Whoopi Goldberg Gets Online Series

Whoopi Goldberg is set to star and exec produce the sci-fi miniseries “Stream” for Fearnet.com. Set to debut online and on video-on-demand beginning Jan. 15, “Stream” will air in six five-minute weekly segments. Goldberg will play the lead character, Jodi, trying to come to terms with her lifelong fears. Goldberg, who appears on daytime talker “The View,” has a history in sci-fi. She co-starred in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in the late 1980s. This will be the sixth original series Fearnet, which is a joint venture between Comcast, Sony Pictures Television and Lionsgate. VOD is available on Comcast, Time Warner and Cox cable operators.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997335.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2570

NFL Launches "Game Rewind", Every Game On-Demand In HD With No Commercials

Today, the NFL launched a new video on-demand service called Game Rewind that lets you watch every NFL game in HD quality, with no commercials. The service, which costs $19.99 for the season or $4.99 for a week pass, also provides DVR functionality and lets you watch up to four games at once. While it is not known exactly how quickly games are made available after they end, for now the NFL is saying within 24 hours, but it is expected times will be much shorter. The NFL is using Move Networks for the service, which is the same technology partner used for the NFL's live video service called GamePass HD, available to those outside the U.S. As expected, the quality of video for Game Rewind is amazing and the NFL kept the interface clean and simple.
http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2008/12/nfl-launches-game-rewind-every-game-ondemand-in-hd-with-no-commercials.html

http://www.nfl.com/gamerewind

CBSSports.com to Stream SEC Basketball Games Live

For years, the number of less-than-marquee sports events appearing in webcasts has been huge. But 2008 has been a turning point for simulcasts of big-time events, including the Olympics and NFL games, appearing online as broadcasters are getting over worries of cannibalizing their TV audiences. The latest: CBSSports.com will Thursday announce free online simulcasts of CBS' TV coverage of 11 Southeastern Conference basketball games, starting with Indiana-Kentucky on Saturday. The website carried simulcasts of CBS' SEC football games. And while CBSSports.com's general manager, Jason Kint, won't reveal viewer numbers, he said "tens of thousands" logged on for some games. He notes online numbers are smaller, compared to TV, even more so than with NCAA basketball simulcasts. That's understandable given that, with football games on Saturdays, you don't get people watching just because they're stuck at work. But the upside to that: Because people don't have to log off because some pesky boss is prowling around, they stayed longer for football webcasts, averaging, Kint says, about 70 minutes.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2008-12-10-sec-basketball_N.htm

FOXSports.com Goes With EveryZing for Video Search Optimization

A Boston area developer of search engine technology is now making millions of sports video clips available daily through a partnership with FoxSports.com. FoxSports.com now uses video search engine optimization software provided by EveryZing, a Cambridge, Mass.-based subsidiary of BBN Technologies, according to a company news release. BBN Technologies is best known for creating the e-mail @ symbol. In the release Andrew Hossom, vice president of marketing for Fox Sports Interactive, said, “EveryZing’s product was easy to integrate and powerful enough to handle our scale in terms of volume of content and users.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2008/12/08/daily8.html?surround=lfn&brthrs=1

Facebook Introduces Embeddable Videos Only Your Friends Can See

Video is not front and center on Facebook. It’s a tiny link in the sidebar of a member’s homepage that many hardly notice. They are probably more familiar with the random videos from friends that sort of pop up in their News feeds. Often those videos are from YouTube, but increasingly they are hosted on Facebook itself. In fact, since Facebook launched its own internal video feature in 2007, 45 million videos have been uploaded. About 100,000 are added every day. And that is for a feature that is practically hidden. Video is not front and center on Facebook. It’s a tiny link in the sidebar of a member’s homepage that many hardly notice. They are probably more familiar with the random videos from friends that sort of pop up in their News feeds. Often those videos are from YouTube, but increasingly they are hosted on Facebook itself. In fact, since Facebook launched its own internal video feature in 2007, 45 million videos have been uploaded. About 100,000 are added every day. And that is for a feature that is practically hidden.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/05/facebook-introduces-embeddable-videos-only-your-friends-can-see/

YouTube Adds Search Bar to Embedded Videos

MySpace Takes Video To Mobile

My Videos on MySpace Mobile website


MySpace has partnered with RipCode to give mobile users access to MySpace videos. The content will be available at MySpace’s mobile site, m.myspace.com, which currently generates around 3 billion monthly page views from 10 million users. Video will work on the iPhone, T-Mobile G1, BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Storm devices, among others. All user uploaded videos (meaning videos that a user has uploaded, as opposed to all videos uploaded by all users) and most premium content will be available.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/02/myspace-takes-video-to-mobile/

YouTube Goes Classic With Global Collaborative Symphony Program

YouTube sure has come a long way since launching in 2005 and being acquired by Google within a year for $1.65 billion. The company has today announced a collaborative project with a bunch of classical music institutions and artists in the context of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra program, and I think it’s awesome. Starting today until January 28, 2009, musicians are invited to submit two videos: a personal interpretation of an original Tan Dun composition, written specifically for this program, and a talent video designed to demonstrate their musical and technical abilities. The semi-finalists will be selected by an impressive panel made up of members from the London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and other orchestras from around the globe. Of course, the YouTube community gets to have their say as well; users will be invited to vote on the semifinalists from February 14, 2009 through February 22, 2009. In April 2009, YouTube will follow up by co-hosting a three-day classical music summit featuring the finalists and classical music stars and orchestras at Carnegie Hall.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/02/youtube-goes-classic-with-global-collaborative-symphony-program/

http://www.youtube.com/symphony

Blockbuster, Microsoft Team Up on Mobile Movies

Blockbuster Inc. caught up to the competition last week by introducing a set-top box that brings rentals from the Internet to the television. Now, the Dallas-based company hopes to pass the pack by teaming with Microsoft Corp. on new mobile services that will let customers watch even more movies on more devices. "Eventually, we'll give customers instant access to any movie on any device with an Internet connection and a screen," said Keith Morrow, Blockbuster's chief information officer. "More immediately, we could use this technology to reach into airports. Travelers could quickly download movies from Blockbuster kiosks to their portable media players." Blockbuster will try to build some of these services on top of the new software platform from Microsoft. Dubbed "Live Mesh," it uses Internet connections to share data among different devices. Folks with multiple PCs can already use Live Mesh to do some basic things, such as synchronizing their home and work calendars. Soon, Live Mesh will work with Macs and Windows Mobile smart phones.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-blockbuster_01bus.ART0.State.Edition1.4a219e8.html

Blockbuster Debuts Broadband Set-Top Box: Device ‘Free’ With Pre-Paid Rentals

Blockbuster Inc. will start renting movies and television shows through a new gadget that may give consumers another reason to bypass the struggling video chain's 7,500 stores. The new system announced Tuesday relies on a small box that connects to television sets and stores video after it's downloaded over high-speed Internet connections. The player, made by San Jose-based 2Wire Inc., is built on the same concept as storage devices made by Apple Inc. and Vudu Inc. The devices are all meant to provide a bridge between the Internet and TVs. Netflix Inc., a Blockbuster nemesis, has been trying to make the same leap with a video-streaming service that can be watched on TV sets through a variety of devices, including a $100 box introduced by Roku Inc. six months ago. Blockbuster's foray into so-called "on-demand" video also pits the Dallas-based company against instant-gratification services already offered by major cable carriers like Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc.
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/blockbuster_on_demand

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-blockbuster-debuts-broadband-set-top-box-pre-paid-rentals-can-net-fr-ee/

YouTube Switches to Widescreen Video Players

YouTube is going wide screen in advance of hosting more professional content. The bigger picture here is that YouTube is going to start cutting deals with content producers–the Hollywood types. CNET News reported that YouTube will soon start offering feature films. A widescreen player makes a lot of sense for feature films. In the end YouTube is obviously seeing the threat from the likes of Hulu. By offering a widescreen player, YouTube can better compete and support professional content owners. I’m sure there are some amateur videos that will look swell in a widescreen player, but YouTube’s latest move is all about the pros.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=11007

ESPN.com Decreasing Amount Of Free Video Content Available Online

ESPN appears to be heeding cable operators' frustrations with networks placing so much of their premium content on the Web for free. The sports programmer has recently started charging for two popular shows that had been available at no cost on ESPN.com. And it may restrict access to NBA, Major League Baseball and other attractive games that it streams gratis on broadband site ESPN360.com. Now, in order to view the duo on ESPN.com, a person must be what's called an ESPN Insider and pay a fee ($6.95 a month, $39.95 a year). ESPN is also looking at curtailing access to some of the live events it provides at no cost on ESPN360.com--where it offers a wealth of high-profile simulcasts of games seen on its networks.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=95303

MLB.com Goes Back To Adobe Flash After Flirtation With Microsoft’s Silverlight

Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the digital arm of MLB, is dropping Microsoft’s Silverlight after a year, for a return to Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) Flash beginning in 2009. MLBAM gave Silverlight a boost when it switched from Adobe Flash in 2007 as part of the media player’s launch. But MLBAM’s Bob Bowman says the Adobe Flash Platform better matches its needs. During an interview after the announcement, he held off on any comments about Silverlight, saying only ”our experience with Silverlight has led us to where we are.” Instead, he described why a two-year deal with Adobe makes sense now: “We did it because we serve up more live video than anybody.” Bowman said MLBAM needs something flexible and reliable. “Turn it on and it works.” It needs to be scalable to support hundreds of thousands of simultaneous viewers and it needs to provide “more than just video.” Asked if there was an economic advantage to opting for Adobe, Bowman said no. The deal includes all of MLBAM’s live and on-demand video offerings beginning in 2009 and an MLB-developed app using Adobe AIR to make features available outside the browser. The release spells out “statistics and highlights” outside the browser so it doesn’t sound like full games are going to be delivered that way.
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-mlbam-goes-back-to-adobe-flash-after-flirtation-with-microsofts-silverl/

Rivals.com Airing Show On Memphis Basketball

Rivals.com has launched its first online reality programming, beginning a 10-part video series this week chronicling the beginning of the Univ. of Memphis men’s basketball season. The series, entitled “Full Court Press” and presented by the U.S. Army, will extend to mid-December, with each weekly episode and the finale running about 9-15 minutes each. Veering away from the company’s traditional base in college news and inside recruiting information, the Rivals series explores more behind-the-scenes elements such as players getting in shape, competing for playing time, and moving from last season’s crushing overtime loss in the national title game.
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=archive.printArticle&articleId=124984

YouTube Streaming Full Episodes of TV Shows

Google-owned YouTube has tossed aside its 10-minute-video limit rule. It is running full-length episodes of TV shows, starting with a test of three CBS-owned shows: Star Trek, MacGyver and Beverly Hills, 90210. The moves are a response to competition from sites offering full-length videos including Hulu, Veoh and blip.tv, which are gaining traction with viewers. "YouTube is a clip culture," says Jordan Hoffner, YouTube's director of content partnerships. "But we saw that there was a demand for longer form, and a market that's growing, so we decided to try it."
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-10-23-youtube-tv-episodes_N.htm?csp=34

New Video Site Set to Feature In-Theatre Movies For Only $3

In the latest wrinkle in film distribution, Gotham indie Gigantic is launching a website offering $3 streams of features alongside their theatrical debuts. Akin to IFC's simultaneous bows in theaters and on VOD, the setup differs from that of Hulu or Snagfilm in that it's a non-commercial Web effort by a pure film distrib as opposed to an aggregator selling ads against streaming content. It also differs from pay sites like Amazon, Netflix or iTunes because it eliminates the lag between theaters and the Web bow. The game plan is that review and media attention generated around theatrical engagements in major cities will help fuel online biz, especially in flyover country. Consumers will pay $2.99 for three days of access to pics.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117994409.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2570

Swarmcast Debuts Video Platform Just for Sports

Swarmcast, a privately held company based in Minneapolis and Tokyo specializing in back-end technology for Internet video streaming, will announce today at the Sportel 2008 conference in Monaco the creation of Swarmcast For Sports, an end-to-end online video product suite that combines content ingestion, digital rights management, encoding, production and high-quality distribution. Swarmcast’s Autobahn platform helps power MLBAM's MLB.TV video offerings. “We’re taking our learnings from that effort with baseball and have created a full turnkey solution that is specifically tailored for sports,” said Swarmcast Senior VP/Business Development Kelly Egan.

Joost Launches Flash Version For Browsers: Easier But No Hulu

Online video site Joost is finally, officially easier to use. The Flash-based, download-free version for browsers can be accessed now but the full-featured version is supposed to launch at midnight. Joost boasts of having the “largest online library of legal video programming.” The company says it has doubled the number of videos in the past 10 months to more than 46,000 with a 50 percent increase in hours for a total of more than 8,000 hours. Content partners include investors CBS (NYSE: CBS) and Viacom; Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures Television; Warner Bros. Television Group; the NBA; PBS and a number of international providers. Joost had a head start on Hulu in terms of time and hype but the News Corp-NBCU JV is well ahead now. Seeing the difference is as simple as watching the same clip on each service.One of the biggest differences: I can use Joost to catch up on CSI; CBS isn’t on Hulu although I can access it through Hulu’s directory, which sends viewers to CBS or CBS HD. You won’t find House on Joost or Saturday Night Live, although Mr. Bill is on hand. (The NYT says NBC scuttled a deal for SNL.) Joost has a handful of clips from The Daily Show as I write, while Hulu has 15 full episodes and 30 clips. Another: on Joost, sharing means sending an email, not embedding or clipping.
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-joost-launches-flash-version-for-browsers/

Microsoft Set to Launch Silverlight 2.0 Video Player; Claims Olympics Increased Downloads By 30%

Microsoft on Monday announced, as expected, that it is ready with a final version of its Silverlight 2 media player. Silverlight 2 will be available for download starting Tuesday, Microsoft said. Among the new features are support for digital rights management technology, improved cross-platform support and deep zoom technology. Microsoft also announced a range of new partners including AOL, Blockbuster, CBS College Sports, Toyota, and Yahoo Japan. Microsoft also disclosed some numbers for the Olympics work it did with NBC. Over a 17-day period, Microsoft said NBCOlympics.com had more than 50 million unique visitors, resulting in 1.3 billion page views, 70 million video streams, and 600 million minutes of video watched. Overall, Microsoft said the Olympics helped boost Silverlight's U.S. penetration by 30 percent, the software maker said.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10064319-75.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0

SNL Getting Twice As Many Viewers Online Than on TV

Online and DVR audiences for the three Tina Fey skits on "Saturday Night Live" spoofing Sarah Palin were twice the size of the original television audience, according to data released Friday by Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI), a provider of consumer behavior and audience exposure data to media companies and advertisers. Among all the people who saw at least one of the three SNL sketches, 33% watched it on television during the original broadcast and a staggering 67% watched after the original broadcast either online or on a DVR. "This is the first time we've seen delayed viewing numbers this big," said Amanda Welsh, head of research for San Mateo, Calif.-based IMMI. "Usually it's the other way around, with the overwhelming majority of viewing occurring during the actual broadcast."
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.san&s=92449&Nid=48249&p=918739