» Rocketboom

Podcasting gains listenership, Viacom demands Colbert parody removed, Fans may pay for Rocketboom

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:46:49 +0000

Podcasting made a very slight gain in listenership according to Edison Media Research. Arbitron research found that 13 percent of the twelve and up population listen to audio podcasts in 2007, where only eleven percent listened in 2006. More people have heard of podcasts, but Edison’s Tom Webster said many people mistakenly think they need an iPod or MP3 player to listen to them.

Viacom demanded that YouTube remove a Stephen Colbert parody video created by MoveOn.org, and that has led to a free speech court battle. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has asked a federal court to dismiss copyright infringement claims brought by Viacom against MoveOn and the makers of the video, which includes clips of Colbert in its parody of his show and MoveOn’s activism.

Rocketboom fans may have to pay to see Joanne Colan, now that show co-creator Andrew Baron has told Marketwatch that advertising isn’t working out as he would like. No decision has been made, but Baron said advertisers “are just not happy to do small deals” like Rocketboom has been doing. Baron also noted that the site earns secondary income for consulting work and conference appearances.

When Google holds its upcoming election for members of its board, Michael Moritz won’t be on the list of candidates. Google announced that Moritz, a member of Google’s board since 1999 and a driving force at Sequoia Capital, has chosen to spend more time tending to the growing demands of Sequoia’s business. “Mike’s many contributions to Google over the years as investor and director helped us immensely,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a statement about the news.

Rocketboom Your Podcast

admin — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 18:30:33 +0000

Rocketboom’s Andrew Baron delivered the third keynote address Saturday morning at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo. Baron caused quite the stir with his frank discussion of narrowly-targeted, niche content, paid for by audience-centric advertising.

For example, Baron said that he just closed a deal with an advertiser for $80,000 for a week’s worth of spots on Rocketboom. While that may be the new going rate, Baron said that he’d knock off $20,000 if he liked the ad and it matched his audience.

Distracting Joanne Colan

admin — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 15:09:09 +0000

You know how you can put something next to a quarter and take a picture of it to understand the size of that something? Well, sitting next to Rocketboom’s Joanne Colan sort of gives that effect. She’s tiny!

In this clip, Joanne talks about how she ended up at Rocketboom, what life on the Internet is like, and how she deals with nasty commentators.

A Blip.tv On WebProNews Radar

admin — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:57:27 +0000

An excited Dina Kaplan talks about Blip.tv, which she co-founded and is the COO, in the Podcast and Portable Media Expo exhibition hall.

Blip.tv recently sent Amanda Congdon, of Rocketboom fame, on a cross-country video journey called AmandaAcrossAmerica. We have Dina on video promising (well, not promising) to get Amanda to swing by WebProNews HQ in Lexington, KY on her way.

Andrew Baron at Portable Media Expo

admin — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 19:45:14 +0000

Rocketboom’s Andrew Baron talks about the roots of Rocketboom, its political beginnings, and how it developed into the hit that it is today.

Baron generated some buzz around the idea that content creators should focus on smaller, more involved audiences, a concept that he is embracing with Rocketboom. He said that though he closed a deal with an advertiser for $80,000 for 5 days’ worth of commercials, he’d give discounts to commercials he liked and that fit his article.

An interview with Rocketboom host Joanne Colan is also on the horizon, so stay tuned for that.