You Tube Partners with Tivo

Digital downloads on your TV set is the next horizon. Sony continues to make news with Playstation 3 and directly throuh certain Bravia TV sets. Amazon is also pushing its Unbox service to purchase and download content. Tivo currently has a relationship with Amazon. Now Tivo has moved forward with You Tube to offer streaming of its content on TV. Is a Hulu - Tivo deal in their future? Will You Tube users move over from pc to TV to watch; it all depends on breadth of content, ease of navigation, and download speed.

You Tube currently represents the dominate platform choice by users to watch streaming content. Tivo provides another screen, and perhaps size of the TV set will matter. Unfortunately, not every Tivo user will have access to You Tube content. "Not in big numbers anytime soon, though, because while TiVo has 3.8 million subscribers, only about a fifth of them have the necessary equipment -- a TiVo Series 3 or TiVo HD -- for grabbing YouTube content and displaying it on TV screens."

Still, it is another bullet that separates Tivo from others in connecting the web to TV. Tivo recognizes the value of connecting web to TV and is building the platform that is attractive to its users. As they add more content to the box, they become more valuable. They are a force to reckon with.

Sony Offers Video-Downloading

Expect a dogfight in the digital download arena with many boxes capable of attaching to the TV set and the internet, ingesting long and short form content, free and transactional. From the cable box currently connected to your TV set to Tivo, from Playstation 3 offering Sony movies to Roku offering access to your online Netflix subscription. And of course their is Microsoft who has Xbox and Apple with Apple TV to push. And lastly Slingbox may want to own a piece.

"Sony said its service will let users rent or buy movies and rent television shows produced by major studios and production companies -- including Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures -- and watch them on TV sets through its PlayStation Network in the U.S."

Who will survive,who will get gobbled up. Again, content is king and whoever controls it has greater control over which box will survive. That may give Sony an advantage with games and movies. Are you watching this, Nintendo; Wii may need to find a partner, too. Partnerships will matter and as Tivo further integrates into the Comcast cable box, synergies will grow to enhance its appeal and value. Apple has always built customer friendly devices and have passionate loyal customers that will stand in line to get their products. And Microsoft has the resources to maintain a seat at the table.

Digital downloading will create more opportunities for competition and that may spell good news for the customer. And may offer even more advertising options to support revenue growth.

ComScore: Americans Watched 12 Billion Videos In May

Online video usage is gaining speed, growing by 45% from a year earlier and by 10% from last month. You Tube continues to be the dominate site, with a 35% share, although that leadership position appears to be slowly eroding as other sites gain more awareness and usage. In fact, their percentage dropped from 37.9% in April. Surprisingly My Space videos, as measured through Fox Interactive Media, is second, and Hulu (or as some still like to call it Hula) is in 10th place.

And while there is still a huge jump between You Tube and others, Google and You Tube must be feeling the heat as original content on sites like AOL, ABC, and Hulu, appears to have more interest and more likelihood for monetization. Those sites that can create more synergies across other media and help drive traffic to their sites will benefit more in the long run.

And while this is a snapshot for the month, the indication is that online viewing will continue to grow at a fast rate and You Tube will find its share of the pie reducing as these other sites continue to push their content. In June, Disney began showing their full length movies online; that should lead to a bump in their score. Hulu continues to put more content on their site as well and May is the first month that they were out of beta.

I'd love to know more about these online users; are they watching at the office or at home, is most viewing in the daytime or evening, do they prefer snacking or full episodes. How users are using this online content will continue to shape how usage and site preference grows.

SAG stays in stall mode

Sometimes its hard to admit defeat. SAG has no leverage to construct a better deal now that AFTRA and the writers have come to terms on new media participation. Given also that the economy is in a state of flux and the new media market still remains undefined, a short term deal is reasonable. As they fight over digital downloads, mobile usage is another screen with some potential. But as one area grows, another declines. The revenue coming from advertising is not an unlimited bucket of money. It flows to different media, from one screen to another. Ultimately, compensation should be measured regardless of where it is seen, but as a percentage of total business over a period of time.

Kindle is Doing Pretty Well

It seems Kindle is doing pretty well, with celebrities talking it up gratis. Martha Stewart and others continue to mention that they are Kindle users. Increased production, price cuts to appeal to abroader audience, should help drive revenues and increase brand presence. As consumrs continue to embrace the concept of e-books, as they have books on tape, Kindle may be the ultimate device to provide both a video and audio presence for one low price. "The retailer sold 25,000 to 50,000 devices during the first three months of 2008, according to an estimate by Mitchell. Amazon doesn't disclose Kindle figures."

Need a reason to switch from hard copy to e-copy, "The paper edition of ``Sail,'' by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, ranked second on the New York Times bestseller list, sells for $16.79 on Amazon.com while the Kindle version costs $9.99. Customers don't pay extra for download time. Users can also transfer text documents and MP3 music files from their computers, according to Amazon's Web site." Add enough extras, like reading blogs and free books on the web, and the voracious reader will see savings with their Kindle very quickly.

In Deepening Ad Decline, Sales Fall 8% at Magazines

Advertising money seems to move from one pocket to another, leaving magazines for other vehicles. And as digital distribution continues to provide more opportunities to segment the market and reach particular demos, it will become increasingly more difficult to get the biggest slice of the pie. it seems the best opportunities will be with thoise content creators who can make and distribute content acoss multiple platforms and subsequently can charge for this wide access. Be everywhere, do everything: print, video, mobil, VOD, etc.

Video on the web to quadruple over next few years

Content remains king and distribution opportunities grow as more consumers discover the web for video. Add to that the convergence of web to TV being pursued by Apple, Netflix, and others, and it is easy to understand why broadband usage is growing rapidly.

It challenges the very ecosystem that has been proving profitable to cable companies and traditional cable programmers, getting a license fee to carry content on a "channel lineup" and charging consumers for packages of channels on a monthly basis. As content creators bypass these old channels for a direct path to the consumer via the internet, it taxes the broadband pipeline and treats the pipe as a commodity rather than a unique relationship. With that in mind, cable companies are testing usage charges for access as opposed to single monthly fees. It kinda reminds you of the old days when your telephone bill was based on the number and length of each call; it sure feels like a step backwards from unlimited usage.

Wallstrip has some timely comments about this bandwidth charge:



Charging for bandwidth usage will impede growth not create revenue opportunities. This approach is not the answer. Still the rise of broadband will enable more IP applications to associate with the content. That unique added value is what can ultimately improve this relationship and provide new revenue streams to replace the old ones. "For the network operator, the ability to bundle a video package with movie access to their other broadband offerings for a specific fee could be a sticky element to keep customers coming back. Then, the broadcaster and video maker can boast more eyeballs viewing their content."

Once this interactive ecosystem is fully realized, the companies that can provide access and support to interact across multiple devices, seamlessly and intuitively, will gain market share. These devices include gaming, mobile, computer, tv, and others that can utilize and interact with these digital streams of content.

AFTRA Approves Three-Year AMPTP Pact

With a 62% approval vote, AFTRA has ratified their agreement with the producers and put the squeeze on their union counterpart. SAG was waiting and hoping that this deal would be rejected so that they would have more leverage going into their negotiation. But this vote severely weakens SAG's position and further indicates that actors do not want to strike.

"In a prepared statement, the AMPTP said, 'We appreciate today's vote of confidence by actors in the agreement we negotiated with AFTRA, and hope that it demonstrates to SAG's Hollywood leadership that there is support for the new economic relationships we have built with writers, directors and actors -- and not much support for a strike, whether de facto or real.'"

Approximately 40,000 actors are members of both unions, another indication that SAG needs to work with the current deals already agreed to by AFTRA and the writers union. The digital landscape is changing rapidly and a three year deal by AFTRA is not so long to continue to have a seat at the table as technology, content, and distribution keep developing and to reflect changing usage.

As a recent CTAM report indicates, online usage is growing rapidly, but television viewing remains king. The dvr is an important device for tv use and continues to rank highest against other content screens. As HD becomes more available and tv screens become larger, the television set should remain the key driver for video usage over the foreseeable future. SAG should accept a short term deal, study the trends and work across unions to devise an adequate revenue split. Then they should approach AMPTP to negotiate a future agreement.

SAG/AMPTP On Hold Until AFTRA Result

Will there be a deal between AFTRA and AMPTP? The vote is imminent and the results may just determine SAGs next steps. If AFTRA votes to accept the terms, SAG will be hard presses to not agree to a deal. If the vote fails, negotiations between SAG and AMPTP may get more complicated. The vote results are due tonight... "So everyone's watching and waiting for the results that could change the entire nature of these actor-employer negotiations."