Web TV Redux–(Business Week) From CES, covering the various companies who are trying to launch a Web TV device. We think they’re getting it wrong. (See Wii-TV Article)

Perseus Buys Avalon— (WSJ, subscription required) How many times can we hear “The Troubled Book Business.” Publishing has been extremely slow to the digital party and, frankly, is risking the same fate as the music business. It’s one industry that could use a few CIQ hints.

Bloggers Earn Cash from Content Reviews— (Washington Post) This article gets the CIQ award for the day! Small content producers *can* earn money on the internet. And no, they’re not selling their souls. Hey, you people in the book business from the article above, you might wanna read this one.

One Device Determines the Futuer of Digital Rights–(Tech Crunch, free) Here’s an interesting twist on the issue of digital rights management: The iPod is so dominant that it has become the arbiter of digital rights. Labels must work with apple, or make a work DRM-free. Does this mean the iPod will kill all digital rights except at iTunes?

Big Budget Productions A Thing of the Past— (Marketwatch, free) This commentator sees the demise of big-budget Hollywood productions in favor of smaller “long tail” internet video. She predicts people will consume low-quality YouTube video. We see the potential for small, nimble creative production teams producing video content for the web.

Publisher’s Acquiring Ad Shops— (Media Post, free with registration) Cats marrying dogs? What’s next? Kidding aside, we see the unification of content and advertising a key CIQ trend. It makes us want to invent a new word, Covalence. See post on Covalence.

Burger King in the Content Biz— (AD Age) BK is co-producing content with xbox. We feel more and more traditional agencies will be edged out by these advertiser-content producder collaborations.

UGC (user-generated content) Works for Advertisers–(eMarketer) A recent study by Compete and cited by the center for media research suggests that consumers are more persuaded by UGC than by information from brand advertisers. We think the next frontier is figuring out how to package and make sense of all the UGC out there.

Cisco Supports Convergence— (CNet) We love articles that remind us of 1999. Remember convergence? Well it’s back. Tuesday Cisco’s keynote will be on the topic, telling the industry it will work with content creators and providers to help create products and electronics for a converged platform. Very exciting. But let’s start with the basics: Could I please surf directly to IMDB from the “guide” function on my digital cable?

Here are the headlines that make our CIQ antenna twitch

P&G Boosts Social-Networking Efforts— Wall Street Journal (subscription required). We’re fascinated by the way CPGs have entered the content game. Some have been doing it since 1995.

Ads Deeply Embedded in Video Games–Philadelphia Inquirer (Free). We don’t think this phenomenon is evil. We believe advertising must involve into something new as technologies become better at blocking it. We even think ads in books are ok…

The Return of the Bard— or at least of the audio books. The NYT (free with registration) discusses the uptick in audio books since the advent of the iPod. One way technology impacts content. Could a book just come out as audio? New to us, not to Homer.