More stories from Chris Albrecht

Roku announced today that it will be adding Amazon’s Video On Demand streaming service to its set-top box as the company moves beyond just being the Netflix player. The new Amaz-oku service will be available “beginning in early 2009.” From the press release: Amazon Video On […] Read more »

From HDTV to 3-D TV; big TV manufacturers like Panasonic, Samsung and Texas Instruments are rolling out 3D-capable sets at CES this week. (The LA Times) Consumers to Cut Back on High-Tech Product Purchases; Forrester Research survey finds 51 percent of respondents saying they will spend […] Read more »

We’re not even a full week into the new year and a dominant story for 2009 is already starting to take shape: newteevee on your oldteevee set. Intel and Adobe announced today that they are collaborating to bring Flash to the Intel CE 3100 Media Processor, […] Read more »

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Netflix announced today that its streaming service will be embedded directly into broadband-enabled LG HDTVs coming out this spring. This marks the first time that streaming Netflix content to a television set won’t require an external box like the Roku. While LG is the first television […] Read more »

Think of 2008 as Act I when it comes to set-top boxes, the prelude of what’s to come. Next year will bring the conflict in Act II, and 2010? Hopefully Act III and a resolution. In 2008, all manner of brand-name and upstart players began vying […] Read more »

After a dip in October, the number of overall unique online video viewers rose again in November, according to Nielsen’s VideoCensus. The number of unique viewers during the month grew to 124 million from 120 million in October, putting November back on par with September. The […] Read more »

CBS Interactive to Launch Heckle-U; Tom Arnold to star in web series about heckling during college basketball games, will get some cross-promotion with March Madness. (The Hollywood Reporter) Pirates Stealing Live Sports Game Feeds; leagues like the MLB and NHL, which are trying to build their […] Read more »

Our friends over at Earth2Tech will probably appreciate this: Getting your DVDs delivered to you by mail (like through Netflix) is most likely a greener option for getting your movies than going to the video store in person. Slate spin-off site The Big Money breaks it […] Read more »

Kilar on Original Content; in a Q&A, Hulu CEO says he expects library content like recycled TV shows will remain the biggest “bucket” of premium content, but originals like Dr. Horrible will be the fastest-growing segment. (MediaPost) Cuban Acquires Stake in Carmike Cinemas; Cuban, who also […] Read more »

The season two opener of the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords has been watched more than 250,000 times on comedy site Funny or Die (which HBO has a stake in). The Hollywood Reporter goes on to compare this stat with the 950,000 viewers the […] Read more »

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A week after Warner Music and YouTube got into a public spat resulting in Warner music videos being pulled from the site, The Financial Times is reporting that major music labels might strike up a deal with premium content darling Hulu. Options being mulled by the […] Read more »

SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Now on More Devices; 15 new handsets supported, including Sprint Treo 800w, Sony Ericsson X1 and Palm Treo Pro. (Gizmodo) FCC Releases Maps of Digital TV Coverage; commission says 89 percent of full-power U.S. TV stations will see a net gain of […] Read more »

Festivus, the alternative to Christmas introduced in an episode of Seinfeld more than a decade ago, is still going strong. In keeping with that faux holiday spirit, it’s time for the annual “airing of the grievances,” which according to Wikipedia, “consists of lashing out at others […] Read more »

Because Heroes continues to dominate the Top Twittered TV shows (is alliteration a bad thing?), stat provider Trendrr also showed us what the chart looks like without Hiro et al hogging all the Tweets (both versions below). Family Guy made a bit of a comeback, but […] Read more »

Poptiq, the video recommendation service for mobile devices (see our previous coverage), said today it’s received an additional round of funding from Tech Capital Partners that brings the total amount it’s raised to “over $2 million.” The company says the money will be used to expand […] Read more »

Funny or Die Raises $3 Million(?); cash comes from undisclosed investor, though news reports unsure of whether this is a new round or part of the previous $15 million round. (Reuters) ESPN to Launch Interactive TV Apps Next Year; sports network to launch three iTV initiatives, […] Read more »

Vudu has dropped the price of its movie delivery set-top box by $200 as the company continues to try something, anything, to get you to buy one (hat tip to Gizmodo). The “Vudu Christmas Special” knocks the price of the box down to $99 from $299, […] Read more »

The new movie, Perkins’ 14, will be released in theaters in January, but what makes this release of note is the level of participation fans had in creating the film. Produced by film production community Massify, fans were given the chance to select which movie pitch […] Read more »

Rocketboom is adding YouTube comedian Lisa Nova to its ranks as the popular web show expands to 7 episodes per week. Rocketboom anchor Joanne Colan is staying on, with Nova starting up the “west coast Rocketboom news desk.” Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron made the announcement today […] Read more »

‘Tis the season of giving (and coincidentally, slow news days), so in that spirit, we thought we’d give you, the reader, the chance to tell us what’s on your holiday wish list this year. What gadgets or gear are you hoping to find wrapped up and […] Read more »

Mogreet Signs Fox Searchlight; mobile greeting company will allow users to send video messages featuring clips from Juno and Napoleon Dynamite. (VentureBeat) Confusion in the Digital TV Air; Consumers Union survey finds 90 percent of the country is aware of the upcoming switch, but 25 percent […] Read more »

Videos from Warner Music recording artists (Madonna, Metallica) are being removed from YouTube because of a breakdown in licensing negotiations between the two sides. There’s been some he said/she said as to who is at fault, with both sides issuing statements. AllThingsD reports that both sides […] Read more »

It looks like Roku made its first move to go beyond being just “the Netflix player” this weekend. Firing up the ole Roku box this afternoon brought up the new home screen instead of immediately jumping directly into the Netflix streaming queue like it usually does. […] Read more »

Hard to believe, but the big national switch to digital TV is less than two months away. Nielsen released its December update on the national readiness status and found that the number of U.S. households completely unprepared for the DTV switch dropped to 6.8 percent from […] Read more »

Universal Music Making “Tens of Millions” from YouTube; between YouTube and other streaming sites, company has gone from making nothing on music videos to nearly $100 million today. (CNET) YouTube Responsible for 25 Percent of All Google Searches in the U.S.; if it was on its […] Read more »

Rainbow Media Holdings is shuttering U.S. operations of its Voom HD service and its package of 15 networks, Multichannel News reports. Rainbow blames the closure on DISH Networks no longer carrying the service and the anticipated lengthy legal battle over that discontinuation. DISH was the largest […] Read more »

Video production company PixelFish announced today that it has acquired recently-shut down online video editing/white-label video company Eyespot. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded and angel-funded in 2006, the Torrance, Calif.-based PixelFish has 15 employees and is similar to TurnHere, offering to create […] Read more »

YouTube is making it easier to find and enjoy HD content on the site. The video-sharing giant has launched an HD section, where you can browse videos uploaded in the high-definition format. Once you’ve found a video you want to see, clicking on the “Watch in […] Read more »

With the econo-pocalypse in full swing and unlikely to get better anytime soon, DisplaySearch predicts in its revised “Q4 ’08 Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report” that LCD TV revenues will fall year-on-year for the first time since those flat-panel sets were introduced in 2000, […] Read more »

Sling to Launch Blackberry Application; SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry, which lets you control your home TV and DVR while on the go, will be available as a public beta starting on Dec. 30. (jkOnTheRun) Macrovision Sells Off TV Guide Network and TV Guide Online; units sold […] Read more »

Good news for Netflix and Hulu — new data from Ipsos MediaCT shows that people are more interested in streaming longer-form content like movies and TV shows than downloading it. The Ipsos research found that for U.S. Internet users 12 years and older, 17 percent had […] Read more »

Machinima.com, the site for video content created using video games, announced today the creation of the Machinima Comedy Lab and said it is collaborating with a team of traditional episodic TV writers from shows such as The Simpsons, Futurama and Seinfeld to develop 15 new web […] Read more »

Deloitte announced the results of its third annual “The State of the Media Democracy” report today, and it is packed to the gills with all kinds of information about how people are consuming and interacting with video entertainment. The survey was conducted online among 2,056 U.S. […] Read more »

Update for readers: We’ve got more information along with an interview with The CollegeHumor Show’s director in an updated post here. First, Heidi and Spencer; now, Jake and Amir. The College Humor Show was announced today as part of MTV’s slate of new series. But contrary […] Read more »

Soulja Boy Gets Animated Web Series; Interscope records to launch Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em: The Animated Series, which follows the rapper as he returns to high school (Alfonso Ribiero will play the principal!). (The Hollywood Reporter) WNYCWNET/Thirteen New York Signs Kaltura; prominent public television station taps […] Read more »

Nielsen released new online video facts and figures today, among them the top video sites for October, corrected figures from September, and data that shows more people watch online video during the week than on the weekends. The number of unique online video viewers fell 3 […] Read more »

Jumpcut, the online video editing service acquired by Yahoo in 2006, is no longer accepting video uploads to its service. From the Jumpcut upload page: We’re sorry to announce that we are no longer accepting uploads to Jumpcut. We will be keeping the Jumpcut site up […] Read more »

Wistia, a startup focused on providing online video services for businesses, came out of its “under the radar” mode this week. The sector it’s in has certainly gotten more crowded since the company was founded two and half years ago. The Wistia business offering is pretty […] Read more »

Image Metrics Raises $6.5 Million; Series B round for the company that makes really real-looking digital characters was led by Saffron Hill Ventures. (TechCrunch) Aspera Releases Aspera Console 1.0; management platform lets companies monitor, control and automate delivery of really big files using Aspera’s patent-pending fasp […] Read more »

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