Premium

Verizon FiOS TV Service Adds Here Programming

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 11, 2006 - 4:21pm.

New York - Premium gay TV network Here announced on Monday that its programming is now available on Verizon's FiOS TV fiber-optic digital TV service. Verizon's FiOS TV, which offers nearly 400 digital video and music channels, is now available in parts of California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, and Texas.

Majesco Lays Off 20% of Staff, Exits Premium Games Market

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 19, 2006 - 3:27am.

Edison, N.J. - Video game publisher Majesco Entertainment announced that it has laid off 20% of its staff and plans to exit the premium console video game publishing business, citing development costs and a disappointing fourth quarter. The company's fourth quarter revenue was $4.6 million, down from $45.3 million a year earlier, while its net loss was $34.2 million, compared with net income of $16.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. New Jersey-based Majesco plans now to focus on developing and publishing budget-priced console games, and titles for handheld devices. "This has been a difficult year for Majesco," said Majesco president Jesse Sutton. "We entered the premium console market with high expectation for success, but as a result of a variety of factors we were not able to meet our expectations. Recently, we evaluated our product portfolio and have sold or cancelled most of our premium console titles that were scheduled for release in 2006 and beyond."

tags: Games | Majesco | Premium |

Yahoo Launches Premium Content Service for Broadband Subscribers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 8, 2003 - 6:20am.

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo on Monday announced a new premium content subscription service for high-speed Internet subscribers, which will be offered for an additional $5.95 per month. The Yahoo Plus service is intended to compete with similar, higher-priced offerings like AOL for Broadband, which offers subscribers to any ISP the features of AOL for an additional fee. In addition to email accounts and firewall, anti-virus, anti-spam and pop-up blocking software, Yahoo Plus will offer subscribers access to the LAUNCHcast Premium streaming music service, an online games tournament service, and "premium video content from leading news and entertainment sources."

tags: Broadband | Subscribers | Yahoo | Premium |

Penn State to Offer Premium Napster Service Free to All Students

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2003 - 8:12am.

Anaheim, Calif. -- The new Napster service has reached a deal with Penn State University to offer students access to Napster for free, charging students only when they choose to make permanent downloads or burn songs onto CD. Penn State president Graham B. Spanier announced the deal on Thursday at an educational conference in Anaheim, Calif. "This will be the first step in a new, legal approach designed to meet student interest in getting extensive digital access to music," said Spanier. The cost for the Napster Premium Service will come out of the information technology fee included in the tuition paid by the school's 83,000 students, although exact figures were not given. An initial roll-out in January for Penn State's 18,000 on campus residents will be followed by a full launch in the fall of 2004 for all students and faculty. The school also intends to explore offering the service to its 150,000 dues-paying alumni. University president Spanier also serves as co-chair of the Committee on Higher Education and the Entertainment Industry, along with Recording Industry Association of America president Cary Sherman.

tags: Napster | Premium | Students | Penn |

Premium Multimedia Content Distributor Synacor Raises $6.5 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 25, 2003 - 4:15am.

Buffalo, N.Y. -- Synacor, a provider of premium digital media content delivery for Internet access providers, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $6.5 million in its third round of venture capital financing. Participating in the round were new investors Access Technology Capital, Intel Capital and Rand Capital, and previous investors Walden International Investment Group and Crystal Venture Capital. New York-based Synacor provides ISPs, telcos and other access providers with subscription-based content including Fox Sports videos and online games, content from Walt Disney Internet Group and CinemaNow video-on-demand services. The company said Susquehanna Communications and FairPoint Communications will soon launch its subscription services for their customers. Synacor will use the new funding to continue the strategic expansion of its customer base to larger service providers.

tags: VC | Multimedia | Premium | Synacor |

Yahoo Launches Premium LAUNCHcast Web Radio Subscription Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 29, 2003 - 4:39am.

Santa Monica, Calif. -- Yahoo on Wednesday announced the launch of a premium version of its LAUNCHcast Internet radio service. LAUNCHcast Plus, available for $3.99 per month or $35.99 per year, offers commercial-free access to 50 pre-programmed niche station streams as well as the ability to create stations based on favorite artists or listen to other subscriber-created stations. The service will also be available for free to SBC Yahoo DSL and Dial customers. Earlier this week, Yahoo announced that it settled pending copyright infringement litigation between its subsidiary Launch and Sony Music, which centered on the broadcast of Sony-owned songs on the LAUNCHcast service. http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030129/290110_1.html