Turn On, Tune Out, Click Here - WSJ.com

Complete episodes of about 90% of prime-time network television shows and roughly 20% of cable shows are now available online, according to Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey. There are still notable holdouts, such as Fox's "American Idol" and current seasons of HBO series like "Entourage."

Turn On, Tune Out, Click Here - WSJ.com

Here we go. Another conspiracy theory: When the economy tanks, consumers will cut cable and keep broadband. Most of their favorite shows are online already anyway. Besides, we can't survive without Facebook. Now here comes a far-fetched (but eminently possible) prediction -- once the bad economy doesn't let up, consumers cut broadband and keep their mobile contracts. Why? We can't survive without Facebook. But we've got it on our phones already anyway.

In sum, the bad economy will accelerate the convergence. Discuss.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

YouTube - Shell Game Interactive Video

YouTube - Shell game hard - Straight from Google Labs. Notice the Google t-shirt in the background. This is a very good development for engagement in online video.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Bloomberg.com: TIME WARNER sells Cable Unit

`Time Warner is a company in the midst of a sweeping transformation,'' said Matt Kaufler, a portfolio manager at Clover Capital Management in Rochester, New York, which owns 1.7 million shares. ``There will be more steps before year-end. This is headed toward being a pure content company.''

Bloomberg.com: U.S.

Okay ... here's another entry in my ongoing "HD Day conspiracy theory" of Feb 17, 2009. Just start connecting the dots and you start to see a pattern. Viacom diversifies and becomes a "content company." Now Time Warner hedges against being a "cable company" and plans to "transform itself" into a "content company." Once all media become digital, the business model or models will shift; and the big players are positioning themselves for what's next.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Dish and NBCU Team Up on Interactive Ads - TVWeek - News

TV Week

Dish Network’s satellite television service will provide interactive advertising capabilities to NBC television networks and owned-and-operated stations.Paying subscribers to the Dish service will have the option to use their remote controls to access more information, coupons and discounts from NBC advertisers, who now will be offered ways to reach consumers using the medium.“Inserting on-screen triggers in the full suite of NBCU networks allows viewers the ability to interact with an advertiser’s brand and request more information, a powerful proposition that we know to be valuable to both advertisers and viewers.” Dish Network VP of Advertising Sales Michael Finn said in a statement Wednesday.The service also is available on NBC channels on Dish Network’s digital video recorder service; the two companies say they will continue to work together to develop new interactive products to serve advertisers.

Dish and NBCU Team Up on Interactive Ads - TVWeek - News

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Internet TV Will Let You be a Couch Potato in Traffic | Autopia from Wired.com

USTelematics is skipping the satellites that KVH Industries and Sirius Backseat TV rely upon and betting on WiMax wireless technology to bring TV to your car. It will deliver IPTV to its Voyager in-car entertainment systems and has announced a "mobilecast" program called 4VDO that will deliver broadcast and video programming.

Internet TV Will Let You be a Couch Potato in Traffic | Autopia from Wired.com

We need this like a hole in the head. Or we can embrace this as a new revenue stream. I'll think the former, and work for the latter.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

HBO seen selling shows on Apple's iTunes - Yahoo! News

Time Warner Inc's HBO cable network is expected to start selling shows on Apple Inc's iTunes digital entertainment service, with flexible pricing, a source familiar with the discussions said on Monday.

Episodes of some HBO shows are likely to be sold at more than the standard price of $1.99 per episode, the source said, marking the first time Apple has agreed to selling content at different prices in the United States.

HBO seen selling shows on Apple's iTunes - Yahoo! News

More ranting from me about the impact of HD Day (that's Feb 17, 2009 if you haven't marked your calendar yet). Conspiracy theories aside, the number of content-driven media companies re-positioning themselves for on-demand-all-the-time TV is exploding. To wit, HBO is one of the most successful of the wired era's subscription TV services. Why in the world would they sell shows on iTunes? Because we're only nine months away from going all-digital all-the-time in TV land. Here it comes.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

MediaPost Publications - Gas Station Video Nets Expand, PumpTop TV Biggest - 05/07/2008

As place-based video explodes, one of the myriad sub-species--video networks that operate displays in gas pumps--are growing at an especially rapid pace. In addition to expanding their footprint, the three major competitors--PumpTop TV, Gas Station TV, and the FuelCast Network--have signed deals with major content providers and advertising partners.With a network covering 550 gas stations, PumpTop TV now claims to be the biggest such network in the country, and the operation is kicking into overdrive--installing displays at an average of four new stations a day, according to Dick Paulsen, president of AdtekMedia, which owns PumpTop TV.

MediaPost Publications - Gas Station Video Nets Expand, PumpTop TV Biggest - 05/07/2008

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Stations Go 'Back' to the Future - 5/5/2008 - Broadcasting & Cable

The Backchannel model can work in a number of ways. Kokernak gives the example of watching John Mayer perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live, then using the remote to purchase the Mayer song on iTunes. Or, a viewer of an auto ad can click on an icon to get more information on the car (as well as local dealer information) sent to their Backchannel Web account. Instead of trying to remember a Website that pops up in an ad or a promo for The Office, a click sends the URL straight to the user's account.

Backchannel's true believers say interactive TV might've finally reached its tipping point. “The idea of convergence is as old as time, but no one's been able to come up with the K-I-S-S—Keep It Simple, Stupid—technology,” says WJAR President/General Manager Lisa Churchville. “[Backchannel] is simple and accessible, and you use it in a way that's extremely familiar—clicking your remote.”

Stations Go 'Back' to the Future - 5/5/2008 - Broadcasting & Cable

Blogged with the Flock Browser

MediaPost Publications - Visible World Grows Addressable Ad Biz - 04/14/2008

Visible World works with advertisers to target different creative on the network level, on the market-by-market level, and on the zone level (cluster of ZIP codes).In addition to deals with 13 TV networks, it also has all six of the big MSOs signed on: Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Insight, and Brighthouse.The key for many advertisers in future years is having addressable set-top boxes deployed at the cable system level. Some test markets, such as Huntsville, Ala., have boxes installed. Visible World, according to advertising executives, has some 200,000 addressable set-top boxes in Brooklyn, NY.

MediaPost Publications - Visible World Grows Addressable Ad Biz - 04/14/2008

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Hulu Launches: Great Product, Still Screwed - Silicon Alley Insider

The condundrum of making a business out of watching TV online continues to confuse even the most clear-minded of convergence watchers.

Hulu finally launches, adding Warner Bros. and Lionsgate. CEO Jason Kilar says 5 million people have viewed Hulu videos in the past month and that 80% of Hulu's videos are viewed at least once a month.Five million is an impressive number given that Hulu has been in a closed beta test, and as we said over the weekend, the product is great. As we also said over the weekend, however, we still have big doubts about Hulu as a business (see below). Judging from his quote in the NYT, CEO Jason Kilar is still optimistic that he can win over CBS and Disney as content partners, but as Michael Learmonth explained yesterday, this will be easier said than done.

Hulu Launches: Great Product, Still Screwed - Silicon Alley Insider

Blogged with Flock

Cable Firms Join Forces to Attract Focused Ads - New York Times

Bingo! Here's the proof. All TV will be INTERACTIVE TV ... but the change over is coming very fast.

In an effort to slow Google’s siphoning of advertising dollars away from television, the nation’s six largest cable companies are making plans for a jointly owned company that would allow national advertisers to buy customized ads and interactive ads across the companies’ systems.

For the last six months, executives from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Charter Communications and Bright House Networks have been meeting monthly, alternating between New York and Philadelphia.

Quarterbacking the initiative — code-named Project Canoe to emphasize that the companies must all work together — has been Stephen Burke, president of Comcast, and Landel C. Hobbs, the chief operating officer of Time Warner Cable.Getting the right advertisement to the right person, based on that individual’s own tastes and lifestyle, has been the promise of cable television for years and the reality of the Internet.

Cable Firms Join Forces to Attract Focused Ads - New York Times

Blogged with Flock

Noontime Web Video Revitalizes Lunch at Desk - New York Times

The Web has become normal. It's not a niche medium. In fact, I prefer to call it a mass medium. Everybody uses it. We should accept and exploit it for every ounce of advantage we can muster.

In cubicles across the country, lunchtime has become the new prime time, as workers click aside their spreadsheets to watch videos on YouTube, news highlights on CNN.com or other Web offerings.The trend — part of a broader phenomenon known as video snacking — is turning into a growth business for news and media companies, which are feeding the lunch crowd more fresh content.

Noontime Web Video Revitalizes Lunch at Desk - New York Times

Blogged with Flock