39 posts in the Streaming Video CategoryComcast privately threatened network discrimination against Netflix Netflix's SEC filings reveal threats from Comcast to cut if off from cable customers. Comcast, Netflix Apple's next move: ruin the online TV market Apple's attempts to muscle into the online TV market will result in higher prices and represents a step back in innovation. Apple The NFL really, really doesn't want you to watch online The National Football League will be streaming all regular season games online this season, but for a hefty price. DirecTV, NFL Is HBO saying no to Netflix, but yes to piracy? HBO is going it alone in the streaming world, saying no to Netflix and possibly restricting online delivery so much that potential customers find piracy a more ideal solution. HBO, Netflix, Piracy Is Hulu Plus vs. Netflix even a meaningful comparison? NewTeeVee asks who has the advantage in Netflix vs. Hulu, but here's why it's not a fair fight to begin with. Hulu, Netflix Hulu ducks behind a pay wall Hulu has announced a new $10/month service that opens access to entire seasons of TV shows with new streaming capabilities on mobile devices. Hulu FCC gives prehistoric Hollywood permission to be retarded The FCC approved "selective output control" a few weeks ago that could allow Hollywood to disable your TV while trying to watch new movies, under certain conditions. FCC, Hollywood Google's coming set-top box may run Android apps Google's push into home entertainment may involve a TV set-top box that will stream from flash drives, the Internet, open the floodgates for new Android applications to run on your television. Hulu approaching 1 billion video streams per month Hulu is reaching 1 billion video streams per month, despite traffic stagnation, but are they moving forward and innovating, or just existing? Hulu Stargate Universe does good numbers, but not great Stargate Universe premiered to less than stellar numbers, but acceptable if it can maintain or even build. (Full pilot episode embedded in post) Hulu, Stargate Universe, SyFy On agents of evil and the web replacing television Introducing two lengthy comments/discussions I've had on sites other than my own relating to Hollywood agents and how the web will never replace television. Heroes webisodes are upon us The first in a series of Heroes webisodes introducing various villains has appeared on NBC's website and Hulu.com. Heroes, Webisodes Stingy Hulu release sched may increase piracy Hulu has instituted an eight-day waiting period for the most recent episode of certain shows, such as House, and Battlestar Galactica. FOX, House, Hulu, NBC Not so fast For what it's worth, DVRs still beat streaming online hands down. Amazon solved YouTube's problem 2 years ago Google's "YouTube problem" has a solution, one that Amazon invented over two years ago that has been sitting mostly idle ever since. Google, YouTube Current challenges to HD movie downloads: ..what HD? Most writers struggle to understand that what Apple and other streaming vendors call "high definition" video is anything but. Apple, High Definition, Hulu Hulu is not the future of television Slate's Michael Agge asks if Hulu and streaming video will replace TV, but most people don't understand what that really means. Plus a free Battlestar Galactica video, cause I'm just that awesome. Hulu What the frak are you watching tonight? Battlestar Galactica returns for its final season today; links to sites talking about the BSGs legacy and a handful of interviews with cast and crew. Battlestar Galactica Battlestar S4 premier will be streamed early The good news is that there's some new Battlestar Galactica on the way, in fact it should be roaming free on or about April 4th around noon, depending on where you live. The bad news is that the last I heard, Scifi still had not decided whether or not to split the fourth season into two parts like they do with everything else. Worse, yet still in intriguing, is that Scifi will air the season premier online via the scifi.com website about 10 hours before it is broadcast the old fashioned way.... Battlestar Galactica Arguing with Zeff Zucker NewTeeVee has lots of sound bites from NBC's Jeff Zucker's talk at the Harvard Business School a couple of days ago. For whatever reason, it seems like the main qualification to be a CEO is the completely inability to adapt to changing markets, with an irrepressible urge to hang onto the past as long as humanly possible, regardless of the consequences.Zucker fits that mold quite well, based on some of the crap coming out of this guys mouth. He's still mad at Apple for rebuking NBC's attempt to raise the price of TV shows (only for NBC to start streaming them for free), apparently doesn't know net neutrality is, and wants everyone to believe that the writers strike was a... WGA membership meetings tonight The WGA-West is going to be holding their membership meeting to discuss -- not vote on -- the deal summary in a couple of hours, one that looks to have good points, bad points, and is every bit the result of trying to deal honestly with snake oils salesman. Deadline Hollywood has lots of "insider" coverage that is about as trustworthy as promises from the AMPTP. From what I understand, you only give a source anonymity when there's no other way to get that information. You don't give it just because someone wants to say something and not have their name attached, either because it will make them look bad, or because once you know who it is, you'll know... AMPTP, WGA Scifi Channel finds Sanctuary I found it too, albeit I never actually saw it, I knew where it was! It was on a crappy website which was the only place you could actually see the series, which will in the end probably be remembered not so much as a pioneer, but one of those "ahead of its time" shows, like early scripted dramas that paved the way for the likes of 24, and Lost.This is actually worthy news because this is the second instance where a show was created outside of the studio system, for digital consumption only. Meaning it was made with a smaller budget, with shorter episodes, viewable only on the Internet via its home website. If that sounds familiar, NBC recently... Quarterlife, Sanctuary, Scifi Channel Paramount admits streaming profits at CES You know, this really is the best indictment of the AMPTP corporations I've seen to date, and hysterically, they have only their fat mouths and unrepentant greed to blame for it all. Long before negotiations began -- we're talking three months before October -- the WGA started peppering the press with what it called the two faces of the AMPTP.When talking to the WGA about a new contract, management claimed virtual bankruptcy based on an uncertain future with dwindling profits and foggy prospects for new markets. Then they'd fly 3,000 miles east and tell Wall Street that revenue was soaring, profit was exceeding expectations, and how they were moving aggressively to capitalize on new media to suck up as much... CES, Paramount Top 10 stolen films and TV shows of 2007 I came across a post on Torrentfreak via NewTeeVee (a site you should consider scoping out) listing the top ten pirated films and TV series of 2007, which is worth mentioning for two reasons. The first being that a couple of the shows on the TV list are -- depending on how you view things -- ratings challenged, to say the least.All the people stealing these shows may do well to consider that if they acted like responsible adults and paid for this stuff like everybody else does, then these shows wouldn't end up getting canceled so often.Dexter, #9 on the list, is Showtime's most viewed show and set a personal ratings record for them in both the second season... Piracy AP strike FAQ is full of nonsense The Associated Press released a FAQ (frequently asked questions) on the writers strike yesterday, and based on how the first answer looks, I'd say it was written by someone taking notes directly from the AMPTP. Glenn Greenwald has written a lot recently on how the mainstream press believes its job to be writing down what one side says and then publishing it -- and then if the other side disgrees -- publishing a "correction" stating that the "others disagree."Pretty much like I said, our vaunted investigative free press thinks its job is to dictate memos rather than finding and publishing the truth between two or more conflicting positions. Since both sides can't possibly be right, the press has basically resorted... John Campea still doesn't get it Back in September, I rebutted some things in a post on The Movie Blog about the strike in which its author, John Campea, got just about everything wrong. You can read everything I've written on the topic since this site was launched by going to the labor category.Since I've fallen behind in news gathering recently, I decided to target a few specific sites that I knew would have interesting content (good or bad) and topping that list was The Movie Blog. Given how badly Campea had been covering the strike up until that point, I figured there'd be some ripe material that needed corrections and explanations that Campea has proven in the past unwilling to publish, or even debate.I wasn't... Strike debate in L.A. Times Feature writer Craig Mazin has been debating Matt Edelman in the L.A. Times this week, which will continue I suppose until Friday. I don't know who Edelman is other than he's the guy who was pegged to defend big media's indefensible positions. I think Craig did a decent job in yesterday's publication with what he knows but he wasn't able to address a specific point that perhaps I better can.... Clooney's secret tribute George Clooney gives a hearty congrats to Julia Roberts from a very special place - hilarious.... More "The Pretender" on the digital horizon? I used to love The Pretender, but not while it was actually on the air. I'd catch an episode or two here and there, when I had the chance, but I wasn't dedicated to putting my butt in a chair once per week at the same hour back at that point. It wasn't anything close to a knockout hit, or anything, but I regret not giving it more of my time. Compared to some of the crap that has replaced it over the years and the stuff airing today, The Pretender seems like a step up.So, want some more?... The Pretender NBC intimiated by "uncertain" new media - makes 3rd investment in 5 weeks While NBC and the other major networks and studios continue - even four weeks into a writers strike over these issues - to claim that the "new media" market (digital downloads and streaming video) is too uncertain and unprofitable to share in their booty with writers, they continue pushing aggressively into these supposedly nonexistent markets at a record pace with new deals being announced practically on a weekly basis.... NBC, Netflix Internet series Quarterlife will be broadcast on NBC There was a story in Variety right before the weekend saying that NBC was going to bring Internet series Quarterlife to air at some unknown future date, presumably after they start running out of original material due to the writers strike. Any other time it would have been fantastic news, since this is probably going to increase in the future as writers look to get out from under the interfering thumbs of hapless network executives and networks look for more ways to get programming without having to pay anyone for it.The first episodes of Quarterlife have already been produced, and I've wondered if they were of sufficient quality that they'd look good on NBC and whether or not editing for... Quarterlife Can Quarterlife Survive During The Strike? There has been some talk recently that Internet-only series Quarterlife may be bought by NBC and presumably reproduced for airing on the network after all its own shows run out of original episodes to air, sometime in or after January. That article isn't the first to suggest this and I really don't know anything about the show or the probabilities of such a thing going forward, but it did raise an interesting proposition.How can it all work and how will it be affected by the strike, after it's bought?... NBC, Quarterlife NBC Launches Second Digital TV Service in 3 Weeks, Still Refuses to Pay Writers Over the course of less than a month, three interesting things happened that tell you a lot about the honesty and the intentions of the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) who flat out refuse to pay writers anything for TV shows streamed over the Internet or downloaded to your computer (after you've bought it from Apple or Amazon presumably.)NBC and Fox launched a streaming-video website called Hulu.com that streams all their hit TV shows (with commercials that they make money from) absolutely free to users.NBC and Fox as part of AMPTP refused to pay writers any money for digital media at all at the contract negotiating table, and the writers went on strike to protest.NBC launched another... Michael Eisner Calls Writers' Strike "Stupid", Says They Can't Afford To Pay Writers More -- Time Warner Announces $1 Billion Profit On Huge Summer Box Office $250 Million dollars -- About 1/28th what Time Warnermade this year.Two different stories from two different corporations on two different websites emerged today, that when put together, says all you need to know about why the writers are striking right now and how dishonest and pathetic the major studios are. Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner was on Wall Street today telling the stock market bigwigs that the writers' strike is "insanity" and "too stupid", according to The Hollywood Reporter, that "writers had been premature in pressing for digital revenue when the model was still unproven, and should have postponed action for at least three years."NBC and Fox recently initiated a beta test of their new video publishing website called Hulu.com... Michael Eisner, Time Warner, WGA NBC and Fox Launch Video Site Technically I suppose this is a beta period where you can sign up, and be notified when they're interested in letting you test out their new site, Hulu.com. This is the direct result of NBC pulling out of iTunes and wanting to go their own way with their own content (that they don't actually own.) Fox is just along for the ride to see what happens, and to be completely clear, as far as I know Hulu is not going to compete with iTunes. Hulu is all about streaming for free (with injected ads, maybe even regular old commercials) while iTunes is download only.I've signed up and will write a review once I get in, or more likely after they... Fox, Hulu, NBC Catch a Sneak Peek At 24 - Season 7 I'm pretty sure that Fox did this last year too, though hopefully they've got something new in store for us because I'm not really looking forward to 24 this year. There have been so many ups and downs over the years - the downs having been more plentiful - that it's hard to get excited when I already know what's going to happen. We're already used to the season being divided into multiple arcs which started in what, season 4? And don't get me wrong, season 4 was actually really good, and I think it has a well earned place along with the first and second seasons and the best work that group has ever done.But now that we're used... 24 ABC Streams Hit Shows to European Fans For Free ABC/Disney has made a deal with a Euro television network to stream a couple of their shows online, for free, but ad-supported meaning you'll still be stuck watching commercials. Essentially it'll be just like television, only much worse video quality and a much lower quality of service (ever see your television say "Buffering..." when you change the channel? Didn't think so.) The Variety article only mentions two shows, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, so it's not like they're going out a limb with their best rated and highest earning shows.Still, it's laughable that ABC and the other networks and studios are crying all over the negotiating table over the supposed uncertainty of the download and streaming video market. Writers are... ABC, Desperate Housewives, Disney, Ugly Betty Heroes: Kindred (my thoughts and where to get it streaming) As is usually the case, if you're just looking for a place where you can stream Heroes Kindred from, you can get it here on NBC's website. They'll have it up sometime on Tuesday where it will remain until the next episode airs a week later.Also, while I won't reveal huge plot points from what I write, some things can always be inferred. Don't read the rest of this if you haven't seen the episode. That said, it has been the best episode of the new season, though not really outstanding compared to some first season episodes.I really feel like show has lost a great deal with the loss of Bryan Fuller to Pushing Daisies.... Heroes Streaming and Download Links: Heroes, Chuck, Bionic Woman, The Office, Friday Night Lights Links to watch The Office, Heroes, Friday Night Lights, House, 30 Rock, Chuck, and other FOX and NBC shows streaming for free (and legal too.) Bionic Woman, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, The Office |
