This week, famous faces, new shows and pleas for advertising dollars brought many web video companies to web video’s version of TV’s upfronts. Here are just a few of the biggest stories to emerge. Read more at paidContent »
It’s been common for web series to never make it past a first season. But this year, there are four notable examples of shows continuing their runs, from independent teen dramedies to Jerry Seinfeld chatting with comics. Read more at paidContent »
Fanhattan is trying to make it easier for users to discover content available on mobile, and soon connected TV devices. With that in mind, it has added videos from new content sources, including movies from Crackle and TV shows from PBS and Lifetime. Read more »
Sony online video venture Crackle is rolling out a new, free, ad-supported movie service to a connected TV or Blu-ray player near you. There’s just one catch — that TV or Blu-ray player will probably have to be made by Sony. Read more »
Here’s the thing about the Crackle original series Backwash, which launched this Monday: I’m not terribly impressed any more by a celebrity choosing to participate in web content. I am, however, impressed when ALL THE CELEBRITIES, EVER, choose to participate in web content. Read more »
Today on the Net: Crackle.com is teaming with Rogers to make its content available in Canada, ESPN and YouTube have partnered to encourage users to submit highlights that could end up on SportsCenter and ZumoCast launched an app to stream content to the iPad and iPhone. Read more »
Today on the Net: Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes defends his TV Everywhere strategy, Digg’s Kevin Rose says Apple’s upcoming iTV will change everything and Sony continues to invest in online video sites Crackle and is planning integration into the PS3. Read more »
Reality TV has become an ingrained part of pop culture over the last decade, and that’s created a large population of people a touch too desperate to see their faces on television, and thus easily taken advantage of. That doesn’t mean anyone should. Read more »
Magician/writer/comedian/etcetera Penn Jillette is someone you’d call a talent. And while Jillette’s contributions to the web video world have always been pretty low-key, basically consisting of him ranting on camera, it’s a skill that’s left him in high demand. Read more »
This Crackle-distributed web series, shot in Paris, starring a Hong Kong actor, and deliberately produced with the barest minimum of dialogue, is a truly international production that’s also a fresh and exciting 21st century thriller. And it’s got one heck of a twist ending. Read more »
When it comes to actually making some money off your online video project, you have plenty of options: pre-rolls, product placement, micropayments… But what are the advantages and disadvantages to each? We survey the possibilities. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The nominees for the 14th Annual Webby Awards were announced today, highlighting some of the best of the best on the web (including NewTeeVee parent site GigaOM, which was nominated in the “Blog – Business” category — way to go, guys!). This year, NYTimes.com leads all […] Read more »
C-Span Puts Full Archives on the Web; C-Span has uploaded virtually every minute of its video archives to the Internet, including 23 years and more than 160,000 hours of TV footage. (NY Times) Crackle Sees Video Streams Rise; according to Nielsen Online, Crackle’s audience averages between […] Read more »
Well, the Streamy nominations are out, and it’s a beautiful morning for Crackle (whose series Angel of Death and The Bannen Way dominated the Drama categories) and ICM (per agent George Ruiz’s Twitter, its clients received 23 nominations. But taking a step back, what do we […] Read more »
The Bannen Way, produced and distributed by the digital arm of Sony Entertainment, has already proven itself as a bit of a lightning rod for controversy. And when Crackle told us that the crime noir web series had racked up 8.4 million streams since its early […] Read more »
Updated with comment from Crackle: For a few months now, plenty of buzz has been circulating about the Crackle-produced The Bannen Way, a gritty noir web series created by Mark Gantt and Jesse Warren that was set to launch on Jan. 6 (a date proudly plastered […] Read more »
Here’s a fun way to spend your Tuesday afternoon. Michael Jackson, a huge draw even though he’s no longer with us, is taking the stage for the last time, via the This Is It documentary. The behind-the-scenes movie, set to be shown in theaters for just […] Read more »
Nexage Raises $4 Million; service says it can make mobile video and ad uploads easier; pulls in $4 million of an anticipated $4.5 million of funding in the form of preferred stock. (VentureBeat) Cinetic Curates FilmBuff; new VOD channel will feature 10-15 new and classic indie […] Read more »
When EQAL told us earlier this month that it was getting out of the original webisodic entertainment game to focus on creating digital experiences for established brands, we took note. These were, after all, the guys behind Lonelygirl15, arguably the most successful original web series ever. […] Read more »
Microsoft is pulling back on Soapbox, the UGC site the company launched in 2006, creating another video victim lost in the wake of YouTube’s success. Our initial reaction when reading this news was, “Oh yeah, Soapbox, forgot all about that,” which basically sums up its also-ran […] Read more »
