WebbAlert Day 2: This Show Rocks
Michael Arrington
95 comments »
I stayed up until 2 AM again to watch the second WebbAlert show (embedded above). I stand by my words written twenty-four hours ago: this show is a winner.
Some will comment below that I’m only giving the show a thumbs up in the hope for TechCrunch mentions (there was one today for our Amazon/Webvan story, for example). They’re right, but for the wrong reasons. I’m genuinely excited to see what is being covered and, as I said yesterday, bloggers are going to see a mention on the show as a badge of honor and buzz about it. That’s a brilliant business decision.
Some people commented yesterday that the show should allow user comments around each episode. I agree, it’s a no brainer and I hope to see it soon.





I’d just say the host needs to take it easy on the facial expressions/enthusiasm or zoom out… but I guess it works since it’s so short. Otherwise, I would agree — it’s a great show
One of the founders of Castfire, the company that is working with WebbAlert on all of the video publishing, here. There is a known issue of IE7 browsers on TechCrunch for the video. It is an issue that we discovered yesterday and are rushing a fix into production. If you are on IE7, you can go to http://www.webbalert.com/ and will be able to view the content. It appears that certain advertising elements in the sidebar on TechCrunch are affecting the player. Sorry for the inconvenience — a fix is almost complete.
That show has the most annoying presentation ever. Perhaps it’s an American thing? Anyway, I’ll be sticking with some of the original vloggers (Josh Leo anyone? http://joshleo.blip.tv/).
Soooo painful to watch her - cringe factor is off the charts. What is with fat geeks and annoying mildly attractive dorky girls?
Still, most of us think she’s cute. But not as cute as the chick from mobuzz
No..the show sucks..same old TV glamour formula coming onto internet..
Hey! It’s her second show! And it’s already much better than the first one. At this rate she’ll be just about perfect in no-time. I hope she’ll do fine.
Hi Mike,
You say you stayed awake till 2am, what is that UK Time?
I’m from London, UK?
Thanks
your such a slut now mike. come on.
I have to say after watching her first broadcast a couple of times yesterday and seeing this one this morning, her presentation can be a bit grating. Maybe it’s her perky enthusiasm or her voice or perhaps it’s her face which is a bit too close to the camera? Perhaps they could zoom out? Anyway, there is so much potential in this show that I’m going to continue to watch it.
I feel as though she may come out of the screen and eat me alive. I’d agree with Chris—pull the camera back.
the show is perfect ! i enjoy it a lot ! good job
I have yet to watch a show all the way. if she just read it normally I might make it but I ain’t sure. Good show but I think I could do it better but I ain’t a hot woman :p
I’m going to marry her some day.
Yeah she’s annoying to watch but I’d still hit it.
Nothing amazing here. I agree that the facial expression/distortions are distracting. She’s no better than Cali Lewis. I’ve watched the first two because TechCrunch trumped the show, but that’ll be all for me. All this has done is make me doubt the objectivity of this blog.
Shez getting hotter by the show
So I get it, she is cute. Ok I get it, it is a videoblog so it is her opinion. Now, ok I dont get why she has to drag me into it. Somehow it feels she is trying to force her opinions onto me, definetly a no no for me. Also, I feel like I will eventually get epilepsy because of her facial expressions.
hi coming from a low bandwidth country i have a suggestion
why not have a audio only version of the broadcast ??
maybe u guys dont know but watching the news feed on low bandwidth can be trying on the nerves ..with her looks and mannerism ..i’ll go for the audio feed ..what say
The facial expressions, the winching and the “you are sitting on top of me” is just too much. Fix those things and you might be ok.
It’s pretty bad when the comments are mostly either “turn off the sound and watch” or “hide the video and listen.”
Michael Michael Michael …
There is something going on here, being so damn enthusiastic about any show on day 1 and 2 ? I guess we need to add this site to your fanboy list, along with digg and facebook.
With 2 shows in the bag, it seems only ok to me. Certainly nothing to keep me up late. Oh wow, a detailed section on RSS.
But again, with coveted mentions by TechCrunch, her odds just went thru the roof.
Just try not to play “favorites” so obviously.
@ Alllen Stern: Really? I wouldn’t mind it so much if she were “sitting on top of me.”
Now that’s just plain innappropriate…
I like Morgan Webb, liked her since techTv. Any reason as to why she is talking so loud? She has been in broadcasting for a while now, maybe she just inst comfortable yet.
Interesting show though, I’ll subscribe - and turn down the volume.
I like it. It’s entertaining, engaging, relevant to my interests and puts me out of my misery. Anyone who doesn’t like it can bugger off to another channel, just like with TV. As she has a degree in Rhetoric, it’s quite clear the over acting is completely deliberate and somewhat of a piss take. Entertaining none the less. Just waiting for someone to make a Ning-based Webb Alert vs Mobuzz rate my hot or not mashup thing.
How is this show “a winner” Mike? Although I will say that the segments are very well produced (the best webcast I’ve seen so far), you’ve still got the issue of content availibility. This is why NBC nightly news is pointless, because you’ve already been privy to the news via web during the day.
This girl is recanting blogs that all the blog freaks in the valley have read the day before, so in essence she is not telling me anything new (and I only read 2-3 blogs/day max).
While I do feel that the niche webcast idea has legs, they need to be doing more indepth stuff rather than regurgitating stuff we all read yesterday. This girl is obviously attractive, I’m sure she can score interviews with web geeks to talk about their websites, etc. That’s info that other bloggers wouldn’t have access to and gives Webb Alerts a leg up.
The host is very annoying and the show is old news. Anything for a buck, eh Mike?
Since I’d already seen or read every single one of those stories she talked about I found absolutely zero benefit in watching this thing. She’s cute but rehashing popular/interesting blog posts in a video format? Kind of pointless…
The show is awesome!
It’s nice to get good tech news from video source like this.
…and I think she’s cuter than the girl at mobuzz.
I too am part of the big crowd that doesn’t understand this fervour you have.
There is nothing other than a pretty face that differenciates this from an audiocast.
The show packs a lot of info in a short time, which I like, but I think she could tone down her delivery a bit. I’m pretty sure she’ll be refining and improving the show according to feedback, so let’s see how it evolves.
I can’t believe you thought this show was better than rocketboom. I find her quite annoying as a matter of fact with the use of extreme expressions.
What is it with the back-to-back double plug for this show? I smell something fishy.
Mike - I think you need to tone down your “promotion” about as much as she needs to tone down her hyperactive onscreen presentation.
Lets see Gizmoz try to recreate *those* expressions.
I’m hanging for naked news 2.0! ….. RLY.
I find the content covered interesting but she smiles way too much and it makes her look phony.
Though I think video news blogs are an emerging phenomenon, I don’t see WebbAlert as having it quite right yet. But it’s only episode 2, so maybe it’ll get better.
As others have mentioned, among the issues are the close-ups, the excessive facial expressions, the repetition of major news stories that everyone’s already heard about , the lack of new insight on those stories, etc.
While it is well produced and she is attractive and presents very well, I think something more needs to be happening. At a minimum something needs to be done about the production. But more important is that there needs to be something more distinctive about the content - deeper treatment of issues, more original analysis, etc.
Will be interesting to see how it evolves, but I don’t think this yet rates as a must watch.
Arrington must be banging her or something…..
I can tell she’s a little nervous she also reminds me of the girls from the film “Mean Girls ” I keep expecting her to say “Yeah Whatever” or “Hellllo”..
Anyway goodluck to the girl, a year down the road I’m sure she will have a decent following…
CenterNetworks has a very good point (click my name)… Federated Media developed her site and handles her ads. Federated Media also handles TC ads. Over 50% of the sites she links to are Federated Media sites, and a lot of the Federated Media blogs linked to *her*, and complimented the show… AND compared it to RocketBoom.
Now, I’m not saying you’re getting paid for the posts here, but what *are* you gaining?
I don’t get it. The host is cute and the production values are pretty high, but the show is *terrible,* IMHO. Webb isn’t really insightful and she’s not at all funny. Which mean’s she has no chance at all of holding my attention for a minute, let alone 5. I’m sticking with Digital Daily. Paczkowski’s funny and smart and, more importantly he brings a perspective and history to bear on tech news that I haven’t really seen anywhere else. Seriously, Mike you should check him out. If you don’t know him already, you should. Get him to appear at one of your parties or something.
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.....ily-video/
You guys again seem very gay… Go Morgan go! You ROCK!
Good show… just wondering if she’ll ever make it a paid subscription show? I saw the $5/month donation option on her website… interesting…
Boring boring boring! I too smell something, with WebbAlert and Facebook now getting 85% of the posts lately.
Her content and delivery suck although i’m confident she has a nice ass. If Valleywag had a webcast that may be interesting, as I find their style of humor amusing.
Content aside, she did a great job with the structuring, pacing and some other bits of cleverness (lcd display instead of chroma key, etc). I put up a mini review here http://www.uprocket.com/2007/0.....one-right/
and here’s a budding guideline list for other podshows, which she scores well on:
http://www.uprocket.com/2007/0.....how-hosts/
I have a website that contains questions related to new stories for teachers. I decided to embed this video on my front page. It makes my front page look better. Check out the website: http://www.pass-ed.com/Living-Textbook.html
snoooooooze. somebody obviously knows somebody for this to be mentioned 2 days in a row. i know it’s your “blog” and you can blog about whatever ya like but damn…not sure if I care about what you’ll cover in the future if this is what you’re covering and how you’re covering it.
by the way…a quick pageview of techmeme once a day gets you all the news webbalert overs…and techmeme doesn’t annoy me while I get my news fill.
Wow, two TC posts in as many days + Arrington staying up for, for, this? Watching news we’ve already read from a host who over smiles?
Good traditional type news production (zzzzz), good looking host, nothing revolutionary or new in production nor use of the media. What happened to show, don’t tell?
No comnments or trackbacks as mentioned (lame) and worse yet questions are being left on other blogs unanswered by Webb and company. Talk about going backwards compared to a videoblog like Rocketboom.
Techcrunch soon to be covering web 0.5? Mike, what gives?
All these negative comments on here are from a bunch of loser geeks whose only girl friend is their pink Mac. If you don’t like the show don’t watch it. But damn shut the hell up and don’t be mad cause you could NEVER get a girl that looked like Morgan Webb nor can you do anything with your lives that is productive.
I find it annoying big time!
But even more annoying is Mike endorsing this show so heavily (clearly there is an agenda there). Although, I don’t think it’s horrible, I think most would agree that it’s just average, yet Mike has to stay up late for this….I think he needs to give his readers a little more credit and be a little more upfront.
One more post on this show and I’m out…I hope other readers do the same.
I have to say some of these comments are quite funny.
Mike @ 48: On the contrary, the comments that are so supportive are from nerds who couldn’t even get laid in a porno film.
For the rest of us who actually have been with attractive women, I see nothing special here. She is cute, but so what? Get over it. The content isn’t all that great and she isn’t very entertaining to watch unless you have a thing for her. But how superficial is that.
I second Roland Tourvelle’s post. The Digital Daily guy may have a smaller cup size than Webb, but he’s waaaaaaaaaay funnier.
And two posts in 24 hours about this? You know she’s married, right Mike?
May be TC should acquire and name it TechAlert?
Hey Mike your anointing powers are way off. This show is a dog…
P.S. I like her hair pulled back better as in her last video, it slims down her face. Her hair falling on her shoulders gives her a slightly “chunky” appearance. (Just some unsolicited advice, since this seems to be more about eye candy than anything else. I figured we would just go with it)
Of, course we can’t wait to see your post on Webbalert tomorrow…
I liked it - she covered topics that are genuinely useful and she’s easy on the eyes. True, watching her is a bit like a conversation at a loud bar with a girl who may have had one to many and is yelling at you very close to your face, but I’m in my 20’s, there are worse things that could happen
Wow, that was too fast, why she speaks so fast? do they have to pay any air space or something I am missing here?
She’s close enough for a lap dance…… with all the geeks, maybe that’s the point
Mike - why don’t you just buy the show and rename it TechCrunchTV already?
Sorry, but as much as I want to I just can’t make it through an episode…I find her artificial and annoying and the presentation overly dry. Which is too bad, because RocketBoom has become too self-conscious for its own good lately and GeekBrief is way too fluffy (although fun to watch). I’m still a champion for MoBuzzTV.
You know, Natali Del Conte wanted to get a tech show started too. You could set up TechCrunch TV. But that’s after you send her to media training.
Definitely going for the sex starved geek demographic. She’s a great looking girl but they need to back the camera up! That’s why the facial expressions look so exaggerated!
I agree the delivery is way over the top. If she toned it down a bit it would be a lot more watchable. Good idea for a show though, I would continue watching if she moved away from the downing 40 cups of coffee before going on air approach.
congrats on hitting that michael. but stop bragging.
She used to be kinda hot. But her over-reaching facial expressions are now annoying me. Mike, honestly, the content isn’t *that* good–and the show format/layout/graphics are kinda boring. Cali’s schtick is more genuine.
I’m jerking off to the bi… uhm, presenter.
Hello! The reason you are so kind for this WebbAlert is so obvious that you either want to tap, near to tapping, or just started tapping that far-too-giddy piece of high tech azerban…
@40: re the Federated Media connection. There could certainly be an MBA whispering sweet nothings behind the scenes.
Oh, and I wonder if they’re paying Dennis Coffey for the theme loop.
I would subscribe to this if it was integrated into Tivo. I prefer to read when I’m online and watch TV from the couch. There are a few other tech shows available on Tivo but this is actually a notch above those shows even in its current state.
When an overwhelming majority of the comments are about the attractiveness of the host, and very few are about the content of the show, then the show is bound to tank.
Not just facial expressions are annoying. She needs to hold her head still.
And come up with stories that are slightly relevant.
Wow. Please changes hosts. I watched for about 15 seconds before I was like, this is too much. Dud.
Hey Mike,
staying up until 2 in the morning…? Were you thinking she would come over, afterwards?
Yes, sex sells - I’m sorry but that’s about it you fall for.
Dog
Oh dear, Web 2.0 tech blogosphere isnt very rock and roll is it, its middle-of-the-road mongous. This video rocks? Middle aged sofa rock perhaps.
Anyway it doesnt matter if me and lots of other people dont like this show, as long as some people like it, then its worth having, theres room for everyone etc.
But theres certainly a lot of evolutionthis year in terms of how cynical people are about the credibility and agenda of blogs. Who knows where this will lead, personally I always expected there to be plenty of blatant bias and mixed motives for what people say and promote on blogs. It has the potential for people to market, sellout, mislead etc, on a whole new level. So long a money is involved, it will corrupt. It may sound obvious but the blogosphere that has the potential to be free from commercial bias, is that where no money is involved. People can blog & vlog without much or any cost, and so those that want to avoid the smell of money can do so, they just cant do it as a job.
It will be rather interesting to see if there are any other elements of blogs that may counter commercial bias. Is the potential to sellout and the possible greater urgency to monetize on the net, sufficiently countered by the ability of others to comment, etc? Ive always thought it would be funny if all messages caused by billions spent on advertising, ended up cancelling each other out, and then genuine belief bias, as opposed to paid-for bias, can run riot
How does this website relate to Facebook? I thought on TC.com if the website didn’t have anything to do with FBK then it wasn’t getting covered?
I love how she smiles while she speaks =).
For those who think Morgan is not hot:
http://www.maximonline.com/gir.....px?id=1064
This is how bloggers get chix to bed.
Let him do his thing. It would benefit all of us.
I’m sure you guys are not always proud with your own methods to get laid… are you?
I like the show. Short and sweet, to the point.
“Also great” Hahaha nice
Put her in a neckbrace and stop it with the eye rolls.
Morgan is brutally hot, but she is a tech geek so she deserves some cred.
That being said, I don’t really like her delivery so far. As someone commented above, the enthusiasm and facial expressions could be toned down a bit. If feels like she is doing “The Hollywood Minute”. I always liked her on TechTV/G4, so I am sure she’ll adjust; it’s only her second day…
She has all the tools to create a successful show though, so hopefully she sticks with it.
Hmm ya pretty good show. I agree though with some of the comments, zoom out a bit!
Natali does have her own show. It’s called TeXtra (textra.podshow.com). And I don’t think she needs media training. She has a master’s degree in media.
Do you guys not have any testosterone? She’s a hot chick. I love facial expressions on hot chicks. Enjoy it! I am. If Mike were shooting the same show, 3 people would watch it. Not that I don’t love your blog, Mike.
As far as the couple of comments saying Mike’s hitting that, I don’t think so. He HOPES his transparent salivating kindness earns him some sack time. If he were already having sex with her we wouldn’t be hearing the 2am comments. Good try, but in the end, girls like that like the studs even after a nice geek gives them a huge endorsement.
I’ll keep watching. She could read the back of a shampoo bottle and I’ll still watch.
Nothing wrong with it. It’s happens everywhere all the time. Look around you.
OMG - The nausea is setting in. Too much emphasis and expression in my opinion. This host has nothing on Cali Lewis of Geekbrief.tv…except that with Web Alert, I can embed their videos on my blog and GeekBrief is stuck on QuickTime which means I can only link to…yuck. Web 2.0 is about embeding, sharing…mash-it-up
$100 sees Web Alert in the Dead Pool in 10 months unless they change hosts.
Mike, are you getting paid in cash or “kind” for giving this daily coverage on Webbalert???
No, he hopes to wet his schlong for it.
Bookmarking…But I think I already knew all of those stories. The delivery/sarcasm will be what makes it fun - or not.
Great show with nice content.
Some ideas to make it better.
http://abhishek.tiwari.com/200.....-bloggers/
Abhishek
@ #6 Davio: no way! that girl on mobuzz is trying too hard to speak. i seriously didn’t hear any of the news because of the way her head and mouth was moving.
im gonna stick with webbalert…
@ #87 Craig Graham: Morgan Webb is known by millions on the hit show x-play and her photos on FHM and Maxim, and you think the show won’t go anywhere unless they replace her? Ya, lets do that…real smart.
she would do a lot better if she would show her boobs ….