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
Monday, October 27, 2008
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.
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