Many publishers are introducing digital fees but, in print, shrinking economics are moving others to abandon cover prices. Their hope is to drive up free circulation and advertiser interest. Read more »
A game console that doesn’t yet exist now has committed support from the web’s biggest music video service, amongst other operators. For Ouya, the Kickstarter effect is making for plenty of buzz. Read more »
What can a 153-year-old news publisher teach five tech startups? Digital expertise may flow both ways as Ireland’s newspaper of record offers desk space and funding to new companies whose products it hopes to adopt. Read more »
Valueclick, Demand Media, the New York Times and Hulu are among the companies that didn’t make the cut for this year’s paidContent 50, in part because we took our list global this year. China, meanwhile, is heavily represented. Read more »
The companies that made our second-annual paidContent 50 had a collective $150 billion in digital revenues. Here are some other key trends and data points that emerged from our list this year. Read more »
You want to know which media companies are making the most money in the digital economy? Welcome to the second-annual paidContent 50 list Read more »
China’s online games market is huge. Now some of its biggest publishers want to replicate that success in the west. Where does that leave Zynga and Playfish? Read more »
Irony of ironies – after encouraging fans to tweet copiously, the International Olympic Committee requests London 2012 attendees limit their output only to “urgent” status updates. The problem – mobile updates from some attendees have clogged a mobile network used by official TV data suppliers. Read more »
The BBC’s commercial wing is promising six months of office space and advice to new start-ups. But what will it get out of the program, and how will it help fledgling companies? We ask the woman in charge. Read more »
Company filings this week suggest economic worries have resurfaced the downturn in the free web’s engine oil – advertising . Some digital operators are celebrating sheltering in paid content, but others are still courting advertisers. What do their fortunes tell us about the recipe for online success? Read more »
BSkyB has disclosed the startup costs for its new over-the-top internet TV venture. The amount tells us how much the UK pay-TV leader will invest in seeking new online customers and protecting its satellite business from IPTV challengers. Read more »
Boxes for the UK’s big internet TV venture have finally gone on sale, priced a hefty £299, four years after it was conceived. But YouView may be the wrong service, aimed at the wrong market at the wrong time. Read more »
Netflix’s first disclosure of European subscriber numbers shows it has quickly become a big competitor to local incumbent Lovefilm, thanks to heavy marketing outlay. Read more »
When is “bye-bye buffering” not “bye-bye buffering”? When Virgin Media acknowledges its own ad starring Olympic athlete Usain Bolt was mere “puffery”, landing it in regulatory hot water. Read more »
With peripheral inquiries ongoing in to conspiracy and media ethics, Tuesday’s announcement that Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and six others will be charged for “phone hacking” shows the News Of The World furore will soon finally focus on the original criminal allegations. Read more »
UK regulators will next month consider whether to go on allowing voting in TV talent shows via mobile apps, following high-profile slip-ups by one of the industry’s leading vendors. Read more »
Traditional TV will dominate, viewing on other devices is growing, and researchers can’t agree on how many people will watch the Olympics on mobile and tablet – that’s the conclusion from sifting research forecasts on the matter. Read more »
Amazon is amalgamating development teams from two acquired companies in to a London “centre of excellence” for streaming movies, TV and music on devices around the world. Read more »
Rupert Murdoch’s resignation from News Corp’s UK publishing boards – part of the company’s separation in to two companies – suggests dreams of a converged, multimedia power player may never come to pass. Read more »
Speaking with paidContent at the Olympic Park, International Olympic Committee social media head Alex Huot explains social media rules must safeguard TV rightsholders, and says big media can find a new role for themselves… Read more »
Real-time soccer fantasy betting outfit Picklive’s founders look toward their next early-stage startup, after selling to digital pools operator Sports Millions. Read more »
The London Olympics’ host team will launch two digital products next week, joining broadcasters, other media, the IOC and the games’ organising committee in seeking fans’ electronic mindshare. Read more »
The International Olympic Committee pushes out integration with a host of social platforms and attempts to clarify rules as London 2012 draws near, following recent criticism of its policies Read more »
The web publishing services startup founded by ex Google, DoubleClick, Brightcove and Lycos execs is raising €1.2 million from Arts Alliance and others. Read more »
Half a year after formation, the music subscription service spun out of Omnifone is readying to go at the unlimited-access opportunity – but all such hopefuls will be challenged to go against Spotify. Read more »
Piano Media, the digital news payments kiosk through which several Slovenian and Slovakian publishers have begun charging for some of their content, is opening shop in its third country, Poland, as paidContent speculated last month. Six publishers (Agora, Murator, Polskapresse, Media Regionalne, Edytor and Axel Springer-Ringier) […] Read more »
Guardian News & Media is re-opening its voluntary redundancy programme after its “digital-first” survival strategy’s first year resulted in much higher company losses. Read more »
BBC Online spent four percent less in 2011/12 than the previous year amid cutbacks, its annual report shows. Read more »
BBC Worldwide is ringfencing early BBC.com profits for its journalism operation and writing value off its travel publisher thanks to currency markets. Read more »
The man leading the launch of BSyB’s new internet-only TV service, Now TV, tells paidContent he aims to repackage Sky programming for online devices in fresh new ways and with a lean operating model. Coming soon – a brand new approach to exploiting Sky’s lucrative sports rights. Read more »
News Corp’s part-owned UK satcaster tentatively launches the first phase of what could be the start of a strategy-changing new business line – internet-delivered pay-TV that puts its satellite dishes in the shade. Read more »
The market for in-video product placement is growing in TV and Hollywood. A company whose software inserts digital products after editing is accepting more funds to go at the sector. Read more »
Agitated by a ruling that it may have locked real-time data customers in to its services against competition law, Thomson Reuters makes concessions to let users use rivals – but they will have to pay. Read more »
Digital music retailer 7digital is shaping up to be one of the main smartphone competitors to iTunes Store, as it announces another big manufacturer carriage deal. Read more »
The promising social TV app startup Zeebox, which is due for U.S. launch this summer, will next head to Australia. Read more »
According to an Eric Schmidt prediction, Google TV shipments should be widespread by now. So let’s check the reality against the Google executive chairman’s targets. Read more »
The Kobo e-reader looks like becoming an e-books success in Japan following its acquisition by Pinterest investor Rakuten. Read more »
Playfire, a website through which gamers connect and share their playing prowess, is merging with a specialist game download retailer, in a small deal that may be a further sign of the social/commerce nexus. Read more »
Paying for online news is still a minority sport – but participation may be growing thanks to tablet computers. Read more »
Allen & Co. is tapping Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, Apple and Google to raise up to $150 million in funding for music video distributor Vevo, according to a weekend Wall Street Journal report. Read more »
