Oct 09
Later this fall, Comcast customers will be able to watch and record their favorite NBC shows directly from Twitter, thanks to a smart new partnership.
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Aug 16
The Syfy for iPhone app is relaunching as SyFy Now, while the old Syfy app for iPad is reborn as Syfy Sync, dedicated solely to the network’s second screen ambitions. Why the changes? Now is all about TV Everywhere with streaming of full episodes of Syfy’s original series the day after they air and bookmarks that sync across devices with iCloud. This app can’t put Alphas back on the air, but it can bring Defiance, Robot Combat League and Being Human to wherever you are, assuming you have a compatible TV provider. At launch, customers with Armstrong, AT&T U-Verse, Cablevision’s Optimum TV service, Charter, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, DISH, Mediacom, Suddenlink, Verizon FiOS, and Wide Open West (WOW) are ready to go, and others are coming soon.
Don’t have authentication? The show clips and behind the scenes video previously featured in the app are still available. Syfy’s app for Android isn’t updated yet (and still isn’t ready for the new Nexus 7) but the press release promises Now will launch there in September — hopefully the network can figure out how to include TV movies like Sharknado 2 in the package by then.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile
Aug 05
Last week, Lovefilm snapped up some additional content of the cultured kind — Man v. Food withstanding — for adults to enjoy. The streaming service is kicking off this week by adding yet more films and TV shows for the kids. Subscribers will now find child-friendly material from NBCUniversal in the Lovefilm library, such as the shows Curious George, Barbie: Princess Charm School, Rastamouse and The Land Before Time (parents might remember the films). Given it’s the summer holidays, your offspring are probably out enjoying the weather, but having something fresh to put on the tellybox might help keep them quiet come that inevitable rainy day.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Amazon
Jul 12
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.
May 16
Amazon is still determined to snag every TV exclusive possible, and it just scored one of its better deals — or at least, one of the more forward-thinking. It now has the sole unlimited subscription streaming rights to the previous seasons of five NBCUniversal shows. The highlight could be Hannibal, which will reach the service later this year; gamers may also like the crossover SyFy series Defiance, which should be ready in early 2014. Those who just can’t wait to stream something will get their fill through exclusives for Covert Affairs, Grimm and Suits, all of which are in the catalog today. Amazon isn’t completely shutting out rivals like Netflix, however: its expanded NBCU deal includes regular deals for Alphas, Eureka, Smash, Warehouse 13 and a collection of children’s shows destined for Kindle FreeTime Unlimited. While we’d prefer that there be as few exclusives as possible, there’s no question that some Prime members will feel better about springing for that $79 yearly fee.
[Thanks, John]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Amazon
Source: Amazon
Mar 01
Hulu part-owners Disney, News Corp. reportedly discuss buying each other out
Posted in: Today's Chili 
The new owner of Hulu could turn out to be… one of the existing owners. After an aborted sale attempt in 2011, new rumors suggest current part owners Disney and News Corp are talking over the possibility of one buying the other’s stake out. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg both tag people with knowledge of the situation as their sources, indicating a disagreement over the video streaming website’s business model — it announced $695 million in revenue last year — as a reason for the talks.
Reportedly News Corp. prefers a subscription based model, while Disney sees an advertising-focused approach as best. Both of them own about a third of the site, while Comcast / NBC Universal owns most of the remaining third but can’t vote, and according to the rumors would remain as a minority investor if a buyout took place. Also playing into this is CEO Jason Kilar’s announcement he will leave the company by the end of Q1, so hopefully any decision on its future are made by the time a new leader is in place.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal
Feb 12
Comcast grows in Q4, buys the rest of NBCUniversal and rolls out more new DVRs
Posted in: Today's Chili 
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
Feb 12
Comcast will buy the 49-percent of NBCUniversal it doesn’t already own from GE for 16.7 billion clams. That’s right, Kabletown is bigger than ever now. Regulatory approval for Comcast’s purchase of 51-percent of the company cleared last year—now the cable and media giant owns the whole shebang. More »
Feb 11
Because nothing quite says “hip brand rejuvenation” like associating your channel with an 80-year-old magazine, NBCUniversal today announced the rebranding and makeover of its G4 television channel into “The Esquire Channel” (as in Esquire magazine). G4 primarily aired video game-centric programming, as well as a vast array of re-runs — something NBC exec Bonnie Hammer doesn’t think was the best idea. “Realistically, guys who are into gaming are not necessarily watching television,” Hammer said, directly refuting the 2012 statistic that 49 percent of US households own a gaming console. “Let’s create a real brand, define a space, understand who we are programming for.” The New York Times reports that The Esquire Channel will be pitched as “an upscale Bravo for men,” though it’s not exactly clear what that means — we’ll find out on April 22 when the network goes live in 62 million homes.
For now, NBC’s got demographics its targeting. Specifically, “a more educated, affluent, sophisticated male viewer,” says the NYT piece. One thing it won’t be? Reality shows with a noun and the word “wars” behind it. “Much of today’s programming targets men in a one-dimensional way … tattoos or pawn shops or storage lockers or axes or hillbillies,” Esquire Channel’s general manager Adam Stotsky said. It doesn’t look like the channel’s beyond reality programming altogether, with its first two shows being a cooking competition named Knife Fight and its other being a celebrity-based travel show named The Getaway. Nor is it beyond the aforementioned re-runs, announcing Parks & Recreation and Party Down as headed for syndication on the forthcoming channel.
[Photo credit: The New York Times]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: The New York Times
Jan 16
Lovefilm signs TV deal with NBC Universal, brings the Office, 30 Rock to British homes
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Following Lovefilm’s deal with NBC Universal to bring the latter’s movie catalogue to the streaming service, the pair have hooked up again to do the same job for the studio’s TV productions. Shows such as The Office (US), 30 Rock and Knight Rider will all be available for viewing, whenever your desire for some Corporate Hijinks / Alec Baldwin / talking cars takes hold. We’ve just checked and the shows are already filtering through — although you can only catch the first three years of Liz Lemon’s adventures so far.
Filed under: HD
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