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Opinion | Features
My memo to your boss
So let me guess?
You really want to come to Mumbrella360, but you’ve got to justify the time and cost to your boss?
Good news! I think I can help.
Woz not great
In this guest post Tony Prysten argues that the thousand dollar price of seeing out-of-touch Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack on his Australian tour was a waste of money.
This week, for the cost of two iPads (yep, two) I went to the Woz Live conference in Melbourne. I was not impressed.
What the hell is transmedia?
From advertising campaigns to online video series, the term ‘transmedia’ gets quite the work out. But what does it actually mean? Cathie McGinn trawls the media landscape for a definitive definition.
Transmedia, all media and multiplatform are terms often used interchangeably when referencing modern storytelling techniques. Yet, depending who you speak to, there are distinct differences between them.
According to industry experts Encore spoke to, the key elements that define transmedia can be summarised as follows: platform, time, audience, adaptation, and creative collaboration.
Innovation is the remedy for the ailing magazine industry
With magazine circulations plummeting, FHM closing and rumours rife on future ownership of ACP Magazines, Paul Merrill says the only way forward is launching new titles.Eight years ago in the UK, nearly a quarter of all magazine sales came from magazines that were less than four years old. In Australia, the figure was slightly lower, but still significant. Today, the situation is very different. For a start there are so few new magazines. Yes, Masterchef briefly flared, and Top Gear made an initial impact. But Grazia and Alpha fizzled, and now ACP has shelved their plans to launch Elle.
More than a game: broadcasting the Olympics
The 2012 London Olympics will be the biggest televised sporting event of our time. Brooke Hemphill discovers the logistical challenges and technical requirements of producing the event.
From July 27 to August 12, the Australian media will go sport crazy as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, aka the 2012 London Summer Olympics, unfold. The games will be the most televised sporting event of our time as broadcasters look to master every manner of technology at their disposal.
The Voice - Australia's best example yet of social TV
In this guest post, Sputnik’s Rodd Messent has a theory on why audiences have taken to The Voice .I am an addict of Channel Nine’s hit show The Voice. Such is the extent of my addiction I seriously think my housemate might kick me out of our apartment for the semi-frenzied yelling and tweeting that ensues in our lounge room each time the show airs.It’s the first time in almost three years that such disagreement has resulted in less than civil behaviour towards one another, and it’s made me think it might be a microcosm of the large volume of online debate about the show and, correspondingly, an explanation for its success as a social TV experience.Why brands are the US Army - and culture jammers are the Viet Cong
In this guest posting, Dave Burgess, who painted ‘No War’ on the Sydney Opera House, claims that ‘amoral’ advertisers have copied his idea.
Culture jamming is a 28-year-old term coined by the San Francisco-based band Negativland, who declared that the ‘Studio for the cultural jammer is the world at large’.
Branded content is dead. Long live branded content
In this guest posting, Anthony Freedman argues why branded content is making a comeback.
A few short years ago, probably concurrent with the advent of the PVR, a new term emerged within the marketing communications industry; branded content. This was really synonymous with advertiser funded TV shows where programming was created by brands and deals struck with networks to broadcast them.
There were varying degrees of success with this model.
Shock advertising: 30 ads that would give Australia's ad watchdog a coronary
Is shock an underused weapon in Australian advertising, asks Robin HicksToday, Sydney agency The Cabana Boys used an image of a mouth sewn together to shock people with the idea that problem gamblers lie to conceal their habit. Is it the most disturbing image ever? No. Will it get banned by the Advertising Standards Bureau? No. But it did make me wonder why shock is not used more often in Australia – and not just by charities and government bodies. (WARNING: NSFW)
The making of ratings blockbuster The Voice
Jason Mountney goes on the set of Channel Nine’s talent search series, The Voice, to see how the format, based on an international franchise, has come together. What ingredients have gone into making this certified hit that’s rated more than two million viewers on three consecutive nights?
Mike Goldman has one of the toughest jobs on the set of the Nine network’s new talent show, The Voice. He not only has to narrate the show, but also keep the audience from losing their enthusiasm as they realise shooting TV programs takes a lot longer than the one-hour bursts they see in their lounge rooms. A lot longer.
Nine problems stopping The Global Mail from getting an audience
While it’s a shame The Global Mail has failed to make an impact on the media landscape, the signs have been there for some time.I love the concept of a well resourced, philanthropically-funded independent news site. Anywhere in the world, that’s a rare and wonderful thing. In Australia even more so. So I hope that Grame Wood gets to see his investment make a difference.
And I have no inside info on whether Monica Attard’s sudden departure is linked to the site’s failure to find an audience so far.
Regardless, here are nine areas they can easily start to address:
Journalism’s new model?
Does the launch of philanthropically funded news site The Global Mail signal a new era for journalism or is the model destined to be a passing fad, asks Cathie McGinn in this article first published in Encore magazine.With little fanfare, philanthropically funded news site The Global Mail launched in February this year.
The online-only title received a generous five-year funding commitment from businessman Graeme Wood, founder of accommodation website wotif.com, who donated $15million.
Five things that make a great suit
In this guest posting, Gareth Collins argues that the role of a great account manager is to make the work betterI’m surprised at how many suits I meet who don’t know their role in the advertising business. The question ‘what does an advertising account manager or director do?’ is frequently met with answers such as project manager, relationship manager, plate spinner or go between … and those are the nice ones.
Success is judged on the ability to manage a process, be strong administratively and get stuff done. And while a good suit needs to do all of these things brilliantly, if these are the traits that define a great suit, then I’m in the wrong job.
What the hell is transmedia?
From advertising campaigns to online video series, the term ‘transmedia’ gets quite the work out. But what does it actually mean? Cathie McGinn trawls the media landscape for a definitive definition.
Transmedia, all media and multiplatform are terms often used interchangeably when referencing modern storytelling techniques. Yet, depending who you speak to, there are distinct differences between them.
The top seven...most patronising pieces of communication
Sometimes brands have big ideas. Sometimes marketers get so caught up with a grandiose idea that instead of finding engaging ways to sell breakfast cereal, they start to believe their own rhetoric. And sometimes it’s just lazy marketing. Here are my top seven inadvertently patronising pieces of communication…
1) Last night thousands of women gathered in Sydney’s Centennial Park to take part in She Runs the Night, an event created by Nike.
ABC News 24 hype reel unveiled
The ABC has unveiled a glossy promo trailer to promote the imminent launch of round-the-clock TV news station ABC News 24.
Although the national broadcaster has so far only said that it will launch the channel in mid-year, speculation has intensified that the initial date was pushed back because of technical issues exposed during the ABC’s covergae of the fast-moving story of the change of leadership from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard.
July 14 – next Wednesday – is among the dates currently being speculated about. A key deadline will be having it on air in time for the Federal election.
As well as on YouTube, the trailer is already playing on the ABC’s HD channel – where ABC News 24 will sit - in several parts of the country.
July 8th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
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Comments
8 Jul 10
1:55 pm
just like their news, the repetition of this promo is nauseating..
8 Jul 10
2:14 pm
ABC News is not nauseating….. But this promo certainly is……If they are attempting to damage the stattions image… they have succeeded. 2 words sum up this promo: repeditive s$^t
8 Jul 10
2:29 pm
Good god, if they can’t make a 3 minute hype tape interesting, what chance have they got 24/7.
8 Jul 10
2:38 pm
yes, yes… all very interesting… But do we really need to lose the ABC HD channel for it?
The current on-air promo says they are “moving ABC HD to make way” – does this mean ABC HD is still being broadcast but on a different channel, or is it being shelved so we can have pixelly, internet-ripped news footage shown in sparkling High Definition?
Can’t they just use one of their half-dozen SD children’s channels?
8 Jul 10
3:35 pm
Fantastic, its well time that we started taking a more serious approach to media generally and raising the bar that has traditionally been set very low in Australia. I truly hope this channel will deliver a broader and more international approach to the world, something that is lacking in Australian journalism and holds much of our media back from having international and export appeal. With the ABC’s current digital offering this can only push things forward.
Well done ABC, will be watching closely.
8 Jul 10
4:39 pm
I quite agree with Nathan, we have all been watching too much drivel on other channels. I watched, “A Current Affair” the other week (for once) and they had three segments. One was about the worst neighbours, the next was about womans bra sizes and the last was something todo with politics. Only one segment in their half hour had anything todo with news.
I congratulate ABC on bringing us this new channel.
8 Jul 10
6:50 pm
if the promo is any hint. Australia will finally have a superior news channel:)…move over sky news
8 Jul 10
11:36 pm
I am in W.A – This promo just keeps looping on abc1, sometimes for an entire hour during normal broadcasting. What’s going on ?!
9 Jul 10
10:47 am
I’m excited by the prospect and I certainly won’t be judging a new channel on a promo, I’ll be judging them on reputation and the ABC have a great reputation in NEWS far better than some others that focus on newstainment rather than stories that matter, not only from our state or (if your lucky) country but the world. I think they will be miles ahead of sky news who are the st vinnies store of News services recycling others bits and bobs and only knitting the odd thing together themselves. Bravo! ABC (no offence intended to Arena)…
9 Jul 10
3:50 pm
Hey guys, the news from within the ABC is that the launch date is now Thursday, July 22nd. Remember, you heard it first here. Mind you, whether or not that happens depends very much on a resolution of some of the embarrassing technical issues that have dogged the ABC in recent times. Mark Scott and his team are desperate to have News 24 up and running during the federal election campaign. If it’s not, there’ll be a lot of questions to answer at board level. Now that a date has been set, there’s still widespread skepticism within the organisation that ABC News can deliver. There’s a few seasoned presenters but maybe not enough for a 24 operation. One big worry is that senior producers working with some of the ingenues that have been hired are aghast at their lack of basic experience. Live television is fraught with pitfalls. So it’s a brave person indeed who’ll wager that the launch will be trouble free.
9 Jul 10
8:31 pm
cant wait
9 Jul 10
8:34 pm
while seven news and nine news talk about dogs stuck on treesfinally there will be a real news channel that delivers important news for once. i thought sbs will be the first ones to do this but abc has come first.
10 Jul 10
8:53 pm
It sounds like ABC News 24 is going to take over ABC HD. I might watch the news in the morning for 30mins & the evening news broadcast for 30mins, thats one hour & the rest of our favourite shows in standard definition TV. Isn’t that just great, why did I bother buying a HD TV??? Not to watch the News all day in HD. Surely the ABC will have ABC News 24 & ABC HD for all our favourite programs, I mean they couldn’t be that darft could they.
11 Jul 10
8:49 am
I too am disappointed at the discontinuation of the HD simulcast of the main ABC programming on ABC1.
However, I admit that I am NOT a “news junkie”. 30 minutes of ABC news (including the weather forecast) and 5 minute glance at the daily papers at the TAFE library is enough for me.
In time, the ratings will tell the story. SBS, Channel 7 and Go are already increasing their share of content that appeals to the traditional ABC viewer (eg Muthbusters, Top Gear, British comedies etc)
I personally would have launched the 24 hour news in SD, replacing one of the surfeit of children’s cartoon channels. As other commenters have said, I don’t need to “see the nostril hairs of our politicians in HD”.
So if the 24 hour news channel is a rating success, adjusted down for any loss of ratings in the now SD ABC1 channel, then well done Mark Scott. But if the ratings story is negative for the ABC, I will be one of the hundreds of thousands of long-term ABC viewers calling for Mark Scott’s resignation.
11 Jul 10
5:04 pm
I cant wait but as other people have said why are we losing HD or sorry we are not losing it it just goes to 24 hour news. I wrote to the ABC some time ago asking for a older viewer type of rage, some songs for the “baby boomers” and I thought it would be a perfect fit on ABC 3 after 9.30 pm.
They eventually replied “Sorry but that channel is reserved for childrens programmes.”
What about the older generation, how about a seniors channel ?
11 Jul 10
6:20 pm
I too am excited about the advent of ABC News 24 but regret the passing of drama etc. being broadcast in HD. I have been watching ABC HDTV for so long that I had forgotten that there is a very noticeable difference but have been reminded over the past four days.
11 Jul 10
6:25 pm
I want HD!
11 Jul 10
7:07 pm
well it about time, for starters who gives how crap or how repetitive the promo is! its changing Free TV as we all know it! you ppl complain! pfff, seriously to have as many Digital free channals as what we do from only 5 broadcasters nice dont ya think! Good on ya ABC, just to put it into comparison the BBC has 9 channels 6 of witch is 24/7 now think about it, a nation as big as the UK (thats England, Scotland, Northern Island and Wales) against the ABC’s now 4 channels 3 of which will be 24/7! ya see my point! and uk’s have to pay for a TV licence just to watch there TV.. Yes They Pay to watch Free tv! ???? do we? Nope! Quit ya winging ppls! god damn it! and for every one welcoming it well done! i join u!
DPG
11 Jul 10
8:13 pm
when will there be a 24/7 doco channel? come on SBS! and whats the go with 7 Two? what crap!
11 Jul 10
11:20 pm
launch date symbolically could be 24th of the 7th
12 Jul 10
6:30 am
Replying to Tim Kingston RE: They eventually replied “Sorry but that channel is reserved for childrens programmes.”
What about the older generation, how about a seniors channel ?
……………………..
We do have it its called 7two. just look at how many old shows are on that channel.
pffff, 7two is a dead set joke, they have not even tried! i doff my cap to the ABC and TEN. Go is still crap threw the day but make up for it in prime time.
12 Jul 10
8:02 am
Agree with the nauseating ad-infinitum repeat of the 3 minute promo. At least ONE’s promos were varied from hour to hour, and they have not disappointed me at all!
Ch 72… bah, nothing but repeats of tired old 7 sitcoms and dramas. Go is more like the Seinfeld and Fraser re-run channel, but they’re OK so far.
Going back to the ABC, I wish them well, but they need to really look at their charter of sitting DEAD CENTRE in their reporting. We’ve seen too much left-leaning bias in recent years.
12 Jul 10
12:47 pm
ABC HAD to drop the HD channel – unfortunately we started digital in an SD world and as a result a significant proportion of digital viewers can only view SD services. ABC can’t physically broadcast any more services, their terrestrial bandwidth is taken up by what they already have. They are required by legislation to have an HD service, so it makes sense if they can’t run ABC1 as an HD only channel (and run News24 in the space ABC1 currently consumes) to have the channel that is likely to draw the lowest ratings taking up the HD channel.
12 Jul 10
4:01 pm
I agree with Nick, ABC 1 in SD has a bit rate of around 5.5Mb/s with is a lot better than most SD programs including ABC2 and 3 and what Foxtel offers. There is not a lot of difference in quality between ABC1 HD and ABC1 SD most of the time as a lot of programming was up scaled SD. The ABC and other broadcasters are stuck with using Mpeg 2 with a 7Mhz channel bandwith, other countrys such a Europe and New Zealand use Mpeg 4 with 8Mhz wide channels so have far greater options for multichanneling
12 Jul 10
4:30 pm
they could’ve waited until Doctor Who was over to take down ABC 1 from HD sniff
13 Jul 10
3:52 pm
Can someone help me?
Has the ABC HD channel gone forever?
I am aware that the new ABC 24 news channel is to replace channel 20 but what about all the great shows currently shown in HD?
EG Griff Rhys-Jones Greatest Cities of the World.
Will we now have to watch these shows in SD?
If so, BAD CALL ABC!!!!
13 Jul 10
6:48 pm
Sky News will continue to do what it has done for the past 15 years – be Australia’s News Channel. These armatures at the ABC don’t have a hope.
14 Jul 10
2:01 pm
24 hour dedicated news channel=good idea! 24hour news channel on HD=they weren’t thinking, were they? A waste of technology a la musical birthday card….
16 Jul 10
10:30 pm
Sky as Australia’s news channel – is the poster a droid of Murdoch et al?
As to those condemming the use of HD for News24, hello, most viewers don’t have HD, so it can’t be used for the main channel, and leaves nothing else available while allowing for experimentation in that format. Let’s face it, animation won’t allow it.
Ultimately, disenfranchise a few or a lot? We can tell who is selfish here, can’t we?