On August 8, BT aired a live broadcast of a Premier League match on its newly launched BT Sport Ultra HD channel, the first such channel in Europe. The broadcast, which featured Manchester United versus Tottenham Hotspur, is the first of a series of live weekly broadcasts; future live broadcasts include UEFA Champions League, Aviva Premiership Rugby and MotoGP. BT’s TV Entertainment Ultra HD package, which costs subscribers about $23 a month, relies on a 4K-capable TV and BT’s 4K-capable 1TB Ultra HD YouView+ set-top box. Continue reading BT Sport Ultra HD, Europe’s First 4K Channel, Broadcasts Live

Google, which enjoyed enormous popularity and usage numbers in the European Union, now suffers blowback from information revealed in the NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden. Not long ago, free-speech advocates in many countries applauded Google for shutting down its China site rather than face censorship, and Google has also been seen on the right side of history during the Arab Spring and in Syria. But now, the EU is accusing the tech giant of abusing its power — and it is looking for payback via an antitrust suit. Continue reading Google’s Fall From Grace in EU Culminates in Antitrust Suit

The Associated Press and British Movietone are bringing more than one million minutes of digital film footage to YouTube to create a visual encyclopedia that provides viewers with a unique account of modern history. This will be the largest upload of historical content to a video platform ever recorded, and the YouTube channel will include more than 550,000 videos featuring content ranging from 1895 to present day. In addition to the archived content, the channel will be updated regularly with contemporary footage. Continue reading AP, Movietone Launch Massive Video Collection on YouTube

Spotify signed a music and video distribution deal with SFX Entertainment to bring new videos and curated playlists to the world’s largest on-demand music service. Spotify’s 75 million active users and 20 million paying subscribers will have access to exclusive content from SFX’s Beatport, an online music store that focuses on electronic dance music. In addition, Beatport will deliver programming from various music festivals produced by parent company SFX. The collaboration will focus on integrating video content as well as music. Continue reading Spotify and SFX Announce Music and Video Distribution Deal

In a deal valued at 1.3 billion euros (about $1.45 billion), Discovery Communications has paid for exclusive rights to broadcast four Olympic Games across most of Europe from 2018 to 2024. The rights include broadcast and pay TV, the Internet and mobile. The deal, announced by Discovery yesterday, marks the first time that a single media company has paid for exclusive rights to broadcast the Olympics across Europe. Discovery plans to make at least 200 hours of the Summer Olympics and 100 hours of the Winter Games available on free-to-air television. Continue reading Discovery Acquires European Rights to Four Olympic Games

In the wake of E3, Sony has announced that its new PS4 will be thinner, lighter and pack more storage than its predecessor. The new PlayStation 4 1TB Ultimate Player Edition, coming to North America next month, will weigh 10 percent lighter than the current PS4 and use 8 percent less power. The new console will come in black or white with a hard drive bay cover in a matte finish, which Sony suggests provides “a more casual look.” Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed that its latest Xbox One would feature 1TB of storage and an upcoming wireless controller. Continue reading Sony Announces 1TB PlayStation Will Be Thinner and Lighter

Industrial Light & Magic has created a new division with a focus on developing virtual reality and augmented reality experiences for movie fans. ILMxLAB is planning to debut an entertainment experience based on “Star Wars” later this year. It has been working on technology for the iPad and Oculus Rift that would allow consumers to enter their favorite movie scenes and navigate through them. ILMxLAB execs indicate that the technology could launch when the J.J. Abrams-helmed “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is released in mid-December. Continue reading New ILM Team Developing Immersive VR and AR Experiences

The supply of new Internet Protocol addresses has almost run out, which means that companies will likely need to invest a significant amount of money to pay for pricier addresses and system upgrades. IP addresses are similar to telephone numbers that specify where data is going when it is transferred over the Internet. Companies may now have to spend millions of dollars switching to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) to get more addresses for their various online operations. Continue reading North America to Run Out of Internet Addresses This Summer

Internet users in the U.S. pay more for broadband and have fewer choices than Europeans. According to findings from the Center for Public Integrity, Americans pay 3.5 times the amount that French people do for Internet access, for example, and most U.S. residents can only choose from two Internet providers. That’s because broadband companies carve out their own territories to offer service. Cable providers do the same thing, but Internet TV may finally force them to compete. Continue reading Lack of Competition Means Higher Broadband Prices in the U.S.

In an attempt to improve its understanding of e-sports enthusiasts, Eventbrite conducted a survey of those that used its site to purchase tickets for live multiplayer video game competitions. The company discovered that e-sports fans are generally male, between the ages of 18 and 34, as well as active gamers themselves. E-sports are typically held in large arenas and draw thousands of fans who typically attend as an opportunity to be part of the larger gaming community. Continue reading Eventbrite Study Provides Breakdown of E-Sports Demographics

The European Union drafted a new data-privacy policy that it hopes will be adopted around the world. The policy would require companies to include the “right to be forgotten” option so that people could ask for their links to be removed and to ask users for explicit consent to use their personal data. Europe is looking to have more influence on the Web, which is currently dominated by U.S. companies. Representatives from the EU are lobbying other countries to institute the policy. Continue reading Europe Writes Internet Rules to Take Greater Role on the Web

Revenue from mobile gaming is expected to rise 16.5 percent this year to $3.04 billion, surpassing the revenue growth of e-books, music, and videos. An estimated 60 percent of that growth is expected from in-app purchases. Mobile gaming companies will likely make most of that revenue from only a few strong-performing games because the revenue distribution is highly skewed towards the top. Currently, European gaming companies are making the most successful mobile games. Continue reading Mobile Gaming Revenue on an Upswing, Supercell is Top Earner

During yesterday’s HPA Tech Retreat, I moderated a panel on two emerging production standards: DPP and IMF. Although SMPTE standard IMF (Interoperable Master Format) is familiar to many in the industry as a single, interchangeable master file format that allows for flexible versioning, very few in our industry know about DPP (Digital Production Partnership), a new British standard for B2B file exchange. Our discussion tracked the evolution and potential overlap of the standards, and how they are currently being used in the industry. Continue reading HPA Tech Retreat: Emerging Standards Enable Interoperability

Media mogul and entertainer Jay-Z is in closing negotiations to acquire Swedish company Aspiro AB, which owns music streaming services WiMP Music and Tidal. The deal, reportedly valued at $56 million, is being handled by Jay-Z’s S. Carter Enterprises. Tidal is the American and U.K. version of WiMP Music, a streaming service that offers CD-quality music files. Once the deal closes, Jay-Z may join the ranks of Dr. Dre who sold his Beats Music streaming service to Apple last year.  Continue reading Jay-Z in Negotiations to Acquire Tidal and WiMP Music Services

Sony recently announced that it plans to replace its Music Unlimited service on the PlayStation Network with popular digital music service Spotify. Come March 29, PlayStation users will be able to connect their Spotify accounts, both free and premium, to run through the PlayStation Network and stream music while they play games. The new partnership could generate new subscribers for Spotify and help it take on competitors, since Sony’s PlayStation Network currently has about 64 million active users. Continue reading Sony to Add Spotify Music Service to its PlayStation Network