Next up for Google TV: An NBC app with full, free episodes?
NBC may be ready to rethink its stance towards Google TV, and make its content available for free on the platform through a native app. Read more »
Subscriber Content
OTT technologies and strategies for broadcasters
TV broadcasters and programmers must embrace a new set of video-delivery techniques to reach consumers today. Online delivery to so many types of consumer devices means that video programmers must produce multiple internet-streaming formats that use different types of security and different ways of inserting ads. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Big surprise: Hulu’s owners can’t agree on its future
A leaked memo hints at an uncertain future for Hulu after a buyout of co-owner Providence Equity Partners. Not only could CEO Jason Kilar leave the company, but Hulu’s co-owners News Corp. and Disney don’t seem to see eye-to-eye on key issues. Read more »
Olympic winners: How NBC’s authentication helped VPN providers
How about this for an unlikely winner of the 2012 London Olympics: VPN providers have been signing up lots of new users looking to access streams of the games in real time. Which makes one wonder: Wouldn’t it be better if those customers paid broadcasters instead? Read more »
Cablevision rolls out Optimum app for Kindle Fire
While the broader TV Everywhere initiative has been hindered by all the deals that need to happen between programmers and pay TV operators, watch-anywhere-in-the-home apps provided by multichannel operators are gaining traction. Cablevision says Optimum, for example, is now used by a third of its subscribers. Read more at paidContent »
Few cable users aware of TV Everywhere
photo: Shutterstock / Angela Waye
According to research firm Parks Associates, only about a fifth of pay TV subscribers know that their cable, satellite or telco service provider offers products that let them view video content on digital devices over the internet. Read more at paidContent »
What are you paying for when you buy TV?
photo: Shutterstock / Angela Waye
Traditional cable is no longer about choice; it’s about access. As an access provider for content, cable has the widest depth of content right now, but it also costs the most. So how long can it keep content and customers? Read more »
Why HBO is once again TV’s most relevant network
Critics say that in the post-Sopranos era, HBO is no longer “zeitgeisty.” But what’s not relevant about a network carrying the entire TV Everywhere initiative on its back? We examine why HBO remains vital, just in a different way. Read more at paidContent »
Subscriber Content
Who and what to watch in the new era of the living room
The adoption of tablets, social media and new interfaces and the changing nature of the TV itself mean the digital living room will continue on its path of rapid change, thanks to new ways of creating, viewing, bundling, distributing and selling content. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
One TV Everywhere deal down! (Many more to go)
photo: Shutterstock / Angela Waye
An agreement between Viacom and Time Warner Cable ends a year-long court fight and lets the No. 2 cable service stream channels like MTV and Comedy Central on iPads. But will it finally kick-start the kind of wide-scale dealmaking needed to make TV Everywhere a reality? Read more at paidContent »
NimbleTV tries to make good on TV Everywhere’s promise
NimbleTV, a New York start-up, is looking to make good on the promise of TV Everywhere by offering an online TV platform that allows a customer of a paid TV subscription plan to get their content streamed to them wherever they are. Read more »
Netflix aims for 90M U.S. subscribers
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said this week that he thinks Netflix could have up to three times as many U.S. customers as the premium cable network HBO. The remarks were made in a presentation about the company’s business opportunity, which interestingly doesn’t mention DVDs at all. Read more »
When does sharing become stealing?
TV Everywhere is giving people access to content they are not actually paying for. I know, because I’m one of them. The question is whether that is stealing — and if it is, is there anything that cable companies can actually do about it? Read more »
Disney, Comcast And Why TV Everywhere Alone Is Not Enough
photo: Shutterstock / Angela Waye
Yesterday’s press release from Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA), announcing a comprehensive new ten-year distribution agreement… Read more at paidContent »
Does a Premier League bid make sense for Apple?
Apple might be looking to expand its live sports offerings through a deal with the English Premier League, a new report says. It’s an interesting proposition but not a cheap one: Sky paid £1.6 billion (around $2.5 billion) for its current broadcast rights. Read more »
What's Coming In 2012: The Age Of Ubiquity (For Some)
photo: Boston Globe
This is the last in a series of posts that highlighted key people, companies and trends to watch in 2012 in the sectors we cover most, from… Read more at paidContent »
Finally! HBO Go will be available pretty much everywhere
Almost two years after HBO launched its on-demand streaming service HBO Go, the premium cable network has finally gotten the last two major holdouts to agree to offer it to their subscribers. The service will soon be available to 98 percent of all HBO subscribers. Read more »
The ubiquity imperative: Why content needs to be everywhere
The media world is changing, due to new devices from which viewers can access content and the ease of finding content on-demand. As a result, big media companies can no longer rely solely on the strength of their content to win out against alternative viewing options. Read more »
What Fox effect? Hulu sees little downside from authentication
There had been some concern that Hulu would see some of its audience disappear due to Fox’s requirement for TV Everywhere-type authentication. But Hulu’s audience over the first few months of the new TV season has remained largely intact, and was actually up in October. Read more »
Roku launches $49 box, insists it’s not a loss leader
How’s that for a deal: Roku’s new entry-level set-top box is selling for just $49. That’s half the price of an Apple TV – but the company insists it’s still making money on every unit sold. Roku also announced the launch of an HBO Go app. Read more »
Subscriber Content
How to win the TV iPad app battle
The fight for the TV audience is quickly moving online and to a growing number of mobile applications, with Apple’s iPad as the latest battleground. Over the last 18 months, a number of broadcasters and pay-TV operators have launched iPad apps that provide access to streaming ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
TV Everywhere is coming to Google TV
Turner is going to launch dedicated apps for Google TV that offer access to full episodes of TNT and TBS shows, as long as viewers authenticate themselves as pay TV subscribers. The apps were briefly on the Android market last week, but have since been removed. Read more »
@ pcAds: What ‘TV Everywhere’ Means For Advertisers
Sell the content, not the platform — that’s one of the lessons of “TV everywhere.” Matt Seiler, CEO of Mediabrands, and David Levy, preside… Read more at paidContent »
NBC could be next to lock down TV content online
NBC made its full-length TV episodes available for free on its iPad app last week, but that doesn’t mean it won’t roll out TV Everywhere-type authentication on its digital streams. Digital head Vivi Zigler told us the network is definitely looking at authentication as a possibility. Read more »
The summer of our discontent: How web TV has changed
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 »
Who gets Starz digital rights now? Probably no one
There’s been a rash of speculation about which of Netflix’s competitors will bid for the streaming rights of TVs and movies from Starz. The most likely outcome, however, probably has the network keeping those rights to itself and making them part of its TV Everywhere play. Read more »
Viewers vexed by Fox’s TV Everywhere pay wall
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 »
So you want to watch Fox shows on Hulu?
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 »
Sorry, Hollywood: Piracy may make a comeback
A stumbling economy with the threat of another recession, a price hike for Netflix customers, people canceling cable and a pay TV wall for fans of popular TV shows like Glee and Top Chef: Sounds like a perfect storm for piracy, doesn’t it? Read more »
Disney to put its shows behind a pay wall online, too
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 »
DirecTV CEO downplays interest in Hulu
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 »
TV Everywhere is the new DRM
Online TV viewing is about to get a whole lot more complicated soon, as Fox.com and others are introducing pay-TV walls that force consumers to authenticate themselves as paying customers. It’s like DRM for online video — and, once again, consumers are getting screwed. Read more »
HBO Go coming to connected TVs, game consoles
Time Warner’s HBO Go service has been a big hit, and it’s helping to drive more viewers to the premium cable network. With that in mind, the TV Everywhere service will soon be available on connected TVs and video game consoles. Read more »
iPads, connected TVs lead to explosion in encoding
Research firm In-Stat estimates transcoding vendor revenues will top $460 million by 2015, driven by an increase in the number of devices through which consumers can watch video, as well as an increased number of traditional TV programmers making their videos available online. Read more »
Is TV Everywhere a carrot or a stick?
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 could lose up to a third of web viewers to piracy
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 »
Fear of cord cutting behind Fox’s authentication plans
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 »
Want to watch Glee online? Then subscribe or wait
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 »
Breaking Bad now online — but only for cable subscribers
If you’ve missed the first two episodes of Breaking Bad: Full-length episodes have quietly been added to online video portals of Comcast and Dish Network. But to access those episodes you have to be a cable or satellite subscriber. Read more »
The Killing appears on Xfinity Online. Will more AMC shows follow?
A few episodes from popular AMC series The Killing have popped up on Comcast’s Xfinity TV service, which could mean that other shows, like Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and hit Mad Men could follow when their new series begin. Read more »
