57 Articles about Media

Monday, September 30, 2013

Apple beats Coca-Cola to become world’s most valuable brand

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/apple-beats-cocacola-to-become-worlds-most-valuable-brand-for-first-time-8848780.html

In a strong year for technology and web-based brands, the other really big risers were Facebook, into 52nd place with its value up 43 per cent to $7.7 billion, and Amazon, into the top 20 with a 27 per cent improvement in value to $23.6 billion.

“Coca-Cola is a very mature, steady brand with a global presence, so the valuation for Coke will be pretty steady. With technology brands you see more volatility. Twenty years ago people were singing Motorola’s praises.

“Technology brands certainly influence buyer behaviour. They also tend to be very volatile. The table tells you that the most successful technology companies are very profitable and successful. It may also tell you there’s a bubble.”

Financial services in developing countries

Access to traditional financial services, such as deposit-taking accounts and automatic teller machines (ATMs), in developing countries has expanded in recent years

Popular Demand - US Media in Numbers

Fans choosing movies online seek out small coming-of-age dramas like “Mud,” which earned $21.6 million over 20 weeks in theaters, and big-studio extravaganzas like “The Great Gatsby.”

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Uzbekistan's first daughters and the family squabble behind the dictatorship

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/27/uzbekistan-daughters-lola-gulnara-karimova

The squabble has far more significance than a mere family matter, as rumours swirl about the health of the 75-year-old Islam Karimov, who has ruled Uzbekistan since 1991 and has such a tight grip on power there are no other politicians with major public profiles. Gulnara has long been seen as a potential successor, but is deeply unpopular in the country, with a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks referring to her as "the single most hated person in the country". She has also been the target of a number of international corruption investigations in recent months and critics have long claimed that she runs a huge business empire in Uzbekistan. She has denied all wrongdoing.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Resolution not revolution: could 4K save TV?

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/sep/26/4k-resolution-ibc-2013-broadcast

"People have been glum for the wrong reasons," says Bill Roberts, director of video product management at Adobe, the creative software publisher. "Never before has more content been captured or consumed. The barriers to content creation are low, but monetisation is changing for the first time in 50 years."

Monolithic, often state-backed broadcasters that control both production, and distribution through the transmission networks, are losing ground to more creative, more flexible and sometimes better-resourced satellite and cable channels. Increasingly, they are losing ground too, to internet-only, or "internet first" operations.

As Roberts points out, OTT video distributor Netflix has branched out into original content, creating the US series House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. And Netflix can more properly be called an internet-first service rather than purely an online service: the company recently announced its programming would be available to Virgin Media subscribers, via their set-top boxes.

Daniel Ek of Spotify talks about changing the music business

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/ca45f6b8-25bd-11e3-aee8-00144feab7de.html#axzz2gAUPgWcL

He believed that if he offered music free with advertising on users’ desktops, many would pay for the convenience of having it ad-free on their iPhones. Ek was a big Apple supporter but Steve Jobs, the iPhone’s creator, had mocked the idea of music subscriptions and the Swede’s business model was a bet on Apple’s guru being wrong. “Jobs was a brilliant guy ... but he was also very famous for saying constantly that something was wrong and then six months later doing it himself,” says Ek.

Pointing to forecasts that another billion people will come online in the next three years, he adds: “We’re just at the beginning of this journey ... This is the time to invest.” Indeed, while Spotify’s sales shot from €190m to €435m in 2012, its net losses grew from €45.4m to €58.7m as Ek poured money into new features and opening in more countries.

With launches in four markets this week, including Argentina and Turkey, Spotify is now in 32 countries, and he sees opening up emerging markets as the best chance of restoring the music industry to its former size. Though Ek’s home market of Sweden is also capturing the industry’s attention. In the first half of 2013, streaming services accounted for three-quarters of the country’s recorded music revenues, driving growth of 12 per cent in an industry accustomed to double-digit declines.