TOSHIBA is planning to retire the HD DVD format. Reuters reports that the company is in the final stages of planning its exit from the high-def disc market, handing Blu-ray the role of industry standard. The move comes just days after Wal-Mart ended support for HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray. MTV NETWORKS has acquired Continue Reading →
WebTV
Posts I've written about WebTV. Subscribe to my newsletter to make sure you don't miss anything.
MICROSOFT responded to YAHOO‘s rejection of its takeover bid with a statement calling its offer “full and fair” and promising to pursue any steps necessary to close the deal at the original offer price. In related news, Microsoft will acquire DANGER INC., the company behind the popular Sidekick mobile phone. The terms of the deal Continue Reading →
JEFF ZUCKER delivered the NATPE keynote yesterday, warning that the television industry is undergoing a “forest fire.” He discussed his decision to reduce pilot season and possibly curtail upfront expenditures as necessary steps toward “making less waste.” Zucker’s goal is to make NBC everywhere – from NBC.com to Hulu and beyond. He said the industry’s Continue Reading →
THE FCC launches the highly-anticipated 700 MHz spectrum auction today. Bidding is anonymous and will last two months before winners are declared. Daily updates will be available on auctions.fcc.gov. NBC clarified its stance on pilot season, saying it will not cancel any pilot orders for the upcoming season but will scale back in the future. 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 →
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 →
THE TVB announced that ePort is now live, allowing media-buying agencies to place electronic orders with TV stations. 644 stations are participating in 186 markets, reaching 97.8 percent of the country. The system can currently handle orders, confirmations and makegoods. A full range of features will be rolled out in the coming months. THE NTIA Continue Reading →
VIACOM and MICROSOFT have signed an extensive multi-platform partnership. Viacom content will be distributed on Xbox Live and MSN with the two companies splitting revenue. Microsoft will sell and serve display advertising for Viacom sites and purchase advertising on Viacom’s TV and web properties. Lastly, Viacom will produce casual games for MSN and Windows and Continue Reading →
NIELSEN has partnered with DIGIMARC to create a service that both watermarks and fingerprints digital content, allowing it to be tracked across the web. Fingerprinting will be done by matching the audio track of a video to known content in the Nielsen database while watermarking will embed content information (such as when a show first Continue Reading →
NBC has launched NBC Direct, a service that allows consumers to download NBC content. Users can subscribe to shows and have them automatically download when new episodes become available. However, they must watch them within 48 hours of downloading. NBC Direct has some other major drawbacks: it requires a proprietary player, Windows Media 10 and Continue Reading →