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AirPlay Raises $4 Million for Mobile Gaming TV Shows

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 20, 2006 - 7:51am.
Monterey, Calif. - AirPlay, a company developing TV game shows where viewers participate with their mobile phones, announced on Monday that it has raised $4 million in its first round of venture capital financing, from Redpoint Ventures and Qualcomm. AirPlay TV, slated to launch in the fall, will allow mobile phone users to play along with live broadcasts: choosing winners and losers in reality TV shows; competing against contestants on game shows; and predicting plays in football games and other sporting events. The Monterey, Calif.-based company's first product, AirPlay Sports, will let users make live game and play predictions during pro and college football games when their seasons begin in the fall.
tags: VC | AirPlay | TV Shows | Mobile Gaming |

AOL to Begin Selling TV Shows, User Videos Online

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 6, 2006 - 6:37am.
New York - In a bid to challenge new offerings from Apple's iTunes Store, Yahoo and Google Video, America Online plans to begin selling TV programs and other video content through its website later this year, Reuters reported on Monday. "We've been in discussion for months with every major cable and broadcast network," Kevin Conroy, executive vice president of AOL Media Networks, told Reuters. The service is expected to include both free and pay-per-download programming, as well as a subscription component, and will utilize Microsoft delivery and security technology that enables downloads to portable media players. Before the new service launches, AOL plans later this month to offer nearly 5000 vintage TV shows for free, on a service called In2TV.
tags: AOL | TV Shows | Website | User Videos |

Fox Launches Online Fantasy Game for Reality TV Shows

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 31, 2006 - 7:05am.
Los Angeles - Fox Reality, News Corporation's all-reality-TV network, on Tuesday announced the launch of its "Fantasy Reality Challenge," an online game that lets players earn points based on the performance of the selected participants from reality series including "Survivor," "Amazing Race," "America's Next Top Model," "The Apprentice" and "American Idol." The Fox Reality network launched in May 2005, and is now available in more than 18 million U.S. homes.
tags: Games | Internet | Fox | TV Shows |

Fox to Sell Pre-Air TV Shows on DirecTV Digital Video Recorders

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 5, 2006 - 7:11am.
Las Vegas - Fox Entertainment Group announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with satellite TV provider DirecTV, to sell downloads of TV programs to DirecTV digital video recorder -- both after they are broadcast and before they air for the first time on TV. Beginning in March, Fox will offer episodes of select FX series a day or two before their first broadcast for $2.99 each. Later this year, Fox will offer downloads of episodes of "The Shield," "Rescue Me," "24" and "Prison Break" for about a week following their initial broadcast, for 99 cents each. "For the very first time, viewers will be able to watch their favorite shows before the rest of the world," said News Corp president and COO Peter Chernin. "And we now have the ability to create different cuts of our programs for the pre-air audience -- versions with additional scenes and materials not included in the network broadcast -- something entirely new."
tags: DirecTV | Fox | TV Shows | Digital Video | Pre-Air |

EU Proposal Would Allow Product Placement in TV Shows

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 14, 2005 - 10:39am.
Strasbourg, France - The European Commission has proposed new rules to govern the distribution of "moving images" in the European Union, which for the first time may allow the practice -- common in America -- of including product placement in TV shows, Reuters reported. The use of product placement is growing in the U.S., alongside the growing popularity of digital video recorders that let viewers skip past TV commercials. But the practice has been banned in many EU nations, where current rules also limit the amount of TV advertising to 12 minutes per hour. The new rules would also bring video delivered over the Internet under the auspices of the Commission. "It would be a distortion of competition if we were to just regulate one and not all," EU Information Commissioner Viviane Reding told reporters. The new "television without frontiers" proposals still must gain approval of the European Parliament and EU member states.
tags: Product Placement | TV Shows | EU | Proposal |

TiVo to Let Subscribers Transfer TV Shows to Apple iPod, Sony PSP

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 21, 2005 - 3:05am.
Alviso, Calif. - TiVo announced on Monday that subscribers to its digital video recorder service will soon be able to transfer recorded TV programs to their Apple iPod or Sony PSP portable devices. TiVo subscribers can already use the TiVoToGo feature to transfer recorded TV shows to a PC or laptop, as well as to portable devices that support Microsoft's Portable Media Center software. Consumers will be able to purchase "low-cost" software that enables them to program TiVo to automatically transfer select recorded shows to an iPod or PSP overnight via the PC. TiVo will embed watermarks on the transferred programs as an anti-piracy means, enabling tracking of the account from which a transferred program originated. TiVo will begin testing the feature in the coming weeks, with availability for all TiVo Series2 subscribers expected in the first quarter of next year; in October, the company claimed a total of 3.85 million subscribers.
tags: Sony | PSP | Subscribers | iPod | TiVo | TV Shows | Appl |

NBC Universal Offers Movies, TV Shows on Peer Impact Legal P2P Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2005 - 4:03am.
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. - Wurld Media, developer of the Peer Impact legal peer-to-peer file-sharing network, announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with NBC Universal to make the first content from a major studio available on a legal peer-to-peer service. NBC Universal will provide Universal film titles including "Ray," "The Motorcycle Diaries," "Meet the Fockers" and "The Forty Year Old Virgin"; specials such as "Jerry Springer: Uncensored" and "Blind Date"; family programs including "Balto" and "The Land Before Time"; and the Spanish-language program "Laura Sin Censura" for download on Peer Impact. Titles will be available for a 24-hour period after purchase. Users of New York-based Wurld Media's Peer Impact service also earn "Peer Cash" by allowing their computers to be used as additional peer distribution points for others downloading content, as well as when they recommend files to friends who then purchase the content.
tags: P2P | Movies | NBC Universal | TV Shows |

Apple Introduces Video iPod, $1.99 Music Videos, TV Shows on iTunes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 12, 2005 - 5:28am.
San Jose, Calif. - As anticipated, Apple on Wednesday introduced its fifth-generation iPod, which for the first time adds the ability to play video, in addition to supporting music and photos. The company also announced that it will begin selling 2,000 music videos from its iTunes Music Store for $1.99 each, along with episodes of ABC and Disney Channel TV programs like "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," and short films from Pixar Animation Studios. The device will also be able to display video podcasts, home videos or any other video content uploaded from a computer. The new video iPod will be sold in 30GB ($299) and 60GB ($399) models that come in either white or black. "The new iPod is the best music player ever -- it's 30 percent thinner and has 50 percent more storage than its predecessor -- yet it sells for the same price and plays stunning video on its 2.5-inch color screen," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "Because millions of people around the world will buy this new iPod to play music, it will quickly become the most popular portable video player in history."
tags: Apple | Music Videos | iTunes | TV Shows | Video iPod |

Canada Outlaws Unauthorized 'Net Retransmissions of U.S. TV Shows

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 21, 2003 - 6:15am.
Hull, Quebec -- Canada's version of the Federal Communications Commission issued a ruling on Friday making it illegal to offer Internet video retransmissions of TV programming originating in the U.S. to Canadian Internet users. Several start-ups, including JumpTV, had hatched plans to take advantage of a "loophole" in Canadian law that would have allowed them to offer U.S. TV shows to Canadian users without the permission of U.S. networks, so long as they ensured the retransmissions were only viewed by Canadian users. In its ruling, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission said that, "at present, there is no completely workable method of ensuring that Internet retransmissions are geographically contained." The U.S. National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) lauded the ruling. "We are gratified with the CRTC's conclusion that Internet retransmission of broadcast signals should not be permitted without the consent of the broadcaster and its program suppliers. We regard this decision as a major victory for consumers in the protection of free, over-the-air television signals and programming," said the NAB, in a statement.
tags: Canada | TV Shows | U.S | Outlaws | Retransmissions |