Video

Webby Awards Winners Named; Colbert is 'Person of the Year'

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 6, 2008 - 11:26am.

New York - The winners of this year's Webby Awards were announced on Tuesday, with special achievement honors going to TV host Stephen Colbert, film director Michel Gondry and musical artist will.i.am. Colbert was named the Webby Person of the Year for the innovative ways he uses the Internet to interact with fans of his show, while Gondry was recognized in part for inspiring user-generated content with his new film, "Be Kind Rewind," and will.i.am for the songs and Internet videos he produced for Barack Obama.

Microsoft Adds TV Shows from NBC, Others to Zune Web Store

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 6, 2008 - 10:48am.

Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) announced on Tuesday that it has added more than 800 downloadable TV show episodes from NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Liberty Media (NASD: LINTA) and other providers to the online store for its Zune portable media player. Notable in the deal is NBC Universal's inclusion, as the company's programs disappeared from Apple's iTunes Store in December following disputes over pricing and bundling. "Partnering with Zune will allow us to develop innovative content offerings for their customers, including flexible pricing and packaging options beginning this fall," said JB Perrette, president of NBC Universal Digital Distribution.

Analysis: Raising the a la Carte Alarm

Authored by Paul Sweeting on May 6, 2008 - 10:17am.
The talk of the digital media blogosphere over the weekend was a report by written by Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffet headlined, And Now for the News...The Emperor Has No Clothes. It's well worth a read if you can get your hands on it. For those who can't (and even those who can), digital maverick Mark Cuban has a looong post on his blog about the report in which he reproduces many of the juiciest parts.

NBC Offers Full Episodes of "The Office," "30 Rock" on iPhone

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 8, 2008 - 12:10pm.

New York - Despite its much-publicized removal of its programs from Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store in December, NBC (NYSE: GE) has begun offering streaming full-length episodes of shows including "The Office" and "30 Rock" for free on the iPhone, Silicon Alley Insider reports. The episodes, which are broken into four parts, included standard TV ads at the end of each segment.

tags: Mobile | Video | TV | Apple | NBC | iPhone |

Live Universe Acquires TV Listings, Video Site MeeVee

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 8, 2008 - 11:51am.

Los Angeles - Live Universe, the company started by MySpace founder Brad Greenspan, has acquired MeeVee, a provider of TV and online video listings, for an undisclosed sum, TechCrunch reports.

Video Distribution Firm KIT digital Lands $15 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 8, 2008 - 7:12am.

Dubai - KIT digital (formerly ROO Group), a provider of video distribution and interactive marketing services, announced on Thursday that it has raised $15 million through a private placement of equity.

"Intellectual" Video Site FORA.tv Lands $4 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 7, 2008 - 7:03am.

San Francisco - FORA.tv, a video site that specializes in political and cultural content, has raised $4 million in its first round of funding, from Adobe Ventures, William Randolph Hearst III and others, Beet.TV reported.

Personalized Content Search Firm Jinni Raises $1 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 7, 2008 - 6:36am.

Herzliya, Israel - Jinni, a developer of personalized content search and discovery technology, has raised a $1 million first round of financing from Start-Up Factory, Globes Online reported.

Neil Young to Release Entire Repertoire on Blu-ray Disc

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 6, 2008 - 12:10pm.

San Francisco - Neil Young said on Tuesday that he will release his entire repertoire on Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray Disc format, the Associated Press reported. The veteran rocker announced the plans at a conference for Sun Microsystems, whose Java platform powers the interactive features on Blu-ray discs. The first 10-disc set, covering 1963-1972 and set for release in the fall, will include songs, videos, handwritten manuscripts and other content that users will be able to download directly to the discs over the Internet as it become available.

Entertainment Rights to Bring Classic Kids Shows Online

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 6, 2008 - 12:07pm.

London - Entertainment Rights, a U.K. media group that holds children's programming rights, on Tuesday announced new Web distribution deals that will bring shows like "He-Man," "She-Ra," "Rocky & Bullwinkle," "Fat Albert" and "Casper the Friendly Ghost" to YouTube, Joost and Babelgum. YouTube will get a Retro Heroes channel featuring 2-5 minute webisodes, while Babelgum and Joost will feature select long-form programming.

P2P Video Delivery Firm Kontiki Completes Split with VeriSign

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 6, 2008 - 10:14am.

Mountain View, Calif. - Kontiki, the developer of a managed peer delivery platform for video and digital content, said on Tuesday that it has completed its split from parent VeriSign.

tags: Deals | Video | P2P | Kontiki | VeriSign | CDN |

Mobile TV Firm ROK Buys IPTV Provider Jalipo for $16.8 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 6, 2008 - 8:02am.

London - ROK Entertainment Group, a provider of mobile TV delivery technology, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Jalipo Ltd, a U.K. provider of IPTV services, through the issuance of 600,000 ROK shares in a transaction valued at about $16.8 million.

Christian Video Site GodTube Raises $30 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 5, 2008 - 7:26am.

Dallas - GodTube, a Christian video-sharing site and online social network, has raised $30 million in new financing from GLG Partners, at a valuation of around $150 million, PaidContent.org reported.

HD Video Streamer Vusion Gets Funds; Signs Island Def Jam

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 5, 2008 - 6:56am.

San Jose, Calif. - Vusion, a provider of HD-quality streaming video distribution services, on Monday announced its official launch and the signing of Island Def Jam Music Group as its first customer.

Mark Cuban: Will The Ala Carting of Video on the Net Lead to Disaster?

Authored by Mark Cuban on May 5, 2008 - 6:17am.
Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research wrote an amazing report entitled And Now for the News...The Emperor Has No Clothes". If you can get a copy, read it. Starting with the disappointing but expected news that journalism is no longer a service consumers desire to pay for, he moves on to the problems facing Internet video. He does a far better job than I ever did explaining the failings of Internet video and the expectation of free content. This is the report I wish I had blogged.

NPD Report Indicates Blu-ray Players Still Slow To Catch On

Authored by Jay Baage on May 2, 2008 - 8:26am.

New York - Sales of Blu-ray standalone players plummeted 40 percent from January to February, then rose only 2 percent from February to March in spite of winning the high def format war, according to a report by research firm NPD Group. This is bad news for the home entertainment industry, which has put its hopes into a drastic increase in adoption of the next generation high def DVD players after Toshiba dropped its support for the HD DVD format earlier this year in favor of Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray format.

tags: Games | Video | Sony | Metrics | DVD | Blu-ray | NPD |

ABC.com To Experiment With More Ads Per TV Stream

Authored by Jay Baage on May 2, 2008 - 6:34am.
New York – Viewers of video at ABC.com might soon be seeing two advertisements, one after the other, within each video break. "It would be premature for us to say people only want one ad," said Albert Cheng, executive vp digital media at Disney-ABC Television Group (NYSE: DIS), to the Hollywood Reporter. "It's a likely sort of thinking, but we want to push it a little bit to see how it would go."

A Hole in the Apple?

Authored by Paul Sweeting on May 2, 2008 - 5:37am.
If further proof were needed that Apple's much-ballyhooed deal with the major studios to start selling movies through iTunes on the same day they become available on DVD is somewhat-less than a game-changer, the Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that Apple is taking a haircut on every movie it sells. Citing a "person familiar with the matter," the Journal said the studios are getting a wholesale price close to $16 for the movies Apple plans to sell for $14.99.
tags: Video | Marketing | Apple | Movies | iTunes | Film |

ZeeVee Device Transmits Web, PC Video to HDTVs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 1, 2008 - 11:30am.

Littleton, Mass. - ZeeVee on Thursday announced the launch of its ZvBox, a $499 device that lets users transmit Internet TV, online video and computer content to all HDTVs in the home. The ZvBox connects to a computer's monitor output and turns it into a new HD channel called Zv, which is then broadcast across existing cable wiring to all HDTVs in the home. The Massachusetts-based company has raised funding to date from Alpond Capital and JLL Ventures.

tags: Video | TV | HD | ZeeVee | ZvBox |

Mobile Media Delivery Firm uVuMobile Names New CEO

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 1, 2008 - 11:28am.

Atlanta - uVuMobile, a provider of technology for delivering video and audio content to mobile handsets, has named Scott Hughes as its president and CEO. Prior to joining uVuMobile in 2001, Hughes was director of network and security consulting services at RTP, a Seattle-based consulting group.

tags: Mobile | Video | Moves | uVuMobile |