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The Fall of Move Networks
Just a few years ago, Move Networks was a high-flying startup with what seemed like unlimited possibility. The company had succeeded where many video technology startups (and some incumbents) had failed to deliver — by providing high-quality video streams to the end user without having to worry too much about how much bandwidth was available. It raised about $70 million and even nabbed a few deals with major broadcasters, being chosen as the default video technology for streams from ABC.com and Fox.com.
But despite a good amount of early traction, the company failed to deliver on its early promise. With those broadcasters now abandoning the technology and Move Networks shifting focus to sell its technology platform to Internet service providers to deliver IPTV services, it’s worth looking at where the company failed in serving major media customers.
So what went wrong? Read more of this story
Brightcove Targets TV Everywhere with New Solution Pack
Brightcove is jumping on the TV Everywhere bandwagon by introducing a new “solution pack” that will give broadcasters and cable networks tools they’ll need to roll out new video services tied to consumer cable subscriptions. The TV Everywhere Solution Pack (TVE-SP) is built on top of the company’s recently released Brightcove 4 video platform, adding support for authentication and rights management that are necessary for new paid-for video services.
TV Everywhere is an industry-wide initiative through which programmers and cable companies are collaborating to give customers access to on-demand video content from cable networks that they’ve paid to subscribe to. But to do so, they need to connect with each other to ensure a user that’s trying to access certain content has paid for it.
To enable programmers to make that video content available to those that subscribe to their channels, Brightcove has struck a partnership with SaaS identity management firm Ping Identity to add SAML 2.0-based authentication and authorization compliance tools. Since each cable provider will have a different authentication scheme to log in and view content subscribers pay for, support for standards-based authentication will let programmers roll out services more quickly.
Where to Watch Hope for Haiti Now Online
UPDATED: Wyclef Jean, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews and Justin Timberlake are just a few of music stars that will take part in tonight’s Hope For Haiti Now benefit concert, starting at 5 p.m. PST and 8 p.m. EST. They’ll be supported by Hollywood talent like Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jon Stewart, Julia Roberts and Leonardo DiCaprio, according to MTV.com. The concert will air simultaneously on pretty much all the major broadcast and many cable channels, and the organizers of the event already call it the biggest telethon in TV history.
But what do you do if you’re stuck at an office with no TV in sight? No worries: It looks like Hope for Haiti Now is slated to also break a few records online, where the concert will be live-streamed on more than a dozen major sites.
A Big First Month for Canada’s TV Everywhere? Well, Big Is Relative
Rogers Communications issued a press release this morning touting the “success” it’s had in the opening month of its TV Everywhere initiative, talking up the total number of users, page views and streams it’s collected since its On Demand Online Beta launched in late November. With more than 46,000 customers signed up and nearly 2 million page views in December, the program didn’t exactly have a bad start — but then again, it’s probably not as big as Rogers might have hoped.
In the cable company’s press release, David Purdy, VP of video product management, is quoted as saying, “With over 1.8 million Rogers On Demand Online page views in just over one month, Canadians are telling us they are ready to take TV beyond the box and have already made Rogers On Demand Online a great Beta launch success.” But let’s put things into perspective: Rogers has about 2.3 million cable subscribers, which means that only 2 percent of its customers have even tried out the service — so it’s not like its subs are rushing to adopt the service.
The Fox vs. Time Warner Spat Takes a Turn for the Insane
We’re not just counting down to the ball dropping tonight, but also Fox channels disappearing off some Time Warner Cable users’ TVs, if the two companies can’t agree on fees for broadcast channels appearing on cable.
So it’s come to this: Time Warner has posted a 3-minute web video explaining how to connect your PC to your TV so you can watch Internet video on sites like Hulu and Fancast. Yes, you heard that right, a CABLE COMPANY is giving step-by-step directions to show users how they can make it irrelevant. Of course, it’s all in the name of blasting Fox for giving away content online for free while expecting TWC to pay for it. But meanwhile, TWC is showing users the very cables with which they can cut the cord.
Thanks very much to Peter Kafka at MediaMemo for screengrabbing the video and putting it up in an embeddable format:
Hands On with Comcast’s Xfinity: TV Everywhere That’s Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be
After weeks of anticipation, I finally got a chance to go hands-on with Comcast’s Fancast Xfinity TV service while visiting family that subscribe to Comcast’s cable and broadband service. While the cable company should get points for launching the first TV Everywhere deployment in the U.S., my early experience has not been very positive. Due to significant issues with the authentication process and actual content library, I have to say that I’m more than a little disappointed by the service, especially after months of hype by Comcast and content partners like Time Warner.
Authentication
Let’s start with Comcast’s authentication process, which is the biggest stumbling block for Xfinity. To authenticate with the service, you have to download and install on your computer a client application that phones home to Comcast to confirm that you’re a subscriber and figure out what content you have access to. Each Comcast account can add up to three devices that can access Xfinity content, and each one has to have the Comcast Access client installed. In theory, this should be a seamless process, but in practice it involves a number of steps that could keep subscribers from being able to use the service. Read more of this story
Will Hulu Become a Blockbuster?
Hulu has grown a huge audience this year, but what happens when you compare its business to the feature film world? The social media marketing firm Buzzpoint sent us a well-designed yet daunting infographic they made while wondering when Hulu might finally become a “blockbuster” — born, according to managing director Jeffrey Appelbaum, out of conversations they were having internally about the site’s plans for monetization. We’ve broken it down below, and you can also download a full version here.
Comcast Xfinity Day 1: What’s the Buzz?
Source: Zatz Not Funny!
A Twitter search currently pulls up mostly news of Xfinity’s launch and commentary on the name change (my favorite tweet so far, from @ceciliakang: “Terrestrial loophole, Xfinity, Net Neutrality. Sometimes my world feels like a bad Star Trek episode.”)
Dan Rayburn of Streaming Media wasn’t impressed with his testing of the system, citing 10-second buffer times, high amounts of pixelation and poor frame rates.
Peter Kafka at All Things D was able to watch the last episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm and thought that “it looked pretty good (as long you don’t fast-forward).”
But the much-missed Chris Albrecht also checked it out, and he had some choice words to describe his experience.
None of us are on Comcast, but we’re currently working on a way to get you a full review soon. So in the meantime, how about you, dear readers? Have you had a chance to play with the service? Love it or hate it, please let us know in the comments!
Comcast Opens Up TV Everywhere Service
Fancast Xfinity TV
After weeks of speculation over when Comcast would officially launch its TV Everywhere implementation, the cable provider finally took the wraps off the service. Starting today, Fancast Xfinity TV will be available to Comcast customers who subscribe to its pay TV and broadband Internet services.
The Fancast Xfinity TV service will have full-length programming from nearly 30 content providers, including major cable channels like HBO, Starz and Cinemax. Altogether, the new service launched with 12,000 video assets, compared with about 17,000 that are available through Comcast’s VOD service.
To access the service, users will have to subscribe to both Comcast’s cable television and broadband Internet service, somewhat limiting the number of subscribers who can access Xfinity. The cable company wouldn’t say how many of its consumers use both services, but the number is less than the company’s official count of 15.7 million broadband subscribers. In time, Comcast plans to extend the service to all 24 million of its cable TV customers.
Comcast’s TV Everywhere, Nowhere to Be Found
It’s officially past sundown in New York, which means the beginning of Hanukkah is upon us, which means Comcast’s On Demand Online Fancast Xfinity TV service should be up and running. Right? Well apparently not.
Comcast Interactive Media President Amy Banse caused a bit of a stir last month when she told an audience at NewTeeVee Live that the cable company’s gift of TV Everywhere to its subscribers would be able to accommodate all religious holidays, meaning that it should be available sometime before the start of the Jewish holiday. But now the holiday’s here, and (as far as we know), Comcast has yet to launch the service. So what gives?
Comcast declined to comment on the timing of the launch, saying that it would get back to us when it had something to announce. It’s probably worth noting, though, that there are eight days in the festival of lights, so it’s still possible that Comcast could launch before the end of the holiday. Stay tuned.
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