ABC is now streaming high-definition online video. On Tuesday the network launched a beta high-def player on ABC.com, offering one episode each of Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, and Ugly Betty. ABC.com is the first network site to reach the high-def milestone.
TUBEMOGUL has launched Load & Track, a free universal video uploading and tracking service. Load & Track addresses the growing need for multi-site distribution tools, as the number of video-sharing destinations continues to proliferate. It currently works with six video sites: YouTube, Metacafe, MySpace, Yahoo Video, Revver, and AOL Video.
FACEBOOK will go before a U.S. District Court in Boston today, hoping to dismiss a pending lawsuit. Facebook is being sued by ConnectU, who believes the idea and code for the popular social-networking destination was stolen. ConnectU is seeking to shutdown Facebook, and confiscate all of its assets.
CNN and YOUTUBE‘s user-generated debate was a ratings success. The collaboration drew the largest debate viewership in cable news history for 18-34 year-old adults. 407,000 viewers from the coveted demographic tuned in. Overall, the debate averaged 2.6 million viewers.
TIME WARNER President and COO Jeff Bewkes issued a call for widespread, free video-on-demand during the opening general session of the CTAM Summit. Bewkes believes cable operators should push to make VOD available for every single network, and that the combination of targeted ads and VOD will reduce demand for DVRs. Bewkes wants to go completely VOD, saying “We should take the whole industry and put it on that basis.”