iTunes

iTunes Rentals Apple announced iTunes movie rentals with support from all the major studios. DVD-quality rentals will cost $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases. The service launches today and expects to have 1,000 titles available by the end of February. Apple TV has been updated to include support for direct rentals — Continue Reading →

APPLE CEO Steve Jobs announced iTunes movie rentals with support from all the major studios. DVD-quality rentals will cost $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 new releases. HD rentals will cost $3.99 for library titles and $4.99 for new releases. Users have 30 days to start watching a rental and 24 hours to finish once Continue Reading →

NETFLIX will remove the viewing limits on the company’s “watch instantly” video streaming feature, allowing subscribers to watch unlimited amounts of online TV shows and movies. Netflix offers over 6,000 titles through the service and recently announced plans to deliver content to TVs via an LG set-top box. The change is a defensive move that Continue Reading →

APPLE will reportedly offer iTunes movie rentals from Warner Bros., Fox, Paramount, and Lions Gate. Rentals will cost $3.99 for 24 hours. An announcement is expected during the Steve Jobs keynote at Macworld on January 15th. HARVEY WEINSTEIN told reporters that WEINSTEIN CO. has signed an interim deal with the WGA. Weinstein called it a Continue Reading →

WARNER BROS. may lay off up to 1,000 workers as a result of the writers strike. The company issued 60-day warnings on November 12th in compliance with government regulations. With that period expiring, a Warner spokesperson confirmed that “some studio divisions will have to lay off employees.” In related news, a major Hollywood payroll company Continue Reading →

COMCAST CEO Brian Roberts will deliver this morning’s CES keynote and reveal a plan to increase on-demand titles from 1,300 to 6,000. Roberts will also discuss the company’s plans for Fancast.com, a guide to video that helps users find content online and offline. Fancast will let users search for any content in any format. A Continue Reading →

WAL-MART has shutdown its video download service less than one year after launching. This marks Wal-Mart’s second failure in new distribution paradigms for video. The retailing giant canceled its online DVD rental service two years ago. WARNER MUSIC will join the march away from DRM by offering its tracks protection-free on Amazon’s MP3 download service. Continue Reading →

THE NFL will allow NBC and CBS to simulcast Saturday night’s Patriots/Giants game. This will be the first tri-network simulcast since Super Bowl I. NBC and CBS will carry the NFL Network feed of the game, featuring announcers Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said “We have taken this extraordinary step because Continue Reading →

THE FTC has approved GOOGLE‘s $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, but the deal still requires acceptance by the European Commission. In conjunction with its decision the FTC released a set of guidelines for the burgeoning online ad industry, recommending greater consumer control over privacy and online tracking. Privacy issues have been a major concern surrounding Continue Reading →

FACEBOOK has opened up Facebook Platform to other social-networking sites in a bold response to Google’s OpenSocial application standard. The social-net will license its model and technology to allow other sites to implement Facebook applications. Social-net BEBO is the first to embrace this new arrangement, claiming to offer the “Open Applications Platform.” We may be Continue Reading →