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Kyte Brings Live Streaming and HTML5 Ads to iOS Devices
Online video platform Kyte is announcing this morning support for live streaming to iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) along with HTML5 ads.
The updates both build on Kyte's current iOS Application Framework and SDK. The HTML5 support means ads from third party networks can be served into live streams viewed on iOS devices. Kyte has also extended its integrated social media features into live streaming as a differentiator.
Both moves add to the growing momentum around video delivery to iOS devices, fueled of course by their massive and growing ownership base. Just last week Apple reported selling 14.1 million iPhones, 4.19 million iPads and 9.05 million iPods (though not all Touch) in its most recent fiscal fourth quarter.
There has been a huge amount of activity by online video platforms, ad managers/networks and live streaming providers to support iOS devices this year. There's no sign that things will slow anytime soon. As the ecosystem pieces come together - and wireless carriers roll out faster 4G networks - the implication is that ad-supported mobile video (both on-demand and live) is poised for significant growth ahead.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Advertising, Live Streaming, Mobile Video
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Is the Comcast Lion Finally Set to Roar In Online Video?
Yesterday Comcast announced that it has taken the "beta" label off its Xfinity TV ("XFTV" as I call it) premium online video service and opened it up to all
video subscribers (dropping the requirement that XFTV users need to also be Comcast broadband subscribers). Comcast also unveiled new remote DVR scheduling and search/personalization features, and touted that it now offers 150,000 content "choices" in XFTV.
Though none of yesterday's individual moves are that significant in and of themselves, after chatting with a spokesperson at Comcast and talking with others in the industry, I think what matters more is that Comcast is signaling the start of an aggressive push into online video distribution. That's worth noting because with NBCU's assets soon to be under its roof, a newfound assertiveness in online video could have profound implications in the video ecosystem. Here are a handful of potential items to watch for:
Categories: Cable TV Operators
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Broadcast TV Networks Are Wrong to Block Google TV
Since word broke late last week that ABC, CBS and NBC are blocking access by Google TV to their full-length programs, I've been scouring the web and speaking to colleagues, attempting to get some insights about what's going on here. Though I've heard plenty of free-floating concerns raised, I've yet to really understand solid reasons for why broadcast networks are doing this that can't be addressed somehow. Therefore, as best I can tell, for now at least, I think the broadcast TV networks are wrong to block access.
The most obvious reason is that they're creating a false and meaningless distinction between screens. Whereas you can "go online" and freely access plenty of ABC, CBS and NBC shows at their own web sites, (and at Hulu for ABC and NBC), the networks have decided that if you're trying to "go online" via your Google TV, that's unacceptable. In an age where computer screens are getting bigger all the time - looking more like TVs - why exactly should this distinction matter?
Categories: Broadcasters, Devices
Topics: ABC, Boxee, CBS, Google TV, NBC, Netflix
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With Woomi, Miniweb Looks To End Debate About Browsers In Connected Devices
Back in August, in "For Connected Devices - To Browse or Not To Browse, That is the Question," I described a split in the product approaches among connected devices makers - whether to include a browser or not. Including a browser means that the whole Internet is theoretically accessible, just like
going online. This is the approach of devices like Google TV and boxee. Not including a browser is everyone else's approach (e.g. gaming consoles, connected TVs and Blu-ray players, Apple TV, Roku, etc.). With no browser in place, consumers only get access to the content the device maker has integrated such as Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, etc. To partially open up, some like Roku have begun offering an API to content providers.
But now U.K.-based Miniweb (a spin-off of BSkyB) is looking to render moot the browser debate by offering a clever new cloud-based services platform called "Woomi" which gives content providers an on-ramp to widespread availability on connected devices even when no browser is available. Speaking with Miniweb's CEO Jerome de Vitry and its founder/chief architect Ian Valentine recently, I was impressed with how well the company understands the problem it's trying to solve and the technical approach it's using to do so.
Categories: Devices
Topics: Miniweb, Samsung, Woomi
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6 Items of Interest for the Week of Oct. 18th
It was another busy week for online/mobile video, and so VideoNuze is continuing its Friday practice of curating 5-6 interesting industry news items that we weren't able to cover this week. Read them now or take them with you this weekend!
Networks block Google TV to protect themselves
Yesterday news started breaking that ABC, CBS and NBC are blocking access by Google TV. There are numerous concerns being cited - potential disruption of advertising, encouraging cord-cutting, incenting piracy, diminished branding, unsatisfactory ad splits with Google, and general worry about Google invading the living room. Each item on its own is probably not enough to motivate the blocking action, but taken together they are. Still, doesn't it feel a little foolish that broadcasters would differentiate between a computer screen and a TV screen like this? For Google, it's more evidence that nothing comes easy when trying to work with Hollywood. I'm trying to find out more about what's happening behind the scenes.
TWC Lines Up For ESPN Online Kick
An important milestone for TV Everywhere may come as early as next Monday, as #2 cable operator Time Warner is planning to make ESPN viewing available online to paying subscribers. Remote access is part of the recent and larger retransmission consent deal between Disney and TWC. TV Everywhere initiatives have been slow to roll out, amid cable programmers' reluctance. Further proving that remote authenticated access works and that it's attractive with a big name like ESPN would increase TV Everywhere's momentum.
Hulu Plus, Take Two: How's $4.95 a Month?
Rumors are swirling that Hulu may cut the price of its nascent Hulu Plus subscription service in half, to $4.95/mo. That would be a tacit recognition of Hulu Plus's minimal value proposition, largely due to its skimpy content offering. As I initially reported in August, over 88% of Hulu Plus content is available for free on Hulu.com. More important, Netflix's streaming gains have really marginalized Hulu Plus. Netflix's far greater resources and subscriber base have enabled it to spend far bigger on content acquisition. Even at $4.95, I continue to see Hulu Plus as an underwhelming proposition in an increasingly noisy landscape.
Viacom Hires Superstar Lawyer to Handle YouTube Appeal
Viacom is showing no signs of giving up on its years-long copyright infringement litigation against Google and YouTube. This week the company retained Theodore Olson, a high-profile appellate and Supreme Court specialist to handle its appeal. While most of the world has moved on and is trying to figure out how to benefit from YouTube's massive scale, Viacom charges on in court.
Verizon to sell Galaxy Tab starting November 11th for $599.99
Verizon is determined to play its part in the tablet computer craze, this week announcing with Samsung that it will sell the latter's new "Tab" tablet for $600 beginning on November 11th. The move follows last week's announcement by Verizon that it will begin selling the iPad on Oct. 28th, which was widely interpreted as the first step toward Verizon offering the iPhone early next year. Apple currently owns the tablet market, and it remains to be seen whether newcomers like the Tab can break through. For his part, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said on Apple's earnings call this week that all other tablets are "dead on arrival." Note, if you want to see the "Tab" and learn more about how connected and mobile devices are transforming the video landscape, come to the VideoSchmooze breakfast at the Samsung Experience on Wed., Dec. 1st.
One-Third of US Adults Skip Live TV: Report
A fascinating new study from Say Media (the entity formed from the recent merger of VideoEgg and Six Apart), suggesting that 56 million, or one-third of adult Internet users, have reduced their live TV viewership. The research identified 2 categories: "Opt Outs" (22 million) who don't own a TV or haven't watched TV in the last week and stream more than 4 hours/week, and "On Demanders" (34 million) who also stream more than 4 hours/week and report watching less live TV than they did a year ago. Not surprisingly, relative to Internet users as a whole, both Opt Outs and On Demanders skew younger and higher educated, though only the latter had higher income than the average Internet user. This type of research is important because the size of both the ad-supported and paid markets for live, first-run TV is far larger than catalog viewing. To the extent its appeal is diminishing as this study suggests poses big problems for everyone in the video ecosystem.
Categories: Aggregators, Broadcasters, Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Devices, Mobile Video, Telcos
Topics: ABC, Apple, CBS, ESPN, Google TV, Hulu Plus, iPad, NBC, Samsung, Say, Time Warner Cable, TV Everywhere, Verizon, Viacom, YouTube
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #78 - Oct. 22, 2010
Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 78th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for October 22, 2010.
This week Daisy and I focus our attention on Netflix's Q3 results, which were announced on Wednesday. The company added nearly 2 million net new subscribers, a new record. It has added almost 4.7 million subscribers in the first 3 quarters this year. Daisy and I discuss the results and add more color to my original analysis.
Click here to listen to the podcast (11 minutes, 48 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!Categories: Aggregators, Podcasts
Topics: Netflix
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NCAA and Thought Equity Motion Renew Deal For Video Archive Access
The NCAA and Thought Equity Motion are announcing this morning a multi-year extension of their technology and rights management agreement. Last March, in conjunction with the NCAA Men's Basketball March Madness, the "NCAA Vault" was introduced, which contained searchable access to every moment of video from the last 10 years of the final 16 teams' games. One of the things I was most impressed about with the NCAA Vault is how flexibly exact clips could be found and also how fast the response times were.
In the renewed deal, Thought Equity will also be adding other NCAA Division I championship events like Women's Basketball and Baseball and Wrestling, plus add social media capabilities and enhanced metadata. Thought Equity will also be working with the NCAA to identify other rights windows and business models.
Categories: Sports, Technology
Topics: NCAA, Thought Equity Motion
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Netflix Racked Up Almost 2 Million Subscribers in Q3, A New Record
Netflix just reported Q3 '10 results and the eye-catching number is 1,932,000 net subscribers added in the quarter, a new record for the company, and
almost 4x as many as the 510,000 it added a year ago in Q3 '09. Netflix ended Q3 '10 with 16,933,000 subscribers, almost double the 8,672,000 subscribers the company had 2 years ago, at the end of Q3 '08. Revenue was up 31% to $553.2 million.
Netflix ascribed the growth entirely to streaming, with CEO Reed Hastings saying in a statement, "By every measure, we are now primarily a streaming company that also offers DVD-by-mail." That's the first time I've heard this positioning, and it is only partly true, as only 66% of subscribers watched 15 minutes of streaming video in Q3 (though up from 61% in Q2 '10), whereas my guess is that 95%+ of the company's subscribers still take out at least 1 DVD each month and the volume of overall viewership must still tilt heavily toward DVDs. (see update below)
Categories: Aggregators
Topics: Netflix
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