappointment, with its chunky weight, bland industrial design, and lack of basic features like a camera and volume controls,” suggests the article. “For the first time, many customers bought a device from Amazon and felt they didn’t get much value from it.”
The tablet landscape is getting rougher with this summer’s launch of the Nexus 7 from Google and the new iPad Mini expected this fall.
“If tablets are to be an important gateway to music, movies, e-books, and games — media products that make up half of Amazon’s overall business — Bezos is going to have to build a much deeper moat,” suggests Businessweek.
Since the event is being held in Los Angeles, we might hear news regarding Amazon’s video ambitions, perhaps from its L.A.-based content creation arm, Amazon Studios. We might also receive news regarding the long-rumored Amazon phone, an Amazon set-top box or a move away from Google’s Android to run the Kindle Fire, suggests the article.
Amazon is expected to announce new versions of its Kindle tablets at a press event in Santa Monica on Thursday. The location suggests the announcement could include a video-related improvement for the Kindle tablets.
Seth Porges of Forbes speculates that Amazon may plan to announce a major expansion of its Amazon Prime video service. But TechCrunch reports that “an expanded Amazon Prime library doesn’t make much sense,” because Amazon has successfully grown the service with slow, steady additions.
Rather, TechCrunch suggests Amazon could target its existing partnership with UltraViolet. UltraViolet integration would greatly increase the video content available on Kindle devices.
Amazon could replicate Vudu’s disc-to-digital agreement, whereby users can bring DVDs to Walmart stores and convert the titles to digital copies for $2 to $5.
And TechCrunch speculates Amazon could go even further with the program by converting archived DVD purchase information into digital copies. Users would not have to go to a physical store — they would simply click and pay.
The struggle for seasonal and small mom-and-pop theaters to survive may become more challenging as the industry completes its transition to digital.
“20th Century Fox promises to phase out film by the end of next year, and the others are expected to follow,” reports The New York Times.
John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, notes that 30,000 screens have been converted to Digital Cinema, while 10,000 remain in different stages of transition.
For a small cinema, the $75,000 cost of a digital projector can exceed an entire year’s profits, making it difficult to convince banks to provide a loan.
Some independent exhibitors are taking donations from patrons for upgrades, considering a retro approach to keep 35mm film alive, or closing their doors. Others are waiting on possible state grants and considering whether to sign a joint financing agreement.
“Devised through negotiations between the national theater owners group and the major studios, these Virtual Print Fee agreements entail per-movie payments from distributors for running their movies,” explains NYT. “For distributors, these givebacks are more affordable than striking film prints, and for theaters that qualify (because of limited grosses, many seasonal ones don’t), these payments can help pay off bank loans or leases.”
However, the agreements include constraints such as what films can be shown and how often.
“A majority of Americans (54 percent) claim to never use cloud computing. However, 95 percent of this group actually does use the cloud,” reports Citrix per a national survey they commissioned.
The survey results show that many Americans acknowledge the significance of cloud computing, that they even use it for a variety of purposes, and yet they have almost no clue what it is.
“When asked what ‘the cloud’ is, a majority responded it’s either an actual cloud (specifically a ‘fluffy white thing’), the sky or something related to the weather (29 percent). Only 16 percent said they think of a computer network to store, access and share data from Internet-connected devices,” the press release states, adding that other responses varied from “toilet paper” to “outerspace” to “oh goody, a hacker’s dream.”
Despite this confusion, 22 percent of the 1,000 surveyed by Wakefield Research admitted to acting as if they knew what the cloud is or how it works. Also, 56 percent of respondents said they’ve had cloud conversations with others who didn’t really know what they were talking about.
Even though they may be unaware the services are cloud based, many people reported using online banking, shopping, social networking, online gaming and online storage or file-sharing.
“Even though many Americans don’t know exactly what the cloud does, they see its silver lining,” the release states. “Most Americans (68 percent) recognize the economic benefits after learning more about the cloud. The most recognized benefits are that the cloud helps consumers by lowering costs (35 percent), spurs small business growth (32 percent) and boosts customer engagement for businesses (35 percent). Millennials are most likely to believe that the cloud generates jobs (26 percent Millennials, 19 percent Boomers).”
