January 01, 2006
Workin' Through New Years
Instead of spending New Year's with my family to welcome in 2006, I've joined my other extended family in the Time Warner Center in NYC as we launch CNN.com on our very own ad server, DoubleClick's Dart Enterprise system. We've been busting our butts on this for several months, and today's efforts have gone amazingly smoothly, with teams in both Atlanta and here in NYC making everything work out. Follow this link to the gallery.
technorati tags: new years, nyc, doubleclick, advertising, adops
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December 06, 2005
Sweeet
PC Magazine has just published a review of CNN Pipeline - the closing sentence has a really nice ring to it:
CNN Pipeline isn't perfect, but it's certainly the most impressive video offering the Web has ever seen.
technorati tags: cnn, pipeline, broadband, paidcontent, pcmagazine
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Pipeline Comments and Content
Two quick links for the morning re: the CNN Pipeline launch on Monday.
- Digg.com coverage of Pipeline's launch. The comments are a great read.
- A liveblogging of Pipeline's first day of programming.
Most of the discussion is dismissive of this as a pay product. Others try to balance the trolling with reasonable questions about the acceptance of users if the conent was interspersed with ads. A good discussion overall. I especially like the comments from Digg users pointing out that there is really no other source for day-in, day-out live streamed news on the web other than Pipeline. A few requests for BBC Pipeline, Digg.com Pipeline, and ESPN Pipeline. One user predicts CNNSi Pipeline for $5/month by the end of next year. Nice idea, but they'd have to resurrect my old network to do that ;-). Here's a great comment from blueice03:
I beta-tested this and I was overwhelmingly impressed. Why? Because few other outlets, sites, news organizations or what have you, have done what CNN is attempting to do with this. All these comments about how absurd it is to pay for a service like this are, not to be a troll, the types of comments I'd expect from the slashdot crowd. I guess I don't get it. Why is there this expectation that services offered over the internet should be cheap or free? If you want a premium service then you should expect to have to pay for that premium service and this, my friends, is a premium service. Hell, it is even cheap. It is just a little over $2 a month. And whoever complained earlier about having to download CNN's own special player, you don't have to. They do have a web version that is download free. It is a great looking service and the kind of offering I have always expected news outlets to have but don't.technorati tags: pipeline, cnn, broadband, digg
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December 05, 2005
The Pipeline has Opened
After several rounds of beta testing and a few leaks in the wild, CNN's new Pipeline product has officially launched. Traditional media have covered this a bit (see this AJC.com story, free registration required), and the blogs have had a lot to say - almost all of it quite positive.
- MediaBistro covers the softlaunch on Sunday
- HDBeat gets all excited about the HD back-end to the new app
- Paidcontent.org mistakenly thinks the main feed is going out in HD, but has good commentary overall
- What's Happening at CNN also chimes in on the Sunday launch
- Tadspot.com talks about Web 2.0 features he'd like to see in the product
technorati tags: cnn, pipeline, broadband, paidcontent, hd
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November 20, 2005
Pipeline Beta in the Wild
Ziff-Davis 
publication Publish (ah, how I loved that magazine back in the desktop publishing days of the early 90s) covers what they describe as the 'beta of [CNN's] new streaming news service, CNN Pipeline, to a select group of employees.' They provide nine screenshots of the application, showing portions of an order path, the main feed, login, application live, on-demand, browse, mini and search modes. They also point out that there are two players, one web-based and another a PC desktop app. Gallery is here, story here.
Technorati Tags: cnn, pipeline, vod, news
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August 09, 2005
iChatAV on CNN's Situation Room
You go Wolf! On the debut of Wolf Blitzer's new show yesterday, our favorite blog reporters Jacki Schechner and Abbi Tatton held a webcam interview with Joichi Ito, who then wrote about the interview on his blog. Joichi explains that Abbi had found him via a mention on another weblog (BuzzMachine) where Jeff Jarvis discussed Ito's op-ed piece on the anniversary of the use of nuclear weapons over Japan. Macworld UK also talks about the use of the technology.
Link: Macworld UK talks about the use of iChatAV on CNN
Link: Ito talks about his appearance on CNN
Link: CNN's show page for The Situation Room
Update: TVNewser has a round up on reax to the first broadcast.
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July 18, 2005
In the Pipeline
Over the weekend, CNN loosened some of the secrecy around the upcoming premium video product hinted at in June when free on-demand video clips were launched. The new product, called CNN Pipeline, will feature multiple live video streams from around the world, according to the press release. CNN News Group Pres (and my former boss at CNN/SI) Jim Walton presented a demo to the Television Critics’ Association summer press tour, and compared some other network's recently announced offerings as being to 'PONG' as Pipeline is to Playstation. Jim doesn't mince words, ya know.
There is plenty of buzz in the media and the blogosphere - here's a roundup.
Broadcasting & Cable - LINK
Reuters - LINK
MediaBistro - Code for the Pipeline
PaidContent.org - How different can Pipeline be?
LostRemote - CNN.com gives Pipeline sneak peak
What's Happening at CNN - Pipeline Revealed
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June 19, 2005
Happy Father's Day!
Amy and Sam both surprised me with very touching cards this morning on this, my first Father's Day. That boy is really amazing. I could almost read his handwriting! We spent the day in relaxing, had a nice dinner out at Fritti with Sam getting all the attention, etc. To cap the day off, I'd encourage anyone reading the blog to visit the CNN.com free video site and find the 'CNN's dads give advice' video. You may have to use the 'search' box at upper right - just put in 'dads give advice' and you'll find it. Really quite touching. Guess I'm turning into a big ol' softie as a dad.
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CNN.com Free Video Launch
So after three long years where CNN.com's video was a premium (ie - pay) product licensed to various wholesale companies as well as direct to consumers, the site launched on Saturday (two days ahead of schedule) their new free video product. Supported by the burgeoning broadband video advertising market, the new product is slated to feature some 30 new videos daily. I was involved in the product development aspects of the advertising technology and operations side of the project. This gallery shows the combined technical teams in our 'Port:80' conference room gathered for the launch effort, some 12 hours of work beginning at 6am on Saturday. The best news of all - it went off without a hitch, and the reviews are already coming in.
Lost Remote TV Blog review is here.
Media Bistro's TV Newser talks about the return of free video (finally)
PaidContent.org talks about the Saturday launch, and CNN.com plans for the fall.
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May 16, 2005
CNN.com Video in the News
It's all over the web today - CNN.com has announced a new strategy with their video products. I've been working on some aspects of these for a while - nice to see the project out in the public eye. Here are some quotes from today's coverage:
CNN.com will make its existing online video offerings available for free beginning June 20 as it prepares a new video package that will cost money to watch. The company said the premium offering would deliver multiple live feeds and provide access to CNN's video archives. Susan Grant (executive vice president for the CNN News unit that oversees the Web site) would offer no other details on the premium service or on how the free video would differ from the current offerings, other than its placement on the home page.
MediaPost.com (subscription required)
As part of the June 20 launch, the CNN.com home page will spotlight ad-supported video news coverage as part of a broader restyling of the site....The change reflects the background of CNN President Jonathan Klein--who came to the Turner Broadcasting unit from the FeedRoom, a company he founded that builds broadband Web sites and streams online content--although the Web project is being supervised by Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services.
Read the expanded entry for the full press release.
CNN Broadband Press Release
For Release: May 16, 2005
CNN.com Announces Groundbreaking Broadband Service
Top Internet News Site Expands Online Offerings with Free Video, Unmatched Premium Product
CNN.com extends its leadership as the Internet's top site for news and information through an unprecedented investment in broadband that includes free video and a premium product that places the site at the control of the online user, it was announced today by Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services.
CNN.com will make the free video available starting June 20, while it will unveil its complete premium product this fall with more options and features than any other online news and information site.
As part of the June 20 launch of free video, the CNN.com home page will prominently feature video as part of a restyling of the site.
In addition, ad-supported video packaged specifically for CNN.com will be woven throughout the site on section fronts, story pages and special reports complementary to the content.
"Online users have begun to expect high-quality, up-to-the-minute news video as part of their news-browsing experience," Grant said. "With free video drawing from the extensive resources of CNN, our users get quick, reliable and accurate multimedia information, thus connecting them with CNN in a deeper, richer and more satisfying way."
With the free video, online users each day can view various distinct on-demand videos across several topic areas, including politics, world news, business, sports, entertainment, science and technology and more.
A specially designed video player enables users to search and organize videos so they can quickly focus on the content they wish to see. As part of the free offering, CNN.com staff will also produce two-minute newscasts every hour called "Now in the News," delivering the latest updates and breaking news.
In the fall, CNN.com will offer an innovative subscription-based service delivering multiple live video streams, access to CNN's video archives and user-customized options. This new premium product will enable CNN.com users to get the full impact of watching the news with as much choice and control as watching television or using a Web site.
As the first Internet site dedicated to 24-hour news coverage, CNN.com ranks as the leading online news and information site, attracting an average of 23 million unique users each month. Launched in 1995, CNN.com draws from the worldwide resources of the CNN News Group to provide relevant, up-to-the minute news and information. CNN.com features the latest multimedia technologies, from video streaming to audio packages to searchable archives of news features and background information.
CNN, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is one of the world's most respected and trusted sources for news and information. Its reach extends to 14 cable and satellite television networks; two private place-based networks; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; six Web sites, including CNN.com, the first major news and information Web site; and CNN Newsource, the world's most extensively syndicated news service.
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