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Netflix about to overtake HBO on subs

Netflix will soon pass HBO in paid US subscribers, as the company prepares to reveal its third-quarter results. Already the world’s largest subscription-video service, Netflix is expected to have reached 30 million paying US customers. Cable providers are starting to see the $8-a-month subscription as an asset, and some are working to integrate Netflix with […]

October 21, 2013

Hopkins confirmed as Hulu chief, Forssell leaves

Hulu has confirmed that the board has appointed Mike Hopkins as CEO, ending weeks of speculation. Hopkins, a Hulu board member since 2011 who has been serving as president of distribution for Fox Networks Group since 2008, starts immediately. Andy Forssell, who has served as acting CEO since March, will be leaving the OTT subscription […]

October 18, 2013

SVoD services not eroding Pay-TV

MediaBug – Decipher’s bi-annual media consumption tracker – have tracked a sharp rise in subscriptions to SVoD services such as Netflix and Lovefilm this year, but reveal that this is not having a significant effect on ‘cord cutting and cord shaving’ amongst Pay-TV homes, with many consumers opting for both. Mediabug Wave 3 shows that […]

October 17, 2013

Netflix, Disney Dutch deal

Netflix has obtained rights to additional Disney titles for its just-launched streaming service in the Netherlands, starting in 2014. Netflix will have exclusive subscription VoD rights in the Dutch market for live-action and animated movies from Disney, including “The Avengers,” Pixar’s “Monsters University,” and “The Lone Ranger.” Deal also covers library titles including “The Pirates […]

October 17, 2013

Online TV, video $35bn revenues by 2018

Global online TV and video revenues (over fixed broadband networks) will reach $34.99 billion in 2018, a massive increase from the $3.98 billion recorded in 2010 and the $15.94 billion expected in 2013, according to the Online TV and Video Forecasts report from Digital TV Research. By 2018, 520 million homes in 40 countries will […]

October 16, 2013

Sony Animax SVoD service for UK

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks will launch a UK version of its anime channel, Animax, as a subscription video on demand service. In line with the launch, SPT Networks UK has agreed a multi-year volume deal with anime content provider VIZ Media to secure exclusive content for the new service. Animax is SPT Networks’ global […]

October 15, 2013

Netflix seeks US cable partners

Netflix is said to be in talks with several US cable operators including Comcast and Suddenlink to make its online video service available as an app on their set-top boxes. A deal would mark the online video service’s first such tie-up with a US cable provider and would come after a similar agreement it recently […]

October 14, 2013

Malone: Cable needs own Netflix

John Malone told Liberty Media Corp’s annual investor conference that cable companies should team up to create a rival to Netflix that would deliver programming over the Internet on a national basis. Cable-cos could “solve the problem” of high programming costs by acquiring content for an Internet-based service under one brand that they would sell […]

October 11, 2013By Chris Forrester

Marvel content for LOVEFiLM

Marvel Anime has announced the premiere of four new series in the UK on Amazon’s LOVEFiLM streaming service. The deal with Sony Pictures Television means that subscription on-demand service LOVEFiLM will host series featuring popular comic book heroes including vampire hunter “Blade”, Tony Stark’s alter ego “Iron Man”, the fearsome “Wolverine” and mutant superheroes “X-Men”. […]

October 10, 2013

Facebook: No plans for premium content service

Andy Mitchell, Director of Strategic Media and Platform Partnerships at Facebook, has confirmed that the company has no plans for a premium service allowing access to and discovery of content. He also said the company had no immediate plans to generate content for its platform. Participating in a MIPCOM seminar on the future of TV […]

October 9, 2013Colin Mann @ MIPCOM