Monitor the output...everywhere

While carrying out research today for a paper I'm writing, I checked some websites of major international channels. And I discovered that it's almost impossible for media companies to be across their entire output.

It used to be simple in the old analogue days - in the BBC, a Presentation Department report at the close of transmission each day provided a summary of faults on individual transmitters, so that the powers that be could see where audiences hadn't been able to watch BBC1, for example, after a piece of kit broke down.

Today, it's rather more complicated and not only do broadcasters have to make sure that everything is OK in the studio, but also across multiple distribution networks feeding multiple platforms. And that's just the programming. What about the website? When the whole site crashes, then it's glaringly obvious that there's a problem. But when one part of it stops working, then it's quite difficult to see.

So, discovering a problem, I have fired off e-mails and text messages to various people in the hope of them kicking someone who can fix this small, but annoying, problem on the channel's website. One that could prevent people from watching the programme they want to see. I hope that they manage to correct it soon.

The moral of the story...make sure that staff check not only the live output on the screen (or loudspeaker, for radio), but also what the public can see on the web. Otherwise, you start to look rather unprofessional. Now, how's the AIB website performing?

New Year, so resolutions?

OK, OK, I haven't managed to write this blog regularly, and perhaps a New Year's resolution ought to be for me to discipline myself to be more prolific online!

Mind you, I'm not particularly keen on NY resolutions as I think one becomes a hostage to fortune by suggesting that one will do new things, or do things better. Anyway, I will do my best to keep this more up-to-date in 2011.

So what's happening in AIB at the moment. We're just finishing off the latest edition of our international media magazine, The Channel, which goes to press on 11 January. The magazine will be distributed at some major events around the world such as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February and the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha the following month.

I will be at both these events, discovering in Barcelona, I hope, the latest developments in mobile and mobile content and the potential for content distribution. AIB is organising a member-only private networking dinner to bring AIB members into contact with senior executives from across the mobile industry.

And we have the first AIB member-only conference call on 12 January and then there's lots going on with research for our market intelligence briefings and planning the 2011 AIBs.

So, best wishes for a very Happy New Year and let's hope that despite continuing uncertainty in global finance and rising food prices, 2011 is a great year!