Apple says the future of TV is apps – but is it? And… Why is Verizon launching a video service nobody is asking for? It’s episode 27 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves for the ubiquity of all things “artisanal,” the 23rd Annual Sports Fan Loyalty Index, MTV’s gangbuster ratings performance for the VMA’s – on Snapchat, and the delightful inappropriateness of Nicki Minaj’s wax figure at Madame Tussauds.

Was the Taylor Swift / Apple Music dustup nothing more than a premeditated hoax? Maybe! Listen to our argument! And… “I Want My MTV” is out, and “I AM My MTV” is in, but will anybody care? It’s episode 22 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about Amazon’s trend-setting plan to pay some self-published authors based on the number of pages read, and the one irrefutable, universal law of podcasting success

So the early results are in in the battle between DirecTV and Viacom, and they’re not pretty – for Viacom. Thanks to a deal dispute, Viacom has been off DirecTV for several days.  That is, distribution – attention – has been reduced.  And the impact has been dramatic. According to the LA Times, Nickelodeon’s ratings are off 33% as a result…. MTV’s total day average went from almost 500,000 viewers on July 10 to 273,000 on July 13, a 43% dip. VH1 has dropped almost 30% of its

One of radio’s biggest problems is that our industry has a tendency to imagine itself inside a bubble. A bubble where the best practices emerge from the broadcaster across the street or across the country rather than from a different medium altogether or the entrepreneur slaving away in his or her garage, powered by a non-stop supply of Red Bulls. The problem with “bubble” thinking is that when what you do is re-imagined, it’s rarely re-imagined by your direct competitor.  In

Is the Internet TV’s “secret sauce?”  And how can it be the same for radio? From MediaPost: Even with the boom in social media, TV is apparently roaring. One reason: a certain synergy has developed, where TV brand-building is driving Internet deep-diving. The dynamic has an element of direct response to it, with advertisers eager to drive people to the Web to make a purchase, get more information about a product, watch an added video, or become a Facebook friend and, if excee