Are you Sirius about my XM?
The chocolate and peanut butter have combined.
SIRIUS XM Radio introduced the new channel lineups today. The two satellite radio companies have been merging forever it seems like. Now we get the pay-off. XM subscribers get access to selected SIRIUS programming and SIRIUS subscribers will be able to hear selected XM channels.
SIRIUS XM Radio says the same amount of music and non-music channels will be available as before. Some channels have been combined. Other channels have a new home on the dial.
SIRIUS XM says there will be no increase in subscription fees and subscribers simply continue to use their existing hardware.
If you previously preset your favorite channels, all of your presets will automatically redirect to their new locations.
For more specifics on the SIRIUS lineup go to www.sirius.com/newlineup.
For the new XM lineup, go to www.xmradio.com/newlineup.
Video chat via Gmail
Last night, browsing through TechCrunch, I read about Google releasing a video chat feature.
I installed it this morning. Works well, of course your friends have to have cams and Gmail and be in Gchat (pretty much like with AIM or iChat), but many of my contacts don’t use Google’s features in this way.
The real advantage of this is simple: it comes from Google. Which usually means more reliability and common sense functionality. Also, it allows those using Gmail for their email to use one application instead of multiple.
One roadblock I encountered was even by detaching the chat, when I closed (not quit) my Safari browser my conversation died too. No doubt user error and lack of time getting used to it.
Meet the Food Dude
Dave Cathey is The Oklahoman’s new food editor, succeeding Sharon Dowell who worked as the newspaper’s main food reporter for decades.
Cathey is bringing a new approach and is launching a video series. I shot his intro in our Studio B last week. He dropped off a tape of his chili making prowess. I combined about 13 minutes of b-roll/kitchen action/complete with barking dogs in the background into a roughly five minute video, using fast motion in FCP at about 450 percent.
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NYT Digital head goes to NPR
Was just watching a video interview with the NY Times’ digital director last night. Today, she’s leaving the Times for NPR. A second big name player in the industry going to NPR.
From paidContent.org:
Vivian Schiller, the longtime head of NYTimes.com’s digital efforts, has left the company, and has joined National Public Radio as its new CEO. She succeeds Dennis Haarsager, who has served as interim CEO since March, after Ken Stern left abruptly after internal discord. Also recently, Kinsey Wilson, the executive editor of USA Today and previously the editor of USAToday.com, left the paper and joined NPR as its digital head.
Schiller oversaw the Times’ great video content. They focus more on documentary-style videos instead of chasing breaking news. And they do a great job. They recently shifted to Brightcove, the same company that hosts NewsOK.com’s videos.
Motion jam video
Saw this on Vimeo’s HD channel today…
Motion Jam from Stanley Wood on Vimeo.
ESPN.com to redesign, feature more video
Saw this last month, just now got around to reading it.
Looks like ESPN.com will launch a redesign in January, this according to paidContent.org.
ESPN.com is slated to get a major redesign this January, John Skipper, the sports networks’ EVP of Content, told ContentNext Media’s EconSports conference. In a Q&A with NYT TV sports and business reporter Richard Sandomir, Skipper said that the revamp will be video-centric, including a larger video player and a new navigational scheme. He also talked about ESPN’s various content platforms, including how important (yet still nascent) ESPN360 is, how ESPN The Magazine is faring in the horrid economy, and even what the company would do better than NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) if it got the Olympic bid.
ESPN says it posts between 125 and 150 video clips a day. I mean, that’s just showing off. But it does illustrate their depth of content and the partnerships they have with the major sports leagues, notably excluding the NFL and its footage.
By comparison, NewsOK cranks out and posts around 100 video clips a week.
Here’s my favorite quote from this article, and one I applaud big-time, as they talk about getting rights to the Olympics from NBC:
“We (ESPN) don’t believe we’re serving sports fans by making them wait four or five hours to see an event, which is why we show Euro soccer in the afternoon, and we just got rights to cricket in India, which we think will be a good product for 3 am. We’re not anti-time zone in our company, and we know that there are lots of sports fans up at all times of the day.”
