Blockbuster adds to Dish Network growth, but retail stores are headed for death

February 23, 2012 3:48 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Satellite television provider Dish Network has Blockbuster to thank for ending a nearly two-year drought of new subscribers, according to the company’s fourth quarter earnings report.

Dish beat analysts’ estimates by adding 22,000 new subscribers and boosting earnings to $313 …

Comcast launches ‘Netflix-like’ Streampix to complement expensive cable packages

February 21, 2012 2:52 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Comcast is launching a new streaming video service called Xfinity Streampix, which takes aim at similar services from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime.

The move is most likely a response to the growing number of people who are ditching their …

Netflix’s licensing deal with Weinstein Company should make HBO flinch

February 21, 2012 11:24 AM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Streaming video service Netflix has finalized a new content deal with film studio The Weinstein Company that brings a new crop of foreign language, documentary, and critically acclaimed movies to U.S. subscribers, the companies announced today.

Under the deal, many …

Hulu Plus lands on Nintendo Wii, 3DS support coming soon

February 16, 2012 1:19 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Nintendo’s Wii game console gained some significant ground as a streaming video set-top box with the announcement of a new Hulu Plus channel launching today.

While the Wii does have a channel that allows you to browse the internet, Hulu’s …

YouTube scores four new original sports shows from Bleacher Report

February 15, 2012 8:32 AM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Fan-generated sports commentary site Bleacher Report announced a deal with YouTube today to bring four new sports-themed shows to its branded YouTube channel.

The Bleacher Report’s website’s content comes from over a 1,000 columnists and 6,000 contributors that write commentary …

Streaming video consumption on mobile devices, smart TVs nearly doubles in Q4

February 15, 2012 5:00 AM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Couch potatoes nearly doubled the amount of streaming videos played on mobile devices and smart TVs in fall than it did in the summer, according to Ooyala’s fourth quarter 2011 video index report.

Ooyala offers a video platform for content …

How Hulu could kill off Nielsen ratings and improve television

February 15, 2012 5:00 AM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Editor's Pick

Hulu is staying silent about the initial viewership of its first scripted original series Battleground, which premiered its pilot episode on Monday.

But the company has a plan to measure viewership in a new way, one that could make …

Netflix developing second original series, this time from the creator of ‘Weeds’

February 14, 2012 2:55 PM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

Netflix is in talks to launch a second original series, titled Orange is the New Black, which is a comedy about life in a women’s prison from Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, according to a Bloomberg report.

Lately, streaming services …

Aereo streams local broadcast TV anywhere (a.k.a. Barry Diller’s answer to cord cutting)

February 14, 2012 11:53 AM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Influential media businessman Barry Diller was on hand today for the debut of new startup Aereo TV, a streaming video service that aims to steal consumers away from the expensive cable and satellite television providers.

Aereo allows users to view …

New YouTube producer terms let Google play your videos anywhere

February 13, 2012 3:28 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

After announcing a new YouTube Google TV app yesterday, Google is now encouraging YouTube content partners to sign new terms that give the company permission to play their videos across all platforms (mobile, TV, web, etc.) by default.

Right now, …

PBS lets iOS users see new documentary before it airs on TV

February 13, 2012 12:45 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

The Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) has decided to rip a page out of HBO’s book by giving iPad and iPhone owners early access to its exclusive video content before it debuts to the rest of the world.

iOS device owners …

Roku gets BBC iPlayer channel to boost U.K. launch

February 10, 2012 7:43 AM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

U.K. owners of the streaming media set-top box Roku are getting a significant addition to the available content lineup today with an official BBC iPlayer channel.

Following Netflix’s lead, Roku launched its line of streaming media set-top boxes in the …

Amazon exec: standalone Prime streaming video service isn’t likely

February 9, 2012 9:00 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Despite an aggressive push to increase its variety of TV shows and movies, Amazon isn’t planning to split off its Prime streaming video service into a standalone subscription offering, according to the company’s management team. At least not anytime soon.…

Blip chops off its “.tv” branding with a $12M investment sword

February 8, 2012 7:49 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Indie streaming video startup Blip.tv announced today that it will ditch the “.tv” from its name in the first of many steps to refresh and improve the company. Blip has also secured a $12 million round of funding to help …

New Amazon deal brings MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central to Prime Instant Video

February 8, 2012 10:05 AM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

If you’re considering an Amazon Prime subscription, you might be persuaded by Amazon’s new deal with Viacom to bring 2,000 new titles to the service.

The Viacom agreement will bring a new slate of programming to Amazon’s video offering and …

Biggest Super Bowl loser is Netflix: Traffic down 40 percent during the game

February 7, 2012 1:01 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

The next time a nefarious organization wants to keep people off the Internet, it would do well to engineer its own championship professional football game.

Web traffic dropped significantly during this past Sunday’s Super Bowl football match between the New …

HBO drops $10M on Australian rental service Quickflix

February 7, 2012 10:57 AM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Premium U.S. television network HBO has agreed to invest $10 million into DVD and streaming video rental service Quickflix, the companies announced today.

Quickflix is one of the largest streaming and physical (DVD and Blu-ray) video rental services in Australia. …

Verizon/Redbox video service will be subscription-based, offer a “competitive” content library

February 6, 2012 1:57 PM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Top executives from Verizon and Redbox revealed more details about the new jointly-operated rental service announced earlier today.

The video rental service will allow people to access streaming video through Verizon, while also taking advantage of Redbox’s DVD and Blu-Ray …

Online video player Brightcove prices IPO at $10-12 a share, could raise $60M

February 6, 2012 10:47 AM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

Online video startup Brightcove has set the price range for its initial public offering at $10 to $12 a share and could raise up to $60 million, according to its latest S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Brightcove …

Verizon and Redbox join forces on new video rental service

February 6, 2012 7:40 AM Tom Cheredar
Tom Cheredar

Verizon and Redbox are teaming up on a new video rental service that will directly compete with Netflix, the companies announced in a joint statement today.

The new service will allow people to access streaming video through Verizon, while also …