The summer of 2011 was accompanied by a great web video pullback, as content owners lengthened distribution windows and demanded more from digital licensees. That’s caused some concern about the viability of the industry, but is probably a small road bump for the booming business. Read more »
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 »
» Hulu Japan Launches WIth Movies, TV From CBS (NYSE: CBS), Sony (NYSE: SNE), Fox (NSDQ: NWS) & More But No Ads (paidContent)
Big news for mobile TV pioneer MobiTV: the company has filed for an IPO worth up to $75 million, as it looks for funds to expand internation… Read more at paidContent »
Hulu Japan officially launched, kicking off the online video service’s entrance into its first international market. But unlike its ad-supported service in the U.S., the Japanese version comes with a few differences that could give a hint at what Hulu might look like in the future. Read more »
Hulu’s first offering outside the U.S. is live: Hulu Japan, a subscription service with “hundreds” of films and thousands of hours of TV. Fo… Read more at paidContent »
The impact of digital technology has shattered long-established monopolies and ways of making money in the newspaper publishing industry. Today, publishers must find ways to subsidize content-creation costs directly, and this report examines a few different approaches, from more flexible paywalls to charging users directly for access and mimicking the business models of other industries, such as online gaming. Companies mentioned in this report include Ford, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
There’s nothing flashy about broadband services, but that won’t stop many operators from making those services a core focus as time goes on. Due to growing consumer adoption and better profit margins than traditional video services’, high-speed Internet is likely to be the future of the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Things are heating up in the social video recommendations space, as startups seek to become the Pandora of online video. One of them — Shelby.tv — just got some huge validation from Hulu, which is now allowing its videos to be viewed in the startup’s recommendation system. Read more »
But those who have been waiting for the first big online video IPO might have to wait a little longer: That’s because Brightcove’s IPO will be modest in comparison to expectations many of us had for the company — and for the online video industry in general. Read more »
After weeks of speculation, a sale of Hulu seems inevitable. But while bids from companies like Google, Amazon, Yahoo and DirecTV are expected Wednesday, there’s a compelling case to be made that Hulu’s owners and content partners might be better off not selling. Read more »
It’s been just a week since Fox instituted an eight-day delay for its shows online, and already people are heading to BitTorrent instead. According to TorrentFreak, the number of viewers downloading shows like MasterChef and Hell’s Kitchen has surged over the past few days. Read more »
If you’ve made one of the most popular films of all time on Hulu, what’s your next move? For writer Stevie Long and director/producer Joel Viertel, the answer was simple: Keep a good thing going. They’re making a series out of hit movie Strictly Sexual. Read more »
If you’re a cable provider, what do you do when Fox comes to re-negotiate its retrans deals, asking for more money now that it’s put its shows behind a pay wall? And what do you do when subscribers begin demanding access to Fox content online? Read more »
We tried (unsuccessfully) to access Fox shows using its new authentication system on Hulu, getting hung up by the pay TV login that only works for Dish subscribers. Since Dish is the only distributor on board, everyone else’s experience will probably be similar to our own. Read more »
Hulu is turning Japanese with the launch of a subscription service in the country. The company today announced that it will launch the service before the end of the year, but declined to provide further details. Hulu actively looked for partners in Japan earlier this year. Read more »
Fox won’t be the only broadcaster to restrict access to its shows online and require next-day viewers to be pay TV subscribers. Disney is also working out deals with distributors that would allow viewers to watch shows sooner if they log on with a cable ID. Read more »
The pay TV industry shed at least 193,000 subscribers last quarter, based on public earnings results. While most were low-end subscribers that didn’t pay for HD, DVR or other value-added services, the industry faces a tipping point if it keeps focusing on ARPU above all else. Read more »
Canceling cable won’t just save you money, it could also help to save the planet: Apple TV, Roku & Co. use significantly less electricity than your cable box. However, not all Netflix boxes are created equal. We tested five popular brands to find the greenest device. 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 »
DirecTV has admitted to taking a look at Hulu’s financials to see if it’s worth buying. While the satellite provider could accelerate its rollout of TV Everywhere services with such a buy, DirectTV’s CEO said a Hulu acquisition isn’t necessary to achieve its long-term vision. Read more »
More than most cable providers, Comcast could offer a streaming offering with its XfinityTV.com website and iPad app. But it has no plans to extend its products to customers outside its cable footprint, in part because there’s no money in it, according to CEO Brian Roberts. Read more »
Hulu is catching up to its subscription service competitors by rolling out its Hulu Plus service to more devices. The newest Hulu Plus-enabled devices are the family of WD TV media players. The WD TV Live Hub media player also received access to ShoutCast today. Read more »
A Hulu Support staffer might have just pre-announced plans for Hulu to introduce a new subscription plan that would cost more than the current Hulu Plus plan. The tweets come as Hulu faces its broadcast partners putting up a pay wall against non-cable subscribers. Read more »
Rovi is taking Hulu to court over program guide patents that the streaming site is allegedly infringing against. The suit was filed the same week that Fox announced it is putting up a pay wall around broadcast TV content that used to be free online. Read more »
By implementing TV Everywhere–type authentication for broadcast content online, Fox is eliminating some of the friction that’s cropped up in its negotiations with cable and satellite providers. But it could also use access to online video as a way to drive ever-higher retransmission fees. Read more »
Fox wants viewers of its TV shows to authenticate or subscribe to Hulu Plus in order to access full episodes of favorite shows online the day after they air on TV, but a significant number of viewers might simply just pirate them. Read more »
Close to 60 percent of all Netflix subscribers access the video service through a game console or another connected or mobile device, according to new data from Nielsen. Hulu, on the other hand, has a far smaller footprint in the living rooms of its users. Read more »
There are many reasons Fox might want to erect a pay wall for broadcast TV. But the main one given by Fox affiliate sales chief Mike Hopkins is to discourage consumers from choosing not to subscribe to cable. But will that plan actually work? Read more »
Fox is pushing its viewers to either keep their pay-TV subscriptions or subscribe to Hulu Plus: New episodes of popular Fox shows won’t be immediately available online without some kind of subscription, starting next month. Only one pay-TV provider has a deal with Fox. Read more »
The second quarter of 2011 was a fast-paced one for the connected consumer segment, with every sector of the digital media landscape — music, e-books, online video and gaming — experiencing significant events and changes. Media consumption, purchase and management continued its shift towards the cloud, ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Yahoo is still the biggest online property in the U.S., with fairly sturdy content and communications assets, but its options for restoring growth are getting fewer. Yahoo must re-energize its business around video, a social advertising network and/or syndication, or sell itself to Microsoft or AOL, ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Yahoo reported another disappointing quarter, with core revenues down 5 percent to just over $1 billion. Its display advertising business was up 5 percent, but it appears to be losing share to companies like Google and Facebook. Yahoo is still one of the biggest online properties […] Read more »
The possible combination of Apple and Hulu has got the world buzzing with excitement, as such a deal could combine one of the top consumer electronics manufacturers with everyone’s favorite broadcast TV destination online. But the deal seems unlikely, given the lack of a strategic fit. Read more »
Apple’s got a lot of money to throw around, to the tune of $76.2 billion. Is it interested in spending a chunk of that on Hulu? According to Bloomberg, Apple could make a bid for the online video service. Read more »
Whole seasons of a number of popular TV shows are coming to Amazon’s Prime Instant Video subscription service, thanks to a licensing agreement between the company and CBS. The deal brings the total number of videos available through Prime to more than 8,000. Read more »
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 »
Hulu has once again rolled out its Facebook Connect capability, enabling users to easily share what they’re viewing on the online video site with their friends on Facebook. But after the botched initial launch, will users be willing to merge their accounts? Read more »
Microsoft could be rolling out a new subscription video service later this year, pitting it against services like Netflix and Hulu Plus, as Microsoft seeks to grab more revenues from Xbox subscribers. But it will need to be available on other devices, too. Read more »
Hulu has made its first pitch to a number of prospective buyers, but Netflix didn’t come to the party: The popular subscription service apparently has no interest in buying its catch-up TV competitor. However, there are plenty of other well-known suitors still in the game. Read more »
