Spotify is no longer just about music streaming. The service — facing new pressure from emerging rivals — is adding podcasts, video clips, original music and video series, a better recommendation engine, and a special feature for runners. The new videos and podcasts will come from media partners like ABC, BBC, Comedy Central, ESPN and Maker Studios. Spotify has also developed some of its own original content, including music tracks that will change tempo based on how fast the user is running. Continue reading Spotify Sweetens the Deal with New Video and Podcast Content

According to insiders, Spotify is reportedly in discussions with numerous media companies, TV networks, online video producers and magazine publishers to introduce short video clips to its streaming service as early as this month. The additional content would be available on Spotify’s mobile platform as part of an effort to keep users more engaged, challenge YouTube’s video dominance, and help the service sell more advertising. Discussions with potential partners are believed to be at an early stage and Spotify has yet to announce any deals. Continue reading Spotify Pursuing Major Media Companies to Partner on Videos

Comcast reportedly has plans to launch an online video service similar to YouTube, which would offer short-form content. By offering original content, Comcast hopes it would appeal to a younger demographic and create shows that could also be distributed as part of its traditional TV cable package. The company has yet to announce an expected launch date. Meanwhile, Comcast has unveiled Xfinity Share for its Triple Play customers, which allows users to beam live video to their TVs or those of their friends. Continue reading Comcast Planning to Launch Short-Form Online Video Service

AOL and NBCUniversal have reached a licensing and distribution agreement that will allow the two companies to share and develop content. Shows from NBC, CNBC and Telemundo could start streaming via online video platform AOL On. NBCUniversal and AOL may also start developing original content together to be distributed on the platforms of both companies. The agreement means that advertisers will be able to reach consumers watching this shared content on television as well as mobile and desktop devices. Continue reading AOL and NBCUniversal Plan to Share Content Across Platforms

Conde Nast is attempting to appeal to the online audience that does not read the company’s lifestyle magazine, so it will start expanding its online video offerings. The Conde Nast Entertainment (CNE) division will produce two original scripted virtual reality series with Jaunt VR, which recently announced its planned LA studio. These new series will be released on The Scene, Conde Nast’s online video platform. CNE plans to make 2,500 videos for The Scene in the next year with the help of new content partners. Continue reading Conde Nast Plans Scripted VR Series to Attract New Audience

Amid growing competition in the online video space, Google’s YouTube is trying to hang onto its lead by supporting some of the platform’s biggest stars. The platform will back long-form original series from the Fine Brothers, Prank vs. Prank, Joey Graceffa and SMOSH. YouTube and AwesomenessTV have also paired up to create several feature-length films that will debut online and feature YouTube stars. The Google subsidiary is facing competition from Facebook, Yahoo, and even Netflix. Continue reading YouTube to Back Long-Form Content From its Popular Creators

A recent study by Hunter Qualitative Research, commissioned by Defy Media, determined that millennials prefer video available via YouTube and other digital venues as compared to traditional television because they find the content to be more relevant and enjoyable. Digital content also feels more real to them. The study, conducted in the fall of 2014, found that consumers 13-24 years of age spend 11.3 hours watching free online video in a typical week. The same group watches a weekly average of 8.3 hours of regularly scheduled TV. Continue reading Younger Consumers Find Digital Video More Relevant Than TV

YouTube has confirmed a new feature that will play suggested follow up videos at the end of a viewed video. The video autoplay is currently being tested among a small percentage of users. Autoplay could replace YouTube’s current suggested video grid that appears at the end of every video. If well received by its users, autoplay is a tool that YouTube plans to use to feed content to those casual users that do not necessarily know what they are looking for on the video site. Continue reading YouTube Autoplay Could Change How We Watch Our Videos

More than eight months after releasing its Milk streaming music service exclusively for Galaxy devices, Samsung has launched a new online video service in the U.S. Milk Video, a free app available for Galaxy phones via the Google Play Store, is similar to YouTube and Vimeo in that its focus is on short form video. Samsung curates content into category-specific feeds, while users can set up personal feeds and follow brands, users and groups. Favorite videos can also be shared via Facebook and Twitter. Continue reading Samsung Launches Online Video Service for Galaxy Phones

In an effort to develop universal standards and best practices for high-scale Internet video services, 17 content companies, service providers and technology vendors have gathered to create the Streaming Video Alliance. Together, these companies hope to improve the online video experience. SVA will initially focus on open architecture, quality of experience, and interoperability. Formation of the group comes as net neutrality continues its path as a complex and controversial issue. Continue reading Industry Leaders Join Forces to Form Streaming Video Alliance

Twitter recently announced that it would launch several new features within the coming months designed to improve functionality and increase usage by loyal and casual Twitter users alike. The company plans to improve its private messaging function by the end of this year. The ability to shoot and upload videos, a display to show top tweets that users missed, and other helpful new features are expected to roll out next year. Twitter’s shares rose sharply following the announcements. Continue reading Twitter Reassures Investors with Plans for Upcoming Features

During yesterday’s Code/Mobile conference in Half Moon Bay, California, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that the online video platform is currently exploring options regarding new subscription services. While specifics were not offered, Wojcicki told Peter Kafka and Liz Gannes of Re/code during the onstage interview that an ad-free service was being considered. Consumers “will either choose ads, or pay a fee, which is an interesting model,” said Wojcicki. “We’re thinking about how to give users options.” Continue reading YouTube CEO Discusses the Possibility of Video Subscriptions

According to Adobe’s latest bi-annual Video Benchmark Report, consumers watched 43 percent more free digital videos in Q2 of 2014 than in the same quarter in 2013. Almost 60 percent of those 38.2 billion views came from smartphones. The report also finds that more viewers are becoming interested in TV Everywhere. Authenticated viewing jumped 388 percent from the second quarter of last year to the same period in 2014, and there was an 85 percent increase in the number of viewers accessing these shows. Continue reading Report Points to Major Growth in Online Video, TV Everywhere

With social media, fans have the opportunity to play an important role in the creative process of producing TV shows and YouTube series. At Variety’s Entertainment and Technology Summit earlier this week, the executive producers of the TV shows “Arrow” and “Awkward,” along with the duo behind the online video series “Smosh,” discussed the way they balance taking input from fans while sticking to their own artistic vision, casting decisions, plot twists and more. Continue reading Social Media Provides Helpful Feedback for Show Producers

During his keynote address at international television market MIPCOM on Monday, Maker Studios CEO Ynon Kreiz suggested that the future of TV would be short-form content. Kreiz believes that linear television is over for the 12-to-24-year-olds of the millennial generation, a valuable group to the advertising industry. He said that Maker Studios is ideally positioned to leverage this demographic with its user-generated, short-form video content since two-thirds of its 550 million users are millennials. Continue reading MIPCOM: Maker Studios CEO Discusses Shift to Short Videos