Advanced Television

OTT

The Big Lebowski friends with Facebook

Universal Pictures has confirmed that cult movie The Big Lebowski is available for rent on the Facebook social network. A 48-hour rental window can be set up for 30 Facebook credits or $3. The movie is only available to consumers in the United States. As an R-rated film, it can only be rented by Facebook […]

August 22, 2011By Colin Mann

Netflix heads for Europe

Netflix is planning to launch in Spain and Britain in the first half of 2012 and is looking at a number of other countries in Europe and Asia for subsequent roll-outs, according to people familiar with the matter. International expansion is seen as a key driver for growth in the coming years, according to Chief […]

August 18, 2011By Colin Mann

Fox wants TV Everywhere

Fox Broadcasting is encouraging pay-TV customers to demand that their providers participate in its “TV Everywhere” service. Fox has stopped providing new episodes at Fox.com and Hulu.com the day after they air, making them available only to subscribers of participating “TV Everywhere” distributors (as well as Hulu Plus) for eight days following their TV premiere. […]

August 16, 2011

FilmOn.com to list in Frankfurt

FilmOn.com PLC, the Internet-based high-definition television service, has topped the European App Store Charts with its FilmOn Apple App for iPhone and iPad on the same day it announced it has listed its UK/European based Live Internet Television Service on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with the trading symbol FMX. “Most of the Channels on the […]

August 15, 2011By Colin Mann

Hulu expands to Japan

Describing it as “a vibrant market for premium video content distribution online”, Hulu has announced that its first international expansion will be in Japan. In a company blog post, Johannes Larcher, Senior Vice President of International at Hulu, wrote that since the very beginning of Hulu, the company had its aspirations firmly set on serving […]

August 11, 2011By Colin Mann

BBC iPlayer tuned into TV

The BBC has launched a new version of BBC iPlayer specifically designed for TV viewing in the living room. The new, personalised version is designed to give audiences the control they want directly on the TV, so the BBC iPlayer experience feels just like TV. BBC iPlayer is now available on more than 300 different […]

August 8, 2011By Colin Mann

OTT and on-demand change the face of pay-TV

The personal entertainment experience has embarked on a significant shift now that on-demand delivery of video is widely available worldwide and to an increasing number of connected devices, according to  IMS Research. The research firm forecasts that in 2016, over-the-top (OTT) video services will generate $16.4 billion in 2016 and video-on-demand (VOD) services from pay-TV […]

August 8, 2011

Time Warner to debut UltraViolet cloud movies

Time Warner has confirmed that it is to introduce UltraViolet, the technology that bridges a single piece of content to a variety of devices, to its home movies the coming autumn. Jeffrey Bewkes, Time Warner’s chairman and chief executive, told analysts during a conference call that two movies, Horrible Bosses and Green Lantern, would be […]

August 4, 2011By Colin Mann

EchoStar to stream Blockbuster for Mexico

EchoStar-backed video retailer Blockbuster is to start a streaming video service for Mexico, rolling out the service to other Latino countries. No launch date was given, pending negotiations with studios and content owners. Rival Netflix is already committed to launching in the region by year-end. Edward Argüelles, Blockbuster’s General Director of Blockbuster in Mexico and […]

August 4, 2011By Chris Forrester

BBC unveils iPlayer app for iPad

Following comments made earlier in the year by BBC Director General Mark Thompson that an international version of the iPlayer app would be made available later in 2011 for “a small number of dollars per month, definitely fewer than ten”, BBC Worldwide, the BBC’s commercial arm, has confirmed that it is now offering audiences across […]

July 28, 2011By Colin Mann