The Peacock is switching owners. GE has agreed to sell Comcast a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal, creating a joint media venture that will be managed by Comcast.

The move is significant since GE has owned NBC for 23 years, not counting that period in the 1920s. It’s also indicative of the broadcast media shift that has been gaining momentum over the last few years.

Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of stories piqued my interest today.

First, E.B. Boyd of Bay Newser reported that McSweeney’s has unveiled a preview of its broadsheet project, the San Francisco Panorama. It’s an ambitious effort to show, in essence, that print’s death has been exaggerated, its worth underestimated, and its creative potential untapped. The list of talent that is contributing to Panorama will make your head spin. To preorder a copy, click here. (Bay Area locals, apparently there is going to be a special Bay Area-only price, so hold your horses).

Story #2 is from Peter Kafka and is in regards to Will Ferrell’s “Funny or Die” setting up a channel on YouTube. You might ask why Will & crew would do such a thing, considering they already have their own site on which to host their own content.

The answer: millions of eyeballs.

It’s all about tapping into YouTube’s ridiculously large audience. They’re taking the funny over to a place where a gigantic community already exists, which should help them garner far more exposure. “Funny or Die” will still premiere content on its standalone branded site and give its loyal followers the first peek before taking it majorly mainstream.

And on that note, I leave you with the classic “Landlord” video:

William Safire

I was sad to hear of the passing of William Safire over the weekend.  I didn’t share his politics but I admired his love of language.   As he wrote in one of his columns, “I take my phrasedick assignments seriously.”

Here’s a snippet from one of my favorite columns, focused on the phrases “aha moment” and “senior moment.” In tracing the roots of the aha moment, he cites the Canterbury Tales and Mary Tyler Moore, almost in the same breath.

Read the rest of this entry »

The hoopla surrounding Kanye West’s latest “foot-in-mouth” moment (or should I say “mic-in-mouth”?) was yet another reminder of the speed and power of the social media machine. While I hate to perpetuate these discussions that give the man more air time than he deserves, the breadth of awareness on this singular incident makes for an interesting example of social media engagement.

Source: MTV

Companies, still reticent on putting integrated social media strategies in place, will soon realize that people are online and, whether you decide to engage or not, are talking about you. Case in point…as soon as Kanye self-righteously stepped on the glittering MTV stage and grabbed the mic out of young Taylor Swift’s hands the response was swift (pun intended)…and the bloggers, twitterati, video deejays, talk show hosts, etc. were weighing in.

While some leveraged morning talk shows or evening entertainment news programs, most took the fight online. And fight they did, with Kanye receiving a smackdown unseen since Perez Hilton’s faceoff with former Miss California Carrie Prejean. According to Trendrr, which tracks buzz on Twitter, there were a total of 293,024 tweets in the hour immediately following West’s outburst.

Read the rest of this entry »

We always knew she was a rock star… now others do too.

It’s with great pride and pleasure we tip our hat to Eastwick’s own Kimberly Stoddard for being recognized as one of the top tech PR pros by PRSourceCode.

This is Kimberly’s second time on the prestigious list and it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving pro.

While we’re a bit biased and think that many of our staff could make the list, we definitely understand why Kimberly has been singled out.

Read the rest of this entry »

Walter Cronkite

Eastwick Communications bids a fond farewell to Walter Cronkite, the quintessential anchorman and once most-trusted person in America.

He wasn’t the first anchorman, and only time will tell if he was the best, but he, more than anyone in recent history, personified respectability.

The landmark events he covered during his 46-year career as a journalist are too numerous to list; fortunately, we have a permanent record of each and every one.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today I had the pleasure of discussing how influence happens today and much more with Tom Foremski, the former Financial Times journalist, who now heads up Silicon Valley Watcher.

[Listen]

(Please pardon the technical difficulties, it gets better after it gets bad)

The treasure trove that is the Computer History Museum was on full display yesterday when FOX Business News staged its 3 Days in the Valley 2009 series from the Museum.

It was the perfect backdrop for the series, reminding viewers of the rich history of the Valley.

CEO John Hollar walked FOX News reporter Liz Claman through the collection, pointing out some of the choice pieces including the Commodore 64 and original Macintosh.

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to this week’s Influence Report, Eastwick’s way of keeping you up to date on the changing communications landscape.

This issue’s feature is on the changing role of press releases, a hotly debated topic in the PR and media worlds. The name press release is even outdated since these documents are used to communicate with many more audiences than just the press. Our view is that companies and PR pros need to take a fresh look at when and how they distribute news and information. News releases are an important way to communicate directly (the ultimate vendor-generated content says my friend Barbara Krause, Krause-Taylor Associates) and there are now many other ways to push that content out. A few things that may change your thinking about news releases:

  Read the rest of this entry »

Hiroshi Wald

Guest Post By Hiroshi Wald, Principal at The Wald Group and Program Chair at MIT/Stanford Venture Lab

In the current global economic climate, thinking long-term is more important than ever.  Today, we can lay the groundwork for growth. Many nations and businesses try to save their way out of a recession. It is much better to invest our way out.

 – Craig Barrett, CEO, Intel (retired) CeBit, 2009

Everyone is cutting back - or so the conventional wisdom goes. So what’s up with Intel? They just recently launched a new advertising campaign, making their employees stars. In addition to boosting their advertising presence Intel is investing heavily in R&D and Innovation. Shouldn’t they be focusing on deep discounts and layoffs and not worry about anything else? Turns out that the answer is a resounding: No. And Intel is in good company.

[media id=12] 

  Read the rest of this entry »