November 09 2006
MetroLive: A Review
posted by Ana Samways at 1:42 pm
The Wealth Issue… Very 1985
At last Metro Magazine has deigned to go online, but as editor Lauren Quaintance promises there’ll be no musical kittens: “YouTube is harmless, diverting stuff,” she says in the November editorial. “It might be a drain on your time but it’s hardly any great threat to the Fourth Estate.”
Say what? Sorry Lauren, but YouTube and the likes are a threat to your beloved Fourth Estate, that’s why every media organisation including ACP is clamouring to develop their online products and get a piece of the increasing online ad revenue and readership.
Here are few facts to consider about YouTube: When Google bought YouTube, the rise in share price paid for the deal –- and an extra US$4 billion profit to boot.
Right now YouTube is a bit ‘Funniest Home Videos’ but tomorrow it’s every music video ever produced. Next week it’s every TV show ever produced, all yours for a dollar per show. The BBC is already talking about making its entire back catalogue of TV and radio available online, and which recently merged company would be the best place for that? YouTube and Google.
Network TV is a control freak which likes to dictate when viewers are allowed to watch a particular show and scheduling it accordingly. But YouTube means you need never wait for the next four episodes of The Sopranos again.
And there is money to be made. Until the BBC threatened legal action, Top Gear’s video clips were the number one show on YouTube. Hundreds of millions of viewers watch Top Gear each week. If each one paid a dollar that’s more than enough to cover production costs and make a tidy profit.
Radio didn’t replace newspapers. TV didn’t replace radio. The internet won’t replace TV but it will force changes.
Anyway, back to MetroLive: It’s a great idea because now readers don’t have to fork out $7.80 dollars for the ‘Remmers and BMW’ content that is mostly irrelevant to Aucklanders. But you can get what Metro does well… the bitching:
Jeremy Wells voices an animation to Metro’s iconic 20 questions at break-neck speed on a budget Windows Media player.
A round-up of who’s winning the gossip war between the Sunday Star Times’ Bridget Saunders and the Herald On Sunday’s Rachel Glucina
Revealingly My Auckland asks Paul Casserly and Gilda Kirkpatrick if they are The Viaduct or K-Rd types? We should all be able to guess their answers.
Seven Days In The City is an only-online column of snippets that gives an irreverent take on the news of the week… which sounds kinda familiar… this week included tidbits like Chris Knox donating a “Jandalin” — a guitar with two jandals stuck to it — to The Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust’s recent fundraiser. Good stuff.
You’ll need a bit of spare cash for Bargain Hunter - a weekly guide to the best deals in the city – suggests readers pop off to Ponsonby women’s shoe store Mei Mei where a pair of Marc Jacobs green wedges are down from $1035, to a mere $720 and there’s a hundy off the Babylove Ario three-wheel stroller at the baby factory.
As for the other content, I am a parent so don’t go out much, but the unburdened can Ask Metro where to go on a night out… I am not the least bit interested in Auckland’s best private dining rooms, but I guess the property guide has relevance to the 62% of Kiwis who can still afford their own home… And maybe a live online chat with Auckland Regional Council chairman Michael Lee is someone’s idea of fun…
And by the way, there is an answer to this month’s 20th question (Has anyone figured a way to make money out of a website yet?)… Sam Morgan.
Thanks to Paul Brislen for generously sharing his knowledge.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:47 am
The preblem with a “dollar a show” model is acceptance.
Micropayments haven’t often worked (apart from for porn) because people browsing the net aren’t usually in buying mode. Picking up a Metro for $7.80 with your groceries is natural – paying a dollar for a youtube clip that may or may not be any good isn’t.
November 10th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
[...] Metro magazine has launched a website called MetroLive, and Spareroom has a good summary of what works and what doesn’t. [...]
November 10th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
I was surprised to learn of the existence of this Gilda Kirkpatrick lady, Metro’s cover star. She’s only two years older than me and yet she’s married to a senior citizen and wears nice frocks. I suppose there’s nowhere else to go but up.
November 12th, 2006 at 9:21 am
This blogger worked out that YouTube chews through 25 petabytes a month…YouTube does have some Fatal Flaws though… some of them are especially created for NZers, courtesy of our insufficient broadband.
First, quality: YouTube clips suck in that respect. Picture quality is dire and the sound isn’t much better.
Two, hey, we’re in NZ! Because we love our monopolies so much that we’d rather hand over exorbitant amounts of money for substandard services than do something about it, YouTube clips arrive at glacial speed.
Three: the clips are short.
Four: even if they’re longer (see point Two), are you going to sit in front of your computer and watch it? “Ahh, but I can get one of those clever media centre PCs and put it in my living room” and yes you can do that, but it’s cheaper to stick with the TV.
Five: the stuff you want to watch is copyrighted. This could turn nasty for viewers and YouTube alike, because the movie and TV studios are more powerful than any government and court in the world. They should’ve sent the MPAA in to deal with Saddam, not the US military.
TV and films have a long and prosperous future ahead of them…
November 12th, 2006 at 9:34 am
More coffee… brain revs up some more…
Point Two is perhaps a little unfair from a technology view although the monopoly aspect remains true.
Related to Points One, Two and Three is the fact that storing and delivering large amounts of high quality video/audio requires an enormous amount of space and bandwidth.
– impressive figures, but imagine how much higher they’d be with just standard quality TV shows on YouTube.