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And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming
Thanks for all the comments, emails, tweets, calls and other feedback on my little April Fool's Day "exclusive," that Netflix planned to acquire HBO, dissolve its channels and add HBO's programs to its iPad app. As with my prior April Fool's Day posts, it was a lot of fun to write, and even more fun to receive the range of reactions (yes, if you still thought it was true by the end, you were not alone!)
As with all April Fool's Day attempts that seem to work, the key is making the joke just believable enough to elicit the tension of "Wow!" vs. "No Way!" Of course April Fool's Day has become open season on the Internet, meaning that for many, the new standing policy on April 1st is to not believe ANYTHING they read.
While that raises the bar for me, the good news is that in the online video and pay-TV worlds, things have gotten so tumultuous that what was unthinkable yesterday somehow becomes reality today. Thus quite a few people's reaction to today's "exclusive" was that it was not only plausible, but actually expected. The idea that Netflix could acquire HBO still feels like an awfully big stretch to me, but who knows - someday it could happen.
Regardless, on Monday, VideoNuze will be back to its serious-minded coverage of the industry. Enjoy the weekend!
Categories: Miscellaneous
Topics: Apple, HBO, iPad, Netflix
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EXCLUSIVE: Netflix to Acquire HBO, Dissolve Channels Into Streaming Library for iPad Use Only
VideoNuze has learned that Netflix has struck a deal to acquire HBO from Time Warner and intends to dissolve HBO's linear cable channels, with its programs to be incorporated into Netflix's streaming library, available solely on the iPad. Terms of the deal are not yet known, but it is expected to be for stock only, with Time Warner becoming the biggest shareholder in Netflix. VideoNuze interviewed all the key participants late last night.
The deal is a stunning move for all parties, and reflects the fast-changing nature of the online video and pay-TV industries. First and foremost, the deal appears to be a stark reversal of opinion by Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes
who has consistently diminished Netflix's prospects. Bewkes commented, "My informal recent remarks, comparing Netflix's rise to the Albanian army's chances of taking over the world got me thinking afterwards, geez, is it possible that I've underestimated Albania's might, and therefore Netflix's potential? So I decided to study up on my history, and it turns out that back in 1378, Albania actually conquered almost three-quarters of the world's population. That was an eye-opener and really made me second-guess myself."
Categories: Cable Networks, Deals & Financings
Topics: Apple, HBO, iPad, Netflix
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Thomson Reuters Ramps Up Video With Innovative "Multimedia Centre"
Video is not only hugely popular with consumers, it's also fast becoming critical for enterprises in both their internal and external communications. That's the message behind Thomson Reuters' innovative new "Multimedia Centre" online video platform (OVP), which was quietly launched a couple of weeks ago. Thomson Reuters global head of multimedia solutions Shaun McIver and Multimedia Centre product lead David Gascoine walked me through the company's strategy and demo'd the product for me last week.
The background here is that Thomson Reuters has become the world's largest webcast provider, powering over 20K for its clients per year. That experience has given it a unique perspective on enterprises' evolving communications needs. Multimedia Centre recognizes that the next level of communicating with audiences involves both video and improved tools for self-publishing. Just like with other OVPs, with Multimedia Centre users are able to easily upload their videos, sort them into playlists, add tags, create players, publish these to web sites complete with embed codes, share them to social media sites and more.
Categories: Enterprises, Technology
Topics: Thomson Reuters
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Roku Scores Best Buy Distribution Deal
Roku is announcing this morning that its Roku XD streaming player will be available at Best Buy stores nationwide. The deal is a big win for Roku which
has primarily relied on online sales to drive over 1 million units to date. The price point for the Roku XD, which delivers up to 1080p HD using 802.11n WiFi will be $79.99, the same as online.
I've been using the XD device for a while now and it performs nicely. The biggest question mark I've had about Roku has been around its ability to compete in a very noisy consumer electronics environment, dominated by giants with well-known brands. Lately the success of Apple TV, which also retails for under $100, has felt like it could squeeze Roku, especially given the popularity of Apple's stores, which have no doubt helped introduce many to the Apple TV product. Because Roku only had limited hands-on opportunities, primarily early adopters would be drawn to its players.
Topics: Best Buy, Crackle, Roku
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YuMe Relevance Engine Introduced for Improved Video Ad Buying
Video ad technology and network YuMe is taking the wraps off its new "YuMe Relevance Engine" this morning, representing another key step forward in realizing online video's potential for ad targeting. The Relevance Engine powers the new 3.0 version of YuMe's ACE for Publishers ad system. Last week, YuMe's Jayant Kadambi, president and co-founder and Ed Haslam, SVP, Marketing briefed me on how they work.
With the Relevance Engine, YuMe is helping empower publishers to attract TV ad dollars by addressing each piece of the relevance equation: advertisers' needs, the publisher context and the target consumer audience. Advertisers' needs include things like brand safety, targeted devices, reach goals, and context/audience targeting. On the publisher side, criteria include page and video content awareness (based on metadata ingestion), eCPMs, viewing environment (such as which OVP player is used), device and connection speed. Finally, for the consumer profile, this includes demographics, ad viewing history, preferences, targeting data and content interests (based on cookies).
Categories: Advertising, Technology
Topics: YuMe
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7 Things "Dexter" Taught Me About the Future of TV
Last week, in "Showtime Circles Its Wagons, But to What End," I mentioned that I have recently become a huge fan of the network's hit show "Dexter." I was exposed to "Dexter" a while back when an old friend gave me the first two seasons on DVD. I had put them away and recently found them doing some cleaning and decided to give the show a try.
My wife, who ordinarily shares my taste in TV, was completely grossed out by "Dexter" in the first 5 minutes (which is easy to understand considering blood is practically a supporting character in the show), so watching it together on
our main big-screen TV wasn't going to be in the cards. However, I noticed that the first two seasons were available on Netflix streaming, and so I decided early on to watch most of the first season's 12 episodes on my iPad, the first time I would do so with any TV series. Along the way I became completely hooked on the show, and am now well into season 2.
Having this experience gave me a far more personal perspective of how the experience of watching TV is changing for consumers, and what this all means for the future of TV. Here are 7 of the most important takeaways:
Categories: Cable Networks
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5 Items of Interest for the Week of March 21st
Happy Friday! Below is VideoNuze's end-of-week feature, recapping 5-6 interesting online/mobile video industry news items that we weren't able to cover this week. Enjoy!Categories: Miscellaneous
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Time Warner Cable iPad App Disrupting the Cable Industry
It's been less than 2 weeks since Time Warner Cable announced its iPad app, but the fur has been flying ever since. In the WSJ's latest coverage today, it details how TWC is continuing to insist that its contracts with cable networks give it the right to stream their linear channels to iPads in subscribers' homes. Conversely, multiple network groups, including Scripps, Viacom and Discovery have disagreed, leading to an increasingly public internecine industry fight.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Devices
Topics: Discovery, iPad, Scripps, Time Warner Cable, Viacom
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