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Two New NDS Products Aim To Turbocharge Content and Apps for Pay-TV Operators
Pay-TV technology provider NDS is introducing two products this morning that aim to turbocharge new content and applications offerings from pay-TV
operators. The moves are further evidence of how the line between traditional TV and over-the-top content/apps continues to blur. Last week, NDS's SVP of Advanced Products and Markets Yoni Hashkes and VP/Chief Marketing Officer Nigel Smith walked me through the two new NDS products.
The first, dubbed "Infinite TV Exchange" creates a marketplace for content creators/curators to interact with pay-TV operators who want to add specialized channels to their linear and VOD line-up. With Infinite TV Exchange, professional content providers can upload individual videos, which either they, or third-parties, can then curate into cohesive, branded programming packages or "channels." NDS has initial commitments from National Geographic, Revision 3, SPEED channel, Watch Mojo, Red Bull Media and others, totaling up to about 100,000 hours of content to be uploaded to the market.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Technology
Topics: NDS
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With Next New Networks Deal, YouTube Evokes Cable's Early Days
With Monday's announcement that YouTube is acquiring independent video producer Next New Networks, plenty of people have concluded that Google
and YouTube have officially become content providers themselves - something the companies swore they'd never become. While it's tempting to conclude this, my take is that YouTube is actually lifting a page from the cable industry's evolution - seeking to act less as content creator, and more as a "strategic catalyst" for the online video era. Let me explain.
Back in the early days of cable, its primary value proposition was purely improved reception. Many of the earliest cable systems were built in communities where over-the air broadcast signals were poor. Once those initial systems were built and then subsequently upgraded to have expanded capacity, the industry recognized that it needed to hang its hat on more than just the proposition of "better picture quality." Thus began a frenzied process of creating new specialty channels to appeal to specific audience segments. Initially these channels offered re-runs and other inexpensive shows they could get their hands on (who remembers that ESPN's early days featured ping-pong?). Eventually however, these channels would become original programming powerhouses in their own right.
Categories: Aggregators, Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Deals & Financings, Indie Video
Topics: Liberty Media, Next New Networks, TCI, YouTube
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Playwire Introduces Low-Cost Online Video Platform
Just when you thought the online video platform space was finally entering a consolidation phase, today a new OVP called Playwire Video is launching.
Playwire is backed by Intergi Entertainment, a gaming content provider/ad network. Jayson Dubin, president of both Playwire and Intergi recently briefed me on today's video launch.
Despite the range of current video options, Jayson recounted that his personal experience in trying to select a video platform left him feeling there were still significant technical/operational challenges for small-to-mid-size users and also inflexible pricing terms. Jayson thinks of YouTube as an easy on-ramp, but one that didn't offer great direct monetization options. On the other end he said more robust solutions still felt pretty techie to him, and with their pricing terms, hard to actually make money from.
Categories: Technology
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Announcing ELEVATE: Online Video Advertising Summit, On Tuesday, June 7th In NYC
Today I'm very excited to announce ELEVATE: Online Video Advertising Summit, a new, one-day conference, which, as the name implies, will focus entirely on the dynamic online video advertising industry. The date of the conference is Tuesday, June 7th, during Internet Week in New York City.
I'm equally excited to share that my partner in ELEVATE is Marc Sternberg, who until recently was the President and COO of AlwaysOn, the highly respected technology industry conference/networking company. Marc has a wealth of event and sponsorship experience from organizing over 20 executive-level events at AO. He also has deep entertainment industry experience from 23 years on the publishing side of The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Importantly, we share a common vision for the ELEVATE conference and our skills are extremely complementary to one another.
ELEVATE will be a must attend event for senior executives from brands, agencies, content providers/publishers, technology providers and others in the fast-growing online video ad ecosystem who are eager to see it grow and mature. Marc and I intend to work closely with key industry thought-leaders to attract the right participants, create the most informative sessions and enable the best networking so that attendees have the highest-impact experience. We see ELEVATE as a joint venture with online video ad leaders who understand that a rising tide lifts all boats.
Categories: Events
Topics: ELEVATE
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Amazon is Still a Paper Tiger in Online Video Subscriptions
Since Amazon introduced a streaming video benefit in its Prime service almost 2 weeks ago, there have been plenty of people suggesting that the move was a game-changer in online video subscriptions. Eventually that may be the case. But for now, Amazon's streaming video strategy appears very underwhelming and is unlikely to change industry dynamics much at all. When compared to the effort and resources Amazon has put into the Kindle, for example, streaming video looks more like a side project than a high-priority company initiative.
As I wrote in my initial review, the pervasive problem in Amazon's approach to streaming video is the absence of a clearly defined video brand or value proposition. The fact that Amazon decided to staple video streaming onto the Prime membership program says a lot about how Amazon views video for now: as a supporting player to more important company revenue drivers like Prime, rather than a star in its own right.
Categories: Aggregators
Topics: Amazon
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5 Items of Interest for the Week of Feb. 28th
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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Op-Ed in the L.A. Times and NPR Interview
I was very pleased to have an op-ed piece published in the L.A. Times this week, "Pay-TV's Full-Court Press" in which I explained how the recent Time Warner Cable deal with the L.A. Lakers is going to be very costly for pay-TV subscribers in the L.A. area, whether they are sports fans or not. The piece echoes points I made last month in "Not A Sports Fan? Then You're Getting Sacked For At Least $2 Billion Per Year."
Producers at the main L.A. NPR affiliate, KCRW noticed the op-ed and called for an interview on the "Which Way, LA?" program with Warren Olney which runs at 7pm weekdays. The recording is here, and my interview segment starts about 1 minute into the broadcast. I continue to believe that the huge cost for pay-TV's non-sports fans and casual fans to receive expensive sports networks they don't watch is ultimately going to cause them to re-evaluate the value of their pay-TV subscriptions. With the rise of lower cost and free over-the top options like Netflix and Hulu - plus the proliferation of connected devices - entertainment-minded consumers will be very tempted to save money by reducing their pay-TV service.Categories: Sports
Topics: Hulu, KCRW, LA Times, Netflix
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It's NCAA March Madness On Demand Season Again
Speaking of sports, Turner Sports, CBS Sports and the NCAA announced this week that March Madness on Demand will be back online and free to users yet again. MMOD is by far the highest-profile sports event offered live online and the NCAA and networks just keep on improving it every year. For the 2011 tournament, the big new drawing card will be an iPad app, along with new features like personalized channel lineups, social interaction and live stats updates.
Categories: Broadcasters, Cable Networks, Sports
Topics: CBS, MMOD, NCAA, Turner Sports
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