DSA Online | New Media Updates

Here is a list of mid-late week items that your DSA Online team found interesting:

From Jacquie:

Online Censorship Bigger than you thought – http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/09/21/google.transparency/

Boatloads of articles about Netflix in Canada -

• Netflix plants actors in the audience – Apologizes to Canadians
• Blockbuster’s uncertain future
• What Netflix CEOs hope the US won’t notice about Cdn service

From Kathryn:

I love Jacquie’s cross section of articles on the Netflix launch in Canada. While saddened that Netflix left a bitter taste with the Cdn community after their TO hijinks (great local blog post with links to the latest Netflix creative), I am hopeful that they have learned their lesson. Honesty & transparency wins online. How many times do I need to say it? I have been hooked up to my netflix since yesterday and believe me, it’s changed my viewing habits. Not having cable for the past 8 years, it was a special kind of surprise logging into the streaming system. I turned on my TV, I selected a movie, it started. That easy. Even better – the app access is through my PS3, so I don’t have to buy into any other TV streaming system. I am getting caught up on Heroes season 3 as I cannot get back-issues from most local TV station sites. Honestly, I don’t see any reason to return to the station streams. They have not upgraded their service and the ads are still atrocious (loud, repetitive, message burn-out, limited selection). Sorry traditional TV. I believe you’ve lost online. Time will tell if Netflix will continue to provide new and timely content to Canadians, but with a launch complete with MadMen, I’ve got some catching up before I start complaining.

I also don’t think that Netflix is trying to compete with local TV viewership. They are definitely going to woo over the non-traditional viewing crowd and establish a young/tech-saavy viewer audience that will never go back to cable (why buy forced content you don’t care about or support a system that has exclusive deals, ie Canucks + Rogers?). While the TV stations are fighting against each other, negotiating proprietary content lock-outs and worrying about ad dollars, the content is being aggregated in a different way online and users will come. Traditional TV does have some time before they see online erode at their big hit shows, but if Hulu comes North, I officially call local TV streaming dead in Canada.

It’s been a week (or two) of great musical contributions online. It might just be that our network is super conscious of musical videos these days because we’re working on a musical contribution of our own (see the DSA Media blog for future updates), but whatever the cause, I’m happy to bring you this week’s musical link contribution:

I still believe that OK Go’s departure from the traditional label distribution agreement was one of the best things to happen to the internet. I have lost count of how many videos they have released from their Of the blue colour of the sky album (score extra points for the spelling of colour). Each video they put out, I imagine them celebrating their decision:

Weezer follows up their Pork & Beans celebration of memes with a pre-Hurley launch across multiple web-celeb casts: http://mashable.com/2010/09/13/weezer-youtube/

Katy Perry brightens up Sesame Street. But SS & the internet thinks it’s too risqué. What do you think?

Finally, what’s more encouraging than a call from industry professional asking the world of digital media to pick up it’s socks and start working as a community? This AdAge article encouraged the crap out of me this week and gave me hope that we, as a group, can clean up the mess that has become online advertising. Give this a read and then head over to the IAB Canada website. Do you have an idea? Do you want to change the online ad community for the better? Speak up! Currently the IAB is pretty focused in the East and unless you like getting up at 5:30AM PST to be on any of the councils, you’ll likely be frustrated with the process currently in place. But, don’t be discouraged. Send your ideas directly to the IAB Canada council and have your ideas presented by proxy.

UPDATE: Read the excellent first comment below from the president of the IAB Canada inviting western Canada advertisers, publishers & agencies to attend the upcoming Mixx Roadshows in Calgary & Vancouver and be updated on some new developments out West!!