MaxxoMedia Digital Media and Entertainment Trends

Right in line with this new report, I just added an old laptop into my living room media mix. The laptop is pared down to basically a browser with preset bookmarks for Hulu, Netflix, Last.FM, Vevo, Amazon VOD and YouTube.  Seriously considering reducing my cable service to the lowest level and saving some money.

More than ever before Internet users in the United States want to be able to connect their TV to the Internet. Research firm Deloitte says 65 percent of Internet users want online content available on their televisions, with Millennials (14-26 year olds) leading the way; some 74 percent said they want to connect their TVs. But they weren't alone in their desires, said Deloitte in its “State of the Media Democracy (4th edition).” Gen Xers (71 percent), Boomers (59 percent) and Matures (46 percent) also contributed to the 7-percentage point uptick from a year ago.

The economic downturn that has plagued the nation may have contributed to an increase in TV viewing by Internet users as well, with viewing topping 18 hours per week in 2009. Deloitte said about 4 percent of respondents said they watched some of their favorite shows on sites like Hulu, with another 3 percent saying they watched post-broadcast episodes of their favorite shows on the show’s website.

via Survey shows increased desire for TV-Internet convergence – FierceOnlineVideo.

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The Wall Street Journal reports that the Walt Disney Company is close to unveiling new technology to allow entertainment companies to distribute media to consumers using computers and cell phones, rather than on DVD and television.

The technology is code-named Keychest and sounds like its the for-pay web service that Disney CEO Bob Iger announced back in July. The service would basically let consumers pay one price for permanent access to content from a number of different devices — like set-top boxes and mobile phones.

As the WSJ points out, this type of system could really bring the idea of movie downloads to the mainstream — because content would be stored and accessed from the cloud on your different devices, rather than downloaded and then stored for playback.

Digital Media Served From the Cloud

Think of the service kind of like Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace — content you buy via your set-top box would also show-up on your mobile phone or on your computer. The advantage is that the content can be easy to access from multiple devices from the user, but the content provider ultimately has control over who gets to watch the content (making piracy much more difficult).

Even content purchased on physical media, like Blu (Blu)-ray or DVD could still work with the Keyset system, because a customer could either type in (or in the case of Blu-ray, have the key transmitted over the Internet) a code that would then “unlock” viewing options for that product on different devices. For consumers, this would be like the iPod friendly digital downloads that now come packaged with many DVDs or Blu-ray discs. Only instead of a download, you could access the content over the cloud.

Of course, all of this content seems to be based on the idea of ubiquitous connectivity. How consumers would (or if they could) access content when not online (say you’re on a trip or in the car) hasn’t been discussed.

via Disney’s Going Digital: Buy Once, Watch Anywhere.

Indie Filmmaker in Copyright Spat With Viacom Over YouTube Clips

Submitted by Mark Hefflinger on August 31, 2007 – 6:28am.

San Francisco - An independent filmmaker who posted some of his work on YouTube, which was then used without permission by Viacom on a TV show, has seen his posting of Viacom’s use of his work removed from YouTube by the media conglomerate, CNET News.com reported.

Filmmaker Chris Knight created promotional videos that showed him blowing up a schoolhouse with a Death Star, a la “Star Wars,” which was then used by Viacom in the VH1 TV series “Web Junk 2.0.”

Viacom, which has separately filed a $1 billion copyright infringement suit against YouTube, claims the commentary it made on Knight’s video qualifies it as a “fair use,” according to the law.

However, the company believes Knight’s posting of the full “Web Junk 2.0″ segment on YouTube — which utilizes his own work — constitutes copyright infringement, and the clip was removed from YouTube at Viacom’s request.

Knight writes on his blog that he contacted YouTube’s division of copyright enforcement, arguing that the VH1 clip is derived from his own work, and as such he should be entitled to use it.

“What does this mean for independent producers of content, if material they create can be co-opted by a giant corporation without permission or apology or compensation?” Knight wrote on his blog.

“When in fact, said corporations can take punitive action against you for using material that you created on your own?”

Related Links:
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9769329-7.html

http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2007/08/viacom-hits-me-with-copyright.html

http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/webjunk_20/series.jhtml

From Kenradio.com

TV advertising spending is growing, and analysts expect that to continue through 2010. Online video usage is increasing, online advertising spending is taking a larger proportion of the overall advertising pie and digital video recorders (DVRs) and video-on-demand (VOD) capabilities are becoming widespread, according to a new study by eMarketer. Talk of TV’s short-term demise is unfounded. Yet it is equally shortsighted to think that the traditional TV model will not change significantly over the next decade.

Estimates show by 2011 there will be more than 200 million broadband Internet users in the US, 92% of whom will regularly watch video online. At that time the broadband audience will be two-thirds the size of the total US TV audience, up from less than half the TV audience in 2006. In addition, 45.1% of TV households will have DVRs and nearly 59% will have VOD capabilities — both of which are used to avoid advertising. TV advertising dollars will inevitably shift to alternative channels. Online advertising is likely to be the major beneficiary of this redistribution. Most recent online advertising spending estimates show that by 2011, $44 billion will be spent on online advertising, up from $16.9 billion in 2006, and 10% of all online advertising will be spent on online video advertising.