Foursquare Finds Financial Foothold

Foursquare has found investment interest as it receives $50 million in funding. "The company, which allows users to announce their presence at an ever-growing number of bars, restaurants, offices, arenas, and public spaces recently passed the 10 million user milestone, and just this week inked a deal with American Express to allow Foursquare users with AmEx cards the opportunity to take advantage of cash-back deals." And add me on Friday as one more member.

I went out to the movies, dinner, and the beach this weekend, and each time, I announced my location. And each time, I annoyed my wife as I did it and became fodder for conversation with my friends. Comments like, "so now the crooks know you aren't home" and simply "why?". I have to say I asked myself the same question. None of my three friends on Foursquare live that close to me or did I suspect they would be at any of the places I visited. And I wasn't about to look for other members from their picture, that may also be at the same establishments. And lastly, I have to say, I didn't like having my iPhone beep the location of my friends locations. So after a weekend, I am already considering deleting my app.

Perhaps all I really want is for the location I am visiting to know that I am there and to perhaps treat me with a discount, coupon, or other goodie as a sign of loyalty. As for bumping into friends at locations, I'd rather it be a surprise; otherwise, it starts to look like stalking.

Is it fun to be a "mayor" of a location; I'm not sure I will ever get to know. Perhaps I am missing something, but Foursquare seems more fun as my kids' outdoor recess game. I'd love to hear other opinions, let me know your thoughts.

VOD II: The Empire Strikes Back | InteractiveTV Today

A great article on the future of VOD. Enjoy!
VOD II: The Empire Strikes Back | InteractiveTV Today

Fourstep Partners With American Express

An ideal partnership, matching consumers and their shopping preferences with their preferred credit card company. An innovative way to facilitate the purchase process. "Foursquare users are accustomed to receiving awards in the form of coupons and digital merit badges. But more substantial deals like those being offered to American Express cardholders may bring Foursquare and other location-based services further into the mainstream." As consumers get closer and closer to managing purchases with their smartphone, this arrangement gets Amex one step closer to the process. And it further cements the relationship between retailer and purchase process with deals and coupons as the glue.

"To start, American Express will offer deals at Sports Authority and the clothing retailer H&M, along with a few restaurants in New York, like Union Square Cafe and the barbecue joint Blue Smoke. For example, shoppers who spend $75 at H&M will receive a $10 credit to their American Express accounts. Those who spend $50 at Sports Authority will get a $20 reward." I have been reluctant to join Foursquare, but these kinds of deals get me to reconsider. And I am betting that others will feel the same.

Rewarding loyalty has its rewards and both Amex and Foursquare should see this partnership paying healthy dividends. I look forward to seeing how this partnership can further evolve.

Viacom Sues Cablevision, While Time Warner Cable Suit On Hold

Just as word came out this morning that Viacom and Time Warner Cable had stopped their lawsuits to get close to a settlement deal, a new suit from Viacom against Cablevision has arose. "Viacom said Cablevision's April 2 launch of a computer application to allow streaming of television programs through a cable modem to iPad tablets violates its agreement to distribute Viacom programing only on cable TV systems."

Cablevision's response was "Cablevision's very popular Optimum App for iPad, which has been available to our customers for nearly three months, falls within our existing cable television licensing agreements with programmers – including Viacom. It is cable television service on the iPad, which functions as a television, and is delivered securely to our customers in the home on Cablevision's own proprietary network.” This came from Jim Maiella.

To me the key point is that the location of wireless viewing is within the home and thus covered by a cable agreement. It is true yet short sighted. What the cable subscriber really wants is viewership OUTSIDE the home. And that is why this app, as nice as it might be, is not enough. For Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, and other cable providers, deals must be negotiated with programmers like Viacom to authorize access anywhere for an authenticated viewer. Of course, consumers could just purchase a SLingbox.

Is Yahoo Gaga Over Hulu?

It seems there is some interest in purchasing Hulu, and the unofficial reports say that it is Yahoo. As a competitor to Google and You Tube, this acquisition might make sense, but is there enough reward to justify the cost? "The unsolicited offer has prompted Hulu’s board to consider its options, and the company is speaking to potential advisers, these people said. It may contact potential buyers, including other media companies and private equity firms that have wanted the chance to buy the service." For Hulu's owners, NBC, Fox, Disney and others, separating themselves from a platform company may enable them to better determine how best to distribute their content. It may also help their negotiations with cable partners and to assure themselves that they are getting the best license deals.

A sale seems to make sense as well as these content partners don't easily get along. As they compete for ratings and ad dollars, it is tougher to then turn around and cooperate for Hulu business. It also restricts opportunities for each content company to design their own unique leverage opportunities to marry online content with linear. And for NBC, who is also owned by Comcast, a sale would get NBC out of this very complicated relationship.

And perhaps Hulu needs a different owner, one that is more committed to it's success. "Hulu has lost two of its most vocal backers: Peter Chernin, formerly the News Corp.’s president, and Jeff Zucker, who left NBC Universal last fall. James Murdoch, who became News Corp.’s deputy chief operating officer in March, is among those who is much more skeptical about Hulu’s business prospects." A Hulu-Yahoo combination might yield more favorable results although the cost for content will undoubtedly rise. It's one thing to sell content to your own company, another when you have no restrictions.

So let's see how real this rumor of a sale really is. I for one would like to see it happen.

Dot Anything

Remember the good ole days when a 212 area code meant NYC, 215 meant Philly, and .com meant business web address. Well the proliferation of smart phones and websites means that there is a shortage and the we must continue to grow the numbers. "The new rules affect what the industry calls top-level domain names, the familiar dot-coms and dot-nets that end every Web address. Now, instead of having to use one of those existing forms, users will be able to end their addresses with the name of their company, such as dot-Ford, or their city, like dot-Berlin."

But with this growth comes the need for zoning and now it seems it is harder than ever to know where a phone number is generated from or where a website originates. Exciting , yet problematic. "The shift, however, could also cause anxiety and disputes among governments, companies and other entities in safeguarding their brands and identities in cyberspace. Those seeking religious or political names, for example, could lead to sensitive situations."

Nothing can stop the proliferation of addresses, but certainly governance can help to better manage it. It certainly may hurt squatters to websites who hope to force brands to pay for rights to their name. Yet I am confident that new opportunities will present themselves. And in cases when companies with the same name in different industries each want access to their domain name, challenges will arise as well. It is the start of a whole new internet and let the battles begin.

Another Hack Job

First Sony was hacked and now it's Sega's turn. "Almost all data for 1.29 million users was accessed -- usernames, real names, birth dates, passwords, and email addresses. But curiously, credit card and debit card information remains untouched, says Sega." It seems that hackers are going after all types of companies that are digitally storing users' personal information. Where once you had to be careful that your wallet wasn't stolen, now there seems little we can do to protect ourselves from identity theft, stolen bank and credit card info, and other personal information.

And yet, we seem to be calm about this, until of course we are personally affected and fighting to keep our hard earned monies and good name. Every security effort seems to only raise the stakes and interest higher by hackers intent to prove that they are the best. Whether for sport or for criminal gain, it seems unlikely that hacking will ever end. As long as we are "on the grid", we remain at risk.

Cable Networks For Sale?

Rainbow Networks, a Cablevision company, plans to spin off at the end of the month and rebrand itself as AMC Networks. E.W. Scripps successfully spun off its cable programming arm, Scripps Interactive (SNI) with HGTV and Food Network, a few years ago. And the talk now centers on SNI potentially selling itself to another programmer. "SNI has long been eyed by a slew of big media conglomerates eager to bulk up their cable holdings. Disney Co., Time Warner, Viacom and even pure play Discovery Communications have been suggested as possible partners." As the cable industry matures, consolidation is necessary on both sides of the arena, for operator and programmer alike.

The merging of programming companies enables better economies of scale, cost and productivity efficiencies, and of course, more leverage in negotiation carriage and programming agreements. Certainly Rainbow saw that when they acquired Sundance Channel a couple years ago. And NBC has been picking up channels in its long run, including USA, Oxygen, and Bravo. With cable operators merging and consolidating operations, so too must programming networks in order to compete effectively in a changing marketplace. Will Scripps sell to a bigger programming company, will Rainbow? The long term bet is very likely.

New Settop Box, New Modem For Comcast Xfinity

From this week's Cable Show, Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast introduces the audience to it's next generation converter box and modem.



Utilizing a Rovi guide and data stored in the cloud, the set top is designed to provide a graphically richer and faster user experience. Roberts "...used the time for a demo of one technology the company hadn’t yet decided how to deploy—1 Gbps downloads over a cable modem, which we were first to report. But most of the demo went to Xfinity TV features already used in Comcast’s Augusta, Ga. system, including nimble and robust search, apps and DVR management." I have to admit, I had seen this guide demonstration last year inside Comcast Corp as well as other projects including 3D. It will be a very impressive undertaking to switchout boxes and move subscribers to this new experience. With so much legacy set top boxes in the field and the capital costs associated with conversion, I wonder the time frame to bring this rich new experience into the home. And I worry that by the time Comcast gets even to scale, that consumers may have already ditched the set top and cut the cord to cable.

As this rich data is coming from the clouds, so should the content. The boxes seem to continue to rely on an EBIF approach while CE manufacturers are gaining ground with web connections for online content. It is this threat that should most concern the cable industry. Can Comcast deploy these new boxes fast enough to keep subscribers from downgrading and dropping video service? And can Comcast get it's programming partners on board to enable live streaming of channels to authenticated mobile devices outside the home. Certainly Comcast has the deep pockets but it needs to happen sooner rather than later.