May 30

Roku takes $60 million in funding, wants to be the front end for your TV

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Roku takes $60 million in funding, wants to build the OS for your TV

Despite its image as an underdog, Roku knows how to court some heavy hitters in the TV business: on top of a total $80 million in previous investments, it just received a $60 million boost this week. The new funding round has BSkyB and News Corp returning with checkbooks in hand, but it also includes a fresh contribution from Hearst, which wants Roku’s help in building services for its TV channels. The media hub maker is getting more than partnerships in return, however. It’s using the cash to expand its Roku Ready program, which now includes 24 hardware partners. The company’s Anthony Wood ultimately wants Roku software to be commonplace — it can be an “operating system for televisions,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. While there’s no guarantee that Roku will reach that kind of ubiquity, it may well have the cash to get there.

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Via: Chip Chick

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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Feb 12

Hearst president David Carey: Apple taught people ‘how to buy digital content’

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Hearst president David Carey Apple taught people 'how to buy digital content'

David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines, sat down with AllThingsD‘s Peter Kafka to kick off Day 2 of D:Dive Into Media here in Dana Point, California, with the interview centering on Carey’s take on how digital magazines are working out in a world that seems less and less intrigued by physical books. Carey confirmed that 40 percent of its total unique views [on magazine websites] are mobile, with the majority of those coming from smartphones, and presently, it has around 900,000 paid magazine subscribers (on the digital front) here in America. That’s around 100,000 short of the company’s goal to hit a million by the end of 2012, but it’s now gunning to secure 3 million paid subscribers by 2016.

Moving on to the topic of Apple, Carey noted that Steve Jobs doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves for accomplishing one thing in particular — “teaching consumers how to buy digital content.” He continued: “It used to be something that people would steal, but if you make it easy for them, they’ll buy it. More than 70 percent [of Hearst’s customers] renew because it’s easy. On the traditional side, the most frustrating thing is how difficult it is to get people to resubscribe through mailers.”

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Jan 18

Hearst starts publishing iPad magazines days before print editions

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Hearst starts publishing iPad magazines days before print, sees something in digital after all

Magazine publishers have more directly embraced tablets over more than a year as it became clearer that they were boosting the bottom line. We may be witnessing a watershed moment today, however. Hearst has started publishing issues for 22 of its magazines in the iOS Newsstand days before their print equivalents hit the racks — that we can tell, the first time a major magazine producer has given tablets an early lead. While the full terms aren’t public, Apple has confirmed to AllThingsD that other publishers are welcome to take the same route, and it mentions in the App Store that other online stores don’t have the same privilege. The early access has clear competitive benefits for both Apple and Hearst, which get customers to flock away from competing e-bookstores and publications, but it’s also a sign of Hearst’s confidence in the tablet as a medium: much like movie studios, it’s betting that digital is strong enough to stand on its own.

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Via: AllThingsD, TechCrunch

Source: App Store

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Jun 27

Google Play starts selling movies, TV shows (single episode or full season) and magazines today

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Google Play starts selling movies, TV shows single episode or full season and magazines today

The Android Market became Google Play to focus on how it pushes media, and now it’s adding a few new options. On stage at Google I/O 2012 the company just announced it’s adding support for the purchase of movies, as well as TV shows by episode or by season, and even magazines all available today. That’s in addition to the existing apps, movie rentals, music and books. Oh, and look, Google just introduced a new tablet that you can use to access all of that content. We’ll keep an eye out for an exact list of all the new media partners, although mentioned on stage were magazines including Hearst, Conde Nast and Meredith long with TV networks Disney / ABC, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures and Paramount . Check out our Google I/O live blog for even more details as they’re announced, and look after the break for video introductions.

Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012’s opening keynote at our event hub!

Continue reading Google Play starts selling movies, TV shows (single episode or full season) and magazines today

Google Play starts selling movies, TV shows (single episode or full season) and magazines today originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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