It seems that cable companies are finally getting tired of competing with all the free TV shows that are streaming over the Internet. According to an article in AdAge.com, Time Warner Cable’s CEO Glenn Britt said that they do care when TV networks put their full-length content online and essentially bypass cable TV.

This is a fight that’s been a long time coming. Hollywood studios and networks are finally realizing that they want to reach the most number of people as possible and not be constrained by traditional broadcast TV models. For example HBO has hosted many full-length shows online, as have ABC (Desperate Housewives, Lost), NBC (Hereos) and others.

Studios are embracing this new “Hollywood 2.0″ mentality that they want wider options for their content, and different mediums rather than trying to keep everyone tuned into their TV sets. In fact, a Time Warner cable spokesperson said they are prepared to withhold some subscriber revenue from the networks.

“Our point of view is that there is a segment of our audience that is living more primarily online than they are living on other platforms,” said Erik Flannigan, exec VP-digital media of MTV Networks’ Entertainment Group. “As some of our actions have made clear, the consumer will have many places they want to consume content. As long as we’re putting forth that experience and getting the lion’s share of the advertising, everybody wins.”

I don’t think that it will come to that, however. Cable companies are scared, and are trying to say and do anything to make people understand that they feel threatened by the Internet. Broadcast TV is being threatened–by DVRs, Internet delivery and even DVDs. But any major change to the established broadcast cable TV systems won’t happen for many years.

Some cable providers, like Comcast, have embraced the Internet and have developed web properties (like FanCast.com). It seems that other TV providers will have to learn how to adapt in the face of the growing Internet menace.

Technorati Tags: FanCast, Comcast, Advertising, AdAge, Ad Age, Cable TV, cable

You’ve probably seen it by now.

What looks like a commercial for a new TV show or movie, turns out to be a commercial for a line of HDTV sets from LG called Scarlet. (Check out the video below if you haven’t seen it already.)

It seems like it was a successful campaign, in that it garnered lots of press attention including a red-carpet fake premiere with (fake) celebrities and lots of mentions on the Internet.

However, I’m more interested in the fact that this is one of the first TVs that are branded. And it’s about time. Everything else around us has branded names. Think of cars (Toyota Avalon, Ford Taurus), MP3 players (iPod, Zune), cell phones (LG’s Chocolate, Motorola’s Razr or the iPhone)–heck even condoms have brand names (Trojan, Magnum). So it’s about time that TV sets are becoming brands that consumers can identify.

LG’s Scarlet line of sets don’t really push the bar as far as new or advanced features, it just has a good brand name. And the back of the TV is red, too. So it doesn’t take much beyond lots of advertising dollars, an online viral marketing campaign, and a new product to begin promoting a new brand.

Why aren’t other TV set manufacturer’s doing this? I mean, Sony, which came up with Walkman, and Vaio, should have a good TV brand. Panasonic does have the Viera line of TV sets, but it reminds me too much of Good Morning America’s Meredith Viera to really have a brand impact with me.

Having a name like Scarlet, also makes it easy for consumers to find reviews and prices on the Internet. You don’t have to remember that the Scarlet is product number AZTX-4208, for example. (I just made that up.) Just Google “Scarlet” and TV and up comes results to help you shop and compare.

Brands. It’s what people want. People share with others what brand their new cell phone is. And consumer electronic manufacturers should realize that people want to show off their new HDTVs also. And let’s include DVRs also. Tivo has done pretty well as the top brand of DVRs, but distinguishing different product lines is kind of tricky. Tivo’s Series 2, or Series 3 DVRs are boring names. Why not the Tivo Magum? Or um, something like that.

Technorati Tags: Tivo, LG, Scarlet, branding, advertising, HDTV, TV

As much as I love Internet video, I hate online video advertising. Sorry. I just want to get right to the content. I hate pop-ups, interstitials, and other “in your face” advertising.

But what really gets me angry is when I click on a link to watch a video, and I get an ad. Argh! I don’t want to watch an ad. I don’t want to wait 15 to 30 seconds for the ad to finish. I want my video!

This just happened to me a few minutes ago, when I was reading a Yahoo News article about American Idol. I saw this “related video” next to the story and clicked on it. But the first thing that popped up was an ad for something. I was so disgusted I closed the video window and didn’t even get to watch the clip.

I realize advertising is important and pays the bills (yadda yadda), but I don’t care. I guess I’m much more laid back about advertising on TV since I can tune it out. Or if I’m Tivoing, I can fast forward. But many Internet video advertising disables the fast forward button when an ad is showing. Argh!

Even though I was reading Yahoo News, the video came from AP. Other web sites that shove advertising at me include CNN and TMZ. Like AP Video, these sites open up a new browser window (yuck) and show a bunch of other clips that I may like to watch. Are they assuming that I want to watch other kinds of unrelated video clips just because I happen to be watching video? Sometimes I just want to get in, watch the video and get out. I don’t want to lazily watch a series of video clips all in a row.

Anyway, I guess the number one time NOT to play an online ad is before you play the actual content. Please, content owners around the web: You’re only turning off viewers. Let us get to the content, then throw some advertising at us. If I wanted to see an ad I’d watch the Super Bowl.

And yes, I’m back!

DVRs are still a novelty to many people and it’s always interesting to see new users learn about DVR etiquette. At the Wall Street Journal, Jason Fry wrote about discovering the classic DVR faux pas: Revealing Facts About TV Shows Without Asking If They Recorded It. Fry says he revealed the final play of an exciting March Madness game to a friend. Oops!

He says he is discovering that not everyone is tuning into TV like they used to. “Today my TV is not your TV, and you can never assume the same people are watching the same thing at the same time or in the same way,” he writes.

No, TV is personal just like computers. Or cell phones. Or iPods.

But personal TV gets difficult to manage when there is more than 1 person watching. Do the kids watch their shows? Do you watch The latest UFC fight? Or let your wife tune into “Masterpiece” to catch the Jane Austen movies? Or perhaps sit together and watch “American Idol”?

The answer is whole home DVR, where every TV has its own DVR. Or at least access to the central DVR sitting in the living room.

Looks like Internet ad revenue is still growing and even outpacing traditional media. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, advertising revenues from 2007 were about $21.1 billion, which is up 25% over 2006’s $16.9 billion.

Technorati Tags: IAB, research, advertising, Internet advertising, Internet Advertising Bureau