Chris Busch

How Teens Use Media

Nielsen recently released its report on How Teens Use Media: A Nielsen report on the myths and realities of teen media trends.

Some of the key takeaways in the report are:

• Teens are NOT abandoning TV for new media: In fact, they watch more TV than ever, up 6% over the past five years in the U.S.
• Teens love the Internet … but spend far less time browsing than adults: Teens spend 11 hours and 32 minutes per month online. Far below the average of 29 hours and 15 minutes.
• Teens watch less online video than most adults, but the ads are highly engaging to them: Teens spend 35% less time watching online video than adults 25-34, but recall ads better when watching TV shows online than they do on television.
• Teens read newspapers, listen to the radio and even like advertising more than most: Teens who recall TV ads are 44% more likely to say they liked the ad.
• Teens play video games, but their tastes aren’t all for the blood-and-guts style games: Just two of their top five most-anticipated games since 2005 have been rated “Mature.”
• Teens’ favorite TV shows, top websites and genre preferences across media are mostly the same as their parents: For U.S. teens, American Idol was the top show in 2008, Google the top website and general dramas are a preferred TV genre for teens around the world.

Complete report available for free by following the link above.

Video Viewing Habits - Nielsen Report

Nielsen has just released a public report on the video viewing habits of Americans.  Here are a few highlights -

• The average American watches 153 hours of TV at home each month, up 1.2% from last year.
• 131 million Americans watch video on the Internet, averaging 3 hours per month, an annual increase of 52%
• 13.4 million Americans watch video on mobile phones, averaging 3.4 hours per month, with total users increasing 53.2% from one year ago
• Time spent watching "time-shifted" (DVR) video increased from 5:52 per month to 8:11 (41%)

You can view a PDF copy of the complete Nielsen report here.

Larry Dalton

Along with being one of the greatest musicians, Larry Dalton was also one of the finest people I have ever known.  He passed away last night.  I'll post more details as they come available. 

Hard to imagine Christmas without Larry's concert.

Larry's Web Site.

Apr. 24, 1946 - May 30, 2009

The Power of a Story

I just returned from spending about two hours (along with about 2,000 others) listening to William P. Young, author of The Shack.  The book had a profound impact on me and yet I do understand there are many who are challenged by its theology.  However, if nothing else this book is testimony to the power of a story.  And the story between the covers is only a part of the amazing story which is the life of Mr. Young.

The book was simply a manuscript he wrote for his children while working three jobs to support his family.  The first printing was 15 spiral-bound copies at Office Depot (cheaper than Kinko's).  Eventually friends chipped in some money and 5,000 books were delivered to a home garage.  In less than two years, the book has sold over 6 million copies in English.  A remarkable story which has spawned thousands of stories of lives changed.

I'm not going to debate the theology of the book here.  My main point is this - great impact comes from great stories.  You can preach and teach principles, write endless lists of rules to live by, be the champion of explaining "how to", but nothing has the power of an imaginative story. 

I once had a college professor ask me the main point I had learned in his classes.  He was a great teacher, and I got A's in his management classes, but when he asked that question years later I told him the main lesson I learned from him was about being a good father.  He always included his children in his life and just seemed to enjoy hanging out with them, even dragging them into classes on occasion.  Henry taught me a lot of great principles and knowledge, but the strongest lasting impression I retain is from watching the story of his life with his wife and children.

Paul (as he likes to be called) Young is like the rest of us in that he is a compelling story.  Unlike most of us, he has effectively communicated his story as a compelling metaphor that is challenging people's perception of God and offering relationship as an antidote for religion. 

You can find more of his stuff over at WindRumors.com.

Sensible Talk about Stimuli and Bailouts

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Does America's Economy Need Some Tough Love?

Global investor Jim Rogers has an interesting take on a fix for the financial crisis in this Business Week article.

A Picture of the Banking Bubble

Click on the image at the left for a stunning graphical view of the financial collapse of the past 18 months.  This massive loss in market capitalization won't soon be reflated.

That being seen, times like this still produce opportunity if you can think about what the world is becoming and not get stuck on what it's been.  If you are looking for opportunity on this chart, I think it will be found in the white space.

The Inauguration

I just finished listening to President Obama's speech.  As always, his oratorical skills were magnificent.

If you've followed the cultural shift driven by generational cycles at much in the past few years, you can recognize that the President's speech was replete with "civic" generation language and devoid of the idealistic speech of the previous 40 years.  The themes of shared sacrifice, the renewal of responsibility...

A new cycle is in place, cemented by the cataclysmic economic meltdown of 2008.  Some day the children of this emerging generation will rise up, declare that their parents had it all wrong, and a new president will ride the wave of an idealistic generation into office.  But for now, we have about 35 years of a civic cycle to ride, and it matters less who is President and more the social and socio-economic cycles that carry us.  I'm glad for the change, especially since it is inevitable.

Best wishes to our new President.  Let's just not expect that he has the ability to countermand cycles, walk on water, or turn lead into gold.

When did America become a marketing proposition?

An interesting marketing/sign-of-the-times article from the Boston Globe, "We, the Target Audience."

"Nothing is off-limits from the dumb hard sell anymore - even things that aren't identifiably for sale. The long-lamented creep of commercialization has now crawled outside the bounds of commerce entirely, till real experiences and events have become promotional versions of themselves.

When public and governmental institutions are the ones doing the marketing, it's especially unsettling."

Read the entire article here.

I'm Thankful

In some ways, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It's a great family time without quite the level of busyness and intensity that seems to dog Christmas.  I love Christmas, but I have a special fondness for Thanksgiving.

My friend Jim King, former NBA player with the Lakers and Bulls, once told me it was impossible to be dejected and thankful at the same time.  I think he's right.  Here are but a few of many things I'm thankful for:

• A wonderful wife who's been with me for over 34 years.  Linda is truly the bomb.
• My mom is 87, and is still doing well.  I'm really proud of her.
• My bro and sis, both outstanding humans in their own rights.
• Three children who are now adults.  It's rewarding to have them as friends.  I really like them.
• Three grandchildren who have enlarged the meaning of marvelous.
• An awesome group of comrades at work.  These peeps rock.
• A plethora of friends who have enriched my life, challenged me to think hard, inspired my faith, encouraged me in ways beyond their awareness, and blessed me with their caring advice.
• The Internet (I love technology, but not as much as you, you see...)
• Health
• America

There's a lot of pain in the world and in our country right now.  But in the midst of it I'm still thankful.

May you find hope and wonder in the midst of your circumstances as well.

Change.gov - Share Your Vision for America

I dropped by the Obama transition site, Change.gov, where I found a request to share my vision for America on this page.  Their request seemed sincere - "Start right now. Share your vision for what America can be, where President-Elect Obama should lead this country. Where should we start together?" -  so here's what I submitted  (with a tweak or two) -

"I envision an America that returns to its Constitutional roots.  An America which eschews spread-the-wealth talk and instead emphasizes personal responsibility.  I see an America that takes care of those who truly are unable to take care of themselves, but insists that the able bodied be self reliant, rather than ruminating on what their government can do for them.

I envision an America with a Federal government scaled down to its Constitutional boundaries, not interfering with the lives of its people, but providing for the common defense of its citizens, including those in the womb.  I envision an America far from the current disaster created by the Demopublican party and their cronies and contributors from Wall Street. 

I see an America where racism has been dealt a mortal wound with no hope of recovery.  I long for an America where all lame excuses for dependence on the government have passed away.  I hope for an America where the schools are controlled locally, insulated from federal mandates.  I dream of an America where the government spends no more than its income, where pork barrels are shattered and earmarks are not tolerated.

I cry out for an America that has shed the false responsibility of policing the world, instead defending its own borders while warmly welcoming guest workers and legal immigrants who carry their fair share of the burden of taxation in return for sharing the benefits of this great nation.  I envision an America where people love their President, pray for him daily, and oppose him or her when their philosophies and policies inflate the power and role of government at the expense of the freedom of its citizenry.  I hope for an America that will reward entrepreneurs and those who create jobs instead of punishing them with incentive-suppressing tax policies. 

I pray for an America where politicians can be trusted and an America that realizes its greatness comes from its people, not from its government.

President-Elect Obama, my vision may differ from yours, but you will have my prayers during your tenure.  

Congratulations on your historic victory, and may God bless America and you!"

Why don't you go share your vision too, and then cut and paste it into the comments below?

If I get a response from the Obama team on my vision, I'll post it in a future entry.

And a quote from Winston Churchill - The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.

Warren Buffett on the State of the Economy

Thanks to Ben Bennett at 29e for the point to this OpEd piece in the New York Times by Warren Buffett.

Buffett is moving his private funds gradually into 100% US stocks.  Why?  "A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful."

Interesting reading.

Tracking the Bailout - Follow the Money

So we've got 700 billion dollars going to bailout the institutions who, along with their willing accomplices in Congress, are largely responsible for the current financial catastrophe.  Unless you are one of those 40% of residents in the US who pay no federal income taxes, you might have some interest in how your taxes (and ultimately those of your great grandchildren) are being disbursed.

Mark Cuban over at Blog Maverick has given us a point to Bailout Sleuth, a site tracking the Treasury Department's execution of the bailout.  And, while I know this might stun you, the first documents released relating to the Treasury Department's contract with the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. - well, they actually blacked out the compensation amounts and terms.

Since we're just taxpayers, maybe we don't need to know such details.  You can click the images on this post to see a larger version of these "censored" documents.  You may want to download them and send them to your Congressman and Senators and ask them if a shroud of secrecy between the Treasury Department and these financial institutions is what they had in mind when they handed over $700 billion of our money?

Seems like a reasonable question.

Nobody Likes a Bailout

The Treasury Department's financial rescue bill suffered loss in part due to bad branding.

I mean, who among us wants to actually fund a "bailout"?

If only they had called it a "work-out," like the banks do on their own bad loans, then maybe it wouldn't have seemed like such a bad idea.

Not much of the bill would need to have been changed, but once it was dubbed a bailout, it was doomed. Especially during an election season.

Congress is taking a couple of days off, probably to cover their short positions before someone introduces a Workout Bill. 

Buy When Blood Is Running in the Streets

...unless it's your own blood, of course.

The quote "buy when blood is running in the streets" is attributed to Baron Rothschild as his advice to accumulating great wealth.  Today the Dow dropped 504 points, Merrill Lynch is being rescued by Bank of America, Lehman Brothers files Chapter 11, AIG is on the brink, and General Motors recently traded under $10 per share.

I'm not sure how deep the blood has to run, but this could either be an historic opportunity, or the beginning of the end.  I'm guessing opportunity.  Don't mortgage the home and dump it into mutual funds, but don't be too scared by all the storms in the Gulf and on Wall Street.

"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs..." - Rudyard Kipling

Tomorrows big stories are germinating in obscurity today. 

Perhaps you are one of the central characters?

A Test of Authenticity

A few weeks ago I was considering living in a cave until the morning of November 4, when I would emerge to vote and then re-enter society, thereby avoiding what seemed destined to be a painfully lackluster campaign season.

Then McCain nominated Palin in a move that would fit under my definition of strategically outrageous.  There’s still plenty of time for it to backfire, but even if it does, it was a sound strategic move, much like Chamberlain’s ammunition-less charge at Gettysburg.

I’ve written here often about the shifting culture and the emergence of a new more civic generation to supplant the idealistic cycle that ended in 2003.  One of the bywords of the civic generation is “authentic”.  Being authentic, not just appearing to be authentic, is a key to winning hearts and votes in this rapidly morphing culture.

Back in primary season, I thought Obama had the authenticity to overcome the old school tactics of Hillary.  But suddenly and stunningly, I believe the key perception regarding authenticity has tipped to McCain’s favor.  And here’s why.

Obama is a great orator and an excellent performer on stage.  Those are generally wonderful qualities for a candidate.  They were enough to dislodge a powerful Clinton.  But perhaps Barack came across with a little too much spit and polish?  His speech at the DNC was a brilliant performance.  Was it too brilliant?

Then there’s his selection of Joe Biden.  For me this is a real yawner.  If there’s a bastion of old school politics, and someone who comes across as a plastic and even pompous communicator, it’s Joe.

McCain on the other hand was a rather mediocre performer in oration.  But, his lack of polish and the imperfections along with his conversational style in talking about his country, his service, and his motivation… I think he actually came across as more authentic than Obama.

And Palin is at this point a rather refreshing portrait of authenticity, in the totally surprising package of conservative womanhood.  She’s hot in a very cool way. We’ll see how it turns out, but Grandpa John may actually turn back the popular and youthful Senator.  In the 60’s when Kennedy won, the country was in the early stage of the emerging idealistic generation.  People wanted Camelot, and the Kennedy’s delivered.

But now, it’s about being real, somewhat flawed, and having cogent and realistic plans about how to solve real problems.

I’m putting the cave plans on hold… for now.

Tragedy in Haiti

I've just read a first-hand report on the tragic aftermath of the multiple storms that have hit Haiti.  I know there has also been a lot of destruction along the Gulf Coast as I follow the relief efforts there through friends in Baton Rouge.

Our company, LightQuest Media, represents Love a Child Ministries and their founders Bobby and Sherry Burnette who are full-time missionaries in Haiti.  Sherry has been keeping a journal and if you have the stomach for it, you can see some glimpses of the terrible toll the storms are extracting from the Haitian people by reading her latest entry, Hurricane Ike's Deadly Blow to Haiti.

If you have any desire to help the Haitian relief effort, you can donate by going here.

My suggestion for helping the people of Baton Rouge would be HPC.

Opportunity Doesn’t Always Knock

I’m still waiting to hear if we are officially in a recession.  In a strange way, I hope so.  For one thing, it would be a shame for so many to endure the financial malaise of the last year or so without some official label to validate the experience.

But, one of the truths about recessions is that many opportunities are born in the midst of economic darkness. 

I’ve found over the years that it usually pays to be optimistic, especially when things appear really crappy.  In the early 80’s there was much doom and gloom being purveyed by gold bugs like Howard Ruff.  He was right about some things, but the economy boomed and gold tanked. 

Many conservatives were sure that the election of Bill Clinton would spawn an economic Armageddon, but the economy surged forward.

Then there was the rapid rupturing of the dot-com bubble in 2001-02, followed by yet another recovery, even if more tepid than the 90’s.

My point is this – it seems that every time the economic forecasts range from dour to dismal, smart leaders are preparing for the next boom.  Preparation may entail some pruning, but while you are wielding the shears be sure to keep your senses probing for an obscure opportunity.

Tomorrow’s success stories are often conceived in the thick of difficult days.

I Like Hockey

It's 12:49 AM Eastern Time and I just finished watching Game 5 of the Stanley Cup between the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings.  Even though Detroit dominated most phases of the game, the Pens won 4-3 on a power play goal in triple overtime.  HD television makes it easier to watch the game and track the puck movement.  It was a great game.  Back to Mellon Arena for game 6.

Saving Tinkerbell

Do you remember the story of Peter Pan?

The little fairy Tinkerbell drinks the poison intended for Peter and her light begins to dim and fade as certain death approaches.  But, why is she dying?  It’s not because she drank poison, oh no, it’s because not enough of us believed in fairies.

Peter implores the audience to show their belief in fairies by clapping and as the live audience is worked into a frenzy, Tinkerbell is miraculously revived and averts certain death.  We just needed to believe in fairies hard enough.

I’ve seen a lot of people in business over the years trying to save Tinkerbell.  I’ve done it myself.  Made a dumb decision, or two… OK, or three, and then believed that in spite of my own bad judgment I could somehow revive Tinkerbell if I just believed hard enough.

I consider myself a person of faith, but there are times if you drink the poison you die.  You can’t always believe yourself out of bad decisions.  Sometimes you just have to drink the antidote, which is usually a good dose of humility followed with a generous serving of taking responsibility for your choices.  And as you slowly climb out of the hole you dug for yourself, you begin to see that all the wildly clapping audiences in the world cannot really save Tinkerbell.  Peter Pan lied to us.

But we believed it because it was more comfortable than admitting we were wrong.  Then there was Jiminy Cricket who sang about wishing upon a star and your dreams would come true.  It seems that a lot of his disciples are regulars down at the Creek Nation Casino.

And who could forget Old Yeller.  A noble and faithful dog, he casts himself into mortal danger to shield his young master.  But, the bites lead to rabies and the young boy does the humane thing for his canine friend, he puts him down with a rifle shot to the head.  Man I cried when Old Yeller died.  I just knew he wasn’t really dead.  Maybe if we just clapped wildly and believed in dogs hard enough.  It just wasn’t fair.

Decisions have consequences.  Faith will help us through the process of facing those consequences, but the way of escape is through the consequences, not around them.  Life isn’t going to give you or me a pass.  We’re not that special.

As a teenage lad I was grumbling one day to my dad about how hard life was.  A man of few words, he never looked up from the big wheel bearing he was packing with heavy grease, but just said, “It’s supposed to be hard.”

Hmmm. Come to think of it, I don’t remember Dad clapping for Tinkerbell.