World Internet TV on PC

Netflix Claim Credit For Mad Men Boost

Steve Sanger — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:39:53 +0000

While online TV and linear schedules are generally seen on different markets, Netflix appear to have made it their duty to claim that they are responsible for the recent upturn in success of AMC drama Mad Men, suggesting that the show’s prominence on the online streaming site has given it a cult status that has translated directly to higher network ratings.

Entering its fifth season, Mad Men were going in off the back of a fourth season average of 2.3m viewers, though the recent premiere drew 3.5m, meaning that in the time period between seasons, the show seems to have taken a fairly large boost in popularity, and seems to follow on from recent prophetic comments made by AMC’s CEO Josh Sapan.

Netflix are considered by many (including themselves) to be the key reason for the upturn in fortunes, with the 3.5m noted as being a record for the series, which revolves around a 1960′s advertising agency, and its creative director Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm, who is due to headline alongside Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe in a new show for UK satellite channel Sky Arts).

Netflix’s ‘chief content officer’ Ted Sarandos boasted of the suggestions that his company helped the show on its way (also using the statement as a defence to recent claims that they have the opposite ratings effect on children’s networks such as Nickelodeon): “We brought maybe a million viewers to AMC. These are people who had four years to watch the show [before Netflix took on the online rights], and didn’t, then we gave them the opportunity to watch the show in a well-priced and well-distributed model. In that way we’re quite additive.”

Speaking at the annual Cable Show in Boston (USA), Sarandos added of the rumours that Netflix have taken viewers from Nickelodeon: “People’s taste are so diverse that no specific program or network has such high viewing concentration that you’d see that cause and effect on ratings.”

Having developed as a dominant and respected force for rebroadcasting network content online, Netflix are currently looking to continue their development of original programming, and with what they claim to be cold hard proof that they can get people interested in TV shows, will any future Netflix formats ever end up on linear schedules to popular effect?

Amazon Link Up With Paramount For Movie Streams

Steve Sanger — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:36:22 +0000

Amazon Prime have taken on another licenced content provider for their online movie streaming service, with Paramount’s best features now available on the digital streaming branch of the popular online retailer.

In a deal said to be making ‘hundreds’ of Paramount titles available for Prime subscribers on Amazon, with their online instant streaming catalogue in the USA now set to rise above 17,000 pieces of content (TV shows and movies) by 2015, with Paramount’s introduction of content, like many others, set to be drawn out (in this case, over the course of three years) as opposed to being uploaded to the service ’all at once’.

A statement on the deal from Amazon ‘digital video content acquisition director’ Brad Beale read: “We are continuing to invest in building a vast selection for Prime Instant Video and are excited to bring Prime customers some of the most renowned and popular films in cinema history under this new agreement with Paramount. This deal will bring Prime Instant Video customers hundreds of new movies to enjoy on their Kindle Fire or any device connected to Amazon Instant Video, including titles such as Star Trek, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Top Gun, The Italian Job and The Truman Show, and we will remain committed to adding even more great movies and TV shows to Prime Instant Video in the future.”

With another provider now added to their portfolio of content partnerships, will Amazon Prime’s unique service (which also includes free retail shipping and Kindle book downloads in the subscribtion package) continue to develop as a genuine challenger to Netflix, or do they still need to bring in a lot more high-profile content to their potential customers?

ITV And Channel 5 Told To Bid Back For Their Places

Matt — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:47:50 +0000

A line-up of main terrestrial broadcasters (or as they are known in America, major broadcast networks) should not change very often, and it has proven to be the case in the UK, where the line-up of ’main channels’ has been unchanged since 1997 (when Channel 5 became the fifth member of the group). However, it appears that the status of two of these ‘commercial public service’ channels are not quite indestructible, as broadcasting regulator Ofcom claims that their licences to keep a PSB (public service broadcaster) licence are set to be put up for auction if they are not up to scratch.

Alongside advice for the channels in question, the media regulator have warned that the channels occupying numbers 3 (ITV1) and 5 (Channel 5) will need to bid for the rights like everyone else inovolved in the process in 2014. Ofcom claimed that with the general critera for ITV and Channel 5 (or any potential replacements in their EPG slots) will involve being able to prove that they: “…will be able to contribute, at a commercially sustainable cost, to public service broadcasting in the 10 years from 2015″.

While ITV1 and Channel 5 (the ‘licensees’ of #3 & #5) are noted as being in a good position at the moment, Ofcom have suggested that they may need to make alterations to assure their place in the trade-off (which sees the channels offer core public broadcasting services in exchange for a higher-quality channel slot).

One of them is addressed to ITV specifically, who they claim should provide a new division of their channel specific to viewers in Wales, as there already is for the #3 slot in Scotland (STV) and Northern Ireland (UTV). The organisation added: “We also suggest that changes to the Channel 3 service received by viewers in the south of Scotland may be appropriate to ensure the provision of Scottish news in that area.”

The options currently in place for Ofcom to handle the licences include giving the current holders first option on a 10-year renewal, an auction of the slots to open bidding (which Ofcom describe as offering potential bidders a chance to pitch ‘fresh approaches’ to being a PSB), or a combination of both by giving the rights holders a short-term first option renewal, in order to give the government time to draft a new ‘Communications Bill’ if necessary.

While Channel 4 (another commercial PSB) could be considered for this list, their status as being partially publically owned probably keeps their position more secure, with the two BBC channels in the main line-up (on #1 and #2) also assured of their position, for obvious reasons of being literal public broadcasters.

The decision on the future of the ‘open’ commercial PSB slots will be made by secretary of culture Jeremy Hunt at a later date. Could ITV1 and Channel 5 be nearing the end of their respective 56 and 15-year campaigns in top-level broadcasting?

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Netflix And LoveFilm Save Sky By Becoming Competitive

Steve Sanger — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:15:46 +0000

Having come under scrutiny last year for their dominance of the movie broadcasting market in the UK, satellite broadcaster Sky have been cleared of needing to give up some of their rights by the Competition Commission, after the trade fairness regulators ruled that online services such as Netflix and LoveFilm served as viable additional options that help to provide ‘varied choice’ for potential viewers.

The organisation now seem to have called off their threat from last July, which claimed that Sky’s ‘first-run’ contracts with the six main Hollywood studios (20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., and Universal) for their Sky Movies brand of channels was an unfair stranglehold on the market, and prevented similar movie channels from operating successfully.

Releasing a report on their ’provisional findings’, the Competition Commission stated that the consideration of online services (which often air new content at the same time or before TV broadcasters): ”…no longer provides Sky with a material advantage over its rivals in the pay-TV retail market.”

Adding that the upcoming launch of online pay-per-view service NOW TV (created by Sky to reach non-subscribers) will further this variation, the regulator seems to have exressed that online offerings are now on a similar level of availability and general acceptance as their TV counterparts.

The investigation’s chief Laura Carstensen said of her organisation’s findings: “Competition between providers of movie services on pay-TV has changed materially and, as a result of these changes, consumers now have much greater choice. LoveFilm and Netflix offer services which are attractive to many consumers and they appear sufficiently well resourced to be in a position to improve the range and quality of their content further. Moreover, Sky is about to offer Sky Movies on Now TV, which will make Sky Movies available unbundled from other pay-TV content and not requiring a subscription to a traditional pay-TV platform.”

Adding to their findings, the commission claimed that they found the main areas of consideration from consumers (over choosing services to view movies) were ‘range of content’ and ‘price’, both considered as potentially more important than covering new releases.

These factors combined seem to have contributed to the improved online offerings, as the organisation noted that while there is little change in the pay-TV market for movies since their initial report last July, improvements to Amazon-owned Lovefilm and the regional launch of Netflix have: “…enhanced significantly [their] internet-distributed movie offering”.

Carstensen summarised: “The scope of our investigation is limited by the terms of the reference to us to the impact of FSPTW movies and, in our view, Sky’s position with respect to FSPTW movies does not provide Sky with a material advantage over its rivals in the pay-TV retail market. For the purposes of our inquiry, the key effect of the market developments is that, as a result of the new options available to them, consumers’ choice of pay-TV platform can more easily be decoupled from their choice of pay-TV movie service. As a result, Sky Movies no longer provides Sky with the advantage that it used to when competing with other traditional pay-TV platforms, like Virgin Media or BT Vision. Given that we no longer find there to be an adverse effect on competition in relation to movies on pay TV, we are not now proposing any remedial action [against Sky].”

The move seems to be one that lets Sky off the hook for their domination of home movies on TV, but it also now seems to make the online streaming providers recognised challengers to regular TV, so what will be the next development in the Competition Commission’s research? If anything, it seems as though Netflix have got their wish…

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Freeview Plead With UK Government To Avoid 4G Bill

Kelly — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:38:50 +0000

A recent decision by the UK Government to implement 4G mobile network signals around the UK has been met with distaste by leading digital broadcaster Freeview, who claim that their platform’s signals are incompatible with the wireless signals that are produced by 4G outlets, despite the two parties otherwise having nothing to do with each other.

It is believed that the 4G signals interfere with those recieved by TV antennas, and that the government have pledged to put up £180m in implementing filters to avoid such problems for an estimated 2.3m homes that would be caught in the firing line. However, Freeview have claimed that it will not even cover half of what is needed, with their estimations suggesting that with the filters in place, a combined £200m would still have to be spent by consumers (an average of £86.96 per houshold) to fully resume normal signal service.

A clear and obvious solution being suggested by the digital terrestrial broadcaster is one that would also spare the government from spending, as they claim that the mobile operators who would be responsible for the 4G signals should foot the entire bill (of at least £380m), due to the initiative mainly being for their purpose.

Freeview managing director Ilse Howling said of the situation: “It is vital that any strategy listens to what consumers want and need. We strongly believe that the Freeview homes should not be subject to further inconvenience and additional cost to make way for mobile broadband. The government has committed to recouping the cost of protecting viewers from interference, using proceeds from the 4G mobile auction. However, this will still leave viewers to bear a substantial proportion of the cost. The mobile phone operators will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this new service, and we believe that they should pay to mitigate the television interference according to the ‘polluter pays’ principle.”

Freeview are now proposing that the government make revisions to their 4G proposals by focusing on the areas of households with more than one TV set (who should not have to pay extra for more filters to be installed), customers having to pay for professional installation of filters, and support for elderly and disabled viewers in need of extra assistance with the filters.

Howling also warned: “Free, quality television is part of this nation’s DNA. Almost 90% of Freeview homes and 75% of second set homes would be unhappy if Freeview were no longer available. It is crucial that as an industry we don’t turn a blind eye to consumers but ensure that technology evolves in line with what people want. It is critically important that the government finds the best way to get both – protecting free TV and addressing the need for superfast broadband.”

The plans will not go down well with average viewers once they are told they have to pay to keep a high-quality TV signal, and while a side-effect may be better streaming quality to mobile devices, the lack of TV at home might be considered a more important factor. Will the mobile device providers rightly be made to ‘pay’ for their upcoming interference?

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Xbox 360 US Sales Disapproved By Judge

Steve Sanger — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:32:34 +0000

A judge in the USA has made an audatious claim that the Xbox 360, a high-selling product in the country, should be removed from shelves and banned from importation until a patent matter is resolved between Microsoft (who make the games console) and Motorola.

A recommendation from Judge David Shaw (working for the International Trade Commission (ITC)) is of the belief that the system is an infringement on Motorola (who’s ‘Motorola Mobility’ division is as of this week owned by Google (mainly for patent reasons)) amd their intellectual property rights, and that as additional compensation, Microsoft should arrange a bond worth 7% of the value of all unsold consoles in the country.

The recommendation follows on from a preliminary ruling that software in the Xbox is an infringement on a number of rights held by Motorola, and that appropriate action between the two has not been undertaken. Shaw also noted, in the interest of video game fans in the country, that enforcing the trade law: “…outweighs any potential economic impact on video game console buyers”.

Microsoft had claimed that such a ruling would not be fair on their customer base and limits options within the video games console market, though Shaw argued that Sony (PlayStation 3) and Nintendo (Wii) were more than suitable to handle an additional influx of customers, with his statement essentially serving as a free advertisement for Microsoft’s biggest global rivals.

It has also been noted that should the ITC follow the judge’s thoughts and create a ban on the Xbox 360, the matter will be in the hands of President Obama and a selection of staff to make a potential over-ruling decision within 60 days, at which point the ITC, according to regulations, would be in full control of Microsoft’s fate regarding the case.

It would not be the first time that Motorola have infringed on Microsoft’s plans, with Motorola Mobility last month winning an injunction case in (a fairly patent case-heavy) Germany to prevent the sale and distribution of a number of Microsoft products in the country due to patent disputes, but a similar scenario really affect one of America’s most popular entertainment products?

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Verizon To Launch Viewdini Aggregated Internet TV App

Steve Sanger — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:23:50 +0000

Verizon have announced the launch of a new internet TV aggregated platform that lets users stream a selection of content including Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Hulu Plus, Netflix, FiOS and mSpot all within from one single carrier-specific Android app on the 4G LTE high-speed network.

Viewdini streaming aggregator on Verizon

CEO of Verizon, Dan Mead announced Viewdini at a panel presented by The Cable Show, and said that the new platform’s announcement was, “one of our most important of the year.”

The Viewdini app will be free for Verizon subscribers and lets them both search and stream the video all from a single app. The press release states, “By simply searching for a title, topic, or star’s name, viewdini will let customers know which services have mobile video for streaming, and whether it is available at no additional charge, by subscription, to rent or for purchase.”

It’s unclear whether Verizon will take any financial gain or commission from rentals or pay-per-view from other suppliers, but they will probably have secured a deal of somesort with Hulu Plus and Netflix.

Verizon is said to be planning to launch the service later this month. It will be available in the Googe Play Store exclusively on Verizon 4G LTE Android devices, and they are looking to add more suppliers to the service. The streaming will also not have any data caps, so users can stream away without worrying about escalating bills.

This should prevent them from facing the stinging criticism that Comcast have, after they applied capping of data on rival streaming services while keeping its own Xfinity service uncapped.

The idea of a service that aggregates from the web is nothing new as many do a similar thing. The difference with Viewdini is that your not then sent to another site to stream the content, it will all happen in the one app.

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The Wide World of Cable TV

guestpost — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:33:27 +0000

When cable television was in its infancy in the late 1940s, the privilege to watch more than a few broadcast channels was reserved for the rich elite. In America today, it’s practically considered a right and a necessity among the proud 99%. Cable TV isn’t just for Americans anymore. Even East Africa is getting in the cable TV game.

Africa gets cable TV

Zuku, East Africa’s first cable television company, is betting that East Africans are tired of saying “there is never anything good on TV” and would like more channels. The larger bet Zuku is making? That East Africans desire original content created just for them.

Judging by the list of proposed channels with original programming, it appears East Africans like to watch similar types of programs as Americans. East African-focused channels covering news, music, sports, documentaries, and travel are already offered on Zuku TV. They even have an MTV station, MTV Base.

Zuku plans to create original content, as well as partner with other production companies. The company has partnered with Tanzania’s Steps Entertainment to produce two Swahili language music shows, a travel show, cooking series with famous chefs, talk shows, and movies.

“As a local brand it makes absolute sense for us to invest in fresh, relevant and highly entertaining programming for the East African region; broadcasting local content will boost and sell East Africa to the rest of the world,” Mwananchi Group CEO Richard Bell said.

Zuku currently has an estimated 400,000 subscribers in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Zuku launched in Nairobi in 2009, Kenya and Uganda in 2011, and Tanzania in 2012. The company’s goal is to begin to provide service to 11 countries in Africa, adding Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Malawi and Somalia. Currently, penetration stands at less than one percent in these countries.

“We project that by the end of 2012 we will have doubled our subscriber base as we plan to continuously enrich our product offering through accessible, affordable and relevant content,” said Bell.

The company is also trying to raise its profile by sponsoring events in East Africa. Zuku sponsored this month’s Nite of a Thousand Laughs, which brought together East Africa’s most popular comedians. The satellite provider is also sponsoring Zuku Slamfest, a regional basketball tournament held at Kasarani in July with a $100,000 cash prize.

While 400,000 subscribers is nothing to sneeze at for the nascent company, Zuku has a long way to go to meet its target numbers. Do you think broadcasting local content is the right path for Zuku to increase its market penetration, or should it just acquire rights to global content?

About the Author: At Cabletv.com we support the effort of getting broadcast information around the world. It will be amazing to see what will happen in the future for this brand. If you liked this article you can follow us on Twitter. @Cabletvcom

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Comcast Reveal New Project Dayview Smart TV System

Kelly — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:23:37 +0000

Comcast have used the current ’Cable Show 2012′ in Boston (USA) as a means of promoting their plans for the future of TV, claiming that they have managed to produce a service that will connect with the user in their day-to-day life and automatically arrange recordings and reminders based on viewer preferences and regular habits.

The cable TV provider have announced their plans for ‘Project Dayview’, a service which they claim will become a user’s ‘own personal welcome screen’.

Comcast chief executive Neil Smit summarised the service by stating: “It’s tying your entire life together.”

While its released date is currently uncertain, the idea of Project Dayview is that it will be able to run in synchronisation with the ‘appointment calendar’ of a user, and permit reminders of their personal schedule, a system which can also be integrated with their TV set, enabling it to recognise when to record popular shows of the household when no-one is around to set it up.

An additional feature to the service will be integration of Comcast’s ’home security service’ (if the user is a member of both), allowing them to view images from their home’s security cameras on their TV through Dayview, which will also have a number of ‘homepage’-style apps (including connected news headlines, weather information, and traffic reports) that are viewable either on turning on the system UI, or in ‘screensaver’ form.

In addition, features connecting Dayview to the user will also be available through mobile, with personal and TV schedules, security, and room lighting/thermostat options all available remotely through apps on supported devices.

In the meantime while this previously far-fetched idea becomes a reality, Comcast have also announced their X1 TV viewing system to be released to the local market in Boston at the end of the month, with their connected set-top box being able to run popular internet apps and social media.

Comcast Cable SVP and chief software architecht Sree Kotay said of X1: “The X1 remote app unites the TV screen with customers’ mobile devices by creating an integrated experience between the customers’ swipe controls on their device and the viewing experience on the TV – they truly mirror each other. By building this new app, we’ve made the remote control smarter and more functional…and just plain fun.”

With new developments coming in fast from Comcast, will their plans for Dayview manage to capture the imagination of potential customers when it eventually arrives?

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4seven Social Buzz Channel Gets Fitting Release Date

Steve Sanger — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:19:02 +0000

Channel 4′s planned new unique approach to catch-up TV (in the form of broadcast channel 4seven) is due for a release date fitting of the network’s name, with 4 July now earmarked for the channel to debut.

The date, best known as America’s Independence Day, will fit in with the branding of the ’4/7′ theme, as the channel 4seven, after being launched on 4 July, will take its place on channel #47 on Freeview. While a similar themed position could not be obtained on satellite broadcaster Sky (where it will directly replace existing channel More4+2 on #269).

The option to keep their brand active in as many places as possible could carry on further, with Freesat and Virgin Media the other TV services set to get the channel on their platform (with respective channel numbers not yet announced).

The channel is due to maintain its initial plan of re-airing popular broadcasts from the main channel (Channel 4), with popularity determined by how much social media ‘buzz’ is created about the shows and episodes in the previous seven days, potentially making it the world’s first entirely ’social media-driven’ channel.

Considerations over programming are expected to come from social media websites, show blogs, online forums, and comments on the channel’s official website.

It is believed that despite the innovation, the ’4seven’ idea has seen mixed responses from fans, with some feeling that it is unnecessary due to the level of DVR services and online platforms (such as Channel 4′s own 4oD) already in place, but others claim that a majority of viewers still prefer to watch on linear schedules, claiming that the channel would serve its purpose in giving them a ‘second chance’ to watch a missed episode within a week of its original airdate.

Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham had said of the proposals when announcing 4seven in March: “It’s a variation which we think goes with the grain of increased optionality but that combines the continued strengths of digital TV with the opportunities of social media. As such we hope that it will be an example of how the TV network will continue to adapt and evolve in order to survive in this most revolutionary of decades for media consumption.”

With a launch date in place and some EPG slots already arranged, the new terrestrial channel is seemingly going the extra distance to make sure that their name is not easily forgotten. All it needs now is to be broadcast for a limit of 4 hours per day…

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Remote Control Inventor Eugene Polley Dies

Matt — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:42:00 +0000

Eugene Polley, a 96-year-old man in Chicago (USA), has passed away from natural causes in his home on Sunday, with the news leading to a number of tributes pouring in over respect of the man who is credited with giving the world the remote control.

Having created the ‘flash-matic’ remote control (a device which operated by directing a beam of light towards the TV set (which featured preset ‘photo cells’ to read the light signal in the four corners of the screen)) in 1955, Polley is considered to be the forefather of a wave of innovation that has lead to the ‘couch potato’ remote user stereotype, and is now considered a living room cornerstone in a large majority of developed households.

The product, which was advertised as a ‘flash of magic light’ which needed to be ‘seen to be believed’ was claimed as having saved ‘energy, effort, and carpet wear’ from the otherwise frequent journeys to and from the box. It would be known as one of the world’s first wireless handheld devices, but not without cost, as adverts claimed an original selling price of $149.95 (the equivalent of around $1,270 today), and potential problems that would naturally not be publicised as much by developers Zenith, with rumours that strong sunlight often made the TV change channels on its own, a problem that would not be resolved until an ‘ultrasonic’ version (the Zenith Space Command) was released in 1960 (an invention of Robert Adler).

However, the advert made an effort to promote the positive side, as it said at launch: “Here is a truly amazing new television development. Just think! Without budging from your easy chair you can turn your new Zenith Flash-Matic set on, off or change channels. Shut off long, annoying commercials and, most importantly: ‘You can remain in your easy chair!’

Polley, an employee of Zenith Radio between 1935 and 1982, was the owner of 18 patents of his inventions whilst working for the company, with other projects including US military radar systems (during World War II), button-based car radios, and work with ’video disks’ (better known as ‘CDs’). In 1997, he and Robert Adler were given Emmy Awards to celebrate their innovation in the field of wireless remote controls, with Polley said to be proud of his legacy until the very end, keeping an original 1955 version in his home to ‘show off’ to visitors.

Zenith Electronics spokesman John Taylor said of Polley’s later life: “He was a proud owner of a flat-screen TV and modern remote. [But] he always kept his original remote control with him.”

Trevor Baylis, an English inventor credited with the wind-up radio (in 1991), said of his fellow inventor: “Mr. Polley has shown that inventions can change all of our lives. Here is a guy who came up with a concept in 1955, and in those days everybody thought ‘we won’t need that’. And now the technology is absolutely amazing. We take these sorts of inventions for granted, but we should celebrate people like him who come up with brilliant inventions and make sure everybody knows their names. Children should be taught about Mr. Polley at schools – he has changed all of our lives.”

While ‘life-changing’ could have been a term interchangeable with ‘laziness-inducing’ in this case, the invention was certainly one which would have been discovered on its own by now, but it was Eugene Polley who got in first to mark his name down in history, in a medium which is sometimes now the only way to control electronic devices (such as button-free set top boxes), but could be in danger of being slowly phased out by developments such as Siri voice control. However, the world will probably always need the simplicity and reliability of a button-based remote control, so will Polley’s legacy end up outlasting all of the potential new ‘gimmicky’ developments in the world of TV control?

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Staines Sever Ties With Ali G Through Name Change

Steve Sanger — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:22:15 +0000

The town of Staines (England) on Sunday marked an official name change (under a slight alteration of ‘Staines-upon-Thames’), claiming the move has been made in an effort to enhance their poor public image, with one of the contributions to that stereotype widely believed to be made by ‘Ali G’, who was Sacha Baron Cohen’s first-ever original character.

The ‘suburban ghetto’ character, who notably describes himself as coming from the ‘Westside’ of the town (located in the county of Surrey), was at the forefront of popular media in the early 2000′s, first on Channel 4′s The Eleven O’Clock Show, and then on the same channel with his own comedy interview and sketch series Da Ali G Show (later remade in America for HBO).

However, he and Staines were most notable in the 2002 feature film Ali G Indahouse, with the character going on to make guest appearances in Europe and North America in future years, before Baron Cohen decided to retire his first alter-ego.

The name change was voted in by councillors (the motion winning at a 2:1 ratio) last year after consultation with residents, but not everyone in the town (which is home to 45,000 people) are said to be happy with the change, which is designed to reflect Staines’ location on the River Thames.

Town councillor Colin Davis (who is in support of the change) was of the belief that the Baron Cohen’s character had nothing to do with the renaming, stating “Ali G may have had a role, but I think it goes back further than that. I regard Ali G as someone who put Staines on the map, we’re just telling people where it is.”

Steve Parsons, the club secretary of Staines Town Football Club (a club that since the movie have been nicknamed ‘The Massive’ (the name of Ali G’s gang), and often see fans come in dressed as Ali G): “The council have decided they don’t want to be linked with the Ali G Show. But the one they need to worry about is Keeping Up Appearances, where [the character] Mrs. Bucket changed her name to ‘Bouquet’. I think it is as pretentious as that.”

Spelthorne Business Forum chairman Alex Tribick disagreed, however, stating his reply as: “It’s not pretentious, it’s progress and the fact of the matter is there was a public consultation that returned with a two to one majority in favour of a change.”

While those that voted in favour of the town’s rebranding (which was initiated by Dame Sarah Goad in a ceremony on Sunday) may hope that it will end their links to the comedy character, it should be noted that the ‘full name’ of a town or city is usually just for legal or listing purposes reasons, and that like fellow English town Newcastle[-upon-Tyne] (home of controversial MTV reality series Geordie Shore), Staines-upon-Thames will still just be known as ‘Staines’…

While the nations of Kazakhstan and Austria (‘homes’ of Baron Cohen’s other retired alter-ego’s ‘Borat’ and ‘Bruno’) would find it much harder to push through a name change on account of one man, Baron Cohen continues to promote new movie The Dictator (starring original character ‘General Aladeen’ from the fictional ‘Republic of Wadiya’), as people worldwide become glad that the main character and his backstory are already disconnected from reality…

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Android Netflix Updates With Enhanced Streams

Steve Sanger — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:51:24 +0000

The official Netflix app for Android devices went into a minor update yesterday, as the service revealed an improvement to the streaming of content amongst tweaks of their features.

Detailed as an ‘enhanced playback experience’ for users on Android smartphones and tablet computers, the update als ofeatures ‘improved stability’, fixes for ‘general bugs’, and a new method of installation (as an additional option to the original) in order to provide a workaround for those that have problems with the main installation route.

Available on the Google Play Store, the service sees another in what many are perceiving as a long line in updates over the past several months, with previous updates including support for the Android 4.0 ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ operating system, and an enhanced user interface featuring volume controls.

With a pattern starting to emerge for fairly regular updates to this service, will there be another coming in the near future, or have the recent tweaks resolved all current issues with the mobile version of the streaming service?

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ITV2 Reveal Plans For More Comedy

Matt — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:24:33 +0000

While the schedule on ITV’s digital sister channel ITV2 is laughable enough as it is, network executives have revealed their plans to import some actual comedy content from America to enhance the channel’s offerings.

ITV ‘digital channels director’ Angela Jain expressed her desire to add to a list of US imports such as The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl, with any new series on the channel set to premiere in autumn. The channel is best known for its female-centric schedule of celebrity gossip, repeats of soap operas and talent contests (such as X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, along with exclusive coverage of their respective ‘aftershows’), and ‘reality’ TV series.

With the more widespread BBC Three considered as the closest like-for-like rival to ITV2, the commercial broadcaster may be looking at comedy as a means of attracting more general market audiences, as the former notably uses comedy (including imports such as Family Guy and American Dad!) and sport in its schedule to avoid full association with the ‘celeb’ genre. For ITV, competition may also come internally from the more male-centric network ITV4, which is more often seen as the broadcaster’s destination for comedy.

Jain said of the plans to add new series to ITV2: “Honestly, we’re looking for anything. It could be comedy, sitcom or drama. Because it’s for a younger audience, it’s less likely to be procedural, more likely to be a young-skewing drama and because there seems to be a lot more comedies this year, maybe we could pick one or two of those. We missed out last year so I feel quite keenly it would be nice to come away with something this year. It really depends on what you see. One drama would be nice, maybe one or two comedies.”

She summarised the value of potential new content by saying: “It really depends on the strength of what you see, but I would like to buy something. The comedy thing is the most interesting theme this year and one I’m quite keen to be able to follow up. Just reading the synopses, there definitely feels like there are more comedies this year and it will be interesting to see them. The comedy theme also chimes with broadcasters in the UK commissioning more original British comedy so it seems to be a global trend.”

American TV is notably experiencing a boom in scripted comedy at the moment, with Fox, ABC, and NBC amongst the networks that focused on sitcoms in their latest batch of show renewals and pilots. Regardless of the shows chosen by ITV2, if they manage to lessen the profile of the channel’s flagship series such as The Only Way is Essex and Peter Andre: My Life, then a selection of US imports can only be a good thing…

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YouTube Turn 7 With New Statistics

Steve Sanger — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:04:45 +0000

YouTube have unveiled their latest user statistics as part of their ’7th birthday celebrations’, with the site now said to be hosting an extra day’s worth of new content every minute, according to the company’s official reports.

Having noted last year that content on the Google-owned video sharing website was uploaded at a rate of ’48 hours per minute’, the service noted that this year it has been increased to 72 hours per minute worldwide. In addition, it claimed that the site has over 800 million users around the world, with an average of over 3 billion hours of video uploaded monthly.

The YouTube blog post announcing the statistic noted: “Like many 7-year-olds around the world, we’re growing up so fast. In other words, every single minute you now upload three whole days’ worth of video instead of two. That’s 61 Royal Wedding Ceremonies, 841 Bad Romances, and 1,194 Nyan Cats.”

Founded in 2005 (and owned by Google since 2006), the popular site continues to press for development, with live online streaming and broadcasting of major events (most recently including the annual Ice Hockey World Championships, which was noted as taking viewers away from traditional TV coverage in tournament co-host Finland), 3D coverage, and general improvements with its flagsip video clip coverage, as demonstrated by their upload figures revealed.

The results found by YouTube’s statistics also mean that for anyone making an attempt to watch everything on the website, the content is being churned out 4320 times faster than it can be viewed. Does anyone accept that impossible challenge, or will most people just stick to the popular clips, such as the one below made by YouTube outlining their success on their 7th anniversary:

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ESPN Announce iPad Cricket App

Steve Sanger — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:50:09 +0000

ESPN have confirmed their intentions to launch an official cricket ‘companion’ app for the iPad, utilising the services already seen on their international sub-website ESPNcricinfo.

Set to become their 3rd iPad app (and only the first to be launched outside of the USA), the service launch will coincide with a test match between England and South Africa in July. ESPN have already described their services as a potential ‘second screen experience’ for viewers, with features set to start with a regular integrated ’homepage’ including headlines, news, opinion, and live scores.

In further detail, big matches will include a dedicated live page with text commentary and scores (both for the featured match and related), statistics (with supporting graphics), ’player profiles’, and photo galleries, amongst others, with the lack of integrated highlights mainly due to the fact that the company carries little in the way of cricket broadcast rights, and in areas that they do (such as South Asia), the rights do not cover other regions.

However, the app does ensure a smart ’global’ approach in that it automatically detects the location of a log-in through the iPad’s Wi-Fi connection, and adjusts the app accordingly to provide cricket headlines more focused on that region also detects the user’s location from where they log on and then provides content and match information relevant to that region.

Users are also able to directly connect to Facebook for in-play and general interaction with fellow cricket fans, while further features of the app are the personalisation that offers notifications of key scores and alerts, as well as an ‘offline mode’ allowing for articles to be saved to the iPad to be read another time.

ESPN International’s ‘vice-president of digital media’ Arne Rees summarised the upcoming release: “Mobile media and second screens are now an essential part of how fans stay connected to the sport they love. ESPNcricinfo is well established as the leading digital cricket service and this new app will bring the best of that straight to fans’ tablets – wherever they are. The ESPNcricinfo iPad is another example of how we look to serve fans on multiple devices with the very best sporting content.”

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WWE Pins Down Turkish Deal With D-Smart

Kelly — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:21:46 +0000

It may sound like an obscure wrestler’s stage name, but Turkish digital TV broadcaster D-Smart have revealed that they are the latest global network to bring the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) to their screens, and becoming the first to be broadcasting the franchise in Turkey after the creation of a two-year ‘TV distribution deal’ with the company across all platforms.

The respective weekly hour-long international cuts of both WWE SmackDown and WWE Raw will be shown on Saturdays in a continuous 11:00pm-1:00am slot on the provider’s channel Smart Spor (Smart Sports), #77 on D-Smart’s EPG.

D-Smart CEO Ali Guven said of the arrangement: “It’s show time in Turkey for WWE fans. The vivid action of WWE has huge appeal with fans in Turkey and will add more value to D-Smart’s rich array of content.”

WWE International’s senior vice-president Ed Wells added : “We’re thrilled to announce this new partnership with D-Smart which is representative of WWE’s plans in the region to expand the brand.”

The ‘sports entertainment’ programming, essentially seen (and known) by many as a soap opera in the ring, is a popular source of show in the country, with the WWE brand attracting 13 million viewers in the USA alone (and broadcasting in 30 languages for over 145 countries), while personalities on the show including John Cena, The Rock, Kelly Kelly, and Rey Mysterio are well-known in their own right as a result of its popularity.

D-Smart (owned by the Dogan TV Holding group) will hope that they can capitalise on the popularity of WWE by adding to their digital TV service’s 1.7m subscribers, carrying hundreds of channels and 27 in HD. Will the ‘professional wrestling’ input prove to be a ratings winner for a ‘smart’ network?

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Kindle Fire To Welcome Ad Support

Matt — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:45:38 +0000

In a possible bid to lower the prices of their device even further, Amazon have reportedly been in touch with companies willing to put adverts on the home screen of the next edition of the Kindle Fire tablet computer, with the innovative plans being designed as a small price to pay for users in exchange for a saving on actual cost of the tablet.

A report by AdAge has claimed that the ad-supported device will cost advertisers an average price of $600,000 (£380,000) for a 2-month period, further adding to the already advert-friendly device that uses commercial stills in other areas to cut production costs.

Amazon have not yet commented on their intentions on the ‘welcome page’, already offers less expensive models of its Kindle e-reader in the US, with advertising revenue subsidising the cost of the device.

While it is not expected to receive the proposed updates, the inaugural Kindle Fire was announced by Amazon as their flagship retail website’s best-selling product, with a second edition due for later this year possibly at an even cheaper price, undercutting Apple’s plans to retain customers by launching a cut-price ‘iPad mini’.

A representative of an advertising agency reportedly in talks with Apple said to AdAge of the issues that consumers would face if the update came in on the older edition: “You’re already paying a premium for the product and then having that unexpected ad experience makes for a worse consumer experience. There needs to be a value exchange.”

Currently only accessible in the USA and Canada, the first Kindle Fire managed to impress with cheap prices and integrated functions to Amazon (which are believed to be an added part of the advert plans), and while the advert proposals for the Kindle Fire 2 will be seen as controversial due to never being tried before, could it end up enhancing the product’s main selling points?

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Hulu Plan Ten New Shows With Three Original Debuts

Steve Sanger — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:01:25 +0000

Hulu have revealed their intention to launch up to 10 new shows this summer as part of a seasonal addition to their line-up of programming on the online streaming service, including seven new show licences from overseas, and three original start-ups.

Dipping into their $500m budget for acquiring (and renewing) programming in 2012 that was set aside earlier this year, Hulu are bringing the first taste of their new content in on 4 June, whilst claiming that they are sparing no expense on their original programmes, with each being given a per-episode budget which they feel is equal to counterpart shows on cable TV.

The new shows (all on half-hour episodes) will be travel-based series Up To Speed (produced by Rick Linklater and presented by Timothy ‘Speed’ Levitch), Spoilers (a movie magazine show featuring animated clips and group discussion hosted by Kevin Smith (with a 10-episode order)), and scripted ‘pickup basketball comedy’ We Got Next.

Hulu’s content SVP Andy Forssell said of the launch: ”We’ve got less nighttime hours to work with. That means we were searching for quirky, really well-done shows that can stand up next to last night’s TV. Our shows are made like TV shows or come from network TV partners. We have them watched, followed and talked about like TV shows. It works.”

Up To Speed producer Alex Lipschultz added: “Our show is totally irreverent and unique because Rick [Linklater] was not interested in making commercial concessions. We had no wrangling with finance; Hulu just did it outright with no pressure to change the tone or the style or the content.”

Meanwhile, details have been revealed that four of the the seven new overseas licensed shows come from the UK, with Forssell claiming that the range of experimental content is worth being given a chance online. The shows include magic and hypnosis series Derren Brown: Inside Your Mind, comedy-drama Pramface, sitcom Rev., ” and ‘serial political thriller The Promise. Will a widespread offering of new original and imported content manage to boost Hulu’s online ratings this summer?

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Video Advertising Hits Record 9.5 billion Views In April

Steve Sanger — Sun, 20 May 2012 12:19:53 +0000

Although we all love watching online TV, the biggest growth area for April was the viewing of video advertisements. According to April’s ComScore online video rankings, 181 million US viewers watched almost 37 billion online videos for April, but video ad watching was up by over a billion compared to March.

Web advertising hitting new highs

The top video sites were predictably led by Google’s YouTube with 157 million viewers. They were followed by the usual suspects, Yahoo (53.6 million viewers), Facebook (44.2 million), and Microsoft (42.8 million). The average viewer saw around 1,307 minutes or almost 22 hours of online video in April.

Compared with the previous month not much change in the numbers, until you look at online video advertising. US web users viewed nearly 9.5 billion video ads last month (around 60 ads per viewer), this compares to March when video ads viewed hit another record of 8 billion.

It looks like a lot of future advertising dollars will be heading online, which may explain why internet companies are making online ads much more attractive to advertisers.

Top for advertising delivery was Hulu with 1.6 billion ads, then Google Sites with 1.3 billion. Frequency of ads delivered was also won by Hulu’s viewers who saw around 49 ads. 52% of the total US population watched on average 60 ads for the month.

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Time Warner Cable Added To HBO Go Access List

Steve Sanger — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:08:29 +0000

In a move made to rectify potential causes for complaint by Time Warner Cable customers, the cable TV service provider has announced that the HBO Go app for Xbox 360 and a number of other connected devices will now be accessable by their subscribers, who were previously unable to reach the catch-up streaming app despite being an HBO subscriber.

The mix-up is said to have happened due to the unusual structure of the service provided by the premium broadcaster, where the TV package provider seems to be responsible for agreeing to allow their customer’s log-in details to be integrated and recognised by the system (as opposed to just using HBO membership details), with TWC announcing that their customers can now get HBO Go on Xbox 360, Roku set-top boxes, and Samsung smart TVs.

The announcement comes just a day after Time Warner Cable added Viacom channels to their iPad app that offers live streams of select TWC-supported channels, meaning a double cause for celebration for TWC subscribers who enjoy viewing their content through alternate sources.

The HBO Go app is notable for allowing its users full catch-up access to their entire original programming backlog (which includes shows such as Game of Thrones, Taken, True Blood, and The Ricky Gervais Show).

TWC’s more open integration to the service (beyond more widespread devices such as the iPad) now sees them join service providers such as At&T, Comcast, the Dish Network, and Verizon, though problems still persist for users of some services, such as Comcast not being authenticated with Roku’s version of the HBO Go service.

It is a set-up which makes for a complicated overview of who is able to watch HBO Go and where, and certainly one which doesn’t compare well to the seemingly compulsory widespread and clear availability of other major network’s online services, but will the situation improve in the near future for hopeful HBO viewers?

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Three Alan Partrige Projects Commissioned By Sky

Matt — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:36:14 +0000

Satellite broadcaster Sky’s Sky Atlantic channel is set to gain three new original series, with all of them coming from the comedy mind of the same man.

Comedian Steve Coogan, best known for his portrayal of fictional TV presenter Alan Partridge (mainly during the 1990′s), is due to revive the character in June on all three new shows for Sky Atlantic, despite the channel being built for the use of imported American programming (most often from premium network HBO).

The headline of the deal is a ‘re-edited six-part series’ called Mid Morning Matters (a show which originally aired online through ‘Fosters’ Funny’ in 2010), a second series of which has also been ordered for Sky Atlantic to air in 2013. Meanwhile, a pair of one-hour specials will also feature, with ‘background story’ Alan Partridge: Welcome To The Places of My Life , and an interview with author Robert Popper on Alan Partridge on Open Books.

Coogan noted of the re-introduction of his famed alter-ego: “Alan has been off the TV for too long but he is even more excited than me about his chance to have a second bite of the cherry. Alan feels the second decade of the millennium is the right time.”

Sky Atlantic’s ‘acting channel director’ Naomi Gibney added: “I am delighted that we are bringing the formidable talents of Steve Coogan to Sky customers. Joining some of the most iconic comedy names including Russell Brand, Kathy Burke, Julia Davis, Armando Iannucci and Jack Dee will firmly establish Sky Atlantic’s comedy credentials and indicates the scale of our ambition. As we continue to actively build our slate of originated and acquired comedy, securing Steve Coogan ensures Sky Atlantic will become synonymous with the cream of comedy.”

The character’s revival has also seen the release of an auto-biography last year, as well as the planned release of a movie for 2013, but will Alan Partridge be able to connect with a new audience after over a decade out of the mainstream picture?

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A Breakdown of the Recent Merger between ABC and Univision

guestpost — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:30:25 +0000

ABC is attempting to capitalize on the upcoming Election 2012’s heavy news cycle with its announced joint venture with Hispanic TV powerhouse Univision to launch an English-language news, information and lifestyle network targeting Latinos. The as yet unnamed network plans to tap into cable TV’s stronghold on election coverage, spearheaded by rivals Fox and NBC with their first place Fox News and second place MSNBC channels, to gain traction for its launch.

The network is a 50/50 spilt between the 2 entities, and will target Hispanic Americans while delivering the majority of its content in English. Many Hispanic Americans, particularly those who were born in the U.S., maintain strong cultural roots but prefer to consume media in English. Media companies are aware of this rapidly growing demographic and are shifting their programming to capture this audience for their advertisers. Nielsen projects that Hispanic buying power will grow faster than the rest of the population’s — increasing 50 percent from 2010’s $1 trillion figure to $1.5 trillion by the year 2015.

According to a press release issued on the new enterprise, “editorial coverage will focus on the issues most relevant for U.S. Hispanics, including the economy, jobs, health care, immigration, education, politics, entertainment, health and wellness and more” and that it is “an important moment for journalism in the U.S. and for the U.S. Hispanic community” that will “provide all audiences with a multiplatform current events perspective on the issues that matter most to Latinos.”

Benefits of the deal to The Walt Disney Company-owned ABC include access to cable subscription revenues, lower costs by sharing facilities and resources with Univision and further branding reach to the nation’s youngest and fastest-growing consumer group that continues to expand its economic and political clout.

ABC News president Ben Sherwood said the venture will allow his company “to deepen and expand our conversation with a rapidly growing part of the population that is hugely influential.” As a demonstration of its commitment to the venture, ABC staff members are purportedly being asked to brush up on their Spanish language skills by going through courses being offered by the news division in preparation for the launch.

From Univision’s fiscal perspective, gains will be realized from penetrating the English-language market for the first time in its history. The company dominates Spanish-language programming over rivals such as the Comcast-owned Telemundo, but seeks to keep up with the growth of the second- and third-generation Hispanic population to remain competitive.

“This is adding a new dynamic to the portfolio of Univision: a service in English for our community,” said Univision Networks president Cesar Conde, speaking in the same interview as Mr. Sherwood. Furthermore, the prestige of Univision’s news division is expected to benefit from the new association with the more established and recognized ABC News brand.

Challenges to the venture include a somewhat glutted market with the aforementioned Fox News and MSNBC; CNN and its subsidiary, HLN; the business-specific CNBC, Bloomberg and Fox Business; plus other networks trying to gain footholds in the cable space such as Current, Al Jazeera and BBC World. Also, ABC has failed before with an attempt at launching its own cable news channel in 1996, which was quickly scrapped.

A website, plus mobile content and social media platforms will be introduced this summer, with a television network expected to launch sometime in the first half of 2013. The news operation will air from Univision’s primary studio complex in Miami, a stronghold of Hispanic diversity with a population composed of many Caribbean and South American émigrés, unlike the predominantly Mexican Los Angeles immigrant community.

About the Author: when Steven Taylor isn’t writing about Time Warner Cable Business Class Offers and the best in class business class cable bundles they provide, he is covering up to the minute industry news stories to keep his readers informed!

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French TV Connections Highest In New Survey

Steve Sanger — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:46:18 +0000

As an alternative to the recent survey from Strategy Analytics claiming that just 9% of European smart TV users actually connect regularly to the online services, an alternative survey produced by English firm Futuresource Consulting has discovered that around three-quarters of users surveyed use the Internet through their TV.

In a survey seemingly made more in a hybrid of the study by Strategy Analytics and the measurement of full connected coverage (by Forrester Research in America), the results proved to show a much different opinion of the state of connected viewing in Europe.

With the survey covering the USA along with European markets France, Germany, and the UK, the statistics recorded claimed that 71% of French viewers questioned have connected their TV, while viewers in the UK were the lowest of the four on 51%.

It is believed that the growing integration of ‘Wi-Fi support’ is set to all connection figures, as connected services continue to develop and prosper in major markets. Meanwhile, it appears that those surveyed take extra ‘connections’ from other devices while the TV is on, as 62% admitted to often using a device such as a laptop or smartphone whilst watching, with a quarter of respondents claiming that they do so to find out more on the programme or interact with other viewers (the rest doing or browsing something unrelated). It was also noted that 33% of people are using their devices as a direct alternative to viewing movies on physical media (DVD & Blu-ray), while 20% claim that video on portable devices have caused them to use regular TV less than before.

However, the TV sets themselves seem to be developing an alternate purpose as far as this survey is concerned, as the findings also claim that catch-up TV and online-only video (mainly through clips via YouTube and movie streaming from the likes of Netflix) are the most popular things to do through a smart TV. In the multiple-choice question, the next most popular options included social networking (40%), music streaming (24%) and ‘personal media libraries’ (23%).

The study also added a summary that the key factors in most people’s decision to buy a connected TV set (or choosing between brands) are ’choice of content’ and ‘availability’. With most companies making TV sets now looking to capitalise on this market (possibly aside from the withdrawing Toshiba), the latter reason could become less relevant, but will the big names ensure that the quality of the products continue to increase?

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Comcast Drop Data Useage Cap. But Is It Thanks To Netflix Row?

Steve Sanger — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:03:39 +0000

Great news for Comcast subscribers as the company ditch the 250-gigabyte monthly data usage cap that applied to broadband customers, and was a major hurdlw for those that watched online video.

Comcast cut data useage caps

However those wondering if the move was connected to complaints from Netflix, Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen said in a call announcing the cut, “This is not the call to debate about the cap. It’s not a call about Netflix, we just didn’t like the message we were sending to our customers by telling them we have a 250-gigabyte cap. We want to send a signal to our customers that our network is robust.”

There was much publicity in April over the comments made by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who accused Comcast of unfair data capping as they did not impose the cap for their own streaming services Streampix and the Xfinity app, but they did for other video services like Netflix or Hulu.

But Cohen says that Netflix is not the reason for losing the cap, he said, “Sometimes the reason a company gives you for doing something really is the reason they’re doing it. The headline on this story should be that we’re getting rid of the cap. There is no more cap.”

He also said that most subscribers to the largest US cable company, never got near to using the 250GB of data every month anyway. But he said that Comcast were constantly evaluating patterns of use as streaming becomes more mainstream, and they didn’t want subscribers to worry about limitations.

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