Have You Got Your .tv URL Yet?
Last week, professional organizer and spokesperson Lorie Marrero gave a great Webinar on how membership and subscription sites can get more media attention -- without being or employing celebrities.One of the tips she gave was to buy the .tv URL for your site as soon as possible. This will allow you to create a dedicated video channel which will have multiple benefits. One, you'll get lots of free media training by making videos. Two, you'll…
Launch News: Verizon, Redbox, BSkyB, & Apple Get Into the TV Business
Through partnerships and new ventures, it appears that the online video streaming business is really taking off.Just last week, three companies announced their plans to launch streaming video services. Verizon and Redbox are partnering for a U.S. based subscription service, while across the pond, BSkyB is planning to launch a streaming service that has both a subscription and pay-as-you-go plan.And in related news, rumors are flying that Apple is planning on creating its own smart…
YouTube May Allow Content Creators To Create Subscription Channels
It's not official, but YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar recently stated that the company may soon allow original content creators to create subscription-based channels on the site.This is quite an about-face for the Google-owned company. Google's Eric Schmidt has previously praised the virtues of free content, an easy stance to take when your business Model is wholly based on user-generated content. Then YouTube started funding its own original content to the tune of $100 million, and…
Amazon Backs New Video Format Aiming To Make Online Distribution Easier
This past Tuesday, Amazon revealed that it had signed a deal with UltraViolet, a cloud-based video format that lets users view a downloaded or streaming video via multiple devices.While the Hollywood-backed service has been around for a little while now, it hasn't really taken off, and Amazon is the first major online video supplier to ink a deal. UltraViolet lets users combine digital purchases from any retailer and store it in a "locker." More over,…
Video Subscriptions Go Global While Warner Brothers Delays DVD Releases
Online video subscription sites seem to be taking off. Netflix just launched in the UK and Ireland, starting a price war with Amazon's Lovefilm service. However, the significant costs of globalization have caused the company to put the brakes on any other international ventures, especially considering their recent decline in customer satisfaction domestically. On the other side of the world, Indian telecom giant Reliance recently announced its plans to launch an on-demand movie service at www.Bigflixplus.com,…
New Hulu Competitor Launches: Using Amazon.com as Paid Content Back-end
TumTiki, self-described as the "biggest collection of TV movies & more on the web" launched this morning. The site looks like a Hulu.com copycat, thumbnails of TV shows and movies you can click to play. Many are free, which the corporate owner, telecom giant Frontier Communications, hopes will drive traffic and ad revenue. Visitors can also pay to rent or buy recent movies such as 2011's 'The Adjustment Bureau'. The main difference vs Hulu is that…
Vdio Could Be New Competitor for Netflix
The co-founder of Skype is looking to take on Netflix with a new video subscription service called Vdio, according to Gigaom. The site reports that Janus Friius has "quietly been assembling an A-team of media and web technology experts to launch a site that seems destined to replicate the Model behind their music subscription site Rdio in the video space. The new service called Vdio, which hasn't publicly launch yet, has been kept secret for almost…
Glenn Beck’s Post-Fox Career: Subscription Site Mogul?
Fox News Channel talk-show host Glenn Beck is developing subscription-based online TV programs that could be the precursor to a full-fledged premium video site or cable channel planned for after his contract with Fox expires at the end of 2011. Beck's production company has been staffing up and expanding its roster of web TV shows offered as part of the Insider Extreme membership plan on Beck's website. The site also simulcasts Beck's three-hour radio show and…
Why Recording Webinars as Paid Content is a Bad Idea
I'm a stats monster. So, I watch usership/viewership on both our live webinars and the on-demand versions of the same. I've noticed some startling differences in viewership.Here's the thing -- it's the same audience demographic, the same content, and even the same size on the screen (our video streaming allows our videos to be blown up to full-screen by our members.) The only difference is a webinar is presented "live" and often includes a Q&A…
Hulu Working on Tech to Sell Subscriptions
According to Dan Rayburn, Hulu has an in-house tech team busily beta testing a subscription system they've built. Management (including Neo-Sub-Lover Murdoch) are being mealy-mouthed in official announcements about the ifs, let alone the whens, Hulu will actually launch subscriptions. Speaking as someone who has managed tech teams building in-house subscription platforms, my hat is off to them. It's way more complicated than anyone thinks. Yes, you can buy a piece of crappy software online for…
