VideoNuze Posts

  • 5 Items of Interest for the Week of April 4th

    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!
     
  • Forget Cord-Cutting, Greed May Destroy the Cable Industry

    For all the ink that's been spilled over the past year about consumer-driven cord-cutting leading to the demise of the cable industry, could it instead end up that greed will cause the industry's own destruction? Maybe so. With the fracas over Time Warner's iPad app reaching ridiculous new levels each week, the industry is experiencing its own version of the old adage "We have met the enemy and he is us."

    Yesterday's turn of events - Time Warner Cable seeking a declaratory judgment from the U.S. District Court that it has the contractual rights to stream cable programming to its iPad app inside subscribers' homes, and Viacom responding with its own suit against Time Warner Cable - represent a dangerous breakdown in key industry relationships at a time when competitive forces loom larger than ever.

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  • New Netflix Deals Show How Little "Dexter" and "Californication" Really Matter

    A couple of weeks ago, in "Showtime Circles Its Wagons, But to What End?" I questioned Showtime's decision to withdraw from Netflix streaming rights to early seasons of 2 of its hit shows, "Dexter" and "Californication." One of the points I made was that Netflix would survive this loss just fine because they have enough streaming content already, and more coming all the time.

    Sure enough, Netflix has more than proved my point, announcing a deal last Friday with 20th Century Fox that gives it streaming rights to the first season of the Fox hit "Glee," the first 2 seasons of the FX favorite, "Sons of Anarchy" and the library of "Ally McBeal" and "The Wonder Years." Then this past Wednesday, Netflix announced a deal with Lionsgate for streaming rights to the first 4 seasons of AMC's signature series "Mad Men," with 3 more seasons to follow after their on-air run (Netflix already had the Canadian streaming rights to the show).

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  • YouTube Pursuing "Strategic Catalyst" Role for Industry

    An article in the WSJ yesterday reported that YouTube may be planning to spend up to $100 million to commission low-cost web-only content as part of a reorganization of the site into 20 "channels." While the article was short on details and YouTube wouldn't confirm anything, the initiative feels consistent with the "strategic catalyst" role I characterized YouTube as playing in the online video industry last month, following its acquisition of Next New Networks.

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  • Sony Pictures Taps Value of Archive With Thought Equity's Metadata Editor

    Major content providers are continuing to realize that new value can be mined from archives of long-form premium content by creating and indexing metadata in order to distribute shorter clips of key scenes. The latest example came this week as Sony Pictures Entertainment struck a deal with Thought Equity Motion to use its T3 Metadata (screen shot below) for its enormous catalog of entertainment content.

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  • Break Media and Scripped.com Give Young Screenwriters a Shot

    Online video has created enormous opportunities for undiscovered talent to make it big (e.g. Justin Bieber), and this week Break Media and Scripped.com announced a contest that offers them yet another shot. The "Break's Big Break" (say that 10 times fast!) contest asks up-and-coming screenwriters to submit their script, which will be judged by a panel including Ed Burns, Steven De Souza and Break executives. The winning script will be developed and distributed by Break and five finalists will also receive $500 for their efforts.

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  • VideoNuze Report Podcast #94 - Apr. 8, 2011

    I'm pleased to present the 94th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for April 8, 2011.

    In this week's podcast, Daisy Whitney and I discuss Q1 '11 financings and M&A for online/mobile video companies. In Monday's post I wrote that at least $477 million was raised in Q1, which is a new record quarter since I began tracking activity 2 years ago. I break down the numbers and Daisy and I discuss what they mean.

    Then I add a little more detail to my post from yesterday announcing the first 8 charter partners and 2 keynote speakers for ELEVATE: Online Video Advertising Summit on Tues., June 7th in NYC. The conference is really shaping up and there will be lots of additional news in the coming weeks.

    Next week finds Daisy at Ad:Tech and I'll be in Las Vegas at the NAB Show. We're hoping our schedules coincide so we can present podcast #95 next Friday!

    Click here to listen to the podcast (12 minutes, 20 seconds)


    Click here for previous podcasts

    The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!


     
  • Eight Charter Partners and Two Keynote Speakers Announced for ELEVATE Conference

    I'm very pleased to announce that eight industry-leading companies have come on board as charter partners for ELEVATE: Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 7th in New York City. In addition, two of the most esteemed executives in the industry, Albert Cheng, Executive Vice President, Digital Media, Disney/ABC Television, and David Kenny, President, Akamai Technologies (and former Managing Partner of VivaKi, and Chairman/CEO of Digitas), will be delivering keynotes. David Kenny will also be moderating a panel discussion including 2-3 senior executives from a brand/agency/content publisher following his remarks.

    ELEVATE's eight charter partners include:

    Title Partners: Auditude, VINDICO
     
    Premier Partners: Adap.tv
     
    Headline Partners: Innovid, HealthiNation, Panache, RAMP
     
    Participating Partners: Undertone Networks

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