Pay-TV channel Starz has called off talks to renew its streaming deal with Netflix, in a move that could deprive the online video service of one of its key sources of movies. Starz has original programming but also distribution rights for movies from studios such as Disney and Sony. Although Netflix has brokered several deals […]
Michael Jackson, the former chief executive of Channel 4, has reportedly walked away from his role as chairman designate of SeeSaw, as a dispute over financing threatens the online TV venture’s future. Criterion Capital Partners, which bought SeeSaw from broadcast transmission firm Arqiva in early July, intended to bring in Jackson to lead a turnaround […]
Online movie service FilmFlex Movies has added payment solution PayWizard as an online payment mechanism. The first deployment of the PayWizard e-wallet is now live on the Film4oD website. FilmFlex Movies is the sixth customer to deploy the PayWizard platform since the start of 2011; existing customers include Racing UK (Android/iPhone apps) and Omnimotion (online […]
Sony has dumped the strange original name of its online TV services opting instead for the more prosaic Sony Entertainment Network. It is taking the music and video services from Qriocity, combining them with the PlayStation Network for gaming, and putting them under the new brand name. It may not entirely end the confusion as […]
Criterion Capital Partners, the new owner of SeeSaw, has lost a key content deal with Channel 4, meaning shows such as The Inbetweeners and Peep Show are no longer available on the online TV service. Criterion Capital Partners, which also bought former AOL asset Bebo, took a 75 per cent stake in SeeSaw from owner […]
Channel 4’s catch-up service 4oD drew 3.4 million viewers in July, according to figures released for the first time by the broadcaster. Channel 4 shows also drove an unspecified increase in 4oD programme views, to 29 million in July. The broadcaster reported 242 million 4oD views in last 12 months, a 20.9 per cent increase […]
Video-on-demand supplier Netflix has alerted analysts that it expects lower service adoption rates out of its Latin American markets “than those achieved in Canada” (its debut international market). Canada saw Netflix launch in September 2010 and now has 967,000 subscribers as at June 31st. “But still, we are very optimistic about what we can […]
Online TV service Hulu has launched a new subscription service in Japan, a move that marks the first international expansion for the company. Starting at launch and in the weeks following, Hulu’s service will offer entertainment fans in Japan unlimited instant access to hundreds of premium feature films and thousands of episodes from previous seasons […]
LoveFilm, the DVD postal subscription service that currently covers the UK, Germany and Scandinavia, might target new territories with a digital only service. LoveFilm says it would consider a streaming only service for certain markets. The criterion would include the expansion of the connected TV market and the availability of rights; a UK streaming only […]
Sony Pictures and Warner Bros have signed on as content suppliers for Silicon Valley startup Flickme.com, a socially-focused movie streaming service that launched in the US this week. Flickme is set up in a similar fashion to other content streaming services that rent or sell films with the addition of deep integration with social networking […]