Netflix walked away from another deal with Starz after that company insisted on a tiered-pricing model similar to what they would get with a cable channel. Netflix did not want to tamper with the simplicity of its monthly fee model.
Netflix had reportedly offered Starz more than $300 million per year to renew their agreement.
With the demise of the Starz deal, Netflix customers may feel that they are paying more and getting less. Still, Netflix counters that their Starz content accounts for only 5-6 percent of domestic viewing.
Netflix will be challenged by competitors like Hulu, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft XBox Live. Moreover, cable companies are increasingly offering similar access to video through TV Anywhere services.
Starz may either sell its content to a Netflix competitor or try and create its own streaming brand like HBO.
Kinetik has made social discovery easier with its free iPhone app that helps users weed through the massive collection of available apps. It is designed to streamline the search for relevant iPhone apps based on users’ selected apps and other users’ feedback of apps.
“Just load up Kinetik, choose an app that you have downloaded and then you can leave a comment about the app, then share it to Twitter and Facebook,” reports The Next Web. “As you add friends via your social networks and inside of the app itself, you can see recommendations that your friends have made too. There’s even an online profile for each user, where you can see the apps that they’ve shared, commented on and the like. You’ll also see apps that are trending on Kinetik.”
Kinetik will compete with similar offerings such as AppShopper and AppsFire, but TNW likes its chances: “I’ve tried loads of different ways to find new apps. I can tell you that Kinetik is one of the best ways I’ve found yet. I’ve had the chance to play with it for the past couple of weeks while it was in beta and it’s slick, useful and really quite fun.”
As the bidding war for Hulu continues, Financial Times reports that Yahoo, Amazon and Dish Network are all expected to offer near 2 billion dollars for the company, its subscription service and the rights to exclusive content for at least two years.
However, Google is rumored to have proposed a significantly higher bid for an acquisition proposal on a larger scale. Details have not been released, but some speculate that Google may offer a couple billion dollars more in exchange for more content for a longer period of time. It is not clear if the Google proposal includes a longer deal for content or possibly something else — or if Hulu would even be interested in a new plan.
According to The Wall Street Journal: “Since that’s not what Hulu’s owners have put on the table, ‘normally we would have thrown people out if they’d said that,’ says an executive familiar with the sales process. But Google ‘indicated that there’s enough money’ involved so that Hulu’s owners are at least thinking about continuing the discussion.
The video site would fit nicely with Google’s YouTube, which has struggled in landing the type of long-form premium content that Hulu owns. And if rumors are accurate, Google is willing to pay.
But would the content owners agree to terms with Google, which is already the largest video website worldwide, when they were earlier holdouts on Google TV?
Rovi has announced DivX Plus Streaming that allows cloud-based movie services, such as Best Buy’s CinemaNow and other sites integrated with the Rovi Entertainment Store, to stream movies securely to DivX-compatible devices.
New features include being able to pause on one device and seamlessly resume on another, improved video quality, and support for multiple language tracks and subtitles.
“Other content-protection companies, such as Google’s Widevine subsidiary, offer some similar capabilities to service providers, so Rovi is playing catch-up to a degree. And not every Hollywood studio allows its movies to be distributed in the DivX format,” reports the Los Angeles Times. “Rovi executives insist, however, that they’ve leapfrogged the competition with some features, including the near-Blu-ray-quality images and the ability to support multiple alternate-language soundtracks and subtitles in the same stream.”
Although integration into specific products has yet to be announced, Rovi explained the technology will be available to many existing devices through a firmware update.
Yahoo will introduce a new lineup of original programming beginning in early October, reports Variety.
The eight short-form series will feature appearances from actors including Morgan Spurlock, Niecy Nash and Judy Greer.
Erin McPherson, VP and head of video at Yahoo, indicates this is the first phase in a planned increase for 2012 regarding originals hoping to “yield even bigger names, longer programs and maybe even scripted fare.”
“While Yahoo isn’t about to overtake Fox or CBS as those nets launch their fall schedules, the company will mix some traditional TV programming tactics with its own new-media savvy,” suggests the article.
Yahoo reportedly leveraged user metrics to determine what types of shows would sell and has plans to redesign its video platform to be more like Netflix and YouTube.
According to Variety: “Of the 47.3 million video streams Yahoo generated in July, its original series alone garnered 27 million — more than the 24.4 million Hulu scored in its entirety that month.”
It looks like HP’s TouchPad is not the only tablet to face a challenging market.
Best Buy has placed RIM’s PlayBook on sale, discounting the 64GB model by $150, while the 16GB and 32GB versions have been marked down by $50.
“Research In Motion’s PlayBook has had something of a rough ride since its launch in April this year,” reports Digital Trends. “Reviews have been mixed, while just a month after appearing on shelves, almost 1,000 of the tablets had to be recalled due to unspecified faulty hardware issues.”
Additionally, Sprint announced last month that it was dropping its plan to bring the 4G PlayBook to its network, leaving the device without a major U.S. carrier.
Amazon is reportedly close to production on its long-rumored tablet device. TechCrunch provides a fascinating first-person report on the Android-based Kindle (but sorry, no pictures yet).
The device will initially feature a 7-inch color touchscreen with a 10-inch model coming next year. The interface is Amazon’s and the main screen resembles iTunes Cover Flow with a carousel of books, apps, movies. It is built on top of pre 2.2 Android. It will NOT be getting Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich.
It will be integrated with Amazon’s content store, which is one-click away. Apps will be available though Amazon’s Android App Store (and not Google’s Android Market). Additionally, the book reader is the Kindle app, the music player is Amazon’s Cloud Player and the movie player is Amazon’s Instant Video player. There is no camera.
The device is expected to include a free subscription to Amazon Prime, which will provide access to Amazon Instant Video.
TechCrunch anticipates an end of November launch at a cost of $250. There are many more details in the article…
Turkish HDTV manufacturer Vestel has announced it would be the first to integrate BitTorrent software into its televisions, enabling European consumers easier access to expanded content offerings.
BitTorrent emphasized the deal does not allow easier access to pirated content, but enables “consumers to find, play and share all types of personal media, independently produced content and Internet files directly on their TV,” reports Home Media Magazine.
Shahi Ghanem, chief strategist at BitTorrent, said Vestel is a “good and early” example of his company’s push to be included on as many connected devices as possible, and added that by the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, BitTorrent would be available on more CE devices.
However, there are detractors. “I do not believe this offering will get much attention from CE companies on this side of the ocean,” said an unnamed exec for a major electronics company. “Unlikely a CE company would be indemnified if the software was misused. Reminds me of Napster, [which] at one time facilitated piracy.”
BitTorrent is used by more than 100 million-plus global Internet users.
Consent from the U.S. Department of Justice for the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger has been approved, but with a new condition.
Comcast purchased 51 percent of NBCUniversal from General Electric in January, creating a $30 billion business that includes broadcast, cable networks, movie studios and theme parks.
At that time, the Department of Justice said Comcast could acquire NBCUniversal only if it ceded control of Hulu and made stand-alone broadband service available at $49.95 per month for three years, but the settlement still required final approval.
Last week, Judge Richard Leon delivered final approval, but stipulated that the federal government would monitor whether rival online video services, such as Hulu or Netflix, demand arbitration to license content from Comcast-NBCU for the next two years.
The ability of rivals to obtain programming was one of the key concerns of the DOJ and the FCC during reviews of the merger.
“Since neither the Court nor the parties has a crystal ball to forecast how this Final Judgment, along with its arbitration mechanisms, will actually function … I believe that certain additional steps are necessary,” Leon said in a court order.
Toshiba announced its new flagship 3D TV, the ZL2 series, which offers glasses-free 3D, 4096 x 2160 resolution, upscaling of low-res to high-res 3D, and facial recognition used to customize viewing angles.
The TV uses lenticular “lenslets” that can be modified for up to nine different viewing angles.
Check out the article for the author’s impression after watching 3D on the ZL2. Introduction: “I got a chance to watch the TV’s 3D mode in action, and it’s pretty great. It’s not magical, however. Instead of the typical dimming of shutter-based 3D TVs, it feels like you can see the black lines dividing the pixels. It’s not that the picture is actually low resolution, however, there’s still plenty of detail on screen, it just happens to ‘show the seams’ more than I’d like. It’s very pleasant to watch, and I didn’t get a 3DS headache or any nausea.”
The ZL2 is not for everyone: current pricing of the 55-inch model is equivalent to $11,424 U.S. dollars.
Skype has announced the Freetalk Connect-Me home phone adapter that serves as a conduit between a broadband Internet connection and an ordinary telephone.
“It appears that Skype is aggressively going after the Magic Jack demographic and attempting to teach your grandmother how to Skype,” comments Digital Trends. “A new adapter transforms that aging landline phone into an Internet gizmo.”
The $40 Freetalk Connect-Me features a simple design of an Ethernet port and two ports for phone lines (allowing users to keep a landline and switch between the two services), and stores up to 100 numbers for speed dialing.
“While a user can make free Skype-to-Skype calls, they will have to purchase a plan in order to call landlines from the Skype handset,” indicates the Digital Trends post. “While the initial $39.99 adapter comes with 60 minutes of free landline calling, an more expensive $59.99 model comes with 12 months of landline calls as well as 200 minutes of international calls.”
Skype has also announced a new $70 Skype-ready cordless phone from General Electric and the rollout of a rebranded version of Skype Access that provides low cost Wi-Fi access for business travelers.
As earlier reported on ETCentric, CE controls may soon be based on gestures rather than directional buttons, creating a more “natural” experience that could potentially change the way viewers interact with media.
The motion-sensing technology for Nintendo’s Wii and the Kinect module for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is advancing to remote controls for other consumer electronics, including the TV.
For example, Hillcrest Labs has unveiled a portfolio of products targeted at applications in computers, game consoles, industrial automation, mobile phones, robotics and TVs.
Hillcrest has released its Motion Engine and Sensor Modules for hardware products, and the its new Scoop pointer replaces the consumer-facing Loop product (the company raised $5.5 million earlier this year).
“Most recently, streaming set-top box maker Roku unveiled a new controller that includes Hillcrest Labs’ motion-sensing technology,” reports GigaOM. “Right now, that controller is used primarily for a new generation of casual gaming apps — like ‘Angry Birds’ — that have been introduced on its boxes, but we could imagine its use being extended to controlling app navigation with an update to its outdated UI.”
GigaOM suggests that making the TV remote gesture-based will open up the possibility of more interactive experiences that could lead to a revolution, similar to how graphical user interfaces and the computer mouse fundamentally changed how people used their PCs and led to new applications and capabilities: “No longer trapped by the up-down-left-right navigation that comes from traditional remotes, operators will be able to create improved user interfaces. Finally, being able to point and click on the TV screen could also allow broadcasters and advertisers to create more immersive applications as part of their shows and advertisements.”
Miso’s iPhone application has paired up with DirecTV receivers over Wi-Fi to provide users an experience beyond TV show checkins.
The application automatically shows users what is playing, allows them to share what they’re watching and rate it, chat with other viewers, and answer questions about the show.
Miso co-founder Somray Niyogi says, “Now that we know what you’re watching, we can explore what synchronization could really mean. To us, it’s about value — this may come in the form of simplicity of sharing, delivering you complementary content, getting answers to questions you might have while watching TV or a combination of all of the above.”
Miso has more than 225,000 users and competes with GetGlue and Yahoo-owned IntoNow. Earlier this year, the startup began beta tests of an Android app to work with programming on Boxee.
Online video subscribers of Netflix and Amazon Prime paid almost $50 on average for video subscriptions during a recent six-month period.
According to new research from Parks Associates, subscribers spent less than half of that amount on a la carte video purchases.
The number of movie and TV show downloads declined 56 percent from 2009 to 2010, and movie rental downloads decreased 70 percent.
“Based on the reported usage of video download services by U.S. survey respondents in Q4, consumer spending on a la carte video during a six-month period ranged from $12 to $26,” reports Home Media Magazine. “Comparable spending on video services subscriptions during that same period reached at least $48 per household.”
“The all-you-can-eat-style subscription approach taken by Netflix has proven successful in the U.S. market,” Parks said in its report. “It has helped to drive up consumption — and spending — for online video.”
Netflix ended the most recent fiscal quarter with more than 25 million subscribers in North America.
In its first international venture, Hulu is launching its subscription service in Japan where it will offer hundreds of premium feature films and thousands of TV shows for $19.19/month.
The service will be accessible via select connected TVs and smartphones (Engadget reports that Panasonic Blu-ray players, Sony Blu-ray players and TVs, Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles and Android tablets are relegated to the “coming soon” list.)
Content will be provided from CBS, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Additional local market content will be added including Japanese-produced and other Asian content.
Hulu is also announcing an exclusive mobile marketing partnership with NTT Docomo. Details will be forthcoming.
A follow-up post from GigaOM yesterday outlines the differences between Hulu’s current U.S. offerings and its plans for the Japanese market, “that could give a hint at what Hulu might look like in the future.” So is there a “no ads, higher fees and more content suppliers” future for Hulu outside of Japan? If so, watch out Netflix!
