Blowing up the Tube

On Thursday night, Jersey Shore premiered with a blowout of 8.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched series telecast in the history of MTV. Love it or hate it, the Shore is up 62% compared to last year's debut, according to the Nielson Co.

Dear TV Searchers,

Today's generation is "growing up digital", yet "wired for distraction."

Dear @DPBuzz, it was great meeting you at GV Expo 2010. Thanks for stopping by SnapStream's booth to learn more about our television search technology.

As media outlets were buzzing yesterday about midterm elections, we were closely tracking what was mentioned on major television networks here at SnapStream headquarters.

If you missed the SMPTE conference this year, have no fear. We're recreating our presentation content just for you! Straight from SnapStream's file-based workflows session: "Inside the Jokes: TV Search Technology Yields Creative, Comedic Screenwriting."

Mickey Mouse knows what's up: Police Chiefs have invaded Orlando, FL, gathering from all around the globe at the International Association of Chief of Police Annual Conference Oct. 23-27. It's their 117th annual gathering. (Since 1893, folks!)

So I'm a big fan of Oprah and I DVR every episode (season pass, obviously). Last night, I watched the "Are You Normal?" episode which aired yesterday. Throughout the show, Oprah did a series of polls with the audience about people's random habits to discern if the quirky things we do in private are "normal." Exploring tame questions like "How often do you pick your nose?" to much more personal and embarrassing subjects, it was human nature at its most candid and the results were funny to everyone.

The popular New York Times Blog, Media Decoder, pointed out a noteworthy trend this week. You may have speculated on this, owing to Apple's flashy press events and drawn out product releases, but a recently-published study from Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism confirms it. (Hey, they use SnapStream to analyze TV, high fives!)