The great game between broadcasters and upstart services that stream TV took another turn this week as Fox and others filed a new copyright lawsuit in Washington, DC. Read more at paidContent »
Traditional media brands are cranking out video content in the hopes of persuading marketers to shift ad budgets from TV to online offerings. But can companies like Conde Nast and the Wall Street journal deliver the necessary quality and audience size? Read more at paidContent »
Many long-standing legal rules of engagement between publishers and consumers tilted the playing field in unexpected ways in the first quarter. The period also saw a major expansion in the amount and quality of original productions for web-based video platforms and a major move by chipmaker Intel to stake a claim in the digital living room. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Programmatic buying for online video ads — which lets brands buy select audiences in real time — is growing rapidly. The spread of this buying technique may coincide with a drop in prices but the two phenomena are not necessarily connected. Read more at paidContent »
Vimeo will allow creators with Pro memberships to charge for their video content starting Tuesday. Creators keep 90 percent of revenues, after transaction fees. Read more at paidContent »
Bro videos — crotch shots, beer chugging, cool cars and so on — have long been a staple of the internet. Today, bro vids are also big business thanks to “man research” and big brands pouring money into making them. Read more at paidContent »
Fanhattan, which is like a TV Guide for iPad, has launched out a beta web version with new discovery and recommendation features. On the web, it offers more content recommendations from more providers — 29 on the web, compared to 16 on iOS. Read more »
Online video ads are growing at a rapid rate but almost all of them are appearing on the desktop. Here’s some stats that also include a look at video ads on mobile and connected TV. Read more at paidContent »
Looking for the turnaround story of 2013? Stop looking at Yahoo — it’s AOL that’s the real deal. The company has quietly put in place a powerful strategy based on media, technology and advertising. And investors like what they see. Read more at paidContent »
With Netflix on a roll, its big European rival — Amazon-owned Lovefilm — seems more and more desperate to staunch the flow of subscribers quitting the service and moving elsewhere. Read more »
My Damn Channel is looking for a few hundred original comedy series to launch in 2013. The company has hired Eric Mortensen, formerly at Blip, as its director of programming and acquisitions, a new role. Read more at paidContent »
U.K. digital satellite TV service Sky has launched Sky Go Extra, which lets customers download shows like Girls and Game of Thrones and movies to mobile devices for offline viewing. Read more at paidContent »
In the fourth quarter, the traditional pay-TV industry began to show signs of severe internal stresses after having held off the immediate challenge of over-the-top video. Meanwhile the music industry fell into an internal battle over performance royalties. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As TV viewing has gone online, the delivery of content has become fractured. With more players, there are more things to break, and it’s often the consumer that gets stuck in the middle when ISPs and the content giants like Netflix and amazon fight. Read more »
Amazon raised the curtain on its Instant Video App for iPhone and iPod touch devices, which join the iPad and iPad mini for video purchase or rental playback. You’ll still have to buy or rent videos through the web, however; it can’t be done in app. Read more »
What does next year have in store for the digital content business? Our media team offers some predictions, from cord cutting and apps to self publishing and paywalls. Read more »
The demand for mobile data continues to rise: Doubling in the past 12 months according to a new report for Ericsson. Smartphones are obviously part of the equation, but so too are tablets; particularly video consumption, which accounts for 40 percent of data use on tablets. Read more »
With movies like Cyrus and Jeff, Who Lives at Home, Jay Duplass is one of the kings of the indie film world. Though he’s best known for small movies, Duplass talked with us about how technology plays a big role in his creative process. Read more »
Netflix currently has closed captions for 82 percent of all the videos it is streaming. By October 2014, this number will go up to 100 percent, according to a consent decree the company entered to settle a lawsuit with disability rights advocates. Read more »
Vibrant Media, the company behind many of the in-text ads on the web, is on Wednesday rolling out a redesign meant to make its advertising more transparent and interactive for users. Read more »
Should the same app have a different interface on different devices? Netflix doesn’t think so, updating its Android app for smartphones to replicate the tablet interface found on Android slates and on Apple’s iPad. The improvements make it easier to find and watch content. Read more »
Vimeo which recently broke into the top ten web video web destinations list, is giving video makers new ways of monetization. It is offering two new tools and has plans for others at it helps its indie creators grow. Read more »
Book publisher Simon & Schuster is ramping up video distribution, creating content channels and signing with partners like Roku, Blinkx and Taboola. For now, the videos are intended to promote books and authors, not to drive advertising revenue. Read more at paidContent »
MLB.tv is one of success stories of the online video streaming business. Thanks to rabid baseball fans across the globe, the service has signed up millions of subscribers, racking up mega-millions of dollars in revenues. And today, the service celebrates its 10th birthday. Read more »
The Huffington Post is holding virtual political conventions during the DNC and RNC in order to promote its new video streaming network and call attention to issues like drugs and poverty. Read more at paidContent »
My two-month Chromebook experience has been so great, I use the Google laptop as a primary device. But one flaw I found last month bothered me: No Google Play video support. The latest ChromeOS update, available now, fixes the problem and I’m happy again. Read more »
With the Nexus 7 receiving good reviews, people are starting to enjoy the portability and immersive experience that small tablets offer over smartphones. Looking at the mobile trends, I can see how the tablet will replace the smartphone. And it may happen sooner than you think. Read more »
Amazon takes another step on Apple’s digital media turf: Amazon Instant Video is now available for iPad, bringing another media option for movie purchases, rentals and television shows to Apple’s tablet. For now, Amazon is keeping this away from Android tablets, save its own Kindle Fire. Read more »
Fanhattan’s guide to entertainment on your iPad just got a lot more useful: The app added content from new partners, including NBC and HBO, and a new WatchList feature. The idea: Add your favorite movies and shows once, and get notifications whereever and whenever they’re available. Read more »
The subscription version of Hulu is now available on Apple TV. Adding the channel was sort of an obvious move on Hulu’s part because of what Apple has done with its Airplay feature that lets users stream their Mac or iOS screen to their TV. Read more »
There’s an unprecedented amount of digital video coverage for this year’s Olympic Games and yet analysts suggest that the TV will easily trump viewing on other screens again. The numbers look low because of our time- and place-shifting mentality: Share your viewing plans in our poll. Read more »
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002. Read more »
Google has improved its movie and TV show offerings in Google Play; great for the new Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus Q streaming device. But you’re out of luck for video playback — rentals or purchases — if you have a Google-powered Chromebook. What gives? Read more »
In just a short time with the Nexus 7 tablet, it’s clear that the device will appeal to the traditional Android crowd. But make no mistake: The Nexus is aimed squarely at low-cost consumption slates, such as the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet. Read more »
As Android improves, so too does YouTube. Google updated its video application for devices running Android 4.0 or better by focusing on subscriptions and channels in the mobile interface. And you can now pre-load certain videos to help reduce the amount of buffering while mobile. Read more »
Microsoft released an an updated iOS version of My Xbox Live that turns the iPhone into a remote control for an Xbox 360, while Android owners get their first version of Microsoft’s app. Microsoft ‘s new Smart Glass service will be on non-Microsoft platforms too. Read more »
Mark Malkoff recently watched 252 Netflix movies in one single month to figure out how far he could take the company’s unlimited streaming plan. That instantly gained him notoriety as Netflix’s most obsessive user – and an invitation to the company’s campus in Los Gatos, Californa. Read more »
News Corp.’s Jon Miller explained to our Staci D. Kramer in a Q&A at paidContent 2012 that broadcasters actually need business-to-consumer outlets like Hulu in order to survive. That plus News Corp. in China, The Daily and more. Read more at paidContent »
Smartphone owners are driving tablet demand in the U.S. as 23.6 percent of those with a smartphone now own a slate: Nearly 1 in 4 consumers with a smartphone purchased a tablet between February and April of this year. Half of those slates are video players. Read more »
