Chris Albrecht Has Midlife Crisis – Buys SlamBall Instead of Ferrari

Chris Albrecht, the one-time head of HBO who was fired after being arrested for hitting his girlfriend, has done something which I can only describe as a sort of corporate midlife crisis.

According to WSJ:

“Now, Mr. Albrecht is trying for a comeback. And he’s staking much of it on a bizarre, futuristic sport called SlamBall, which failed to break out in an earlier debut. With the feel of a live-action videogame, SlamBall is essentially basketball combined with rugby and trampoline gymnastics, and if Mr. Albrecht is right, it will become a phenomenon as successful and profitable as the latest sports craze, ultimate fighting.”

I actually remember watching (or trying to watch) SlamBall during its brief and poorly-viewed run on Spike TV – it reminded me of the kind of sports that are created for futuristic sci-fi movies set after some kind of apocalypse.

Now, aside from all the obvious reasons why one might not want to try to launch an entirely new sport on the world, one has to wonder why a guy with Albrecht’s experience in the business would invest in such a patently absurd and juvenile sport like SlamBall?

I can only imagine he thinks it makes him look hip or cool.  See, he’s with it!  He loves SlamBall!

Oh, dear lord, it’s actually sadder than wearing a toupee…

Social Networking Sites Becoming Networks

WSJ has a look at the growing trend among social networking sites like Bebo and MySpace using original video content as a way to grow and expand their user base:

“The growing popularity of YouTube poses a particular competitive threat to social-networking sites. Roughly a quarter of users who view videos on MySpace also watch shows on each of the major television networks’ Web sites, while more than 80% watch them on YouTube, according to Nielsen Online.

What’s more, the average MySpace visitor spent 10% less time on the site in January 2008 compared with January 2007, according to comScore Inc. The average YouTube user spent 57% more time on YouTube during the same period. To reverse the trend, social networks want to engage members with compelling shows they hope can generate the level of buzz of other Web video hits.”

This strikes me as another signal that the traditional TV network is going to be going through a pretty serious shift over the next few years.  Right now we’re all still going to outside sources for our entertainment – basically “tuning in” to a site or a channel.

I believe the big shift will be when the entertainment simply comes to us.  Each of us will have a personal portal (like your Facebook profile) where all the possible entertainment you might be interested in or subscribed to could be accessed and viewed.  No more turning to channel 10 for news then channel 22 for cartoons then going online for gossip.

Pirate Paps!

The old grey lady of blogs, Gawker, pointed me to a fun piece in the WSJ about the rise of what they’re calling “citizen paparazzi”:

“…an Internet-fueled industry that feeds on the public’s seemingly insatiable interest in entertainment news. Photo agencies are increasingly relying on submissions from regular folk who either happen to bump into celebrities while carrying digital cameras, or who have injected themselves into the cat-and-mouse game of celebrity snapshots, despite any formal training.”

You kinda had to see this one coming.  Nowadays, nearly every single person out there has some kind of a camera, and thanks to the paps, we know what every star looks like and where they hang out.   The challenge for the pros is going to be how far they’re willing to go the beat out the casual snapper.  I’m sure that’s one reason paps have gotten more aggressive in general.  Competition breeds aggression.

This is also another great example of the modern pirate economy in action.  Also, at what point will their be so many people supplying pics of stars that the price drops to the point where there isn’t really a market for them at all, at least monetarily?

J&J Baby Cartoon link

I know, you were waiting desperately for the link to the J&J advertainments. Well, you can check one out right now via NewTeeVee

Now, they picked the story up from The Wall Street Journal (reg. req.) where I assume they also got the embed link for the video

My question, aside from why anyone would ever want to watch these insipid animated pieces, is why the entire thing is first tagged with a Wall Street Journal plug. Basically, WSJ is advertising on an advertisement. No, it’s not a first, but it is worth noting.

UPDATE: Holy crap.  I actually watched the video.  Mariska Hargitay isn’t the voice of the mom, she’s the voice of the baby!  Beyond disturbing.