Sumner Redstone – Page 2

January 27, 2012May 15, 2012

Facebook And The Disappearing Valuation (A Fairy Tale)

1000Memories, Accel Partners, Amish Jani, Andrew Hyde, Andrew Mason, Andy Sack, Ashton Kutcher, Aydin Senkut, Ben Silverman, Bin 38, Bob Davis, Bob Iger, Brad Feld, Brian Kempner, Chris Hughes, Christopher Steiner, Dan Nova, Daniel Gaisin, Danielle Hootnick, Dave McClure, David Brown, David Cohen, David Kirkpatrick, Demi Moore, Demo Day, Diego Gutierrez, Dustin Moskovitz, Edmond Yue, Eduardo Saverin, Emmett Shear, Eric Lefkofsky, Fergal Mullen, FirstMark Capital, Founders At Work, Francis Duong, Gaurav Tewari, Gerald Levin, Gerald Poch, Greg McAdoo, Greylock Partners, Harjeet Taggar, HBO, Highland Capital Partners, Irena Goldenberg, Jared Polis, Jeff Bewkes, Jeff Weiner, Jeff Zucker, Jessica Livingston, Jessica Mah, Jill Kennedy, Joanna Shields, John Hsin, John Palfrey, Jon Miller, Jr., Justin Kan, Justin.tv, Khan Manka, Larry Wilson, Laurence Albukerk, Lawrence Lenihan, Li Ka-shing, Loopt, Manish Patel, Manka Bros., Mark Cuban, Mark Zuckerberg, Matt Cohler, Matt Nichols, Michael Arrington, Michael Gaiss, MySpace, Nick Marsh, Nicolas Carlson, OnMedea, Owen Van Natta, Paul Buchheit, Paul Cianciolo, Paul Graham, Peter Bell, Peter Thiel, Reddit, Richard de Silva, Richard Heitzman, Rick Heitzmann, Robert Morris, Ron Conway, Rudy Adler, Rupert Murdoch, Sand Hill Road, Scott Shane, Scott Switzer, Sequoia Capital, Sergey Nazarov, Shabbir Dahod, Shawn Broderick, Sheryl Sandberg, Sterling Phillips, Sumner Redstone, Tapzilla, TechCrunch, TechStars, TextPayMe, Toy Story 3, Trevor Blackwell, Y Combinator, google, Eric Schmidt, Tina Brown, The Daily Beast, Barry Diller, Dan Lyons, Google Smear campaign, Burson-Marsteller, Chris Soghoian, Jim Goldman, John Mercurio, Mark Pincus, Zynga, Spotify

Once upon a time, in the tiny hamlet of Menlo Park, California, there was a company called Facebook.

This company was unlike any other (sorry, make that ‘like MANY others’) in that it connected people from around world through a magical and glorious technical achievement called the Internet.

Everyone loved Facebook:

“Oh my God, it is so easy to upload pictures of my baby!”

“I can’t believe I found all my old high school and college friends so easily!”

“Hey everyone, I’m off to get a coffee – can’t start my day without coffee!”

People from around the world chatted, and shared, and reconnected. There was something really exciting going on in the tiny hamlet of Menlo Park.

But then, one day, because Facebook was growing so so so very large – and its bills were growing so so so much – it needed to somehow make money.

Facebook was so kind that they didn’t want to charge people for the privilege of using its service – so it added advertising. Advertising so tiny that the people of the world didn’t even noticed the ads were there.

“There are ads on Facebook? You know, I’ve never seen one – and I certainly have never clicked on one! Good for them.”

Perhaps Mean Old Mr. Advertiser started to realize that no one was clicking or even noticing his ads.

But little Facebook still needed to get paid – I mean, even a whore has to eat – so they decided to work something out with Mean Old Mr. Advertiser.

Maybe they could somehow leverage their size and sell the personal information of their 900 million users. Would that keep Mean Old Mr. Advertiser off their backs so they could resume their happy life of connecting the world and bringing nothing but joy?

Facebook was so kind to its users that they even added a “Like” button (because “Like” is much nicer than “Dislike” and Coca-Cola doesn’t want to see how many people “Dislike” Coke Zero).

It was so simple, users could either “Like” something or choose not to hit the “Like” button. It was up to the user.

That worked for awhile until the users of the world started to realize what was happening. Many users got angry and felt their privacy was being invaded.

About 15 people actually quit Facebook (while another 100 million signed up).

After a few months, things calmed in the tiny hamlet of Menlo Park and the people on Facebook – to a lesser degree – felt fairly happy again.

But then, one day, Facebook decided that the users of the world needed to share every bit of information about their lives – from birth to even death – and put it all into a very conforming and dizzying glop of data called Timeline.

Mean Old Mr. Advertiser LOVED the idea of Timeline.

Finally, Facebook was thinking like him. Now they got the idea. Mean Old Mr. Advertiser could scour the lives of the people of the world and target them with goods and services that they may or may not enjoy.

And somehow, in just a brief eight years of existence – little Facebook grew and grew and grew and became worth $100 BILLION FUCKING DOLLARS! Oh, goodness, pardon me. (An IPO last year would been insane! What a missed opportunity!… but I digress.)

Well, from here the story gets a little tragic.

The beaten down people of the world and users of Facebook grew so exhausted from the daily overhauls of the site (which were necessary to maximize revenue) that they actually stopped spending time on Facebook – instead reading real books to their children and enjoying the outside world.

Comments started to appear on other websites (yes, there are actually other websites) saying they hate Facebook, are never going back and are quitting.

Poor little Facebook. They just wanted to HELP the world – not FUCK OVER the world.

How could a crappy redesign and a selling of their soul piss people off so much?

It’s just a website after all (one that is on its way to becoming WORTHLESS and must be STOPPED for the good of the world!… one more digression).

I mean, why do the people of the world care so much?

Well, we all know how the story ends.

Disgruntled engineers (and let’s assume an MBA or two) who helped create the chaos from the direction of Uncle Mark and Aunt Sheryl, began grumbling about their need to become millionaires and billionaires like so many of their friends.

The only way to stop them from leaving the tiny hamlet of Menlo Park – and going to, oh, say, the dangerous crack alleys of Mountain View and Cupertino to seek their fortune – was to take the company public.

By selling $5 or $10 billion dollars in stock to the ‘public’ (at a BULLSHIT valuation of $100 billion!) everyone could become rich and (yes) happy.

So at least the employees of Facebook will now be happy. The people of the world, who are seriously beginning to hate Facebook and are either leaving or staying away in droves, are less and less happy every day.

But Mean Old Mr. Facebook couldn’t care less – the users can go fuck themselves.

“Just put your freakin’ family photos in the template we have provided, “Like” the new Coke Zero, play the stupid Zynga games, pay for a movie rental, pay for a music subscription, and keep your stupid mouth shut. We’re not getting to a trillion dollar valuation from pictures of your goddamned baby!”

Mean Old Mr. Facebook is right. The User is wrong.

The moral of the story: Don’t screw your users. They’re the ones that built you up and they’re the ones that will bring you down.

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea

September 1, 2011December 12, 2011

Facebook Must Be Stopped

There is an evil temptation that far too many companies are having trouble resisting – the temptation to launch a new product or service on Facebook.

Every month, when the number of Facebook users seem to go up by 100 million or so – to a current tally of 750 million (let’s be serious, about half are most likely fictional or animals), the CEOs of most entertainment and technology companies get the crazy urge to somehow “tap into that customer base.”

This crazy urge must be resisted. Why? So Facebook is destroyed and the people of the world can go on to a much more interesting existence.

In my opinion, doing business with Facebook is the equivalent of doing business with China. Companies feel they need break into the Chinese market because there is FREAKING 1.3 BILLION PEOPLE THERE! “If we just get 0.0001% we’ll be successful. It’s a no brainer!”

And nearly every company goes there with their hat in their hand – giving every insane concession imaginable just to get in the door – and, eventually, come home with a giant footprint on their ass.

Reminder: The Chinese government can do whatever they want. The deal signed means nothing. If they don’t like your attitude or your product or just feel you’re getting a little “too friendly”, they’ll cut you off and send you home a miserable failure. And it doesn’t matter how many cartons of cigarettes or bottles of Slivovitz you give local officials. When it’s over, it’s over.

This is also true of Facebook.

I firmly believe Facebook could absolutely destroy Zynga (and numerous other companies) overnight. They have that power.

Granted, there is too much money at stake with Zynga’s upcoming IPO, so they probably won’t exert that power. But do you think the Zynga executives are going to do anything to antagonize Facebook… ever? Mark Zuckerberg knows the power he has over Mark Pincus.

That is another reason why Facebook must be stopped. Too many people are believing the hype and are afraid of being left behind.

Every day, Facebook dominates technology news. Press release after press release announces Facebook’s new initiatives and services. Their PR department sends out a press release, websites rewrite them slightly and, pow, you have technology news with a narrative controlled by… Facebook.

This week came a “leak” that they will be going into the Music business by blending streaming services such as Spotify, rdio and MOG into the Facebook user experience.

After all, why should anyone have to leave Facebook to listen to music? Why should anyone have to leave Facebook ever?

(I am working on a product that integrates Facebook into my morning shower. There must be a way to combine my Facebook news feed with the water from the shower head so my friend’s status updates directly enter my pores and absorb into my brain. But I digress….)

Spotify is a great service. They don’t need Facebook. People on Facebook don’t complain about having to toggle away from Facebook in order to go onto Spotify. It ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Spotify and other media companies need to resist the temptation of the 750 million non-paying users (which includes millions of dogs and cats who don’t really care what songs they listen to).

And look at this growth chart (left). 7.3 billion users in 2015 vs. only 7.2 billion people alive on the planet!

Major media companies (including my parent company Manka Bros. Studios) need to realize that Facebook needs them more than they need Facebook. (Manka Bros. is actually working on a ‘Facebook Killer’ – Caligula – to launch later this year but I fear it will be more of the same.)

Content is the driver of everything in media. Put a great movie on a crappy 13 inch black & white TV and it’s still a great movie and people will watch it. Put a shitty movie on a 110″ inch HD television screen with Dolby SurroundSound, movie lighting and a cocktail, and it’s still a shitty movie that no one will watch.

Facebook needs to realize that the only reason they are popular is because we all have this urge to see what our friends from high school and college look like now. That’s it really. It’s not to watch “The Dark Knight” for 30 Facebook Credits or buy pigs on “Farmville” (millions do it, I know, and why not? – it’s right there in front of us and we’re freakin’ bored with our lives).

But I think it’s time to break away and see what else is out there in the world.

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea

August 5, 2011August 5, 2011

Wall Street Reminder: Nobody Knows Anything

OK – so the U.S. got downgraded by S&P (AA+) for the first time in its history. Whatever. It’s all just a game anyway.

Most talking heads throughout the weekend will say Monday will be a bloodbath on Wall Street and that many investors will be clamoring to yank out their cash.

But I must remind anyone who has money in the market (me!), out of the market and all those on the fence that “nobody knows anything.”

This phrase, coined by William Goldman in “Adventures In The Screen Trade” (worth a read even for non-screenwriters), is absolutely true in almost all industries and in almost all cases where someone is trying to predict the future.

In the movie business, the phrase was basically referring to the major studios’ inability to know what movies would work at the box office and what movies would fail. As it turns out, with all the historical data at our fingertips… nobody knows anything.

And the same goes for Wall Street:

Meredith Whitney, hotsy-totsy Queen of the Double-Dip, has no clue where the markets are going (though she seems to be praying for a downturn – probably more out of concern for her reputation than for the country).

That whack job Ray Dalio – founder of Bridgewater Associates (subject of a brilliant piece by John Cassidy in the New Yorker) – has no clue where the markets are going (though, to be fair, the whack job has been more successful than most in guessing lately).

The government, your parents, your children, Warren Buffett, CNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, your friends on social networks – nobody knows anything.

If they did, then Wednesday night I would have received a text or seen a tweet or a Facebook status update that said “The Dow will fall 512 points tomorrow – you may want to make a couple of portfolio moves.”

I didn’t get that message from any of those people who “know so much”. Just like I won’t get any correct message this weekend about what will happen on Monday. Because nobody knows anything about what will happen on Monday!

So this weekend, as we all think about our personal finances, don’t make knee-jerk decisions based on something someone says on television or an internet blog.

This may sound overly simplistic, but just go with your gut and calm the freak down. There are a lot great healthy American companies out there and they deserve your confidence.

But, then again, I don’t know anything either – and I certainly don’t know how “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is going to perform this weekend – perhaps $35 million, perhaps $65 million. It’s a crap shoot.

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea

August 3, 2011December 2, 2011

OnMedea Raises $50 At A $1 Billion Valuation

I did it!

So, my mom sent me a check for $50 because she wanted to buy a piece of my growing media empire. (The growing part is a yet-to-launch blog on the insane nightlife of La Canada, CA called “La Canada Nights”.)

I told my mom her share of the company would be based on a $1 billion valuation (as it seems that’s the only valuation there is for a company these days).

For that $50 she will own 0.00000005% of the company. As part of my deal with Manka Bros., I own 50% of OnMedea (valued at $500 million), Manka Bros. owns another 20%($200 million) and Khan Manka, Jr. owns the remaining 30% ($300 million). My mom’s share will come out of my piece.

While some would say this is an outrageously high valuation and a sign that we are truly in a bubble – it’s really no more ridiculous than Airbnb, LinkedIn, Zynga, Groupon, Facebook or (fill in Y Combinator’s next spin-off here).

You could argue – hey, your annual revenues are in the low four figures, Zynga makes hundreds of millions (mid nine figures).

Point taken.

But here’s my point: A pumped up valuation is exactly that.

The key question for the entire financial ecosystem of Silicon Valley is, why do you do it? Answer: Because you can’t stop yourselves.

A fair valuation is not even on your radar because greed and jealousy take over. ‘That guy over there is 21 and got $200 million, I’m 25 and I’m only getting $100 million? F that!’

Why is everyone so desperate to reach THE BIG $B? Is just because of that one line of dialogue in “The Social Network”? Goddamn that is shallow… oh, yeah, right… I forgot who I am writing about.

Seriously, what’s wrong with a $350 million FAIR valuation and then show the world that you can grow and be worth more? Or a $50 million FAIR valuation? This obsession with “BILLION” is going to bring the entire system crashing down in the next year or so.

Bullshit is bullshit is bullshit…

But I digress… today, yippee-ki-yay, OnMedea is worth $1 billion dollars!

Suck on it.

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea

July 26, 2011August 2, 2011

Debt Ceiling Impasse 1 — Social Media 0

American Idol, Ari Emanuel, Ben Silverman, Bruce Gowers, Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Freemantle Enterprises, Gaude Lydia Paez, Jeff Weiner, Jeff Zucker, John Pritchett, Kara DioGuardi, Ken Warwick, Kevin Reilly, Khan Manka, Manka Bros., Nigel Lythgoe, Nikki Finke, Paula Abdul, Peter Rice, Randy Jackson, Rupert Murdoch, Ryan Seacrest, Scott Grogin, Sharon Waxman, Simon Cowell leaving American Idol, Simon Fuller, Terry Semel, Haley Reinhart, James Durbin, Scott McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Silverman, Jimmy Iovine, Accel Partners, Ben Silverman, Bob Iger, Chris Hughes, David Kirkpatrick, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, Gerald Levin, Greylock Partners, HBO, Jeff Bewkes, Jeff Zucker, Jill Kennedy, Joanna Shields, Jon Miller, Khan Manka, Li Ka-shing, Manka Bros., Mark Cuban, Mark Zuckerberg, Matt Cohler, MySpace, Nicolas Carlson, OnMedea, Owen Van Natta, Paul Buchheit, Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch, Sheryl Sandberg, Sumner Redstone, Toy Story 3, Mitch McConnell, President Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Michele Bachman, John Boehner, Sarah Palin, Jo Bonner, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Mo Brooks, Spencer Bachus, Terri Sewell, Don Young, Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Paul Gosar, Trent Franks, Benjamin Quayle, Ed Pastor, David Schweikert, Jeff Flake, Raul M. Grijalva, Gabrielle Giffords, Eric Crawford, Tim Griffin, Steve Womack, Mike Ross, Mike Thompson, Wally Herger, Daniel Lungren, Tom McClintock, Doris Matsui, Lynn Woolsey, George Miller, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Lee, John Garamendi, Jerry McNerney, Jackie Speier, Fortney Pete Stark, Anna Eshoo, Michael Honda, Zoe Lofgren, Sam Farr, Dennis Cardoza, Jeff Denham, Jim Costa, Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, Lois Capps, Elton Gallegly, Howard McKeon, David Dreier, Brad Sherman, Howard Berman, Adam Schiff, Henry Waxman, Xavier Becerra, Judy Chu, Karen Bass, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Maxine Waters, Jane Harman, Laura Richardson, Grace Napolitano, Linda Sanchez, Edward Royce, Jerry Lewis, Gary Miller, Joe Baca, Ken Calvert, Mary Bono Mack, Dana Rohrabacher, Loretta Sanchez, John Campbell, Darrell Issa, Brian Bilbray, Bob Filner, Duncan Hunter, Susan Davis, Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, Scott Tipton, Cory Gardner, Doug Lamborn, Mike Coffman, Ed Perlmutter, John Larson, Joe Courtney, Rosa DeLauro, James Himes, Christopher Murphy, John Carney, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jeff Miller, Steve Southerland, Corrine Brown, Ander Crenshaw, Richard Nugent, Cliff Stearns, John Mica, Daniel Webster, Gus Bilirakis, Bill Young, Kathy Castor, Dennis Ross, Vern Buchanan, Connie Mack, Bill Posey, Thomas Rooney, Frederica Wilson, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Theodore Deutch, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Mario Diaz-Balart, Allen West, Alcee Hastings, Sandy Adams, David Rivera, Jack Kingston, Sanford Bishop, Lynn Westmoreland, Henry Johson, John Lewis, Tom Price, Rob Woodall, Austin Scott, Tom Graves, Paul Broun, Phil Gringrey, John Barrow, David Scott, Madeleine Bordallo, Colleen Hanabusa, Mazie Hirono, Raul Labrador, Michael Simpson, Bobby Rush, Jesse Jackson, Daniel Lipinski, Luis Gutierrez, Mike Quigley, Peter Roskam, Danny Davis, Joe Walsh, Janice Schakowsky, Robert Dold, Adam Kinginger, Jerry Costello, Judy Biggert, Randy Hultgren, Timothy Johnson, Donald Manzullo, Robert Schilling, Aaron Schock, John Shimkus, Peter Visclosky, Joe Donnelly, Marlin Stutzman, Todd Rokita, Dan Burton, Mike Pence, Andre Carson, Larry Bucshon, Todd Young, Bruce Braley, David Loebsack, Leonard Boswell, Tom Latham, Steve King, Tim Huelskamp, Lynn Jenkins, Kevin Yoder, Mike Pompeo, Ed Whitfield, Brett Guthrie, John Yarmuth, Geoff Davis, Harold Rogers, Ben Chandler, Steve Scalise, Cedric Richmond, Jeffrey Landry, John Fleming, Rodney Alexander, Bill Cassidy, Charles Boustany, Chellie Pingree, Michael Michaud, Andy Harris, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Donna Edwards, Steny Hoyer, Roscoe Bartlett, Elijah Cummings, Chris Van Hollen, John Olver, Richard Neal, James McGovern, Barney Frank, Niki Tsongas, John Tierney, Edward Markey, Michael Capuano, Stephen Lynch, William Keating, Dan Benishek, Bill Huizenga, Justin Amash, Dave Camp, Dale Kildee, Fred Upton, Tim Walberg, Mike Rogers, Gary Peters, Candice Miller, Thaddeus McCotter, Sander Levin, Hansen Clarke, John Conyers, John Dingell, Timothy Walz, John Kline, Erik Paulson, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson, Chip Cracaack, Alan Nunnelee, Bennie Thompson, Gregg Harper, Steven Palazzo, Wm. Lacy Clay, Todd Akin, Russ Carnahan, Vicky Hartzler, Emanuel Cleaver, Sam Graves, Billy Long, Jo Ann Emerson, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Denny Rehberg, Jeff Fortenberry, Lee Terry, Adrian Smith, Shelley Berkley, Dean Heller, Joseph Heck, Frank Guinta, Charles Bass, Robert Andrews, Frank LoBiondo, Jon Runyan, Chrisopher Smith, Scott Garrett, Frank Pallone, Leonard Lance, Bill Pascrell, Steven Rothman, Donald Payne, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Rush Holt, Albio Sires, Martin Heinrich, Stevan Pearce, Ben Ray Lujan, Timothy H. Bishop, Steve Israel, Peter King, Carolyn McCarthy, Gary Ackerman, Gregory Meeks, Joseph Crowley, Jerrold Nadler, Anthony Weiner, Edolphus Towns, Yvette Clarke, Nydia Velazquez, Michael Grimm, Carolyn Maloney, Charles Rangel, Jose Serrano, Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey, Nan Hayworth, Christopher Gibson, Paul Tonko, Maurice Hinchey, William Owens, Richard Hannah, Ann Marie Buerkle, Brian Higgins, Louis McIntosh Slaughter, Tom Reed, G.K. Butterfield, Renee Ellmers, Walter Jones, David Price, Virginia Foxx, Howard Coble, Mike McIntyre, Larry Kissell, Sue Wilkins Myrick, Patrick McHenry, Heath Shuler, Melvin Watt, Brad Miller, Rick Berg, Gergorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Steve Chabot, Jean Schmidt, Michael Turner, Jim Jordan, Robert Latta, Bill Johnson, Steve Austria, John A. Boehner, Marcy Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich, Marcia Fudge, Patrick Tiberi, Betty Sutton, Steven LaTourette, Steve Stivers, James Renacci, Tim Ryan, Bob Gibbs, John Sullivan, Dan Boren, Frank Lucas, Tom Cole, James Lankford, David Wu, Greg Walden, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader, Robert Brady, Chaka Fattah, Mike Kelly, Jason Altmire, Glenn Thompson, Jim Gerlach, Patrick Meehan, Michael Fitzpatrick, Bill Schuster, Tom Marino, Lou Barletta, Mark Critz, Allyson Schwarz, Michael Doyle, Charles Dent, Joseph Pitts, Tim Holden, Tim Murphy, Todd Russell Platts, Pedro Pierluisi, David Cicilline, James Langevin, Tim Scott, Joe Wilson, Jeff Duncan, Trey Gowdy, Mick Mulvaney, James Clyburn, Kristi Noem, David Roe, John Duncan, Charle Fleischmann, Scott DesJarlais, Jim Cooper, Diane Black, Marsha Blackburn, Stephen Lee Fincher, Steve Cohen, Louie Gohmert, Ted Poe, Sam Johnson, Ralph Hall, Jeb Hensarling, Joe Barton, John Abney Culberson, Kevin Brady, Al Green, Michael McCaul, Michael Conaway, Kay Granger, Mac Thornberry, Ron Paul, Ruben Hinojosa, Silvestre Reyes, Bill Flores, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Randy Neugebauer, Charles Gonzalez, Lamar Smith, Pete Olson, Francisco Canseco, Kenny Marchant, Lloyd Doggett, Michael Burgess, Blake Farenthold, Henry Cuellar, Gene Green, Eddie Bernice Johnson, John Carter, Pete Sessions, Rob Bishop, Jim Matteson, Jason Chaffetz, Peter Welch, Donna Christensen, Robert Wittman, Scott Rigell, Robert Scott, Randy Forbes, Robert Hurt, Bob Goodlatte, Eric Cantor, James Moran, Morgan Griffith, Frank Wolf, Gerald Connolly, Jay Inslee, Rick Larsen, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Doc Hastings, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Norman Dicks, Jim McDermott, David Reichert, Adam Smith, David McKinley, Shelly Moore Capito, Nick Rahall, Paul Ryan, Rammy Baldwin, Ron Kind, Gwen Moore, James Sensenbrenner, Thomas, Petri, Sean Duffy, Reid Ribble, Cynthia M. Lummis, Jeff Sessions, Richard Shelby, Mark Begich, Lisa Murkowski, Jon Kyl, John McCain, Mark Pryor, John Boozman, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Mark Udall, Michael Bennett, Joseph Lieberman, Richard Blumenthal, Christopher Coons, Edward Kaufman, Bill Nelson, Marco Rubio, Saxby Chambliss

For the past week, I’ve been instructed by a few Facebook friends to update my status by cutting and pasting a sentence or phrase that reflects their outrage of the current Debt Ceiling Impasse...

… or to email my Congress person…

… or to Tweet THIS if I want change…

… or to text someone that ‘I’m mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.’

And after all that updating, and reposting, and retweeting, and Google+ing, what’s the result?

– Debt ceiling impasse.

– Unstable global financial markets.

– Multiple stories about the inevitable downgrade from our AAA credit status and a coming stock market collapse.

Now, perhaps there are a few young congressional aides that are monitoring the ‘Facebook Status Update Situation’ and how many constituents actually posted the sentence of choice – but, really, is Congress listening?

Of course not.

Support or dissent from social media is like “American Idol” voting. So silly – but since it’s so easy to participate… why not?

It’s just another reason I feel Facebook is worthless. Superficial passion. “My day was awesome!” “My kids are the best students!” “Here’s the greatest recipe for Apple Pie!”

On “American Idol”, viewers are urged to phone or text (standard text message rates apply) as many times as they can for their favorite contestant. If you can’t get through – please keep trying!

Millions and millions of “votes” for Scott McCreary. Millions and millions for Lauren Alaina. Yet more millions and millions for Haley Reinhart (why, I’ll never know – don’t be hating me Haley fans – I just don’t think she’s talented).

And the winner is? Oh, I don’t know… we don’t care. The producers have agreed on… I mean, America has voted on… let’s say… Scotty!

You realize the votes aren’t counted, right?

If they actually did count the votes, the viewers would see those counts. Because that would add an interesting dynamic.

But producers can’t do that because then they wouldn’t be able to kick off the contestants they don’t like.

The same thing applies when social media takes on politics. When one person can re-post something a thousand times, it’s a superficial reading of what is really going on.

“Millions of emails have flooded the in-boxes of members of Congress.” Yeah, millions and millions of emails from three guys in Utah. And all went straight to the Congressional Spam folder.

And every political party is doing it – which creates nothing but muddle.

I am fairly certain the Tea Party people are flooding their status updates with “Don’t Raise The Debt Ceiling At All. Take Back America!”

And Republican Facebookers are pasting “Make Obama a one-term President.”

And the Democrats: “Don’t let the corporate jet owners win again!”

Is there anyone counting who is updating their Facebook status the most times? What do you think? And what do they win if they post the most? At least Scotty McCreary gets a record contract. Social Media activists get… ignored.

We all know where the Debt Ceiling Impasse is headed no matter how many Tweets are Tweeted – and so does President Obama. The U.S. will be kicking the can further down the road and a six month or one year debt ceiling extension that will accomplish very little and will be reluctantly signed on August 1st or 2nd.

Then Congress goes on vacation for the month of August.

The issue will be taken up again in early 2012 – two weeks or so before another possible default. And the Facebook status posting and Tweeting will begin another cycle… just in time for the new season of “American Idol”.

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea

July 21, 2011July 21, 2011

Don’t Blame Superman

Adam Fogelson, Alan Spoon, Alexander von Furstenberg, Amanda Seyfried, Andrew Chang, Angela Bromstad, Anil Ambani, Ann Daly, Anne Globe, Ari Emanuel, Arthur Martinez, Barry Diller, Beastly, Ben Silverman, Bob Iger, Brad Grey, Brian Roberts, Brothers Grimm, Bryan Lourd, Chase Carey, Clark Hallren, Comic-Con, Craig Ring, Craig Smith, Dan Satterthwaite, David Geffen, David Rosenblatt, Donald R. Keough, Donna Langley, Dreamworks Animation, Edgard Bronfman, Electus, Ezra Kucharz, fairy tale movies, Gemma Arterton, Graham Stanton, Greg Blatt, Greg Morrow, Greg Stevens, Gregg Winiarski, Guillermo Del Toro, Hans Woolley, Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters, Harry Brittenham, Harry Sloan, Heather O'Conner, Hey Diddle Diddle, Holly Bario, Jack the Giant Killer, Jason Stewart, Jay Herratti, Jeff Sagansky, Jeff Small, Jeff Weiner, Jeff Zucker, Jeffrey Immelt, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jeremy Renner, Jill Kennedy, Joanne Hawkins, Joey Levin, John Batter, John C. Malone, John Ferriter, John Foley, John Malone, Josh Abramson, Jr., Judson Green, Kara Swisher, Khan Manka, Lew Coleman, Louis Castle, Manka Bros., Mark Sourian, Mark Stein, Melody Hobson, Michael Eisner, Michael J. Montgomery, Michael Schwerdtman, Michael Zeisser, Nathan Myhrvold, Nikki Finke, Notional, On Medea, OnMedea, Paul Allen, Paul Telegdy, Peter Chernin, Phillippe Dauman, Pinnochio, Red Riding Hood, Reliance ADA Group, Rich Sullivan, Richard F. Zannino, Richard Sherman, Rick Finkelstein, Ricky Van Veen, Roger Enrico, Ron Meyer, Rupert Murdoch, Scott Garell, Scott Savitz, Shana Fisher, Sharon Waxman, Snow White and the Seven, Stacey Snider, Steve Burke, Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg, Strauss Zelnick, Sumner Redstone, Terry Semel, Thomas Freston, Thomas J. McInerney, Tina Brown, Tony DiSanto, Victor Kaufman, Walt Disney

Today, I read an analyst report written by Vasily Karasyov of Susquehanna Financial Group titled “The Death of Superheroes”.

Salacious title? Certainly.

A title that would get the attention of every media executive around the world? Absolutely.

A title that’s total bullshit? Definitely.

According to this report, over the past ten years movie studios have plucked 16 superheroes (or super groups) from the obscurity of the basements of geeks and put them smack dab in the global spotlight for everyone to see.

Some have been really good, made lots of money and spawned sequels, rebirths and regurgitations (e.g., “Spider-Man”, “Batman”, “Iron Man”, “X-Men”).

Others were shit and lost a lot of money (basically the rest of them).

For the most part, that’s the way it’s supposed to work. Good = success. Bad = no success.

Over that same time, about 2,000 other movies were released to varying degrees of success. These included huge non-comic book movies like “Harry Potter”, “Lord of the Rings”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “The Hangover”, and, sure, even Woody Allen’s biggest hit ever “Midnight In Paris”.

So while it seems every other movie that comes out is a comic book movie, nothing could be further from the truth. But that’s not the point I want to make.

Here’s the point: People are not tired of Superheroes. You cannot blame the superhero for the failure of corporate mortals.

If every comic book/superhero movie were unbelievably great, audiences would flock to them and they would all be huge hits.

Seriously, if the studios would have put out 16 awesome, well-made, true to the source comic book movies, they would have had, guaranteed, 16 big hit, profitable movies.

But this didn’t happen and it never will happen. Why? Because movie studios always try to make good movies. Regardless of what some people think, the executives at movie studios are not trying to suck.

Every movie that is made (with all those millions of dollars at stake) start off with a single dream – to be really good and to make money (maybe not in that order). Everyone, at every level, works very hard to make these films as good as humanly possible.

But somewhere along the chain – from concept to the day of release – something happens to make them suck.

And in most cases, lots of things happen to make them suck.

The movie-making process is subjective. One person’s gold is another person’s shit.

What Hollywood IS GUILTY OF is genre rape.

Once one high-concept or genre film hits it really big (i.e., “Alice In Wonderland”) suddenly every studio in town needs to have that high-concept or genre type film in the pipeline ASAP.

Because of “Alice In Wonderland”, over the past year every studio had to have as many fairy tale scripts as they get their hands on including THREE FREAKIN’ “SNOW WHITES”!

My God, even Manka Bros. – my studio – bought the rights to “Hey Diddle Diddle” and plans to spend well over $150 million to produce something we know will fail. Sorry, boss.

Go down any list of genre and you’ll see one movie that started the entire feeding frenzy. “Scream” spawned hundreds of crappy horror movies. “Harry Potter” got everyone out there trying to find the next great children’s fantasy series. Vampires, zombies… it’s just a case of mass brainlessness.

But here’s the shocker. What do I think needs to be changed? Nothing.

Movies should continue to be made and they should be made as well as possible.

Some should be based on comic books because it’s really great source material.

Others should be based on the Bible, or Dickens or Broadway . Because it’s really great source material.

And yet others should be based on ideas people think up on their own (imagine that!) – because the brain is capable of coming up with a really great source material.

“Hollywood” isn’t broken and the Superhero isn’t dead (Christopher Nolan could turn any deep catalog comic book character into a franchise – even something like “Gerbil Girl”) – everyone involved in the process just needs to concentrate more on entertaining the audience and less on just filling a summer slot.

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea

P.S. – Why the hell is “Glee” at Comic-Con? If you want to talk about something that’s dead… it’s Comic-Con. And IT WAS killed by the movie studios. If you want a good laugh, read the transcript from Khan Manka, Jr.’s keynote address to last year’s Comic-Con.

May 19, 2011May 20, 2011

LinkedIn Acquired By Monster.com For $37,242

Jeff Weiner, Nick Besbeas, Steve Cadigan, Mike Gamson, David Henke, Robby Kwok, Deep Nishar, Erika Rottenberg, Steve Sordello, Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, jean-Luc Vaillant, A George "Skip" Battle, Leslie Kilgore, Stanley Meresman, Michael J. Moritz, David Sze, Sal Iannuzzi, Timothy T. Yates, John Gaulding, Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Cynthia P. McCague, Jeffrey F. Rayport, Roberto Tunioli, James M. Langrock, Andrea Bertone, Darko Dejanovic, Ted Gilvar, Edward Lo, Michael C. Miller, Lise Poulos, Mark Stoever, Patrick W. Manzo, OnMedea, Jill Kennedy, Manka Bros., Khan Manka, Ben Silverman, Sumner Redstone, Jeff Zucker, Ari Emanuel, Rupert Murdoch, Bob Iger

The year is 2014.

The people of the world have abandoned social networking after going out on too many creepy dates.

LinkedIn, once a Wall Street darling, was acquired today by Monster.com for $37,242 – basically the value of the copper wire in the walls of their unfinished (and unpaid for) $1 billion dollar office complex in The Presidio.

At its peak in late 2011, LinkedIn (a groundbreaking social network in which people could send messages to each other) had a market cap of $560 billion – more than the top 2 companies in the world combined.

The stock began its plunge after CEO Jeff Weiner cashed out and left the company to become CEO of Apple at the beginning of 2012. Ironically, Apple’s stock began its plunge immediately after he became CEO.

It’s really a tragic story of greed and the inability to create a product that people can actually use. And if they did use it, it was only because they thought they should be doing it – because others were – and no one wants to be left out. But now everyone is left out.

About the sale, Mr. Weiner said: “I work at Apple now. I’m just thinking about running this company. LinkedIn was just a blip in my long career. It was really Reid’s baby, Reid’s vision (State Senator Reid Hoffman D-Palo Alto). I just worked there.”

And made over $2 billion while there.

Senator Hoffman was unreachable by phone but did release a statement through his office: “LinkedIn should have been my ticket to wealth beyond my wildest dreams. Thinking back, I wish I would have sold all (or even some) of my stock when it peaked like Jeff Weiner did. That bastard made $2 billion! It’s a God damned shame. State politics don’t pay shit.”

So LinkedIn, you were great once (in valuation), but now you’re gone. To quote The Lion In Winter – “The sun was warmer then…”

Shine on you crazy diamond!

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea

May 12, 2011May 12, 2011

All The Facebook’s Men

As soon as I read The Daily Beast story about Facebook’s alleged smear (whisper) campaign against Google, I immediately thought of the scene in “All The President’s Men” with all the newspaper editors sitting around deciding which stories to run the next day.

When Watergate is brought up, there is stiff resistance from a couple of the editors.

This scene (replacing ‘Watergate’ with ‘Facebook’) could easily have played out at The Daily Beast with the change of a few words in the screenplay:

INT. THE DAILY BEAST – BUDGET MEETING

SEXY BEAST EDITOR: Let me tell you what happened when I was having lunch today at Locanda Verde–

TINA BROWN: Correction – when you were drinking your lunch at the bar of Locanda Verde–

The room erupts in laughter.

SEXY BEAST EDITOR: –this Facebook guy, a good one, a pro, came up and asked what is the “Google smear” compulsion with you guys and I said, well, we think it’s important and he said, if it’s so goddamn important, who the hell is Dan Lyons?

INNOVATION EDITOR: Fake Steve Jobs for one – but I digress. Ask him what he’s really saying – he means to take the story away from Dan Lyons and give it to his people at the Sexy Beast.

SEXY BEAST EDITOR: Well, I’ve got some pretty experienced people sitting around, wouldn’t you say so?

INNOVATION EDITOR: Absolutely, and that’s all they do, sit sit sit – every once in a while they reprint Michael Arrington, some reporting–

SEXY BEAST EDITOR: Well, what if Dan Lyons get it wrong–

TINA BROWN: Then it’s Barry Diller’s ass, isn’t it? And we’ll all have to go work for a living.

The room clears, only a couple of Editors and Tina Brown stay behind:

SEXY BEAST EDITOR: I don’t think we should cover this story, period.

TINA BROWN: Go on.

SEXY BEAST EDITOR: It’s not that we’re using unnamed sources that bothers me, or that everything we print Facebook denies.

TINA BROWN: What then?

SEXY BEAST EDITOR: I don’t believe the goddamn story, Tina, it doesn’t make sense.

TINA BROWN: It will, it just hasn’t bottomed out yet, give it time.

SEXY BEAST EDITOR: Look, why would Facebook do it? My God, Google is self-destructing before our eyes – just like MySpace did, Friendster, the bunch of ’em. Why would Burson-Marsteller send emails to bloggers urging them to write negative stories about Google, unless they wanted to get caught? Why would Burson go to Politico, The Washington Post and The Huffington Post, unless they wanted to get caught?

TINA BROWN: Are you saying Google started a whisper campaign against itself?

SEXY BEAST EDITOR: Jill Kennedy at OnMedea thinks it’s possible – Google needs some positive press, corruption’s always a good one. Get off the story, Tina – or put some people on Google’s public relations team – fair is fair, even in our business.

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Hey, we’re early enough in this conspiracy where all theories are in play.

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea

Click here to read the scene from the original script of “All The President’s Men”

April 1, 2011July 19, 2012

Broadcast Networks – On Death And Dying

For Broadcast Networks, the end is coming and it’s time for them to Accept their fate. (The 2012 Emmy Nominations only strengthen this point.)

This isn’t to say ABC, CBS, FOX, MBS, NBC, Univision and The CW (and similar Broadcast Networks around the world) are going away. They’ll just have to transform into one of the million other “Channels” out there – high profile Channels with good programming and production values – but still just another button on the Great Media Grid like ESPN, TNT, USA, Oxygen, Justin.tv (indeed), YouTube, etc.

According to a model developed by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book “On Death and Dying”, there are Five Stages of Grief.

Over the past 20 years or so, Broadcast Networks have bounced around the First Four Stages in an effort to fight off the inevitable:

1. Denial: Broadcast Networks will always be the only place to reach a large audience. We don’t see that ever going away. No one is going to watch the shit they make on Cable. It’s nothing but George Foreman Grill infomercials and drunken Jackass teenagers riding their bikes into traffic.

2. Anger: It’s just not right! They make such crap on Basic Cable (again – see Emmy Nominations). How are they pulling in more advertising than us?! I don’t give a shit about the ratings of “Jersey Shore”, the content on Broadcast Networks is far superior and always will be. Goddamnit! And don’t you dare mention that fucking “Mad Men” to me again! And Hell will freeze over before we ever produce a series for that inferior platform. There’s no syndication value. It’s bullshit!

3. Bargaining: The playing field is not level. It’s not fair. We really need you cable and satellite operators to pay us to retransmit our signal. Don’t forget – we’re the Broadcast Networks. If you give us two revenue streams, we’ll give you really great programming with high ratings and advertising rates that are healthy for everyone. Don’t you realize there is only one place to reach a large audience?

4. Depression: Remember when Saturday night was the greatest night on television – when three networks (and three network Presidents) controlled every household? Everyone had incredible line-ups. It will never be that good again. Thursday night used to be a place where advertisers needed us to launch a new movie or car or department store sales. Those were the days. Oh well, at least we still have our beach houses and court side basketball seats.

5. Acceptance: It’s going to be okay. It’s not so bad to be equated with TBS. I mean, they have Conan O’Brien now. They are sort of like a Broadcast Network. And we’re still bigger than most of the other Channels. And we’ll get the Super Bowl back one day (after ESPN and The Food Network have their turns). It’s all good.

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The death of Broadcast Networks may not happen in the next five years but it IS going to happen and the sooner we put them out of their misery and end that painful decline, the faster the industry can heal and begin to grow again.

And even though every year in May, the upfronts always seem to break new records (and the Broadcasters will shout that fact from the rooftops in the Trades), make no mistake, nothing can be done to save Broadcast Networks.

It’s an old concept in a new world.

For old school TV executives and their Madison Avenue chronies who are accustomed to lavish Upfront Presentations at Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden and the International Space Station, it’s time to just let it go. The Days of Wine and Roses and Fine Dining and Muffin Baskets are over.

Broadcast Network defenders (yes, Les Moonves, this means you) are finding fewer and fewer allies in their argument. Face the facts, ESPN and Google are more valuable than CBS. It may not seem fair – but there are many new Sheriffs in town. Remember, if you’re in a business where single-digit drops in viewers is the New Growth, your business sucks.

So what are the Broadcast Networks supposed to do next? Very simple. Just accept equal footing (two revenue streams – subscription and advertising – enough with this silly Retrans business that no one can understand) and continue to run your business as just another Channel on the Grid.

In the future (and it’s coming), with a channel lineup grid that will be sorted Alphabetically and not by “importance” or “size” (and will include TV channels, websites and whatever else comes up) programming is, as it always has been, King .

And may the best programmer win.

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea

March 5, 2011April 6, 2011

CBS Films – R.I.P. – Beastly Update

UPDATE: The original CBS Films R.I.P. post below was written on January 25, 2010, right after “Extraordinary Measures” starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser flopped.

The latest CBS Films release to flop is “Beastly” starring actors who didn’t get cast in “Twilight”. This modern take on “Beauty and the Beast” (one of an endless stream of upcoming Fairy Tale Movies) had an opening weekend of about $10 million. While this one is not a complete disaster like the previous releases, and may only lose a couple of million, it won’t, by any means, be able to save the life of the division.

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CBS Films – R.I.P. (January 25, 2010)

I’m actually surprised there isn’t more inside media coverage of the disastrous debut of CBS Films’ first release – “Extraordinary Measures” starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser ($6.0 million opening weekend from over 2,500 theaters – finishing 8th behind “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” in its 5th week).

I realize the Jay/Dave/Conan/Jeff Zucker drama is a much sexier story but CBS Films’ failure is another example of the cocksure executive that believes he can do no wrong.

Les Moonves, former bit player on “The Six Million Dollar Man” turned powerful CBS media mogul, is the exec on the hot seat this time. (Personally, I can imagine Jeff Zucker pushing this story just to get his name out of the press.)

Four years ago, when Sumner Redstone was completing the disastrous Viacom / CBS split, Mr. Moonves wanted Paramount Pictures so badly that when he didn’t get it, he decided he could create a new Paramount Pictures from scratch – CBS Films.

It’s a cold Monday morning at Black Rock today.

I’m assuming there will be two maybe three more failed releases in 2010 and then a decision to “refocus CBS’ energies on our booming cable network distribution platforms and new media” (translation: the coming end of CBS Films – probably at the end of 2011).

The R.I.P. tombstone above is generous in giving CBS Films a four year lifespan (2007-2011) considering the first release wasn’t until this past weekend – but I think three years of staffing up and development does count at being in business.

Another possibility for CBS would be to acquire Summit Entertainment. At least then they would have two guaranteed hits in the pipeline – the final two “Twilight” movies.

Or… my personal dream plan, somehow have CBS either acquire or wrest away Paramount from Viacom. News Corporation then buys Viacom’s cable channels (assets they sorely need). And Viacom shuts down thus getting us one step closer to saying bye-bye to Sumner Redstone forever.

Regardless of what happens, CBS’ old media experiment is not going to make it.

Jill Kennedy – OnMedea