Blu-Ray Sales Double, Packaged Media Not Dead?

A new study from Adams Media Research shows that sales of Blu-ray discs in the first quarter of 2009 nearly doubled compared to the same period a year ago, rising to nearly 9 million from 4.8 million in the first quarter of 2008.

Netflix also seems to be growing, and is expected to have 11.2 million subscribers by the end of 2009, after hitting the 10-million subscriber mark for the first time in February 2009.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/163294/if_bluray_is_dying_why_are_disc_sales_soaring.html?tk=rss_main

Will Some Broadband Stimulus Funding Follow Irish Example?

At least some homes in rural Ireland will be supplied with broadband using satellite connections, after a deal was announced between Avanti Communications, the U..K satellite company, and Hutchison 3G Ireland, according to the Financial Times.

Last year the Irish government awarded a contract to Hutchison 3G Ireland to supply broadband to the 10 percent of the population whose locations are remote enough that extending fixed line connections are not feasible. Most of the 220,000 homes are in rural areas, and the majority will connect to the Internet using mobile connections, starting late in April.

Hutchison 3G Ireland could supply Internet access to up to 6,000 Irish homes through satellite connections.

Satellite connections tend to be viewed as too expensive and too slow, compared to wired connections. But sometimes wired connections are financially unworkable. Avanti is using Ka-band spectrum, which allows powerful spot beams to be focused on small areas.

Hughes Network Systems and Wildblue Communications in the United States also use Ka-band technology, offering higher-power signals and bandwidth.

The new broadband satellite services should cost around £20 per month, bringing them into line with prices for fixed-line and mobile connections.

One wonders whether anybody is going to figure out that for the most-isolated locations, satellite might be the most-efficient way to rapidly extend broadband access. Perhaps it won't offer maximum bandwidth equivalent to a fiber to the home connection or VDSL.

But that isn't the point. If you want to get broadband to isolated locations fast and affordably, satellite sometimes is the only option.

http://www.telecomseurope.net/article.php?type=article&id_article=8470&utm_source=lyris&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=telecomseurope

More Full-Time Bloggers than Lawyers?

If I had to pick just one, I'd say the Wall Street Journal is the single best newspaper in the United States. But this story is just wrong in claiming there are more people making a living blogging than lawyers in the United States!

It simply doesn't fit anybody's common sense experience.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124026415808636575.html

Advice for NTIA Broadband Stimulus Applicants

Some would argue "partnerships" are going to be key for winners of broadband stimulus grants under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's program.

You might think this a simple matter of taste or fashion. It isn't. The statutory language favors non-profit groups. But non-profit groups typically do not have the ability to create sustainable communication networks.

There are some possible exceptions. Municipalities might dust off older business plans for municipal Wi-Fi networks. Even there, partnerships would likely be helpful.

http://www.successful.com/msp/snapshot-4-09.pdf

Telcos, Airlines, Newspapers: Structurally Incapable of Making a Profit?

Some businesses, some would argue, are structurally incapable of making a sustained profit. Airlines are the typical example. Others seem to make money only if operated as monopolies. Electrical, water and natural gas services are examples.

This year, we have started to see major U.S. newspapers going out of business. So you would think advertising, a key pillar of the newspaper business model, has migrated elsewhere; to TV or the Internet. Clearly, some has. But migration to Internet venues has slowed.

You might attribute some of that to the recession. But there's a bigger problem right now. As advertising tends to follow eyeballs, you'd think Twitter, Facebook and YouTube would be getting more ad revenue. They aren't getting as much as you might think, or any at all. In fact, some online properties are faring better than print assets, but not by much.

In the first quarter, Yahoo's revenue dropped 13 percent while New York Times Company revenue fell 18 percent, and advertising dropped 27 percent.

So far, nobody has successfully replicated the two-sided revenue stream characteristic of so much of the "old" media in the "new" media space. It has proven largely impossible to monetize content directly.Nor has it proven easy to create stable and large advertising streams.

This is a bigger problem than some realize, as it is not confined to the media, new or old. In telecommunications, all the new fundamental services, IP voice, broadband access and video, are less profitable than older voice services.

Mobility has been key in enabling a transition away from long distance revenue as an industry mainstay. But even that will be under increasing pressure as mobility becomes a broadband access service, with similar margin issues faced by wired network providers.

That's one reason why some of us spend so much time writing about, and thinking about, business models. Right now, some models don't work, while others don't work well.

http://247wallst.com/2009/04/22/the-end-of-%E2%80%9Cnew-media%E2%80%9D-yhoonytgoog/

4.3 Billion Mobile Subscribers This Year

With mobile subscriptions expected to reach 4.3 billion in 2009 and to grow to nearly 5.4 billion by 2013, mobile communications have evolved from “nice-to-have,” to providing utility-like services, say researchers at ABI Research.

The trends driving these capabilities are evolving and include changing distribution models, greater choice of connected devices, faster networks and proliferation of mobile applications. All these choices highlight one of the biggest challenges facing the industry today: mobile services personalization.

“Customers increasingly want a personalized experience with their mobile device and service," says ABI Research Mobile Services practice director Dan Shey. Service personalization involves not only allowing them to find and select the right mobile services and applications but also to control, monitor, and pay for mobile services in a way that best suits their needs."

RCN Rate Hike Raises Ire

I have yet to meet or hear from a video customer who actually was happy about a rate increase, so it is no surprise RCN customers are sqwaking about the latest rate increase they are facing.

Up to this point there have not been many options. The favorite channels most of us watch (a different package for every single viewer) are not available a la carte. In truth, for a package of 10 to 15 channels, especially featuring sports content,  it is doubtful a consumer can save much over current packaged rates.

But it is unlikely distributors can "forever" expect rates to be hiked without something breaking, somewhere.

In my case, two channels plus occasional use of a couple others, justify the entire basic package. But as rates continue to climb, so does the level of irritation.

So far, those two essential channels are not available online, or a la carte.

Of course, distributors aren't dumb. They can assume lots of viewers will be sorely tempted to opt for packages that deliver several channels of most interest, possibly with a "casual viewing" video on demand feature, that might satisfy many current customers.

Nobody knows whether a la carte or expanded VOD options would be revenue neutral. Distributors and networks have reason to fear any change in that direction would not be revenue neutral.

But I don't think some move in the direction of flexibility is avoidable forever. It might be fine positioning for a distributor to say the fees are higher, but so are the variety of channels.

That does not correspond with the way most people watch linear TV, though. Most people do not watch, or even want, most of those channels. And there lies the rub.

There are some precedents, however. Premium channels such as HBO always have been offered a la carte.  But the movie channels, pay per view and VOD always have been fully subscriber-funded formats.

Ad-supported channels have reason to fear the economics of a la carte choice, though. Still, if you look at your on-screen guide, you can see some "natural" packages based around sports, news or entertainment that suggest logical packages that are more targeted than what is possible today. That might be a half step that could work, if most customers do not choose those options.

The system isn't seriously broken yet. But each rate hike increases customer dissatisfaction just a bit more. Someday, it will break.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/RCN-Raises-Rates-Adds-Downgrade-Fee-102035