NBC Universal

Cox, NBC Universal Trial Dynamic VOD Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 12:27pm.
Atlanta - Cable TV provider Cox Communications and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) on Tuesday announced a trial of dynamic advertising on Cox's video-on-demand service. The trial will see different ads rotated into on-demand prime-time programs including NBC's "The Office" and USA's "Monk." Up to four ads or promos will be served to viewers at the beginning, as well as within the program.

NBC Universal Among Authors of Verizon Copyright Letters

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 16, 2009 - 12:05pm.
San Francisco - NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) is among the studios on whose behalf Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is sending its ISP subscribers notices that they are suspected of violating copyrights on filesharing networks, CNET News.com reported, citing multiple unnamed sources. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was reported last week to have engaged Verizon to deliver copyright letters on its behalf; an undisclosed number of other studios and copyright owners have made similar requests.

WSJ: Comcast, GE Agree on $30 Billion NBCU Valuation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 9, 2009 - 8:55am.
New York - Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), the nation's largest cable TV provider, has agreed with General Electric (NYSE: GE) on a valuation of $30 billion for NBC Universal, the film and television company it is seeking to acquire, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The sources told The Journal that the two companies "are now ironing out the final details of an agreement...which could come as early as the end of this week."

Hulu Provides Schedule of Upcoming TV Episode Releases

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 10:31am.
Los Angeles - Hulu, the online video joint venture between News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and Disney (NYSE: DIS), has launched a new feature that will let users know when new episodes of TV shows are scheduled to become available on the site. The new Coming Soon feature will offer a weekly schedule of when shows from ABC, NBC ad Fox are slated to go live on Hulu after their broadcast premieres.

Report: Comcast Closer to NBC Universal Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 2, 2009 - 7:50am.
New York - Comcast (NASD: CMCSA) is closer to a deal with General Electric (NYSE: GE) to take over control of its NBC Universal unit, after meetings last week concluded with a tentative agreement on the main points, The New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the talks. Under the proposed deal, Comcast would contribute "several billions of dollars in cash and its own stable of cable networks," and receive a 51% stake of NBC Universal.

News Corp. Exec: Hulu to Start Charging for Access

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2009 - 11:51am.
New York - Hulu, the online video joint venture between News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and Disney (NYSE: DIS), plans to begin charging users for some content, possibly as early as next year, according to remarks from News Corp. president and COO Chase Carey, the Associated Press reported.

Former Orchard CEO Greg Scholl Joins NBC Universal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 14, 2009 - 11:38am.
New York - Greg Scholl, the president and CEO of independent digital music distributor The Orchard until he resigned a week ago, has been named president of local media platforms for NBC Universal, PaidContent reported.

Reports: Comcast in Talks to Take Stake in NBC Universal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 1, 2009 - 10:16am.
New York - According to reports from multiple news outlets, Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), the nation's largest cable TV provider, is in talks to acquire or purchase a stake in content giant NBC Universal from General Electric (NYSE: GE).

USA Network Launches Character Arcade Casual Games Portal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 16, 2009 - 12:17pm.
New York - NBC Universal's (NYSE: GE) USA Network announced on Wednesday the launch of a casual gaming portal, Character Arcade, that also includes social networking, news and other features. The company partnered with game publishers NeoEdge and Bigpoint to expand its catalog of game titles, and with Bunchball to launch a rewards and points program connected to social media sites.

AT&T Debuts Entertainment Site with Free TV Shows, Movies

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 10, 2009 - 12:01pm.
Dallas - AT&T (NYSE: T) on Thursday announced the launch of AT&T Entertainment, a new Hulu-like website that offers thousands of streaming TV shows and movies from partners including ABC (NYSE: DIS), NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and (NYSE: CBS)CBS. The free site is available to all consumers, not just subscribers to AT&T services. The company said it plans to add more programming from additional providers in the coming months.

tags: Video | TV | Movies | AT&T | ABC | CBS | NBC Universal | Hulu |

Broadcasters, Advertisers Team to Study Audience Ratings

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 10, 2009 - 9:06am.
New York - A consortium of 14 broadcasters, ad agencies and advertisers announced on Thursday that they are joining forces to explore new ways to measure audiences across traditional and new media. Founding members of the Council for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) include Time Warner (NYSE: TWX); News Corp. (NYSE: NWS); Viacom (NYSE: VIA); NBC Universal (NYSE: GE); Disney-ABC (NYSE: DIS); CBS (NYSE: CBS) Paramount; Discovery (NASD: DISCA); Starcom MediaVest; Mediabrands; WPP (NASD: WPPGY); Omnicom (NYSE: OMC); Unilever (NYSE: UL); AT&T (NYSE: T); and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG).

Report: Paramount in Talks to Merge DVD Operations with Sony and Fox

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 6:20am.
Los Angeles - Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures studio (NYSE: VIA) is in preliminary discussions about merging some or all of its DVD operations with Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Fox (NYSE: NWS), according to Financial Times. The purpose would be to save costs on backend physical production and distribution as the market quickly moves toward digital distribution of film and television content.

Hulu: Nielsen is Undercounting Our Site Visitors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 15, 2009 - 6:32am.
New York - Hulu, the online video joint venture between News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and Disney (NYSE: DIS), has raised objections to methodologies used to count Web video views, as Internet audience measurement firms Nielsen Online and comScore counted 8.9 million and 42 million visitors to the site in March, respectively, The New York Times reported.

EveryZing Lands $8.25 Million for Customized Search; Signs NBC

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 11, 2009 - 6:54am.
Cambridge, Mass. - EveryZing, a provider of customized universal search and publishing technology, announced on Monday that it has raised $8.25 million in a new round of financing, and said NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) will deploy its product.

Disney Takes Equity Stake in Hulu; Adds ABC Full Episodes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 30, 2009 - 8:12am.
Los Angeles - Confirming earlier reports, Disney (NYSE: DIS) announced on Thursday that it has signed a deal to take an equity stake in, and provide full-length TV episodes to Hulu, the video website joint venture between News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE). Coming to Hulu will be shows from ABC, SOAPnet and Disney Channel, including "Grey's Anatomy," "LOST," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "The View" and "General Hospital."

Report: Hulu Tops Yahoo for Third Place in Web Video in March

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 29, 2009 - 12:06pm.
Reston, Va. - Hulu, the video site joint venture between NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), overtook Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) to become the third most-popular Web video site in March, according to Web audience measurement firm comScore. Hulu served 380 million videos last month, to Yahoo's 335 million. Google (NASD: GOOG) and YouTube still dwarfed all competitors, with 5.9 billion video views, with News Corp.-owned sites including MySpace taking second place with 437 million views.

Report: Hulu in Talks With Labels on Adding Music Videos

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 24, 2009 - 10:45am.
New York - Hulu, the Web video joint venture between News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), is in talks with the four major labels on adding music videos to the site, in a bid to challenge YouTube's current dominance in the sector, Bloomberg reported, citing "four people with knowledge of the discussions."

Report: Disney in Talks to Put TV Clips, Episodes on YouTube

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2009 - 11:46am.
Los Angeles - Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Google (NASD: GOOG) are in advanced talks on a deal that would see clips of ABC, ESPN and Disney programming on YouTube, while Disney is also considering a full-episode deal, PaidContent reported.

Report: Disney in Talks With Hulu; Could Get Equity Stake

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 27, 2009 - 10:58am.
Los Angeles - Disney (NYSE: DIS) is in talks to take an equity stake in Hulu, the online video joint venture between News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), in exchange for licensing ABC programming on the service, PaidContent reported, citing a source familiar with the situation. It's not clear what other Disney-owned programming would be part of a prospective deal, but sources told PaidContent that Disney Channel content has been discussed; Disney also owns ESPN.

Digital Rights Group Puts U.K. TV Shows on Hulu

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 25, 2009 - 11:04am.
London - U.K. television distributor Digital Rights Group (DRG) has signed a deal with Hulu, the online video joint venture between News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), that will bring U.K. TV series like "Queer As Folk," "Peep Show," "Rude Tube" and "Green Wing" to the site's U.S. viewers. The deal marks the first U.K. shows to be made available on Hulu. DRG said it plans to make additional series available on the site in the future.