Monday, July 6, 2009
Is Veoh the Next Big Video Site to Give Up?
Now that Joost has given up the ghost and bailed out of the Web video portal business, who’s next? A good bet: Veoh, one of the best-funded would-be YouTubes. Multiple sources tell me the company is aggressively marketing itself to would-be buyers, and it’s asking for less than the $70 million investors like Michael Eisner have plowed into the company. Meanwhile, rival MetaCafe is looking for a “strategic investor.”
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Here Comes the Video Shakeout: Joost Scales Down, CEO Mike Volpi Steps Out
Here’s the beginning of the inevitable online video shakeout: Joost, the once-hyped video service that was supposed to rival Google’s YouTube, is restructuring to focus on “white label” services, i.e., a back end for other video players.
The site is laying off the majority of its 100-plus employees, and CEO Mike Volpi is out, replaced by Matt Zelesko, who had been SVP of engineering.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Web TV You’ll Need to Pay to See: Time Warner, Comcast Roll Out “Authentication.” Who Else Is In?
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts will announce this morning that their two companies are linking up for a trial of an “authentication” effort. That means a handful of cable subscribers will get online access to Time Warner TV shows that have been previously kept off the Web. The idea is to protect cable subscription revenues by giving pay TV subscribers–but only subscribers–Web access to all the shows they get on TV. It’s a simple idea, but making it a reality will be very, very complicated.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Spring Fever? More Very, Very Cautious Optimism for Media.
The traditional publishing business is grim, but if you broaden your perspective and look at the rest of the media business, things are starting to look… not horrible.
Granted, “not horrible” doesn’t equal “good times are here again.” But I keep hearing that the sickening decline in advertising spending has stopped, at least, and that some marketers are actually spending money again.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
April Video Winners: Hulu, of Course. And… MTV?
Sure, YouTube dominated the online video world in April, and Hulu is continuing its rocket ride. But it’s surprising to see that Viacom’s MTV, which squandered its natural lead in online video long ago, had a big month, too. What happened?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Media Execs Get a Little Less Grouchy: Are Ads Creeping Back?
Newsflash: More data confirm that ad spending was really bad last year. But ad execs–at least those in certain industries–say things may be bottoming out this spring.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Does Rupert Murdoch Have Kindle Envy? News Corp. Mulls an E-Book Reader Investment.
Here’s yet another fan of the Kindle, Amazon’s much-hyped e-book reader: News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, who likes the device enough that he’s considering investing in a Kindle rival.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Viacom CEO Dauman: Yep, We’re Still Suing Google
Viacom hauled Google into court over copyright violations at YouTube two years ago. So what’s happened since then? Not much, says Philippe Dauman. But he does say that his son continues enjoy working at the company he’s suing.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Cable Guys Plan Their Own Hulus: Anyone Interested in “Authentication” or “Entitlement”?
Both Comcast and Timer Warner Cable want to give their subscribers Web access to more shows than they can currently get–at least legally. But the two companies have competing plans, based on different technologies and philosophies.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Did Big Cable Force Hulu Off Boxee?
Who’s pushing Hulu to stop putting its movies and TV shows on Boxee, the nifty, free Web video service? Here’s a theory: Perhaps it was your cable company, which has the most to lose from a free, nifty Web video service.
YouTube=MTV 2.0. Time to Turn That Into a Business
Remember when MTV used to mean music television? Those days are long gone, but music videos thrive on YouTube. And it shouldn’t be hard to turn that into a real business worth serious money–if the labels and Google can get their act together.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Viacom’s Fourth Quarter: Not a Disaster
This is the soft bigotry of low expectations: Viacom saw its earnings drop by 70 percent in the last quarter, pushed down by a write-off and weak advertising and DVD sales. But compared to its big media peers, that’s really not so bad–at least it didn’t drop a bundle on a newspaper in the last year.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
RealNetworks: That Game Spinoff Isn’t Happening (Obviously). But We Do Have Plenty of Cash…
Last spring, RealNetworks announced plans to spin off its fast-growing casual games business into a separate company. That’s not going to happen in the midst of a meltdown, and today the company formally acknowledged the reality. But keep an eye on Real, which has a pile of cash and may be in an acquiring mood at some point this year.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Hollywood’s DVD Blues: Who Gets Hit Hardest?
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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 »
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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.






