Tesco sells Blinkbox Music to Guvera and kills off ebook platform
Dismemberment completed
As part of its bid to get its financials back on track, U.K. supermarket chain Tesco has been dismantling and selling off…
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Vimeo partners with Atlantic, CBS to take paid videos everywhere
VOD for you and me
IAC-owned video service Vimeo took the next step for its Vimeo On Demand platform Thursday: Vimeo’s paid videos are now available on the websites of…
4K didn’t happen in 2014. Will things look different in 2015?
A show here, a few dozen movies there: 4K fare is still sparse on streaming services. Next year, things may be different — if the industry doesn’t mess it up.
Google buys Zync and its rendering tools for its Google Cloud Platform service
Zync Render is used by many post-production shops in and around Hollywood to add special effects or enhancements to movies. Google now is laying claim to that for use on its Google Cloud Platform.
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How advertisers can keep pace with the changing television landscape
Three core drivers are changing the television landscape and confusing advertisers: consolidation of big-media distribution, platform-driven viewing fragmentation, and the infiltration of social media into television.
The right to resell ebooks — major case looms in the Netherlands
A new site called Tom Kabinet sells secondhand ebooks. Publishers say this is illegal, and with a deadline passing on Friday the case looks set to go to court.
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Gawker Media looks to boost traffic and wants to double staff, but its Kinja community platform still needs work
Gawker wants to add more staff and boost its traffic so that it can try to catch up to its nemesis BuzzFeed, but its ambitious Kinja commenting and community-engagement platform is having some growing pains, according to editorial director Joel Johnson
Time Inc. is independent, but saddled with debt and digitally adrift — 3 things it needs to do
Time Warner has spun off its magazine-publishing arm as a separate company, but the legendary firm faces the same challenge as the New York Times and other traditional media players: How to get from a print-centric world to a digital one
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Internal innovation report says the New York Times needs to up its digital game or else
An internal report that looked at how the New York Times is performing in terms of its digital strategy says the paper needs to focus a lot more on audience engagement and analytics — but can it take the steps necessary to disrupt its traditional culture?
From Snowden to Sonos, and Chromecast to connected dogs, the tech year in review
Phew! That was a crazy year for technology. But before we leave it all behind, enjoy some of the highlights with us.
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Rdio taps former Amazon exec Anthony Bay as new CEO
Rdio named Anthony Bay as its new CEO Tuesday. Bay joins the digital music subscription service from Amazon(s amzn), where he was…
Shrinking pains: Blip upsets publishers by removing countless videos
Online video service Blip is trying to scale down from 900,000 publishers to just a few thousand serialized shows. That process is anything but painless.
Why aren’t marketers talking about the Twitter IPO?
The Twitter filing for an initial public offering has set the tech community abuzz. But why aren’t marketers equally excited about what they read in the S-1?
Why Nick Denton could be the most disruptive force in online media right now
With the rollout of new blogging and rewriting features for readers who use its Kinja platform, Denton and Gawker Media continue to blur the line between their writers and editors and the people formerly known as the audience.
What digital media will look like in 2017 – highlights from PwC’s report
A leading consulting firm just put out its annual report on the entertainment and media industry. Here’s some highlights, including ones that show why it’s a good time to be in the content business.
Survey: Share your thoughts on Microsoft’s Xbox One
The web is abuzz with talk of Microsoft’s Xbox One, which was announced on Tuesday. Here’s a chance for GigaOM readers to share their own thoughts by taking our survey.
Analyst
Aram Sinnreich
Dr. Aram Sinnreich is an Analyst for Gigaom Research and an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information, in…
PBS MediaShift starts publishing ebooks; first topics: cord-cutting and self-publishing
PBS’s MediaShift is launching a line of ebooks, starting with titles on self-publishing and cord-cutting. Executive Mark Glaser says he plans to release 10 to 20 books this year, depending on how well the first titles do.
Gawker Media says its advertising future is affiliate links and commerce journalism
In a leaked internal memo, Gawker Media founder Nick Denton says that what the network describes as “a new type of service journalism” — posts filled with affiliate links — will become a major focus for the company.
Amazon Instant Video now playing on iPhone, iPod touch
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.
3 ways to deal with digital media when you die
A fuss about Bruce Willis and iTunes reminded people that our kids can’t inherit our digital media because we don’t own it in the first place. Here are some practical ways around that.
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Flash analysis: Is Twitter on the cusp of building a business?
Twitter is a mainstream communications technology that plays a critical role in news and content discovery. The company has spawned a business ecosystem of third-party developers and services that create apps and data analysis. But as it evolves its business model, Twitter has also generated controversy around its changing developer and user policies. Twitter feels like it is at a crossroads, so GigaOM Pro took a quick pulse of the tech community’s opinions on the company’s future prospects, its likely business model, and its role in the overall technology industry. The results are presented here, with analysis.
Twitter updates search function in line with in-app expansion
Twitter announced today that it’s enhancing the service’s search function to allow for greater discovery of new content and information on the part of users, providing them with auto-suggestions in the search bar that correlate with who users follow.
Media store wars: iTunes vs Amazon vs Google Play
Google now activates one million Android devices per day and has 400 million devices in the wild, but its media store efforts have lagged. Google Play now has more digital content types, so here’s a look at how it compares to iTunes and Amazon’s digital store.
The backstory on the most frequently cited chart in digital media
How did Terence Kawaja know that he might be onto something back in 2009 with his now highly cited map of the mind-bending digital advertising universe? Because of the way his investment banking peers reacted.
paidContent 2012: The conversation isn’t over
Several hundred execs filled The TimesCenter Wednesday for a day of intense conversation and discovery (on stage and off) about the current state of digital content online… and where we’re headed. But paidContent 2012 is just the beginning.
Place your orders: Facebook IPO shares set at $38
No more need for price speculation, folks. Facebook just put out amendment S-1 filing number 8, which sets its IPO price at $38.00 a share. Get your checkbooks ready.
Are you consuming more content overall thanks to mobile devices?
Yesterday’s news about Flipboard on Android devices got me thinking. Not only is most of my content now viewed on a mobile but I’m now consuming far more content than I ever did prior because smartphones and tablets “free” that content to use anywhere, anytime.
Is the 1% rule dead? The BBC thinks so, but it’s wrong
New research from the BBC suggests that one of the web’s most common rules of thumb no longer applies — and that online engagement has risen dramatically in recent years. But is its surprising conclusion based on a dramatic misinterpretation of the rule itself?
paidContent 2012 adds Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne
Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne joins us at paidContent 2012: At The Crossroads.for a look at what it takes to take a beloved brand digital — and the DRM strategy for J.K. Rowling’s insanely popular Harry Potter collection.
Weather Channel adds another former top Vivaki executive
Three months after it hired Vivaki founding partner David Kenny as its new CEO, the Weather Channel is bringing in another former top operative from the Publicis-owned media and digital-agency division, Curt Hecht.
Welcome to GigaOM Europe
From today we have a new addition to the family: GigaOM Europe — a home for breaking news and analysis on European startups, technology companies, venture capital and digital media. But what does that really mean?
Your guide to the new paidContent
Things look a little different around here today. Early on April 3, paidContent moved to a new platform. Here, we tell you what stays the same and what’s moved to help you get your bearings. Welcome to the new paidContent.
Labels and Spotify still struggle to convince some artists on stream rates
The debate over whether artists get enough money from streaming played out in public last week when EMI and Spotify executives failed to win over two skeptical EMI acts during an industry seminar…
Did the AP just declare war on news aggregators?
A lawsuit filed by the Associated Press against news aggregator Meltwater, accusing it of copyright infringement and “free riding” on its content, is just another sign that the newswire is trying to fight the democratization of distribution that the web provides instead of trying to adapt to it.
YouTube & its content discovery paradox
YouTube is making a massive investment in original programming. But as it increases the value of the content being produced and uploaded, it needs to get better about helping viewers find it. To do that, YouTube will need to step beyond search tackle the discovery challenge.
YouTube could introduce a subscription service of its own
While much of YouTube’s monetization efforts have been based on advertising, CEO Salar Kamangar said the company could potentially create a service that could enable content providers to create their own subscription-based video offerings on the YouTube platform.
KeepRecipes creates an iTunes for cookbooks
KeepRecipes is launching an “iTunes for recipes” on Friday, in hopes of building an online marketplace for buying and selling culinary ideas. It’s starting small, but KeepRecipes hopes to show cookbook publishers they can make money online and consumers that some recipes are worth paying for.
Encoding.com adds Vid.ly universal URLs to its cloud encoding platform
A year after launch, Encoding.com has decided to bring its Vid.ly universal URL service in-house. The cloud encoding vendor will make Vid.ly, which was originally rolled out as a standalone service, part of its offering to enterprise customers, which will bolster its overall product offering.
Vimeo’s massive redesign puts videos front and center
Vimeo has redesigned its website, with a much larger player and multiple features aimed at improving navigation and discovery. Built with its user base in mind, the new Vimeo has less clutter and is a lot faster when it comes to loading pages and finding videos.
How Hollywood drives people to piracy
Big media companies are pushing SOPA and PIPA to limit piracy. But it’s not Google’s fault people are seeking out films and watching pirated streams or downloads — it’s the studios’ fault for not making it easier for consumers to find and pay for that content instead.
Lovefilm lands on LG, Roku up next
U.K. Netflix clone Lovefilm just announced an app for LG’s smart TV’s, and the company is also getting ready to launch on Roku’s media streamer once the device becomes available to Britons. Details on the Roku app are scarce, but it could launch in early February.
Netflix, Hulu and the golden age of content
Hulu is launching its first original scripted show just days before Netflix will unveil its first stab at an original TV show. Both companies are part of a bigger movement toward original online programming that includes new ways of funding as well as distribution.
Dish’s Blockbuster @Home now streams 25,000 titles
Dish first announced its Blockbuster subscription streaming service three months ago. In that time, it’s been quietly ramping up the amount of content its subscribers can access through the service, boosting the number of choices from just 4,000 streaming titles at launch to more than 25,000 now.
NewsRight: A carrot, or a stick to beat aggregators with?
The Associated Press and a consortium of major media owners such as the New York Times have launched a “news registry” called NewsRight. The entity says it is about tracking and licensing content, but where will it draw the line on “over-aggregation” and fair use principles?
Can newspapers also be tech incubators?
The Philadelphia Media Network has launched a tech incubator and the Digital First Media chain have both announced plans to invest in startups. While both of these efforts may fail, it’s nice to see traditional media companies doing something other than simply putting up a paywall.
Portrait of (and podcast with) an artist entrepreneur: Marc Maron
Marc Maron’s popular WTF podcast is more than an entertaining listen; it shows how the artist-entrepreneur can harness the power of Internet distribution and community. In this audio interview, Maron talks about the lessons he has learned and where he fits into the media landscape.
A better recipe for digital cuisine
Digital recipes and cookbooks need to emulate the world of digital music. By creating a standard recipe format similar to the MP3, we could overcome the artificial barriers between cooking Websites, apps and our bookshelves. Only then could we be build truly comprehensive digital cooking libraries.
How Hulu’s ‘Steamboat’ ads recommend new shows to users
While Hulu has mostly built its audience by featuring popular new programming, it’s also building a recommendations system to introduce viewers to new content. It’s leveraging those recommendations with a new set of ads aimed at getting users hooked on shows they didn’t known about.
Five things I would do as CEO of the New York Times
New York Times CEO Janet Robinson recently stepped down from her post, and industry sources say she was asked to resign because she didn’t do enough on the digital side. Here are five suggested areas that a new CEO of the newspaper should focus on.
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What media companies can learn from the book industry’s disruption
We’ve written a lot here at GigaOM about the evolution — and disruption — of the book-publishing industry, from the rise of self-publishing phenomenons like Amanda Hocking to new e-book ventures like Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s forthcoming Pottermore site. The forces driving this disruption in traditional book publishing are the same as those affecting other media, be that newspapers, magazines or virtually any other publishing-based business. Here’s what other types of publishers can learn from the current state of the book industry.
The page turns: Tablets to outsell e-readers by 2012
Although dedicated e-readers arrived and became popular before the current tablet trend, multi-purpose connected slates are set to outsell single-purpose devices as early as next year. While some will always prefer an eInk reader over a tablet, software and connectivity are powering tablet sales past e-readers.
FCC to media: Don’t look to us, we can’t help you
When the FCC said it was putting together a report on the future of media, many feared it would recommend subsidies and other breaks for traditional media entities, but the report actually provides very little help for media companies, other than some helpful advice.
Is the iPad Launching the Two-Screen Revolution?
iPad owners are starting to see more and more apps that encourage the use of the device in conjunction with other screens. These apps allow the iPad to act as a supplemental screen for another, and they represent a new stage in our consumption of media.
