Will Networks Consider Cable or OTT Service to Combat Aereo?

CBS Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves said the network would consider launching its own over-the-top streaming TV service with other leading television networks if the Supreme Court rules that New York-based startup Aereo is allowed to continue reselling broadcast programming over the Internet without permission. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Aereo case later this year. “We are going to win either way,” Moonves said. Continue reading Will Networks Consider Cable or OTT Service to Combat Aereo?

Netflix CEO: Broadband Companies Should Interconnect for Free

In a blog post yesterday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that broadband providers should be required to connect their networks to major content providers (including Netflix) free of charge. Hastings issued a call for new rules that would prevent broadband providers like Comcast from charging content companies fees to connect directly to their networks (a practice referred to as “paid interconnection” or “paid peering”). Netflix recently struck such a deal with Comcast to improve its video service for subscribers. Continue reading Netflix CEO: Broadband Companies Should Interconnect for Free

Billy Chasen Shutters Turntable.fm, Launches New Social App

Turntable.fm founder Billy Chasen announced that the service is officially closing, “ending one of the most compelling experiments in music discovery to ever hit the Web,” suggests The Verge. Chasen attempted to play by the rules, paying every time a song was streamed, which eventually proved to be too expensive. He believes that the music industry is stifling innovation and digital startups. For his next venture, Chasen is going social with Ketchup, a free app he launched last month. Continue reading Billy Chasen Shutters Turntable.fm, Launches New Social App

Theater Owners Pursue Guidelines to Shorten Movie Trailers

The National Association of Theater Owners is proposing a new approach to marketing that will include limiting the running time of movie trailers. The controversial move, which is reportedly part of an effort to provide exhibitors with more control over how movies are marketed inside their cinemas, would reduce trailers to two minutes (30 seconds shorter than the norm). Theater owners have argued that trailers can be too long and often reveal too much of a movie’s plot. Continue reading Theater Owners Pursue Guidelines to Shorten Movie Trailers