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"Demystifying 2011" Complimentary Webinar is Tomorrow
As a final reminder, tomorrow (Wed) Colin Dixon from The Diffusion Group and I will be hosting our final complimentary webinar of the year, titled "Demystifying 2011: Key Trends in Online and Mobile Video." The start time is 11am PT / 2pm ET.
Colin and I will be sharing our 6 most important online/mobile video predictions for 2011 as well as thoughts on lots of other key industry trends. For anyone trying to get insights into what's in store for next year, it will be a valuable, interactive hour with plenty of time to ask questions. We're also planning to do a couple of surprise gadget giveaways in the holiday spirit! I hope you can join us.
Click here to learn more and register for the complimentary webinarCategories: Events, Predictions
Topics: Webinar
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Comcast Testing Connected Set-top Box; Would Netflix Be Included?
The WSJ is reporting that Comcast is testing a new connected set-top box that offers a selection of online video alongside traditional linear, VOD and DVR programming. The project is part of Comcast's "Xcalibur" initiative
headed up by Sam Schwartz and would follow other connected set-tops already in the market from competitors like Verizon, AT&T, DirecTV and others. It's a smart move by Comcast; many of its subscribers have been buying inexpensive broadband set-top boxes so why shouldn't Comcast just offer the online services itself and simplify its subscribers' lives?
While it's not clear what online video would be offered, if it's a "closed" model, where only certain apps/sites are available, then it would be akin to boxes like Roku, Apple TV and the connected Blu-ray players, among others. This approach would contrast with "open" boxes that allow full Internet browsing such as Google TV and boxee's new box from D-Link. My hunch is that Comcast would focus on a closed box to start. That would also reduce the complexity of delivering online video in a consistent, high-quality manner, especially given the numerous formats, encoding levels, etc. It's also not clear that consumers yet want a full Internet experience on their TVs and Comcast more than likely would look to be a fast follower rather than a pioneer.
Categories: Aggregators, Cable TV Operators
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The World According to Time Warner's Jeff Bewkes, Pay-TV's Staunchest Defender
I finally got an hour over the weekend to listen to the replay of last week's UBS media conference keynote discussion with Time Warner's CEO Jeff Bewkes. His comments strongly reinforced my perception of him as the pay-TV (cable/satellite/telco) industry's staunchest defender as well as the leading Netflix
skeptic. Bewkes is worth paying attention to not just because Time Warner owns the Warner Bros. studio and several leading cable networks, but because his approach is a barometer for many other content providers as well.
In Bewkes' world view, the majority of consumers are willing to pay a premium price to get the best, most comprehensive experience of the highest-quality, current content, and distributors are willing/able to pay content creators top dollar for it - in short, a snapshot of the way the pay-TV world has worked for a long while. To Bewkes, digital distribution represents "more opportunity than challenge" in its ability to drive new business models and windows, enhance existing distributor relationships and deliver more value to consumers. To be clear, Bewkes isn't a Luddite, he doesn't oppose digital innovation, he just wants to see the benefits of it accrue to incumbents, not upstarts.
Categories: Aggregators, Cable Networks
Topics: Netflix, Time Warner
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"Demystifying 2011" Complimentary Webinar Next Wed., Dec. 15th
As a reminder, The Diffusion Group's Colin Dixon and I are hosting our final complimentary webinar of the year, titled "Demystifying 2011: Key Trends in Online and Mobile Video" next Wed., Dec. 15th at 11am PT / 2pm ET.
Colin and I have been working hard to refine our predictions for the year ahead; with so much going on it's been hard to decide which things are most important. But we think we have a pretty high-impact short list and it promises to be a fun, stimulating discussion, with plenty of time for audience Q&A and engagement. We also plan to do a couple gadget giveaways in the holiday spirit and as a little extra incentive to join us!
Click here to learn more and register for the complimentary webinar
Categories: Webinars
Topics: Webinar
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5 Items of Interest for the Week of Dec. 5th
Once again I'm pleased to offer VideoNuze's end-of-week feature highlighting and discussing 5-6 interesting online/mobile video industry news items that we weren't able to cover this week. Read them now or take them with you this weekend!
Categories: Advertising, Aggregators, Broadcasters, Cable TV Operators, Mobile Video, Telcos
Topics: ABC, Disney, eMarketer, Hulu Plus, Netflix, Nielsen, TV Everywhere, Verizon Wireless
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #81 - Dec. 10, 2010
Daisy Whitney and I are back this week for the 81st edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for December 10, 2010.
This week Daisy and I focus on Google's video efforts from two perspectives: first, whether it should pay CBS (and other networks) to allow Google TV to access their programs, and second, what are the implications of its acquisition of Widevine, announced last Friday.
On the former point, as I argued in "Google to Pay CBS? Unlikely." I think it's a big stretch to believe that Google, which is a search engine, is going to start paying content providers like CBS, to direct traffic to them. Certainly that's not what it does online, and there's little reason to believe it will start doing so with Google TV.
Meanwhile, the Widevine deal underscores how far Google has come in prioritizing copyright protection. It wasn't that long ago when YouTube was a rogue copyright infringer and yet that didn't deter Google from acquiring it. With Widevine and multiple other Google video initiatives, the company is extremely well-positioned to play a bigger role in the distribution and monetization of Hollywood content in 2011.
If you want to learn more about Google, and also other key online/mobile video trends and predictions for 2011, then join me for a complimentary webinar I'll be hosting with The Diffusion Group's Colin Dixon next Wed., Dec. 15th at 11am PT/2pm ET. We'll demystify 2011 and leave plenty of time for audience Q&A.
Click here to listen to the podcast (12 minutes, 17 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!Categories: Broadcasters, Devices, DRM, Podcasts
Topics: CBS, Google, Google TV, Podcast, Widevine
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Will China's Successful Youku IPO Spark US Online Video Offerings in '11?
Yesterday, China's Youku, which started as a YouTube-style user-uploaded video site, but has evolved to a Hulu-style distributor of professional video, went public on the New York Stock Exchange. It offered 15.85 million American Depositary Receipts, or "ADRs," which represent ownership shares
in non-U.S. companies, at $12.80 apiece, raising over $200 million. When the market closed, the ADRs stood at $33.44, up 161%, the best one-day performance for a U.S. IPO in the last 5 years (they're up another $5 today as well). Youku, which recorded $35 million in revenue for the first nine months of this year (and a $25 million loss), had an end of day valuation of $3 billion+.
Yes, I know what you're thinking - this is crazy, the bubble days have returned and there's a huge "China factor" multiplier at work for Youku. All of that is no doubt true. But here's something else that's true - while the global economy and stock markets have undergone wrenching change and volatility over the last 2+ years, the online video market has boomed. For certain kinds of investors (both professional and non-professional) who value growth over everything else, there are few sectors which have more appealing characteristics. As tens of millions of people have adopted online and mobile video, devices for viewing online video on TVs have proliferated, premium content has become available and business models have firmed, investors have taken notice.
Categories: Aggregators, Deals & Financings, International
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Google To Pay CBS? Unlikely.
CBS CEO Les Moonves said this week that Google TV is not going to get CBS programs for "zero dollars," suggesting that if the company were to unblock access for the device, it would only happen when Google is willing to pay. I've learned to never say never, but in this case I think the scenario where Google pays for CBS and other broadcast networks' programs similarly being blocked from Google TV is very unlikely.
When Moonves says "I'm not sure what it is," (referring to Google TV) it makes me think he either doesn't understand the Internet, is being disingenuous, or both. As I originally argued a couple of months ago, in "Broadcast TV Networks Are Wrong to Block Google TV," the device is not hard to understand. It serves essentially the same purpose for content providers on TVs as the Google search engine does online and on mobile devices. A user wants to find a piece of content or an answer to a question or a product, he/she types a term into the search bar and a list of filtered results appears. Google has also enhanced Google TV's core search and discover functionality with a bunch of apps that help emulate the full Internet experience on TV; for now those are interesting, but not yet compelling or unique vs. other devices that do similar things. Over time they may be.
Categories: Broadcasters, Devices
Topics: CBS, Google, Google TV
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