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CES 2013: Panel Looks at Hardware, Software and Innovation

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January 9, 2013

Notable guests convened for a panel discussion on the state of innovation, called “Argue the Future 2: Return of the Future.” Moderated by Joshua Topolsky, editor-in-chief of The Verge, panelists included Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, Hulu’s Andy Forssell, Lytro founder Eric Cheng and Nilay Patel, managing editor of The Verge. The discussion addressed the role of hardware and software, and which plays a larger role in today’s tech landscape. Continue reading CES 2013: Panel Looks at Hardware, Software and Innovation

CES 2013: CEA Presents Consumer Attitudes Toward the Cloud

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January 7, 2013

Jessica Boothe, CEA manager of strategic research, presented the findings of her recently completed research “Cloud Computing and the Implications for Consumer Tech” at a Monday afternoon CEA Research Summit session. While the majority of online adults are using cloud resources, they overwhelmingly associate the term “cloud” only with storage and primarily use the resources for personal activities, rather than work. Continue reading CES 2013: CEA Presents Consumer Attitudes Toward the Cloud

NPD Study: Consumers Slow to Adopt Apps on Smart TVs

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January 1, 2013

Research organization NPD estimates that approximately 25 million U.S. households currently have smart TVs. While nearly six out of 10 owners are using their smart TVs to watch over-the-top video services such as Netflix and Hulu Plus, and roughly 15 percent are accessing music services like Pandora, the majority of Americans are not utilizing applications beyond streaming video and music. The latest NPD Connected Intelligence Application & Convergence report suggests the Internet connected HDTV screen has yet to reach beyond its TV-centric heritage. Continue reading NPD Study: Consumers Slow to Adopt Apps on Smart TVs

Hulu Earned $695 Million in 2012 and Doubled its Paying Subscribers

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December 19, 2012

According to a blog post from Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, the video service earned $695 million in revenue in 2012. Additionally, Hulu Plus saw a 50 percent increase in paying subscribers, passing the three million mark.
By comparison, Hulu’s 2011 numbers included $400 million in revenue and less than 1.5 million Hulu Plus subscribers. Continue reading Hulu Earned $695 Million in 2012 and Doubled its Paying Subscribers

Pay TV Usage Caps: Will Watching Netflix Lead to Higher Cable Bills?

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December 5, 2011
  • Netflix subscriptions could end up costing consumers $28 a month instead of $8 if cable companies decide to add charges for Web streaming.
  • “U.S. providers like Time Warner Cable have weighed usage-based plans for years as a way to squeeze more profit from Web access, and to counter slowing growth and rising program costs in the TV business,” reports Bloomberg. “While customer complaints hampered earlier attempts, pay TV companies are testing usage caps and price structures that point to the advent of permanent fees.”
  • As online video streaming increases in popularity, Web data usage soars. Some companies have penalties in place for customers that exceed their monthly gigabyte allowance, while others do not.
  • Adding charges will not only help cable companies’ Internet revenue, but also possibly boost pay TV service by disincentivizing online services like Netflix and Hulu.
  • A Netflix spokesman told Bloomberg, “[The practice] is not in the consumer’s best interest as consumers deserve unfettered access to a robust Internet at reasonable rates.”

Game Consoles May be Aging, but PlayStation, Wii, Xbox Still Selling Strong

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December 2, 2011
  • Despite analyst speculation that video game consoles may be in jeopardy due to the increased capabilities and growing popularity of smartphones and tablets, “Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s Wii sold in record numbers last week as Americans kicked off their holiday shopping,” reports AllThingsD.
  • Some 960,000 Xbox 360s were sold last week and 500,000 Wiis were sold the day after Thanksgiving. Game consoles are still experiencing strong sales five and six years after they were introduced.
  • “It’s difficult to imagine any other consumer hardware that could attract that kind of demand after such a long period of time,” suggests the article.
  • Blockbuster game titles like Activision’s “Call of Duty” game, which grossed $775 million in its first five days, continue to juice the market.
  • Motion-controls such as Wii and Microsoft’s Kinect open up the market beyond gamers to a family market.
  • And, as previously reported on ETCentric, game consoles are becoming entertainment centers for streaming video, music and other media content through partnerships with providers such as Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, HBO GO and others.

Panasonic Announces App Expansion for Connected Viera TVs

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November 15, 2011
  • Panasonic’s line of Viera TVs now ships with 12 embedded applications, including Hulu Plus and Netflix. About 120 third-party apps are also available for Viera TVs.
  • Just as PC users add apps to their computers, Viera owners are free to add content apps to their TVs once those apps go through quality-assurance testing by Panasonic.
  • The company says that more than 40 million connected TVs were sold by 2010, and 2013 projections suggest sales of connected TVs will outpace those of PCs.
  • “Panasonic also recently announced a new gaming app, PlayJam; a Bollywood movie/video channel, BigFlix; and the Viera Connect Market, whereby users can upload credit card information once and use it across a variety of apps, such as a demonstrated app in which users could buy 3D eyewear, among other consumer electronics devices,” reports Home Media Magazine.

2012 Forecast: What Should We Expect of Streaming, Cable and TV?

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November 8, 2011
  • Television’s future remains murky as content providers and cable companies get ready for battle, and streaming services continue to gain momentum.
  • “But change is going to come, and amid news that Google is interested in entering the cable TV business and continued rumors that Apple will be releasing its own branded television set, we also have to wonder what’s going to happen with streaming services like Hulu and Netflix,” reports Digital Trends.
  • The article suggests it is the cable companies that have the most to worry about (those that control the last model). “Forget applications having a say in all this: The real war is going to be fought between cable networks and the content providers that want to move on to a new format.”
  • “Farther off, I think [YouTube] will challenge Hulu first. Netflix is more like a library. Google is a beast and you have to keep an eye on those guys,” TalkPoint CEO Nick Balletta says. “They have the muscle and cash to weather the storm.”
  • Balletta believes adoption of connected TVs will take root by late 2012, and before then we’ll see significant fragmentation before we can truly cut the cord.

Pew Research Asks: Are Consumers Really Using Their Apps?

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November 4, 2011
  • The Pew Internet Research Center found that about one-third of adults (18+ with tablets and/or app-enabled phones) use 3 to 5 apps at least once a week.
  • The new study examines the percentage of consumers who use their downloaded apps on a regular basis and suggests there is a significant range of adoption varying amongst different age groups.
  • Pew discovered that only 17 percent of phone users and 7 percent of tablet owners indicate they choose not to use apps at all.
  • “The share of adult cell phone owners who have downloaded an app nearly doubled in the past two years,” reports Lost Remote, “rising from 22 percent in September 2009 to 38 percent in August 2011.”
  • The most popularly downloaded apps were those that provided updates on news, weather, sports or stocks; helped communication with friends/family; and enabled learning about something users found personally interesting.
  • “And 43 percent say they’re using apps to watch TV and movies, which is likely dominated by Netflix and Hulu,” indicates the article.

Social Cinema: Will Film Distribution via Facebook Cut Out the Middleman?

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October 31, 2011
  • Hollywood studios are starting to use Facebook as a direct-to-consumer platform for streaming films, possibly cutting out services such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon in the process.
  • Universal, Lionsgate and Warner Bros. have distributed some 45 films via the Social Cinema app from Milyoni (pronounced million-eye). “What Zynga is to social gaming, Milyoni is to social entertainment,” reads the company’s website.
  • Miramax and Paramount have used similar apps to offer movies for Facebook credits on fan pages.
  • Rentals based on credits are running the equivalent of $3-$5. Facebook draws a 30 percent cut of transaction revenues.
  • Ad Age Digital suggests the studios’ willingness to offer rentals via social network sites “may reflect their desire to foster competition among online distribution platforms,” adding, “Miramax CEO Mike Lang said that digital monopolies were a greater threat to the film industry than piracy and that his studio had been aware of the importance of a competitive marketplace when doing deals with Netflix and Hulu.”

AsiaD Video: Peter Chernin Discusses Hulu, Netflix, YouTube and More

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October 25, 2011
  • Peter Kafka interviews Peter Chernin in this interesting 11-minute video from the AsiaD conference.
  • “As News Corp.’s longtime chief operating officer, Chernin was instrumental in developing Hulu,” reports All Things D. “He explained why he wanted to build the video site — in part to compete with Google and YouTube — and why he thinks its studio owners should help it thrive today — in part to compete with Netflix.” Chernin also expresses his thoughts on purchasing Yahoo.
  • Chernin knew IPTV would be big, but didn’t want one dominant video distributor like YouTube. Thus, the studios got together to create Hulu, which today competes with Netflix.
  • Chernin believes online viewers will pay $2 per month for premium content. He talks about the future of video and creating something like a digital HBO.

Nintendo: 3DS and Wii to get Hulu Plus, 3D Video Capture for Handheld

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October 24, 2011
  • By the end of the year, both the Wii and Nintendo 3DS will have access to TV shows and movies via the $7.99 per month Hulu Plus service (but only in 2D).
  • Hulu Plus joins Netflix in offering content on the Nintendo devices.
  • Also, the 3DS will get a software update at the end of November that allows 3D recording for up to ten minutes, and the ability to “stitch together stereoscopic images for stop motion animation that jumps out of the tiny screen at you,” suggests Engadget.
  • “With both Hulu and Netflix in tow, as well as the ability to create your own content, the 3DS is actually turning into quite a powerful little portable.”

Hulu Taken Off the Auction Block: Sale of Video Hub Tabled by Owners

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October 17, 2011
  • After months of bidding, Hulu’s owners — News Corp., NBCUniversal, Disney and Providence Equity Partners — have decided to stop its sale.
  • “Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process and look forward to working together to continue mapping out its path to even greater success,” explained the partners in a short statement. “Our focus now rests solely on ensuring that our efforts as owners contribute in a meaningful way to the exciting future that lies ahead for Hulu.”
  • In a related TechCrunch post, it was suggested that media companies saw more value in retaining licensing fees than selling them.
  • Bidders were not willing to pay more for Hulu knowing that the costs for content rights would increase dramatically after the two year period being sold. (Google reportedly bid $4 billion, but wanted streaming rights for longer than the guaranteed “couple of years.”)

Evaluation Suggests Netflix is the Best Streaming Option for Now

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October 4, 2011
  • A comprehensive comparison between Netflix and other streaming services shows that, even after the recent criticism regarding the split of its businesses, “Netflix is still the champ, but only if you count both its the streaming and DVD mailing services.”
  • In his evaluation of current offerings, David Strom of ReadWriteWeb examined services such as Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, Vudu.com and Justin.tv.
  • “Overall, once you leave Netflix you will find fewer choices and searching won’t be as easy to find something to watch,” he writes. “Netflix has a great search engine that won’t just look for movie titles but also check for actors and other principals involved in the movie itself, something the other services don’t do as well at.”
  • Another upside to Netflix is the ability to use devices such as the iPad or TiVo box to stream movies. While of the services enable streaming to your Windows or Mac Web browser, they’re not all compatible with other devices.
  • “So while you might be upset about paying for two bills for your video rentals from Netflix, unless you are willing to spend more time searching for content, you are probably better off sticking with the service for the time being, at least until the others catch up with their content licenses,” Strom concludes. “Or if you already have a cable TV subscription, investigate whether it offers something similar to Comcast’s Xfinity and see what their coverage is there. Ironically, that might be your best alternative to Netflix after all.”

Viewership on the Rise: Online Video Ads Reach 50 Percent of U.S. Population

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September 27, 2011
  • American consumers cumulatively watched about 2.5 billion minutes of online ads in August, according to a new report released by comScore.
  • The report indicates that 86 percent of U.S. Internet users watched at least some online video content last month, and more than half of that content was accessed via YouTube.
  • Also worth noting: Facebook, already the largest photo site on the Web, was the third largest video site in terms of unique viewers.
  • The rankings “find Facebook retaining third position in August, with 51.6 million unique viewers, trailing VEVO in second (with 62 million) and Google Sites (i.e. YouTube) at 162 million,” reports TechCrunch.
  • According to comScore, video ads accounted for 13.4 percent of all videos viewed — and Hulu generated the highest number of video ad impressions (996 million in August alone), compelling figures for advertisers when you take into account that Hulu does not allow you to skip over videos.

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