MediaBytes

Click for Today’s MediaBytes Video THE ASSOCIATION FOR DOWNLOADABLE MEDIA launches today. The new trade group brings together 15 companies involved in the world of digital distribution, and aims to standardize ad content and measurement in downloadable digital media. Founding members include Apple, Nielsen, and National Public Radio. The trade group will focus on monetizing Continue Reading →

SOUNDEXCHANGE told a Congressional hearing on Thursday that it would not enforce the Sunday deadline for increased royalty rates, which was threatening to put many Internet radio stations out of business. The company will negotiate new rates with Internet stations. For now, those stations will continue operating. NEXT NEW NETWORKS‘s “Indy Mogul” generated over a Continue Reading →

AOL VIDEO and YAHOO VIDEO have both pulled ahead of MySpace for unique visitors on video-sharing sites. YOUTUBE still leads the pack, with 51 million visitors in June. GOOGLE VIDEO remains in second place, with 18 million uniques. THE WRITERS GUILD of AMERICA flatly rejected a plan from Hollywood producers to completely overhaul existing compensation 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 →

TIVO will allow users to order and download digital movies and TV shows directly from their television sets, starting today. The new “Buy on TV” functionality connects TiVo DVR’s directly to the Amazon Unbox download service. The TiVo-Amazon partnership formerly required users to log onto Unbox.com to initiate downloads. NIELSEN/NETRATINGS will officially announce its transition Continue Reading →

 GOOGLE is working on a “next generation” social-networking site called SocialStream. SocialStream aggregates many different online networks, allowing a user to manage their many online affiliations. The service has the ability to post photos and comments to multiple blogs and photo-sharing sites with one click. SocialStream is part of a Google-sponsored project at Carnegie 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 →

APPLE is on the verge of partnering with Telefónica’s O2 to bring the iPhone to the UK. The phone will operate on O2’s 2.5G network, not the faster 3G standard. Reports circled earlier this week claiming that Apple will partner with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile to release the phone in Germany. CABLE PROVIDERS are preparing to Continue Reading →

LG is partnering with YOUTUBE to bring full YouTube services to its handsets. Users will be able to record and upload short films directly to the site, as well as view content from YouTube’s vast library of videos. The YouTube-enabled phones will be available by the end of the year. eMARKETER estimates that ad-spending on 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 →