The Toad Stool by Alan Wolk - Latest Comments

Re: Twitter Is A Broadcast Network. Not A Social Network. Deal With It.

virtualCableTV — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 15:10:46 -0000

I tend to agree Twitter has huge unmet potential as a bradcaster of sorts. I'm wishy-washy about agreeing people are fearful of public tweeting thinking its a matter of context; tweet from a bar or restaurant and you'll hear it all.

Re: Who Needs Networks Anyway? Bringing Film and Television Directly To The Consumer

Alan Wolk — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 01:00:24 -0000

Hi Dave and thanks for the comment.

While I agree with you for the most part, I think there is room for well known producers and screenwriters and actors to band together and produce their own series that they then market without a middleman. You'd need to find people with enough name recognition that the media buzz around the show would more be intense and who were savvy enough to get the right OTT distribution deals.

That's a lot of "ifs" but it could be done.

Re: Who Needs Networks Anyway? Bringing Film and Television Directly To The Consumer

David Casler — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 22:08:02 -0000

It's a bit like authors rushing to self-publish to eliminate the middlemen. Unfortunately, the middlemen do add value, if nothing more than being gatekeepers. I self-publish, but I don't trust myself enough to think I can publish without having an editor cast a jaundiced eye on what I write. Similarly, anyone can post videos, but it takes collaboration to produce something that will rise above the noise.

Re: The Great Video Uprising

Maarten Heilbron — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 10:37:27 -0000

Alan: I started on this project when I retired about two years ago, and although both were slow to start, the growth in video is impressive, by just about any measure. The text blog is a huge disappointment.
It's my impression that there are a significant group who use youtube as a search engine instead of google. And I know that I rate much higher on youtube than on google for the products I've covered. Viewers come from youtube searches and recommendations (the tiles you see at the end of a video)

Re: The Great Video Uprising

Alan Wolk — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 08:41:56 -0000

Those are interesting stats Maarten. Was there a point where the numbers started to skew more heavily towards video, or have they always been at that ratio?

Re: The Great Video Uprising

Maarten Heilbron — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 08:06:09 -0000

As someone who maintains both a blog and a youtube channel with roughly similar content about technology - I'd call my efforts on youtube a success with over 2500 views per day, while the blog barely gets 2000 views a month. That overview extends to likes, shares, comments - the entire engagement. To me anyway, it's clear that the public is far more interested and far more likely to engage with video than text.

Re: The Dawning Of The Rise of the Next Golden Age

Jeremy Toeman — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 16:18:04 -0000

I can't say I entirely agree with: "Because it’s no longer just about a seaon's worth of 22 or 44 minute scripts, cranked out week after week. It’s about creating an entire world around a show via second screen and social and gaming and other media and understanding that the ultimate viewer of those experiences may not actually see them during the lifetime of their creators."

Why isn't it? Breaking Bad doesn't require "a world" of other stuff to be entertaining. Is it fun to create these value-added experiences for the hardcore fan base? Sure. But I don't agree that all content will exist this way, and further I think a lot of production studios are going to through gobs of $ at utterly pointless "frills" because they think they "have to".

I'd wager that for the top 10% of shows - BB, GoT, HoC, etc - and I trust you to know those names :) - all the fluff isn't needed. Do "the kids today" really give a crap? No evidence there... *yet*

Re: Big Changes Afoot

Alan Wolk — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 23:17:15 -0000

You are welcome Eoin. Thanks for the good wishes.

Re: Big Changes Afoot

Alan Wolk — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 23:16:56 -0000

Thank you Chuck. You've left some big shoes to fill. Glad to have you around as Chairman Emeritus to help with the transition.

Re: Big Changes Afoot

EoinBox — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 18:40:44 -0000

Best of luck Alan - cant wait for the book.

Re: Big Changes Afoot

Chuck Parker — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 18:35:54 -0000

very happy to have you on board as Chairman Alan. I am expecting you to work with Guy and Marty to drive things to the next level for the industry as a whole. And big congrats on finishing the book!

Re: In Defense Of Authenticity

Mark Schoneveld — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 13:58:11 -0000

Few weeks late, but yup. Spot on.

Re: The Internet Isn’t Beating Television, It’s Becoming It

Tom_Cunniff_NYC — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:07:21 -0000

In the end, from a consumer's POV everything is a multipurpose screen. Consumers can either easily get whatever they want on it, or they can't -- and their strong preference will always be to pay as little as possible for what's on it. The major challenge for the TV Industrial Complex is how to get people to pay attention (we're endlessly distracted) and dollars (free options are everywhere). HBO and Netflix have proven it can be done, at least for now. But consumer attention is limited, and for most households, incomes aren't rising. Will cable be able to command the big monthly dollars that it currently does when we look ahead 10 years? Time will tell, but it's hard to imagine how they will pull that magic trick off.

Re: Twitter Fans Versus Tumbler Fans

Alan Wolk — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 10:01:22 -0000

Thank you Thomas. That is very kind.

Re: Twitter Fans Versus Tumbler Fans

Thomas — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 08:58:02 -0000

This should be required reading for everyone in Hollywood - very succinct and well thought out.

Re: The Spotifyization of Television: Towards A Newer, Better Business Model

brad waddell — Sat, 10 May 2014 08:10:27 -0000

alan, did you check out WatzOn.TV? 24 hours a day it's only entertainment you want to see! thanks.

Re: The Spotifyization of Television: Towards A Newer, Better Business Model

brad waddell — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 13:44:56 -0000

much appreciated alan!

Re: The Spotifyization of Television: Towards A Newer, Better Business Model

Alan Wolk — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 13:34:39 -0000

Thanks for the heads up Brad. Will definitely check out WatzOn!

Re: The Spotifyization of Television: Towards A Newer, Better Business Model

Alan Wolk — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 13:34:11 -0000

Thank you Carlo

Re: The Spotifyization of Television: Towards A Newer, Better Business Model

brad waddell — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:45:50 -0000

alan, already done and ready to watch! at least number 5 - WatzOn.TV creates personalized "lean-back" linear tv mix based on each users preferences using a wealth of freely available video sources and running on any device the user prefers - would welcome your feedback! thanks

Re: The Spotifyization of Television: Towards A Newer, Better Business Model

carlodemarchis — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 10:44:57 -0000

I'll have to digest and think about it properly but that seem quite a good parallelism

Re: Are DVRs Doomed?

Alan Wolk — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 19:08:48 -0000

Hi Cynthia. They may be able to sell the VOD commercials for more money, as they are better able to target them. But I agree, it will be a tricky balancing act as their desire for more profit conflicts with consumer's desire for less interruptions.

Re: Are DVRs Doomed?

Morningsider — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 17:47:08 -0000

Don't the broadcast networks want to have the same commercial load on VOD as on air? If they do that, I agree with you, it will fail. But DVRs may also be on way out. In our household, we stopped using the DVR because we are all using subscription streaming services instead. The USX is better, and we find plenty to watch.

Re: There Ought To Be A Law: Using Congress To Change The Television Industry

Alan Wolk — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 12:34:42 -0000

Agreed Tom. It will be an erosion and slower than the erosion that happened to the music and radio industries where a clearly identifiable alternative showed up and seemed to shift the landscape overnight.
And it is most definitely complicated.

Re: There Ought To Be A Law: Using Congress To Change The Television Industry

Tom_Cunniff_NYC — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 12:31:24 -0000

Alan, for a long time I held the same POV. But I now believe that the real alternative to TV is "everything else" -- Netflix, Amazon, Apple, HBO, Smart TVs, Facebook, email, games, etc etc. 3 of the 6 Emmy-nominated dramas in 2013 were on networks that did not allow advertising. These factors all erode the ability of TV to deliver affordable mass reach. In the history of media, few ever "die" -- but most wane in importance. Our industry tends toward polar thinking: a medium is dead or alive, the future or the past. Reality has more shades of gray. Bottom line, I see a declining future for TV. At the same time, it pays to remember that a TV industry that's 30% of its current size would still be, by any measure, a substantial business. Long story short: TV's future is complicated :-)