Coldplay Tickets, NFL Football, MTV

Recently I found myself "stuck" with some extra tickets for a Coldplay concert in Sacramento. So I did what everyone told me to do — put them up on Craigslist. Not a nibble. At the same time I posted the tickets on StubHub. Within a couple of days I had confirmation that someone wanted the tickets. StubHub sent me to a link to print out a FedEx label where upon I marched to the local postal service store, handed them my FedEx label and the tickets. Today, three days after the concert, I got confirmation that the proceeds from my tickets had been deposited into my PayPal account. Ten minutes later I directed PayPal to transfer the money to my checking account. This was a seamless and painless experience. StubHub seems to have figured out all the pieces to the puzzle and I, for one, will be turning there to buy and sell tickets.

Earlier this week the NFL awarded some set of games to its own NFL Network rather than the usual suspects who had bid on them — namely Fox, Comcast, CBS and some new bidders — Verizon in particular. That the NFL chose its own network points to the diminished role the traditional networks and carriers have in a world where the pace of convergence is accelerating. While the NFL Network’s reach may be considerably smaller, it is obviously a highly targeted market that is — oh by the way — probably willing to pay to watch NFL games. And besides, go ask Joe’s AAA Plumbing if he wants to advertise on the NFL Network — my guess is his answer will be "where do I sign."

MTV recently launched its broadband channel targeted at the 18-24 college crowd called Uber. The site mixes professional and amateur content into a constellation of images and sounds and information that in theory appeal to the audience. The college audience has long been desired by local advertisers — just consider the volume of burritos and pizzas consumed and you get the picture. It will be interesting to see if Uber can find a way to sell local advertising to Betty Joe’s Homemade Pizza store while keeping the site sufficiently cool and edgy.