In another study from Jupiter, the research firm says that pre-rolls discourage video viewing only 5% of the time. This study is based on European usage, but even without understanding the EU context Jupiter’s number seems unbelievably low. Some of the research is covered at AdAge here, and more at Epicenter here.

Some may see this as the positive effects of the IAB’s guidelines. Others will argues that publishers overstated the effect pre-rolls have on video viewing. I would argue that the study is not comprehensive enough to prove much except the strength of Break.com and its relationship with a young male demo audience. One of the ways pre-roll advertising depresses usage is simple avoidance altogether. Users come to know which sites run lengthy pre-rolls or suffer under clunky delivery systems with lots of lag. The user experience, good or ill, translates to re-use. Anyone who goes to a major TV news site (whose name I will not mention) knows they still may get ridiculously long pre-roll ads attached to tiny clips. As a user of the site I think twice and thrice before clicking on any of their videos. As much as I like the rest of the site, I think their ad-to-content ratio just sucks.

The best video ad experience I have seen is at Hulu.com. There is a fair exchange of value that lets users taste the content they crave before getting hit by an ad. Sidebar ad units keep the brand in view until a short commercial message comes only after the publisher offers something of value. In the end, however, the best ad experience on TV, digital video, on iPods, phones, or whatever, are just good ads. Sure we need smarter and more responsive ad formats and technologies. But in the end what we really need is ad creative that engages the user either because it is relevant or just plain artful.

The People.com Red Carpet Report contest at YouTube is a strong execution that the partners say has grabbed hundreds of thousands of views as YouTubers submitted short samples of their own red carpet interviewing talent. Now in stage two of the judging, the contest has filtered down ten finalists for open voting. Editors and professional interviewers made the first cut to ensure editorial integrity to the process, and sponsor Revlon has a prominent sponsorship that includes interviewing tips.

The enture model is a smart way of leveraging the YouTube vibe without surrendering to its vagaries and chaos. Keeping disciplined, editorially driven frames around user-generated content will be the key challenge for media brands as they enter this world. The interested of advertisers still need to be served. A clean-well lit place with predictable, high quality material is guaranteed here. But at the same time the raw energy of users and grassroots talent still pokes through.

As media writers go, Carr is nothing short of the best. I believe his writing and not just the words on the page (or screen) but the intention behind them. Not only is his flavorful take on the sometimes mundane world of business amusing, but it’s honest and clear.

His book is much of the same - honest and clear, flavorful and amusing. A good story-teller obviously, but to tell a great story about the moments of your life that you are not not so proud of is a talent of a much grander caliber.

The book’s website is also a media-rich experience. Check it out here.

So, are adnetworks in or out? Was the “pork belly” dust up of a few months ago much ado about nothing? Are ad networks and branded media co-dependent? Or, conversely, are the major sites just not leveraging their own inventory very effectviely?

The full data is available in a window at the SAI site and it is worth reading, if only for the anecdotes respondents provide at the end. Never prodcut video with your own money, one wise publisher recommends. Oops. That advice comes too late for many of us.

While traditional ad spend is not receding as dramatically as it has in prior recessions, consumers are responding according to plan. The share of disposable income going to communications will rise 6.1% this year.

What will decline, and ultimatel pressue many media sgment, is the overall time spent with media. For the third year in a row, consumer time spent will all forms of media will decline .1% to 3,493 hours a year per person. Time spent with digital media will increase however.

For magazines, it doesn’t look so good, kids. The average growth rate of revenues for consumer titles was only 2.8% between 2002 and 2007, and that will fall to 1% through 2012. The bright side is that outsourced custom publishing will be a hot growth area, with 11% CAGR through 2012.

Now to be sure, I am one of those who felt The New Yorker cartoon was a misfire, not because it was too biting but because it just wasn’t very good satire. It was so broad and over the top that it failed to make an effective point. JibJab videos are by their very nature broad, shallow and obvious, but somehow funny nevertheless. Sometimes silly works better than smart.

This may be a bigger deal than we think for Web multimedia producers. The game consoles have an installed base of over 10 million units, and that reach only expands as this next generation hits deeper household penetration. I know from my own AppleTV habits that video podcasts are among the most interesting content options on a set top box. I firmly believe that connected consoles and set yop boxes will give publishers a new outlet for their video programming. And advertisers are starting to take notice. Ad insertion company Kiptronic tells me that their video business has expanded 300% this year. Companies like Banc of America and brands like Mountain Dew now produce custom ad creative for short form video. Sell through for Kiptronic partners on both audio and video podcasts is 50%, which is pretty astonishing. The audience size for podcasting may still be relatively modest, but the concept of time-shifted short form media is going to be big as more devices come online.

Google is also taking the direct route, opening a new blog specifically for “Traditional Media” earlier this month here. Here you will find compelling testimonials to the power of AdPlanner as it helps businesses optimize their media mix across TV, radio and print. In video format over YouTube, the materials feel a bit like an infomercial for analytics tools. Still, this is a blog worth watching if only to keep an eye on the Empire.