TV

Forget Walter White. Netflix may be “the one who knocks.” If there were any skepticism left about the clout the streaming service possesses, it may have been put to the rest Sunday after the AMC drama series “Breaking Bad” obliterated its own personal-best ratings by scoring 5.9 million total viewers– more than double the previous Continue Reading →

Sony has reached a preliminary agreement with Viacom to carry the media company’s cable channels on its planned Internet-based TV service, a person familiar with the matter said, a significant boost for the Japanese company as it races to secure content rights against technology firms vying to offer similar services. Sony plans to stream traditional Continue Reading →

CBS’s block on Time Warner Cable (TWC) customers is less than a week old and already the blackout is fuelling a rise in TV show piracy. TorrentFreak reports that the percentage of illegal downloads rose substantially in the week since it went dark, as piracy rates for popular CBS show Under The Dome increased by Continue Reading →

The reputation August has for many people is that of dog days — slow, inactive, mundane, activity of a snail-crawling nature, compared to the other 11 months of a year. Blast that rep to bits this August where television is concerned. Sure, we’ve had years where a network was launched down this stretch. MTV immediately Continue Reading →

All that Twittering about TV? It really does boost TV ratings. So says Nielsen, in a new study that Twitter executives, among others, will be delighted to see. It’s the first research that conclusively states that an increase in Twitter commentary about a TV show can increase viewership of that same show as it airs Continue Reading →

A dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable over retransmission fees for its broadcast content has spilled over onto the web, with a blackout of television programming also being extended to CBS’ online properties. In the wake of Time Warner Cable dropping the CBS and Showtime signals in most major markets, the broadcaster has decided Continue Reading →

Hulu, the television streaming service owned by Hollywood media companies, plans to provide all episodes of original series at once to paying subscribers, exploiting the popularity of so-called binge viewing. Six episodes of “The Wrong Mans,” a co-production with the British Broadcasting Corp., will become available on Nov. 11 for Hulu Plus subscribers, Andy Forssell, Continue Reading →

Netflix officially launched its personalized profiles Thursday, rolling out the new feature to iOS devices, the Xbox 360 and the PS3 as well as the Netflix.com website and a number of connected devices, including the Apple TV. The feature will allow Netflix subscribers to personalize a total of five profiles per account, which will each Continue Reading →

To understand how much television could soon change, it helps to visit an Intel division here that runs like a startup. Erik Huggers, a Dutch-born former British Broadcasting Corp. executive, has assembled a 350-person team with talents beyond computer chips—programmers, industrial designers, artists and experts in fields like video encoding. Working in bright, newsroom-style offices Continue Reading →

Time Warner Cable quickly restored CBS programming after briefly implementing a blackout in select markets early Tuesday, but viewers may face another interruption if a deal can’t be reached by Friday. Both sides have agreed on a new negotiating deadline of Friday at 5PM in their continued quarrel over retransmission fees. “We have agreed to Continue Reading →