Amazon’s European subsidiary now has exclusive second pay-TV window rights locked up for three of Hollywood’s six major studios, leaving precious little premium content left over for rival Netflix to acquire when it expands into Western Europe later this year. Read more »
As part of its settlement of a class-action privacy suit, Netflix will “de-couple” information about which movies its former customers rented from their basic identification profiles no more than one year after they leave the service. Read more »
Just what do you call a company that hurts and helps your business at the same time? With Netflix draining ratings for some programs, spiking the performance of others, and all the while increasing broadband sales, Cox Communications’ Patrick Esser came up with the perfect term. Read more »
With TV repeats and original series emerging as important drivers of Netflix’s content mix, the company has made two key executive moves intended to bolster those areas. Cindy Holland will now serve as VP of original content, while Jason Ropell will oversee U.S. TV licensing. Read more »
Netflix isn’t satisfied with Comcast’s announcement that the broadband provider is going to raise its bandwidth cap from 250GB to 300GB per month. The real issue, the video service said, is Comcast’s unwillingness to count its own Xfinity.tv service as part of that cap. Read more at GigaOM »
Speaking at an investor event in Boston Wednesday, Netflix CFO David Wells said online viewing of Nickelodeon content probably has very little to do with the double-digit ratings drops on the linear Viacom channel. He compared the ongoing discussion to the “global warming debate.” Read more »
Expansion into the Southern Hemisphere is proving more costly and time-consuming than Netflix anticipated. But the company has made another significant content investment in the region, bringing 24, Glee, How I Met Your Mother and other Fox TV shows and movies to Latin America. Read more »
DirecTV continued to reap the benefits of Latin American expansion in Q1, increasing revenue in the region by 33 percent while providing a role model for other subscription-based media companies like Netflix who are also endeavoring the expense of southern infiltration. Still, investors remain unimpressed. Read more »
Speaking to investors during Dish Network’s Q1 conference call Monday, Dish chairman Charlie Ergen said the reason his company hasn’t reached a carriage renewal agreement with AMC stems from the fact that the cable programmer has “devalued” its content through its streaming deals. Read more »
A new deal between independent e-bookstore Diesel eBooks and rewards points company Koinz Media lets people redeem their bank and hotel rewards points and airline miles for e-books. But Kindle e-reader owners won’t benefit. Read more »
Despite a research report that ties stark ratings drops on Viacom’s flagship kids channel to viewing of its shows on Netflix, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman still insists the declines result from a complicated series of factors that have very little to do with streaming. Read more »
With chief James Dolan mentioning unspecified software investments during Cablevision’s first-quarter earnings report Thursday morning, BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield believes the company is on the cusp of announcing a subscription video-on-demand service similar to Comcast’s Streampix. Read more »
Hulu should require viewers to have a cable subscription, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes suggested in an investor call following the company’s Q1 2012 earnings report this morning. “We think Hulu authenticating makes sense,” Bewkes said. “We think Hulu is heading in the right direction now.” Read more »
With initiatives like TV Everywhere and broadband usage caps, is the cable industry biting the hands of the streaming video companies that are driving its most vibrant prospect for growth? Why the cable industry might consider enabling Netflix and YouTube, not hindering them. Read more »
Has the long-moribund home entertainment sector finally started to turn the corner? Significant growth from subscription streaming and Blu-ray rentals and sales give the industry its second up quarter out of the last three, according to studio-funded research firm the Digital Entertainment Group. Read more »
While its longtime DVD-rental rival, Netflix has signaled its eventual retreat from the disc business, kiosk operator Redbox seems more than happy to take on any physical-media customers Netflix wants to cut loose. Read more »
As government strives to keep up with the broadband age, the Senate held a hearing covering the future of television, but midway through I realized that the Senate has it all wrong. The future of TV isn’t found in deregulation, it’s found on the Internet. Read more at GigaOM »
Netflix has formed its own political action committee called Flixpac, and my sources indicate that the biggest issues it plans to tackle will be how to let folks share their movies on social networks and the more nuanced issues of broadband competition and network neutrality. Read more at GigaOM »
Faced with a maturing market for satellite TV services in the U.S., DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) is pinning its future growth needs on the Latin Amer… Read more »
Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) is eager to steer its core business away from mere movie rentals to an operation that resembles, to some degree, premiu… Read more »
Mike Lang has resigned as CEO of Miramax effective immediately, according to the film company. Lang, a former News Corp. (NSDQ: NWS) exec i… Read more »
The UK inquiry in to whether Sky Movies’ exclusive first-run subscription VOD deals with six major Hollywood major studios is anti-competiti… Read more »
In 2010, people couldn’t say enough good things about Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) — it was the darling of the digital entertainment world. Then la… Read more »
Barry Diller’s latest investment in media disruption hasn’t even launched yet and it’s already in court. That’s part of the appeal of Aereo… Read more »
Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX), which is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to compete with premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime in the… Read more »
Say this about TV Everywhere — it’s not making the complicated world of TV video streaming any easier to figure out. On Tuesday, cable netw… Read more »
U.S. consumers are increasing the amount of time they spend on internet video-on-demand services like Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX), and cable compan… Read more »
Yesterday, we suggested that video-rental chain Redbox might have to cave on its demand for 28-day release window with Universal, and wind u… Read more »
The last year has been pretty good to Redbox. The rental kiosk chain is about to embark on a new streaming venture with Verizon, and has bee… Read more »
Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) is usually cast as a cable competitor, but CEO Reed Hastings said he thinks cable will eventually become an on-demand i… Read more »
After last fall’s shareholder revolt, Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) recovered somewhat in December and January. But that momentum has slowed this mon… Read more »
Investors have filed to settle a lawsuit that claims Coinstar wrongfully juiced its share price by failing to disclose that some studios had… Read more »
Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) is rolling out a new streaming on-demand offering called Xfinity Streampix, which will bring more library content to s… Read more »
With its content deal with premium cable channel Starz set to expire next week, Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) is moving quickly to fill the void of p… Read more »
DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) continues to provide a useful blueprint for other U.S. media companies looking to expand into Latin America. On Thursday… Read more »
Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) disclosed this afternoon that it will pay to settle nationwide claims that it illegally retained customers’ rental hist… Read more »
The launch of Netflix’s first original series positions the company right where it wants to be – competing against pay cable companies lik… Read more »
Offering perhaps the most defined threat to streaming movie leader Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) so far, Verizon and Redbox parent company Cointstar… Read more »
Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) is hoping a new tech partner will help make its streaming more efficient to satisfy new bandwidth caps from internet se… Read more »
Nickelodeon, usually a ratings star, has been on a slide recently, and several analysts this week put the blame on Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX). On… Read more »
