Los Gatos,
Calif. – Netflix (NASD: NFLX) has tapped
Irdeto to provide content-protection technology for its Instant Streaming
feature that delivers a range of TV episodes and movies over the Internet to
its subscribers. The company has recently began expanding the range of devices
for Instant Streaming, adding Apple’s iPad with plans to add the iPhone as
well.
Related Links:
http://www.irdeto.com/en/news-room/438.html
Paris
– France-based music streaming service Deezer has signed a deal with fast food
chain McDonald’s, that will see its Soundeezer unit to provide customized
streaming music playlists for its restaurants in the country, Billboard
reported. "This new original and targeted music offer brings an answer to
the needs of our consumers looking for an experience beyond catering,"
said McDonald’s vice president Nawfal Trabelsi.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vgsou
(Billboard)
San Diego – Bandsintown, a service that provides upcoming concert
recommendations and aggregated ticket sales, on Tuesday announced new
partnerships with major label EMI, discovery service Shazam and marketing
platform ReverbNation. Bandsintown will power tour dates and ticket sales for both
Shazam and ReverbNation. The company will also work with EMI to promote access
to the live events of artists on the label.
Related Links:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/04/prweb3837684.htm
Carlsbad,
Calif. – NTN Buzztime, a provider
of interactive TV trivia in bars and restaurants, announced on Tuesday that it
has named board member Michael J. Bush as its new CEO. Bush formerly served as
president and CEO of 3 Day Blinds and Anchor Blue Retail Group. Former chief
executive Terry Bateman resigned in January for personal reasons.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vgsua
Las Vegas – A dozen U.S.
broadcasters on Tuesday announced the formation of a standalone joint venture
to develop a new national mobile video content service. Parties to the venture
include Belo, Cox, Scripps, Fox (NYSE: NWS), Gannett (NYSE: GCI), Hearst, ION Television, Media
General, Meredith, NBC (NYSE: GE), Post-Newsweek and Raycom Media.
Utilizing existing
broadcast spectrum provided by Fox, NBC, Telemundo and ION that has the
capacity to reach an estimated nearly 150 million U.S. residents, the service
will allow member companies to provide content to mobile devices, including
live and on-demand video, local and national news from print and electronic
sources, as well as sports and entertainment programming.
"This initiative
offers a path for the next generation of video consumption, and will help the
FCC in its goal of ensuring efficient and reliable broadband service for US
consumers," said John Wallace, president of NBC Local Media.
The joint
venture will compete with existing mobile video content distributors like
MobiTV, which launched an iPhone application yesterday, and Qualcomm’s FLO TV.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vgqar
http://snipurl.com/vgqal
(PaidContent)
Los Angeles – An estimated
800,000 U.S.
households ditched their cable, satellite or telco TV subscription services
last year, a number that could double to 1.6 million by the end of 2011,
TechCrunch reported, citing a new study from Convergence Consulting Group.
The U.S. counts an
estimated 101 million pay-TV subscribers, making for an $84 billion industry.
The
report found that 17% of the weekly TV audience watches at least one or two episodes of TV
shows online, up from 12% last year; that figure is expected to rise to 21% next
year.
Convergence noted that consumers who have ditched their pay-TV
subscriptions still represent less than 3% of total online TV viewing.
The
firm’s report also estimated that just 100 million TV episodes were purchased
and downloaded from online retailers in the U.S. in 2009, generating revenues
of $200 million; this is up from 90 million downloads in 2008.
Related Links:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/13/800000-households-abandoned-tvs-web
Washington – A new report from the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) requested by Congress last year found that piracy and counterfeiting
have a negative effect on the U.S. economy, but called into question the
methodology used in some entertainment industry-funded research to arrive at their
dire forecasts, and even found some research that indicated "potential
positive economic effects of counterfeiting and piracy."
"Three
widely cited U.S.
government estimates of economic losses resulting from counterfeiting cannot be
substantiated due to the absence of underlying studies," the GAO said in
its report.
"Each method (of measuring) has limitations, and most experts
observed that it is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify the economy-wide
impacts."
The report also found that "consumers may use pirated goods
to ‘sample’ music, movies, software, or electronic games before purchasing
legitimate copies," potentially leading to "increased sales of
legitimate goods."
Representatives from the motion picture and recording
industries deflected or brushed off the GAO’s questioning of their funded research.
"The GAO study confirms that piracy of all sorts is rampant," a
spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) told CNET
News.com. "Getting a firm handle on the problem in terms of dollar
estimates is complicated."
"There’s no doubt that the music industry
has declined significantly over the last 10 years," Recording Industry of
American spokesman Jonathan Lamy told CNET.
"Countless studies have blamed
this on the fact that millions of people have been getting their music for free
online. That has translated to thousands of lost jobs in the industry and
that’s undeniable."
Related Links:
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-423
San Francisco
– Following months of speculation, microblogging service Twitter on Tuesday rolled out
an advertising platform, which it is calling "Promoted Tweets." The
company, which has drawn scrutiny over the years for its lack of a revenue
model, is launching the new program with ad partners that include Best Buy,
Bravo, Red Bull, Sony Pictures, Starbucks and Virgin America.
"Promoted
Tweets are ordinary Tweets that businesses and organizations want to highlight
to a wider group of users," wrote company founder Biz Stone on Twitter’s
blog.
He said that the ads "will be clearly labeled as ‘promoted’ when an
advertiser is paying, but in every other respect they will first exist as
regular Tweets and will be organically sent to the timelines of those who
follow a brand."
The company said that it plans to see how the initial ads
resonate with users before expanding the program.
Stone wrote that if users
don’t interact with a particular Promoted Tweet — by replying to it,
favoriting it or retweeting it — the ad will be removed.
Related Links:
http://blog.twitter.com/2010/04/hello-world.html
http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/13/promoted-tweets-not-resonating-twitter
Newton, Mass. – Technology media company TechTarget
announced on Tuesday that it has acquired BeyeNetwork, a group of technology
sites that provide news, expert information and resources on the business
information on business intelligence best practices, business analytics, data
integration, and data governance.
BeyeNetwork has an audience of 168,000
business intelligence and data management professionals, according to Newton,
Mass.-based TechTarget.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Related Links:
http://www.beyeresearch.com/news/13198
