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LAS VEGAS--Over-the-air radio broadcasters have a plan to stay relevant even as their listeners continue to migrate to the Web.

(Credit: Radioheardhere.com)

Radio Heard Here, a new initiative from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the HD Digital Radio Alliance is focused largely on trying to convince the public that radio remains relevant.

The plan calls for a public-relations campaign, including video ads on YouTube, and a method to connect players online. But there's little real meat. In reality, it's a response to those skeptical about the industry's chances to survive in the Internet era who have lately given radio plenty of static.

BusinessWeek's Jon Fine wrote a column in February titled "Requiem for Old-Time Radio."

Without even getting into the problems the iPod has posed, Fine notes that revenues are plunging and listeners are leaving. The Internet has turned countless people into disc jockeys and enabled them to compete with traditional radio stations. And radio's carefully controlled and limited playlists compare unfavorably with the vast array of music available on the Web.

"The explosion in both expression and availability, first on independent labels and now everywhere, thanks to the Internet," Fine wrote, "began overtaking commercial radio stations well over 20 years ago."

Naturally, radio broadcasters don't see it that way. They note that radio still plays a huge part in people's lives, during their work commutes, for example. They point to the development of high-definition radio and how automakers are starting to adopt the technology. They maintain that commercial radio can and will fit nicely on the Web.

NAB CEO David Rehr told an audience at the NAB 2008 conference here Monday that what radio has always offered is "connection" to listeners. "Technology hasn't changed that," Rehr said. "It has just changed the devices of delivery."

Director Doug Liman tells an audience at the National Association of Broadcasters 2008 conference that he expects to see an Internet equivalent of Swingers.

(Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET News.com)

LAS VEGAS--Director Doug Liman pulled no punches when sizing up the quality of storytelling on the Web.

The Internet simply hasn't produced any truly compelling stories, Liman, director of such hits as The Bourne Identity and Swingers, told an audience of several hundred Monday at the National Association of Broadcasters 2008 conference here.

But that doesn't mean it won't. He told the audience he believes it's just a matter of time before a star filmmaker bubbles up from YouTube, iFilm, or one of the other online video sites.

"The reality is that the quality content isn't there yet," Liman said in an interview following the speech. "It's no different than going to Sundance (Film Festival) this year and people saying, 'The great independent film wasn't there this year.' That doesn't mean it won't be there next year. Given the direction the Internet's going-- with more and more people working in that arena--you're going to see an Internet equivalent of Swingers."

Liman (right) speaks to a fan at NAB 2008.

(Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET News.com)

Swingers, starring actors Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, launched the then-unknown Liman's career. The 1996 film, about a group of unemployed actors trying to make it big in Hollywood, was made for $250,000 and grossed $6.5 million worldwide. Had the Internet been more of an entertainment force then, perhaps Liman would have made his mark online first. He said the Web is tailor made for helping talented filmmakers with limited funds build a reputation.

Liman, who said he might have gone into technology if he hadn't stumbled onto a movie camera at the age of 8, encouraged Web videographers in the audience by noting that "sometimes greatness comes from not having resources."

To illustrate his point, he recalled a commercial he was shooting for Nike in the late 1990s starring golfer Tiger Woods. Liman noticed Woods bouncing a ball on the edge of a club during breaks from shooting. Liman grabbed a shoulder-held camera and, away from the crew, asked Woods to bounce the balls while being filmed. Liman began to lose his patience when Woods blew the shot several times.

"I told him, 'I can't believe that of all people you are choking under pressure,'" Liman told the audience.

Woods glared and then bounced the ball while transferring the club through his legs behind his back and finished by smacking the ball in mid air. The shot, which became a classic, was natural, unrehearsed, and driven by imagination rather than millions of studio dollars, Liman said.

Liman praised digital cameras and other technologies for helping to improve filmmaking, but he reminded the audience that a good story is still key.

"Movies can get away without great writing because they are all about the spectacle," Liman told the audience. "But with TV and the Web it's all about great writing...Look at the (NBC Universal TV show) The Office. It looks like Swingers and for that I was using used-film stock. People don't care. If they love the characters they will cone back. Look at Seinfeld...Why couldn't Seinfeld come from someone with a digital camera shooting for the Web?"

Though CRT monitors have been made practically obsolete for consumers by the LCD industry, a few industries--photography/visual design/filmmaking--still cling to them for their nonpareil color quality.

Hewlett-Packard is trying to loosen their grip on those clunky desktop space-hoggers by offering a liquid crystal display for visual artist types that boasts the ability to show 1 billion colors for "one quarter" of the cost of other LCD monitors in this category.

At the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas on Monday, Todd Bradley, vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group, announced that HP has teamed up with DreamWorks for a technology it calls DreamColor.

It will offer 30-bit color using LED-backlighting technology on a widescreen display that will work with a Mac or PC--not just HP products. The displays are intended to keep colors consistent throughout the creative process: from a display on a workstation to film and/or to print. Printers with DreamColor technology were introduced last year.

HP says it's only a "preview" announcement, which means it's not announcing pricing yet. The displays are scheduled to start shipping this summer.

Microsoft chose the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show 2008 in Las Vegas to announce new customers for its Silverlight rich-media player and introduce software aimed at broadcasters.

It also detailed SilverlightDRM, a content protection system based on Microsoft's PlayReady technology, which is set to be available later this year with Silverlight 2.

The digital rights management, or DRM, software will work with streamed, progressive download, and downloadable media, and it can be extended by third-party software companies, Microsoft said.

Microsoft is trying to make Silverlight the preferred medium to broadcast video on the Web--a challenge, given the resounding lead that Adobe Systems has with Flash.

Microsoft said 1.5 million people a day are downloading Silverlight. Adobe claims that more than 90 percent of Web users are already using the current version of the Flash Player.

New Silverlight customers include Madison Square Garden (MSG) Interactive, Chinese Web portal Tencent, Abertis Telecom, and Terra Networks Operations. Other notable recent customers include NBCOlympics.com and Yahoo Japan.

While they woo content producers, both companies are also battling over software developers. The millions of programmers trained in Microsoft's .Net tools can write rich Internet applications with Silverlight. Adobe, too, is boosting up its tools investment around Web toolkits and Flex.

Also at NAB, Microsoft announced enhancements to products aimed at broadcasters.

Microsoft and Ascent Media Group have formed a partnership to automate the supply chain for the entertainment industry. It also said Microsoft executives will show off versions of its Dynamics packaged applications customized for the media customers at NAB.

Microsoft also added features to its Interactive Media Manager application, which is built on SharePoint Server, including a Silverlight rough-cut video editor and an enhanced searchable media catalog.

LAS VEGAS--Big TV networks are rushing to attract Internet audiences, but there are signs that the payoff won't be that sexy.

One of the burning questions television broadcasters face is whether the Web can be mined for big advertising dollars. NBC Universal, CBS, and Viacom are just a few of the media conglomerates moving quickly to offer full-length TV shows over the Web.

What will surely be debated here this week at the National Association of Broadcasters' annual conference--which gets rolling on Monday--is whether the masses will welcome TV on a PC.

Actor Tim Robbins

What about commercials? Will audiences resent being forced to watch commercials online, when TiVo and other digital video recorder, or DVR, models enable them to skip ads on plain-old TVs?

Earlier this month, Toronto-based Convergence Consulting Group released a report (PDF) skeptical of TV's prospects on the Web and urged cable, satellite, and broadcast executives to stay focused on their traditional businesses.

"There is no current economic rationale for broadcasters and cable networks to abandon traditional TV or attempt to accelerate a transition to a total online model," the group said in its report. "To do so would put $66 billion in traditional TV advertising revenue and $30 billion in cable, satellite, (and telecommunications companies') TV provider programming fees at risk."

One of the main sticking points for online TV shows is commercials. TV executives are using the technology to once again ram ads down the throats of viewers. Convergence argues that in head-to-head competition, the public will choose traditional TV and commercial-zapping DVRs over watching on the Web.

The "bottom line," Convergence wrote, is that "the DVR will limit full-episode online viewing."

Meanwhile, NBC Universal trumpeted an important milestone last week. Hulu, the video portal founded by NBC and News Corp., sold out of available ad inventory after being open only a month. NBC President Jeff Zucker announced that Hulu is looking for ways to make more ads available.

Director Doug Liman

In addition, the Associated Press reported Saturday that networks are getting better ad rates for Internet distribution than they are for traditional broadcasts.

"Advertisers pay more online because there is a better accounting of how many viewers see the ads," the AP wrote. "An extra benefit that an impulse to purchase can be acted on with the click of a mouse."

NAB notes
Actor Tim Robbins, star of the "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Mystic River" is scheduled to give the opening keynote address at NAB. Robbins will speak about how new content and distribution methods will impact Hollywood.

Other notables due to speak at the conference are Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation; Doug Liman, director of The Bourne Identity; and Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu.

Adobe Systems thinks we can do better with the quality of digital video images. It is also developing a way to search on the audio within video clips.

At the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show 2008 in Las Vegas this week, Adobe will announce a joint initiative to develop a specification that it hopes will eventually lead to a file format for higher image quality.

Adobe will show a preview of technology that will create a text transcription of the audio within a video clip at editing time.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The effort is called CinemaDNG, named after the DNG (Digital Negative) raw digital still image format designed by Adobe. The company is working with others in the industry including camera makers and software developers, said Simon Hayhurst, senior product manager for dynamic media at Adobe.

The group's hope is to have a specification ready sometime this year and to submit it to a standards body to encourage broader industry adoption, he said.

Initially, the specification will only affect "high-end Hollywood and top-end indie" filmmakers because equipment that supports this format would be the most sophisticated and expensive available. But eventually, this format could be used more broadly.

"It lays the foundation for the correct way that you want to do cinema in the future," said Hayhurst.

Creating a common standard will help accelerate adoption of higher quality imaging, he said.

The advantage of the specification will not only be better resolution, but it will also give more image control to cinematographers and editors. The format can be useful for archiving films which could be reissued with a different look as well.

Adobe intends to support the format in future versions of its video work-flow products, like After Effects and Premiere Pro.

"You want enough space to innovate but have commonality so that you are implementing technology when there is a genuine need for it to be different," Hayhurst said.

Video to text
Separately, Adobe will give a preview at NAB 2008 of technology that automatically transcribes the audio track of a video file.

For editors, this will allow them to more quickly find passages within a clip based on a text read-out of the audio. The output of the video-editing software will also include that transcribed information.

As a result, viewers of a Web video will be able to search on terms to find a specific location within a video.

For example, a person could search a CNET video review for a product name and a specific feature, such as camera zoom.

Adobe will demonstrate the feature on a version of its Soundbooth audio-editing product under development and on Premiere Pro.

The company intends to support the feature in the next major release of its video work-flow software. There was a two-year gap between the releases of Creative Suite 3 and 2, so the next major version is likely to come some time in 2009.

The transcription information will be stored in XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform), another format developed by Adobe.

"We keep saying that metadata is the most important thing happening in our industry and we want to prove it," said Hayhurst.

In other announcements, Adobe will announce that it is now natively supporting Sony's XDCAM EX tapeless video file format in its Creative Suite 3 video-editing tools.

And it is adding support for H.264 standard, high-definition video format on its Flash encoding software. It added support for H.264 for Flash video playback last year.