None of this makes Apple TV a viable cable replacement for those who want premium content and live sports because it still requires that pesky cable subscription. But Apple is slowly broadening its living room play to compete with Xbox and Roku. Read more at GigaOM »
Users don’t need a Rdio subscription to access movies and TV shows on Vdio anymore – but the services are working on even closer ties. Read more at GigaOM »
Love Amsterdam? So does Netflix: The streaming service revealed that it’s going to launch in the Netherlands later this year. Read more »
Netflix and Amazon both want to be the company that captures your kid’s screen time this summer. Read more »
Thought there was no money in producing original content for YouTube’s audience? The folks at Bedrocket Entertainment beg to differ — and just invested in What’s Trending. Read more »
No, your ISP isn’t intentionally slowing down your YouTube or Netflix video streams. But it may also not exactly be helping to get them sped up. Read more at GigaOM »
Netflix and DreamWorks have signed a deal to create a bunch of original shows based on DreamWorks properties like Shrek and Kung Fu Panda. Read more »
Apple’s long-rumored Apple TV has yet to materialize – and one reason for the delay may be that cable companies have been engaging in anti-competitive behavior. Read more at GigaOM »
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts showed off some of the company’s new tech and explained how Comcast is responding to changing viewer expectations. Read more »
Executives at this year’s annual Cable Show are trying to figure out their industry’s future. The technology for delivering faster broadband is ready, but the business model of the future isn’t. Read more at GigaOM »
Doubleclick, an ad service owned by Google, published new findings that suggest the online video ad market is rapidly becoming bigger and more diverse. Read more »
The growth in online video shows means more alternatives to TV than ever before — but advertising dollars are stubbornly sticking with the older medium. Read more »
Rumors are circulating that a high-profile multi-channel network may create its own video distribution platform. Is this the best move for Maker? And what other companies might follow? Read more »
YouTube’s rollout of premium pay channels may sound promising, but transitioning from the home of free online video to a pay site will be challenging – and may be of little value for existing brands. Read more »
Roku users will soon have access to yet another video subscription service. Redbox Instant will launch its very own Roku channel this summer. Read more at GigaOM »
Vidora and Showyou both want to convince publishers to join forces instead of trying to distribute their content through standalone apps. Read more at GigaOM »
AT&T is seeking a guinea pig to test out its idea for a subsidized mobile internet, and Hulu fits the bill perfectly. If Hulu foots the bill for its own data traffic, consumers could stream video to their hearts’ content. Read more at GigaOM »
Professional sports video is worth many billions of dollars — and the leagues are getting smarter about parcelling it out in small pieces to sell across different platforms. Read more »
Two out of five YouTube video views are coming from mobile devices in the U.S., and the video service is increasingly cashing in on these mobile views. Read more »
Amazon has signed a big streaming video deal with Viacom. The multi-year agreement includes Prime Instant Video access to kids’ shows like Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants, plus grownup shows like Tosh.0. Read more »
The proposed new rules would stop carriers from blocking services that compete with their own, but still allow subtler types of discrimination. It would be an improvement, but also allow the creation of a two-speed internet. Read more at GigaOM »
The world of mobile is getting faster and faster, and that means more LTE everywhere. It also means less talking, more Facebook and, of course, more video. The bottom line — we are only just getting started. Some data points from Ericsson’s mobility report. Read more at GigaOM »
What does Phil DeFranco’s new deal with Revision3 say about the state of the industry, and are there other creators who might be right for similar deals? Read more »
A new technology lets consumers watch and record live TV shows on smartphones and other devices. Due to court fights, a large part of the country won’t see it anytime soon — here’s a visual. Read more at GigaOM »
Netflix wants to triple its original content spend within the next few years, according to its Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos. Read more »
Here’s one reason why Yahoo and Hulu would be a good match: They’re practically roommates already! But the deal would also make sense from a business perspective. Read more »
“The domino is going to fall,” IAC chairman Barry Diller predicted. How fast and how hard, we don’t exactly know, but the television market is ripe for change. Read more »
Guess who else likes Arrested Development? Pirates, that’s who. The new season of the cult show has been downloaded by 100,000 file sharers within a single day. Read more »
Netflix declined to renew its licensing deal with Viacom last week, leading to the loss of popular streaming kids’ shows like Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants. Toddlers nationwide had a terrible weekend. Read more »
Viewers got a first taste of a new partnership between BuzzFeed and CNN with a video clip that appeared on the viral site Tuesday morning. The deal also appears to involve syndicating YouTube content. Read more »
Ostriches, Google cars, SNL cast members, cameos, Liza Minelli and so much narration — the return of Arrested Development is finally here, and binge-viewing Season 4 this weekend revealed one of the densest seasons of television ever. Read more »
A three-day holiday weekend deserves three podcasts, no? In case you missed them, here are the audio episodes from this past week where GigaOM breaks down and analyzses the latest tech news. Read more at GigaOM »
Is there a reason Vine videos are exactly six seconds long? Yes, and it has a lot to do with high profile court cases that almost destroyed hip hop music. Read more at GigaOM »
The great game between broadcasters and upstart services that stream TV took another turn this week as Fox and others filed a new copyright lawsuit in Washington, DC. Read more »
Dora, Diego, Spongebob, Blue’s Clues and a number of other kids TV shows were taken offline by Netflix this week as the company’s deal with Viacom is expiring. Read more »
Netflix continues its competition with HBO by going into the stand-up comedy space. Altogether, the company may launch up to 16 original shows next year. Read more »
Soo Meta redefines video storytelling by turning Storify-like content curation into great-looking video slideshows. The platform even allows producers to add polls and quizzes to their videos. Read more »
The Internet Archive recently launched an ambitious project to collect and index all broadcasts since the start of television. This week it got a major boost. Read more »
Pay TV providers in the US lost subscribers for the first time ever over the 12 months ending in March. Especially alarming is the slowing growth of lower-priced offers. Read more at GigaOM »
When soap operas “One Life to Live” and “All My Children” moved online, it wasn’t clear how fans would watch them. It turns out that most viewers are binge-watching — so the soaps’ production company is cutting back on the number of new episodes each week. Read more »
