• Apple Reinventing The TV Wheel?
    Ad-skipping shouldn't be an obstacle for anyone in Apple's TV business point of view. The solution? Just pay TV networks for that permission and let consumers do it. According to a report from a former Wall Street Journal editor/reporter, Jessica Lessin, Apple is considering a "premium" service, allowing and encouraging commercial-skipping. But it would do so with the approval of TV networks. Are you listening to this, Dish Network executives?
  • Beating Up On Obamacare? Ka-Ching For Stations!
    It may not be the $3 billion or so that TV stations get in ad revenues from political advertising in major election years, but ad revenues surrounding the Affordable Care Act - which becomes law in 2014 -- may generate some $500 million in the coming months, according to a survey from Kantar Media.
  • Which Hulu Partner Is Really Smiling Now?
    Ask yourself what News Corp and Walt Disney Co. are up to by not selling Hulu for the second time in two years. You might not have a clear answer.
  • Print/TV Synergy May Be Gone, But Other Synergies Survive
    News Corp., Time Warner, and now Tribune Company have -- or are in the process of -- saying goodbye to their print media businesses by spinning off those units. And many are ringing the death knell for synergy.
  • Time Shifting Of Local TV: Looking For Middle Ground
    NBC Owned Stations has now joined the TVB in saying that live program plus same day ratings are "the most representative of the national C3 standard." But is that close enough?
  • Fox Sports 1 Has Fun Showing Off Athletes' Aspirational Fingers
    Everyone in TV wants to be number one -- and when it comes to sports TV, that also goes for teams and players. A Fox Sports 1 teaser commercial shows different athletes running around and signaling what level they and their teams are on by sticking a finger in the air. No, not that finger -- the index finger.
  • Distribution Windows: Can The Industry See Through Them?
    Cable, satellite, and teleco TV distributors are fighting to get into Internet-delivered programming. They would join such established players as Netflix and Amazon, and newer ones like Intel and Apple, in looking to secure Internet distribution rights for programming. Whether content owners will go along is another matter.
  • What TV Commercial Conflict? The Spot Ran, Didn't It?
    So I was watching a cable TV drama, and up came a DirecTV commercial. That's right. I was not fast-forwarding, merely lulled into remote control inactivity by colorful pixels. The creative might have offered up the differences between DirecTV and Dish Network, its archrival and competitor. But that's not why I remember it. It was what followed. This DirecTV commercial led directly into a Dish Network commercial. Years ago, this type of commercial positioning conflict would have been relatively big news. But, given the rise of fast-forwarding and quick-fingered, time-shifting happy customers, does it really matter any more?
  • Making Set-Top Boxes And Most Other Living Room Media Equipment Disappear
    TV set manufacturer Samsung has agreed to buy over-the-top TV service Boxee, which also has a cloud-DVR service. Other services like Aereo have similar DVR storage devices. Even cable operators like Cablevision have toyed with taking more electronic boxes out of the living room by selling so-called "network" DVR.
  • In Selling Hulu, Network Owners Overlook Vertical Integration For More Revenue
    Hulu is a valuable distribution asset for TV networks, but only as much as it can drive higher revenue for shows among all distributors.
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