You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Well, we’ve been waiting to hear who would wind up purchasing the struggling Hulu, and now we know — nobody! Instead the service will see an infusion of cash totaling $750 million from its current owners. Hulu has actively courted new owners on multiple occasions, and it seemed as if this time a deal was imminent. Both Yahoo and DirecTV were in the running allegedly but, for whatever reason, Fox, NBC and Disney found their offers lacking. It’s unclear right now whether the issue was over asking price or future plans for the service, but the cabal behind Hulu will instead sink more money into the property to try and grow its subscriber base further. This is turning into something of a habit for the uneasy partnership, one that is quickly turning Hulu into the boy who cried wolf. The official press release awaits, after the break.
Take two of the sale of Hulu is approaching its inevitable end, as multiple sources report the final bids have come in. Currently the site is owned by Disney, Fox and Comcast, while reported interested buyers include DirecTV, Chernin Group / AT&T and Guggenheim Digital Media. Of the potential buyers, The Hollywood Reporter reports Guggenheim would be the one most likely to retain the site’s “entreprenurial spirit,” while DirecTV may want to use it both as a part of its satellite package and as a standalone business. Finally the Chernin Group is reportedly backed by AT&T, which may have goals similar to those of DirecTV.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the site’s current owners are considering how potential buyers will want to license content going forward as part of the bids, with potential restrictions on their top rated shows, or longer windows before content is available on Hulu. We’ll have to wait and find out who had the best pitch before we move on to the next step — deciding if whatever Hulu becomes under new ownership is still worth visiting.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
While Netflix has scored some coups in original content, it has arguably been slacking on deals for conventional TV shows — Amazon has landed numerous exclusives on that front in recent months. Netflix may be making up for lost time, however, with a multi-year subscription exclusive in the US for Fox’s New Girl. Effective immediately, customers can stream the Zooey Deschanel comedy’s first season; further seasons will come online as they finish their initial TV runs. We doubt that New Girl by itself will lead to many converts from other services, but its presence on Netflix proves that Amazon can’t let its guard down.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: Bloomberg
Source: Netflix
According to the Wall Street Journal, Nielsen’s TV ratings are about to get some company, with a system that covers internet watchers. A “Nielsen Digital Program Ratings” pilot program will debut with participation from NBC, Fox, ABC, Univision, Discovery and A&E, tracking the viewership of streaming video they post on their websites. AOL (parent company of Engadget) is also reported to be participating, as the networks compare the data to their internal statistics before the ratings system gets a wider rollout. Of course, even the system they’re testing will only jump so far into the future — while it will track viewing on computers, it’s still leaving out phones and tablets. Networks want to track anywhere content is viewed — one of the issues we’ve been told they have with tech like Aereo or TWC TV — to sell ads against it, we’ll wait for more details to see if they’ll have any success extending the current model to other types of screens.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Wall Street Journal
Quick: what’s the difference between a broadcast TV network (Fox, CBS, ABC and NBC) and a cable channel (TBS, TNT, ESPN, etc.)? Oh, only millions and millions of viewers. Nevertheless, Fox’s COO Chase Carey is perturbed enough by the mere thought of Aereo getting its way, that he’s already claiming that the network will go dark in favor of becoming a cable channel — if and when OTA network streaming over the internet is completely legalized, that is. Causticism aside, Carey’s remarks are certainly indicative of how the networks feel about the potential disruption of their revenue stream, and moreover, showcases just how far we are from living in a world that isn’t dominated by the same old processes when it comes to entertainment.
Carey stated: “We need to be able to be fairly compensated for our content. This is not an ideal path we look to pursue, but we can’t sit idly by and let an entity steal our signal. We will move to a subscription model if that’s our only recourse.“
Is it possible that Fox would suddenly vanish from over-the-air antennas everywhere, screwing up countless programming agreements with a near-endless amount of partners? Sure… but it’s also possible that the ninth circle of Hades will be converted into an NHL arena. We’re calling your bluff, Carey.
Update: According to the New York Times, Univision chairman Haim Saban joined the saber rattling, stating that his network is ready to consider all options, including converting to pay-tv.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Bloomberg
Fox has been quietly busy over the last few days, unveiling plans for a 24-hour sports network that may be the biggest challenger to ESPN’s throne, and adding new features to its mobile apps. Fox Sports 1 is scheduled to launch Saturday August 17th, loaded with content including NASCAR, soccer (Champions League, Europe League and World Cup in 2018 and 2022), weekly UFC fights, college football, college basketball and in 2014, pro baseball. The bad news? According to the LA Times, for Fox Sports 1 to live Speed TV will die this fall, while Fuel TV is expected to be replaced by Fox Sports 2 while Fox Soccer is turned into an entertainment channel. One tweak it will bring is the “double box” commercial format that keeps the game on while ads play, which is expected to be used frequently on the new channel. It will have a suite of studio shows to compete with the sports leader as well, and even a Fox Sports Go “mobile experience” on iOS, Android and the web with live video streaming and news/stats for authenticated subscribers.
Speaking of “authenticated” cable and satellite subscribers, the broadcaster also updated the free Fox Now second screen apps on iOS and Android, adding access to stream full episodes of its TV shows wherever you are — as long as you have a membership with a participating provider. That list currently consists of Mediacom and Verizon FiOS, but it may grow in the future. The Fox Now apps still have other features, with synced content, Twitter streams and behind the scenes info, so New Girl and Bones fans may still have a reason to check them out.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Fox Sports 1
Last year, Dish Network introduced a feature to its DVRs to allow its subscribers to skip commercials. This Auto Hop feature isn’t the only innovation Dish Network has implemented into its DVR as just recently, it has made it possible for its subscribers to watch live television on their mobile devices through the company’s Sling technology. As worthwhile as that feature is, it looks as though FOX is none too pleased with it and has filed for an injection against Dish to have the feature banned.
The reason why FOX has become such a spoilsport is due to the fact Dish Network’s new service breaches its licensing agreement, with Dish infringing on its network’s copyrights. Fox mentions in the filing “paying Dish for a satellite television subscription does not buy anyone the right to receive Fox’s live broadcast signal over the internet or to make copies of Fox programs to watch ‘on the go’ because Dish does not have the right to offer these services to its subscribers in the first place.”
Hopefully FOX’s outrage over this new feature on Dish Network’s Hopper DVR won’t lead them to ban the feature as we’re sure many Dish Network customers are probably enjoying it while they’re away from their TVs.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sony BDP-S5100 Blu-ray Disc Player Announced, Panasonic Introduces ‘My Home Screen’ And Other Apps To Offer Unique TV Interactions,
It’s been a busy day for Comcast, so we’ll catch you up on the key points. First, it announced today that it’s buying the 49 percent of NBCUniversal that it didn’t already own from General Electric in a deal worth about $16.7 billion, plus 30 Rockefeller Plaza and CNBC’s New Jersey headquarters for an additional $1.4 billion. That’s an acceleration of the original schedule, which gave Comcast the option to expand its ownership starting in 2014. In other news, Comcast reported its Q4 earnings, noting that while it still lost around 7,000 cable TV customers in Q4, the total number of video, internet and phone subscribers rose by 503,000 to a total of 51.3 million, up 3 percent from last year.
In other news, Comcast announced expansions in its rollout of the new X1 DVR platform. Already live in areas of Georgia, New Jersey, Boston, Tennessee, San Francisco and Philadelphia, it’s recently launched in Colorado Springs, CO with more promised in the coming months. It also locked down a deal with Fox that covers local broadcasts, cable TV networks and brings a number of the network’s shows to Xfinity streaming apps and services on other platforms. That deal also reveals that Fox will soon add TV Everywhere authenticated streaming to its Fox Now apps, which Comcast customers will be able to access. There’s an earnings call tomorrow where we may find out more details, for now you can look after the break and at the links below for the full press releases.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Comcast Voices, Comcast, Q4 Results
Fox are beautiful and cute, despite their chicken addiction (hey, I’m a fan of chicken too). And this photo is really sweet, especially when you look at the result. More »
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