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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A Few Tunes for Hulu: Here’s Norah Jones

norah jonesHere’s a match up that makes plenty of sense: EMI Music Group, which has a new Norah Jones album to promote, is showing her videos on Hulu, the video joint venture that specializes in “premium” content. But the deal is the only one of its kind. While the big music labels have played footsie with Hulu in the past, they have yet to actually move any of their clips there. Instead, they’re concentrating on YouTube, which makes plenty of sense.

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Monday, November 16, 2009

Waiting for Vivendi: Comcast-NBCU Deal Needs a “Oui”

roundersWhen will Comcast and GE’s NBCU finally unveil their hookup plans? When Vivendi says they can. Which should be sooner than later.

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Scripps Books Travel Channel in $975 Million Deal

It’s official: Scripps Networks Interactive has won the Travel Channel auction. In a deal that values the channel at $975 million, Scripps will acquire a majority interest in the property while current owner Cox retains a 35 percent stake. News Corp., among others, had been bidding for the channel.

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Comcast Won’t Talk About NBCU, Will Talk About Internet Video

fancastComcast couldn’t mollify Wall Street about its pending deal to buy NBC Universal this morning, because it refused to talk about the deal at all. The company did spend time, though, explaining the peril and possibilities that Web video poses for the cable giant.

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Don’t Tell a Soul! Media, Tech Moguls Take Manhattan for Semisecret Quadrangle Conference.

don't talkWouldn’t you like to bump elbows with media moguls and hear from the likes of Eric Schmidt, Biz Stone and James Murdoch? Me too! Alas, Quadrangle’s Foursquare conference is closed to the public and the press. But at least I can tell you whom you won’t be hearing from.

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Monday, November 2, 2009

Apple’s iTunes Pitch: TV for $30 a Month

appletvWould you pay $30 a month to watch TV via iTunes?

That’s the pitch Apple has been making to TV networks in recent weeks. The company is trying to round up support for a monthly subscription service that would deliver TV programs via its multimedia software, multiple sources tell me. The industry finds this idea both tempting and terrifying.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

CBS Digital Boss Quincy Smith’s Not-Quite Exit Interview: “Hulu’s a Great Service. That’s Part of the Problem.”

cbs_video_buttonsThe man who helped shape CBS’s standalone Web video strategy explains himself, for the record.

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

NBC Grabs a High-Profile Blogger to Boost Its Local Site: Eater Co-Founder Ben Leventhal

leventhalNews for the foodie/NY blog scene: Ben Leventhal, co-founder of the influential Eater blog, is headed to GE’s NBC Universal, where he’ll oversee “lifestyle content” for NBC’s growing local Web unit.

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Friday, October 23, 2009

How Much Will You Have to Pay for Hulu? Nothing. How Much Will You Pay for “Hulu Plus”? Good Question.

the_office_promo_pic_nbc

Is Hulu putting up a pay wall around its Web TV site? Nope.

Does Hulu want to charge people to watch Web TV? Yes.

Confused? Don’t be.

Here’s the explanation about what’s going on at the premium online video site.

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Monday, October 19, 2009

Vevo Gets Its Investor: Abu Dhabi Media Joins “Hulu for Music Videos”

vevo-logoVevo, the music industry’s version of Hulu, now has its own version of Providence Equity, the outside investor that took a flyer on the Web TV and movie joint venture: Abu Dhabi Media Company has purchased a stake in the company from owners Universal Music and Sony. No financials released, though I’m told the deal values the JV at $300 million.

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Friday, October 16, 2009

NBC Cleans Up Its Earnings Act for Comcast

zuckerAfter a couple of miserable quarters, NBC Universal finally has some good news to announce: Boosted by a one-time gain, earnings actually increased in Q3, even though the entertainment conglomerate’s revenue kept dropping. Perhaps those numbers will cheer Comcast investors, who have been beating up the cable company ever since news of its talks to buy NBCU surfaced last month.

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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Is There Anything You People Won’t Watch on the Web? Nope: Video Views Up 25 Percent.

stewart-cnnIs there anything you people won’t watch online? Doesn’t look like it, based on the newest Web video numbers from Nielsen. While stats show that the overall size of the Internet video audience has increased by 12 percent in the last year, the amount of video consumed has shot up 25 percent.

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Fighting Words! Time Warner Says Comcast/NBCU as Dumb as…Time Warner/AOL.

bewkesJust in case anyone thought Time Warner had any lingering interest in NBC Universal, this ought to put it to rest: Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes just compared the proposed Comcast/NBCU deal with the disastrous one his company made with AOL nearly a decade ago.

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Friday, October 2, 2009

Wall Street to Comcast: No NBC for Us, Thank You Very Much

the_office_promo_pic_nbcMaybe this is why Comcast rushed to knock down a story that said it bought NBC Universal from GE: It knew Wall Street would hate the idea.

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Thursday, October 1, 2009

In Their Own Words: Comcast’s Case for–and Against–an NBCU Deal

eightballComcast says it doesn’t have a deal to buy NBC Universal. Does it want to buy NBC Universal? Ask COO Steve Burke and you’re going to get a confusing answer.

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About Peter

Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider. Read more »

Ethics Statement

Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.

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