Supermarkets already dominate much of physical entertainment retail – now they are arming themselves to compete on internet screens. In the latest chapter, Sainsbury’s is tapping Rovi to fight Tesco’s Blinkbox, while Tesco cans music downloads for We7′s streams. Read more »
Online advertising is now a multi-billion dollar industry. But it still languishes far behind ye olde television commercials for effectiveness, consumers say in a new survey. Read more »
Many mobile viewers have happily watched YouTube videos with minimal advertising exposure. But now Google is introducing skippable in-stream ads from its web player to mobile devices. Read more »
Subscription media services are rapidly seeing consumers build up libraries in their rental ecosystems. But, as they become more popular, operators must keep it easy for users to go back to the content they love and pay for. Read more »
Local is hot, at least for Axel Springer. The German publisher is buying a local portal, meinestadt.de, as a vehicle to gain exposure for local online classified advertising. Read more »
The UK publisher of 230 local newspapers has set ambitious digital growth targets for its new CEO’s turnaround. So far, Johnston’s online gains are going slow from a low base. But the most interesting part of its strategy may lay ahead. Read more »
There is no doubt the second-screen TV viewing phenomenon is growing, at least among viewers of a certain age. But what are people really using their additional device for whilst watching the box? Read more »
China’s online video market is set for strong growth – so much so that the leading services are merging to share the costs of expansion. Read more »
The company has free rein to repeat its bullish declarations that it will out-bid incumbent BSkyB for UK movie rights. But what exactly will that take? Let’s compare the two outfits’ abilities to spend on premium digital content as they vie for European customers. Read more »
Waves of music labels are keen to join a recently-launched new platform that promises higher returns than big-name streaming services. But can Drip.fm, which charges the same for just a few tracks each month that Spotify does for millions, entertain users as well as owners? Read more »
Digital-replica magazine circulation has grown fast this year. But, so far, the emerging sector is still too tiny to have any positive impact on an industry whose overall circulation goes on declining. Read more »
The newspaper is an ardent advocate of free and open online journalism. But that doesn’t mean it won’t charge on devices where and when it can. Read more »
A new agency that charges “TV-like” internet services to have their content standards regulated has proved controversial in the industry. But ATVOD has been given wholehearted backing to continue its work. Read more »
Pay-TV leader BSkyB is the latest to turn the iPad in to a TV remote control. Its approach relies on the tactility of the entire tablet screen and requires an additional WiFi dongle. Read more »
Buoyed by better results than expected from its first European foray, Netflix will head north this winter – a move which means it now competes with Lovefilm in a majority of the Amazon brand’s markets. Read more »
The New York Times is looking to BBC director-general Mark Thompson to steer it toward a digital news future. But who is Thompson, and what do his eight years’ UK public service leadership say about the man coming to Manhattan? Read more »
A 38-year-old Englishman becomes the first to be jailed for linking to illegally-hosted movies and TV shows. The method of his prosecution troubles piracy campaigners but delights entertainment owners. Read more »
Distributors are passing the buck and regulators are openly contradicting each other. UK VOD services may take heart as another regulator decision is overturned. But the rulings and counter-rulings leave liability for internet video in flux. Read more »
Nine months after aiming to triple its business base, the FilmFlex UK online movie service is preparing to supply another service with PPV films from this autumn. But can its clients compete with Netflix and Lovefilm? Read more »
More data suggests these were the “mobile games”. London 2012′s organising committee says most digital engagement was via mobile devices, as it closes the lid on the Olympics with an end-of-games stats dump. Read more »
The BBC’s celebrated ‘four-screen’ London 2012 output has revealed a late-night iPad fetish and new high water marks for live video and mobile content consumption. ‘This has really been the multi-platform Games,’ the corporation says. Read more »
No wonder Tencent ranked #9 in this year’s paidContent 50. In a land considered a piracy hotbed, the massive Chinese service has attracted millions to pay for online experiences. It’s all thanks to the humble instant messenger, Tencent GM Sophia Ong tells paidContent. Read more »
Portals used to be the on-ramp to a world of desktop web services. But individual apps and services rule the smartphone waves. Sina admits it’s worried and frightened about its role as internet springboard evaporating on mobile. Read more »
Only a sliver of people who have tried out The Guardian’s iPad edition for free end up subscribing after their trial. But does that small percentage matter? Other publishers also see low premium take-up, The Guardian is more interested in selling ads than subs. Read more »
A bid for full live English Premier League soccer rights may have been out of Google’s league. But could YouTube yet bid for online highlights? Read more »
Tech start-up buzz is bringing Berlin to the attention of suits who broker company investments and sales. That means many more German outfits are likely to see money sloshing around, just like SoundCloud did. Read more »
As the market for music on discs shrinks, struggling retailer HMV will try blurring online and in-store to beef up plastic. But is the initiative just designed to defend a fast-diminishing old business? Read more »
Just how poor is the outlook for publishing? News Corp has answered that question by devaluing its own activities before splitting them from its TV businesses. To blame? Restructuring costs, diminishing advertising and the gap left by the News Of The World, the company says. Read more »
When is an explosion in mobile users ever a bad thing? When those users are switching from your website and you have no mobile business model. That is what growing numbers of online service are now worrying about. Read more »
We crunched data from the last 12 years to examine UK newspaper and website readership. Here is what the results say about the future of online news. Read more »
Struggling to finance its core TV channel amid funding cutbacks, Welsh-language broadcaster S4C is re-committing up to £1 million per year to producers it hopes can give an overdue lift to its online ambitions. Read more »
As Facebook Payments revenue through Zynga games slows up, the social network is turning to gambling for more direct user money. How will the social network balance responsible behaviour with the need to impress investors? Read more »
Half of searches and video streams are coming from mobiles and tablets during the Olympic games. Has the mobile internet reached a tipping point? New Google data would seem to suggest as much. Read more »
In the video game industry, power and money is moving away from high street retailers. But how will development studios adapt to an ecosystem of new platform power brokers? Read more »
UK TV viewers are gobbling up 24 simultaneous live Olympics streams the BBC is taking from web to TV. First-week data shows a big appetite for viewing of all kinds. Read more »
New technology can insert realistic branded 3D objects in to TV shows and movies. Channel 4 is getting the ball rolling with the first of several planned 2012 roll-outs. Read more »
France’s Hadopi piracy agency has warned hundreds of thousands accused of piracy. But it’s become frowned upon by the country’s new government. First step in reform is to cut the agency’s budget. Read more »
Almost half of the internet video NBC is serving this Olympics is going to mobiles and tablets. That’s a watershed for portable TV. But what happens when at-home internet TV becomes commonplace? Read more »
Stung by online criticism of its “#NBCFail” Olympics, the broadcaster comes out fighting with a range of record cross-platform viewing stats it says show critics are just a ‘vocal minority’. But can it make the most of digital when the laser focus is on prime time TV? Read more »
Somewhere over the rainbow for Phorm is a land where it gets to target brands’ ads to users based on their every web browsing habit. After UK controversy, the latest emerging market in its sights is Turkey. Read more »
