US television streaming service Hulu will ramp up its spending to create and acquire content to $500 million this year, a 67 per cent increase, Chief Executive Jason Kilar has said. The service has grown to two million subscribers, from 1.5 million subscribers at the start of the year, Kilar told an advertising industry conference. […]
UK independent online entertainment retailer ShopTo.net has acquired VoD streaming service FetchTV. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in May 2012. FetchTV brings SmartBox set-top box technology and the FetchTV streaming and movies on demand expertise. FetchTV boxes are sold by the likes of Tesco, Currys and PC […]
Liberty Global’s European cable operations in Germany (Unitymedia and Kabel BW), Netherlands (UPC), Austria (UPC) and Switzerland (upc cablecom) have reached agreements with ESPN for carriage of sports channels. With a combination of renewals and new launches, ESPN America HD, ESPN America and ESPN Classic will be available to European households that get their television […]
Marking the 50th anniversary of the franchise, the entire James Bond film catalogue, from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, will be available on Sky Movies from October 2012. Customers will be able to enjoy all of the titles from the iconic franchise, as well as upcoming releases, in HD and without commercial interruption. The twenty-two official Bond titles […]
The Global BBC iPlayer has secured the rights to its first ever sporting event – the Xchanging Boat Race. Subscribers around the world can share in the drama of the one of world’s oldest sporting rivalries, the annual race on the River Thames between the crews of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. This year’s event – […]
Disney studios have made transactional video-on-demand deals with online video services YouTube and Google Play in the UK. These first deals in Europe mean that users can buy or rent movies. “This launch will offer UK viewers further choice and flexibility in how they enjoy our must-see films at home or on the move – […]
M-Net – the multi-channel Pan-African content provider – has launched the African Film Library (AFL), a video-on-demand service, offering the world’s largest ever collection of African film content. Managed by DStv Online – Africa’s multi-channel digital satellite online TV service, part of M-Net’s parent company MultiChoice – the AFL features films and documentaries from across […]
The UK’s largest independent producer is set to shake up the video-on-demand market by allowing viewers to bypass services such as LoveFilm and Netflix and catch hit shows via its TV app. All3Media, producer shows such as Skins, Shameless. The Only Way is Essex and Peep Show, has struck a deal to launch a VoD […]
Roly Keating, the BBC’s Director of Archive Content, has suggested that the corporation’s ‘Project Barcelona’, which would see a significant expansion of the range of BBC content available in the UK on a download-to-own (DTO) basis, could result in a situation where it became the norm, not the exception, for BBC shows to be available […]
Hulu has announced a new update to its video streaming interface, including a 55 per cent increase in the size of the video player. Additionally, the update will bring some design changes. The name of the show, episode title, runtime and other details will be moved under the video player and the area behind the […]