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Dish Network’s Apps Alone Might Be Enough to Make You Subscribe (Wired)

Dish is one of the few cable or satellite providers that understands something very important: People want their TV fix wherever they are–not just in the living room, parked in front of the set. Updates to the company’s Dish Anywhere iOS and Android apps today continue that trend…

Bold Growth Plans at Hollywood Studios (New York Times)

Film counts are down. Production is going elsewhere. And yet big Hollywood studios are planning to expand. Years into a slump in the local production of movies and television shows, several of the largest California-based studios are laying plans to build sound stages, postproduction facilities and offices in what might become the most aggressive growth spurt in recent Hollywood memory…

Dijit Brings Its Personalized Social TV App To PCs With The Launch Of NextGuide Web (TechCrunch)

If the last few years have all been about building compelling mobile-first or mobile-only experiences, the latest trend seems to be bringing those experiences back to the web. (Just look at Instagram!) Anyway, with that in mind, social TV startup Dijit became the latest to follow this lead, with the launch of NextGuide Web. The new web experience is kind of like Dijit’s NextGuide app, in that it helps people search for and discover new shows they’d like to watch, while providing ways to easily get alerts and set notifications for shows and movies when they come on…

Aussie Website to Sell Movies With UltraViolet Functionality in U.K. (HMM)

Access Digital Entertainment Ltd., May 19 said it plans to launch a website in the U.K. selling digital movies with UltraViolet functionality. Australia-based ADE said that when WowHD.tv launches, it will be one of Britain’s first download-to-own and VOD services featuring UltraViolet. Access Digital Entertainment already offers UV functionality on digital sellthrough in Australia via Ezyflix.tv. Current U.K. retailers of UV content include Amazon-owned Lovefilm and Tesco, which owns the Blinkbox movie rental and sellthrough platform…

Microsoft’s New Xbox Girds for a Smartphone Battle (WSJ)

Microsoft Corp. will unveil its new Xbox on Tuesday. What’s underneath the hood of the latest videogame console represents a multiyear odyssey of trying to figure out how to keep the machine “cool” in the age of smartphones and tablets. Since the last Xbox debuted in 2005, Microsoft has produced multiple prototypes for a new console and experimented with different technologies for it, said people familiar with the matter. The company has looked at streaming games from far-away servers to the latest Xbox; sending recorded videos of game exploits on the Web from the console; and including various television technologies, these people said…

YouTube: 100 Hours Uploaded Every Minute (Advanced Television)

Google’s video-sharing giant YouTube has marked its eighth birthday by revealing that 100 hours of content is now uploaded every minute. The YouTube blog says “When YouTube’s site first launched in May 2005, we never could have imagined the endless ways in which you would inspire, inform and entertain us every day…

MSN to Bankroll ‘Micro-Episodic’ Online Video Series (Variety)

Taking short-form video to the extremes of brevity, MSN is holding a worldwide competition that will award the winner $75,000 to produce an original Internet series comprising 12 roughly one-minute segments. Microsoft’s online media division is teaming with New York Television Festival to host the “Short-Form Storytellers Challenge,” giving indie producers a chance to vie for the deal to create the short-form series for distribution on MSN. Submissions must include two episodes — each no longer than 120 seconds — and a description for the full series treatment…

Twitter Teams With NBA to Stream Basketball Replay Videos (Bloomberg)

Twitter Inc. has teamed with the National Basketball Association to stream video clips of game highlights as the blogging service expands beyond 140-character status updates ahead of a possible initial public offering. NBA Digital, a joint venture between the sports league and Turner Broadcasting System Inc., will post game snippets on Twitter during the playoffs with the hashtag #NBARapidReplay, said Adam Bain, president of global revenue at Twitter. Short advertisements will appear alongside the clips, he said…

This Summer Could Be the Breakthrough in Mobile Advertising (Adweek)

ith more smartphone users than ever, brands are preparing for what could be a break-through quarter in mobile advertising as consumers spend more time outdoors while constantly checking their iPhone or Samsung. Mobile ad firm UberAds aims to be a part of the mix, launching a new ad product that targets app users based on their social media data and location. “So if you follow Tom Cruise on Twitter and are near a theater, you could see an ad for movie tickets,” explained Bill Gross, UberAds CEO…

Ad Council Pushes Digital Delivery (Broadcasting & Cable)

The Ad Council is launching its new digital platform for delivery of  public service announcements on Monday, providing one-stop shopping for spots across a range of media. The new PSA Central site will help the council more effectively deliver content for its 50 national campaigns representing a billion and a half dollars in donated time and space, the council says. “I think the ease of operation will be great,” said Council president Peggy Conlon. “So many of our media partners are looking for PSAs for multiple platforms, including Web, digital and mobile inventory.”…

MoCA-Enabled STB Shipments ‘Slowly Reaching A Boil’

Multimedia over coax (MoCA) is fast becoming the networking technology of choice for many pay-TV operators, according to US firm Infonetics Research, which estimates that sales of MoCA-enabled set-top boxes rose 23% in the second half of last year alone…

Yahoo Tumblrs for Cool: Board Approves $1.1 Billion Deal as Expected (All Things D)

The Yahoo board has approved a massive $1.1 billion all-cash deal to buy Tumblr. It’s not clear when the official vote was taken, but sources close to the board said the acquisition was a foregone conclusion and was unanimously approved by the directors of Silicon Valley Internet giant. Yahoo is looking to bolster its strong set of existing media offerings to appeal to a different demographic and also get into the social space via consumer-based software solutions that are both elegant and easy to use…

Netflix Set To Launch In France, The Netherlands and Belgium (Rapid TV News)

US video streaming subscription service Netflix is set to launch in France, the Netherlands and Belgium, according to reports in the Belgian press. Recruitment is said to be underway for translators in charge of localising the service. The daily newspaper Le Soir, reporting on a story on the website Bloovi.be, says the job description leaves no doubts about the European countries Netflix will enter as it is looking for French and Dutch language translators, along with Turkish, Korean and Indian…

TV Upfronts Dive Deep Into Digital (Variety)

This week’s upfront presentations in Manhattan weren’t purely about TV; broadcast and cable made plenty of digital waves as well. ABC became the first broadcaster to make itself available on smartphones and tablets via livestream. The Watch ABC app will be available gratis in select markets at launch for a brief period, but is intended for pay-TV subscribers. Mobile figures to be enormously important to the future of TV but getting a read on smartphone and tablet viewing has been as gnarly as gazing into a cloudy crystal ball. In a critical component of its Watch ABC launch, the Alphabet net will participate in Nielsen’s first trial to incorporate mobile video apps into the ratings firm’s online measurement metrics…

Dish Asks FCC To Suspend Review of SoftBank’s Sprint Bid (Reuters)

Dish Network Corp asked U.S. regulators on Thursday to stop reviewing SoftBank Corp’s proposed acquisition of Sprint Nextel Corp’s, citing the Japanese company’s reported attempt to thwart its bid for the U.S. wireless carrier. The request follows a Reuters report on May 10 that SoftBank asked several Wall Street investment banks not to finance Dish’s $25.5 billion offer for Sprint by saying such a move could hurt their chances of getting a piece of the public offering of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. SoftBank owns 33 percent of Alibaba…

YuMe Tackles Screen Fragmentation and Monetization at Cross Platform Summit (wsj.com)

YuMe, a leading provider of digital video brand advertising solutions, is moderating a “bootcamp” session at the third annual APPNATION Cross Platform Summit, May 21-22, 2013, in New York City. The session, Best Practices: Advertising on Mobile & Connected TV (CTV) Apps, will address one of the biggest challenges in adtech today — cross-platform app monetization. The panel will discuss current issues and opportunities within today’s fragmented media ecosystem, with first-hand perspectives from agency and digital media property partners…

Fox Releasing 23 Classic Films First Time on DVD (HMM)

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment May 17 said it plans to release 23 movies on DVD for the first time at major retailers from its Fox Cinema Archives collection over the course of the next five weeks, beginning today. Launched in 2012, Fox Cinema Archives includes more than 160 classic films featuring some of the biggest hits of the past century. Titles available today in stores include: The Gambler from Natchez (1954), starring Dale Robertson; Tail Spin (1939) with Alice Faye; and The True Story of Jesse James (1957), starring Robert Wagner…

Regulatory Headaches Ahead for European VOD Providers (IPTV News)

Just over half (52%) of the EU’s 2,700 video-on-demand services are available in another EU country, according to public service body the European Audiovisual Observatory, which warns that this may make it hard for the national regulations of some countries to be observed by providers. Of these VOD services, around a fifth are film VOD services, with the remainder being catch-up TV services, trailer services, newspaper video services and film archives…

Sony’s Music Unlimited Service Expands to Brazil (Billboard)

Sony Network Entertainment International’s Music Unlimited service is live in Brazil, according to a statement released today by the company. The cloud-based digital music subscription service is now available in 19 countries worldwide. The on-demand platform allows users to access a catalog of over 20 million tracks from leading and independent labels and works on an array of devices…

Young People ‘Prefer To Read On Screen’ (BBC News)

Young people are now much more likely to prefer to read on a computer screen rather than a printed book or magazine, according to a UK survey. The National Literary Trust studied almost 35,000 eight- to 16-year-olds. Its findings suggest a picture of young people who are now immersed in a screen-based culture…

U-verse Unveils New On Demand Store Front (Advanced Television)

AT&T is launching a new, media-rich U-verse On Demand storefront, designed to provide a more intuitive and convenient way to discover movies and TV shows. “Customers have access to thousands of titles today, and our new On Demand storefront will help them quickly discover the best movies and titles,” said Mel Coker, Chief Marketing Officer, AT&T Home Solutions…

CBS’s Moonves Sees Advertising About-Face on DVR Viewers (Bloomberg)

Les Moonves, the chief executive officer of CBS Corp., said advertisers are having a change of heart about the value of viewers who record shows and watch them later, leading to a dramatic shift in ad buying. About a fifth of CBS’s ad commitments this year will target viewers who watch shows as many as seven days after the original broadcast, Moonves said last night in a brief interview. That works out to at least about $570 million, based on the company’s ad projections. Most advertisers buy into audiences no more than three days after a show airs…

YouTube Jumps into Retail with Shoppable Videos for Brand Channels (Brand Channel)

Having conquered the internet, video and now launched into music, Google is moving into shopping through YouTube’s new “channel gadget.” “To shorten the path to purchase and translate video views to sales, today we’re introducing a new channel gadget on YouTube that will enable consumer goods brands to connect consumers directly with retailers throughout the entire YouTube experience,” Google wrote in a blog post…

SimulTV Launches Single-Screen ‘Second Screen’ Service (Digital TV Group)

SimulTV today launched an online TV-viewing app which combines live cable television, interactive video, text and voice chat, popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and online search on a single screen. The version launched today is a beta version with plans on a general release for June 2013. The app allows users to place their choice of social components to any location on the TV, tablet, smartphone, computer or game console screen they are using to watch TV from SimulTV’s library…

Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom Agree VDSL Deal (Reuters)

Vodafone said it agreed a deal with Germany’s Deutsche Telekom that will allow the British company to offer its German customers TV over superfast broadband. The company said on Thursday the cooperation is to launch before the end of the year, once the deal has been approved by German regulators…

Yahoo in Talks to Acquire Tumblr (Adweek)

Is Marissa Mayer about to make a game-changing acquisition? It appears so. Yahoo is in serious talks with Tumblr to acquire the social blogging site, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks. The deal is not done, but could reach as high as $1 billion, Adweek has learned. Allthingsd.com was first to report on the talks between the two companies. Such an acquisition could be just what CEO Mayer has been looking for to turn around Yahoo’s momentum…

CEA To Congress: Ensure Video Choice (TWICE)

The Consumer Electronics Association called for Congress to safeguard Americans’ ability to choose the video services and technologies they desire, as the Senate Communications Subcommittee held an information gathering hearing on the state of video, Tuesday. Michael Petricone, CEA government and regulatory affairs senior VP, said “Yesterday’s hearing reinforces the need for Congress to safeguard Americans’ ability to enjoy choice in new video services and technologies. We were disappointed by the National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) repeated and spurious attacks on new technologies like Aereo and the Dish Hopper as being somehow illegal…

Hollywood Horror Flick Gets Wide Release on Apple Devices (Bloomberg)

Hollywood’s latest horror flick, “Haunting Melissa,” opens today on the small screen. Hooked Digital Media, distributor of the film, said it’s making the movie available through an application on Apple Inc.’s tablets and smartphones and giving a new twist to how stories are told by offering users the chance to download the title one segment at a time for just a few minutes’ viewing…

Amazon Prime to Stream NBCU’s Grimm, Suits & More (WorldScreen)

Amazon.com has signed a licensing deal with NBCUniversal Cable & New Distribution that brings to its catalogue prior seasons of shows such as Grimm, Suits, Covert Affairs, Hannibal and Defiance for instant streaming. Prime Instant Video currently offers around 40,000 movies and TV episodes. Now, through the new agreement, Prime Instant Video customers can watch previous seasons for NBC’s Grimm and USA Network’s Suits and Cover Affairs, available as of today. Hannibal joins later this year and Defiance will become available in early 2014…

Turns Out Most “Mobile Video” Experiences Actually Happen at Home (VideoNuze)

Near the top of my personal list of confusing industry terms is “mobile video.” Does it mean watching on a smartphone? A tablet? Both? Does it mean using a wireless carrier’s network (e.g. Verizon, AT&T) or a WiFi network or both for access? Does it mean watching while out of home (and if so, where?) or at home? And what content is watched – live? on-demand? short-form? long-form? genre? The list goes on and on. Mobile video is truly one of the most confusing and misunderstood industry terms around. And that’s why recent data from Leichtman Research Group, a well-respected media research firm founded by a former colleague of mine, Bruce Leichtman, really caught my eye. In its 7th annual “Emerging Video Services” survey, of 1,240 adults age 18+, LRG found that of those who said they watched video on their mobile phone in the past month, 63% said they usually watch at home…

DirecTV Looks to Test Off-Air Antenna in Set-Top (Multichannel News)

DirecTV is considering testing a new set-top that incorporates an antenna allowing customers to pull over-the-air broadcast signals, which could allow the satellite giant to avoid paying millions of dollars per year in retransmission consent fees. Speaking at the JP Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom conference in Boston, DirecTV chief financial officer Patrick Doyle said the company had used the integrated antenna solution early in its history, before it began offering local broadcast channels via satellite. Once the satellite giant began offering local-into-local broadcast signals on a wide scale basis, the antenna solution didn’t make economic sense…

Unicorn Media and Apptelic Limited Partner to Provide Monetized Video Solutions to Publishers and Broadcasters (sacbee.com)

Unicorn Media, the market leader in Internet video solutions that allow the world’s largest publishers to dynamically serve video ads to IP-enabled devices, and Apptelic Ltd., a UK-based company that specialize in streaming video (HLS and Smooth Streaming) media app and player development for desktop, mobile and tablet devices as well as Xbox 360, today announced a partnership. The companies are now working together to provide monetization and video solutions to media organizations by integrating Unicorn Media’s patented Unicorn Once™ technology with Apptelic’s video player for Windows platforms, allowing television networks and broadcasters to monetize video apps…

Microsoft’s New YouTube App Draws Google’s Fire (Bloomberg Businessweek)

At the end of a marathon session at Google’s I/O conference Wednesday, Larry Page took the stage to tell a room that he is saddened when he reads stories about infighting and negativity in the tech industry. This story will make him sad. Page followed up by saying that Microsoft was particularly unhelpful. To wit: The same day as Page’s keynote, tech website The Verge obtained a letter from Google’s lawyers to Microsoft insisting that Microsoft stop offering its YouTube app for the Windows Phone mobile operating system…

Enders’ Analyst: YouTube Will Make $4 Billion From Ads This Year (Beet.TV)

Few video watchers could have failed to notice how YouTube is amping up the frequency of pre-roll ads on the service. But what will that bring to the operator’s bottom line? “We estimate this year YouTube will generate about $4 billion in advertising revenue,” analyst Ian Maude of Enders Analysis told Beet.TV’s recent London Video Ad Strategy Summit…

TalkTalk Takes the Lead (Broadband TV News)

TalkTalk now has the fastest growing TV service in the UK, adding 150,000 subscribers in the full year to March 31 and taking the total to 230,000. TalkTalk began offering YouView set-top boxes to its subscribers for free in September 2012 and was already gaining 12,000 TV customers as week as the full year drew to a close…

Russia’s IPTV Penetration To Double By 2017 (IPTV News)

The penetration of managed IPTV services in Russia is set to double over the next five years to reach 10%, as operators continue their roll-outs and more viewers become aware of it, according to local consultants J’Son & Partners. The firm estimates that there were around 2.5mn IPTV subscribers in Russia by the end of 2012, with the telcos Rostelecom, VimpelCom and MTS accounting for the lion’s share (55%, 35% and 6% respectively)…

NPD: Netflix Tops Among Tablet Users (HMM)

Netflix ranks tops among tablet users, accounting for one-third of total video-viewing time during the month of March, according to The NPD Group. In a blog post, Linda Barrabee, research director for NPD connected intelligence, said the average tablet user watched 2 1/2 hours of Netflix video per week, with active users engaged with the Netflix app three to four times a week, and spending on average nearly 45 minutes per session…

Motorola Uses Cloud UI Concept To Make Entry-Level STBs Shine (Videonet)

Motorola Mobility has been demonstrating its solution for a cloud-rendered User Interface, harnessing the HTML5 apps development standard within its DreamGallery user navigation solution. The company is harnessing the ActiveVideo Networks CloudTV H5 platform, which effectively stitches together the UI view that a customer needs to see (based on the commands sent back to the network from an STB) and turns that into an H.264 or MPEG-2 video stream that is decoded in the receiver as if it were another channel…

Twitter and Foursquare Partner With Movie Ads Firm (Adweek)

Twitter and Foursquare have inked intriguing deals with National CineMedia, which announced the partnerships in front of a packed movie theater on New York’s Upper Westside this afternoon at the cinema ads firm’s Upfront presentation. NCM will produce a weekly series that highlights the latest trending movie topics based on Twitter data. The videos will be distributed via NCM’s network of thousands of movie screens nationwide, while also appearing on the social media site. In the coming weeks, the two companies will pitch sponsorships around the videos to agencies and brands…

MPAA Launches Website to Promote Legal Access to Movies, TV Shows (Los Angeles Times)

Hollywood studios are employing a new tool in their efforts to fight piracy: persuasion. After waging an unsuccessful effort last year to introduce legislation that would crack down on websites offering illegal copies of movies and TV shows, studios are taking a different approach. The Motion Picture Assn. of America, the trade group for the major studios, on Wednesday announced the launch of a new website that will serve as a one-stop shop for audiences looking for legal ways to watch movies and TV shows over the Internet…

Google Officially Launches Its Music Subscription Service at Google I/O (GigaOm)

Google took the warps off its long-rumored music subscription service at its Google I/O developer conference Wednesday, wich is dubbed Google Play Music All Access. “Music unites us, it’s universal,” Chris Yerga, Android Engineering Director, said when he introduced the service during Wednesday’s keynote. “But what if we gave you access to millions of songs?” The service will be available on Android devices as well as on the web. It’s priced $9.99, and will roll out today. Users who start their trial by June 30th will get a reduced price of $7.99 per month…

Turner to Offer Online Streams of TNT, TBS (Los Angeles Times)

Time Warner’s TNT and TBS are joining the parade of networks offering a live linear feed of their channels online for viewers on the go. “Starting this summer, subscribers will be able to watch TBS and TNT live — anytime, anywhere, on multiple devices,” Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, said at the Turner Broadcasting upfront presentation to advertisers…

Apps for Kids: Content Wars for the Milk and Cookie Set (CNBC)

If you’ve seen a baby take to an iPad before she can walk or say “Mommy,” you know that the “mobile natives” are born into a different world—an intuitive one of touchscreens—than even their predecessors, the “digital natives.” And there’s a burgeoning digital content market to be conquered…

Netflix Could Feel Safe Raising Streaming Pricing Soon: Analysts (Variety)

With the sting subsiding from Netflix’s poorly managed 2011 price change, the Internet video streamer over time should be in a position to modestly raise pricing on its $7.99 monthly plan, a survey by RBC Capital Markets indicates. Netflix says it has no current plans to change pricing for the popular service, which provides unlimited access to TV shows, movies and exclusive series like “House of Cards” and “Arrested Development,” which will bow for a fourth season May 26 on Netflix. But an RBC survey earlier this month of 1,025 U.S. consumers found that a $1 hike in price would result in relatively minimal backlash…

Dodge, Universal Pictures Aim for Engagement Via Multichannel Campaign (Mobile Marketer)

Chrysler Group’s Dodge is partnering with Universal Pictures to get fans excited for the upcoming “Fast & Furious 6” film with a campaign that includes mobile, television and online components. Dodge has created three 30-second television spots that are part of the brand’s ongoing 2013 “How to” theme specifically for the partnership with Universal Pictures. The campaign is being used to promote Chrysler Group’s street and racing technology group, which includes five different vehicles that combine performance and technology…

Shaw Media Introduces ‘Live On Screen’ Integration (Broadcaster)

Shaw Media unveiled today an innovative way for some movie advertisers to engage viewers with a dramatic new approach to commercial breaks known as a live on screen integration. A first of its kind for Shaw Media, Warner Bros. will be the lead client to take part in this unique integration to promote its release of The Hangover Part III within Showcase’s May 18th Big Ticket Movie airing of The Hangover. During the broadcast of The Hangover, fans will experience a rare and entertaining movie content shift, which will reveal select details of The Hangover Part III, set for release May 23…

Senate Hearing Finds State of Video in Flux (Broadcasting & Cable)

There appeared to be a lot more questions than answers about the state of video at a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday. The general consensus was that the marketplace for video deliver was changing rapidly and government needed to take that into account. But there was not a lot of focus on what exactly Washington should do about it. There were no strong a la carte advocates among the senators — that advocacy came almost exclusively from former subcommittee member and Commerce Committee chair, senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), who made a special guest appearance. Sen.Mark Warner (D-Va.) signaled he was troubled by News Corp. president Chase Carey’s warning that if broadcasters lost the Aereo challenge, some high-value content might have to move to cable, but mostly the hearing reviewed the witnesses’ positions and gave them the opportunity to make their points for new members of the committee…

Nvidia’s Shield Console Gets Price and Release Date (BBC News)

US chipmaker Nvidia has revealed its launch plans for Shield – its handheld video-games console. It says the Android-powered device will ship to North America in June and be priced at $349 (£229). That makes it $100 more expensive than Sony’s PlayStation Vita and nearly double the cost of Nintendo’s 3DS XL. One expert said Shield was unlikely to appeal to more than a “niche audience” but it would act as a showpiece for Nvidia’s technology…

Eastern Europe Set for Digital TV Boom (Digital TV Europe)

The number of digital TV homes in Eastern Europe will double between now and 2018 and pay TV revenues will increase by almost a third in the same period, according to new research. Digital TV Research is forecasting that the number of digital homes in the region will reach 121 million by 2018, with 13 million new digital homes being added this year alone…

ABC to Test Expanding Nielsen Ratings to Mobile (AdAge)

ABC will begin measuring advertising in videos viewed with mobile and tablet apps during a trial run with Nielsen, the network said at its upfront presentation to ad buyers Tuesday afternoon. It will be the first test expanding Nielsen’s Online Campaign Ratings to mobile, allowing ABC to measure audience demographics and understand the reach and frequency of online campaigns within apps, according to executives. Nielsen’s online ratings currently include video viewed on computer and tablet browsers…

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