This article by Mark Walsh from Online Media Daily poses that very question. Analyst Laura Martin, who works for Soleil Securities, estimates that Hulu will cost TV networks $920 in advertising dollars.

The continued success of Hulu and others will increasingly tempt people to give up their $100 cable subscriptions and just go with what’s online. The funny thing about it, is that Hulu is owned by NBC Universal - a network which had to scrap all of its network 10pm programming for the Jay Leno show because of declining ratings.

I haven’t had cable for almost 7 years - which is incredibly funny considering that I’ve WORKED in cable for the past 7 years at Lifetime and Oxygen Media. I even have a hard time watching regular television because I will not watch a 1 hour television program that is 17 minutes of commercials (YES, 17 minutes at the very LEAST). An online program has maybe 4 commercials in it - 1 at the top and bottom, and maybe 1 if you have to refresh the screen. So yes, I missed SUnday’s VMA’s and I had to hear all the gossip from people at work.

When you pay a $100 cable bill - that money is divided between the provider (Time Warner or Cablevision i.e.) and each cable network. For instance, ESPN gets $2 a month, Lifetime -  maybe $1.00, Golf Channel - maybe .40 cents. No way I’m paying for cable channels that I have no interest in watching. I’d rather pay for the channels that I will watch.  Since the cable networks won’t allow for a scenario like that, I’d rather just watch the programming I want to watch online or even at the gym.

I’m about to catch Beyonce teaching Kanye West a lesson in respect by going online to MTV or Youtube and watching her speech at Sunday’s VMA’s. Kanye - please, stop drinking Henessey in public. Your little 10 year-old self would not be happy if someone had done that to New Edition 20 years ago.  [Read more →]

This year has not been kind to the magazine publishing world, with so many publications folding  that there’s even a website called MagazineDeathPool.com.  But that hasn’t stopped Greg Sullivan and Joe Diaz from creating a brand new travel magazine called “Afar.”  With a focus on cultural travel, the founders of Afar have a mission to “inspire and guide those who travel the world seeking to connect with its people, experience, their culture and understand their perspectives.”  They have even created an Afar Foundation, promoting cross-cultural exchange for college students and recent graduates who are looking to immerse themselves in another country.  Unlike other travel magazines that focus on hotels and resorts, Afar is all about connecting with real people and places through experiential travel.  To subscribe to the magazine or check out the website, click here:   http://www.afar.com/.

Frank McCourt, author of my favorite memoir, “Angela’s Ashes” died on July 19th at the age of 78.  When I heard the news, it made me reflect on how much I’ve enjoyed McCourt’s writing and what an inspiration he had been in his lifetime.  Growing up in an Irish slum under destitute conditions, McCourt managed to escape the poverty and move to New York City as a young man.  He became an English teacher in the New York City public school system and after retiring in his 60s, he published his first book, ”Angela’s Ashes,” which won him the Pulitzer Prize.  His memoir also became a popular movie that touched a wide audience.

Students of McCourt, some who have become authors themselves, remember him in a New York Times article for his story telling and ability to teach writing.  To read more, click here http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/books/20frank.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=mccourt&st=cse.

In this new age of technology, some folks are chucking their digital cameras in favor of a retro device:  the Polaroid camera!  At least that’s what a group of people in the Netherlands is counting on.  According to a recent article in The New York Times, scientists are working on re-inventing Polaroid’s instant film with the hope that eager consumers will embrace the old analog technique.

I remember the Polaroid growing up and was always fascinated by its instant gratification.  Not even today’s digital cameras can produce a hard copy photo in a snap.  There’s something very satisfying about holding a picture in hand versus seeing the digital image on a screen.  Perhaps there is an awaiting niche market for this retro brand.   To read The New York Times article, here is the link.

She was my favorite Golden Girl.  Her witty humor and wise-cracking remarks would always make me laugh, no matter how many times I had seen the same episode.  Although I first came to appreciate Bea Arthur in her role as Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls in the 1980s, she already had an accomplished Broadway career and was well known for her lead role in the hit TV show, Maude.

Bea Arthur died of cancer on April 25, 2009, at the age of 86.  She died at home in Los Angeles and is survived by two sons.

You can still enjoy watching Bea on The Golden Girls weeknights on WE TV.

Anti-Advertising Agency.com wants you to understand this -

“New York City is a READ-ONLY City”

“You’re free to read advertising, business signs, and city signs. But dare you write or hang anything of your own; you will be labeled as a criminal - a graffiti vandal….If you happen to have several thousand dollars, you might be able to say what you want - as long as it’s not too political.”

The MTA hopes to bring in an additional 20 million dollars in ad revenue by selling the space on the outside of subway cars through Titan Outdoor Media Agency.  When I returned from France last year I was appalled to see the new ads. When I enter the subway, it’s my moment to myself - away from work and friends and street hawkers. I don’t want to be shouted at by prophesiers, I don’t want people to beg me for money because they just got out of the hospital (and didn’t you just get out the hospital last month and the month before that?) and I don’t want my senses overloaded by public space clutter. [Read more →]

Here’s one good thing about the mortgage crisis - we all had to admit we know nothing about finance. Here’s one bad thing about the mortgage crisis - it freakin’ sucks.

More on NPR’s radio show- [Read more →]

That’s the title of our latest piece by our gratitude columnist M.C. Walsh just in time for Thanksgiving. Thank goodness there’s still hope:

The Good News of an Obama Presidency

by M.C. Walsh

I feel as if the spirit of America was revived on Election night. The world watched as we voted in an unlikely candidate to the White House, proving once again, that America is truly the land of opportunity, the place where seemingly impossible dreams can come true. We are all witnesses to this momentous history: the United States elected its first black president. With more Americans coming from mixed heritages and bi-racial backgrounds, like Barack Obama himself, perhaps the color line has finally been blurred. [Read more →]

Just to keep you all informed, President Bush and his administration are finally getting to work and doing stuff. Unfortunately, most people may think it’s bad stuff. (I think the “time out corner” should replace the oval office, right Supernanny?!). President Bush wants to relax building regulations which require sign-off from wild-life biologists before major federal building projects begin. Before building bridges and dams, biologists stall projects in order to modify designs that might endanger local species. [Read more →]