ESPN and Twitter Expand Collaboration with Video Clips

ESPN plans to post sports-related highlight videos on Twitter in the coming year. Sports fans can expect clips from soccer matches leading up to the World Cup, college football and the X Games. The videos will be made available on Twitter’s site and mobile apps shortly after the live television broadcasts. The collaboration is part of a bigger movement by TV networks and the microblogger to discover new approaches to advertising revenue. Continue reading ESPN and Twitter Expand Collaboration with Video Clips

TV Networks Face Unprecedented Challenges in Digital Era

As the upfronts roll out this week in New York City, television networks are facing new challenges: prime time ratings for major broadcasters have been dropping, ad spending is increasingly turning to cable, original programming from the likes of Amazon and Netflix are creating more competition, government regulators are seeking changes to spectrum allocation, and startups like Aereo may impact the subscription revenue of stations. Continue reading TV Networks Face Unprecedented Challenges in Digital Era

New Model: YouTube Launches Paid Subscription Channels

Google’s YouTube yesterday unveiled its much anticipated paid-subscription channels, that will enable some of its video content partners to charge a monthly fee for access to programming. The channels could become a new revenue stream for the video site and its content partners. The subscription model has attracted producers who have been seeking an option to YouTube’s online advertising model. Continue reading New Model: YouTube Launches Paid Subscription Channels

CES 2013: Second Screen Use On The Rise, But Revenue Is Not

During CES last week, representatives from television networks, software companies, cable providers and advertising firms gathered for the Second Screen Summit. 2012 was a busy year for second screens, as multiple companies, along with the Olympics, came out with companion products. But the direction and profitability of second screens remain in question. Continue reading CES 2013: Second Screen Use On The Rise, But Revenue Is Not

Is Modern Warfare 3 the Most Successful Franchise of All Time?

  • “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” has set a new entertainment launch record, selling 6.5 million units within 24 hours after its release last week. The first-person shooter raised $400 million in sales revenues in the Unites States and United Kingdom.
  • This marks the third consecutive sales record for game publisher Activision Blizzard with the “Call of Duty” series. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” sold 4.7 million copies during its first day of availability in 2009, and last year’s “Call of Duty: Black Ops” hit 5.6 million in its first 24 hours.
  • “We believe the launch of ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’ is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we achieved this record with sales from only two territories,” said Activision Blizzard chief exec Bobby Kotick.
  • “Other than ‘Call of Duty,’ there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row,” he added. “Life-to-date sales for the ‘Call of Duty’ franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Lord of the Rings,’ two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time.”

Spotify Reports Significant Losses, Despite Increase in Subscribers and Revenue

  • Streaming music service Spotify, which recently partnered with Facebook, saw its revenue more than quintuple last year. However, the British company still showed losses totaling $42 million, an increase from $26 million in 2009.
  • “Spotify’s performance has been closely monitored by the music industry, which sees it as a kind of litmus test for the viability of digital music by subscription, which pays labels each time a listener streams a particular song,” reports The New York Times. “That system brings in lower royalties per song than downloads, but with a large enough listener base could in theory bring in substantial amounts.”
  • Spotify subscriptions cost about $10 to $15 per month and includes an ad-supported free version. Daniel Ek, Spotify’s chief executive, recently announced that the service had reached the 2 million mark with paid subscribers, although there are believed to be more than 10 million total users.