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Best Hospitals Video Series Returns for a Second Year
I missed an interesting item late last week, which is that U.S. News and HealthiNation have partnered for the second year to present their "2010-2011 Best Hospitals" video series. The series showcases U.S. News health rankings editor Avery Comarow providing an explanation of the rankings process and then drilling down into 5 specialty medical areas. There are 10 videos in this year's series and this time they are also embeddable.
I like the approach as it provides an accessible introduction to the magazine's text content, and also provides a jumping off point into HealthiNation's deeper catalog of health-related videos. Raj Amin, HealthiNation's CEO told me that his company does all of the video production, which in turn gives U.S. News a turnkey, valuable video augment to their print model. There's a banner ad at the bottom of each video player providing incremental revenue.
Categories: Indie Video, Magazines
Topics: HealthiNation, U.S. News
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Steve Jobs, The Media and All Of Us
Today a slight diversion from VideoNuze's usual online/mobile video coverage, to share a few thoughts about "Antennagate" as the iPhone 4 signal loss issue has been called. If you're sick of reading anything related to Antennagate (and I don't blame you if you are) then feel free to move on now. But if you're like me, and believe that the whole Antennagate episode says far more about state of today's media than it does about Apple, then please read on.
The iPhone 4's signal issue, arising when the phone is held in a certain way has been demonstrated, and Steve Jobs completely acknowledged it right up front at Apple's press conference last Friday. However, since the start of Antennagate I've wondered just how serious it actually is? Apple's statistics, though no doubt presented with Jobs's best spin, pretty much summed up what I've suspected from the start - that Antennagate was a relatively minor issue completely blown out of proportion by the media.
Categories: Devices
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Marriott Gets It Right With "Ultra-Adaptable Room"
When I'm traveling I'm pretty much a Starwood loyalist. But this week I stayed at a Marriott in Newport, RI for a night and was pleasantly surprised with Marriott's "Ultra-Adaptable Room" which is not only well suited to the connected business traveler, but also highly appealing for guests who want to watch their own video, not just what's available from the expensive in-room entertainment options (to show how long it's been since I've stayed at a Marriott, apparently the Ultra-Adaptable Room concept was introduced in '07, so maybe this is old news for some of you).
I've scanned in a picture from the brochure of the connected console that hangs on the wall adjacent to both the desk and the TV (it's about 18 inches wide and 6 inches high). As the labels indicate, there are multiple inputs, which offer a range of choices for video viewing from your laptop (HDMI, VGA, S-Video and Component). With the set-up guests can watch video that's stored locally (DVDs, weekend home movies, etc.) or, if using the hotel's broadband connection or their wireless aircard, can stream content from online sources (e.g. Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, etc.).
Categories: Miscellaneous
Topics: Marriott
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #68 - July 16, 2010
Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 68th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for July 16, 2010.
In this podcast Daisy first discusses her observations from this week's NATPE LATV Fest. Daisy had a number of interesting conversations with independent online video producers and she shares some of what's succeeding and lessons learned.
Then we shift gears and spend some time talking about Google's 1 gigabit/second fiber-to-the-home project. Earlier this week Google created a new web site called "Google Fiber for Communities" which curiously only offers a little information about the project itself, but rather focuses on incenting citizens to express their support, in different ways, for legislation mandating fiber conduits are installed in federally funded transportation projects. It makes a similar recommendation for city-funded projects. It's seems like a far-flung initiative from the search company, or maybe not. Daisy and I speculate on what might be up.
Click here to listen to the podcast (14 minutes, 9 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!
Categories: Podcasts
Topics: Google, NATPE, Podcast
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Why Netflix Has All of Nip/Tuck and Hulu Plus Doesn't
Last week I happened to be reviewing the catalog of Netflix Watch Instantly TV shows available and noticed something curious: all 6 seasons of Nip/Tuck were available. Not only was this the only TV series where all episodes were
available, the finale episode had only been aired just a few months ago. That's unusual for Netflix, which typically only has sporadic, older seasons of TV shows available for streaming. I then checked out Hulu Plus and didn't find any Nip/Tuck full episodes available, just a smattering of clips. Considering Nip/Tuck was an FX show (a network owned by News Corp, which is a Hulu owner) and a perfect candidate to bolster Hulu Plus's mainly broadcast TV catalog, I wondered what was going?
This morning's WSJ answers my question: Netflix has signed a deal with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group to carry Nip/Tuck, as well as other lesser series such as "Veronica Mars," "Pushing Daisies" and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." (Warner Bros. produced the show) The deal illustrates the challenges Hulu Plus has ahead of it in trying to position itself as a comprehensive subscription service for more than just broadcast TV shows online.
The deal also underscores Netflix's relentless pursuit of additional content for its streaming catalog. Speculating a bit, I think it's also a dividend from the company's 28-day DVD delay deal with Warner Bros. from earlier this year. At the time I asserted that Netflix was trying to be a valuable partner to Warner Bros. by agreeing to give the studio a little breathing room to eke out some additional DVD sales before Netflix rentals kick in. First and foremost that deal made good business sense for Netflix, but I think it also showed studios that Netflix is trying to play nicely rather than trying to disrupt the ecosystem. Lo and behold a few months later the deal for Nip/Tuck and others occurs.
Netflix is being smart about building its streaming catalog. As the recent deal with Relativity Media also showed, Netflix is nibbling around the edges, getting access to better and better content, while continuing to demonstrate the value of its streaming feature to Hollywood. Next week Netflix will report its Q2 earnings, and no doubt it will show further big subscriber gains, adding to the almost 3 million subscribers it has added in the last 2 quarters. Though Netflix isn't directly competitive to Hulu Plus, the more deals Netflix can strike for shows like Nip/Tuck, the harder it will become for Hulu Plus to be much more than what it already is.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required)?Categories: Aggregators, Cable Networks
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Verizon's Droid X Hits the Market Today
The smartphone market takes another important step forward today as the Droid X officially becomes available. Made by Motorola, powered by Google's Android OS and sold exclusively by Verizon, the device has received rave
reviews from those who have tested it. The Droid X is particularly interesting to me because it sports a 4.3 inch high-resolution display that makes mobile video watching more satisfying than ever. In addition, the Droid X takes 720p HD video, making it a high impact pocket video camera as well.
As I wrote last month when the Droid X was unveiled, watching video on the device itself is only half the pleasure. Because the Droid X has both a mini-HDMI output and is DLNA compliant, it offers the opportunity to connect to the big screen TV to watch videos and browse photos there, making it a "mobile set-top box." This is a very exciting prospect and yet again creates new video value.
I've been testing the HTC Evo from Sprint for the last month, which has a similar screen size to the Droid X and also has the HDMI output. It's very cool to be able to shoot HD video on the phone and then immediately be able to connect it to the TV and play it. My experience is that video stored locally on the Evo plays really nicely, but unfortunately when video is played over the network there's a fair amount of degradation, which may partly due to Sprint coverage at my house. I'm planning to get a Droid X and will be interested to see how they compare.
Regardless, it's still very early days in terms of the high-quality video features (both playback and record) for this new generation of smartphones and what we're seeing now is just a preview of things to come.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Mobile Video
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What's Google Really Up To With Its Fiber-to-the-Home Project?
I continue to be intrigued about what Google is up to with its 1 gigabit/second fiber-to-the-home project that it announced back in February. The latest (non) update is that yesterday the company unveiled a new resource web site for the project, dubbed "Google Fiber for Communities."
While there's an FAQ link for the project, there really isn't much new information provided about the project itself. Instead, the most prominent
button on the new site says "Take Action Now" (Improve Broadband in Your Community). Clicking it takes you to a site that discusses the cost of laying fiber conduit and gets into the minutiae of digging up streets. There's a button to email your representative to express support for pending federal legislation requiring installation of conduit in federally-funded transportation projects. There's also a lengthy set of recommendations that city-sponsored road projects also include conduit.
What's going on here? Why is Google, which derives the vast majority of its revenues from search advertising, dedicating time and resources to advocating for local fiber conduit? The only thing I can conclude is that Google is trying to lay the groundwork to eventually expand well beyond its upcoming fiber trial. This would be facilitated by having conduit already in place around the country. Even still, as I described in my original post in February discussing the fiber experiment, wiring up communities is tough, tedious and costly work that Google has little experience with.
Categories: Broadband ISPs
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VINDICO Gets MRC Accredited
VINDICO, the recently created video ad server division of BBE, is announcing this morning that it has been accredited by the Media Ratings Council (MRC). For those not familiar, the MRC is an independent industry association that
works to ensure audience measurement is valid, reliable and effective. VINDICO believes it is the first demand-side video ad server to be accredited by MRC (there may others, I'm not sure; I know that FreeWheel was accredited about 6 months ago).
Matt Timothy, VINDICO's president, told me yesterday that the accreditation is a big step forward for both the company, and the online video ad industry. Matt explained that with online video advertising still relatively early-stage, there's been a "Wild West" dynamic with different ad servers and measurement approaches. That friction constrains advertiser spending in the new medium. MRC gives VINDICO new credibility with the agencies and advertisers it serves that the audience data it shares is up to MRC's stringent standards.
With the rise of online video advertising, Matt also sees 2 trends developing: the shift from estimated ad measurement (common in TV advertising) to actual ad measurement and agencies/advertisers taking control of the actual ad delivery process (which in TV advertising is handled by the TV networks and stations). VINDICO is betting on both of these trends; it targets agencies and advertisers with its ad-server technology. Matt pointed to recent wins with VivaKi and Universal McCann as evidence that its approach is working.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Advertising, Technology
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