Blockbuster’s set-top box a loser

The Motley Fool recently rated Blockbuster the worst stock for 2009. Based on Blockbuster's first attempt at a set-top box for delivering movies from the Internet to the TV, I’d say they may be on to something.
Fool writer Rich Smith predicted Jan. 28 that Blockbuster “is going to zero” this year. He said Blockbuster is drowning in debt and is being beaten by rival Netflix at every turn.
Blockbuster certainly hasn’t kept up with Netflix in the market for digital delivery of movies to consumers.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to try out Blockbuster’s first set-top box, which is made by 2Wire. I already own the Netflix Player by Roku, so it was easy to do a side-by-side comparison.
Blockbuster trotted out the 2Wire MediaPoint digital media player in late November, six months after Netflix debuted its first set-top box, the Roku digital video player.
They both stream movies from the Internet to the TV, but have very different business models. Both devices cost $99. But content on the Blockbuster box is pay-per-view, while content from Netflix comes at no extra charge when subscribing to its DVDs-by-mail service.
Blockbuster charges $3.99 for most online movies, but some are available for $1.99. For a limited time, the Blockbuster 2Wire box is free when subscribers rent 25 movies in advance for $99.
Sounds like a good deal, if the service has a lot of new releases and the box works without a hitch. In my experience, the Blockbuster box failed on both counts.
Installation was as easy as the Netflix box. I linked both to my wireless router.
My issues with the Blockbuster OnDemand service began with the opening screen. Looking for the hot new releases, I clicked the remote over to “Featured” films. The first movies I saw were ones I’d never heard of: “Blindsight,” “Cyborg Soldier,” “Ghouls,” “I Do,” and “Miss Conception”
I searched through other categories, including “New Releases,” “Top Rentals” and “Just Added,” and found very few new releases. I was shocked. I thought this was going to be like an online video store, packed with new releases.
Eventually, I stumbled on new releases by looking in the “All Rentals” category. It listed 1,644 titles, of which 61 were labeled “new.”
They included “Get Smart,” “Ghost Town,” “Hancock,” “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” “Iron Man,” “Nights in Rodanthe,” “Pineapple Express” and “Snow Angels.”
Navigating through the Blockbuster OnDemand service is a chore. The menus are ugly and feature tiny box-shot images of the movies.
The Netflix box only presents you with movies you’ve preselected from your computer. It makes for a much cleaner interface.
I clicked through a couple hundred movies on the Blockbuster box and eventually got the “blue screen of death.” The device locked up and gave me an on-screen message of “Your Blockbuster OnDemand service is starting.” After a time, the system rebooted on its own. But it was very frustrating.
Later I chose my first movie to watch – “The House Bunny” starring Anna Faris. Everything was going fine until 40-some minutes into the movie when the picture locked up and the soundtrack continued. I tried skipping ahead and backing up, but I either got a still frame with sound or video and no sound. Eventually I gave up for the night.
The next day, I tried to start fresh. I experienced the same problem at the same point in the movie.
After a first-time experience like that, most consumers would do what I did – pack up the box and return it.
By contrast, my experience with the Netflix Roku box has been flawless.
After the Blockbuster box failed to show “The House Bunny” on a second try, I gave up and switched to the Netflix box. There I selected the Oscar-nominated documentary “Man On Wire.” Great movie. No technical problems either.

Oscar for worst dressed goes to … me

As part of its publicity campaign for this year’s Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been holding a “Meet the Oscars” exhibit in Chicago.
The exhibit lets movie fans hold an actual Oscar statuette and get their photo taken. The Oscars are made in Chicago at R.S. Owens & Co.
The one-of-a-kind exhibit features six of the Oscars to be presented at the 2010 Academy Awards ceremony. Also on display is the Oscar won by Clark Gable for his performance in “It Happened One Night” (1934). Gable’s estate sold the Oscar at auction in 1996 for $607,500 to director Steven Spielberg. He returned it to the Motion Picture Academy later that year.
The “Meet the Oscars” exhibit runs Feb. 13-22 at The Shops At North Bridge on Michigan Avenue at Grand Avenue.

I stopped by with the kids on Monday. Wearing an old pair of jeans and a University of Illinois sweatshirt, I proudly accepted my Oscar for worst-dressed visitor. My thanks to the Academy.
The Oscars will be presented on Sunday evening and televised on ABC.

First wave of digital TV transition goes smoothly

Remind me, why did we have to push back the digital television transition deadline to June 12?
Oh, yeah, President Barack Obama was worried about making his first major gaffe in office and played it super safe.
All that handwringing about people not being ready for the digital TV switchover was apparently for naught.
On Tuesday, the original deadline, 421 full-power TV stations made the switch to digital-only broadcasts. The Federal Communications Commission and the stations themselves reported a minimal number of phone calls from concerned viewers.
“The volume of viewer calls received following the transition paled in comparison to the 12.4 million over-the-air only households that were in affected markets,” Jonathan Collegio, vice president for digital television transition at the National Association of Broadcasters, said in a statement today.
The NAB estimates that most stations received an average of 50 to 200 calls each, according to news reports.
A third of U.S. TV stations now have switched to digital-only broadcasts. The stations that shut off their analog signals on Tuesday joined 220 other stations that the FCC allowed to make the switch early.

Phelps probe reaches obvious conclusion

It took the Richland County, S.C., Sheriff’s Department nearly two weeks to reach the same conclusion most rational people would make in two seconds: There was no way to charge Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps with marijuana possession or use based on a photo.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Monday that there was not enough evidence to prosecute those at the party where the photo was reportedly taken, according to Reuters.
Well, duh. Even Barney Fife (pictured above) would have reached the same conclusion – only sooner.

My wife discovers another woman vying for my affections

Now you’ve gone and done it, Summercusp.
You’ve gotten me in trouble with my wife.
I was sitting at my computer in my home office tonight when my wife walked in. She started to ask me a question, then looked at my computer screen and her eyes widened. “Are you chatting with her?” she asked.
I looked back at my screen, which was displaying my Yahoo e-mail page with one of those ubiquitous ads for online dating service True.com.
I barely even notice them even more. This one was a little different however. It was bigger for one thing. It featured the same video of a woman named “Summercusp” waving to her Webcam and laughing at responses from an unseen Romeo.
What probably caught my wife’s eye, other than the well-endowed honey on screen, was the scrolling chat log beneath it. This Flash animation makes it look like you’re actually chatting with Webcam girl.
“No. It’s just an ad. I wasn’t chatting with anyone,” I said.
My wife seemed skeptical.
It’s too bad Yahoo doesn’t have a way to opt out of certain types of ads. It would be better for the users and the advertisers. I wouldn’t be presented with ads that I wouldn’t act on and advertisers would get a more responsive audience. I’d opt out of online dating services (sorry, Summercusp), mortgage refinance and free credit report ads.

All hail the king of viral marketing: Burger King

Burger King is a master of generating press from its viral marketing campaigns.
When the company said in December it was getting into the fragrance business with a scent called Flame, bloggers and the mainstream media treated it like the real deal.
It was as if Burger King wanted to give Axe body spray a run for its money. Burger King described Flame as the “scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.”
Bloggers and wire services wrote about how outrageous it was for Burger King to come out with a burger-themed scent. Some bought it to smell for themselves.
When the product sold out before Christmas, they covered it again. (It was only sold online and through a novelty gift shop chain in New York City.)
Comedians and late-night talk show hosts had a field day with the Burger King fragrance.
But it was all a viral marketing stunt, designed to get people talking about Burger King.
Burger King has had similar success with its Whopper Sacrifice application on Facebook, its Whopper Virgins videos, Burger King video games on Xbox 360, Simpsonize Me and Subservient Chicken web sites.
For more on Burger King’s viral marketing strategy, check out my story in Investor’s Business Daily.
I spoke with Russ Klein, president of global marketing strategy and innovation for Burger King Holdings Inc. for the article.
I wasn’t able to get much detail about the Flame scent promotion in my IBD article, so I’ll provide that here on Tech-media-tainment.
This past December was the one-year anniversary of Burger King’s successful Whopper Freakout campaign. For that advertising campaign, Burger King set up hidden cameras in one of its restaurants and had workers tell customers that the Whopper had been discontinued. Needless to say, some customers freaked out. They demanded to speak to the manager and get a full explanation. The gag was revealed when the King mascot emerged to hand deliver a Whopper to each of the wigged-out customers.
Burger King considered that campaign a high water mark and wanted to top it, Klein says.
The result of the company’s creative brainstorming was the Whopper Virgins campaign – videos showing the “world’s purest taste test” – and the Flame cologne promotion, Klein says.
“We’re obviously not really in the perfume or cologne business, but we thought that it would add additional messaging around the core idea that people who love the Whopper really love the Whopper,” Klein said.
Burger King worked with a contract fragrance house to put together its own recipe for Flame. Klein describes the cologne as having a “woody, mesquite smell.”
Burger King produced over 10,000 units of the Flame cologne and sold out in three days. The product retailed for $3.99.
Flame is now back for an encore release for Valentine’s Day, he said.

Raisin Bran Extra is a disappointment

When I saw the commercial for Kellogg's new Raisin Bran Extra cereal during this year’s Super Bowl, I was intrigued. The idea of adding dried cranberries and other stuff to one of my favorite breakfast cereals, Kellogg’s Raisin Bran, sounded delicious.
Like Jerry Seinfeld, I’m sort of a cereal freak. I can eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. My other favorites include Quaker’s Life Cereal – Cinnamon, Kellogg’s Corn Pops, General Mills’ Lucky Charms and Reese’s Puffs. Yeah, I’ve got a sweet tooth.
First off, Raisin Bran Extra comes in a tiny box, 14 ounces, probably because some of the new ingredients like cranberries and almond slices are a bit expensive.
After sampling a few bowls of the cereal, I’m underwhelmed. Kellogg’s should have ditched the almond slices and “yogurty clusters” and doubled down on the cranberries. The mix of raisins and cranberries make a tasty combination. The almond slices are so thin and sparse that they’re just there for appearance. And those “yogurty clusters” are a sugary distraction from an otherwise healthy cereal.
Kellogg’s should have come out with “Kellogg’s Raisin Bran With Cranberries” instead. That’s a winning dried fruit combo.
And about those “yogurty clusters,” PepsiCo’s Quaker tried adding those to a version of its Life Cereal called Life Vanilla Yogurt Crunch. It lasted about two years before being discontinued during the summer of 2008. Time to give up on adding “yogurty clusters” to cereal.
Besides, they don’t sound very healthy.
Kellogg’s lists the ingredients of its vanilla-flavored yogurt clusters as: yogurt confectionary coating (sugar, palm kernel and palm oil, nonfat milk powder, reduced mineral whey powder, yogurt powder (cultured whey, nonfat milk) yogurt heat treated after culturing, lactic acid, color added, soy lecithin, artificial color), vanilla crunch (bleached wheat flour, sugar, palm oil, salt, baking soda, artificial flavor and soy lecithin).
That sounds like something Clark Griswold from the Vacation movies might have made. In “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989), Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, boasts about making a new cereal varnish.
When a coworker asks him about it, he says, “Oh, the crunch enhancer? Yeah it’s a non-nutritive cereal varnish. It's semi-permeable. It's not osmotic. What it does is it coats and seals the flake, prevents the milk from penetrating it."
Yummy.