March 28, 2024

Media Decoder Blog: In Ratings Race, ‘The Voice’ Gains on ‘Idol’

3:51 p.m. | Updated Time, and maybe the presence of “The Voice,” seem to be catching up with the great TV ratings titan of the last decade, “American Idol.”

It is still too early to crown “The Voice” as the new king of the singing competitions, because in its first outings this season Fox’s “Idol” scored notably better numbers than the first two episodes of NBC’s “The Voice” this week.

But in its first week this season sharing the singing stage with the “The Voice,” “Idol,” a perennial ratings giant now in its 12th season, fell to its lowest-rated performances two nights in a row.

On Thursday, among the audience group that Fox sells to advertisers, viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, “Idol” dropped below a 3 rating for just the second time its history (the previous Thursday was the first time), hitting a low of 2.7 (or about 3.4 million viewers).

That was for one of the “Idol” elimination shows, which are traditionally lower-rated than the performance shows. But that number came one day after Wednesday’s “Idol” recorded the lowest-ever rating for a performance show, a 3.2 rating (about 4 million viewers).

Both numbers were down sharply from the prior week, from a 3.6 for the performance show and a 2.9 for the elimination show. While “Idol” generally trends lower in the middle of its season, one notable change took place on the network schedules between those weeks: “The Voice” returned on NBC.

That singing show was up from its performance in the fall. On Monday, “The Voice” scored a 4.8 rating in that 18-49 group; on Tuesday it managed a 4.1 rating (about 6 million and 5.1 million viewers, respectively). This follows up a fall in which “The Voice” convincingly topped Fox’s other singing show, “The X Factor.”

Does this make “The Voice” the undisputed champ of the would-be singing stars? That would not be a fair assessment – yet. But if “Idol” continues to sink, and “The Voice” sustains its numbers, that may be the inescapable conclusion by the end of this season.

Article source: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/in-ratings-race-the-voice-gains-on-idol/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Staying Alive: Why I’m Looking for a New Bank

Staying Alive

The struggles of a business trying to survive.

It started with little annoyances, the kind of stuff that you overlook when you are truly committed to a relationship. But lately I’m having a hard time pretending that things are O.K. Certain behaviors stick in my mind for weeks at a time — some of them blatant, some half-hidden and even more worrisome. But the most recent incident was the last straw.

I’ve tried to forgive, and I know that the actual breakup will be messy. We’ve been together for so long. I’ve been telling everyone about us for years. I can’t just make a clean cut — there’s going to be an extended period when I need to notify everyone I know that it’s over. That, more than anything else, keeps me from pulling the trigger. But the love? It’s long gone. I’m back in the market. I’m looking for a new bank.

I’ve been with the same big regional bank for many years, since 2003. It has an extensive presence in my area, with branches that are very convenient for me. We started using the bank for credit card processing services, and it provided quick posting of transactions — days faster than our earlier provider.

In the years leading up to the Great Recession, I was very happy with the bank. It provided nice face-to-face service at the branches. I had a $100,000 line of credit, which wasn’t hard to get, and the interest rate was reasonable. I never got much pressure from the bank to make principal payments, and it never seemed to worry about whether the debt would be repaid. (It was — my former partner took care of it one night in 2008.)

The first sign of trouble came when I applied to re-establish the line of credit last fall. I was looking for a bread-and-butter, $100,000 credit line as a backstop while we completed a large job for the World Bank. I won’t go into the details, but in the end the bank made it clear that it didn’t much care whether it did business with me or not. As it turned out, I never came close to needing the short-term cash, so I shrugged and put it out of my mind.

Then, this spring, I spent some time talking to an independent credit card processor, Emerald World, and its salesman showed me exactly how the bank was overcharging me for credit card processing. Again, the details are complicated, but it was clear that not only was the processing overpriced but also the merchant statements were written in a way that made it very hard to track down the exact cost of each transaction. We run a lot of credit card transactions, for very large amounts, so I was interested to learn that we could potentially save thousands of dollars. I have not switched to Emerald World — I had some questions about the company’s terms — but it was an eye-opening meeting.

To add insult to injury, the lease on our credit card terminal ended in June and the bank representative who called me about it was very unpleasant. I had agreed to lease the terminal out of stupidity, basically, and have been paying $48 a month for four years. Not only is that a ridiculous amount to pay for a terminal — you can buy the same terminal for a couple of hundred dollars — but I think the bank should be willing to cut a deal with a longtime customer who has been providing it with substantial revenues. The encounter left a bad taste in my mouth. (For now, I’m sticking with the bank’s terminal on a month-to-month basis while I try to make time to look for a better deal.)

O.K., some banks are greedy and don’t care much about their small customers. But what happened next was more worrisome. In late September, anonymous hackers attacked the Web sites of several major banks. I found myself unable to obtain access to my business accounts. Not just for an afternoon, as happened with my Wells Fargo personal accounts, but for three days.

In fact, service was still intermittent the following week. It happened again on Dec. 2. And again last week. Unlike the first time, these recent incidents have not made the news. And the bank has done little to reassure me that it has things under control. As I said, I have personal accounts with Wells Fargo, so I have a handy point of reference when I can’t get into my business accounts. Either the hackers aren’t attacking Wells Fargo — seems unlikely, but who knows? — or my business bank’s response has been inept. I’m guessing the latter.

I drive by one of the bank’s branches on my way home every night. If I saw a broken front door and flashlights inside, I’d be worried about my bank. Having my online banking taken down by hackers three times in the last three months doesn’t feel much different. I think it’s time to go.

Here is what I’m looking for: a bank with convenient branches that is big enough to have excellent technology (A.T.M.’s and Web site) and good security. I’m thinking Citizens Bank. Anyone have a better suggestion?

Paul Downs founded Paul Downs Cabinetmakers in 1986. It is based outside Philadelphia.

Article source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/why-im-looking-for-a-new-bank/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Site Analysis: When a Small Retailer Shoots Itself in the Foot with a Weak Web Site

Susan and Steve Karasanti: This was an awesome experience.Marilynn K. Yee/The New York TimesSusan and Steve Karasanti: “This was an awesome experience.”

Site Analysis

What’s wrong with this Web site?

Last week, my post asked whether a small retailer can compete online with the big boys.

The answer to that question is yes, but only if the small retailer creates an online presence that differentiates itself from the competition. The site has to have a great design, and it has to have the structure and navigation to make the purchasing process simple and intuitive.

The retailer we looked at, Little Dudes and Divas, sells clothes and accessories for babies and toddlers, as well as accessories for the parents of babies and toddlers. The readers of this column clearly want to see Little Dudes and Divas — and its owners Steve and Susan Karasanti — beat its bigger competitors, but they generally felt that the site has too many issues to do so.

For example, the readers were nearly unanimous in their view that the site is too cluttered. “Wow, what a mess,” Micah Choquette wrote. “You have so many things trying to get my attention, it’s actually impossible to pay much attention to anything. I’d trim the home page down to probably 20 percent of what they have on there now: focus on specials, brand names and strip your testimonials down to one with a link to the others. Featured products should probably be condensed to four or five, not 20.”

Or as Manwich in Connecticut put it: “Your site suffers from too much selection, where shoppers can look at page after page of items. There is a missed opportunity here to make some decisions for the customer, be taste makers and put a heavier focus on a smaller selection of items, which can give the impression of a truly hand-picked selection.”

Clutter can make it difficult to compete with more sophisticated sites. Because Little Dudes and Divas hopes to sell high quality, hard to find brands, this is a big deal. As Friend in New England put it, “I don’t like the site because they’re selling high-end products but the visual appearance of the store is bargain basement. If I’m buying expensive products I expect the Web site to have sophisticated graphic design with attractive, thoughtfully chosen colors and fonts. I went to the Coach Web site to compare and that site is gorgeous! The pages look like a fashion magazine in style and layout, and the bags look like works of art.”

Many of those who commented expressed support for the Karasantis and indicated that they would prefer to support a small business. In this case, through, the small business may not be making a strong enough case for itself.

“Why would you buy from this site instead of one of their bigger competitors?” asked Morgan S. of Atlanta. “I probably wouldn’t. This site doesn’t tell me that they are super customer-focused. This site communicates that they are just another mass retailer. What makes them special? What makes me want to a) buy from them and b) come back?”

Steve Karasanti Responds

Mr. Karasanti was remarkably gracious in his response to the commenters’ tough love. “This was definitely an eye-opening experience,” he said. “The comments were well thought out and very informative.”

He admitted to being surprised by the overall impression that the site is too cluttered and visually unappealing. “I thought we did a good job on the redesign, but I guess we fell short,” he said. “It seems that most of your readers agree that less is more when it comes to shopping online.”

He said he planned to take immediate action to fix the site. “We will start by cleaning up the home page and focusing on a clean and visually pleasing design with less clutter,” he said. “We will do more to convey the message about our customer service. We will try to showcase our story on the site so customers know more about who we are and what we do.”

As readers of this column know, not every site we have reviewed has been so receptive to the reader comments (for example, there’s this review). But Mr. Karasanti has fully embraced the comments and the suggestions. “This was an awesome experience,” he said. “I’ve learned so much from your readers. I would recommend this to anyone who owns a Web site and wants to improve on it. I hope that other business owners can benefit from the comments about our site. I know I did! I would like to thank everyone who took the time to write these comments about our site. We are excited to see how these changes will make a difference in our business. Thank you for the opportunity.”

My Take

I think the comments about clutter are absolutely right. I look at this site and see a lot of stuff, but I don’t know what kind of stuff. When you use a term like featured products, you are telling your visitors that you have taken the time to select products that you think they will be interested in. But when your home page is crammed with featured products, and there is no clear organization of those products, you are going to confuse and frustrate your visitors.

As a result, there is a gap between what the Karasantis say they want the site to be and what I see on the site. They tell me that their business is about offering exceptional customer service and great brands that you won’t find on other sites. But why aren’t they delivering that message on the home page in a bold, clear way? They are competing with some awfully big stores that have built up a huge amount of consumer trust. To beat the big boys, you have to provide something they can’t. If you have better customer service than the big stores, emphasize it. If you have products they don’t offer, emphasize it.

When I dig into the site, I see they do have good products and they do offer strong service, including a lowest price guarantee and free shipping for orders over $50. And that’s all fine, but very few visitors are going to take the time to dig that deeply. You have to make your value proposition clear.

Take a look at the difference between this site and Diapers.com. See how clean and inviting the home page is. The design is warm, the value proposition is clear, and the navigation is intuitive, with major categories on top and useful filters on the left. Now look at the page that competes most directly with Little Dudes and Divas, the “Clothing Shoes” page:

Instead of bombarding you with dozens of products, this site highlights seasonal clothes and makes it simple to find exactly what you’re looking for. There is no clutter. If you were going to buy from one of these two sites, which one would you choose?

Little Dudes and Divas is a small business run by people who know their business and have great products and service. But they have done themselves a disservice. Look at how many of the commenters told the Karasantis that they need to invest in a redesign. I agree.

Would you like to have your business’s Web site or mobile app reviewed? This is an opportunity for companies looking for an honest (and free) appraisal of their online presence and marketing efforts.

To be considered, please tell me about your experiences — why you started your site, what works, what doesn’t and why you would like to have the site reviewed — in an e-mail to youretheboss@bluefountainmedia.com.

Gabriel Shaoolian is the founder and chief executive of Blue Fountain Media, a Web design, development and marketing company based in New York.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=1283bb7dac59cef8abe87cbe5eb80c9c