Not even the San Francisco fire department can stop us: NewTeeVee Live 2010 started off with a mandatory building evacuation, but ended up to be a fast-paced event highlighting Hulu’s success, Google TV’s vision, the challenges of designing TV-compatible interfaces and the power of conversations. Read more »
Hulu is going to make more than $240 million in revenue in 2010, the company’s CEO Jason Kilar revealed at NewTeeVee Live today. Hulu had 30 million users in October 2010, who watched some 260 million content streams as well as 800 million ad streams. Read more »
In another major shift in the world of online video, more and more people are choosing to take advantage of broadband access by cutting the cable that connects them to their TVs and switching to streaming and downloadable video options such as Hulu, Netflix and iTunes. 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 »
Want Hulu Plus, but tired of waiting for your invitation? Well, the wait’s over: The paid service is now open to anyone interested. In addition, more shows have been added to the catalog, as well as another connected device to bring Hulu Plus to televisions. Read more »
The free availability of popular TV shows online could eventually lead to the destruction of one of the main pillars of the TV industry, Dish exec Bruce Eisen said during a panel at Streaming Media West today. His remedy? A 30-day window for Hulu & Co. Read more »
Hulu might slash the price of Hulu Plus in half, from $9.95 a month to $4.95 a month. The possibility of a price cut could indicate the subscription service, which is still in beta, might not have generated the consumer interest that Hulu had hoped for. Read more »
You can’t accesss Hulu.com with a new Google TV device out of the box, but some of the first owners of Sony’s Google-powered Internet TV have already figured out a work-around: Apparenyly, all it takes to get all those TV shows is a simple settings change. Read more »
Fox took its conflict with Cablevision over retrans fees to the next level today by briefly blocking Cablevision customers from accessing Fox content on Hulu and Fox.com. The move led to an outcry from consumer rights advocates – but that may have been exactly what Fox wanted. Read more »
The fight over how much Cablevision will pay Fox in retransmission fees escalated to a new level this morning as Fox had denied Cablevision’s broadband customers access to Hulu and other Fox-affiliated online content. The move shows how online video has grown in importance. Read more »
Today on the Net: Google and NBC Universal give up on their two-year old Google TV partnership, Justin.TV’s chief business officer leaves a week after the VP of product departed and Netgear is selling co-branded Roku boxes at Fry’s. Read more »
Hulu could file to go public later this year, with an IPO scheduled for early 2011, according to a report by Reuters. The popular online video site could raise between $200 and $300 million in the offering, which would value the company at approximately $2 billion. Read more »
Today, Roku is officially confirming that a Hulu Plus channel will be available on the set-top box later this fall. In addition, TiVo has announced that they too will be teaming with Hulu to provide Hulu Plus access to TiVo Premiere subscribers. Read more »
Today on the Net: an analyst estimates that NBC Universal is worth negative $600 million while USA Network is worth $11.7 billion, broadcasters like NBC are holding back the available ad inventory for sale on Hulu and Imax’s CEO says not every 3-D movie will work. Read more »
Roku users will soon be able to access Hulu Plus on their devices, if recent changes to the Roku.com web site are any indicator. The site already features a partner page for Hulu, boasting that Hulu PLus is easy to set up on Roku’s boxes. Read more »
Today on the Net: Netflix pays actors to pretend to be enthusiastic fans during its Canadian launch, CBS chief Les Moonves says the broadcaster would consider joining Hulu’s subscription video service and Apple has been sued for patent infringement around IP related to iTunes. Read more »
Today on the Net: Google TV will begin selling in the U.S. this autumn according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Modern Family has been off of Hulu for the last month or so and Vidyo is putting its video conferencing services on the iPad. Read more »
During today’s press event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the iTunes store has sold 450 million TV episodes. How will its newly announced 99 cent rental program change the marketplace, especially with Hulu Plus around? It depends what’s on offer. Read more »
Apple could be facing another round of tough negotiations with content producers like it faced when it introduced the world to digital music and movie downloads. If it is successful though, Apple could revolutionize the marketplace of how we consume television content. Read more »
Comcast says it has no plans to change NBC’s relationship with Hulu, making all the same content that available now also available in the future. It also said it would not withhold NBC content from other distributors or push it behind a TV Everywhere-type pay wall. Read more »
The Sony PlayStation3 didn’t offer any real advantages over other gaming devices or set-top boxes until it got dibs on Hulu Plus, making the PS3 the first console able to stream Hulu to the TV. But what’s the user experience actually like? Read more »
Steve Levitan, executive producer of ABC hit show Modern Family, has a Hulu problem. The problem, as he sees it, is that if Hulu goes public — which could happen as soon as the end of 2010 — content providers will be left in the lurch. Read more »
Feel like you’ve been seeing a lot more ads on Hulu lately? Guess what, you’re right: New numbers from comScore show that close to 84 percent of all videos shown on Hulu are now advertisements. That makes Hulu by far the biggest video ad network. Read more »
Hulu, which has rapidly grown to be the top destination for broadcast shows online, is readying itself to go public in an offering that could value the company at $2 billion. But to make it independently, it’s going to need the support of its content partners. Read more »
There have been several articles written about the possibility of a future update to the Apple TV that is based on iOS. These rumors have taken on a life of their own, in large part because everyone desperately wants them to be true. Read more »
Zipcar’s path to the public market has become a bit more bumpy as its purchase of Streetcar, its largest rival in London, raises anti-competition concerns. The Office of Fair Trade (OFT) in the U.K. said Tuesday it couldn’t be confident that the acquisition wouldn’t stifle competition. Read more »
There’s a movement underfoot. A movement to break free of cable provider’s high costs and poor service. A movement to time- and device-shift. A movement to watch what we want, where we want, when we want. So let’s take a look at Hulu Plus and Netflix. Read more »
Germany’s TV networks are getting ready to compete with Hulu before the U.S. site has even launched in Europe: The RTL Group and the Pro 7 Sat 1 Media AG plan to open their own Hulu-like site, offering catch-up TV for up to seven days. Read more »
Will NBC push Hulu to go pay only? The broadcaster’s chief executive alluded to this option today in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, saying that keeping TV shows free online is not “a foregone conclusion.” Zucker also expressed optimism about the Comcast merger review. Read more »
Sometimes people ask when online video is going to get its Lost — a creative, well-produced, buzzworthy series that offers enough intrigue to keep audiences engaged. I’ve heard some people answer that question with “Never.” But that was before Ark premiered on Hulu. Read more »
Today on the Net: a new iPhone app lets users see if friends are on WiFi before trying FaceTime video chat, estimated ad sales at Hulu for June are $19 million and Blockbuster has a new TV ad touting its new release advantage over Netflix. Read more »
Not only is Netflix aware of the competitive threat Hulu poses, but it is committed to fighting back by offering its own mix of exclusive and non-exclusive TV content. As a result, expect even more deals that let Netflix stream full seasons of TV shows online. 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 »
Playstation users wanting to give Hulu Plus a try have to pay for a Playstation Plus subscription as well as a Hulu Plus membership — but they still won’t be able to access as much content as users of the web version, thanks to licensing issues. Read more »
Today on the Net: The Comcast-NBC Universal deal gets approval from the European Commission, Hulu’s “Ad Selector” could become a standard for the web and the Old Spice Guy is making videos and tweeting out to fans. Read more »
Today on the Net: Netflix edged out Hulu in terms of overall web traffic according to comScore, admins of BitTorrent site Inerfim.ru are charged in a $1.25 billion copyright infringement suit and 3-D TV is going to be huge by 2015. Read more »
Today on the Net: a new app from PlayOn will let users stream Hulu and other web video services to their iPhones and iPads, Starcom and partners are trying to get YouTube to adopt the Ad Selector unit and TwitVid launches a social video ad network. Read more »
In an interview, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar talks about the future of his three-year-old company, competition with Netflix and Apple, cooperating with content partners, broadband and his company’s newest offering — Hulu Plus, a subscription service that will help the company get content to connected devices. Read more »
Hulu’s new paid version, Hulu Plus, has come under fire for charging a monthly subscription fee without taking ads out of its programming. Hulu CEO Jason Kilar tells us he’s not averse taking ads out entirely; users would just have to pay a higher price for it. Read more »
Today on the Net: Hulu CEO Jason Kilar gets on video to talk about company growth and a possible IPO, Blip.tv’s check week has grown 77 percent over the last quarter and Qik’s mobile video service has exploded due to availability on the HTV EVO handset. Read more »
