After a couple of weeks of blogospheric rumours, online news pioneer Rob Curley today confirmed on his blog that he’s leaving Washingtonpost Newsweek Interactive to join the Las Vegas Sun. And at least nine of his colleagues will join him in the trip west.
Rob had been VP of Product Development at WPNI since 2006, and his projects there included the launch of local site Loudon Extra.
Rob spent an afternoon with us at the Star late last year, sharing some secrets of his early success at the Journal-World in Lawrence, Kansas and the Naples (Florida) Daily News. And leaving us inspired by his creativity and insight.
On his blog, he talks enthusiastically of the opportunities awaiting him at the “one of the most interesting local media operations in the nation,” but hints at why he’s leaving the Post despite his admiration for the company and its leaders, saying: “I probably wasn’t the best fit with the organization.”
May 5th marked the end of an era in a small southern Ontario city, and brought back a few fond memories for me.
The radio station where I began my media career, CKPT in Peterborough, abandoned the AM dial in favour of a new home on FM.
The switch probably cuts the station’s power bill significantly (the AM transmitter ran at 10,000 watts day, 5000 watts at night) and delivers better-quality audio.
But it’s still a bit sad. AM radio is what drew me to broadcasting - staying up late as a youngster to tune in the super stations of the 1960s like WABC New York, WLS Chicago and KMOX St Louis - plus the dozens of lesser signals that filled the dial after sunset. As the signals faded in and out, I would strain to discern their callsigns and locations.
There was a sense of mystery and intrigue in those days that you just don’t find on Sirius or iTunes - or even on FM. (more…)
It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?
The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.
On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.
With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.
For those in Toronto, there’s more info at thestar.com too.
The latest Nielsen NetRatings summary of newspaper and magazine websites in New Zealand shows the New Zealand Herald’s site, nzherald.co.nz, holding a slim lead over the Fairfax newspapers site stuff.co.nz in terms of monthly unique visitors.
Each site draws more than two million visitors a month, placing them among the country’s most popular sites of any kind.
I’m delighted to report that I have a new job, starting next Monday, at the Toronto Star.
As Assistant Managing Editor - Multimedia, my responsibilties will include editorial content on thestar.com, one of Canada’s most popular news sites.
The Star has an impressive commitment to digital publishing, and it’s an honour to join an organization with such high standards and values.
The next few weeks are going to be very hectic indeed as I get to know my new team — some of whom I was fortunate to meet, albeit briefly, this afternoon — and learn my way around a very large, dynamic operation.
I’m looking forward to working with my new boss, editor-in-chief Fred Kuntz, and everyone else at the Star.
The 27 clips include Joan Walsh of salon.com, Joe Crump of Avenue A/Razorfish (designers of nytimes.com), Matt Thompson of savetheinternet.com, and Jessica Rose (lonelygirl15).
Interest in online gaming increases traffic to sites in June
Both the online gaming information and online gaming categories gained in June, bolstered by significant growth among the under 18 demographic. The gaming information category, composed of sites that offer players the latest gaming tips and news, grew 9 percent to 42.8 million visitors, buoyed by strong growth at IGN entertainment (up 17 per cent to 10.4 million visitors), Nintendo Co. (up 26 per cent to 4.3 million visitors) and EA.com (up 41 per cent to 1.8 million visitors). The online gaming category also grew in June, gaining 8 per cent to nearly 64 million visitors. Sites catering to younger individuals saw significant gains within the category, including Disney Games (up 38 per cent to 6.3 million visitors) and Neopets (up 29 per cent to 4.8 million visitors).
World Series of Poker sparks growth to gambling sites
As excitement mounted for the approaching 2007 World Series of Poker, the online gambling category increased 13 percent to 12.5 million visitors. With several online poker sites hosting WSOP satellite tournaments in advance of the main event, many sites experienced gains including PokerStars (up 17 percent increase to 1.6 million visitors), FullTiltPoker (up 10 per cent to 1.1 million visitors) and UltimateBet.com Online Poker (up 16 per cent to 466,000 visitors).
Online radio ranks as top-gaining category in June
Radio sites surged 34 per cent to 48.9 million visitors in June, making it the top gaining category for the month. Yahoo! Music led the category with more than 25 million visitors (up 11 per cent), while AOL Radio (up 11 per cent to 3.2 million visitors) and Disney Music (up 16 per cent to nearly 1.5 million visitors) both saw significant gains for the month.
Entertainment news sees jump with Paris Hilton media frenzy
Americans’ fascination with celebrities spurred growth in the entertainment news category, which saw a seven per cent increase to 42.1 million visitors in June. Largely fueled by national interest in the Paris Hilton scandal, traffic to entertainment news site TMZ surged 37 per cent to 9.4 million visitors for the month, while People experienced a six per cent increase to 6.1 million visitors. The tragic news of the deaths of professional wrestler Chris Benoit and his family drove a flood of traffic to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which jumped 117 per cent to 8.4 million visitors.
Pride month boosts traffic to gay and lesbian sites
Traffic to gay/lesbian sites jumped 23 per cent in June to nearly 3 million visitors as people across the nation celebrated Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. The category was led by PlanetOut with 742,000 visitors (up 19 per cent), followed by Queer Sighted with 563,000 visitors (up 116 per cent), and LOGOonline with 454,000 visitors (up 17 per cent).
Toronto-based community videocasting site blogtv.ca is adding two channels: one for comedy and the other for news and politics.
The channels are scheduled to launch tomorrow [Friday].
Although blogTV.ca is a platform for anyone who wants to videocast [including some who are a long way from being video professionals], it’s owned by a genuine television network, Alliance Atlantis Communications.
Alliance Atlantis is in the process of being acquired by CanWest Global Communications and Goldman Sachs.
A couple of highlights from US research reported yesterday at Advertising Age:
A whopping 96% of online tweens and teens connect to a social network at least once a week, according to a study and white paper being released today from Alloy Media & Marketing, a youth-oriented marketing firm. And nearly half engaged with a brand in the space in the past month.
and
The study asked about traditional media habits and found social networking is approaching parity with TV time among 9- to 17-year-olds. And when kids are multitasking, they’re four times more likely to pay closer attention to whatever they’re doing online than to whatever they’re watching on the tube.
Interesting, although I’d like to see some details of the study [strangely, there’s no mention of it on the Alloy website], particularly with respect to its socio-economic and geographic span.
