THE DOWN LOW

January 17, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

With evidence gathering that online websites are benefiting from the ongoing Hollywood writer's strike and shrinking TV content, it should be little surprise that Google and its YouTube property would be the lead recipient of any migration.

According to a new report by the research firm, comScore, Google increased its video market share in November by more than 2 percentage points to 31.3%.

The comScore survey, called the Video Metrix Report, found that American Internet users watched 3.25 hours of online video in November, totaling 9.5 billion online videos. Among all sites, Google's ranked first with a total of 3 billion videos viewed. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 419 million videos viewed or 4.4%, followed by Yahoo! sites with 328 million or 3.5% and Viacom Digital with 245...Read More
Industries: Studios/Suppliers, Technology, VOD/Downloads

January 14, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

New evidence suggest that visits to online video sites have risen drammatically in the last year, aided in part by the ongoing writer's strike and lack of new material on TV.

A pair of recent studies by Nielson Online and Pew Internet and American Life Project show an increasing number of Americans visiting online web sites -- including amateur sites where they watch and post videos -- in the last year and some sites such as YouTube and Crackle spiking upward in visits cooinciding with the writer's strike that started in late October.

And some companies, like Blockbuster, say they expect customers to rent more DVDs, as the television content grows stale with the elongated strike.

According to Nielsen Online, sites like YouTube and Crackle, have experienced unprecedented growth in the two months since the strike began. YouTube's audience wa...Read More
Industries: Retail, Studios/Suppliers, Technology, VOD/Downloads

January 9, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

If enough people say it, it begins to take on a life of its own. A confluence of unnamed sources and rumors are pointing to a big announcement by Apple CEO Steve Jobs that five major studios will provide 24-hour rentals on iTunes.

And it appears that he may have inked the deals in time to make headlines when he opens the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Bloomberg reported today that Jobs has cut a deal with Warner Bros. in addition to Paramount, Walt Disney Co., Lionsgate and Fox to offer $3.99 rentals on iTunes. Not expected to join the club is NBC Universal, which had a public nasty with Apple this fall and pulled all of its programming from the web store.

No one in Apple's camp or any of the studios has commented on the speculation.

The rental content would help boost sales of Apple products that are ve...Read More
Industries: Retail, Studios/Suppliers, VOD/Downloads

January 9, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

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Industries: Retail, VOD/Downloads

January 8, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Despite his penchant for the theatrical, Apple CEO Steve Jobs may not have all his studios in a row in time for MacWorld Conference & Expo next week to unveil his master plan to organize Hollywood under the iTunes digital tent.

While Jobs is expected to unveil iTunes movie rentals with 20th Century Fox at the annual event, BusinessWeek reports that Jobs is still hammering out agreements with several other major studios. A major sticking point is holding up the process.

Jobs wants the titles on iTunes available for download and rental on the same day and date as their physical DVD release, which usually precedes pay per view and electronic rental by a 30-day window. To gain the concession, Jobs may agree to pay higher wholesale prices than he would like, closer to the $17 paid for physical DVDs by Wal-Mart and other retailers.

Warner Bros....Read More
Industries: Retail, Studios/Suppliers