How to download Divx English Free Movie Subtitles & Tv Episodes Subtitle
Subtitles are a great way to increase the level of understanding and grasping dialogues from the movie.Generally there are few websites which provide subtitles for popular tv episodes and movies and here are some of them which lets you choose the subtitle movie version and download tv episodes subs quite easily.After download,you can embed them with the movie video without any hassle by loading the subtitle in the media player.
Subtitle downloader – This is a free software which uses Open subtitles website for downloading divx English movie subtitles along with regional subtitle support.Has a good range of sub titles!
Sub scene– A directory of subtitles featuring Arabic,English,Spanish,Dutch movie subtitles.You can sort the subtitles by language or by alphabetical order.
Open Subtitles – A website with large database of subtitles featuring tons of latest movie subtitles for download.Apart from English subs,this website also allows Greek subtitles download,Hindi movie subtitles and hundreds of language subtitles for free download.
Free TV Subtitles – Tv Subtitles is a website which provides subs download for Popular Tv shows and seasonal TV episodes.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Strike.tv brings new, original Hollywood produced shows streaming ...
Strike.tv brings new, original Hollywood produced shows streaming home in HD
Dissatisfied with what primetime television is offering? Maybe short form HD in the browser window is the answer. That's the possibility posed by Strike.tv, a new site that's teamed up with BitGravity to stream high definition videos written and produced by familiar Hollywood talent. With newly inexpensive HD cameras, CEO Peter Hyoguchi envisions an opportunity for content creators to get their vision out without long expensive development processes. You can watch the first fruits of their labor right now, and recognize faces from The Office, Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show and other programs among the forty web series available.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Revolution Will Be Downloaded
For proof that the viewer wants to be in charge, look no further than the Summer Olympics. Not only did the opening ceremony in Beijing have a gigantic DVR audience of 3.25 million viewers, but NBC said 40% of its online viewers used the Web to view events they had first seen on TV. In today's media environment, consumers have come to demand the flexibility of getting online content whenever they want, from TVs and personal computers to iPods and mobile devices. Brand and content owners basically have two options for packaging and delivering online content for viewer consumption. Each option requires different technologies, and each has its own place in the media ecosystem.
The first option is streaming, which fits well with consumers' PC-centric viewing habits. Streaming is ideal for watching instant clips and user-generated content, like YouTube videos, on a computer. With a broadband connection, streaming is capable of delivering smooth playback, and consumers love the immediate, "I can get it now" effect.
While watching Michael Phelps repeat his gold medal wins from the comfort of a living room has inherent value for both consumers and advertisers, the real explosion in online media will take place when content can be consumed anytime, anywhere. This is the "always on" future, and the enormous popularity of the iPhone is a huge step forward in making it a reality. However, today's infrastructure cannot handle the streaming demands of consumers-at least not for portable content. A recent report by Canaccord Adams concluded that AT&T's network is reaching capacity due to heavy data traffic usage from the iPhone such that in some urban areas, consumers are having problems making a simple phone call. So, until infrastructure improves, publishers need to provide alternatives to satisfy consumers' demand for portable content.
This brings us to the second option, downloadable media, which picks up where streaming doesn't deliver. While not as immediate as streaming, downloadable media gives consumers the flexibility and control they've come to expect.
From the DVR to the iPod, viewers prefer downloading their content because it's more convenient. Downloading gives consumers the ability to time-shift and place-shift their programs -- not just short clips -- and watch them on their device of choice, when they want and with no Internet connection required.
This is why downloadable media offers the greatest potential for content owners. The question, as always, is finding a viable business model to support it.
Publishers often assume that downloading is akin to giving away the farm. As they see it, untethered media -- free from the restraints of distribution channels, time and space -- is (maybe) paid for once. A consumer who uses iTunes or LimeWire downloads content and then disappears into the content jungle, never to be seen again. No tracking opportunities, no way to garner additional ad revenue.
But revenue possibilities are actually far richer with downloadable media. Just look at podcasting. Podcasting may not get the attention it used to, but that's only because it's become an everyday activity -- eMarketer estimates that 65 million Americans will be using it as a distribution channel by 2012. Video and audio podcasts are simply RSS-enabled downloads that afford two big advantages: for users, it's an easy way to get fresh content automatically, and for publishers, it offers a built-in syndication platform that reaches audiences across the increasingly fragmented Web and device landscape. Podcast-related advertising opportunities are the next frontier.
New technology is making it possible for publishers and content owners to extend their revenue stream by inserting ads into, say, their podcast programming that are then embedded all the way to the device. Ads are played or refreshed each time the device is synced, until the ad campaign ends and the ad is removed from future downloads. Aside from gaining an additional revenue stream, brand and media owners can receive comprehensive reporting metrics that will allow them to track results and price future ads more appropriately.
With downloading, barriers to participation are low -- even with embedded ads. Consumers have signaled they are agreeable to short ads in return for free premium content, like an MSNBC program.
Podcasting is just the beginning. Once content providers can track and measure direct, untethered downloads, the media industry may finally be able to unlock all of that great content.
The first option is streaming, which fits well with consumers' PC-centric viewing habits. Streaming is ideal for watching instant clips and user-generated content, like YouTube videos, on a computer. With a broadband connection, streaming is capable of delivering smooth playback, and consumers love the immediate, "I can get it now" effect.
While watching Michael Phelps repeat his gold medal wins from the comfort of a living room has inherent value for both consumers and advertisers, the real explosion in online media will take place when content can be consumed anytime, anywhere. This is the "always on" future, and the enormous popularity of the iPhone is a huge step forward in making it a reality. However, today's infrastructure cannot handle the streaming demands of consumers-at least not for portable content. A recent report by Canaccord Adams concluded that AT&T's network is reaching capacity due to heavy data traffic usage from the iPhone such that in some urban areas, consumers are having problems making a simple phone call. So, until infrastructure improves, publishers need to provide alternatives to satisfy consumers' demand for portable content.
This brings us to the second option, downloadable media, which picks up where streaming doesn't deliver. While not as immediate as streaming, downloadable media gives consumers the flexibility and control they've come to expect.
From the DVR to the iPod, viewers prefer downloading their content because it's more convenient. Downloading gives consumers the ability to time-shift and place-shift their programs -- not just short clips -- and watch them on their device of choice, when they want and with no Internet connection required.
This is why downloadable media offers the greatest potential for content owners. The question, as always, is finding a viable business model to support it.
Publishers often assume that downloading is akin to giving away the farm. As they see it, untethered media -- free from the restraints of distribution channels, time and space -- is (maybe) paid for once. A consumer who uses iTunes or LimeWire downloads content and then disappears into the content jungle, never to be seen again. No tracking opportunities, no way to garner additional ad revenue.
But revenue possibilities are actually far richer with downloadable media. Just look at podcasting. Podcasting may not get the attention it used to, but that's only because it's become an everyday activity -- eMarketer estimates that 65 million Americans will be using it as a distribution channel by 2012. Video and audio podcasts are simply RSS-enabled downloads that afford two big advantages: for users, it's an easy way to get fresh content automatically, and for publishers, it offers a built-in syndication platform that reaches audiences across the increasingly fragmented Web and device landscape. Podcast-related advertising opportunities are the next frontier.
New technology is making it possible for publishers and content owners to extend their revenue stream by inserting ads into, say, their podcast programming that are then embedded all the way to the device. Ads are played or refreshed each time the device is synced, until the ad campaign ends and the ad is removed from future downloads. Aside from gaining an additional revenue stream, brand and media owners can receive comprehensive reporting metrics that will allow them to track results and price future ads more appropriately.
With downloading, barriers to participation are low -- even with embedded ads. Consumers have signaled they are agreeable to short ads in return for free premium content, like an MSNBC program.
Podcasting is just the beginning. Once content providers can track and measure direct, untethered downloads, the media industry may finally be able to unlock all of that great content.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Nokia N85 Ultimate Review
We’ve been anticipating the latest pair of Nokia N-series handsets, the N79 and N85, ever since we first caught sight of them in August. Now, with the October release of the N85 almost upon us, it’s time to take a closer and more in-depth look at this new multimedia powerhouse from Nokia. Although it’s billed as the replacement to the flawed N81, its feature set and slimline, modern design actually makes it the perfect choice for anyone wanting a new style N95.
The N85 is a dual-slider mobile phone, just the like the N95, but is considerably more compact than that perennially popular mobile phone. It sits slightly above its sister handset the N79 in the Nokia range, but the N96 aces it with slightly higher spec. However, given the N96’s higher price, there are many who won’t be willing to splash out and that’s where the N85 really comes into its own. Of course, it couldn’t be called cheap, but there’s no denying it’s very good value.
Inside the stylish case you’ll find just about every top range feature, plus the introduction of several new ones to the N-series range, including a state-of-the-art OLED screen just like those found on the beautiful Nokia Arte range. So let’s examine the latest N-series and see just how it lines up against the rest of the range and its competitors.
N-Series Equals Multimedia Excellence
N-series mobile phones have always been about music, pictures, games and video, and Nokia even promote these handsets as ‘multimedia computers’ rather than mobile phones. As more handsets are added, so their ability grows and arguably, this latest set are not only the best Nokia have ever produced, but possibly the best on the market today.
Nokia N85 with the N-Series Trademark; a Brilliant Camera.
It wouldn’t be an N-series without it! The Nokia N85 features a Carl Zeiss lensed camera rated at 5 megapixels. The autofocus and dual LED flash assist you in taking the best pictures possible no matter the conditions and you can also record video at 30fps too. The lens has an active cover, which activates the camera software when flicked open, and is mounted on the rear panel rather than beneath the slide. Around the front, you’ll see a secondary lens for video calls.
Dedicated to Music.
The N85’s music player will be familiar to any users of Symbian software, and the performance is excellent. A set of dedicated keys enhance the experience and there is direct access to the Nokia Music Store to expand your collection and a simple USB connection to copy music across to your phone from your computer. A 3.5mm jack plug socket lets you use your own headphones too.
Crystal Clear Video.
Aside from shooting and playing back your own videos, the N85 also plays a variety of video file formats. The addition of a TV-Out socket allows you to watch your stored videos on a compatible TV screen too.
N-Gage Gaming.
The Nokia N85 is an impressive gaming device as it features Nokia’s excellent N-Gage gaming service. Some 15 pre-installed demos are included along with a code to activate one of the games for free. Not only is the gorgeous screen ideal for playing games, but the gaming keys which come alive when you access N-Gage make playing far more enjoyable.
Style and Innovation.
One of the keys areas of improvement in the latest Nokia N-series phones is their styling. Previous models were best described as ‘challenging’ in the looks department, as they were more functional than outright attractive. However, the N79 and N85 are both great looking phones, with the N85’s dual-slider case coming out on top.
Dual Slide Design
Just like the N95, the slide panel on the N85 goes both ways; slide it up and the keypad is revealed, slide it down and a set of media keys come into action. These keys are not fixed function ones however, they change according to the application which is running, for example if you’re about to play an N-Gage game, they show gaming controls only.
Size and Weight Improvments.
Despite the N85’s wealth of features, it’s a very compact mobile phone. Measuring 5mm thinner than the N95, its dimensions are 103×50x16 and the weight is an acceptable 125 grams. Most importantly, these figures improve on many of its competitors.
Latest Screen Technology.
The traditional LCD TFT screen found on most mobile phones has been replaced with an OLED screen on the N85, a system which is only now becoming viable for portable devices. An OLED screen offers many benefits over an LCD, giving better performance in terms of colour and contrast, whilst reducing power consumption. This is the future on today’s mobile phone.
Enjoy Your Music Everywhere.
Another new feature for mobile phones is the FM Transmitter. This clever feature lets you send your music stored on the N85 over FM radio waves to be picked up on any nearby radio tuned to the correct frequency. This means you can enjoy your music in the car without cabling or having to bring lots of CDs!
Intuitive Navigation.
The N85 has a standard D-pad for selecting icons in the menu system, but also employs a touch sensitive ‘navi-wheel’ approach for faster navigation. If you’ve ever used an Apple iPod, then you’ll know exactly what to expect; you just run your finger around the edge of the D-pad and the onscreen cursor moves accordingly.
Formidable Features and Power.
The final blow against the competition is just how much power and how many features Nokia have managed to squeeze inside the N85. You will be hard pressed to think of a feature the N85 doesn’t have that you’ll miss.
A Symbian Operating System.
The latest v9.3 Symbian operating system is fast and capable. With Feature Pack II installed it really comes alive beneath your fingertips, with plenty of colour, style and cool animations to make it look sleek and modern. The N85 also has direct access to Nokia Downloads!, where a wide variety of applications are ready to customise your phone.
Memory and Battery Life.
Here are two more improvements over the Nokia N95. The N85 has a MicroSD card slot ready for a card up to 8GB in size, thus instead of a fixed amount with no opportunity to increase or swap, here you can have several cards with different files always on hand. The OLED screen has caused a marked improvement on the N85’s battery life too, it’s now quoted as having a standby of 363 hours and a talktime of nearly 7 hours. Nokia even suggest 25 hours of music playback is possible. Another distinct advantage the N85 has over many other Nokia’s is the presence of a mini-USB charging socket, so no more multiple chargers when traveling!
Built-in GPS.
The GPS system inside the N85 features Assisted GPS for faster location times and geo-tagging of your pictures. The Nokia Maps service is excellent and a three-month trial is included in the package, but you’ll have to pay for voice guidance once this time is up.
Huge Connection Choice.
Naturally, the N85 is a 3G mobile phone and supports 3.6Mbps HSDPA, but it also has EDGE and GPRS to back it up. If you’re at home or have access to a wireless hotspot, you can take advantage of a speedy Wi-Fi connection too. If the wired headphones don’t suit you, then the A2DP Bluetooth allows cable-free sound.
Summary of the Nokia N85
It’s hard to find anything to fault with the latest N-series mobile phones, the N85 especially. The N95 we all know and love was hardly the best looking or most compact handset available, but there was no denying its technological competence. Now, the N85 improves in every area where the N95 was less successful and in doing so has become one of the most desirable mobiles available today, and we have no hesitation recommending it.
Monday, October 27, 2008
FREE SATELLITE TV FOR PC
I have seen the prices of everything go up in the course of a few years and that’s typical but where I live, the price of cable TV is ridiculously high.
I understand that people are in search of the best deal when it comes to cable and satellite providers and the choices are few and far between.
What I discovered recently is that you don’t need Comcast employment in order to get free cable TV. I have discovered free satellite TV for PC.
You get 3,000 channels and zero monthly fee’s.
No contracts and no hidden fee’s ever.
If you’re tired of high cable and satellite prices that can only provide you with a few channels then you can now say good bye to this and say hello to free satellite TV for PC.
It seems that every year the cable and satellite providers increase their rates with no stop in sight. I know that people are tired of this and the monopoly of cable TV. Free satellite TV for PC has been a way for me to break free from this strangle hold.
I love free satellite TV for PC since I can appreciate 3,000 channels with no monthly fee’s ever and no contracts and no special equipment.
I like the fact that it’s less then my cable provider charged me each month to get only a few channel choices. With free satellite TV for PC I have no headaches and deal with no BS.
NO increase in monthly rates
NO required contracts
NO monthly rates
NO monthly bills
NO problems.
When I realized that free satellite TV for PC was available and that you get 3,000 channels that consist of sports, movies and more then I had to have it and I’ve never looked back.
The question that I was asking myself and what most people should ask themselves is why would they pay 90.00 or more a month for cable or satellite TV when they can get it free monthly. It was an obvious choice for me as it’s been for my friends and family. If you feel like you have been taken advantage of by your cable or satellite provider then free satellite TV for PC is the ONLY choice.
My suggestion to everyone and anyone is to get free satellite TV for PC as it’s the only choice for me. What other choice is there?
Should I pay 90.00+ a month for 100 or less channels or pay zero monthly for 3,000 channels. The choice is easy as you would think it would be for most intelligent consumers in this economy.
I hope I spread some light as it pertains to options out there and never again do you have to deal with the rising cable and satellite costs since I found another way and you have also.
Think about it for yourself and say what am I paying and how much am I getting for the money that I’m paying each month? If you’re not getting 3,000 channels and no monthly fee’s and no contracts then this I would surmise can be the only option as it was for me.
Free Satellite TV For PC
I understand that people are in search of the best deal when it comes to cable and satellite providers and the choices are few and far between.
What I discovered recently is that you don’t need Comcast employment in order to get free cable TV. I have discovered free satellite TV for PC.
You get 3,000 channels and zero monthly fee’s.
No contracts and no hidden fee’s ever.
If you’re tired of high cable and satellite prices that can only provide you with a few channels then you can now say good bye to this and say hello to free satellite TV for PC.
It seems that every year the cable and satellite providers increase their rates with no stop in sight. I know that people are tired of this and the monopoly of cable TV. Free satellite TV for PC has been a way for me to break free from this strangle hold.
I love free satellite TV for PC since I can appreciate 3,000 channels with no monthly fee’s ever and no contracts and no special equipment.
I like the fact that it’s less then my cable provider charged me each month to get only a few channel choices. With free satellite TV for PC I have no headaches and deal with no BS.
NO increase in monthly rates
NO required contracts
NO monthly rates
NO monthly bills
NO problems.
When I realized that free satellite TV for PC was available and that you get 3,000 channels that consist of sports, movies and more then I had to have it and I’ve never looked back.
The question that I was asking myself and what most people should ask themselves is why would they pay 90.00 or more a month for cable or satellite TV when they can get it free monthly. It was an obvious choice for me as it’s been for my friends and family. If you feel like you have been taken advantage of by your cable or satellite provider then free satellite TV for PC is the ONLY choice.
My suggestion to everyone and anyone is to get free satellite TV for PC as it’s the only choice for me. What other choice is there?
Should I pay 90.00+ a month for 100 or less channels or pay zero monthly for 3,000 channels. The choice is easy as you would think it would be for most intelligent consumers in this economy.
I hope I spread some light as it pertains to options out there and never again do you have to deal with the rising cable and satellite costs since I found another way and you have also.
Think about it for yourself and say what am I paying and how much am I getting for the money that I’m paying each month? If you’re not getting 3,000 channels and no monthly fee’s and no contracts then this I would surmise can be the only option as it was for me.
Free Satellite TV For PC
Netflix to stream movies to Macs using Silverlight
Netflix, the online movie rental service, is launching Mac support for internet streaming movies utilizing Microsoft's Silverlight, a web-browser plug-in that features animation and audio-video capabilities similar to Adobe's Flash software. The deployment of the capabilities will start with a small number of subscribers, expanding to all subscribers by year's end. Silverlight features cross-platform and cross-browser support, as well as Play Ready DRM, a pivotal factor in Netflix being able to stream copy-write-protected content to subscribers on both Macs and PCs.
Mac-based customers and Firefox users on both platforms were key to Netflix adopting Silverlight. Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt said, "Members who enjoy watching movies and TV episodes... that can be instantly streamed at Netflix will be thrilled with this next generation improvement of access and quality, on a broader range of platforms, including Intel Macs and Firefox." Netflix streaming via Silverlight will require Intel-based Macs, and work with Safari and Firefox.
Mac-based customers and Firefox users on both platforms were key to Netflix adopting Silverlight. Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt said, "Members who enjoy watching movies and TV episodes... that can be instantly streamed at Netflix will be thrilled with this next generation improvement of access and quality, on a broader range of platforms, including Intel Macs and Firefox." Netflix streaming via Silverlight will require Intel-based Macs, and work with Safari and Firefox.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Alltel Wireless Announces Launch of Latin Entertainment Line-up
Alltel Wireless, America's largest network, announced today that customers with video-capable phones now have access to Univision Movil's video offerings, as well as GoTV's originally programmed music channel ES Musica.
Univision Movil's video offerings bring the programming strength of the leading Spanish-language media company in the U.S., to the mobile screen. Mobile clips include popular Univision shows such as "Noticiero Univision" (Emmy award-winning evening newscast), "El Gordo y La Flaca" (entertainment talk show), TeleFutura's "Escandalo TV" (celebrity talk show) and "Contacto Deportivo" (popular sports show). Video clips also include extensive coverage of award shows and sporting events from the two leading Spanish-language broadcast networks in the U.S.
GoTV's ES Musica channel features comprehensive Latin pop, rock, hip-hop, and reggaeton news and entertainment programming including music videos and behind-the-scenes coverage of live events.
Alltel Wireless teamed with Univision Movil and GoTV Networks to deliver these relevant mobile channels to its Hispanic customers. Univision Movil delivers the industry's most comprehensive Spanish-language suite of mobile offerings and GoTV Networks is the first and largest multi-platform new media network.
"As the mobile phone continues to evolve into a portable entertainment device, Alltel Wireless is constantly seeking ways to engage customers through their phones," said Kristi Crum, director of multimedia content for Alltel Wireless. "Univision Movil's video offerings and ES Musica deliver powerful and relevant Latin entertainment to our valued customers."
"Our relationship with Alltel Wireless continues to extend Univision Movil's video offerings to even more mobile subscribers in the marketplace," said Christopher Brunner, vice president, Mobile Content & Services for Univision Communications Inc. "As Hispanic usage of digital technologies increases at a faster pace than the general market, Univision Movil is committed to providing U.S. Hispanics with the mobile content they demand the most."
"GoTV is extremely pleased to bring ES Musica to Alltel Wireless," said Thomas Ellsworth, CEO of GoTV Networks. "This exceptional programming provides Alltel Wireless customers exciting cultural entertainment experiences when they are on the go."
About Alltel
Alltel is owner and operator of the nation's largest wireless network and has more than 13 million customers. For more information about Alltel, please visit http://www.alltel.com.
About GoTV Networks
GoTV Networks ( http://www.gotvnetworks.com) is the first and largest multi-platform new media network. GoTV's studio (GoTV Productions) produces and syndicates original and partner programming through the company's mobile and broadband technologies to the widest distribution network in the US. GoTV's content is accessible online through multiple video websites and portals. Mobile access includes streaming and on-demand services on a broad range of wireless devices through Alltel, AT&T, Boost Mobile, Sprint (including Nextel), Verizon Wireless and Virgin Mobile. The company is headquartered in Sherman Oaks, California with regional offices in Seattle, Kansas City and Atlanta.
GoTV Networks, GoTV and GoTV Productions are trademarks or registered trademarks of GoTV Networks Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
About Univision Online, Inc.
Univision Online, Inc. is the interactive division of Univision Communications Inc., the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. Univision Communications Inc. owns and operates Univision Online, Inc., the premier Spanish-language Internet destination in the U.S., located at http://www.univision.com, and Univision Movil, the most relevant Spanish-language mobile content and video, which includes in-show wireless integrations, PSMS programs and the industry's most comprehensive downloadable content catalog. Univision Communications Inc.'s operations include Univision Network, the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching 97% of U.S. Hispanic Households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network, which was launched in 2002 and now reaches 85% of U.S. Hispanic Households; Galavision, the country's leading Spanish-language cable network; Univision Television Group, which owns and operates 63 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; and Univision Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group which owns and/or operates 70 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and 5 stations in Puerto Rico. Univision Communications also has a 50% interest in TuTv, a joint venture formed to broadcast Televisa's pay television channels in the U.S. Univision Communications has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.univision.net.
Univision Movil's video offerings bring the programming strength of the leading Spanish-language media company in the U.S., to the mobile screen. Mobile clips include popular Univision shows such as "Noticiero Univision" (Emmy award-winning evening newscast), "El Gordo y La Flaca" (entertainment talk show), TeleFutura's "Escandalo TV" (celebrity talk show) and "Contacto Deportivo" (popular sports show). Video clips also include extensive coverage of award shows and sporting events from the two leading Spanish-language broadcast networks in the U.S.
GoTV's ES Musica channel features comprehensive Latin pop, rock, hip-hop, and reggaeton news and entertainment programming including music videos and behind-the-scenes coverage of live events.
Alltel Wireless teamed with Univision Movil and GoTV Networks to deliver these relevant mobile channels to its Hispanic customers. Univision Movil delivers the industry's most comprehensive Spanish-language suite of mobile offerings and GoTV Networks is the first and largest multi-platform new media network.
"As the mobile phone continues to evolve into a portable entertainment device, Alltel Wireless is constantly seeking ways to engage customers through their phones," said Kristi Crum, director of multimedia content for Alltel Wireless. "Univision Movil's video offerings and ES Musica deliver powerful and relevant Latin entertainment to our valued customers."
"Our relationship with Alltel Wireless continues to extend Univision Movil's video offerings to even more mobile subscribers in the marketplace," said Christopher Brunner, vice president, Mobile Content & Services for Univision Communications Inc. "As Hispanic usage of digital technologies increases at a faster pace than the general market, Univision Movil is committed to providing U.S. Hispanics with the mobile content they demand the most."
"GoTV is extremely pleased to bring ES Musica to Alltel Wireless," said Thomas Ellsworth, CEO of GoTV Networks. "This exceptional programming provides Alltel Wireless customers exciting cultural entertainment experiences when they are on the go."
About Alltel
Alltel is owner and operator of the nation's largest wireless network and has more than 13 million customers. For more information about Alltel, please visit http://www.alltel.com.
About GoTV Networks
GoTV Networks ( http://www.gotvnetworks.com) is the first and largest multi-platform new media network. GoTV's studio (GoTV Productions) produces and syndicates original and partner programming through the company's mobile and broadband technologies to the widest distribution network in the US. GoTV's content is accessible online through multiple video websites and portals. Mobile access includes streaming and on-demand services on a broad range of wireless devices through Alltel, AT&T, Boost Mobile, Sprint (including Nextel), Verizon Wireless and Virgin Mobile. The company is headquartered in Sherman Oaks, California with regional offices in Seattle, Kansas City and Atlanta.
GoTV Networks, GoTV and GoTV Productions are trademarks or registered trademarks of GoTV Networks Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
About Univision Online, Inc.
Univision Online, Inc. is the interactive division of Univision Communications Inc., the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. Univision Communications Inc. owns and operates Univision Online, Inc., the premier Spanish-language Internet destination in the U.S., located at http://www.univision.com, and Univision Movil, the most relevant Spanish-language mobile content and video, which includes in-show wireless integrations, PSMS programs and the industry's most comprehensive downloadable content catalog. Univision Communications Inc.'s operations include Univision Network, the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching 97% of U.S. Hispanic Households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network, which was launched in 2002 and now reaches 85% of U.S. Hispanic Households; Galavision, the country's leading Spanish-language cable network; Univision Television Group, which owns and operates 63 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; and Univision Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group which owns and/or operates 70 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and 5 stations in Puerto Rico. Univision Communications also has a 50% interest in TuTv, a joint venture formed to broadcast Televisa's pay television channels in the U.S. Univision Communications has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.univision.net.
As live sports on the Internet gains momentum, cricket can provide some pointers
2008 will be remembered as a banner year for live sports streaming on the Internet. Future looks promising as both the user demand and the profit potential seem to have crossed critical thresholds.
Since TV networks don't add to their production costs by simulcasting the coverage online, eyeballs picked up online are incremental gravy for their advertisers. Networks are also convinced that online simulcast won't cannibalize the big bucks tied up in TV, figuring you'll watch online only if you can't get to a TV set, or you'll log on as you watch TV.
Sports programmers therefore want to provide an answer to their fans' demand and keep up with the surge in user consumption of TV broadcast online. The Conference Board/TNS research show that about 20% of U.S. Internet households now watch online TV broadcasts — double the 2006 level.
Here are some major live sporting events streamed online this year and associated metrics, where available:
Beijing Olympics: The summer Olympics this year will be distinguished by, among other things, the first truly digital games in its history. In the U.S., NBC, the exclusive rights holder, recorded 1.3 billion page views, 53 million unique users, 75.5 million video streams, and approximately 10 million hours of total video consumed online. Metrics from other countries were equally impressive:
In Europe, over 30 EBU broadcasters offered Olympic content on their respective websites, complemented by the EBU aggregated live video portal www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics, which delivered over 180 million broadband video streams, primarily generated by live event viewing to a unique audience of over 51 million, with a cumulative total of over 22 million hours viewed.
In China, over the 17 days of the Olympic Games, 153 million people watched live broadcast of the Olympic Games online, with 237 million watching video-on-demand footage and an average 20 million page views per day on the mobile phone platform provided by CCTV.com.
In Latin America, rights holder Terra made 13 online channels available to allow subscribers to choose which events to watch with over 300 hours of available action from all competitions. Terra's Olympic site registered 29 million video streams and over 10 million video-on-demand downloads over the period of the Games.
In Australia, since the Games began, over 32 million page views have been seen by over 2.3 million users, with more than 4 million live and on-demand videos streams watched on Yahoo!7 Olympics.
March Madness: 4.8MM unique visitors throughout the two-week U.S. college basketball tournament streamed live by CBS.
Pocono 500: 712,000 streams were watched at NASCAR.com.
U.S. Open Finals: 5.2MM streams were served by NBC and the USGA, spurred by Tiger Woods’ down-to-the-wire victory in the playoff that got pushed to Monday - most of these viewers were therefore watching online at work.
Wimbledon: 1MM live streams and 4MM video-on-demand streams.
Tour de France: 3.4MM videos were downloaded from Vs.com.
All the four major professional sports leagues in the U.S. have also jumped on the live online streaming bandwagon.
NBA Western Conference Finals: 3MM live streams were served by TNT.
Major League Baseball: 1.0 to 1.5MM viewers watch a live game each day.
National Football League: NFL, the biggest and the most popular sports league in the U.S., in partnership with its broadcasting partner NBC Sports, has for the first time started streaming 17 regular-season games live on the Internet in the U.S. this season that started last month.
National Hockey League: Earlier this month, NHL launched NHL GameCenter Live, its new online subscription service that stream live NHL games.
Available for $159 for the whole season, or in monthly installments of $19.95, the service is targeted at avid fans as well as, per NHL, nearly 50% of fans who live away from their favorite team's local television market and therefore do not have access to some games on the TV. GameCenter Live does have some blackout restrictions, but allows users to view up to four games at once, choose from multiple camera angles, check stats and chat with one another.
I tested the NHL streaming (the season-opening weekend was free), and think their experience is pretty good since it leverages the uniqueness of the Internet medium in terms of its interactivity, social and non-linear nature.
While most of the above initiatives are recent, cricket, one of the most obscure sports for American and most European sports fans, has been using Internet to reach its TV-coverage-starved fans globally for almost ten years now.
I am one of those fans. I first started watching live cricket online back in 1998, and Internet remains my primary source for live cricket even today.
In 1998, cricket was one of the reasons why I opted to participate as a trial customer for @Home's broadband rollout in Connecticut. Remember @Home, the broadband ISP that was hailed as the "new media network for the 21st century" after its $6.7Bn merger with the portal Excite in 1999. Excite@Home became bankrupt just two years later, another example of a failed merger due to mismatch in the management cultures of the two firms and horribly executed integration.
I've been a close, first-hand witness of the improvement in cricket's live online streaming experience over the past ten years.
During the late nineties, even though I was on broadband, live streaming provided a ton of buffering and a start/stop experience. There were no quality branded service providers that carried rights for online cricket in the U.S. I probably was using one of the online "hack-services" to buy cricket packages, because there were no easy alternatives available. Cricket was obviously not shown on the broadcast/cable TV in the U.S., and the only available satellite option from Dish Networks required installing a separate dish that had to point to its satellite providing international programming - if you wanted regular U.S. TV channels, a second dish pointing to a different satellite was needed. I could not install one, leave-alone two dishes, because my landlord objected to dishes hanging out from balconies. On one occasion when the landlord conceded, sympathetic to my passion for the game, I could not get a clear line-of-sight to Dish Network's international satellite from my balcony.
The Internet helped fill this market gap in 2003, when Willow TV, a Sunnywale, CA based startup was launched by, you guessed it, a bunch of Indian immigrants. Willow TV provides live streams of cricket matches on a pay-per-view or subscription basis. I've been a regular customer of Willow TV ever since.
Willow TV gradually acquired the live online streaming rights for small markets from international cricket boards, for whom it was all incremental revenue, providing no conflict with their existing deals which were limited to big cricket markets/countries. Last year, the site carried over 90% of the cricket matches live. It has over one million registered users, almost 75% of them in North America.
The company has apparently been profitable from the very beginning. Given that the size of its target audience is relatively small in the markets Willow TV operates, ad-supported free streaming model cannot work. The niche and ethnic nature of the audience also limits the type and number of advertisers that may be interested in reaching them specifically. Willow has therefore only operated on a pay-per-view or subscription basis. Packages range from $5 per game up to $200 for a series. Streaming is offered from 400 kbps to 700 kbps levels, and they apparently have plans to increase that to 1MBps next year.
I've seen their technology improve over the past five years, with almost TV-like experience today. I hook up my laptop to my 42" plasma when I'm watching at home. I'm also able to place-shift my package and watch live cricket while I'm on the road - the main reason why I don't buy TV packages from Dish Networks and DirecTV, both of which have now started offering pay-per-view cricket packages.
With the introduction of Twenty20, a shorter version of cricket launched to expand its popularity and adoption (a game finishes in 2.5 to 3 hrs), and the mega success of the Indian Premier League, the inaugural domestic Twenty20 competition in India earlier this year, cricket is taking off globally in a major way. Reliance ADA, the largest media company in India, therefore made a swift strategic move in investing $60 to $70 million for a 75% stake in Willow TV. Elsewhere, ESPN paid almost $1Bn for the global rights to the Twenty20 Champions League, the world's richest cricket competition, in a 10-year deal.
As live sports streaming on the Internet becomes mainstream, cricket, with over ten years of experience, can definitely provide lessons on successful business models, targeting niche fans and satisfying their needs in a manner that is complimentary to TV broadcast, which will remain the primary revenue generator in sports for the foreseeable future.
Since TV networks don't add to their production costs by simulcasting the coverage online, eyeballs picked up online are incremental gravy for their advertisers. Networks are also convinced that online simulcast won't cannibalize the big bucks tied up in TV, figuring you'll watch online only if you can't get to a TV set, or you'll log on as you watch TV.
Sports programmers therefore want to provide an answer to their fans' demand and keep up with the surge in user consumption of TV broadcast online. The Conference Board/TNS research show that about 20% of U.S. Internet households now watch online TV broadcasts — double the 2006 level.
Here are some major live sporting events streamed online this year and associated metrics, where available:
Beijing Olympics: The summer Olympics this year will be distinguished by, among other things, the first truly digital games in its history. In the U.S., NBC, the exclusive rights holder, recorded 1.3 billion page views, 53 million unique users, 75.5 million video streams, and approximately 10 million hours of total video consumed online. Metrics from other countries were equally impressive:
In Europe, over 30 EBU broadcasters offered Olympic content on their respective websites, complemented by the EBU aggregated live video portal www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics, which delivered over 180 million broadband video streams, primarily generated by live event viewing to a unique audience of over 51 million, with a cumulative total of over 22 million hours viewed.
In China, over the 17 days of the Olympic Games, 153 million people watched live broadcast of the Olympic Games online, with 237 million watching video-on-demand footage and an average 20 million page views per day on the mobile phone platform provided by CCTV.com.
In Latin America, rights holder Terra made 13 online channels available to allow subscribers to choose which events to watch with over 300 hours of available action from all competitions. Terra's Olympic site registered 29 million video streams and over 10 million video-on-demand downloads over the period of the Games.
In Australia, since the Games began, over 32 million page views have been seen by over 2.3 million users, with more than 4 million live and on-demand videos streams watched on Yahoo!7 Olympics.
March Madness: 4.8MM unique visitors throughout the two-week U.S. college basketball tournament streamed live by CBS.
Pocono 500: 712,000 streams were watched at NASCAR.com.
U.S. Open Finals: 5.2MM streams were served by NBC and the USGA, spurred by Tiger Woods’ down-to-the-wire victory in the playoff that got pushed to Monday - most of these viewers were therefore watching online at work.
Wimbledon: 1MM live streams and 4MM video-on-demand streams.
Tour de France: 3.4MM videos were downloaded from Vs.com.
All the four major professional sports leagues in the U.S. have also jumped on the live online streaming bandwagon.
NBA Western Conference Finals: 3MM live streams were served by TNT.
Major League Baseball: 1.0 to 1.5MM viewers watch a live game each day.
National Football League: NFL, the biggest and the most popular sports league in the U.S., in partnership with its broadcasting partner NBC Sports, has for the first time started streaming 17 regular-season games live on the Internet in the U.S. this season that started last month.
National Hockey League: Earlier this month, NHL launched NHL GameCenter Live, its new online subscription service that stream live NHL games.
Available for $159 for the whole season, or in monthly installments of $19.95, the service is targeted at avid fans as well as, per NHL, nearly 50% of fans who live away from their favorite team's local television market and therefore do not have access to some games on the TV. GameCenter Live does have some blackout restrictions, but allows users to view up to four games at once, choose from multiple camera angles, check stats and chat with one another.
I tested the NHL streaming (the season-opening weekend was free), and think their experience is pretty good since it leverages the uniqueness of the Internet medium in terms of its interactivity, social and non-linear nature.
While most of the above initiatives are recent, cricket, one of the most obscure sports for American and most European sports fans, has been using Internet to reach its TV-coverage-starved fans globally for almost ten years now.
I am one of those fans. I first started watching live cricket online back in 1998, and Internet remains my primary source for live cricket even today.
In 1998, cricket was one of the reasons why I opted to participate as a trial customer for @Home's broadband rollout in Connecticut. Remember @Home, the broadband ISP that was hailed as the "new media network for the 21st century" after its $6.7Bn merger with the portal Excite in 1999. Excite@Home became bankrupt just two years later, another example of a failed merger due to mismatch in the management cultures of the two firms and horribly executed integration.
I've been a close, first-hand witness of the improvement in cricket's live online streaming experience over the past ten years.
During the late nineties, even though I was on broadband, live streaming provided a ton of buffering and a start/stop experience. There were no quality branded service providers that carried rights for online cricket in the U.S. I probably was using one of the online "hack-services" to buy cricket packages, because there were no easy alternatives available. Cricket was obviously not shown on the broadcast/cable TV in the U.S., and the only available satellite option from Dish Networks required installing a separate dish that had to point to its satellite providing international programming - if you wanted regular U.S. TV channels, a second dish pointing to a different satellite was needed. I could not install one, leave-alone two dishes, because my landlord objected to dishes hanging out from balconies. On one occasion when the landlord conceded, sympathetic to my passion for the game, I could not get a clear line-of-sight to Dish Network's international satellite from my balcony.
The Internet helped fill this market gap in 2003, when Willow TV, a Sunnywale, CA based startup was launched by, you guessed it, a bunch of Indian immigrants. Willow TV provides live streams of cricket matches on a pay-per-view or subscription basis. I've been a regular customer of Willow TV ever since.
Willow TV gradually acquired the live online streaming rights for small markets from international cricket boards, for whom it was all incremental revenue, providing no conflict with their existing deals which were limited to big cricket markets/countries. Last year, the site carried over 90% of the cricket matches live. It has over one million registered users, almost 75% of them in North America.
The company has apparently been profitable from the very beginning. Given that the size of its target audience is relatively small in the markets Willow TV operates, ad-supported free streaming model cannot work. The niche and ethnic nature of the audience also limits the type and number of advertisers that may be interested in reaching them specifically. Willow has therefore only operated on a pay-per-view or subscription basis. Packages range from $5 per game up to $200 for a series. Streaming is offered from 400 kbps to 700 kbps levels, and they apparently have plans to increase that to 1MBps next year.
I've seen their technology improve over the past five years, with almost TV-like experience today. I hook up my laptop to my 42" plasma when I'm watching at home. I'm also able to place-shift my package and watch live cricket while I'm on the road - the main reason why I don't buy TV packages from Dish Networks and DirecTV, both of which have now started offering pay-per-view cricket packages.
With the introduction of Twenty20, a shorter version of cricket launched to expand its popularity and adoption (a game finishes in 2.5 to 3 hrs), and the mega success of the Indian Premier League, the inaugural domestic Twenty20 competition in India earlier this year, cricket is taking off globally in a major way. Reliance ADA, the largest media company in India, therefore made a swift strategic move in investing $60 to $70 million for a 75% stake in Willow TV. Elsewhere, ESPN paid almost $1Bn for the global rights to the Twenty20 Champions League, the world's richest cricket competition, in a 10-year deal.
As live sports streaming on the Internet becomes mainstream, cricket, with over ten years of experience, can definitely provide lessons on successful business models, targeting niche fans and satisfying their needs in a manner that is complimentary to TV broadcast, which will remain the primary revenue generator in sports for the foreseeable future.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
LIN TV and FOX Interactive Media Announce Strategic Relationship
LIN TV taps FIM's new Digital Publishing Group to launch local web sites that redefine the user experience
PROVIDENCE, R.I. & LOS ANGELES — LIN TV Corp., a local television and digital media company, and Fox Interactive Media (FIM), a division of News Corporation, today announced a new strategic relationship and the launch of LIN TV's new television station web sites. LIN TV is FIM's first third-party digital publishing partner and will use FIM's cutting-edge digital platform technology to provide users with a superior local online experience.
LIN TV has launched www.wpri.com and www.fox10tv.com onto FIM's digital platform and the Company's other web sites are set to launch over the next few weeks. FIM is delivering both back-end and front-end publishing services to LIN TV's growing suite of web properties, including content management, video, contextual search and social networking. LIN TV customized the interactive features on its local web sites and unveiled key web site features, including a new video player that is user-friendly and engaging, new weather features, "Map This" programming, new social networking tools, a centralized content management system for seamless content flow and sharing between markets, customized news delivery and user engagement tools.
"We have defined the vision for our New Media business and we are pleased to partner with FIM to provide the best experience of any media or information site in our markets," said Robb Richter, LIN TV's senior vice president new media. "Most importantly, the usability of our new station web sites has enhanced significantly, the technology and flexibility are far superior and we will have better control and more opportunities to monetize our web sites."
"In combination with the FIM Audience Network and our leading portfolio of Web brands, our Digital Publishing Group stands as one of the three pillars of the Fox Interactive Media division dedicated to creating premiere online environments for consumers and maximizing opportunities for advertisers," said Peter Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media. "Building on the success of the MyFOX local platform, we are extremely proud to bring LIN TV on board as our first third-party digital publishing partner and look forward to helping LIN TV deliver the best possible Web experience to their millions of users."
LIN TV is an industry leader in the convergence of local broadcast television and digital innovations. The Company's new media strategy is focused on engaging audiences around its strong brands and across multiple media channels. LIN TV has successfully launched more than 50 web sites and it is estimated that LIN TV's web sites will serve nearly two billion ad impressions in 2008. LIN TV's partnership with FIM positions the Company for future online growth and new media success.
In addition to content management, site design and video streaming services, FIM's digital publishing group will offer media companies a variety of services, including ad serving and inventory management; search engine optimization and marketing; sales support and training; research and reporting; and geo-targeting for local news and weather. Clients will also have access to content from FIM's leading verticals, including weather, news and music.
This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements," including statements regarding our future plans and strategies. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties, including, among other factors, general economic conditions, demand for advertising, competition for audience and programming, government regulations and new technologies, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that could contribute to such differences include the risks detailed in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, we undertake no obligation to update these statements for revision or changes after the date of this release.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. & LOS ANGELES — LIN TV Corp., a local television and digital media company, and Fox Interactive Media (FIM), a division of News Corporation, today announced a new strategic relationship and the launch of LIN TV's new television station web sites. LIN TV is FIM's first third-party digital publishing partner and will use FIM's cutting-edge digital platform technology to provide users with a superior local online experience.
LIN TV has launched www.wpri.com and www.fox10tv.com onto FIM's digital platform and the Company's other web sites are set to launch over the next few weeks. FIM is delivering both back-end and front-end publishing services to LIN TV's growing suite of web properties, including content management, video, contextual search and social networking. LIN TV customized the interactive features on its local web sites and unveiled key web site features, including a new video player that is user-friendly and engaging, new weather features, "Map This" programming, new social networking tools, a centralized content management system for seamless content flow and sharing between markets, customized news delivery and user engagement tools.
"We have defined the vision for our New Media business and we are pleased to partner with FIM to provide the best experience of any media or information site in our markets," said Robb Richter, LIN TV's senior vice president new media. "Most importantly, the usability of our new station web sites has enhanced significantly, the technology and flexibility are far superior and we will have better control and more opportunities to monetize our web sites."
"In combination with the FIM Audience Network and our leading portfolio of Web brands, our Digital Publishing Group stands as one of the three pillars of the Fox Interactive Media division dedicated to creating premiere online environments for consumers and maximizing opportunities for advertisers," said Peter Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media. "Building on the success of the MyFOX local platform, we are extremely proud to bring LIN TV on board as our first third-party digital publishing partner and look forward to helping LIN TV deliver the best possible Web experience to their millions of users."
LIN TV is an industry leader in the convergence of local broadcast television and digital innovations. The Company's new media strategy is focused on engaging audiences around its strong brands and across multiple media channels. LIN TV has successfully launched more than 50 web sites and it is estimated that LIN TV's web sites will serve nearly two billion ad impressions in 2008. LIN TV's partnership with FIM positions the Company for future online growth and new media success.
In addition to content management, site design and video streaming services, FIM's digital publishing group will offer media companies a variety of services, including ad serving and inventory management; search engine optimization and marketing; sales support and training; research and reporting; and geo-targeting for local news and weather. Clients will also have access to content from FIM's leading verticals, including weather, news and music.
This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements," including statements regarding our future plans and strategies. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties, including, among other factors, general economic conditions, demand for advertising, competition for audience and programming, government regulations and new technologies, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that could contribute to such differences include the risks detailed in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, we undertake no obligation to update these statements for revision or changes after the date of this release.
Tidal TV: A Look At A New Streaming Video Site
SpecialComputers are fast creating a virtual perfect storm. The slack-jawed Web surfer has successfully merged with the glassy-eyed couch potato to form TV viewing on demand. Watching TV on the computer is not a new concept. You can download shows on iTunes, and you can watch many network shows on their Web sites usually the day after an episode airs in primetime. There are also sites like Joost and Hulu that exist to give surfers a boob-tube fix. But there's a new kid on the Information Super Highway that's offering even more options when it comes to watching television while you work. It's called Tidal TV, and it's the brainchild of CEO Scott Ferber, an engineer who felt his creation had a place among the cyber TV viewing sites already out there.
The look and feel of Tidal TV will give many television watchers who are used to viewing a program grid with their cable or satellite a sense of familiarity. Upon entering the site, you're greeted by a similar program grid that lets you immediately scroll through what's available.
Ferber's goal with Tidal TV was to create another way for viewers to watch television.
"We're not meant to replace television," he said. "We're extending it. We're trying to reach people where they are."
People spend about 10 to 20 percent of their waking hours in front of the TV, Ferber said. And about 50 percent of their time is spent at a computer.
Ferber's goal is to give those computer users some of the same quality content that they find on television.
Of course, quality is in the eye of the beholder, but Tidal TV has offerings that will not only entertain but inform. And isn't that what the computer should be used for?
Ferber wants his site to be the place for users to go for their relevant interests.
"If you're a food fanatic, you're going to come to our site," he said.
Serendipitous discovery
One of Ferber's marketing catch phrases is "serendipitous discovery."
It's basically a fancy way of how Ferber hopes to capture a lot of his audience.
Most people these days don't tune in ahead of time for a particular program. They, instead, discover while surfing a channel guide, he said. That is serendipitous discovery.
Which is, perhaps one of the main reason the site emulates a cable grid.
Ferber said his site does offer some programming from CBS and CW, but its main focus is on shows with news and instructional content, at least for now.
You'll find a lot of shows from Food Network, HGTV, CNBC, The Weather Channel and National Geographic, just to name a few. If you float your cursor over a show, you immediatley get more information. If you want to watch it, just click. You can also create a list of favorites.
Ad-supported
You'll have to create an account to make a favorites list, but if you don't want to, you can just start watching any content Tidal TV has to offer. It's free, thanks to advertising. But unlike a DVR, you'll have to watch those commercials. Well, you could grab a sandwich or take a bathroom break, but fast forwarding to the next act isn't going to happen, so sit tight and enjoy the ad.
Tidal TV won't make you forget about the other sites. And if you missed your favorite program last night, you're not going to find it here. But it is a welcome addition to the streaming video sites that offer actual quality content, with a dash of classic television thrown in for good measure.
And after all, isn't that YouTube video you've watched 200 times getting a little old by now?
Friday, October 17, 2008
ITN to partner broadband TV and radio site Livestation
ITN has joined the broadband TV and radio player, Livestation, as a partner, in what Livestation's CEO called a 'perfect' arrangement.
ITN On, which is ITN's broadband and mobile content supplier, will broadcast news, entertainment and sports stories from ITN on LIvestation, 24 hours a day.
"ITN On is a perfect partner for Livestation," said Matteo Berlucchi, CEO of Livestation, in a release.
Berlucchi said that ITV On's 'continually updated' news content made it 'an ideal addition for the growing choice of news perspectives offered via Livestation'.
"It [Livestation] offers us a great opportunity to expand our business and brand globally. We also believe users will see the real benefit in viewing a made-for-broadband news channel over linear TV models online," added Nicholas Wheeler, managing director of ITN On, in the release.
Livestation has existing partnerships with Al Jazeera, BBC, Bloomberg, C-SPAN, Deutsche Welle, euronews, France 24 and Russia Today.
The platform allows viewers to watch television and radio content through a desktop broadband connection. In addition to streaming the content of its partners, viewers can also search 1,300 other channels.
ITN On, which is ITN's broadband and mobile content supplier, will broadcast news, entertainment and sports stories from ITN on LIvestation, 24 hours a day.
"ITN On is a perfect partner for Livestation," said Matteo Berlucchi, CEO of Livestation, in a release.
Berlucchi said that ITV On's 'continually updated' news content made it 'an ideal addition for the growing choice of news perspectives offered via Livestation'.
"It [Livestation] offers us a great opportunity to expand our business and brand globally. We also believe users will see the real benefit in viewing a made-for-broadband news channel over linear TV models online," added Nicholas Wheeler, managing director of ITN On, in the release.
Livestation has existing partnerships with Al Jazeera, BBC, Bloomberg, C-SPAN, Deutsche Welle, euronews, France 24 and Russia Today.
The platform allows viewers to watch television and radio content through a desktop broadband connection. In addition to streaming the content of its partners, viewers can also search 1,300 other channels.
Acne, ADHD sufferers more likely to stream "House"
Acne and adult ADHD sufferers are the condition groups most likely to watch their TV on the Internet, according to a Manhattan Research survey.
The Cybercitizen Health v8.0 study found that as less than half of US adults reporting doing all their TV viewing the old-fashioned way, through TV sets, some condition groups are more predisposed to online TV viewing. After acne and adult ADHD sufferers were those with eczema, allergies and bipolar disorder.
If those disease states would seem, unsurprisingly, to suggest a younger demographic, that's no coincidence. The average age of those streaming or downloading their shows was 39. But it's nonetheless important for companies marketing products for those ailments to know where they can reach their intended audience, says Meredith Abreu Ressi, VP research at Manhattan Research.
“With television networks partnering with video-sharing websites like YouTube and Hulu and DVR adoption increasing, one thing is clear – when it comes to media, the consumer is in control,” says Ressi. “For healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers, it's critical to understand how adoption rates and media mix differ by disease group. Brand teams in the know will take advantage of new advertising capabilities to hyper-target desired audiences and give them a customized brand experience.”
The survey of 8,714 US adults also found the Internet surpassing doctors as a source of health and medical information for the first time, with more than 145 million US adults surfing the Web for health info.
“The thing that was most striking is that there really are these emerging segments of consumers who are not being reached through those traditional channels,” said Ressi. “They're almost exclusively relying on online sources in managing their healthcare.”
The Cybercitizen Health v8.0 study found that as less than half of US adults reporting doing all their TV viewing the old-fashioned way, through TV sets, some condition groups are more predisposed to online TV viewing. After acne and adult ADHD sufferers were those with eczema, allergies and bipolar disorder.
If those disease states would seem, unsurprisingly, to suggest a younger demographic, that's no coincidence. The average age of those streaming or downloading their shows was 39. But it's nonetheless important for companies marketing products for those ailments to know where they can reach their intended audience, says Meredith Abreu Ressi, VP research at Manhattan Research.
“With television networks partnering with video-sharing websites like YouTube and Hulu and DVR adoption increasing, one thing is clear – when it comes to media, the consumer is in control,” says Ressi. “For healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers, it's critical to understand how adoption rates and media mix differ by disease group. Brand teams in the know will take advantage of new advertising capabilities to hyper-target desired audiences and give them a customized brand experience.”
The survey of 8,714 US adults also found the Internet surpassing doctors as a source of health and medical information for the first time, with more than 145 million US adults surfing the Web for health info.
“The thing that was most striking is that there really are these emerging segments of consumers who are not being reached through those traditional channels,” said Ressi. “They're almost exclusively relying on online sources in managing their healthcare.”
Monday, October 13, 2008
Realview TV selected to deploy American University's "Virtual Campus Experience"
Oct, 2008 th ATLANTA, GA and WASHINGTON, DC., th Realview TV, an award winning new media video agency and American University, a leading national university in Washington, DC, today announced a client agreement, whereby Realview TV will design, produce and stream American University's online "Virtual Campus Experience."
WASHINGTON, DC., – Realview TV, an award winning new media video agency and American University, a leading national university in Washington, DC, today announced a client agreement, whereby Realview TV will design, produce and stream American University’s online “Virtual Campus Experience.”
Realview TV, an Atlanta based leader in online streaming video, is proud to announce a client relationship with American University. Realview TV has set in motion their plan to produce, film and distribute the interactive campus tour for American University. Named the “Virtual Campus Experience,” the Realview TV online video solution enables American University to showcase its students, faculty and virtual campus on the web via an interactive video-based micro site.
“We are excited to work with Realview TV to create a sophisticated and engaging video solution for visitors to our Web site,” said Terry Flannery, executive director of university communications and marketing at American University. “A unique user experience has been the primary goal of our comprehensive Web site redesign, expected to launch early in 2009. The Realview TV solution will provide us the video content needed to differentiate our university and achieve our mission to recruit the highest quality applicants.”
“American University’s ‘Virtual Campus Experience’ will push the innovation boundaries for college videos and virtual tours,” says Courtney Cable, VP Education Channel. “This innovative solution will help American University connect with their student audience online, through a medium that all students crave – online video,” says Darren Starr, Regional Sales Manager.
Realview TV gives American University a competitive advantage as today’s generation of students are heavy consumers of video. “We’re thrilled to announce the deal with American University. I believe American University’s “Virtual Campus Experience” will set a new standard for college web marketing,” said Jonathan Clues, Realview TV President.
WASHINGTON, DC., – Realview TV, an award winning new media video agency and American University, a leading national university in Washington, DC, today announced a client agreement, whereby Realview TV will design, produce and stream American University’s online “Virtual Campus Experience.”
Realview TV, an Atlanta based leader in online streaming video, is proud to announce a client relationship with American University. Realview TV has set in motion their plan to produce, film and distribute the interactive campus tour for American University. Named the “Virtual Campus Experience,” the Realview TV online video solution enables American University to showcase its students, faculty and virtual campus on the web via an interactive video-based micro site.
“We are excited to work with Realview TV to create a sophisticated and engaging video solution for visitors to our Web site,” said Terry Flannery, executive director of university communications and marketing at American University. “A unique user experience has been the primary goal of our comprehensive Web site redesign, expected to launch early in 2009. The Realview TV solution will provide us the video content needed to differentiate our university and achieve our mission to recruit the highest quality applicants.”
“American University’s ‘Virtual Campus Experience’ will push the innovation boundaries for college videos and virtual tours,” says Courtney Cable, VP Education Channel. “This innovative solution will help American University connect with their student audience online, through a medium that all students crave – online video,” says Darren Starr, Regional Sales Manager.
Realview TV gives American University a competitive advantage as today’s generation of students are heavy consumers of video. “We’re thrilled to announce the deal with American University. I believe American University’s “Virtual Campus Experience” will set a new standard for college web marketing,” said Jonathan Clues, Realview TV President.
HAVA Titanium HD Wi-Fi
Pros: 802.11g Wi-Fi dongle allows for pure wireless setup and operation; good quality streaming over both local and remote connections; can record streams from local connections
Cons: no Mac software; can’t schedule recordings or record at all from remote connections
The advent of the digital video recorder has given us “timeshifting,” the freedom to watch our favorite TV shows on our own schedules rather than those of the networks without the legendary headaches of VCR programming. But to achieve true television nirvana, you also need “placeshifting,” the ability to use a PC to watch TV from any room in your home, or via the Internet, from anywhere you happen to be. The HAVA Titanium HD Wi-Fi ($249.99) is a device that does exactly that, and it does so without the need for an Ethernet connection to a wireless bridge or powerline network adapter, such as the one required by Sling Media’s popular and well-regarded Slingbox products.
Hardware and physical connections
The Titanium HD Wi-Fi is a nondescript gray plastic box approximately 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.75(WDH, inches) that’s devoid of logos or even labels for the array of indicator lights on its front bezel. Instead of 802.11g Wi-Fi integrated directly into the device, it uses a USB dongle and extension cable and weighted base that plug into one of two ports at the rear of the device. This approach has two benefits. First, it allows you to position the Wi-Fi antenna for optimum reception as opposed to having it buried in the bowels of an entertainment center. Second, modular Wi-Fi is also potentially upgradeable Wi-Fi. Hava says an 802.11n-compatible dongle is on the road map, although a release date and pricing have not yet been set.
Setup
We tested the Titanium HD Wi-Fi with a TiVo Series 3 HD-compatible DVR, though it should work with almost any cable/satellite set-top box, Media Center PC, DVD player, or similar AV device (and you can connect multiple devices at the same time). To make the physical connections between the TiVo and Hava units, we went from unused component video and analog audio outputs on the former to corresponding inputs on the latter, and also connected the IR blaster for remote control functionality. The Titanium HD also has AV outputs, which are invaluable if your source device doesn’t have any available outputs, as it allows you to set up a pass-through connection (by connecting your source outputs to the THD inputs and then connecting the THD outputs to your TV).
Although the THD has an Ethernet port, you don’t need to use it, even for initial setup. When first powered on, the THD cleverly broadcasts its own wireless SSID which the setup software detects and connects to in order to configure the device. The setup wizard goes through the process of updating the THD firmware (if necessary) configuring the Wi-Fi adapter with parameters for your network, testing the video/audio streams and identifying your AV source device for the purpose of selecting remote control codes. The wizard also configures the THD for remote viewing by assigning it an ID (the default is a long and impossible to remember alphanumeric string—fortunately, you can substitute your own) and registering it with Hava’s central server, which acts as a directory allowing THD units to be found and accessed behind firewalls.
The wizard worked well and configured our THD without any problems, though the preview window used to tweak video quality settings is a bit too small. Once setup was complete, the unit rebooted and was joined to our existing WPA2-encrypted wireless network without a hitch.
Watching TV
The Hava PC Player is easy-to-use, with straightforward video and audio controls. (A minor annoyance—running the player software on Vista requires confirmation via UAC.) You can pause and rewind the stream thanks to a buffer whose size can be customized based on available hard drive space. Video streams can also be recorded for later viewing or copied to DVD using a built-in burning utility. The ability to record streams is handy. It would more useful if you could schedule recordings, but you can’t. The remote feature is also available only when connected to the THD via your local network.
You change channels and otherwise manipulate your AV device using a graphical image of its remote control that resides in its own window that you can move or hide as needed. Using the on-screen remote takes a bit of getting used to, because there’s a three-to-five second lag from the time you click a remote button until you see the command executed on your device.
We installed the Hava PC Player on several Windows Vista and XP PCs on our local network and found the video and audio quality to be quite good over both wired and wireless connections, even when we tried accessing the THD from two systems at the same time. The THD can’t display HD signals in their full-resolution glory (that’s not possible over an 802.11g link) but local clients do get a 720 x 480 MPEG2 streaming at 30 frames per second, and you can watch streams in 16x9 format. We were able to get streams of around 5 Mbps from wired clients, and about 3Mbps from wireless ones.
Going remote
To see how the THD streaming quality would fare over the Internet, we hauled our notebook to a local hotspot-equipped restaurant. The Hava PC Player had no problem locating and connecting to our THD, which delivered an 800-900 kbps stream (remote clients get a more compressed 320 x 240 MPEG4 stream of between 15 and 30 fps) of good quality—although the video was a bit soft-looking, the frame rate was smooth and there were no audio dropouts.
We arrived at the hotspot just before the lunch rush, and as the establishment got busier, the streaming rate began to fall. For the most part our remote stream’s quality degraded minimally and gracefully—only when the data rate fell to around 250 kbps was there a noticeable drop in quality, which was manifested by blocky compression artifacts in the video. Suffice it to say you’ll need an Internet connection of at least a 300K upstream and preferably 512K or higher for best results with remote viewing.
In addition to the Windows XP/Vista player software (there is no Mac client), Hava offers versions (available for free download) for Windows Mobile 5/6 devices, Nokia S60-based phones, and the Nokia N8xx series Internet tablets.
The Hava Titanium HD Wi-Fi’s ability to stream high-quality, if not high-definition video and audio to around the house or around the world—and do it completely wirelessly—provides great television-watching flexibility. Anyone that wants to keep up with shows while on the move should check it out.
Cons: no Mac software; can’t schedule recordings or record at all from remote connections
The advent of the digital video recorder has given us “timeshifting,” the freedom to watch our favorite TV shows on our own schedules rather than those of the networks without the legendary headaches of VCR programming. But to achieve true television nirvana, you also need “placeshifting,” the ability to use a PC to watch TV from any room in your home, or via the Internet, from anywhere you happen to be. The HAVA Titanium HD Wi-Fi ($249.99) is a device that does exactly that, and it does so without the need for an Ethernet connection to a wireless bridge or powerline network adapter, such as the one required by Sling Media’s popular and well-regarded Slingbox products.
Hardware and physical connections
The Titanium HD Wi-Fi is a nondescript gray plastic box approximately 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.75(WDH, inches) that’s devoid of logos or even labels for the array of indicator lights on its front bezel. Instead of 802.11g Wi-Fi integrated directly into the device, it uses a USB dongle and extension cable and weighted base that plug into one of two ports at the rear of the device. This approach has two benefits. First, it allows you to position the Wi-Fi antenna for optimum reception as opposed to having it buried in the bowels of an entertainment center. Second, modular Wi-Fi is also potentially upgradeable Wi-Fi. Hava says an 802.11n-compatible dongle is on the road map, although a release date and pricing have not yet been set.
Setup
We tested the Titanium HD Wi-Fi with a TiVo Series 3 HD-compatible DVR, though it should work with almost any cable/satellite set-top box, Media Center PC, DVD player, or similar AV device (and you can connect multiple devices at the same time). To make the physical connections between the TiVo and Hava units, we went from unused component video and analog audio outputs on the former to corresponding inputs on the latter, and also connected the IR blaster for remote control functionality. The Titanium HD also has AV outputs, which are invaluable if your source device doesn’t have any available outputs, as it allows you to set up a pass-through connection (by connecting your source outputs to the THD inputs and then connecting the THD outputs to your TV).
Although the THD has an Ethernet port, you don’t need to use it, even for initial setup. When first powered on, the THD cleverly broadcasts its own wireless SSID which the setup software detects and connects to in order to configure the device. The setup wizard goes through the process of updating the THD firmware (if necessary) configuring the Wi-Fi adapter with parameters for your network, testing the video/audio streams and identifying your AV source device for the purpose of selecting remote control codes. The wizard also configures the THD for remote viewing by assigning it an ID (the default is a long and impossible to remember alphanumeric string—fortunately, you can substitute your own) and registering it with Hava’s central server, which acts as a directory allowing THD units to be found and accessed behind firewalls.
The wizard worked well and configured our THD without any problems, though the preview window used to tweak video quality settings is a bit too small. Once setup was complete, the unit rebooted and was joined to our existing WPA2-encrypted wireless network without a hitch.
Watching TV
The Hava PC Player is easy-to-use, with straightforward video and audio controls. (A minor annoyance—running the player software on Vista requires confirmation via UAC.) You can pause and rewind the stream thanks to a buffer whose size can be customized based on available hard drive space. Video streams can also be recorded for later viewing or copied to DVD using a built-in burning utility. The ability to record streams is handy. It would more useful if you could schedule recordings, but you can’t. The remote feature is also available only when connected to the THD via your local network.
You change channels and otherwise manipulate your AV device using a graphical image of its remote control that resides in its own window that you can move or hide as needed. Using the on-screen remote takes a bit of getting used to, because there’s a three-to-five second lag from the time you click a remote button until you see the command executed on your device.
We installed the Hava PC Player on several Windows Vista and XP PCs on our local network and found the video and audio quality to be quite good over both wired and wireless connections, even when we tried accessing the THD from two systems at the same time. The THD can’t display HD signals in their full-resolution glory (that’s not possible over an 802.11g link) but local clients do get a 720 x 480 MPEG2 streaming at 30 frames per second, and you can watch streams in 16x9 format. We were able to get streams of around 5 Mbps from wired clients, and about 3Mbps from wireless ones.
Going remote
To see how the THD streaming quality would fare over the Internet, we hauled our notebook to a local hotspot-equipped restaurant. The Hava PC Player had no problem locating and connecting to our THD, which delivered an 800-900 kbps stream (remote clients get a more compressed 320 x 240 MPEG4 stream of between 15 and 30 fps) of good quality—although the video was a bit soft-looking, the frame rate was smooth and there were no audio dropouts.
We arrived at the hotspot just before the lunch rush, and as the establishment got busier, the streaming rate began to fall. For the most part our remote stream’s quality degraded minimally and gracefully—only when the data rate fell to around 250 kbps was there a noticeable drop in quality, which was manifested by blocky compression artifacts in the video. Suffice it to say you’ll need an Internet connection of at least a 300K upstream and preferably 512K or higher for best results with remote viewing.
In addition to the Windows XP/Vista player software (there is no Mac client), Hava offers versions (available for free download) for Windows Mobile 5/6 devices, Nokia S60-based phones, and the Nokia N8xx series Internet tablets.
The Hava Titanium HD Wi-Fi’s ability to stream high-quality, if not high-definition video and audio to around the house or around the world—and do it completely wirelessly—provides great television-watching flexibility. Anyone that wants to keep up with shows while on the move should check it out.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Watch Full length Streaming Tv Shows & Serials
Youtube a video sharing site which makes around 100 million pageviews daily,maintained by Google have recently clubbed with a television network company to showcase free TV serials in full length.These full length TV episodes & shows will have a sponsored commercial before the start of the Serial.The revenue generated will be shared by the television network company called CBS and Google.
Though there were other TV episodes which were uploaded by users from youtube but this contract has legal tv episodes which means all the featured episodes are completely copyrighted with CBS and Youtube.Also the limit of uploading videos is extended - giving us a better option to watch full length streaming videos at one place.
Some of the TV serial shows which will be screened are - Star Trek, The Young & The Restless, Beverly Hills 90210,MacGuyver and also coverage of 100 broadband channels of live college sports.This collabaration is a win-win situation which will help maintain the user base and perform well for Youtube as well as Advertisers.It will be good to see how youtube performs against the IMDB as they also have legal movies & Tv episode section!
Though there were other TV episodes which were uploaded by users from youtube but this contract has legal tv episodes which means all the featured episodes are completely copyrighted with CBS and Youtube.Also the limit of uploading videos is extended - giving us a better option to watch full length streaming videos at one place.
Some of the TV serial shows which will be screened are - Star Trek, The Young & The Restless, Beverly Hills 90210,MacGuyver and also coverage of 100 broadband channels of live college sports.This collabaration is a win-win situation which will help maintain the user base and perform well for Youtube as well as Advertisers.It will be good to see how youtube performs against the IMDB as they also have legal movies & Tv episode section!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Media Living: Boldly Going Where Most Internet Users Have Probably Gone Before
The other day there were THREE baseball games on - one in the afternoon, one in the early evening, and one at night. But because the NFL apparently pays Rogers more money than does the MLB, they weren't broadcasting the first two games on the basic Rogers cable that you can get around here. They were trumped by the football games. This was a royal piss-off for my dad, who LOVES baseball and was really looking forward to watching them. We're not really huge TV people - sports are the #1 reason we even HAVE cable, and are the ONLY reason why we have that one tiny "expanded" package that gives you the 52 channels or whatever.
So TBS is carrying all of the games. And we HAVE TBS. We are technically PAYING for TBS. But whatever feed we get through Rogers wasn't covering it.
This is where the whole "WE ARE THE AUDIENCE, RESISTANCE IS FUTILE" thing comes in, and I get inventive with internet... stuff.
I think I've talked about this before - I'm a relatively timid internet user these days. I visit my few websites. I comment on a few peoples' LiveJournals and Facebook pages and whatnot. But I'm not a forum-goer (well, not until, like, today - more on this later), I don't go out and download a lot of movies or music or anything. I'm kind of conservative these days, I guess. It was really making me mad that dad couldn't watch his games, though, so I decided to see if I could find a live feed online somewhere.
My first thought was that TBS might even PROVIDE a feed on its official website, but they didn't. They had a few shows that could be downloaded, though, so it's nice to see that they're moving in that direction. But this could have been a great opportunity for them: my FIRST THOUGHT (and this would probably hold for lots of other people) was go to the OFFICIAL SOURCE. I would have happily given them my direct viewership, filled out a little form so that they could get demographics on who's watching, whatever. I think there's a lot of opportunity there, and these bigtime media folks had better start cashing in on it.
Anyway, since I couldn't find it that way I did a bit of Googling. Found someone on Yahoo Answers who had voted, kind of suspiciously, that the Yahoo Sports MLB page was the best source. How conveeenient. Of course, this isn't VIDEO streaming, it's just a continually updated play-by-play. Not bad - even a bit better than the service offered on MLB.com. (Speaking of MLB.com, some folks in that same Yahoo Answer thread suggested that they have a video streaming package that you can purchase in order to watch the games, but I don't see anything on the main page - just something about LISTENING to every game. Even if they do, this wouldn't have been very useful for us, since we normally DO get all the games, and definitely will later in the post season. I just wanted to find a way to get that ONE game.)
I was eventually directed to My Peer-to-Peer, where I was able to download a player and look through a variety of streaming sources for the game. Most of them were versions of ESPN in China, and I wasn't able to actually get the game - just a commercial which continually froze and started again. But I found one from the "Brewcrew" that, lo and behold, worked! It was a little slow at first, it had annoying banner ads above and below, and it couldn't be enlarged or made "full-screen" or anthing. But it streamed quite well and had decent video and audio quality. We tuned in JUST in time to catch the most interesting part of the game. The stream even included the commercials, which we basically muted like we always do.
There's also a strong argument here for the old system of broadcasting being pretty significantly out of date. Anything short of the "hundred million channels you don't really want" style of digital cable, this kind of programming conflict is going to happen sometimes. The fact that it was SO EASY for me to get a reliable, live (ish - it was about three minutes behind, by my guess) stream tells me that lots of people must be doing it, too. I am not the most savvy internet user BY FAR, but in about half an hour I had the game at my disposal. We, the empowered audience, obviously ARE doing it.
I have to say, I'm still a little amazed sometimes at how easy it is becoming to get things online. I've downloaded enough movies and music for that experience to be relatively blazé these days. But I wasn't really sure that I'd be able to get live streaming sports - this was an entirely new experience. I was giddy with the enormity of the thing that I had done for the rest of the evening. Yeah, this is probably nothing new for lots of people. What can I say, it was fun to feel all daring and cutting-edge technological for a little while. And I was happy to be able to do something nice for my dad, who generally hates computers and avoids them fervently.
I might make a separate post to talk about this at some point, but for now I'll just note that I'm trying to become a bit more "forum-y" this year during National Novel Writing Month. I used to be more active in the past, but in the past few years I've drifted away from it (again with the "timid internet user" stuff.)
Of course, short of spending hours upon hours online, I'm guessing (and tapping into my years-old past experience, as well) that most people tend to hone in on a few channels. This is likely what I'm going to do.
So TBS is carrying all of the games. And we HAVE TBS. We are technically PAYING for TBS. But whatever feed we get through Rogers wasn't covering it.
This is where the whole "WE ARE THE AUDIENCE, RESISTANCE IS FUTILE" thing comes in, and I get inventive with internet... stuff.
I think I've talked about this before - I'm a relatively timid internet user these days. I visit my few websites. I comment on a few peoples' LiveJournals and Facebook pages and whatnot. But I'm not a forum-goer (well, not until, like, today - more on this later), I don't go out and download a lot of movies or music or anything. I'm kind of conservative these days, I guess. It was really making me mad that dad couldn't watch his games, though, so I decided to see if I could find a live feed online somewhere.
My first thought was that TBS might even PROVIDE a feed on its official website, but they didn't. They had a few shows that could be downloaded, though, so it's nice to see that they're moving in that direction. But this could have been a great opportunity for them: my FIRST THOUGHT (and this would probably hold for lots of other people) was go to the OFFICIAL SOURCE. I would have happily given them my direct viewership, filled out a little form so that they could get demographics on who's watching, whatever. I think there's a lot of opportunity there, and these bigtime media folks had better start cashing in on it.
Anyway, since I couldn't find it that way I did a bit of Googling. Found someone on Yahoo Answers who had voted, kind of suspiciously, that the Yahoo Sports MLB page was the best source. How conveeenient. Of course, this isn't VIDEO streaming, it's just a continually updated play-by-play. Not bad - even a bit better than the service offered on MLB.com. (Speaking of MLB.com, some folks in that same Yahoo Answer thread suggested that they have a video streaming package that you can purchase in order to watch the games, but I don't see anything on the main page - just something about LISTENING to every game. Even if they do, this wouldn't have been very useful for us, since we normally DO get all the games, and definitely will later in the post season. I just wanted to find a way to get that ONE game.)
I was eventually directed to My Peer-to-Peer, where I was able to download a player and look through a variety of streaming sources for the game. Most of them were versions of ESPN in China, and I wasn't able to actually get the game - just a commercial which continually froze and started again. But I found one from the "Brewcrew" that, lo and behold, worked! It was a little slow at first, it had annoying banner ads above and below, and it couldn't be enlarged or made "full-screen" or anthing. But it streamed quite well and had decent video and audio quality. We tuned in JUST in time to catch the most interesting part of the game. The stream even included the commercials, which we basically muted like we always do.
There's also a strong argument here for the old system of broadcasting being pretty significantly out of date. Anything short of the "hundred million channels you don't really want" style of digital cable, this kind of programming conflict is going to happen sometimes. The fact that it was SO EASY for me to get a reliable, live (ish - it was about three minutes behind, by my guess) stream tells me that lots of people must be doing it, too. I am not the most savvy internet user BY FAR, but in about half an hour I had the game at my disposal. We, the empowered audience, obviously ARE doing it.
I have to say, I'm still a little amazed sometimes at how easy it is becoming to get things online. I've downloaded enough movies and music for that experience to be relatively blazé these days. But I wasn't really sure that I'd be able to get live streaming sports - this was an entirely new experience. I was giddy with the enormity of the thing that I had done for the rest of the evening. Yeah, this is probably nothing new for lots of people. What can I say, it was fun to feel all daring and cutting-edge technological for a little while. And I was happy to be able to do something nice for my dad, who generally hates computers and avoids them fervently.
I might make a separate post to talk about this at some point, but for now I'll just note that I'm trying to become a bit more "forum-y" this year during National Novel Writing Month. I used to be more active in the past, but in the past few years I've drifted away from it (again with the "timid internet user" stuff.)
Of course, short of spending hours upon hours online, I'm guessing (and tapping into my years-old past experience, as well) that most people tend to hone in on a few channels. This is likely what I'm going to do.
Beyond NUTV: Getting around your dorm’s limited programming
The countdown to the October 15th Project Runway finale is ticking. Fresh Battlestar Galactica episodes are slated for early 2009. Four of the best NFL games of each week get the 90-minute treatment on NFL Replay. The fall TV line-up includes new vampire series True Blood, the return of the lethal Dexter and British-imported sitcom The IT Crowd.
Any of the above sound good? Unfortunately, if you’re in a dorm and rely on the computer-based expanded NUTV service for programming, you’re going to need to find alternatives.
Though NUTV includes 37 channels, including Spike, FX and Nickelodeon, several student favorites are left out. Missing are some fairly basic cable networks— Bravo (Runway), Sci-Fi (Galactica), NFL Network (Replay) and Independent Film (IT Crowd)— as well as premium channels like HBO (True Blood) and Showtime (Dexter).
Junior Allie Kerr spent her first two years at Northwestern in Shepard, without access to Bravo, a favorite network. Her solution: day-after Project Runway parties with friends, watching the show as YouTube clips. “It was kind of pathetic, but we were addicted, so we did what we could,” she says. “It was rough because you’d have to avoid spoilers for that 24-hour span.”
Most networks, though, protect their financial interests and copyrights by pulling any full episodes from sites like YouTube— making it not just a matter of seeing a show immediately, but seeing it any time in the near future.
Freshman Jordan Blumenthal, who says he misses programming on Showtime and HBO, calls the lack of certain channels “an inconvenience.” For dorm residents to watch shows like Showtime’s Californication, “you have to resort to either waiting for it to come on DVD [or] illegal means of downloading it.”
Director of technology support services Wendy King cautions against the latter choice. “The university has policies in place against any infringement of copyright law,” King says. “I would caution that if someone wants to watch a show, they get it from a legal source.” That’s a warning to take seriously— last summer, over a dozen Northwestern students faced litigation from the RIAA for illegal downloading.
But dorm students need not despair. For the dedicated, Northwestern resourcefulness can carry the day. For instance, Kerr caught her hometown Washington Redskins games (rarely broadcast in Chicago) with Sirius online radio alongside online play-by-play charts. Other options for catching some of those more elusive shows:
Channel websites: Some networks host a few episodes of their shows online. The Sci-Fi channel website has a bunch. In the case of missed hometown NFL games, NFL.com offers fairly detailed highlight reels.
Pros: You’re getting it from the official sites, so it’s legal. You’ve got it right at home on your computer. And there are little to no commercials. (For instance—although NUTV does get Comedy Central—The Daily Show’s website features about two commercials per complete episode.)
Cons: Unfortunately, very few networks do this, and the ones that do are liable to show you just enough to get you hooked. Others might feature only minute-long clips.
Other websites: Hulu.com and Veoh.com are two of the most popular sites for streaming entire episodes of TV shows, and are certified legitimate.
Pros: Videos on-demand straight from the internet onto your computer, frequently just after they air. Many older shows and lesser-known channels. In the case of Hulu and Veoh, currently no legal issues.
Cons: A lot of clips, but rarely full episodes. Neither has anything from HBO, and Hulu only has complete episodes of a few Bravo shows. Currently, Veoh does have a video of the Dexter Season 3 pilot, as well as a few other Showtime shows (Weeds is one) but the site’s player has a bad reputation and the video collection is far from complete.
Slingbox: A invention of a California company called Sling Media, the Slingbox is a nifty gadget that transfers your home video signal over the Internet straight to your computer. Known as “place-shifting” (in comparison to TiVo’s “time-shifting”), Slingbox and comparative products are thought by many to be the next development in television convenience.
Pros: Any show you get at home, you get on your computer. Change channels from the comfort of your dorm room with an infrared signaler that latches onto your home cable box.
Cons: It’s not exactly easy to set up. You’d need to do part at home, part at your dorm, and the process might look tricky (or impossible) to a non-technophile. If you do get it working, the feed can occasionally look choppy.
Any of the above sound good? Unfortunately, if you’re in a dorm and rely on the computer-based expanded NUTV service for programming, you’re going to need to find alternatives.
Though NUTV includes 37 channels, including Spike, FX and Nickelodeon, several student favorites are left out. Missing are some fairly basic cable networks— Bravo (Runway), Sci-Fi (Galactica), NFL Network (Replay) and Independent Film (IT Crowd)— as well as premium channels like HBO (True Blood) and Showtime (Dexter).
Junior Allie Kerr spent her first two years at Northwestern in Shepard, without access to Bravo, a favorite network. Her solution: day-after Project Runway parties with friends, watching the show as YouTube clips. “It was kind of pathetic, but we were addicted, so we did what we could,” she says. “It was rough because you’d have to avoid spoilers for that 24-hour span.”
Most networks, though, protect their financial interests and copyrights by pulling any full episodes from sites like YouTube— making it not just a matter of seeing a show immediately, but seeing it any time in the near future.
Freshman Jordan Blumenthal, who says he misses programming on Showtime and HBO, calls the lack of certain channels “an inconvenience.” For dorm residents to watch shows like Showtime’s Californication, “you have to resort to either waiting for it to come on DVD [or] illegal means of downloading it.”
Director of technology support services Wendy King cautions against the latter choice. “The university has policies in place against any infringement of copyright law,” King says. “I would caution that if someone wants to watch a show, they get it from a legal source.” That’s a warning to take seriously— last summer, over a dozen Northwestern students faced litigation from the RIAA for illegal downloading.
But dorm students need not despair. For the dedicated, Northwestern resourcefulness can carry the day. For instance, Kerr caught her hometown Washington Redskins games (rarely broadcast in Chicago) with Sirius online radio alongside online play-by-play charts. Other options for catching some of those more elusive shows:
Channel websites: Some networks host a few episodes of their shows online. The Sci-Fi channel website has a bunch. In the case of missed hometown NFL games, NFL.com offers fairly detailed highlight reels.
Pros: You’re getting it from the official sites, so it’s legal. You’ve got it right at home on your computer. And there are little to no commercials. (For instance—although NUTV does get Comedy Central—The Daily Show’s website features about two commercials per complete episode.)
Cons: Unfortunately, very few networks do this, and the ones that do are liable to show you just enough to get you hooked. Others might feature only minute-long clips.
Other websites: Hulu.com and Veoh.com are two of the most popular sites for streaming entire episodes of TV shows, and are certified legitimate.
Pros: Videos on-demand straight from the internet onto your computer, frequently just after they air. Many older shows and lesser-known channels. In the case of Hulu and Veoh, currently no legal issues.
Cons: A lot of clips, but rarely full episodes. Neither has anything from HBO, and Hulu only has complete episodes of a few Bravo shows. Currently, Veoh does have a video of the Dexter Season 3 pilot, as well as a few other Showtime shows (Weeds is one) but the site’s player has a bad reputation and the video collection is far from complete.
Slingbox: A invention of a California company called Sling Media, the Slingbox is a nifty gadget that transfers your home video signal over the Internet straight to your computer. Known as “place-shifting” (in comparison to TiVo’s “time-shifting”), Slingbox and comparative products are thought by many to be the next development in television convenience.
Pros: Any show you get at home, you get on your computer. Change channels from the comfort of your dorm room with an infrared signaler that latches onto your home cable box.
Cons: It’s not exactly easy to set up. You’d need to do part at home, part at your dorm, and the process might look tricky (or impossible) to a non-technophile. If you do get it working, the feed can occasionally look choppy.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Swarmcast Solidifies Presence in China With Hupo.tv Partnership
Swarmcast, the leader in high-quality online video streaming, today announced that Shanghai-based online entertainment and video site Hupo TV (www.hupo.tv), will use Swarmcast’s Autobahn Platform as the foundation for its online video offerings across its broad range of music, celebrity, live sports and general entertainment channels. Hupo TV is one of only five licensed video sites in China and the largest professional content site, with more than 60 million unique monthly visitors. Hupo TV has partnerships with MSN China, Baidu Entertainment, China Music Radio and Major League Baseball. Through Swarmcast, Hupo TV will offer its customers and advertising partners a TV-like experience for live and on-demand Internet video. Hupo TV is part of the Broadwebasia group of companies. Broadwebasia (OTC Bulletin Board: OTC.OB), is controlled by Brad Greenspan, the founder of MySpace.
“With high quality Internet television, we can draw new audiences to our networks and build attractive advertising opportunities,” said Davis Li, CEO of Hupo TV. “It’s all about user experience and profitability. If you do not have the quality, you cannot attract advertisers. Swarmcast understands the economic and technical demands of delivering Internet television over China’s infrastructure, even during peak times.”
This announcement underscores Swarmcast’s rapid global expansion. Swarmcast recently opened an office in Beijing, following the opening of its European headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland in August. The Beijing office is the fourth presence after Tokyo, Zurich and Minneapolis.
“China represents the future of Internet television and we are committed to building that future together with partners like Hupo TV. They have the foresight to understand that you can’t build and maintain a successful business model around online video if you haven’t taken the steps to ensure the highest quality user experience,” said Kelly C. Egan, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Swarmcast. “Our new operations in China represent our commitment to the Chinese market and continues our rapid growth and strengthens our overall value proposition.”
About Swarmcast
Swarmcast’s Autobahn Platform empowers content providers to build profitable businesses around high-quality online video. The Autobahn Platform delivers full screen, high quality video that sharpens to the best experience for each viewer. Swarmcast is redefining what is possible for Internet video for the likes of Major League Baseball, and TV Tokyo.
“With high quality Internet television, we can draw new audiences to our networks and build attractive advertising opportunities,” said Davis Li, CEO of Hupo TV. “It’s all about user experience and profitability. If you do not have the quality, you cannot attract advertisers. Swarmcast understands the economic and technical demands of delivering Internet television over China’s infrastructure, even during peak times.”
This announcement underscores Swarmcast’s rapid global expansion. Swarmcast recently opened an office in Beijing, following the opening of its European headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland in August. The Beijing office is the fourth presence after Tokyo, Zurich and Minneapolis.
“China represents the future of Internet television and we are committed to building that future together with partners like Hupo TV. They have the foresight to understand that you can’t build and maintain a successful business model around online video if you haven’t taken the steps to ensure the highest quality user experience,” said Kelly C. Egan, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Swarmcast. “Our new operations in China represent our commitment to the Chinese market and continues our rapid growth and strengthens our overall value proposition.”
About Swarmcast
Swarmcast’s Autobahn Platform empowers content providers to build profitable businesses around high-quality online video. The Autobahn Platform delivers full screen, high quality video that sharpens to the best experience for each viewer. Swarmcast is redefining what is possible for Internet video for the likes of Major League Baseball, and TV Tokyo.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Is Facebook really a place to watch TV?
Slide, the Widget start-up primarily responsible for delivering individuals photo slideshows and videos announced that it would be hosting video from CBS, Warner Brothers, and Hulu on Facebook. This is the beginning of a new Facebook application that is being worked on in partnership with FunSpace Channels that will open today. Facebook and TV? Does that go together?
I personally must admit that this saddens me, as Facebook’s appeal for me has always been that it is so opposite MySpace. MySpace allows users to bog down their page with text, music, photos and video- consuming my bandwidth and irritating me to death. Facebook on the other hand, I’ve always loved for its simplicity and ease of use. It can be used in both my professional and personal life and it’s not covered with colors, widgets and videos.
Facebook offers person-to person and person to group communication venues. It is more communication-based rather than entertainment-based. I feel like Facebook is starting to become trendy, and more media and advertisement oriented. It’s no longer the Facebook I used to love.
When Facebook opened the doors to application developers last year, I knew it was doomed. It was the start of Facebook appearing more like MySpace. The new redesign took Facebook back to the days of simplicity requiring users to actually click a tab to view the widgets and applications of their friends. I really thought Facebook was headed back toward a communication-geared website.
I am not impressed with the television-on-Facebook concept. Warner Brothers, CBS, and Hulu all currently have their own sites for streaming media- and when I want to watch TV on the web, that’s where I go to. The last thing I am interested in doing is logging on to Facebook and watching my shows through what is already slow and quirky at times when it comes to using applications. I am probably not alone in saying that if I want to see a clip from my favorite show I’m headed straight for YouTube, or the television network itself.
Facebook needs to be left alone, and left to what it’s designed for - communication and keeping in touch on a professional and personal level. Leave the streaming media, and bandwidth eating applications to MySpace.
I personally must admit that this saddens me, as Facebook’s appeal for me has always been that it is so opposite MySpace. MySpace allows users to bog down their page with text, music, photos and video- consuming my bandwidth and irritating me to death. Facebook on the other hand, I’ve always loved for its simplicity and ease of use. It can be used in both my professional and personal life and it’s not covered with colors, widgets and videos.
Facebook offers person-to person and person to group communication venues. It is more communication-based rather than entertainment-based. I feel like Facebook is starting to become trendy, and more media and advertisement oriented. It’s no longer the Facebook I used to love.
When Facebook opened the doors to application developers last year, I knew it was doomed. It was the start of Facebook appearing more like MySpace. The new redesign took Facebook back to the days of simplicity requiring users to actually click a tab to view the widgets and applications of their friends. I really thought Facebook was headed back toward a communication-geared website.
I am not impressed with the television-on-Facebook concept. Warner Brothers, CBS, and Hulu all currently have their own sites for streaming media- and when I want to watch TV on the web, that’s where I go to. The last thing I am interested in doing is logging on to Facebook and watching my shows through what is already slow and quirky at times when it comes to using applications. I am probably not alone in saying that if I want to see a clip from my favorite show I’m headed straight for YouTube, or the television network itself.
Facebook needs to be left alone, and left to what it’s designed for - communication and keeping in touch on a professional and personal level. Leave the streaming media, and bandwidth eating applications to MySpace.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Who Cares About Broadband Internet Anyways
Yes, not too long ago there was a company that launched Internet use into the average household. Remember the name AOL? AOL was pretty much the standard for Internet communications, even for many businesses. You waited for the sound of your modem to dial up and viola ... you had access to news, chat rooms, search engines, and a whole vast unknown world of web sites to explore.While we all probably enjoyed the great wonder of the technology, dial up was a pain in the butt. We had to wait to connect and even then cross our fingers hoping we wouldn't be disconnected from our coveted connection. Disconnects led to newer and improved versions of AOL and birthed competing companies such as Earthlink promising fewer dropped connections online.As people adapted to the Internet they began to want to surf the Internet faster to obtain more information and do more. To address the issue, many providers began creating dial up that claimed to be faster. The problem with the faster dial up was to get the optimal speed you had to sacrifice image quality or images altogether.The cries of the consumer did not go unheard and DSL was marketed to the public as the more attractive option to downloading and viewing pictures while still browsing the world wide web. The big problem with DSL however was the cost. DSL was very expensive for it's day so many suffered at the hands of the slow dial up connections that first brought them Internet connectivity.The days of over priced high speed Internet (broadband) are finally coming to an end, and at a very good time in web technology. With the addition of sticky sites such as YouTube and MySpace you cannot enjoy the sites without broadband.Streaming video of comedic situations, live action, amazing events, and even friends and family are all posted on YouTube and you do not want to wait 15-20 minutes to watch a 5 minute video. Broadband allows video to play almost instantly creating an almost television like experience.An additional benefit are software update downloads. Critical updates for your computer operating system as well as anti-virus programs can be made over the Internet without interrupting your surfing experience or tying up your phone line for 3 to 4 hours.Not only does a broadband connection allow you to watch video, download programs, and surf the World Wide Web at incredible speeds, but you can actually use it to save on phone bills as well. With the invention of VoIP technology you can make unlimited calls throughout the United States from a regular phone by utilizing your broadband Internet connection through many VoIP providers.Broadband allows you to also do instant messaging with relatives and friend with live video from a web camera keeping you closer to loved ones far away. The better your broadband connection the better quality of voice and video you will enjoy as well.With broadband the uses are almost unlimited and time is less spent on aggravating long waits for whatever you want to do online. I think it's clear what the benefits are for having broadband Internet. Don't be at home without it.
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