Here's the press release, for those of you that aren't aware of what ABC's goals are:
---------- http://www.abcmedianet.com/pressrel/dispDNR.html?id=111406_02&from=mnsearch ABC Television Network PRESS RELEASE - ENTERTAINMENT - BLOGGER AMANDA CONGDON JOINS ABC NEWS' DIGITAL MEDIA GROUP Print This Document (note: To use this function, upgrade your browser: "Quick Download") VIDEO BLOGGER AMANDA CONGDON JOINS ABC NEWS DIGITAL MEDIA GROUP AS A CONTRIBUTOR Dedicated to expanding its network and channel brands across multiple platforms and connecting viewers with their favorite shows anytime and anywhere, Disney-ABC Television Group announced today that Amanda Congdon has joined ABC News Digital Media Group as a contributor. In this role she will primarily contribute through a weekly video blog on the network's online component, ABCNEWS.com, and frequently appear on the 24-hour digital channel, ABC News Now. "We are excited about the addition of Amanda and her unique, insightful approach to our team" said Albert Cheng, executive vice president, Digital Media, Disney-ABC Television Group. "Her background and proven ability to effortlessly blend news and pop culture will be invaluable assets as we continue to evolve how we deliver news and information across our digital platforms." "I am very pleased to be joining the Disney-ABC Television Group team. They are breaking new ground online and I am eager to forge ahead with them," said Ms. Congdon. "Many people use the internet as their #1 news source, so it's exciting that a major news provider like ABC News is actively expanding their original program offerings in the space." Ms. Congdon recently traveled across the country as part of her AmandaAcrossAmerica project, where she chronicled her experiences via video blogging, which included interviewing Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. Prior to her nationwide tour, she was the well- known host of the daily online news show, Rocketboom.com. Ms. Congdon graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University and currently resides in Los Angeles. The ABC News Digital Media group continues to show incredible growth through both ABCNEWS.com and ABC News Now. ABCNEWS.com hit a five-year high in October with more than 138 million page views, showing a 77% increase from October 2005, according to an internal measurement tool. The site recently ranked seventh among all news sites, drawing its highest ranking in nearly three years. ABC News Now is one of the most widely distributed broadband channels, available to over 27 million broadband subscribers, and is innovating the marketplace with its own line of viewer-generated programming, "Be Seen and Be Heard." This announcement is part of the Disney-ABC Television Group's overall Digital Media multiplatform business initiative and demonstrates the Group's ongoing commitment to launching new digital products and working with strategic partners in the digital media space to make its high-quality, informative and entertaining content available to consumers whenever and wherever they choose. Media Contacts: Paige Capossela, ABC News, (212) 456-7243 Karen Hobson, Disney-ABC Television Group, (818) 569-7789 Michael Donkis, Endeavor, (310) 246 -3390 ----------------- --- In [email protected], "Mike Meiser" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Exactly Peter, > > ABC, is completely ignorant of the the potential of vidoe on the web > and just replicating the sam ol' sh*t that worked on TV, but now's the > chance to send a message and make a point. To clue big media in, and > to help Amanda out. > > Amanda, > > I knew you know what makes vlogs work, that's perhaps why I pushed so > hard. I understand... you're working with a big player they probably > don't care what you think... tradtionally you're just the personality, > the pretty face on the screen, they're probably not used to their on > air tallent telling their techies how to do their job. We got your > back, just send them this way and we'll clue them in. > > BTW, I did notice you got your RSS feed up. Half the trouble is just > that the page is a mess. And so is the RSS feed. The permalinks for > example in the feed just link back to a generic ABC podcast overview > page, this is utterly clueless. RSS feeds aren't just about > aggregation they're about search and findability as well. The whole > idea of the permalink is to tie the videos / podcasts back to the > original post, the original show notes. Your vlog on ABC seems to > have todays shownotes/ links... but I'll be damned if I know where > they go after that. > > ABC should get a clue and just install a stock wordpress platform it'd > do a thousand fold more for you. Videoblogging is not just a web page > or a place holder it's a communications platform and untill ABC > understands all the dozens of little things a blogging platform does > and WHY they do it they shouldn't be trying to replicate it. I could > go on and on about a dozen or more other blogging innivations that are > extremely important like blogrolling, but the fact that ABC missed > nearly every major one so obviously is just sad. > > Please be kick ass. Please take abc to geek girl camp 101 and kick > their ass inline, because I've got to say, if you don't your going to > pay the price in extremely low viewership because they are way, way > off base. > > Heh, and if they'll only listen to someone they pay a lot of money, > through my hat in the ring I do consulting. I know how to charge > someone lots of money so they respect your opinion. Heh, sometimes > it's the only way to get them to listen. :) > > -Mike > mmeiser.com/blog > mefeedia.com > > On 12/22/06, Peter Leppik <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > With any new medium it takes time for people to figure out what works. > > > > The first instinct (for those with experience in another medium) is > > to just copy what worked in the old medium to the new. Early > > television shows featured guys standing around mics doing radio drama. > > > > So I'm not terribly surprised that ABC's first instinct is to just > > copy traditional television (badly) into a web page, complete with 30- > > second ads. Give them time, and they'll figure it out--or else > > someone else will figure it out, and Disney will acquire them to > > merge the companies. But they're learning, in baby steps. > > > > -Peter > > > > Disclaimer: I don't know if the first TV shows really were guys doing > > radio drama, but I heard it once and it sounded truthy. Also, I > > can't get Amanda's ABC show to play, so I have no idea if the pre- > > roll ads everyone's complaining about are 30 seconds long or not. > > > > On Dec 22, 2006, at 10:16 AM, Mike Meiser wrote: > > > > > Howdy, I read through pretty much all the posts on new Amanda show on > > > ABC. Who can blame me for not reading them all there were well over > > > 100 all told. > > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > >
