TV Everywhere: Cable TV Business Struggles with Windowing Strategies

  • Consumers are faced with a dizzying array of options to catch up with TV viewing as the cable business struggles with windowing strategies across multiple digital platforms.
  • One frustration for viewers is the inconsistent manner in which their favorite shows are offered online and on-demand.
  • “What is delaying the multichannel TV world is a complex web of vested interests ranging from the cable and satellite operators that dictate most of the distribution parameters for programming to the studios that hold onto some of the rights to the content they license to the networks,” notes Variety. “Then there are the varying off-air marketing strategies, not to mention just old-fashioned indecision.”
  • Programmers are faced with ad revenue challenges when considering premiere telecasts, reruns, DVR playback and more.
  • “Cablers also need to protect their relationships with operators that pay them a fortune in carriage fees,” explains the article. “On the other hand, programmers want to maximize the exposure of their shows in ways that can drive ratings back to on-air, dilute the appeal of piracy and capitalize on the momentum of online video in general.”
  • The industry’s lack of uniformity has evolved during the dawn of the TV Everywhere era, enabled by over-the-top products and services (and impacted by consumers’ changing expectations).
  • “What we’re really trying to do as an industry is to get a point of consistent time-shifted product available on all devices and platforms to pay TV subscribers,” said Mike Hopkins, president of distribution at Fox Networks.

Should Cable and Satellite TV Business Models Adapt to New Technologies?

  • “Even as cable/satellite TV carriers like Comcast and DirecTV squabble over dollars and cents with broadcast and cable networks like NBC and Viacom, the very structure of their decades-old business model is under attack from new Internet technologies and services, as well as new government regulations,” reports ReadWriteWeb.
  • “At stake is the future of how people watch and pay for television and video — and who controls the experience,” notes the article.
  • The dominance of cable and satellite TV providers is being chipped away by Internet video services like YouTube, streaming Internet TV boxes such as Roku and Boxee, online media distribution venues including Netflix and Hulu, smart TVs and related over-the-top (OTT) platforms.
  • “The other half of the squeeze on the cable TV industry comes from the ossified business practices of the industry itself,” suggests the article. “Cliffhanger battles for carriage rights that lead content creators to pull their programming from cable and satellite systems if they can’t get a deal they like is shooting the industry in the foot.”
  • Frustrated consumers (and some lawmakers) are pushing for change to the current bundling model, for example. “Programmers like Viacom typically won’t allow anyone to buy their channels individually, but we hope to change that,” said DirecTV recently.
  • Some analysts suggest the impending changes do not signal a death toll for cable TV, but rather a transition where mobile devices will be used in conjunction with TVs. We should expect the growth of second screen apps to be a significant influence in this space (and may even help save cable).
  • “Cable TV’s ratings may fall as OTT becomes more popular, but don’t cancel cable’s season just because the plot is getting a major rewrite,” comments ReadWriteWeb.

Belgian Broadcaster Streams Olympics: First Live Trial of MPEG-DASH

  • The DASH Promoters Group is a newly formed collection of companies and organizations, supported by the European Broadcasting Union, that is working to promote the adoption of MPEG-DASH as an international standard for multimedia delivery over the Internet.
  • According to the group’s website, they believe the use of this open standard “will accelerate market growth, enable interoperability between content preparation tools, servers, CDNs and end devices, reduce the cost of delivery and eventually benefit the end user.”
  • During the London Olympics, Belgian broadcaster VRT is offering its audience an opportunity to stream the games via MPEG-DASH. “The public trial allows for a maximum of 1,000 concurrent viewers to watch their favorite sport events on a laptop, smartphone or tablet,” explains the site.
  • This marks the first live public trial of MPEG-DASH (dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP), which the group hopes will serve as the next step toward adoption of a standard and eventual commercial deployment.
  • The DASH Promoters Group is facilitating the streaming with DRM content protection — available via the VRT Sporza website — but due to copyright restrictions it will not be available outside the Belgian territory.
  • “This trial is supported by a number of DASH Promoters Group members,” notes the DASH-PG site. “Encoding is provided by Elemental, Harmonic and Media Excel; streaming origins are courtesy of Wowza and CodeShop, who is also providing encryption; Web clients for PC and Android are supplied by Adobe; and BuyDRM is providing applications for iOS and Android, which incorporate its DRM solution.”

Rebranding Los Angeles: Silicon Beach Emerging as New Tech Hotbed

  • A new geographic region is joining the ranks of Silicon Valley and San Francisco as a hotbed for technology start-ups.
  • “Silicon Beach” is a 3-mile expanse running from Venice to Santa Monica. It currently serves as home to a collection of start-ups such as Viddy, JibJab, Hitfix, ShoeDazzle, BeachMint and Mogreet.
  • Most of the young Silicon Beach tech companies share a focus on entertainment, celebrity or mobile innovation.
  • “Cheaper rents than the Bay Area, better weather and proximity to the beach (most of the start-ups are within two blocks of the ocean) make Silicon Beach an attractive place to be,” reports USA Today. “More than 500 tech start-ups have sprouted in sprawling Los Angeles and its environs, according to members of the L.A. tech scene who have compiled the list online as RepresentLA.com. But most of the action is at the beach.”
  • “There’s been way more interest from up north about what’s happening here in the last 12 months,” says Michael Yanover, head of business development for Creative Artists Agency. “LA has been under the radar, and it’s finally elevating itself.”
  • Ashish Soni, a professor at USC’s School of Engineering, and executive director of its Digital Innovation lab, says that many of his graduates are opting for local start-ups rather than heading to Seattle or San Francisco.
  • The area has a longstanding tradition of innovative pioneers (the article cites Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Jack and Sam Warner), so there are some who question the need for a new name. “Why are we rebranding the best brand in the world?” asks JibJab CEO Gregg Spiridellis. “Los Angeles is an amazing city with such a rich heritage of pioneers using technology to create art. Why can’t we just be Los Angeles? Silicon Beach sounds too hip.”

Video Software from MIT Detects Motion Not Seen by the Human Eye

  • MIT scientists have developed a new set of software algorithms, a process they refer to as “Eulerian Video Magnification,” which applies spatial decomposition and temporal filtering to deconstruct visual elements of video frames and rebuild them in order to detect hidden information.
  • “These aspects could include the variations in redness in a man’s face caused by his pulse,” notes Technology Review. The process “can amplify aspects of a video and reveal what is normally undetectable to human eyesight, making it possible to, for example, measure someone’s pulse by shooting a video of him and capturing the way blood is flowing across his face.”
  • “Just like optics has enabled [someone] to see things normally too small, computation can enable people to see things not visible to the naked eye,” says MIT computer scientist Fredo Durand, a co-author of the research paper.
  • The team plans to release the software code this summer, and “predicts the primary application will be for remote medical diagnostics, but it could be used to detect any small motion, so that it might let, for example, structural engineers measure the way wind makes a building sway or deform slightly,” notes the article.
  • The technique works for any type of video footage. However, artifacts such as graininess will also be amplified, so higher quality video will have better results.
  • ETCentric staffer Phil Lelyveld asks: “Could this be used for video compression algorithm testing and evaluation?”

Yahoo Updates IntoNow iPad App: Music Sync, Screen Grabs, Group Chat

  • Yahoo has launched a third major update to its IntoNow second-screen TV app, which now allows users to tag and identify a song that’s playing during a TV show.
  • The company says the music sync function works with live performances, featured songs, or even background music. For users interested in a particular song, the app can direct them to iTunes or YouTube.
  • The new release “takes a step back from earlier versions, which were focused on TV discovery and sharing metadata with users,” notes TechCrunch. “It found that users were getting little actual utility out of those features, and they weren’t coming back for more… So the team set about re-imagining ways it could promote more interaction with the app.”
  • A new feature called CapIt allows users to automatically grab an image from a show and then caption it, with an option to share with friends via Facebook, Twitter or IntoNow.
  • Another new feature is the ability to create group chats around a particular TV show or event, including an option to set up recurring chats that take place throughout a given season.
  • IntoNow has been downloaded more than 3 million times. according to Yahoo. The latest update is currently only available for its iOS version.

Viggle Mobile App Reaches One Million Users, Launches Platform Developer Kit

  • Viggle, the company that rewards viewers for checking into TV shows from their smart devices, now has one million registered viewers.
  • Since the mobile app’s launch six months ago, Viggle users have checked in more than 63 million times.
  • “In exchange for being a couch potato, users receive points that are redeemable for movie tickets and gift cards from places like Best Buy, Amazon, Fandango, iTunes, and Hulu Plus,” explains VentureBeat. “Users can also earn rewards by participating in real-time voting and game features while they watch.”
  • The New York-based company has released the Viggle Platform Developer Kit (VPDK) for third-party use, that it hopes will enable networks and producers to create social TV experiences that would reside within Viggle’s mobile apps.
  • Viggle sees potential for complementary and interactive features such as video playlists, news headlines, slideshows, games, polls, prediction cards, “mood-o-meters,” trivia questions and quizzes.
  • The VPDK is available for free. Developers can work with common Web standards including HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript.
  • To demonstrate the kit’s capabilities, Viggle recently launched “MyGuy,” a real-time fantasy sports game in which users earn points based on how well their selected players perform in a given game.

Create Personalized Physical Objects with Fujifilm 3D Printing Kiosks

  • Fujifilm Australia is looking beyond the concept of digital photo printing with kiosks that enable customers to create special trinkets.
  • The CE company is developing a consumer 3D printing service intended for shoppers interested in creating their own DIY projects.
  • “Utilizing the in-store ‘kiosk’ model successfully implemented by Fujifilm for its digital photographs, a range of physical objects will be available for personalization,” reports PSFK.com.
  • “The catalog of available objects will be rotated to provide variety, but while some retailers may end up with a 3D printer in store, initially these objects are unlikely to be created before the customers’ eyes,” notes the post. “To start, a majority of items will be produced off-site and the customers would need to return to the store to collect their orders.”
  • The goal is to provide consumers with the opportunity to create a far-reaching range of items through 3D printing technology previously available primarily for professionals (think MakerBot in kiosk form).
  • “In a retail environment, a customer could use a kiosk to create their customized 3D product from a range of customizable designs or even a photograph, place their order with the retailer and then return to the store at a later time to pick up the product,” explains Michael Mostyn, a key account manager in the commercial division of Fujifilm.
  • “The prototype consumer kiosk for 3D printing is here,” adds ETCentric staffer Phil Lelyveld. “Once the consumer behavior catches on, it’s just a matter of swapping out the printers as the range of materials, colors, and options expand for a whole new industry to be born.”

Filmmaking in the Digital Era: What Does the Future Hold for Movie Studios?

  • Jeff B. Cohen, partner and co-founder of the Beverly Hills-based law firm Cohen Gardner LLP, writes in a guest blog for CNBC about the current direction of movie finance, production, distribution and marketing in a digital era.
  • Cohen references Ben Silverman, chairman of Electus, who recently spoke at an industry summit in Los Angeles: “Ben noted that 100 years ago in order to make a film you needed 50 acres of land in the San Fernando Valley, an army of various craftsmen, sprawling soundstages, expensive specialized cameras, film labs and more.”
  • “He went on to say that in order to produce a film today you could likely do it with five dedicated artists, $30,000 worth of equipment and an office in Santa Monica with a green screen,” adds Cohen.
  • The changes underway in our evolving digital world make Cohen ask the question: “Are motion picture studios becoming irrelevant and what does the future hold for the business of filmed entertainment?”
  • Cohen cites how Netflix, Amazon and YouTube are financing original content to compete with traditional fare — and notes how crowdfunding is putting pressure on the studios’ role as financier. He also addresses the “democratization of distribution” enabled by Internet technologies and the impact of social media on traditional marketing practices.
  • “Technology is empowering a new generation of content creators to produce quality projects with little capital and even less permission. It will be fascinating to see how this democratization of financing, production and distribution impacts the art of filmed entertainment,” writes Cohen. “Will these factors fundamentally disrupt the economic and power dynamic of the traditionally studio dominated entertainment industry? It already has.”
  • “This article echoes what was written 10+ years ago about the music industry, and what became the reality of the music industry much faster than the labels could adapt to,” notes ETCentric staffer Phil Lelyveld.

Flixmaster Launches New Online Video Platform for Interactive Experience

  • Boulder, Colorado-based Flixmaster wants to make online video more interactive by providing simple tools for embedding hands-on features.
  • The company recently announced the availability of its online video platform at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen.
  • “The start-up’s CEO and co-founder, Erika Trautman, says its technology can be used by anyone, from fifth graders to cable companies,” reports Fortune. “The editing software developed by the firm is Web-based, with a drag-and-drop interface that lets users recreate videos by plugging in video segments and more interactive scenes.”
  • “Flixmaster makes videos participatory, immersive and deeply interactive,” claims Trautman.
  • The failure of online video is that viewers quit watching after a short duration, suggests the CEO. But when USA Network tapped Flixmaster to create an interactive online series, viewing time increased.
  • “The show, called ‘Sights Unseen: A Covert Affairs Prequel,’ launched earlier this month. It lets viewers choose what the characters do at key moments in the plot, and then watch the scenes they select (sort of like the video version of the once-popular ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ book series),” notes the article. “Flixmaster says viewing time for the show was up 400 percent as a result of the embedded interactive features.”
  • The post includes a 6-minute video of FlixMaster’s presentation in Aspen.

Apple Buys AuthenTec for $356 Million: First Step Toward Mobile Payments?

  • Apple has purchased AuthenTec Inc. for a reported $356 million, in a move that could make iPhones and iPads more secure for mobile payments.
  • AuthenTec, maker of fingerprint sensors and security solutions, “owns many of the foundational technology patents from the fingerprint biometric industry, and today has a broad IP and patent portfolio consisting of nearly 200 issued and filed U.S. patents, as well as additional foreign patent derivatives,” according to the company.
  • “Apple is paying $8 a share for the Melbourne, Florida-based company, according to an SEC filing,” reports Forbes. “AuthenTec, founded in 1998, says it has shipped more than 100 million fingerprint sensors for use in PCs and other electronic gadgets, including more than 15 million mobile phones. Apple’s Mac computers currently don’t have a fingerprint pad for security purposes, though other PCs do.”
  • Analyst Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets suggests we’ll see Apple devices with fingerprint access, as well as “a mobile commerce system built using the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology he predicts will be included in the new iPhone 5,” notes the article.
  • Apple CEO Tim Cook has already announced that this fall’s release of iOS 6 would include Passbook, a new feature for consolidating tickets, boarding passes and discount cards. “Turning it into a digital wallet seems likely a next step,” suggests Forbes.
  • “With Passbook, you can scan your iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie, and redeem a coupon,” according to Apple. “You can also see when your coupons expire, where your concert seats are, and the balance left on that all-important coffee bar card.”

London Olympic Games Score Big in TV Ratings and Social Activity

  • Social TV analytics company Bluefin Labs provides a breakdown of social interaction amongst viewers during the London Olympics Opening Ceremony.
  • According to the report, 94.2 percent of all social TV comments during Friday night’s primetime slot were about the festivities. There were 5 million social media comments with 4.86 million on Twitter and 140,000 public Facebook comments.
  • The Olympics Opening Ceremony is now the #3 special event of all time in social TV, behind the 2012 Grammy Awards (13 million social media comments) and the 2012 BET Awards (8 million comments).
  • NBC’s primetime coverage of the Opening Ceremony was also a huge success, with a rating of 40.7 million, according to Nielsen, making it the most-watched kickoff in Summer Games history.
  • The program was the most popular on British television in 14 years. “The average audience was also the highest for any British telecast since 23.8 million viewed the soccer game that saw England fall to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup,” notes Variety.
  • These high numbers are impressive in a day and age when other, non-traditional viewing options are available. “NBC’s two-day primetime average of 35.6 million viewers is the best start to any Summer Olympics, more than two million more than Atlanta (33.3 million), and more than 6 million more viewers than Beijing (29.5 million),” explains the article.

MediaLab RFP: Time Warner Looking for Next-Gen Living Room Ideas

  • Time Warner opened its MediaLab facility in New York the beginning of this year. “The MediaLab has a range of biometric monitoring devices and eye-tracking testing equipment that measure a participant’s physiological responses to content,” explains The Hollywood Reporter.
  • During last week’s TW College Professors Thought Leadership Seminar, the company showcased the MediaLab and began soliciting ideas for its sophisticated devices.
  • “Time Warner has put out a RFP to academics to describe in 300 words or less what hypothesis they wish to test,” according to THR. Researchers interested in the program have three months to develop ideas.
  • The MediaLab has been used for studies regarding how consumers interact with media in food purchasing decisions and how social media recommendations influence content engagement.
  • Time Warner is looking to make best use of its CE devices including tablets, streaming media players, 3D televisions, gaming consoles, even a smart refrigerator.
  • “Now, Time Warner, which spent an undisclosed sum on an observation room which can spy via eight ceiling-mounted cameras on participants in a faux living room, wishes to figure out the next great research project that will offer insight into the ways people are using and are effected by media,” explains the article.

NHK Tests Experimental 8K Television System During London Olympics

  • BBC, NHK and OBS are testing a new 8K broadcast system during select events at the London Olympics, including the opening and closing ceremonies.
  • As previously reported on ETCentric, Japanese broadcaster NHK is currently developing a Super Hi-Vision 8K TV system, which touts 16 times more picture info than current HDTV and 22.2 channels of surround sound.
  • “At the Olympics, NHK is teaming with the BBC and host broadcasting organization Olympic Broadcast Services to test this format — which is so precise that one could view a shot inside the Olympic Stadium that appears to be three dimensional and contains stunning detail,” notes Carolyn Giardina for The Hollywood Reporter.
  • “The images seem to go around corners and curves. Most people say it is more 3D than 3D. With 3D you are aware that your brain has to work. Here you just sit in front of the screen and relax,” suggests Tim Plyming of the BBC. “I think when people see it, they will say this is the next really big format.”
  • During the Olympics, Super Hi-Vision coverage from four venues will be screened at public viewing sites in the UK and Japan.
  • “The participants began planning this trial roughly two years ago, and in the coming weeks, they aim to not only dazzle viewers with an early look at Super Hi-Vision, but demonstrate for the first time NHK’s new 8K broadcast camera, as well as the ability to transmit 8K — a staggering amount of picture information — over IP networks,” writes Giardina.

Streaming Video: Roku Raises Funding from News Corp, BSkyB, Others

  • Streaming video tech provider Roku, regarded by some as strong competition for Apple, announced it has raised $45 million to further develop its branding, international expansion and new services.
  • Saratoga, California-based Roku has sold more than three million of its boxes that connect streaming services to TV sets. The company plans to launch its wireless, dongle-sized Streaming Stick this fall.
  • News Corp. and UK pay TV giant BSkyB are among Roku’s investors. Jon Miller, chief digital officer at News Corp., will join the Roku board.
  • “The new relationships include both financial backing and business agreements that demonstrate the industry’s confidence in Roku as the distribution platform to bring streaming entertainment to mainstream consumers,” the company said.
  • Roku currently streams content from News Corp.’s Fox News, Fox’s “The X Factor,” and “Wall Street Journal Live.” The company is one of BSkyB’s partners in its recently-launched online video service, NowTV.
  • “We have watched Roku maintain market leadership since the launch of its streaming platform four years ago and we look forward to deepening our relationship, having already worked closely together on the launch of several products,” says Miller. “Roku’s significant technology advantage, coupled with a strong market position, places them in a unique position to be an integral part of the television landscape for years to come.”