NBC to broadcast every event for 2012 London Olympics
London's 2012 Olympic Games are fast approaching, and NBC, which has television rights to the Olympics through 2020, is doing everything it can to recoup its substantial investment.
That's good news for viewers in the United States this year because NBC's strategy will make the 2012 Games coverage the most extensive yet.
Tablets becoming television's companion, replacement: report
The rise of the tablet is one of the biggest trends in computing today and there's little reason to doubt that this trend won't get anything but stronger.
The new iPad smashed sales records, affordable tablets with rich content ecosystems like the Kindle Fire are helping bring these devices to the masses, and Intel is promising a slew of new tablets when Windows 8 is released later this year.
Comcast rejects a Netflix partnership
If you ran a cable company facing the very real phenomenon of cord-cutting and you're approached about a partnership by one of the companies that has arguably done more to spur cord-cutting than any other, what would you say?
If you're Comcast, the answer is simple: 'take a hike.' And according to the New York Times, that's precisely what it has told Netflix.
Will Netflix one day be part of your cable bundle?
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings probably won't win a CEO of the Year award for his efforts in 2011.
After all, he was largely responsible for one of the biggest strategic and branding disasters of the year when he jumped the gun on trying to move his company away from delivering DVDs by mail and focusing on streaming instead.
To prevent cord cutting, cable networks embrace the web
Are cable customers ditching their cords, or shaving them? While the debate over what cable customers are doing and planning to do with their cords continues, one thing is clear: cable players are concerned.
So in an effort to prevent cord cutting, they're increasing looking to find ways to embrace the channel cord cutting is blamed on the internet.
A digital upfront: misguided?
The future of television may be digital, but if you're a player in the digital space looking at the meetings and parties taking place as television networks wrap up their annual upfront sales efforts, it's hard not to be a little bit jealous at all the money that still gets lavished at broadcast and cable ad inventory.
So this year, some digital players are hosting their own "upfronts" in an effort to get advertisers thinking about the commitments they should be making to digital ads.
Starcom MediaVest bets $20 million on addressable ads in 2011
Will 2011 be the year addressable television advertising – commercials targeted to specific homes – finally takes off? The answer is yes if you ask DirecTV and Starcom MediaVest. Starcom has committed to spend up to $20 million of its clients' budgets on addressable ads sold through DirecTV next year.
Forget the fact that Canoe Ventures, the much-hyped addressable ad platform launched by the big cable companies, is … well, dead in the water. A satellite provider may wind up delivering the most precisely-targeted TV ads for brands like P&G and Coke next year.
ESPN looks to score with 3D
Avatar, the sci-fi blockbuster that has already grossed more than $1bn globally at the box office, has rekindled interest in 3D entertainment.
That's because a lot of the buzz around the movie, which can be viewed in a 3D flavor, can be attributed to the 3D experience.
First landlines, now TV and DVDs
For the past several years, telcos have looked on in horror as their cell phone owning subscribers - particularly younger ones - decided landlines are purely optional. Inevitably consumers are making the same shift with their television and DVD viewing habits.
No one has the exact figures, but it's estimated some 1.1 percent of US households are TV-free, some one percent of the market. Certainly the current economic climate isn't helping as consumers look for ways to pare down their monthly expenses. Electricity may be mandatory - but cable, satellite and daily newspaper delivery? You can get all that stuff free online.
As viewers shift to YouTube, Hulu, and streaming services offered by television networks, not to mention streaming video provided by the leading online DVD rental companies such as Netflix, global entertainment conglomerates such as Disney and Time Warner are seeing an impact to their bottom lines that will likely last well beyond the current economic climate.
