Through the Wire

Contributors: Matt Stump, Mike Reynolds.

Cable-Averse Podcast Fan Dumps TV

There will be no couch potatoes at the home of Dan Safkow this year. On the last day of 2005, the Aliso Viejo, Calif., man donated his television, DVD player, CD player and assorted radios to Goodwill, vowing to reject traditional TV and radio programming in 2006. Instead, the marketing consultant will get all his entertainment via podcast.

Safkow had already given up cable, churning out six months ago, he told The Wire. He cut the cord (not literally) when he realized that the only time his 6-year-old had behavior problems was when it was time to turn off the TV. He began to examine his own viewing habits, noting the number of times he’d sat in front of the set late at night, surfing out of habit but not being entertained.

There has been tremendous economic growth in the media industry in the last 10 years, he said.

“In any other industry, that kind of competition raises the quality of product,” he said. Instead, he sees “over-commercialization and product placements. In my opinion, they’re delivering less and charging more and taking up our time.”

Safkow discovered podcasts after receiving an MP3 player for Father’s Day last year. Though he’d begun exploring the online entertainment world before he devoted his time to it, he’s not yet found his “must-see IP TV.” Though he confesses to stopping in at CNN, ESPN and USA Today’s Web sites periodically, his main entertainment is surfing for “homegrown media.”

“Anyone with a $50 microphone can become a radio station and share their passion,” he said, explaining his interest. He seeks out creative video unsullied by the needs of commercial broadcasting.

And, of course, he’s become a podcaster himself. His experiences are detailed at Podcastyear.com and he’s set up a Web site to help users share information on how to develop podcasts.

Microsoft Provides Scores For Rose Bowl-Impaired

Maybe Bill Gates isn’t a college football fan, or maybe it was because the University of Washington Huskies weren’t playing in the Rose Bowl. But it was left to several Microsoft assistants to give score updates of the University of Southern California-University of Texas game that ran concurrently with chairman Gates’s Jan. 4 keynote address at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show.

Gates’s address at 6:30 Pacific time ran right through the second and third quarters of the national championship game. But it was left to two other Microsoft executives, demonstrating various products, to provide the crowd with scoring updates. For the record, it was a pro-USC crowd, which cheered loudly near the end of the presentation when it was announced the Trojans had pulled ahead, 17-16.

At the end, though, the Longhorns overcame a late 12-point deficit to prevail, 41-38.

He’s No $10 Million Man But Green Isn’t Kicking

Countless coaches and kickers know the pain of “wide right.”

David Green, a 29-year-old former U.S. Marine from New Albany, Ind., knows the pain of wide left.

And the anguish of well, well short.

Green was randomly selected from nearly 100,000 entrants to the ESPN Deportes “Futbol a Football” promotion, a contest that could have netted him $10 million had he deposited a soccer ball into an unguarded net from 50 yards away and also made a 50-yard field goal attempt. The Spanish-language network televised the action at halftime of the Jan. 1 St. Louis Rams-Dallas Cowboys National Football League game at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas.

Despite working out at an indoor soccer facility and receiving tutelage on Dec. 31 from former NFL placekicker Raul Allegre, Green pulled the soccer ball to the left and essentially delivered the equivalent of an onside kick on his field goal try. “It never really got off the ground,” said ESPN Deportes spokesman Chris Bellitti, who didn’t know if Green’s fiancée got the laces turned as she held the pigskin for her betrothed’s failed attempt.

Still, Green, who has tattoos covering about 80% of his body, netted 10 grand (it would have been $25,000 had he made either kick), ESPN saved the (insured) millions and Deportes tackled “free media” exposure on ESPN’s Cold Pizza, ABC’s Good Morning America and various ABC affiliates around the country, plus plenty of newspaper pickup.

Bellitti said Futbol a Football might make a return appearance next January. Here’s hoping those kicks end with a rousing, “Goooooool!”