LOCAL MEDIA WATCH. The Nexus of All Things Local

Here is yet another roundup of broadband video channel launches.

This USA Today piece explains that Olympics video content is perfect for online distribution. Much like the Live 8 event that AOL covered online to much acclaim, the Olympic games are filled with simultaneous events that happen sometimes on the…

Search Engine Journal covers the upcoming Yahoo Search Marketing Searchlight Awards in N.Y. The program is highlighting the innovative work of agencies that have combined traditional campaigns with search marketing. I'll be racing from the Newspaper Association of America show…

Like Yahoo! before it, Microsoft is now offering free basic Web sites to local/small businesses. I haven't set one up so I don't know how "robust" it is compared with what Yahoo! offers. It's pretty clearly a kind of "foot…

SiliconBeat blogs about Podbop, a site that combines podcasting and local. It allows you to hear podcasts of bands that are playing in the local market. One can search by artist or location. The site links to Eventful.com, which provides…

MySpace, the supersite for teens, has announced the launch of its own branded "mobile virtual network operator" network. The service and phones will be powered/provided by Helio LLC, which is a joint venture of Earthlink Inc. and South Korean carrier…

I'm restraining myself from using the term "Web2.0," which really is on the cusp of cliche status. But Judy's Book has done some very interesting things to its site that if I were comfortable using that term ... might describe…

Here's an interesting post I came across from the Internet Stock Blog (quoting the earnings call) on how local advertising is driving revenue growth at online wedding vertical/portal and directory site TheKnot.com:Online ad sales constituted 57% of the company's revenue…

In an admittedly self-serving e-mail, InsiderPages VP Andrew Shotland pointed me to Alexa traffic data that show basically that YellowBook.com and the newer online-only site are neck and neck. YellowBook has been running a TV campaign during the Olympics, whereas…

Chris Sherman has a very balanced write-up of Google's enhanced destop search and its privacy implications. My personal view is that Google has become highly sensitized to its perceived position in the market and the privacy issues swirling around the…

We put out a press release this morning highlighting some top-level numbers from our forecast released to clients late last week. Here are some of the numbers featured in the release: Global print Yellow Pages revenues will increase 1.5 percent…

Search and Win: A story that's circulating today is one about the prospect of MSN and Yahoo! "incentivizing" users to switch to their search engines with rewards and prizes. MSN is further along; Yahoo! floated what might be called a…

The video and IPTV news inundation continues. Here is this week's roundup;--"Punk'd" and "Beauty and the Geek" creators Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg will team up with AOL to deliver five new programs exclusively on AOL.com.-- ZDNet has an interesting…

If anyone is interested to see how last night's TiVo event went that we blogged about on Friday, here is coverage from Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection.

Seth Godin (found via SEW) reports on a Google click-to-call option that is being served up with some sponsored links. He gives an example of sponsored search results that instead of links, include a small phone icon (same icon used…

A little while ago I got a peek at the successor to Microsoft's classifieds marketplace "Fremont." The new site is being called "Expo" and offers a number of advancements and enhancements over the original incarnation of MSN classifieds. It was…

News from the IPTV world continues to come at us with no signs of slowing, as the industry's many moving parts take form. There are content issues with rights and aggregation; technical issues with bandwidth and video delivery; and local…

From the bizzare item of the day dept., TiVo is setting up a promotional event on Monday (close enough to Valentines day), that mixes speed dating and well, TiVo.The event will match San Francisco singles with "their perfect TV compatable…