Media & Entertainment

REVVER will begin testing a new ad model. The site currently offers a clickable billboard at the end of videos. However, this month it will experiment with pre- and post-roll video ads for the first time. As with the billboard model, content creators will share ad revenue 50/50 with Revver. CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS has revamped the Continue Reading →

FCC CHAIRMAN KEVIN MARTIN is proposing open access requirements for a 22 MHz block of the 700 MHz spectrum. In an interview on Tuesday, Martin pushed for a “truly open broadband network” available to any device and any application. He said that the current standard of bundling cellphone service with specific devices hinders innovation and Continue Reading →

MICROSOFT has unveiled LiveStation, a peer-to-peer television broadcasting application. Built on the Silverlight platform, LiveStation will offer a major feature that Joost currently lacks: live TV. Microsoft is testing the application now, and a final version is due this October. NBC may stop creating original programming for Friday evenings, according to co-chairman Marc Graboff. In Continue Reading →

NBC UNIVERSAL will shutdown NBBC, and merge its intended features into “NewSite,” the tentitive name for the new venture with News Corp. NBBC allowed content owners to upload videos for web syndication, and was expected to launch later this year. It had signed around 150 partners, including A&E and CNET. However, NBCU contacted the partners Continue Reading →

NEWS CORP. and NBCU announced that Jason Kilar would be CEO of their joint venture into online video. During a conference call, News Corp. COO Peter Chernin backed off claims of a September release for the still-unnamed service, saying it “might not happen” in September. JAMAN, a P2P movie download company that focuses on indie Continue Reading →

 TUBEMOGUL, a video analytics company, has conducted a fascinating study of video sites to determine how viewers are counted. YouTube, Yahoo Video, and Metacafe were found to have strict counting requirements – generally requiring long views, and often ignoring multiple views from the same computer. AOL, MySpace, and Revver were found to have much Continue Reading →

GOOGLE has added Placement Performance reports to AdWords, allowing advertisers to track the success of campaigns on specific sites in the Google Content Network. The addition came in response to advertiser requests for transparency and control over ad placement, and will allow advertisers to easily identify responsive audiences. BLOCKBUSTER has cut prices for its online Continue Reading →

WARNER BROS. will begin a trial-run of releasing movies to VOD and DVD on the same day. The experiment begins on July 10th with “The Astronaut Farmer,” which underperformed at the box office. YOUTUBE will soon begin testing home-grown video fingerprinting to identify copyrighted material. Content owners of identified clips will have the option of Continue Reading →

ROCKETBOOM has adopted a sponsorship model. For $3000 per show, a sponsor will receive a 7 second post roll and a personalized blog entry. Quicktime versions of Rocketboom will also include an embedded link to the sponsor’s web site. Andrew Michael Baron, the CEO and founder of Rocketboom, recently discussed the challenges of finding advertising Continue Reading →

ABC and ESPN have both signed a deal with Cox, which will offer hit shows on demand, but prevent users from skipping ads.  Top shows, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” will be available 12 hours after initial broadcast.  The deal includes a test of technology that will target ads to specific Zip codes and commercials that are Continue Reading →