Sun Buys MySQL for $1 Billion

This blog runs on MySQL, and I like Jonathan Schwartz’s vision of the Participation Age, so I’m very happy to hear Sun Microsystems has acquired MySQL for a billion dollars.

…in addition to acquiring MySQL, Sun will be unveiling new global support offerings into the MySQL marketplace. We’ll be investing in both the community, and the marketplace – to accelerate the industry’s phase change away from proprietary technology to the new world of open web platforms.

The good news is Sun is already committed to the business model at the heart of MySQL’s success – first investing to grow communities of users and developers, and only then creating commercial services that attract (rather than lock in) paying customers. Over the past few years, we’ve distributed hundreds of millions of licenses and invested to build some of the free software world’s largest communities.

I love how his announcement takes not-so-subtle potshots at Microsoft’s outdated business model. MS SQL Server still clings to enterprise markets, but that will change with Sun providing enterprise support for MySQL. FLOSS FTW.

Ad Buyers Shifting from TV to Web

TV’s overall unique audience is down and ratings are down. Many of our clients are looking at the middle of February and knowing they are going to be significantly behind in terms of delivering [ad impressions]. We are looking to make that up in digital. If we can get the impressions on television, we want to stay there, but we are at a point where we are going to have to make some calls, take some dollars back and reallocate them.

That’s ad buyer Andrea Kerr Redniss telling us what she’ll do in the face of falling TV ratings. This is why I really don’t give a shit about the ugly little GMA/ABS ratings kerfuffle. They’re fighting over a shrinking pie, and their petty squabbling is turning off their shrinking audience.