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Reuters: Microsoft plans new subscription TV service via Xbox

Laura Oliver — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:33:54 +0000

Reuters reports on plans by Microsoft to create a new subscription-based TV service available via its Xbox console. According to Reuters’ sources, talks have been held with TV networks about a product to rival plans by Google and other new media companies to move into TV.

The service would charge a monthly fee for access through the Xbox to networks such as ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, ESPN or CNN, according to two sources familiar with the plans.

Other options include allowing cable subscribers to use the Xbox to watch shows with more interactive functions. Viewers could, for instance, message with friends over the console while viewing their favorite shows.

Full story on Reuters at this link…Similar Posts:

Paywall and subscription models: a study of 30+ organisations

Judith Townend — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:30:50 +0000

Alastair Bruce (@ajbruce), content manager for MSN UK, has studied over 30 organisations to produce this detailed presentation on pay wall and subscription models. He examines bundling, micropayments, metered systems, freemium and 100 per cent subscription models, across consumer/specialist titles and national/local newspapers. Who is doing what, and what comes next?

How publishers are charging for online content or consumption and implementing paywalls and subscription services

Charging for content

View more presentations from Alastair Bruce.

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#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – mapping local news buzz

Laura Oliver — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:15:03 +0000

Blogging: Keep an eye on Bing’s Local Lens application – currently only available for certain US cities, it adds blog posts and Twitter updates to maps of local areas. A great tool for local journalists tracking stories or looking for leads. Tipster: Laura Oliver.

To submit a tip to Journalism.co.uk, use this link – we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.Similar Posts:

FT.com: Microsoft unlikely to pay users to leave Google

Judith Townend — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:10:39 +0000

Microsoft’s senior vice-president for online services said the company is not focused on ‘getting non-Google content,’ reports the FT.

Satya Nadella’s comments imply the company would be unlikely to pay newspaper owners and other publishers for removing their content from Google, an idea that had been discussed with News Corp.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s senior vice-president for online services, refused to comment directly on talks with News Corp, but said that Bing was not looking to get a leg-up on Google by securing preferential access to information. ‘That’s not at all a focus for us,” he said, adding: “We generally are not focused on getting non-Google content.”

Full story at this link…Similar Posts:

Channel 4 News: @robertandrews and @ciaranj debate News International, Bing and Google

Laura Oliver — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:24:02 +0000

Further to yesterday’s news from the Financial Times that Microsoft is considering paying for news content to appear on its search engine Bing (in a ‘web pact’ with News International), Channel 4 News last night debated the potential impact this could have on the market.

Krishnan Guru-Murphy discussed with paidContent:UK editor, Robert Andrews, and head of social media at global media agency Mindshare, Ciarán Norris.

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FT.com: ‘Web pact’ for Microsoft and News Corp?

Judith Townend — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:28:57 +0000

The companies have declined to comment, but the FT reports that Microsoft – which owns search engine Bing – has entered discussions with News Corp ‘over a plan that would involve the media company’s being paid to ‘de-index’ its news websites from Google’.

It reports:

“The impetus for the discussions came from News Corp, owner of newspapers ranging from the Wall Street Journal of the US to The Sun of the UK, said a person familiar with the situation, who warned that talks were at an early stage.

“However, the Financial Times has learnt that Microsoft has also approached other big online publishers to persuade them to remove their sites from Google’s search engine.”

Full story at this link…Similar Posts:

News numeracy: online tools for reporting numbers

Laura Oliver — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:56:09 +0000

Following on from Steve Harrison’s excellent two-part guide on news numeracy, ‘How to: get to grips with numbers as a journalist’, here’s a round-up of some of the best online tools and sites for journalists when reporting figures and stats:

ManyEyes

By uploading text or tables you can create simple piecharts to more complex maps or bubble charts. There are also options for text-based visualisations.

For creating charts try:

Using a spreadsheet in Google Docs – you can highlight a table of data and select from a range of simple 2d and 3d graphs and charts.
Online spreadsheet service Zoho Sheet (looks similar to Google Docs and requires registration, but claims to allow integration with Microsoft Powerpoint and Excel)
Fusion Charts – for creating interactive, flash charts

Mr Excel

Everything you could ever want to know – and more – about using Excel spreadsheets for data analysis and number crunching.

Daytum

Can be used to track multiple sets of data and present them in a combination of charts, lists and graphics.

Helpful lists

Journalism trainer Mindy McAdams has a great round-up of data visualisation resources, including this list of 175+ data and information visualization examples and resources.
10,000 words offers some inspirational infographics and a ‘how to’ on creating charts.

Any other tools that you use? Let us know and we’ll add them to the list.Similar Posts:

Recovering Journalist: Growthspur – supporting local media entrepreneurs

Laura Oliver — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:21:55 +0000

Mark Potts, founder of hyperlocal venture Backfence, discusses his latest venture: Growthspur, a new company aimed at finding new business models to support local news and information sources.

Jeff Jarvis helped develop the concept and Potts also has former Microsoft executive Dave Chase and co-founder of the Yale Entreprenuerial Insititute, Jennifer McFadden, on board.

Full post at this link…Similar Posts:

Telegraph.co.uk: MSN discussing hyperlocal partnerships with local papers

Laura Oliver — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:56:03 +0000

Microsoft has been very chatty this week – see its long-awaited announcement of a search partnership with Yahoo.

On top of this and following the launch of the data-rich MSN Local, MSN executive producer Peter Bale told the Telegraph that the site was hoping to take feeds from local newspapers and map the content.

“Hyperlocal news online has never been more important and we think this is a really interesting growth area,” he said.

Payment for the feeds is a possibility or a linking/traffic driving arrangement could be made, he added.

Full post at this link…Similar Posts:

#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – importing tables into a spreadsheet

Laura Oliver — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:00:19 +0000

Figures: Confronted with a table of figures on a website or attachment? The latest version of Microsoft Excel lets you import a table quickly and easily into a spreadsheet so you can do your own calculations. Tipster: Laura Oliver.

To submit a tip to Journalism.co.uk, use this link – we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.Similar Posts:

Press Gazette: Times tops newspaper brands in recognition survey

Laura Oliver — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:15:23 +0000

The Times and Sunday Times were jointly ranked highest out of UK newspaper brands in this year’s Superbrands report, which looks at media ‘brand recognition’.

AT 131st, however, the papers were beaten into submission by BBC (5) and Sky (60). Google came 2nd to Microsoft in the report, which polls more than 2,000 adults.

Full story at this link…Similar Posts:

John Yemma: Lessons from Encarta for newspapers

Laura Oliver — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:19:50 +0000

“general knowledge, whether under the brand name of a giant like Britannica or Microsoft, can’t withstand an effort that was developed specifically for the Internet and that harnesses gifted amateurs,” writes John Yemma, editor of the Christian Science Monitor, one week into web-only production.

Full story at this link…Similar Posts:

Microsoft’s Photosynth as a storytelling tool

Laura Oliver — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:43:06 +0000

Speaking at yesterday’s Association of Online Publisher’s (AOP) editorial technologies event, Microsoft executive producer Peter Bale extolled the virtues of Photosynth as a new visual storytelling tool.

The experimental, but publicly available tool, was used by CNN in its coverage of the Obama inauguration to thread 100s of photos together. These create a scenic panorama but can also be drilled into using additional feature Deep Zoom:

Within MSN its being used five or six times a week and the team are learning more about its capabilities with each use, Bale told Journalism.co.uk.

The product is being deployed commercially e.g for motoring sections to show car interiors in high detail. MSN also used PhotoSynth to display professional and user-contributed images during the recent heavy snowfall in the UK.

“What we’d like to do a lot more of is multiple crowd-contributed pictures where you can get several hundred or thousand people contributing a picture of a similar event, stitched together in a communal panorama,” he explained.

Photosynth works in combination with Microsoft’s alternative to Flash, Silverlight, which Bale says is ideally set up to enable map mash-ups and overlaying other content onto the threaded images.Similar Posts:

WebProNews: Microsoft enlist publishers to build digital ad offering

Laura Oliver — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:56:23 +0000

Microsoft has created the Publisher Leadership Council – a collection of digital publishers – to help develop its new advertising platform for online.

Full story at this link…Similar Posts:

Newsosaur: Local online advertising’s fatal flaws

Laura Oliver — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:44:39 +0000

Dave Chase, founder of Microsoft’s Sidewalk.com, points out the ‘five fatal flaws’ in local online ad sales, including a revenue side of the operation which does not match the innovation happening in ad production and funding.Similar Posts: