Bill Maher

With the launch of Amazon.com’s “Amazon Fishbowl with Bill Maher” earlier this month, the Internet-based retailer made its first foray into the realm of original, episodic entertainment webcasting. The new half-hour program is a talk show produced by Amazon. “Amazon Fishbowl” can be found exclusively on its Web site home page. It features conversations between Maher and a variety of guests who come on to promote recently-released books, music and movies. A new episode of the show premieres each Thursday night 8 p.m. PST throughout the summer, while host and executive producer Maher, best known for his edgy political humor and pop culture observations, is

It’s a metamorphosis of the media. Book publishers with ad-supported content models traditionally donned by magazine publishers. Magazine publishers broadcasting live event coverage on their Web sites, and traditional broadcast news media directing consumers to their Web sites for supplemental content. The newest development on this front opens up a whole new can of worms. Amazon.com has crossed over into traditional media territory with its first online, video entertainment talk show. And I realized that not only is the media blurring into one behemoth information-blob, but the boundaries that separate the media from the rest of the world are even beginning to disappear. Amazon.com