BBC Forced To Syndicate Some VOD; Opportunity For Aggregators
Catch-up TV platforms like BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) and Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) have won a significant concession from the BBC that may allow them to… Read more at paidContent »
The Morning Lowdown 11-01-11
» With Launch Of The Verge, SB Nation Parent Rebrands As Vox Media (paidContent)
» Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE), Looking To Gra… Read more at paidContent »
Hands on with Zeebox, your new social TV guide
The market for social television services is getting increasingly crowded, as companies try to build systems that combine broadcast and social networks. But could British startup Zeebox get the jump on the competition with its smart new iPad app and powerful team? Read more »
Netflix launch in UK and Ireland planned for early 2012
After enduring a torrid few months, Netflix is hoping to get that it can generate some positive momentum by announcing plans to launch in the U.K. and Ireland early next year — its first product launch outside the Americas. But it will face stiff competition. Read more »
BBC mulls new effort to kickstart computer education
The BBC played a huge part in the British computer boom of the 1980s by supporting local manufacturer Acorn. Now, with the U.K.’s computer education under criticism, it is considering whether to take on a similar role in the 21st century. Read more »
BBC’s Digital Olympics: Four Screens, 28 Streams, 2,500 Hours
“Every sport, from every location.” That is BBC Sport’s mantra for delivering next year’s London 2012 Olympic Games digitally. Read more at paidContent »
Missing: 30 Percent Of The BBC’s Online Radio Traffic
More people appear to be listening to less BBC Radio through BBC iPlayer.
Within one week in March, average weekly minutes for radio listen… Read more at paidContent »
Microsoft Shifts Strategies To Expand Xbox Live TV, Go Global
After years of effort and speculation, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has pieced together nearly 40 broadcast services from around the world to boos… Read more at paidContent »
Ditching net neutrality ‘risks irreversible harm’
A report published today in the UK labels arguments against network neutrality as “myths” — and suggests that attempts by broadband providers to manage online traffic will end up doing long-term damage to the entire Internet industry. Read more »
Industry Moves: MSN UK, BBC.com, HuffPo Staff Up On Content; And More
– MSN UK: Former BBC News interactive head Pete Clifton, who is now MSN UK’s exec producer, is hiring BBC Wales’ social media editor Darren… Read more at paidContent »
Australia Next For BBC’s Paid iPlayer, U.S. At Some Point
The UK’s leading TV catch-up brand is having a weird global launch. After debuting on iPad only in 11 European countries this July for €6.… Read more at paidContent »
The BBC wants to be your online TiVo
The BBC’s research and development department launched the prototype for a new form of EPG today that replaces the traditional time-based grid with automatically updated lists. It’s a neat little project, but the way other broadcasters are involved in the site is even more interesting. Read more »
Interview: Lonely Planet CEO Travels Toward 50/50 Media Balance
How does the world’s biggest travel guide book publisher, 39-year-old Lonely Planet, pack its bags for the digital era? “Relentlessly,” CEO… Read more at paidContent »
Lonely Planet Launching Mobile Travel Startup ‘Wenzani’, Seeking Partners
Lonely Planet has created a separate technology startup in San Francisco to develop next-generation social mobile travel guides together wit… Read more at paidContent »
BBC Overhauling Its Website For ‘Swipability’
Expect to see more of this. The BBC is redesigning its website to take account of how users are now “swiping” using touchscreen devices. Read more at paidContent »
T-Mobile, Orange Reboot Their Mobile TV Services In UK
Mobile TV has for years been one of the great white hopes for mobile operators looking for new lines of revenue from their data networks –… Read more at paidContent »
Industry Moves: Condé Nast, Populis, Briefing Media, BBC Worldwide
– Condé Nast International is adding Malcolm Simms as its first chief technology officer, reporting to chairman Jonathan Newhouse and “lat… Read more at paidContent »
The BBC’s iPlayer for TVs goes HTML5
Users of Sony’s PS3 can now access a special TV version of the BBC’s iPlayer, complete with a navigation optimized for remote controls, personalization and video overlays. The new iPlayer is based on HTML5, showing how important the emerging standard is to the connected-TV world. Read more »
BBC’s iPlayer goes Global, embraces the iPad
After endless development and lobbying from fans around the world, the BBC has finally opened up an international version of the iPlayer — its smash hit video-on-demand service — for European subscribers. But will it make the grade as other video subscription services expand? Read more »
Netflix expanding to Spain, UK next year
Netflix has no plans to slow down its international expansion. In addition to its expansion to 43 countries in Latin America later this year, Variety reports the company could also launch services in Spain and the U.K. in early 2012. Read more »
It’s official: Criterion buys SeeSaw
Criterion Capital Partners is announcing Wednesday that it has bought SeeSaw.com, a site that aspired to become U.K.’s Hulu but was close to being shut down just six weeks ago. SeeSaw’s past is troubled, but Criterion is nonetheless willing to make a bet on its future. Read more »
How do you get video on Kindle? Turn it into a comic
If you can’t wait for a version of the Kindle that can run video, then you may be in luck: one enterprising developer has come up with a bizarre way to take TV programs and make them compatible with Amazon’s e-reader. Read more »
Is HuffPo UK just young, or unambitious?
Arianna Huffington has made much of her ambitions to expand into Europe and beyond — but with just two weeks until the British version of the site launches, the evidence suggests it might not be as aggressive as its American parent. Read more »
Boxee introduces iPlayer, previews iPad app in London
Boxee provided a London audience with the first look at its new iPad app today, which will be submitted for review to Apple very soon. Boxee also celebrated the launch of the iPlayer and a cooperation with VOD provider Blinkbox. Read more »
Share and Share Alike: BBC iPlayer Gets More Social
The BBC is adding new ways for iPlayer viewers to share what they’re watching with their friends and social networks, with a new share button. In addition to standard networks like Facebook and Twitter, iPlayer users can now send videos to Delicious, Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon. Read more »
Why Did SeeSaw, Britain’s Hulu, Really Fail?
British TV on demand site SeeSaw was meant to be a transatlantic rival to Hulu — but after launching last year, it has pulled the plug. The reasons? Political turmoil and competitive pressure that was exploited by rivals like Rupert Murdoch. Read more »
Former iPlayer Head Targets iPads With Stealth TV Startup
The BBC’s former iPlayer head Anthony Rose wants to use iPads and other mobile devices to get around some of the restrictions of traditional connected devices. His new startup tBone TV wants to develop a platform that turns broadcast television into a two-way experience. Read more »
UK Hulu-Wannabe SeeSaw Shutting Down
U.K.-based online video aggregator SeeSaw announced it’s shutting down, just 16 months after being launched to bring together video assets from Channel 4 and ITV. The shutdown happened after it failed to click with viewers or effectively compete with services from its content partners. Read more »
The BBC Debuts Experimental Semantic Programming Guide
Channelography makes it possible to search across the BBC’s programming for people, places and companies to learn who was mentioned on which show. The experimental EPG makes use of closed captions for semantic analysis, and utilizes all of this data for some great visualization. Read more »
BBC iPlayer Users Can Now Record An Entire Series
The BBC announced a new feature called “Series Record” to its iPlayer today. With the new feature, iPlayer users will be able to sign up once to record their favorite shows and catch up on that programming for up to a month after episodes air. Read more »
What Journalism Is Like Now: Working With 2,000 Sources
photo: See-ming Lee
A young editor for Sky News puts his finger on some of the changes that are disrupting the media industry when he describes in a blog post how his job now involves interacting with “a personalized wire service” of more than 2,000 sources via Twitter. Read more »
How One Reinvented Radio Firm Is Leading the Brit Pack
Twenty years after it started out in radio production, British digital agency Somethin’ Else is making waves with its innovative iPhone games — and representing a new generation of creative technology firms that are ready to step up and make it big. Read more »
Flash & Mobile Are Big Winners of the Royal Wedding
Adobe’s RTMP live streaming protocol was one of the biggest winners of the Royal Wedding, according to a new report from traffic management specialist Sandvine. That means that most live streams were likely watched in Flash. Twitter, Facebook and the BBC’s iPlayer also saw huge demand. Read more »
How The Wedding Was Watched: Social Media Does A Royal Flyover
If you, like millions of others, witnessed any of today’s Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton on the TV, Internet or in… Read more at paidContent »
Watch Your Mouths, Brits: Media Monitoring Service Adds BBC
Companies can now monitor in real time what people are saying about them on various BBC programs, thanks to a new cooperation between the broadcaster and media monitoring service Critical Mention. The service already indexes more than 30 hours of audio and video content per minute. Read more »
Vid-Biz: AllVid, FiOS-ESPN, BBC iPlayer
Today on the Net: Google, TiVO and Best Buy have joined forces to lobby the FCC on its AllVid proposal, Verizon FiOS customers are now able to watch authenticated ESPN videos online and the BBC iPlayer now has content from commercial TV counterparts. Read more »
How to Get Video Recommendations Right
The BBC wants to bring personal video recommendations to its iPlayer catch-up service, and it’s been testing a number of methods and algorithms as part of a multiyear research project. The broadcaster just finished a final field test, and its lessons learned are worth a look. Read more »
