VideoNuze Posts

You gotta love Roku. In the insanely competitive world of consumer devices - where the big boys like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Sony and others have enormous retail, financial and existing customer base advantages - little Roku just keeps on cranking out inexpensive, yet solid products, meaningful partnerships and scads of content deals, establishing itself as a leader in the connected TV space.

The latest evidence of Roku's momentum are two announcements at CES today; first, that it has signed up another 6 "Roku Ready" TV manufactures as partners whose models can accept the company's "Streaming Stick" device and second, that it has signed new video channel partners Blockbuster on Demand, Dailymotion, DISHWorld, Flingo, Fox Now, PBS, PBS Kids, Syfy and VEVO. All of these channels bring to 700 the number of video and audio choices in the Roku Channel Store, a breadth that easily rivals - though is clearly distinct from - today's pay-TV services.

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I'm pleased to present the 161st edition of the weekly VideoNuze podcast, and first of 2013, with my partner Colin Dixon. Today we pick up on my post from yesterday, "For Tomorrow's TVs, User Experience is More Important Than Screen Size and Resolution," in which I asserted that despite TV manufacturers' new push toward "Ultra High-Definition," what consumers really seek are Smart TVs with user experiences that seamlessly integrate with their other devices and video services.

Colin, who will be attending CES, shares more details on what he's hearing Samsung, LG and Sony will be introducing at the show. In general, we agree that as yet, nothing seems particularly ground-breaking or compelling, but we'll see if we're surprised.

In fact, the sub-optimal user experiences of today's Smart TVs - plus other factors - leads me to believe there's a big opportunity for Apple, which we explore as well. At the risk of contributing to the hype around Apple launching a TV, I'm convinced they'll enter this market in a big way.

Click here to listen to the podcast (20 minutes, 11 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

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

In the lead-up to next week's CES, there has already been a lot of attention focused on "Ultra High-Definition" TVs, the industry's latest move toward ever-bigger TVs with ever-higher resolution. That's understandable given TV manufacturers' desire to extend the core appeal of HDTVs. But important as these attributes are, TV manufacturers should recognize that going forward, it's actually user experience that will be the critical differentiator.

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Welcome to 2013! If you were mostly checked out over the past 1-2 weeks (or were only paying attention to the fiscal cliff roller coaster), you didn't miss a whole lot in the video world. However, there were 5 items that caught my attention which I briefly describe below:

See the 5 items

Once again, it has been an exciting year in the world of online video and great fun to report on and analyze the year's significant happenings. I know you have many choices concerning what to read, and so I want to thank you for spending time with VideoNuze. It's a pleasure to engage with you and get feedback on my posts - favorable or otherwise!

2013 is shaping up to be another transformative year for online video and the larger video ecosystem. Led by the proliferation of viewing devices, shifting consumer behaviors, innovative business models and evolving technologies, much change is still ahead. I look forward to covering all of it and interacting with many of you along the way.

I also want to say thank you to all of VideoNuze's sponsors in 2012 - on the web site, email and live events. They are critical to VideoNuze's success and I am deeply appreciative for their support.

I'll be taking some R&R next week, and won't be posting anything new unless some big news breaks, which is unlikely. I'd like to wish you and your families a happy, healthy holiday season and all the best in 2013!

I'm pleased to present the 160th edition of the VideoNuze-TDG podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon, senior analyst at The Diffusion Group. This will be our 45th podcast of 2012, and last one for the year.

Following on last week's podcast in which we counted down the top 10 online video stories of 2012, this week we look ahead to the top 4 trends we expect in 2013. We also do a quick "around the horn" on 7 topics that are also of interest.

Click here to listen to the podcast (27 minutes, 25 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

The VideoNuze-TDG podcast is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

I'm pleased to offer a complimentary download of the "Ultimate Guide to TV Everywhere," a 16-page special supplement that VideoNuze created in collaboration with B&C/Multichannel News magazines. As everyone around the pay-TV and online video industries is aware, TV Everywhere has become a top strategic priority, and when fully deployed, will unlock a broad swath of cable programming for anytime/anywhere access.

Despite its potential, TV Everywhere's deployment has been uneven to date, as networks and operators have grappled with business terms and operational details. In the guide you'll find interviews, research data, key challenges, infographics and an update on what 5 large cable programmers are already doing with TV Everywhere. We believe it's the most in-depth look at TV Everywhere's current status and is a highly useful resource for anyone with an interest in its eventual success.

Special thanks to the guide's advertisers for their generous support: thePlatform, Tribune Media Services, Clearleap, Synacor, mPortal, Universal Sports and Digital Rapids.

At the recent VideoSchmooze, Noah Levine, Senior Manager, Product Evangelism at Adobe Auditude delivered a short, high-impact presentation on the key technology and consumer behavior changes sweeping through the TV industry, and the business challenges these are creating.

He also provided a high-level overview of Adobe's Project Primetime, a suite of product and services to deliver, monetize and measure video across devices. Below is a video of Noah's presentation. If you'd like a copy of the slides, please contact Noah directly at his email address on the final slide.

Watch the video