Yesterday, NBC Universal unveiled its online video venture with News Corp., called Hulu.com. It got lots of press everywhere and they’re even keynoting the next Streaming Media show. Today, NBC Universal said it was pulling its video content from iTunes so they can put it into Hulu instead.

Today’s New York Times said that NBC Universal wants more control over pricing and packaging of its TV content. From the Times:

“The media conglomerate — which is the No. 1 supplier of digital video to Apple’s online store, accounting for about 40 percent of downloads — notified Apple of its decision late yesterday, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity because negotiations between the companies are confidential”

I’m sure all the other iTunes content providers would like a better deal too. In July, Universal Music Group said it was pulling most of its music out of iTunes and just allowing certain content for sale. Does that mean that there will be a mass exodus from iTunes now? The New York Times says that talks between Apple and NBC Universal are still ongoing. Over at All Things Digital, they say NBC may be just playing hardball.

But I still have questions about Hulu. Will it be a free ad-supported, user-generated site like YouTube? Or is it going after the more mature “pay for play” iTunes market? 

Not much is known, so it’s wait and see about Hulu.

Technorati Tags: Hulu, NBC, YouTube, iTunes, Apple, NBC Universal

A company called Inxstor, based in Scotland, received $1.2 million in funding for its TV place-shifting technology. Investors included Scottish venture firms Braveheart Ventures and the Scottish Co-investment Fund.

Inxstor was founded in 2006 as a spin-off from Infinite Data Storage.

It said it has already signed a deal with set-top box maker Pace Micro Technologies.

According to PaidContent:

“But Inxstor’s unique selling point is that it claims to be the only one of these that allows content to be accessed remotely in a secure way, writes the Scotsman.”

Competition will come from other place-shifting companies like Orb, a relative newcomer and Sling Media, which already has a huge market lead. Another new place-shifting company is CMWare, which announced in September 2006 that it received an undisclosed amount of funding.

From: Digital Media Wire and PaidContent.

Technorati Tags: Inxstore, Orb, Sling Media, Slingbox, CMWare, Place-Shifting, TV

Time Warner Cable has turned off ad skipping in its “Look Back” on-demand service. Here’s a succint description of Look Back from the NY Times:

The service, called Look Back, will let cable customers watch certain shows later on that they missed, just the way a digital video recorder does, but without an extra monthly fee. The fast-forwarding function will be turned off, however, and consumers will be limited to watching programs later on during the day they are shown, anytime before midnight.

Look Back will be rolled out in South Carolina in October 2007 and will be phased into other markets.

So why make it difficult to skip ads? Time Warner Cable is obviously catering to the market that’s most important to them: Advertisers. Time Warner is a huge conglomerate and they know the value of keeping advertisers happy.

Apparently customers aren’t that high on their priority list. Not being able to skip ads makes advertisers happy. But it makes most customers unhappy.

Some research from Tivo has shown that most DVR users value their DVRs because of time-shifting, not because of ad-skipping. But that’s not because viewers love advertisers. Everyone’s just used to it.

Time Warner is giving consumers the ability to view TV shows on their own schedule but is forcing them to watch commercials. If consumers are really upset, they will likely pay with their wallets. Anyone unhappy with this arrangement can simply buy a Tivo, pay a monthly fee and have total control over skipping commercials.

It seems like Time Warner is handing Tivo potential customers that want more control of their TV. From the NY Time article:

Time Warner is aware that it may lose some DVR subscribers as its Start Over and Look Back features become more widespread, Mr. Stern said. But it believes it can make more money in the long run by providing free time-shifting, accompanied by ads.

“People are used to advertising. A good number of people like the advertising,” said Jeffrey L. Bewkes, the president of Time Warner Inc. at a cable industry conference in late July. “Our research and our in-market tests show people would rather have free everything you want, when you want.”

Other cable providers in the U.S. will likely follow suit. Currently Number 1 cable company Comcast has lots of on-demand shows, but does not block ad-skipping. Comcast is looking to add a similar service to Look Back, however, and may decide to block ads for that service. Cox Cable also has a VOD service and plans to turn off ad-skipping.

Perhaps Time Warner should offer viewers options. For example:

• Allowing customers to Pay for Fast Forwarding. How many people would be willing to pay $5 a month to view all on-demand or Look Back shows without commercials? I’m not sure, but why not try it and see?
• Using Short Overlay Advertisements. Keep the Look Back service free, but instead allow advertisers a new way to sponsor content. Their ads can run on the lower-third of the screen, or as an overlay while the shows are playing. That way there’s no need to fast forward at all. The downside? No 30-second spot. But it’s about time that advertisers start making ads for the next-generation of TV viewers.

Overall, a very sticky situation for everyone. Will consumers be OK with not skipping ads? Will other cable companies follow suit? Will stand-alone DVRs like Tivo become more marginalized if cable companies get everyone used to free ad-sponsored on-demand TV? Guess we need to wait and see.

[Via TV Squad. Business 2.0 and NewTeeVee.]

Technorati Tags: DVR, PVR, Time Warner, cable, Cox, Comcast, Look Back, digital video recorder, Tivo, personal video recorder

TV is dying, says Vint Cerf one of the builders of the Internet and now an executive at Google. Perhaps Vint is saying this because he works at Google (which also owns YouTube). Or perhaps he really believes it. Hearing it come from Vint, however, makes it seem like he’s ready to officiate the funeral.

People have been saying this for years, however. In the last 1o to 20 years, TV ratings are down dramatically. And surveys of U.S. consumers show that more and more people are tuning into the Internet and avoiding TV. Looks like “lean forward” is beating “lean back”.

But I think it’s more accurate to say: “TV as we know it is dying”.

Consumers face more choices today than ever. Things like Internet video, DVD rentals, video-on-demand, and others are cannibalizing prime-time viewership. Cerf said that in the future almost everything you watch will be on-demand:

“85 per cent of all video we watch is pre-recorded, so you can set your system to download it all the time,” said Mr Cerf, who is now the vice-president of the Google, the world’s largest search engine.

“You’re still going to need live television for certain things - like news, sporting events and emergencies - but increasingly it is going to be almost like the iPod, where you download content to look at later.”

HDTVs are growing in popularity here in the U.S. and many people love to come home, turn on the TV and veg out for hours. It’s such a force of habit for many people.

Linear, live TV won’t disappear anytime soon, but things like Tivo and other DVRs are definitely changing how we view TV.

Technorati Tags: TV, Nielsen, YouTube, Vint Cerf

According to a survey commissioned by IBM on consumer attitudes about TV and digital media, 24% of respondents said they owned a DVR. Yesterday, I wrote about another survey that found that 20% of U.S. households own DVRs.

The IBM study surveyed individual countries and found that the U.S. had the largest DVR market. The U.K. was at 19%, Japan at 5%, Germany at 12% , and Australia at 14%.

Owning a DVR seems to affect how much consumers watch TV. In the U.S., 33% reported watching more TV than ever since owning a DVR. 58% said they watch about the same. See the pie chart below and click on it to see the full-size:

But do consumers watch live or replay content with their DVRs? Shockingly, 19% said they watch all TV live, despite having a DVR. So why do these people have a DVR if they’re not going to use it? Perhaps just using it for pausing live TV or watching live events like sports or live news? I wish some researchers would go deeper into some of these answers and find out the reasons behind these results.

Fortunately, 19% said they watch most everything on replay on their DVRs. This is my group. Ever since I’ve owned DVRs, I don’t sit down on the couch and say to myself “Gee, what’s on TV tonight?” I head right to my saved shows and don’t even wonder what TV shows are on or if I’m missing anything. Between my DVR and my cable’s on-demand shows, I don’t have to deal with live TV at all.

Here’s the breakdown on Live vs. Replay viewing:

Interesting stats from outside the U.S.:

• More than twice as many U.K. consumers surveyed use video on demand services than own a DVR.
• Less than a third of U.K. consumers have changed their overall TV consumption as a result of DVR ownership.
• In Australia, despite owning a DVR, most respondents prefer live television or replay less than 25 percent of their programming.

Technorati Tags: Tivo, DVR, PVR, digital video recorder, personal video recorder, IBM, research, TV

Bonus: For general results on digital media and how the Internet is affecting TV viewership see my other blog.