Television tale
Title Annotation:
Jun 12, 2006
Los Angeles Business Journal
ISSN:0194-2603 100 - 731
Like its brick and mortar retail counterparts often do, luxury television shopping company USN Corp. is mixing up its assortment to draw customers. It's looking for eyeballs, not foot traffic, however. The company, which broadcasts Ultimate Shopping Network to 30 million households on DirecTV, the Dish Network and other outlets, is adding to its core of jewelry, collectibles and watches. USN has tried out women's accessories--it has sold 20,000 Channel sunglasses at $149--and is expecting to strengthen its health and beauty offerings. Michael Reinstein, co-founder of the Century City-based company, said such a product mix could help the network broaden its audience from upscale luxury shoppers to the masses. The company is also encouraging this shift by lowering prices; its average ticket now is around $400, down from $1,100 in its early days. The company was established three years ago and began to be publicly traded on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board last year. But television shoppers aren't the only customers USN has to attract. Reinstein said cable companies are scanning its products to see if they're suitable material for broadcasts. Since its founding, the company has gone from broadcasting nine hours on the weekends to providing live feeds all day, everyday. "Certain cable companies want to see that you have a lot of depth of product in order to get carriage on their platforms," he said. "The more variety that we have, the more appeal we have to cable companies."
Staff reporter Rachel Brown can be reached at rbrown@labusinessjournal.com or by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 224.
COPYRIGHT 2006 CBJ, L.P.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Monday, April 9, 2007
Interactive Televison- MultiChannel News April 2005
-------------------------------------
Cable’s Shopping Frenzy
TV Marketing Outlets Cater to Shopoholics In a Variety of Ways
By Michael Grebb 4/25/2005
Sidebars:Can ITV Add Gold to TV’s Shopping Binge?
In 1977, broadcast pioneer Lowell “Bud” Paxson was chasing down a few advertisers who hadn’t paid for spots they purchased on his small Clearwater, Fla., radio station. One debtor offered 112 electric can openers in lieu of cash. Paxson accepted and promptly sold them all over the air for $10 a pop. But it turns out the gadgets opened a whole lot more than cans; they uncovered a new industry.
Paxson started selling products on the radio every week, and in 1985 he debuted a national TV service, the Home Shopping Network. In 2004, the network, now known as HSN, posted $2.4 billion in revenues and boasts a core audience of about 5 million viewers. Its largest rival, QVC, which launched in 1986, reels in annual revenues of $5.7 billion, eclipsing even some broadcast networks.
Those two answers to shopoholic dreams have been joined by a bevy of other services such as ShopAtHome, ShopNBC, Ultimate Shopping Network and Worldwide Shopping Source. Specialty channels like Jewelry Television and Gem Shopping Network have added sparkle to the mix. EchoStar Communications Corp.’s Dish Network in February struck a deal with The Sharper Image retail chain to bring an interactive home-shopping channel to its lineup using OpenTV middleware.
The increasingly crowded home-shopping field hasn’t exactly struck fear into the hearts of HSN and QVC. But the competition has pushed them to improve their presentations in recent years. “It’s not the same production it was five years ago,” says John McDevitt, HSN vice president of finance. “It’s a sharp, good viewer experience.” From his point of view, “Whether you have two viewers or 2 million viewers, you still have the same production costs.”
But you certainly don’t have the same degree of customer-service logistics. In 2004, QVC shipped about 106 million items to more than 7 million Americans. It processed 160 million phone calls. Al Ulozas, QVC’s senior vice president of affiliate sales and marketing, says 93% of QVC’s business comes from repeat customers.
Despite the market power of HSN and QVC, other home-shopping channels continue to gain carriage and assert themselves. E.W. Scripps Co.-owned ShopAtHome, for example, targets a younger demographic. “While the other networks are very successful, [their] audiences tend to skew old, and they’re not attracting new audiences,” claims the network’s president Judy Girard. Adam Rockmore, ShopAtHome senior vice president of marketing and interactive commerce, says a younger audience also allows the channel to integrate Web offerings with more success. Says Girard: “We have an audience already engaged in the category.”
But even with the Internet’s prevalence, most home-shopping networks report that 80% to 90% of their customers still use the phone to place orders. Online orders, however, are increasing, and the ratio between Web and phone transactions is likely to even out in coming years, says ShopAtHome’s Rockmore.
As that happens, home-shopping channels may find themselves in even greater competition with online retailers ranging from Amazon.com to tiny mom-and-pop outlets. “It is a peril for the industry,” says Michael Reinstein, co-founder of Ultimate Shopping Network, which launched in May 2003 to target high-end customers (some of whom spend more than $100,000 per year buying products on USN). He says many branded products are readily available through multiple Web retailers — often at bargain-basement prices. So as more home-shopping sales migrate to the Web, consumers will demand lower prices that can only be satisfied by retailers able to handle large volumes. “It’s going to squeeze out the little guys,” he says.
Some Web retailers are adding video presentations to sell products, which could eventually put them in direct competition with the shopping networks. “As soon as you get into video production, then you’re in our business,” says Shop- NBC president and CEO Will Lansing. “But you need the skills to present those products. It’s not something that comes easy.” Lansing says the Web will continue growing in importance for home-shopping networks. “The No. 1 biggest change is the Web,” he says. “Besides the convenience of ordering and increasing the relationship building, it frees the customer from the serial nature of television.”
To be sure, some home-shopping channels are more focused on the Web and new technologies than others. The Internet age hasn’t slowed down Jewelry Television (formerly America’s Collectible Network). Its revenues have exploded from $5.3 million in 1997 to $327 million in 2004 — even though only 10% of its mostly 45-and-older audience buys anything through its Web site.
Harris Bagley, Jewelry Television’s executive vice president of distribution, says older audiences can be “a little fearful of new technologies.” Just the same, Bagley says he’s watching closely the industry’s forays into Web integration and even interactive TV.
One recent example of new technology at play is HSN’s deal with interactive software firm GoldPocket Interactive (see story below). In March, HSN agreed to use GoldPocket’s software to allow any viewer with an addressable digital set-top box to buy the item being displayed live on HSN (as well as the two items immediately preceding it) through their remote control.
HSN hopes to offer more than just a TV version of the Web. “You have to build the application for the medium it’s in,” says McDevitt. “We have a great Web site, but I wouldn’t want to shop on it with my remote control from 10 feet away.”
HSN demonstrated the new system at the National Show and hopes consumers will appreciate its simplicity and ease of use (all credit-card and address information is pre-cached). “It’s got to be that instant gratification,” says HSN director of technology Gerard Johnson. Says McDevitt: “We think it’s a training thing for interactive TV. You can really get people educated about it.”
QVC, meanwhile, has enjoyed “strong acceptance” with its proprietary buy-button technology, dubbed “QVC Active,” in the United Kingdom, says QVC’s Ulozas. “In the U.S., we’re just beginning to explore what the digital future will look like,” he says. Though the network hasn’t revealed its specific interactive plans, Ulozas says they will leverage the network’s strengths. “While QVC’s business is built on technology, our culture and brand identity is very human,” he says.
Of course, that human element can also present potential conundrums that have been on the minds of home-shopping executives since talk of ITV became all the rage a decade ago.
“There’s a danger of making this too easy, where people can just click, click and click and then have buyer’s remorse, and they send a lot of things back,” says Philip Swann, president and CEO of research firm TVPredictions. “It’s something these guys have to be mindful of. They’re giddy with the prospect of the potential, but they understand if they go too far with this stuff, people are liable to say, 'Oh, I’ve had enough.’ ” But Swann says the home-shopping industry is well positioned. “With the shopping channels, it’s the perfect meeting of the minds,” he says. “It’s a natural. It’s a very interesting test case for ITV.”
Of course, interactive home shopping could actually take many forms that go beyond the simple migration of customer orders from the phone to the remote control. “The biggest trend in this area is the merging of traditional home shopping and entertainment,” says Scott Stawski, vice president of the media and telecommunications practice at consulting firm Inforte Corp. “Product placement embedded in broadcasts is already becoming very important. In the age of interactivity, that product placement is going to turn into e-commerce.”
Indeed, object-tracking technology could allow viewers to buy any product present in the shot. As a result, Stawski says traditional TV shows “will start infringing on 24-hour home shopping, but somewhere down the road, those trends are going to merge.”
Adds Reinstein: “People like us are going to partner with entertainment companies to embed commerce in entertainment.”
The biggest wildcard may be consumers themselves. “The technology is not the hard part,” says ShopNBC’s Lansing. Rather, it’s getting people to use it.
Can ITV Add Gold to TV’s Shopping Binge?
Scott Newnam is manic and loving it. As he speaks, his arms gesture in controlled but slightly wild bursts that convey a giddy sense of passion. Or perhaps urgency. The CEO of GoldPocket Interactive has little time to relax these days, even as he tries to catch a breather in a conference room on the floor of the National Show. In March, home-shopping network HSN inked a deal with GoldPocket to bring its interactive software to millions of homes.
Not only is home shopping a seemingly logical fit for interactive TV, but Newnam hopes that HSN, along with the more than dozen other cable networks that already use GoldPocket’s software, will explode exponentially. Newnam is so sure, he has spent the last few years acquiring other interactive software companies in an effort to create one cohesive product. With cable operators finishing digital upgrades, he insists that the window of opportunity has arrived. “It’s finally happening after all of these years,” he says, leaning back in his seat confidently.
It’s fitting that GoldPocket is based in Los Angeles, the undisputed entertainment and pitch-meeting capital of the world. To be sure, Newnam sells GoldPocket’s software suite as if he were pitching the next big Hollywood blockbuster. And while ITV has a checkered history of flops, he projects optimism that 2005 is the year interactivity becomes a runaway hit — even if it gets its sea legs in the home-shopping space.
But while some in the advertising community express concern about the ad-skipping features of digital video recorders, Newnam says fear not: Technology will provide. “The advertising side is very hot,” he says. “It’s not going away. It’s just moving. You’ve got billions of dollars floating around trying to find a home.”
Home can be a strange place. In the fall, GoldPocket plans to introduce object-tracking technology that will allow TV production houses to encode portions of any video so that viewers can tag an object — say, that must-have sweater on Jennifer Aniston — and then let people buy it using their remote controls.
Such ideas have been bouncing around for years with plenty of skeptics rolling their eyes. But Newnam just seems to … believe. “We’re going to shock the market when we unveil it,” he says. “Everyone who says TV is lean-back doesn’t have kids and doesn’t know what’s going on in the world.” Ironically enough, Newnam makes this point as he leans back in his chair. Confidently.
Cable’s Shopping Frenzy
TV Marketing Outlets Cater to Shopoholics In a Variety of Ways
By Michael Grebb 4/25/2005
Sidebars:Can ITV Add Gold to TV’s Shopping Binge?
In 1977, broadcast pioneer Lowell “Bud” Paxson was chasing down a few advertisers who hadn’t paid for spots they purchased on his small Clearwater, Fla., radio station. One debtor offered 112 electric can openers in lieu of cash. Paxson accepted and promptly sold them all over the air for $10 a pop. But it turns out the gadgets opened a whole lot more than cans; they uncovered a new industry.
Paxson started selling products on the radio every week, and in 1985 he debuted a national TV service, the Home Shopping Network. In 2004, the network, now known as HSN, posted $2.4 billion in revenues and boasts a core audience of about 5 million viewers. Its largest rival, QVC, which launched in 1986, reels in annual revenues of $5.7 billion, eclipsing even some broadcast networks.
Those two answers to shopoholic dreams have been joined by a bevy of other services such as ShopAtHome, ShopNBC, Ultimate Shopping Network and Worldwide Shopping Source. Specialty channels like Jewelry Television and Gem Shopping Network have added sparkle to the mix. EchoStar Communications Corp.’s Dish Network in February struck a deal with The Sharper Image retail chain to bring an interactive home-shopping channel to its lineup using OpenTV middleware.
The increasingly crowded home-shopping field hasn’t exactly struck fear into the hearts of HSN and QVC. But the competition has pushed them to improve their presentations in recent years. “It’s not the same production it was five years ago,” says John McDevitt, HSN vice president of finance. “It’s a sharp, good viewer experience.” From his point of view, “Whether you have two viewers or 2 million viewers, you still have the same production costs.”
But you certainly don’t have the same degree of customer-service logistics. In 2004, QVC shipped about 106 million items to more than 7 million Americans. It processed 160 million phone calls. Al Ulozas, QVC’s senior vice president of affiliate sales and marketing, says 93% of QVC’s business comes from repeat customers.
Despite the market power of HSN and QVC, other home-shopping channels continue to gain carriage and assert themselves. E.W. Scripps Co.-owned ShopAtHome, for example, targets a younger demographic. “While the other networks are very successful, [their] audiences tend to skew old, and they’re not attracting new audiences,” claims the network’s president Judy Girard. Adam Rockmore, ShopAtHome senior vice president of marketing and interactive commerce, says a younger audience also allows the channel to integrate Web offerings with more success. Says Girard: “We have an audience already engaged in the category.”
But even with the Internet’s prevalence, most home-shopping networks report that 80% to 90% of their customers still use the phone to place orders. Online orders, however, are increasing, and the ratio between Web and phone transactions is likely to even out in coming years, says ShopAtHome’s Rockmore.
As that happens, home-shopping channels may find themselves in even greater competition with online retailers ranging from Amazon.com to tiny mom-and-pop outlets. “It is a peril for the industry,” says Michael Reinstein, co-founder of Ultimate Shopping Network, which launched in May 2003 to target high-end customers (some of whom spend more than $100,000 per year buying products on USN). He says many branded products are readily available through multiple Web retailers — often at bargain-basement prices. So as more home-shopping sales migrate to the Web, consumers will demand lower prices that can only be satisfied by retailers able to handle large volumes. “It’s going to squeeze out the little guys,” he says.
Some Web retailers are adding video presentations to sell products, which could eventually put them in direct competition with the shopping networks. “As soon as you get into video production, then you’re in our business,” says Shop- NBC president and CEO Will Lansing. “But you need the skills to present those products. It’s not something that comes easy.” Lansing says the Web will continue growing in importance for home-shopping networks. “The No. 1 biggest change is the Web,” he says. “Besides the convenience of ordering and increasing the relationship building, it frees the customer from the serial nature of television.”
To be sure, some home-shopping channels are more focused on the Web and new technologies than others. The Internet age hasn’t slowed down Jewelry Television (formerly America’s Collectible Network). Its revenues have exploded from $5.3 million in 1997 to $327 million in 2004 — even though only 10% of its mostly 45-and-older audience buys anything through its Web site.
Harris Bagley, Jewelry Television’s executive vice president of distribution, says older audiences can be “a little fearful of new technologies.” Just the same, Bagley says he’s watching closely the industry’s forays into Web integration and even interactive TV.
One recent example of new technology at play is HSN’s deal with interactive software firm GoldPocket Interactive (see story below). In March, HSN agreed to use GoldPocket’s software to allow any viewer with an addressable digital set-top box to buy the item being displayed live on HSN (as well as the two items immediately preceding it) through their remote control.
HSN hopes to offer more than just a TV version of the Web. “You have to build the application for the medium it’s in,” says McDevitt. “We have a great Web site, but I wouldn’t want to shop on it with my remote control from 10 feet away.”
HSN demonstrated the new system at the National Show and hopes consumers will appreciate its simplicity and ease of use (all credit-card and address information is pre-cached). “It’s got to be that instant gratification,” says HSN director of technology Gerard Johnson. Says McDevitt: “We think it’s a training thing for interactive TV. You can really get people educated about it.”
QVC, meanwhile, has enjoyed “strong acceptance” with its proprietary buy-button technology, dubbed “QVC Active,” in the United Kingdom, says QVC’s Ulozas. “In the U.S., we’re just beginning to explore what the digital future will look like,” he says. Though the network hasn’t revealed its specific interactive plans, Ulozas says they will leverage the network’s strengths. “While QVC’s business is built on technology, our culture and brand identity is very human,” he says.
Of course, that human element can also present potential conundrums that have been on the minds of home-shopping executives since talk of ITV became all the rage a decade ago.
“There’s a danger of making this too easy, where people can just click, click and click and then have buyer’s remorse, and they send a lot of things back,” says Philip Swann, president and CEO of research firm TVPredictions. “It’s something these guys have to be mindful of. They’re giddy with the prospect of the potential, but they understand if they go too far with this stuff, people are liable to say, 'Oh, I’ve had enough.’ ” But Swann says the home-shopping industry is well positioned. “With the shopping channels, it’s the perfect meeting of the minds,” he says. “It’s a natural. It’s a very interesting test case for ITV.”
Of course, interactive home shopping could actually take many forms that go beyond the simple migration of customer orders from the phone to the remote control. “The biggest trend in this area is the merging of traditional home shopping and entertainment,” says Scott Stawski, vice president of the media and telecommunications practice at consulting firm Inforte Corp. “Product placement embedded in broadcasts is already becoming very important. In the age of interactivity, that product placement is going to turn into e-commerce.”
Indeed, object-tracking technology could allow viewers to buy any product present in the shot. As a result, Stawski says traditional TV shows “will start infringing on 24-hour home shopping, but somewhere down the road, those trends are going to merge.”
Adds Reinstein: “People like us are going to partner with entertainment companies to embed commerce in entertainment.”
The biggest wildcard may be consumers themselves. “The technology is not the hard part,” says ShopNBC’s Lansing. Rather, it’s getting people to use it.
Can ITV Add Gold to TV’s Shopping Binge?
Scott Newnam is manic and loving it. As he speaks, his arms gesture in controlled but slightly wild bursts that convey a giddy sense of passion. Or perhaps urgency. The CEO of GoldPocket Interactive has little time to relax these days, even as he tries to catch a breather in a conference room on the floor of the National Show. In March, home-shopping network HSN inked a deal with GoldPocket to bring its interactive software to millions of homes.
Not only is home shopping a seemingly logical fit for interactive TV, but Newnam hopes that HSN, along with the more than dozen other cable networks that already use GoldPocket’s software, will explode exponentially. Newnam is so sure, he has spent the last few years acquiring other interactive software companies in an effort to create one cohesive product. With cable operators finishing digital upgrades, he insists that the window of opportunity has arrived. “It’s finally happening after all of these years,” he says, leaning back in his seat confidently.
It’s fitting that GoldPocket is based in Los Angeles, the undisputed entertainment and pitch-meeting capital of the world. To be sure, Newnam sells GoldPocket’s software suite as if he were pitching the next big Hollywood blockbuster. And while ITV has a checkered history of flops, he projects optimism that 2005 is the year interactivity becomes a runaway hit — even if it gets its sea legs in the home-shopping space.
But while some in the advertising community express concern about the ad-skipping features of digital video recorders, Newnam says fear not: Technology will provide. “The advertising side is very hot,” he says. “It’s not going away. It’s just moving. You’ve got billions of dollars floating around trying to find a home.”
Home can be a strange place. In the fall, GoldPocket plans to introduce object-tracking technology that will allow TV production houses to encode portions of any video so that viewers can tag an object — say, that must-have sweater on Jennifer Aniston — and then let people buy it using their remote controls.
Such ideas have been bouncing around for years with plenty of skeptics rolling their eyes. But Newnam just seems to … believe. “We’re going to shock the market when we unveil it,” he says. “Everyone who says TV is lean-back doesn’t have kids and doesn’t know what’s going on in the world.” Ironically enough, Newnam makes this point as he leans back in his chair. Confidently.
Michael Reinstein, Managing Director of The Archetype Group joins the board of Global Sourcing Firm TTI
Los Angeles, California, April 9, 2007 (PrimeWire) --
Michael Reinstein, the Managing Director of Los Angeles based private equity firm The Archetype Group, and an internationally recognized expert on new media and technology, has recently joined the Board of Directors of closely held global sourcing and distribution company TTI.
“I am honored to have been asked to join the board of TTI at this crucial time in its history. The company has been a real innovator in leveraging relationships with manufacturers and suppliers in developing countries to bring affordable quality products to its retail partners”. Michael Reinstein said.
Mr. Reinstein will serve on the board for a three year term beginning on April 15, 2007.
About TTI
TTI is one of the leading vertically integrated global sourcing companies in the world. The Company was established in 1985 and has been a dominant force in bringing innovative consumer products to the world’s top retailers. TTI has offices in Los Angeles, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
About The Archetype Group
The Archetype Group, founded by Los Angeles based media entrepreneurs Michael Reinstein and Brian Kelly is a private equity firm dedicated to investing in technology, media and consumer oriented businesses around the globe. The firm has offices in Los Angeles and London.
Michael Reinstein, the Managing Director of Los Angeles based private equity firm The Archetype Group, and an internationally recognized expert on new media and technology, has recently joined the Board of Directors of closely held global sourcing and distribution company TTI.
“I am honored to have been asked to join the board of TTI at this crucial time in its history. The company has been a real innovator in leveraging relationships with manufacturers and suppliers in developing countries to bring affordable quality products to its retail partners”. Michael Reinstein said.
Mr. Reinstein will serve on the board for a three year term beginning on April 15, 2007.
About TTI
TTI is one of the leading vertically integrated global sourcing companies in the world. The Company was established in 1985 and has been a dominant force in bringing innovative consumer products to the world’s top retailers. TTI has offices in Los Angeles, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
About The Archetype Group
The Archetype Group, founded by Los Angeles based media entrepreneurs Michael Reinstein and Brian Kelly is a private equity firm dedicated to investing in technology, media and consumer oriented businesses around the globe. The firm has offices in Los Angeles and London.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Charity Brief- USA for UNHCR
I have been really impressed by the work done by USA for UNHCR, a charity established by concerned American citizens. USA for UNHCR builds support in the United States for the humanitarian work of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Their mission is to inform Americans about the plight of refugees and advocate for their protection. The charity wants to give individual Americans, frustrated by the growing refugee crisis and their own inability to do something to help, a way to put action behind their words. UNHCR provides protection, shelter, emergency food, water, medical care and other life-saving assistance to over 19 million people worldwide, who have been forced to flee their homes due to war and persecution. Since its formation in 1950, UNHCR has helped an estimated 50 million refugees restart their lives.
USA for UNHCR
1775 K Street, NW
Suite 290
Washington, DC 20006
tel: (800) 770-1100
fax: (202) 296-1081
Contact Email
Visit Web Site
Charity Brief- Volunteers of America
Founded in 1896 by social reformers Ballington and Maud Booth, Volunteers of America is a national, spiritually based organization providing local human service programs and opportunities for individual and community involvement. From rural America to inner-city neighborhoods, Volunteers of America provides outreach programs that deal with today's most pressing social needs. Volunteers of America helps youths at risk, frail elderly, abused and neglected children, people with disabilities, homeless individuals and many others. Now in its second century of service, Volunteers of America is one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive human services organizations, touching the lives of nearly 1.8 million people each year in communities across the United States.
Volunteers of America
National Office
1660 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
tel: (800) 899-0089
fax: (703) 341-7000
Contact Email
Visit Web Site
Internet Protocol Television- A New Paradigm
Internet protocol television, or IPTV, uses a two-way digital broadcast signal that is sent through a switched telephone or cable network by way of a broadband connection, along with a set top box programmed with software that can handle viewer requests to access media sources. A television is connected to the set top box that handles the task of decoding the IP video and converts it into standard television signals. The Switched Video Service (SVS) system allows viewers to access broadcast network channels, subscription services, and movies on demand. *
* [Source: IPTV News]
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