Locast vs. the Media Giants

Locast a nonprofit startup service that launched in 2018 which grabs over-the-air channels and streams them free over the internet said late Thursday that the ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC's "sham litigation" against it, is an antitrust conspiracy to drive it out of business and they are colluding to deny consumers over-the-air signals they once committed to make freely available. 

The suit was the first attack against a company that many see as a successor to Aereo (see past stories), a for-profit streaming service that five years ago offered consumers livestreams of broadcast channels for a monthly subscription. The difference between the cases is Locast's nonprofit status. US copyright law has allowed certain nonprofit institutions to grab over-the-air TV signals and retransmit them to nonpaying viewers, such as a university setting up an antenna that can retransmit to students in its dorms.

Locast's first official answer to the copyright suit goes beyond simply rejecting the companies' accusations of copyright infringement to accuse them of collusion and it's bringing Google's YouTube into the fight. Locast stated that executives at YouTubeTV a paid service that streams live TV channels, met with the Big Four broadcasters suing Locast in April. According to Locast, the YouTube executives were told that if YouTubeTV provided access to Locast, then YouTubeTV would be "punished" by the media giants when YouTube renegotiated the licensing deals allowing its streaming service to carry media giants' cable networks.

In full disclosure, although Locast relies on donations from viewers, it accepts money from corporations and recently received $500,000 from AT&T, which also operates the DirecTV satellite service. When a fee dispute blacked out CBS for more than 6.5 million AT&T television subscribers for a few weeks this summer, AT&T encouraged its users to try Locast.

No doubt this story will continue for some time and we look forward to seeing how it ultimately plays out. More:  The Hollywood Reporter 09/26/19 - Locast Accuses the Major Broadcasters of Antitrust Violations and The New York Times 09/27/19 - Locast, a Free Streaming Service, Sues ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox

ABC News GoStream Launches

Where do you go to get the news of the day? Well many of us now find it 24/7 from mobile and other digital properties. Well add one more resource to your content arsenal as another News organization just made it even easier to find the news you want whenever and wherever you want.   Today ABC announced the launch of their new online video initiative called GoStream.

According to the network, they are putting more power in the hands of their reporters as the new service allows any of ABC's field journalists to fire up an app and begin sending raw video to ABC News, which will then disseminate the streams to ABC News via the LiveU streaming platforms. ABC News will then disseminate on its ABCNews.com/live platform – which will undergo a redesign as well as its mobile apps and Apple TV. Viewers will be able to choose from any number of feeds during major events, which will not air with a delay. The program could be broadened to include civilians that live stream as well. More: Mashable.com 12/02/14 - Live from everywhere: ABC News journalists will stream video to your screen

Have something to add to this story? Please share it with us in the comments.

News that Finds You - BreakingNews.com's Proximity Alerts

Geolocation services are not new to smartphones, and place-based features have only improved over the years however in the battle for attention on your phone, Breaking News, a startup owned by NBC News, wants to win by finding smart ways to show you less. Today they debuted a new feature to their iOS app that pushes proximity-based news alerts when a big story breaks near a user’s physical location. Geo-targeted to mobile devices, the alerts highlight major stories that are relevant to people nearby, including significant earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, public safety alerts, evacuations and more.
Proximity alerts will also accompany users as they travel internationally. NBC says Breaking News is the first mobile app to offer the innovative service.
“In a world where news alerts are out of control, our mission is to deliver the breaking stories that are uniquely important to you,” said Cory Bergman, general manager of Breaking News. “Few things are as important as learning about a big breaking story that just happened near your location. Proximity alerts are lightning fast, and the service sets Breaking News apart as the go-to app to discover breaking stories that matter to you, wherever you are.” The app also includes the addition of a “Watchlist,” where users can easily track breaking news in their favorite interests in real time, as well as a new design, infinite scroll, simple navigation, faster search, and an improved iPad view.

The Breaking News app update is available today on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, and it will be available for Android devices soon. To download the Breaking News app for iOS, visit BreakingNews.com/apps. Also read their release - Introducing proximity alerts and much more in the new Breaking News iOS app

Yahoo's IntoNow fades to Black

I guess I can remove this app from my iPad. Obviously I wasn't using it and apparently I wasn't alone. Yahoo's IntoNow second-screen app is shutting down effective March 31st. You may remember it as one of the many that popped up in the early part of the decade. Purchased by Yahoo in 2011, it offered Shazam like capabilities which gave it built-in auto content recognition (ACR) technology for recognizing television programming, a feature which first caught my attention and had me downloading it and trying it out. As with other second-screen apps it also allowed the users to check-in to the television shows they were watching and share their viewing habits with friends on Facebook and Twitter. Frankly, I found this to be a feature I never used. If I wanted to share info like this I would have asked them over and made popcorn! Ryan Lawler @ TechCrunch agrees writing, “The idea was as preposterous then as it seems now, but thanks to the relative early success of Foursquare back in those days, eager app makers were trying to get people to check into every damn thing.” MORE: techcrunch.com 01/29/14 - Yahoo Is Shutting Down IntoNow, Nearly Three Years After Acquisition by Ryan Lawler

TV Everywhere Viewing takes off

New data available from FreeWheel finally quanitifies the fact that TV Everywhere is finally real.  Since the inception of the concept, critics could confidently claim that the authentication of subscribers on non-TV devices was failing to materialize, however, in the past 12 months authenticated video viewing grew 217% and comprises an impressive 14% of all ad views on long-form content.

Brian Dutt, manager of advisory services at FreeWheel stated “Over time, we expect that this will drive increased monetization of half-hour and hour-long TV programs (as well as live streams) across all screens.  Late this year, the industry also achieved a 1:1 ratio between ad views and video views which, according to Dutt, indicates that monetization is finally catching up with viewing behavior.  Dutt beleive that all of this is proving that programmers are finally figuring out how to bring TV experiences to viewers across all devices while monetizing it at the same time. As such, the content mix is continuing to evolve with long-form growing most quickly (56%), led by scripted drama and sports. More: 12/03/13 FierceOnline Video - TV Everywhere ad viewing spikes 9 percentage points between Q4 2012 and Q3 2013 - FierceOnlineVideo or Download FreeWheel's Video Monetization Q3 2013 Report

TiVo - To Roam or not to Roam

The DVR pioneers at TiVo are back with the recent launch of a new line of devices that promise closer integration of streaming services and personal recordings. Their cool new trick; out-of-home (OOH) streaming of both live and recorded shows, with the ability to download shows to to smartphones and tablets from anywhere. The company says that the new Roamio line combines the functionality of a DVR, Apple TV, Roku and Slingbox and even with all of those devices in a user’s entertainment centre; they still wouldn’t have access to everything a Roamio can do for them. It says that while doing what other cable set-top-boxes don’t do: combine all the best of linear TV with all the best over-the-top content, TV lovers now have the ability to roam free and both control and consume from out of the home through a mobile device. According to Colin Dixon, chief analyst and Founder of nScreenMedia, "The TiVo Roamio has reset the bar for what a DVR can do by making all that functionality and content available anywhere will allow users to get more value from the content they already pay for.” For now, the connectivity only works with iOS devices but the company has plans to roll out to Android sometime next year.

 

Now I'll admit that I've always have a soft spot in my heart for TiVo because truly, their early product was literally years ahead of it's time but now I must question.... is it enough to keep the company relevant? I guess only time will tell. As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome.

 

San Francisco Startup Stringwire Acquired by NBC

News gathering done at the source by Smartphone toting witnesses has been around for a while as the technology has grown and evolved. Twitter itself has become the go-to source for many kinds of widely witnessed breaking news, such as protests and plane crashes. Stepping up to the plate in support of this trend NBC News announced it has acquired the user-generated live video service Stringwire as part of an effort to beef up its newsgathering efforts. “Stringwire is at the leading edge of user-generated video products, with immediate value to our on-air and digital businesses,” explained Vivian Schiller, senior VP and chief digital Officer at NBC News. “You could get 30 people all feeding video, holding up their Smartphone’s and then we could look at that,” Schiller told the NY Times. “We’ll be able to publish and broadcast some of them.” For breaking news and stories, Stringwire has the ability to recruit and direct contributors based on geographical location via Twitter and then to instantly access their live footage. According to Schiller NBC will utilize Stringwire’s technology to provide its TV and digital platforms with new tools for newsgathering and for using eyewitness user-generated video content.

Aereo Can Stream in New York for the Foreseeable Future

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied a broadcaster request that the full court review a three-judge panel of that court's April decision not to stop Aereo from delivering broadcast signals over the Internet while a lower court considers a broadcaster challenge to the service's legality. The central issue in the Aereo case is whether the start-up’s decision to provide one antenna for every subscriber makes it a legal private transmission under copyright law or, instead, an illegal public broadcast so the broadcasters claim.

Meanwhile Fox Broadcasting isn't taking no for an answer, "We will now review our options, and determine the appropriate course of action," said a statement from Fox. CBS has also vowed to fight the company wherever it launches its service, which is available in New York, Atlanta and Boston (where it's already been sued by Hearst).

Aereo is a well funded startup that is challenging the current broadcasting model. While this ruling is another win for Aereo in its ongoing battle against broadcasters, their time in court is far from over. More on this to come...

Turner To Launch Live Streaming for TNT, TBS

Not to be out done by yesterdays ABC live streaming announcement, Wednesday Turner Broadcasting released news about their newly created "Watch TNT" and "Watch TBS" apps for tablets and smartphones . The networks will both stream on-air content live across multiple platforms 24/7, available via the networks' websites as well as the apps.  Turner continues its push to become a year-round home to original programming as they also announced their upcoming new scripted and unscripted fare including series from top producers like Steven Spielberg, Diablo Cody, Denis Leary, Sylvester Stallone, Dick Wolf and Jamie Foxx.

I expect many more networks to soon join the ranks of HBO, Turner and ABC as more programmers and distributors reach "TV Everywhere" deals. Obviously these are designed to make content more available to subscribers and stave off competition for new OTT rivals. For now all of this seems great speaking from the perspective of one who travels a great deal. At some point however I see an upcoming post about the frustrations of manage 100's of individual apps in order to see my favorite shows while on the road. That app from DishTV looks like it will be the benchmark for other video providers in the future and these separate networks app's are simply a short term work around.

Breaking News: ABC Launches Live Linear Streaming

Marking a first for a broadcast network, today ABC announced the launch of its "Watch ABC" app to allow pay-tv subscribers access to live, linear streaming of viewers’ local ABC station programming, including network, local and syndicated content. The service will launch first as a free preview on May 14 and will be available to all viewers through a special open access preview with WABC-TV (NYC) and WPVI (Philly) through the end of June. In their press release they state that the app will roll out in the other six ABC-owned station markets this summer.  MORE: Multichannel News 5/12/13 - ABC Sets Live Streaming Service Launch

Yahoo eyes Hulu

Add Yahoo to the growing list of Hulu-suitors. According to reports, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Chief Operating Officer Henrique De Castro recently met with executives at Hulu, the premium video service whose owners have been considering selling it for some months. Hulu would make a powerful weapon to add and they also have mobile applications for their premium subscribers, making the company a natural fit. Mayer's drive into the mobile & digital content spaces seem to offer this deal synergies that could justify the enormous cost of this acquisition. She has made it no secret that her company has been looking to expand its video assets, recently acquiring the exclusive rights to all of SNL's classic clips from 1975 through 2012 while expanding their original exclusive programming. While speaking this past Tuesday during the Wired Business Conference, Mayer's stated that "video is important across all of the company's properties" and that Yahoo is becoming a "mobile-focused firm".

Hulu's board still has a lot of decisions to make and Yahoo has not made and offer. One thing does seem clear at this point and that is that if Yahoo is to pick up the video company, it will fundamentally change the online video landscape, and put Yahoo into competition with a host of new firms.

Roku App Coming to the Second Screen

Streaming video provider Roku is currently testing a second-screen application for tablets that the company hopes to release in the "near term," according to Ed Lee, vice president of content acquisition for Roku. He stated in a presentation at this week's OTTCON conference that the company is "thinking about the second screen quite a bit." He declined to provide specifics on the Roku's plans for the product, but said it would work on Roku owners' tablets and allow them to obtain additional information on the content they watch via their Roku device.

“We're evaluating it right now,” Lee said of the tablet application. “It's certainly coming in the near term.

More at: Media-Saver Tech Blog - Roku planning second-screen tablet app

Monetizing Second-Screens the Zeebox Way

Second-screen apps have been trying to figure out how to turn a profit from the growing chatter around TV and Zeebox thinks they have the answer. Earlier this week they launched an automated advertising platform called SpotSynch that will show users targeted digital advertisements simultaneously with specific TV programs and commercials. The goal of the new product is to create an immediate path to engagement, said Jason Forbes, exec VP-managing director of Zeebox USA. Traditional TV ads create demand and are a call to action, ads on Zeebox let viewers go to brands' websites, get more information, enter a sweepstakes or take a poll or quiz. The hope is that playing Zeebox ads off commercials will increase the impact on viewers while creating a monetization model the company can bank on.

First launched in the App Store in September, Zeebox is a second-screen TV app. Using it, viewers can see comprehensive TV listings, information about favorite television personalities, and, of course, it comes with a social element. According to the company, Zeebox has been downloaded about 1.2 million times since it arrived in the U.S. Full disclosure, I use Zeebox on a ongoing basis, at to onset, I do not have any issues with the concept behind SpotSynch. I actually feel it will add to my viewing experience and I like the idea of having consistent ads on two platforms providing they are relevant. Second screen apps, by their very nature, are supposed to add to the TV viewing experience however, if SpotSynch becomes too obtrusive to my television viewing experience, my opinion and future usage of the app is very likely to change.

43% of pay-TV subscribers have used a TV Everywhere service

This is according to a new study from GfK Media, by way of a report from Multichannel News. While that number is impressive (I certainly fall into that catagory) fewer than 1 in 5 pay-TV knew what “TV Everywhere” meant. What's holding pay-TV customers back from greater adoption? Well, for one, the entire process of authenticating their TV subscriptions. Among those who have watched TV programming online, 70% said the authentication process would probably deter them from using a TV Everywhere service. Among the other findings from the survey of over 1,000 people, TV networks/programmers are currently doing better than MSOs and other providers when it comes to consumer adoption of their TV Everywhere offerings. The findings show that 37% of those who have ever viewed TV content online, watched it through a network's app or website. On the other hand, only 30% of those surveyed indicated watching TV programming through a cable operator or TV distributor's online portal. How important is TV Everywhere in regards to customer retention? Among those who use TV Everywhere services, 65% of respondents said the services were inconsequential in determining whether to keep their current provider, while 25% said it made them more likely to keep their current provider. Wall Street Journal/Digits Blog or Multichannel News

Second Screen: Past, Present & Future

Remember way back (like maybe 2005) when there was only one screen that TV broadcasters and Cable networks needed to fill. These days, it's all about the two-screen experience. People have been watching television with their laptops, smartphones and tablets in hand for a while now. But last year, Networks and show Producers alike tried harder than ever to bring television to a second screen. Even the 2012 Summer Olympics received the second screen treatment with its very own Android and iOS apps, which let users catch live streams of events, access stats and more from the comfort of their couches. If you're starting to feel overwhelmed by the multitude of options, you're not alone so during the recent CES show I took the opportunity to spend part of my day at Second Screen Summit to talk shop and discuss the future of the industry.

Put aside for a moment the tweets and check-ins that have been typically considered the currency of social TV, despite uncertain value in driving actual ratings. TV networks in 2013 are going to make further efforts to seamlessly connect their traditional programming with the second screen in a way that reinforces both venues. That might mean more entries in the model of Bravo's "Top Chef" companion "Last Chance Kitchen" -- an online and on-demand series that pits eliminated contestants against each other for the chance to re-enter the main show. Also expect to see more like CBS'S successful CBS Connect, which infused NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI and Hawaii Five-O with second screen features. With an iPad in hand, NCIS fans can review evidence in-sync with the show, read up on suspects, rifle through maps, interact through social networks and more

Another tend shows more traditional TV shows integrating live on-screen results from polls and games conducted via apps or the web. Successful attempts will provide entertainment with substance and stakes but at this juncture no one company has the preverbal "silver bullet". What will more likely happen over the next 12-18 months is consolidation when major providers like Comcast, Dish, AT&T and others who have (or are about too) launched tablet apps with guide various remote control functionality will then buy the GetGlue's and Viggle's or whatever to incorporate their functionalities so that the operators can more effectively compete with each other." Clearly many companies are vying for a foothold in our living rooms and for the foreseeable future we will see the ecosystem continue to grow and diversify. Personally I think it's an exciting time in the business. More to come on this subject this year but for now if you seek additional info see:
Engadget: The state of the Second Screen (01/11) or Mashable: Second Screen

425 Million Web Connected Devices in the US

According to the NPD Group there are 425 million devices connected to the web inside US households. The largest number of these devices are computers at 183.8 million and as one could assume traditional computer's share of connected in-home devices is diminishing, fueled by the rise of connected gaming consoles (39 million), Blu-ray players (12.9 million), and TVs (16 million). Portable devices such as smartphones (133 million) and tablets (31.8 million) are witnessing hockey stick growth curves and the NPD says that by the end of 2013, there will be a shift toward "screen-sharing across devices." Much like what users can do with Apple's AirPlay, which allows them to throw content from one screen to another; this shared screen experience is converging device ecosystems and will allow for OTT content to become even more prominent on the TV. We are certain to see a multitude of these up and coming devices at next week’s CES. More: NPD.com

US Leads in Mobile Web Adoption

The mobile Web has hit "critical mass" in the U.S., where it is used by 40 million subscribers, who make up at least 15% of the country's mobile users, according to a new study by Nielsen Mobile. The report, "Critical Mass: The Worldwide State of the Mobile Web," identifies the U.K. as having 12% penetration, and Italy as having 11%. Link: BBC News – July 11, 2008 – Mobile Web reaches Critical Mass

Mobille means Fewer more qualified Ads

Improvements to the mobile Web will continue to cause more people to conduct searches on their cell phones however a new challenge to Web advertising giants like Google, Yahoo and others just may well be the mobile phone's screen size. Traditional thinking might lead you to assume what Ben Kunz did in his article in BusinessWeek - small screen equals - less inventory to sell. It's true that a standard computer screen the Google's Ad Sense can fit about 10 ads, but on a cell phone you get only one or two paid ads.

Says Kunz: "Imagine the horror that would befall your business if a large slice of what you sell suddenly disappeared. A similar fate could befall companies that depend on online advertising, as small screens become the gateway to the Internet."That said, no one believes that mobile phones will replace laptops overnight, but if the adoption of Web usage on Apple's iPhone is any indication, Google and its competitors better get
prepared.

Isn't Google already working on this? Earlier in the first quarter, when those infamous numbers from comScore were released (not that those were necessarily wrong, by the way), Google came out saying that it was tweaking its algorithm to promote ads that were likely to convert while eliminating those that were not. The end result was fewer ads, but more qualified--and thus more lucrative--leads generated from ads that were clicked on. Perhaps Google decided to tweak its algorithm with a view to the mobile shift in mind? After all, if the future means less space for ads, wouldn't Google be wise to make sure that fewer ads cost more and convert better? Link: BusinessWeek - Apr 28, 2008 - The Real Threat to Google

Designing for Mobility

Some 40% of web site operators have launched mobile sites and another 22% plan to do so in the next year, according to a new JupiterResearch study (appropriately named - "Designing for Mobility"). This is helping to fuel the growing base of mobile phone users in the US that browse the Internet from their cell phones. Current stats reflect that 25% of cell phone owners go online, with 16 percent doing so frequently. As adoption and use grows, the importance of Web sites suitable for small screens will grow in importance for media companies. Link: OnlineMedia Daily Jan 17, 2008 - Mobile Web Sites' Growth Spurt To Continue

Yesterday Banking, Today Pizza

Applications abound in the Mobile sector and obviously that bodes well for the continued growth in mobile advertising. Yesterday AT&T announced the launch of a comprehensive, easy-to-use mobile banking platform that will enable consumers to view account balances and history, transfer funds and pay bills from their AT&T mobile handsets. Through an innovative relationship, AT&T, Wachovia Corp., SunTrust Banks Inc. and mobile banking and payment enabler CheckFree Corp. are providing a mobile banking solution that is accessible to millions of Wachovia and SunTrust customers. Appearently they agree with the forecasts from TowerGroup which estimates the number of US customers using mobile banking services will rise from 1.1 million in 2007 to more than 40 million by 2012.

Not to be left behind in the dining category is Papa John’s Pizza, which is offering its mobile savvy customers a new alternative: ordering via text message. It’s an innovative step that might help boost the company’s sales, and also will allow for more direct-to-consumer mobile marketing, including coupons and menu updates sent to users’ phones. Links: WSJ.com Nov , click Papa John's Pizza gets Finger Friendler, IntoMobile.com - AT&T launches nationwide mobile banking