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6 Things Pay-TV Operators Can Learn From Blockbuster's Fall
Blockbuster's bankruptcy filing was a long time in coming, but is still daunting when you think back to how omnipresent and powerful the company used to be. To be sure, there has been a lot of distracting M&A and corporate drama surrounding Blockbuster over the years which no doubt contributed to its decline. Still, there have been fundamental shifts in its business that Blockbuster missed.
Specifically, Netflix has been both a catalyst of Blockbuster's demise and also a big beneficiary. Now, with Netflix aggressively pursuing over-the-top streaming, it is inevitably going to put pressure on traditional pay-TV operators. So what might pay-TV operators learn from Blockbuster's bankruptcy? Here are 6 things. No doubt there are more.
Categories: Aggregators
Topics: Blockbuster, Netflix
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BrightRoll Unifies Mobile and Online Video Ads in New Offering
Online video ad network BrightRoll is announcing this morning that clients can now buy pre-roll ads in mobile streams using the same BrightRoll buying
platform as they use for online video. The move is further evidence that as the universe of mobile devices that play video continues to proliferate, the infrastructure that allows unified media planning and buying will follow.
Categories: Advertising, Mobile Video
Topics: BrightRoll
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Roku Refreshes Product Line to Offer 1080p HD Streaming
Roku is once again refreshing its product line, introducing 3 new players, including two that will offer 1080p HD streaming for the first time for Roku. As the chart below shows, the most notable features of the new top-of-the line XDS model ($99.99) are the upgraded HD capability, and a new "Instant Replay" feature on the remote control that allows users to jump back in the stream by 10 seconds without any buffering. The XDS also includes extended-range, dual-band Wireless N connectivity to home networks and a USB drive for portable media (note the existing HDXR model also has USB and will receive a firmware upgrade in the Fall to activate it).
Categories: Devices
Topics: Roku
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Netflix Makes Canadian Streaming Service Official
As expected, this morning Netflix officially announced its first non-U.S. offering, a streaming-only service in Canada, priced at CDN $7.99, including a 1-month trial. Netflix also announced Canadian content licensing deals with U.S. studios Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Sony, 20th Century Fox and Universal, plus Canadian distributors Alliance Films, Maple Pictures, eOne and Mongrel. In particular, Netflix called out the availability of movies like "Superbad," "A Beautiful Mind" and "Slumdog Millionaire" plus back episodes of AMC's "Mad Men" which are not available in the U.S. Conversely, some content available in the U.S. for streaming won't yet be available in Canada.
Categories: Aggregators, International
Topics: Netflix
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Cisco's "LOL" Ad Campaign Showcases Video's Potential
Cisco is further personalizing its "Human Network" tag line with new "LOL" online ads (that's "Laugh Out Loud" for those of you not attuned to texting/tweeting/IM'ing shorthand), that demonstrate the power of video in our lives. I've seen the Cisco LOL banner ad in a number of web sites recently.
The ad links to a video wall that features 10 videos ranging from 15 seconds to a few minutes, with all showcasing new ways that video enriches people's lives and makes work more productive. Specific Cisco products/services highlighted include distance learning, telepresence, Webex, digital signage, Flip videocameras and Show and Share. The only celebrities featured are Magic Johnson and Ellen Page, with the latter's video a replay of her TV ad. While it's tempting to think of online video as being all about media, the Cisco wall shows there are many other uses.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: Cisco, ExtendMedia
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Intel's CEO is Bullish on Google TV, Less So on Apple TV
Intel CEO Paul Otellini is plenty bullish on Google TV. In a short video interview with CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow, he praises Google TV's vision, saying that "we're just at the beginning of the smart TV revolution" and that "the holy grail here is a seamless proactive integration of this content." Of course, Otellini has a vested stake in Google TV's success as Intel is supplying its Atom chip to power Google TV.
Otellini is decidedly more bullish on Google TV than he is on Apple TV, though he's cautious in noting that Apple is an Intel customer too. He says that Apple TV is "a streaming device for protected content, and there's a market for that," but quickly adds, "I think there's a bigger market for a deeper integration of the Internet into content." I think he's right on both accounts. It depends on what the user values - an open Internet experience on their TV, or a closed, but easy-to-use way of accessing a high-quality library (not to mention the price for each). There isn't one right answer, yet anyway. See "For Connected Devices, To Browse or Not to Browse - That is the Question" for a deeper discussion.
Categories: Devices, People, Technology
Topics: Apple TV, Google TV, Intel
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New Net Neutrality Ad Campaign Draws in Google's Co-Founders
When it comes to net neutrality, I've learned to expect the unexpected, as any sense of a formal process was long-ago abandoned in favor of an ad hoc free-for-all by interested parties. That was epitomized by the recent partnership between Google and Verizon which joined up to go rogue by proposing their own net neutrality recommendations in August. Though they thought they were moving the ball forward on the issue, they were promptly scorched by net neutrality advocates for endorsing vague private Internet lanes and exempting wireless from any new regulations.
Now the latest chapter in the net neutrality battle is unfolding with an online ad campaign, featuring an online petition directed to Google's co-founders
Sergey Brin and Larry Page, to live up to Google's corporate motto "don't be evil" by walking away from the Verizon deal. The campaign is funded by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and other advocacy groups like MoveOn and Free Press. The petition's web site states that over 334,000 people have signed on so far. Ironically the ads are being bought through Google itself, and on Facebook.
Categories: Broadband ISPs, Regulation, Telcos
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Netflix Launching Canadian Streaming Service on Wednesday
It looks like Netflix is set to launch its streaming-only service in Canada this Wednesday, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, which says CEO
Reed Hastings will do the unveiling in Toronto. Netflix announced on July 19th that it would launch in Canada, its first non-U.S. market.
There are pros and cons to Netflix entering the Canada without offering DVDs-by-mail. The main pros are that Netflix avoids the expense associated with both building out the DVD warehouses/delivery centers and the postage expense to send discs. The cons are that the content selection will be drastically lower than what's available in the U.S., which could disappoint Canadians eager to have the same American service. Even though Netflix has been aggressively adding to its streaming catalog, it's still a fraction of what's on DVD. And it's not clear yet whether all the streaming deals Netflix has recently cut include Canadian distribution rights.
Hastings has been candid in the past that Netflix will proceed cautiously with international expansion. There are a lot of new variables outside the U.S., including competition. Over the weekend there was a report that Amazon may be looking to acquire the remaining part of U.K.'s LoveFilm that it doesn't already own.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Aggregators, International
Topics: Amazon, LOVEFiLM, Netflix
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