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Panvidea Positions As "Post-House in the Cloud" With Move to Joyent
Panvidea, a leader in digital media preparation is positioning itself as a "post-house in the cloud" with its move to Joyent's Smart Technology
infrastructure hosted by SwitchCloud. Panvidea's CEO Chris Cali and VP of Marketing Doug Heise brought me up to date on the initiatives a couple of weeks ago.
Panvidea is working with various media/entertainment companies like A&E, Fox and Getty Images to move their digital video production processes into the cloud. As Chris and Doug explained, traditional post-production houses have performed both craft services and more fundamental media creation services. It is these latter services - storing, processing, packaging and distributing digital media - that Panvidea is looking to automate, while having post-houses still concentrate on the high-skill craft roles.
Categories: Technology
Topics: Joyent, Panvidea, SwitchCloud
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Both Roku and TiVo Get Hulu Plus Access
Hulu is extending access to its Hulu Plus subscription service to Roku devices and to TiVo Premiere. The service will be available to owners of these devices for $9.95/mo. Roku and TiVo follow availability of Hulu Plus on Samsung connected devices, Sony PS3 and the iOS devices.
Of course it's a real benefit to Hulu Plus subscribers to gain on-TV viewing through inexpensive connected devices, and no doubt we can expect more
devices to come, with boxee right at the top of the list. Still, with Hulu Plus following Netflix onto these devices, consumers are inevitably going to closely compare the two services. In this respect, as I've pointed out numerous times, most recently in the wake of Netflix's expanded deal with NBCU, Hulu Plus's content is going to look skimpy.
To be fair, for what it is - access to current and past seasons of broadcast programs, Hulu Plus is a great service. The problem is that DVRs already solve the current season episode value proposition for many (40% of homes and growing, according to Leichtman Research) while the prior seasons episodes are increasingly available on Netflix. Meanwhile, with TV Everywhere rolling out, Hulu Plus will be challenged to get access to cable TV network programs.
Expanding the number of devices that can access Hulu Plus is the right move (and a refreshing update after previously blocking free Hulu.com content). Nonetheless the big challenge for Hulu Plus remains getting more content.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Aggregators, Devices
Topics: Hulu Plus, Netflix, Roku, TiVo
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5Min Acquired By AOL, Why Exit So Early?
This morning AOL announced that it has acquired 5Min with the rumor mill suggesting the price is $65 million. For AOL, the deal makes a lot of sense and is yet another building block in its video and niche content strategy. 5Min is especially relevant to AOL since it acquired Studio Now earlier this year. 5Min gives AOL significant distribution reach both for video that Studio Now creates and for other content AOL develops. 5Min has masterfully executed the video syndication opportunity that I've been bullish about for some time and I've been a big 5Min fan for a while.
The bigger question for me, which I've emailed to Ran Harnevo, 5Min's CEO and Co-Founder, is why sell now? While $65 million is certainly nothing to sneeze at, given $13 million was invested in the company the returns for investors are likely in the 2-4x range, again not shabby, but not a grand slam.
Categories: Deals & Financings, Portals, Syndicated Video Economy
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For Pay-TV Operators, Will TV Everywhere Be TV Nowhere?
I continue to be confounded by the fact that the pay-TV industry - both operators and cable TV networks - have not made more progress on TV Everywhere, their most important competitive initiative in the online era. Yesterday I got yet another dose of this sobering reality watching a panel discussion at ScreenPlays magazine's Media Innovations Summit in LA. The panel included Synacor's Ted May, Starz's John Penney, EPIX's Emil Rensing, thePlatform's Marty Roberts and AT&T's Dan York and was moderated by Marketing/PR executive Bob Gold.
It's not that industry executives can't articulate the value to both operators and networks. For pay-TV operators, it's providing increased value to paying subscribers, which helps both acquisition and retention efforts. For cable networks, its expanded audience reach and advertising, while maintaining their hybrid model of paid distribution and advertising. For both it's staying competitive by providing access to premium content for consumers when, how and where they want it.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Satellite, Telcos
Topics: AT&T, EPIX, Starz, Synacor, thePlatform
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Webinar Next Tuesday, Oct. 5th: Demystifying Mobile Video
Next Tuesday, Oct. 5th, The Diffusion Group and VideoNuze will present the fifth complimentary webinar in our 2010 "Demystifying" series, with this session's focus on demystifying mobile video. The series is exclusively sponsored by ActiveVideo Networks.
Once again, TDG's Colin Dixon and I will be hosting and moderating. Joining us will be Matt Smith, VP/Chief Systems Architect at Inlet Technologies, a leading provider of solutions for digital media preparation. Matt will share thoughts on how Inlet's media customers are beginning to exploit mobile video, along with their challenges and successes. Then we'll have moderated Q&A followed by plenty of time for audience Q&A.
Mobile video is white hot right now and poised for huge growth ahead. The proliferation of video-capable smartphones (iPhone, Android, etc.) and more recently video-friendly tablets like the iPad (plus new entrants like the Dell Streak, Samsung Tab, etc.) are driving a sea-change in consumers' expectations about on-the-go video. In the midst of this we're seeing advertisers flock to mobile video. In fact, even using the term "mobile video" may be short-lived, as the lines between devices and the experiences they provide continue to blur.
Click here to learn more and register about this complimentary webinar (Tues, Oct 5, 11am PT/ 2pm ET).Categories: Mobile Video, Webinars
Topics: ActiveVideo Networks, Inlet Technologies, Webinar
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NYTVF Digital Day Highlights: Indie Success through Branded Entertainment, Syndication
Originally conceived four years ago as a platform for burgeoning independent television producers, the New York Television Festival (NYTVF), which just finished up this weekend, has jumped ahead of the looming convergence by giving online video a progressively larger focus, particularly through its "Digital Day."
Started in 2008, Digital Day is a daylong event with panels discussing the digital entertainment landscape. This year's panels included producers and executives from MSN/Bing, Blip.TV, Next New Networks, Digitas' The Third Act, NBC Universal, and Electus' Ben Silverman. The topics discussed were primarily monetization through brand integration and syndication on major portals.
Categories: Branded Entertainment, Syndicated Video Economy
Topics: New York Television Festival
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Time Warner's "Premium Video-on-Demand" Experiment is a Blind Alley
Talk about an initiative that flies in the face of all prevailing sentiment: Time Warner is moving forward on testing a new window for early-release movies on VOD priced at $20-30 apiece in 2011, according to comments its CFO John Martin made yesterday at the Goldman Sachs conference. Never mind the
wrath the idea will stir up among movie theater owners whose traditional windows get cannibalized as a consequence (Disney learned about that with its "Alice in Wonderland" early DVD release experiment last February), the real issue is that pay-TV operators should deem the idea a non-starter.
Typical VOD rental rates of $4-5 already look expensive to consumers compared to Netflix's $9 all-you-can-eat monthly plans and Redbox's $1 DVD rentals. And while there are scenarios where getting a group or family together to watch a movie makes sense, it's getting harder than ever to do so. The reality is that families are atomizing to their individual activities; perusing or playing on Facebook, watching YouTube/Hulu/Netflix/etc., playing with the Wii or Farmville, chatting on Skype, shopping on Amazon, etc. Corralling this crowd and getting them to agree on any one movie is already a challenge; the prospect of paying $20-30 for the pleasure just sets the bar that much higher.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, FIlms, Satellite, Studios, Telcos
Topics: Disney, Netflix, Redbox, Time Warner, Time Warner Cable
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Netflix's Expanded NBCU Deal Further Marginalizes Hulu Plus
This morning Netflix announced its latest content licensing deal to bulk up the its streaming catalog, adding a range of programs from NBCU. It's a long list which includes next day access to Saturday Night Live (plus the full backcatalog), last season episodes for 30 Rock, The Office and Law&Order: SVU (in addition to renewing back episodes already available), plus past seasons of Friday Night Lights, Psych, Monk, Battlestar Galactica, Destination Truth and Eureka. Netflix didn't identify exactly how many total episodes the deal adds to streaming, but it's very substantial.
On the losing end of this deal is Hulu, and more specifically, its budding subscription service Hulu Plus (note the irony that one of Hulu's parent companies is NBCU). As I explained in late August, in "88% of Hulu Plus Content is Already Available for Free on Hulu.com," when it comes to content, Hulu Plus is getting squeezed from all sides, seriously limiting its ability to be much more than an outlet for delayed-release current season and past seasons' episodes of broadcast programs. This is an extremely narrow value proposition which is unlikely to gain widespread adoption.
Categories: Aggregators, Cable Networks
Topics: Hulu, Hulu Plus, NBCU, Netflix
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