It seemed like a no brainer back in November. If Bob Pittman was willing to return to radio after forays at MTV, AOL (NYSE: AOL), Time Warne… Read more at paidContent »
The continuing migration of audiences and ad dollars to digital has helped serve as a balm against growing economic fears that have resulted… Read more at paidContent »
Comcast has long promised subscribers it would introduce an iPad application allowing them to stream live TV feeds in the home. It looks like it might finally be ready to introduce the capability through a new service called AnyPlay, according to promotional materials posted by MacRumors. Read more »
» @ F8: Facebook Unveils New Class Of Social Apps And Redesigned ‘Timeline’ (paidContent)
» @ F8: Zuckerberg Wants Us… Read more at paidContent »
“I’d studied your cartoons, radio, music, TV, movies, magazines,” Michael Stipe once sang, vicariously, as though channelling Dan Rather.
Bitbop, the mobile video service once owned by News Corp. (NSDQ: NWS) and then sold in a whirr of a divestment strategy, looks like it is fi… Read more at paidContent »
Time Warner Cable will soon offer a promotion that will give rebates for Slingboxes to its Wideband Internet customers. That provides an incentive for users to sign up, but also gives Time Warner Cable a way to offer its TV “everywhere” without signing agreements with networks. Read more »
After months of legal wrangling, Cablevision and Viacom announced Wednesday they are putting their differences aside. The two companies have reached an agreement to resolve their litigation regarding Cablevision’s Optimum App iPad application. No financial terms of the settlement have been disclosed. Read more »
Viacom reported that affiliate revenues grew 20 percent domestically and 16 percent worldwide. That was due in part to digital deals that the company has struck recently, including new deals with Netflix and Hulu that make its shows available for streaming. Read more »
Viacom called a truce in its legal fight over Time Warner Cable’s iPad app, but now it’s going after Cablevision for streaming its channels to the device. Cablevision has shown it’s not afraid of these types of fights, which could mean a long legal battle ahead. Read more »
Viacom and Time Warner Cable have called a truce in their fight over streams of live TV on the iPad. With a standstill agreement approved by a New York federal court, they will be able to negotiate without having to worry about court deadlines or proceedings. Read more »
Hulu topped all other ad networks for online video ads served, with 1.3 billion ad impressions during the month of May, according to comScore. That’s more than a quarter of the 4.6 billion ads that were served up by online video properties during the month. Read more »
Despite worries over competition from over-the-top video services and the possibility of cord cutting, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said the cable industry was doing better than ever. That said, the industry still needs to work together to meet consumer demand for new services. Read more »
It’s time to dance: Netflix just added the first season of the toddler and indie music fan favorite Yo Gabba Gabba to its streaming catalog. The company also added new episodes of iCarly and a bunch of other content from Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV. Read more »
Remember when social media was going to reinvent the entertainment business? Though past efforts made little headway in the social-entertainment space, announcements from Warner Home Entertainment and News Corp. suggest the space is far from dead. Here’s what companies looking to capitalize on it can learn. Read more »
Word leaked earlier this week that YouTube (NSDQ: GOOG) was going to start renting out premium movie content, putting it in a position to co… Read more at paidContent »
After a year in which over-the-top video services grabbed most of the media’s attention, some of the online video headlines shifted back to traditional pay-TV providers in the first quarter of 2011. Device manufacturers rolled out new offerings, while cable-TV providers moved to expand their in-home footprint beyond the TV itself. But over-the-top continued to encroach, with Roku adding its first linear channels to the Roku store and Netflix acquiring exclusive rights to high-profile original series House of Cards. Finally, traditional web powers like Google, Yahoo and Apple made moves to reassert their presence in the living room after their early stumbles. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Comcast, Cablevision, Viacom and VUDU. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
After weeks of back and forth between Time Warner Cable and its programming partners, the cable provider is bringing back six cable networks from Fox and Discovery that had previously been taken off its controversial iPad app. Read more »
The big fight between Time Warner Cable and Viacom isn’t so much about whether or not cable companies should have to pay for broadband streaming rights to reach the iPad, but who has the right to decide how a cable network’s content is distributed. Read more »
Since launching its iPad app a couple of weeks ago, Time Warner Cable has been embroiled in a disagreement with cable networks over rights to stream live channels to the tablet device. Rather than haggle with them, the cable operator is taking its case to court. Read more »
Cablevision just released a new app that will make all the same live cable and on-demand programming that viewers can watch on their TVs also available on Apple iPads. But will Cablevision pull stations from the app in the same way that Time Warner Cable did? Read more »
Just a day after removing 11 cable channels from its live streaming iPad app yesterday, Time Warner Cable has restocked the app’s programming lineup, adding 17 national networks and three local channels. Bonus: the app now has sports and news channels! Read more »
Discovery, Fox and Viacom might have won their battle against Time Warner Cable, forcing the pay TV provider to pull their channels from its live iPad app. But in doing so, they’re losing viewers that might have actually used the app to watch their shows. Read more »
When is an iPad not an iPad? When it’s a TV screen. Nowadays, programmers need to adapt to the new world of distribution not by creating more windows, rights and licenses, but by embracing a view of digital distribution across a broad ecosystem of devices. Read more »
Today on the Net: NBC explains why it fired the leaker of an old Today Show clip, TiVo wants to help brands measure the effectiveness of their ads for free, and execs are all huffy over Viacom’s deal this week with Hulu. Read more »
Good news: Hulu did a deal with Viacom to bring The Daily Show back. But a blog post by Hulu’s CEO shows there’s growing tension between Hulu, which wants to keep sharing ad revenues, and its content partners, who want to get paid up front. Read more »
Today on the Net: The Daily Show and the Colbert Report may return to Hulu soon, CE makers are still trying to convince us oh 3-D in the home and uTorrent has 100MM monthly users. Read more »
Today on the Net: Comcast released its Xfinity app for Android mobile phones, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said Paramount has no plans to be part of other studios’ premium VOD plans and Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy is resigning from the company. Read more »
Here we go again: Viacom has filed an appeal in its long-running lawsuit against Google and YouTube, arguing that founders of the video sharing site were aware of the massive infringement happening and that they shouldn’t be protected under the DMCA’s Safe Harbor provisions. Read more »
Want to watch The Daily Show, The Colbert Report or Drawn Together on Google TV? Then don’t be discouraged by the fact that Comedy Central’s corporate parent just started blocking Google TV devices, as regaining access to these videos only takes a minute. Read more »
The television business is on the cusp of the biggest technological upheaval since the introduction of cable TV. The addition of Internet connectivity to living room devices will enable new functionality around programming services, program discovery, social networking, ad targeting and measurement — aspects of the TV viewing experience that have remained largely unchanged for decades. These trends have the potential to become the foundation for new economic models around how viewers pay for video service and how program creation is financed. In this report, we examine the leading contenders’ strategic positioning, relative strengths and weaknesses, and provide the early line on their odds of success. Companies mentioned include Google, Apple, Boxee, Roku, Vudu, Samsung, Microsoft and Sony. To see a full list of companies and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Today on the Net: Cablevision is working on applications that could allow subscribers to watch video on their iPad and other mobile devices, Viacom’s profits surge in the second quarter and Comcast-owned social video firm Tunerfish releases its first mobile app on the iPhone. Read more »
Several significant events set the tone for the digital media ecosystem during in the second quarter. First among these was the release of the iPad, the impact of which went far beyond device uptake; among other things it does not support Adobe Flash, which has impacted the entire chain of web-based video production from content sites re-encoding video to new tools being developed for HTML5-based advertising.
Another principal event in the quarter was the announcement of Google TV, a software platform built on Android 2.1, Google Chrome and Flash 10.1 that will be incorporated into a variety of companion devices including TV sets, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes. The platform offers significant advancements in merging TV and the web experience (although TiVo says it has done just that for years). Sony and Logitech have both announced plans to launch Google TV products in fall 2010.
Also in the second quarter, both YouTube and Hulu refreshed their sites, reflecting the market’s growing maturity. But while YouTube spent the quarter on the defensive in its ongoing legal battle with Viacom over copyright infringement, Hulu was on the offensive, introducing new services and preparing a paid subscription service launch. A paid service would bring new revenue streams to the video site, and would put Hulu in more direction competion with Netflix, which is increasingly shifting toward its streaming video service, away from its former mainstay of DVDs by mail. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
On today’s investor relations call, Google CFO Patrick Pichette said that Google’s years-long legal battle with Viacom cost a total of $100 million in legal fees. And the case never even went to trial. Read more »
When Microsoft announced that ESPN would make live and on-demand video available through its Xbox Live service, the news had strong implications for mass adoption of cable services being delivered ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Last week’s ruling in Viacom vs. Google greatly reduces an online service provider’s incentive to filter copyrighted content from its site. Under the logic of this ruling, the less direct knowledge a service provider has of the content on its web site, the lower its liability. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
YouTube’s win in the lawsuit brought against it by Viacom could not only help clear it of the copyright infringement stigma it has held since the early days, but it could pave the way for the video share site to sign up more premium content partners. Read more »
YouTube has scored a victory in the copyright infringement lawsuit waged against it by Viacom, but the biggest winner of the day may be the DMCA — the 1998 law that was at the core of Google’s defense and that has been called outdated by some. Read more »
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has just granted YouTube’s motion for summary judgment against Viacom, meaning that the site is off the hook in Viacom’s billion-dollar copyright infringement case. Read more »
Today on the Net: comScore will begin measure video views and ads separately beginning with its June Video Metrix numbers, startup VidMe launches with a new site for sharing personal videos with a select group of friends and NASCAR and Turner are rolling out 3-D. Read more »
