-
Fox and Netflix Agree to 28-Day Window
Netflix and Fox are announcing this morning an expanded content licensing agreement which creates a 28-day DVD window and gives Netflix streaming access to certain prior season Fox TV shows. The 28-day window, which delays Netflix access to new DVDs until 28 days after their release date is similar to a deal that Netflix struck with Warner Bros. earlier this year.
I continue to be a fan of the 28-day window, as it allows studios a little more time to eke further revenue out of the rapidly-declining DVD sales business,
while expanding Netflix's catalog for streaming and reducing its cost on physical DVD purchases. Netflix's Watch Instantly streaming feature has been a game-changer for the company, essentially reinventing the company's value proposition from a DVD subscription business defined by the number of discs out at any time, to one where subscribers get unlimited digital use. The key to its success is building the library of titles for streaming and that's what these 28-day deals are all about.
Update: Universal also announced a 28-day deal with Netflix this morning. Release is here.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Aggregators, FIlms, Studios
-
Blockbuster Hangs In with New Fox, Sony and Warner Deals
Netflix wasn't the only distributor modifying how it does business with Hollywood studios this week; Blockbuster also unveiled new deals with Fox, Sony and Warner, giving it "day-and-date" availability of these studios' films
for store and mail rental (note, not for its on demand streaming service). Blockbuster also got "enhanced payment terms" from the studios in exchange for giving them a first lien on Blockbuster's Canadian assets (which would imply that if Blockbuster files for bankruptcy, the studios could end up owning/operating a slew of Canadian stores). Seems like steep terms for Blockbuster to hang in there.
As I wrote a few weeks ago in "The Battle Over Movie Rentals is Intensifying," there are multiple distributors jockeying to be the consumer's preferred movie source. That means consumers need to figure out, on a title by title basis what works best for them.
For example, I'm a Netflix subscriber and let's say I want to watch the recently released "Sherlock Holmes" DVD. Netflix doesn't get it until April 27th per its 28-day window with Warner Bros. But when I check online, a local Blockbuster store I've never been to shows that it's in stock (though I'm a little skeptical). Do I want to drive down there to find out? Meanwhile, Comcast is offering it on-demand. But do I want to pay $4.99 for it when I'm already paying a monthly Netflix subscription? Alternatively, there's iTunes and Amazon VOD. But then I need to either watch on my computer or on the TV that's hooked to the Roku or temporarily connect my laptop to the TV. See what I mean about the choices facing consumers?
(Note - online movie distribution is among the topics we'll cover at the next VideoSchmooze on April 26th. Early bird discounted tickets available for just one more week!)
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Aggregators, FIlms, Studios
Topics: Blockbuster, FOX, Netflix, Sony, Warner Bros.
-
NAB Show Coming Next Week - Lots of Interesting Pre-Show Announcements
My inbox and voicemail has been overflowing this week in advance of next week's NAB Show. I haven't tallied up this week's pre-show news/product
announcements related to online and mobile video, but it's certainly greater than I've ever seen. Next week I'll wrap it all up, but for now, among the more interesting things hitting my radar include Silverlight's availability in set-top boxes/Blu-ray players/connected devices, Juniper's acquisition of Ankeena Networks (a rich media infrastructure provider), Elemental's new GPU-based live streaming encoding system and the Conviva-Adobe strategic alliance.
This will be my 3rd year partnering with NAB and at next week's show I've organized 5 sessions in the new "Destination Broadband" theater on Monday afternoon. Executives from Trinity Ventures, ScanScout, Akamai, Panvidea, 5Min, TubeMogul and AlphaBird will be joining me in these sequential sessions that are certain to offer valuable insights. I hope to see you there!Categories: Events
Topics: NAB Show
-
Verizon CEO: No Mobile Spectrum Shortage, FCC Should Butt Out
Were you as surprised as I was to read yesterday that Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg is questioning the need to reclaim broadcast spectrum for mobile data use? Instead he believes that ongoing advances in technology will address any potential bandwidth squeeze. His comments represent a weird reversal because Verizon has been (for obvious reasons) a key proponent of gaining access to this spectrum. As I wrote a few weeks ago, the bandwidth reclamation concept is one of the most contentious in the FCC's recently released National Broadband Plan.
I'm not clear on what's going on here. The iPad's release this past weekend is yet another reminder of the infinite mobile data uses ahead. Meanwhile recently-amped up rumors that Verizon will get getting the iPhone later this year means lots of data increases from Verizon itself. Throw in the coming proliferation of Android devices as yet more evidence of mobile data's rise. So why would Seidenberg now cast doubt on the spectrum reclamation effort? Beats me. Any ideas?
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Regulation, Telcos
-
VideoNuze Report Podcast #56 - April 9, 2010
Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 56th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for April 9, 2010.
First up this week, Daisy gives us an update on increasing ad loads in TV programs distributed online, building on our discussion from last week. Daisy reports on an interview she did with Mark Garner, SVP of Business Development at A&E Television Networks. AETN has found that in their TV Everywhere trials, when they increased ad loads by 20%, the rate at which people watch the programs all the way to the end was unchanged.
Research continues to build that incremental increases in ads doesn't harm viewership, but enhances monetization. Daisy concludes that AETN's experience is yet more evidence that soon enough more ads in online programs will be pervasive. Separate, Daisy previews an article she's writing about ad verification and how it figures in to the online video space.
Then I add some further color to my post from earlier this week in which I tallied up Q1 '10 financings for private video companies to at least $277.4 million. It was another stellar quarter for video companies, despite the fact that credit markets are still tight. Listen in to learn more.
Click here to listen to the podcast (13 minutes, 44 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!Categories: Advertising, Deals & Financings, Podcasts
Topics: AETN
-
Syndicating Branded Entertainment Gains on AlphaBird-Fremantle Deal
This morning AlphaBird is announcing a deal with FremantleMedia to package and syndicate online the new branded entertainment web series, "As Worn Buy." AlphaBird recently launched as a new video content syndication service and is headed by Chase Norlin and Alex Rowland, both online video industry veterans. I caught up with Chase and Alex to understand how the Fremantle deal works, and also how the company is looking to differentiate itself.
Taking a step back for a moment, AlphaBird is working in the "Syndicated Video Economy" a term I coined a couple of years ago. The SVE is an ecosystem of companies facilitating consumption and monetization of online video across a broad network of sites and environments. In the SVE it is more important for content providers to access eyeballs wherever they happened to be - for example on 3rd party sites, on mobile devices, in social media settings, etc. than to solely try attracting them to a destination web site (along the lines of the "must-see TV" model of appointment, channel-based viewing).
The SVE recognizes that the Internet is a highly fragmented, on-demand centric medium that requires its own unique formulas for success. Everyone working in the SVE understands that it's still very early in the game, and the rules of the road are being figured out in real time. The key to the SVE is simultaneously pleasing the main constituencies - video content creators, advertisers, publisher sites and users. All of this needs to be done in the context of long-standing expectations that each constituency has about how things have always worked. The SVE can't be a revolution; rather, to bring all the constituents along, it needs to gradually migrate from and respect the way things have always been done.
AlphaBird is trying to carve out its role in the SVE by focusing on syndicating branded entertainment (web series with deep brand/product
involvement/visibility/placement) to a network of publishers. Alex explained that AlphaBird's key differentiator is to insert the video in an editorial position within publisher web pages, as opposed to in advertising positions (e.g. existing 300x250 in-banner placements). The goal is to provide incremental value to publishers and their audiences. The proposed payoff to the brand is higher awareness (through editorial positioning), engagement (all video is click-to-play) and ROI (all pricing is performance-based). AlphaBird is guaranteeing audience to brands, though not down to certain specific sites just yet. Clarification - AlphaBird is offering site level guarantees.
Given the trend of brands creating their own content, and the difficulty of generating online audiences, AlphaBird's concept is appealing (though to be fair, it's not entirely unique as Grab Networks, for example, also does editorial placements). It's easy to see why Fremantle, which is a content creation expert, but an online video syndication newbie, would value this kind of partnership. Chase said that achieving distribution goals is the number one challenge facing content creators, and that's where AlphaBird is focused.
My main concern is that achieving pure editorial placements is a very heavy lift and is hard to scale. It requires high-touch interactions to gain buy-in from editorial staff who are rightly concerned about their product's integrity (and as a result often bringing a bias against 3rd party video). That creates a far higher bar to clear than convincing the ad team to run something in a location already used for advertising in order to pick up a few extra bucks. A lack of scale would challenge AlphaBird's ability to win deals from major brands requiring significant exposure.
AlphaBird's hand-crafted approach also means a lot of detailed integration and follow-on QA to ensure the video is running according to expectations conveyed to the brand upfront. That would be welcome, given some of the stories emerging about low-quality syndication market activity, but it's costly to deliver. Alex acknowledged all of this and agreed that trying to automate as much as possible is the key to scaling the model successfully.
With the Fremantle deal, AlphaBird is plowing new ground for branded entertainment in the SVE. Chase says the company is already profitable, and it is begin funded from revenue. For those interested in the SVE's ongoing evolution, AlphaBird will also be worth keeping an eye on.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Indie Video, Syndicated Video Economy
Topics: AlphaBird, FremantleMedia
-
Hurray - Net Neutrality is Dead, For Now
Yesterday's ruling by the D.C. Court of Appeals that the FCC didn't have the authority to cite Comcast for blocking BitTorrent traffic effectively kills "net neutrality," at least for now. That's a good thing and everyone who's interested in seeing continued innovation by broadband ISPs and new video competitors should be cheering the decision. I've been writing about the FCC's unnecessary net neutrality intrusion into the well-functioning ISP market for several years (here, here, here), and it's very encouraging to see this unanimous court decision.
For those not familiar with net neutrality, it would give the FCC the ability to regulate how broadband ISPs manage their networks in order to ensure that
all content is delivered without any bias. Since net neutrality advocates have lacked any sustained pattern of broadband ISP misbehavior to point to as evidence for net neutrality's need, they have instead relied heavily on the argument that pre-emptive regulation is required because ISPs can't be trusted to keep their networks open, and that potential conflicts of interest (many ISPs like Comcast are also big video providers) will inevitably lead ISPs to favor their own services over others.
Concerns about impending, yet hypothetical ISP "fast lanes and slow lanes" have made great soundbites for net neutrality proponents and politicians. And yes, Comcast bungled how it blocked the BitTorrent traffic, and then how it explained itself. There have also been a handful of other ISP infractions. However, if the 70 million plus broadband households were asked to name a single instance where they felt their ISP degraded their access to a certain web site or video service, I am convinced that very few would be able to think of any.
This reflects the fact that broadband ISPs maintain open networks, rightfully policing against illegal behavior or disproportionate use. The ISP business works quite well, and in most parts of America, substantial competition exists between 2 or more providers (with more wireless ones on the way). Further, new video services and devices, which depend on ever-faster, and open broadband networks continue to proliferate, suggesting ample confidence by their backers that robust network access will be available. Consider: did Steve Jobs hesitate to introduce the iPad, which is heavily video-centric, out of fear for network availability? And how about Netflix, ABC, Discovery, MTV and other video providers who quickly introduced apps for the iPad - did they balk due to network concerns? Of course not.
Earlier this week, I calculated that at least $277.4 million was raised by early stage video companies in Q1 '10, bringing the total to at least $570.2 million over the last 4 quarters, despite the worst market circumstances in ages. As I've said many times, investors and entrepreneurs are undeterred though there are no formal net neutrality rules.
It's also important to remember that broadband networks have been built with private capital, in the process creating tens of thousands of well-paying technical and customer service jobs, plus countless other by the content and applications providers who freely ride these broadband pipes each day. And innovation continues, with numerous announcements of 50 and 100 megabit/second services now available. Tinkering with this vibrant sector of the economy with new regulations introduces the risk of unintended consequences.
Rather than presuming that broadband ISP will disrupt their own success formula by arbitrarily blocking supposed competitors, the FCC would be better off staying relentlessly vigilant of ISP behavior. If ISPs do misbehave - thereby offering clear evidence of the need for regulation - the Congress and the FCC should be prepared to act quickly. Until then net neutrality remains a solution in search of a problem, and Washington has plenty of real problems to work on without tackling imaginary ones.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Broadband ISPs, Regulation
-
VideoSchmooze is Less Than 3 Weeks Away - Register Now and Win an iPad!
VideoNuze's next "VideoSchmooze" Broadband Video Leadership Evening is coming up on Monday, April 26th - less than 3 weeks from today. The event runs from 6-9pm at the Hudson Theater in New York City and includes open bar, hors d'oeuvres, a full program and a chance to win an iPad.
If you've never been to a VideoSchmooze, it's a premier evening of networking with industry colleagues and learning about what's ahead for the online video industry. The title of the panel discussion at this VideoSchmooze, which I'll moderate, is "Money Talks: Is Online Video Shifting to the Paid Model?" We have an amazing group of executive panelists whose companies are on the front lines of the video revolution:- Jeremy Legg - SVP, Business Development, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
- Damon Phillips - Vice President, ESPN3
- Avner Ronen - CEO and Co-founder, boxee
- Fred Santarpia - General Manager, Vevo
Click here to learn more and register for the early bird discount
A bonus of this VideoSchmooze is a 15-minute upfront presentation by Emily Nagle Green, President and CEO of Yankee Group, a leading industry market research and consulting firm. Emily is the author of the recently published book, "Anywhere - How Global Connectivity is Revolutionizing the Way We Do Business." Emily is a veteran researcher who's been studying broadband for 15+ years and previously ran Forrester's North American business. Emily will share key data from Yankee's research and her book, which will set the stage for the panel to follow.
Prior to Emily's presentation, which will start at 7:30pm, we'll have networking, open bar and hors d'oeuvres beginning at 6pm. Past
VideoSchmoozes have attracted 250+ attendees and I expect the same at this one. Whether you're pursuing business or personal opportunities in the industry, VideoSchmooze is a premier opportunity to expand your network and meet the panelists. We'll have a strong mix of established media and technology executives, along with plenty of early stage companies, video producers and investors.
I'm grateful to lead sponsor Akamai Technologies and supporting sponsors FreeWheel, Horn Group, Irdeto, NeuLion, Panvidea and ScanScout for making the evening possible. Once again VideoSchmooze is being held in association with NATPE. You can follow VideoSchmooze on Twitter at hashtag #vidooze
Early bird discounted tickets are now available for $65, which is an incredible value compared to other industry events in NYC. If you're planning to attend with colleagues, more deeply discounted "5-Pack" and "10-Pack" tickets are also available.
And if you need one more incentive to come, I'll pick one lucky attendee's business card from the fishbowl who will win an iPad!
I look forward to seeing you on April 26th!
Click here to learn more and register for the early bird discount
(Note: This Thursday, April 8th, I'll be co-leading a complimentary webinar with TDG's Colin Dixon: "Demystifying Free vs. Paid Online Video," which will be a great warm-up to the VideoSchmooze panel.)
Categories: Events
Topics: VideoSchmooze
VideoNuze Posts
Connect with VideoNuze
Exclusive News Roundup
- Marketers Move Millions in Ad Spend from The Trade Desk to Amazon’s Ad Platform Adweek
- Runway CEO Cris Valenzuela wants Hollywood to embrace AI video The Verge
- Warner Bros. Discovery Initiates More Layoffs In Cable TV Divisions Deadline
- AMC Networks Inks Deal With AI Company Runway The Hollywood Reporter
- Google ‘handling stolen goods’ with Youtube theft of paywalled news articles Press Gazette
- Fubo and DAZN Strike Multi-Year Sports TV Network Partnership The Wrap
