• Unboxing Videos: There's Money In Those Packages
    The surprising, unexplainable things that catch online: Like unboxing videos. A new story says there have been 1 billion views of YouTube videos showing somebody unwrapping/unboxing a toy or electronics item right before our very eyes. Why, why, why?
  • Dongle Bells: The Holiday Stream Of Streaming Devices
    If predictions from Parks Associates are correct, this should be a good season for connected devices like Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV and Roku. That's mainly because they're cheap and small, and a lot more useful than those Keurig coffee gizmos, no?
  • That Smart TV Just Heard What You Said And Saw You Say It
    Michael Price, counsel in the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, bought a Smart TV and waded through the manufacturer's privacy policy. "The amount of data this thing collects is staggering," he writes. In short, watch what you say! It hears you.
  • UPDATE: JCPenney's Branded Holiday Video Campaign With AOL Aims At Hispanics
    "The Gift of New Traditions" doesn't look like the commercial it is, but the new offering from JCPenney, working with AOL's BeOn division, shows how branded content can sell without appearing to try. Each one of the four to come features a Hispanic family as they celebrate Thanksgiving and other holidays around the corner.
  • NFL Wow: User Stats For New NFL Site On Mobile, OTT Are Impressive
    The combination of ease-of-use and maniacal need-to-know has resulted in some stunning stats for the brand new NFL Now, which apparently is far more successful as a smartphone tool than anticipated. A clip service Web site is perfect for mobile.
  • Ads Just Leave You Hanging, Not Driving Engagement
    A blogger on the British Econsultancy.com site makes the point that watching a TV ad at all is getting to be a rare feat because viewers use commercial breaks to dig deeper into the second device they're invariably using. But it also says that maybe if advertisers tried, they would entice some real cross-platform action. The fact is, quite a few only make half-baked attempts.
  • Who Really Watches Netflix? Nielsen Is About To Tell Us
    "The Wall Street Journal" reports that Nielsen is about to begin providing viewership data for Netflix and other streaming video entities, which no doubt also have millions of loyal viewers for original series and other movies and television rerun packages they offer. Now we'll see who's watching.
  • Should Netflix Cancel Cosby Special?
    According to Bloomberg, Netflix still intends to go forward with a Bill Cosby comedy special, "Bill Cosby Live at 77," taped in July, due to become available on the online service starting Nov. 28. Is that the right decision?
  • YouTube? Facebook? How We View Ads Is Changing - Right Before Our Eyes
    Unruly says 59.4% of all video sharing come via Facebook, and comScore says three-quarters of all videos are now seen on a site other than YouTube. Those changes didn't happen overnight, but it's clear that Facebook is hitting its stride.
  • 1Mainstream Sees A Busy Season For OTT Launches
    The digital platform that helps facilitate linear and on-demand content to connected devices and helped the new CBSN digital channel launch last week, is having a busy end of the year. Rajeev Ramen, the CEO and former Roku exec, senses a Christmas-time tipping point.
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