Mediaboss Marketing

Its hard to believe were not stuck in some strange time warp, as its beginning to feel (again) like TV is the next hot thing. Well, really, web TV. For one, The Wall Street Journal today reported that Intel is rumored to be developing a web-based, pay-TV service and reportedly has been pitching media companies on creating a virtual cable operator that would offer TV channels to U.S. consumers in a bundle similar to subscriptions sold by cable and satellite TV operators. According to these reports, Intel will be offering its own set-top box to carry the service.

Regardless of the fact that the chip company has struggled with consumer-facing (and set-top) offerings, Intels purported service would join GoogleTV, AppleTV, and a host of other companies already offering set-top boxes like Roku and Boxee. Of course, as much as everyone ever many want a disruption of the current pay-TV model, Alex Cocotas chart shows that current cord-cutting attempts arent really having the desired effect.

Aereo, the New York-based startup backed by $20 million+ from IAC recently entered the fray with big plans to actually make a dent in this problem with a cloud-based service that streams over-the-air channels for just $12 a month. (You can read more background on the service here.) Of course, just like so many that have come before it, Aereo seems inherently subject to having to change its DVR-in-the-cloud model or to fighting it out with the networks in court. And now its countersuing.

Last week, a group of broadcasters, which includes Fox, Univision, and PBS filed two separate lawsuits against Aereo (with those two groups collectively representing most of the major media outlets in New York City), as well as an injunction based on the grounds of Copyright Act infringements, which if granted, would prevent Aereo from releasing its product on the market.

Shortly thereafter, Aereo released a statement saying, in short, that the broadcasters case did not have any merit. (Statement and more background here.) The interest in this case also prompted me to take a lengthy look at whether or not Aereo actually has any shot at winning this case. Despite many indications otherwise, I was hopeful.

Speaking at SXSW this weekend, Barry Diller, the Chairman and CEO of IAC (the principal investor in Aereo), made it clear that both he and Aereo expected the broadcast networks to resist, and that the issue would likely be resolved in court. (Obviously it would have been a huge mistake not to prepare for this end.) As reported by CNET, Diller said, This is not some evil thing This is absolutely predictable. Media companies have hegemony over broadcast TV and they want to protect it.

Diller and Aereo are both of the mind that what theyre doing is completely legal and not only that they shouldnt have to pay retransmission fees either. (Under their conception, this is because each customer would own their own antenna and thus have rights to free, publicly transmitted broadcasts of network TV.) Diller said that hed recently met with reps from the networks in New York and told them:

I said to the broadcasters, One thing that might happen is youll get more audience. They said, Thats fine. Now pay us retransmission money. I said, When you get Radio Shack to pay you some slice of their profit when they sell an aerial, well pay you anything you like, but were not transmitting anything.

Given the trajectory of this back-and-forth with the networks, the news today that Aereo has officially countersued is expected, but its further evidence that neither Diller nor Aereo will be backing down from the battle anytime soon. And given Dillers penchant for mixing it up with traditional media, and his own cloud as a long-time media exec himself, there arent a whole lot of people better suited for this battle.

After all, with the growing interest among big tech companies (and the public) in this issue, it was either Aereo or someone else. Hey, maybe it could be Ora.tv and Larry King! (Probably not.) After writing this post, we heard from Carlos Nicholas Fernandes, the CEO of RecordTV.com, which launched a similar service in Singapore back in 2007. They were taken to court, lost at first, but eventually won against the state-owned broadcaster, MediaCorp in a landmark ruling.

See the rest here:
Intel Eyes Web TV As Aereo Turns Legal Screws On Networks [Docs]

13-03-2012 01:43

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Husky vs Internet - Monobattles with Ahnaris - Game 1 - Video

By Cornelius Rahn - Tue Mar 13 15:01:04 GMT 2012

United Internet AG (UTDI) may more than double its dividend to as much as 44 cents a share from 2013 earnings as investment in rolling out new products will no longer hold back profit, Chief Executive Officer Ralph Dommermuth said.

If things work out as planned, our dividend should be between 25 cents and 44 cents next year, Dommermuth said in an interview in Frankfurt today. Of course we still need to look at what our investments are and how much cash we have.

The proposed dividend for 2011 will be maintained at 20 cents, the CEO said. The company generally aims to pay 25 percent to 40 percent of earnings per share, he said, adding that EPS will probably be in a range of 1 euro to 1.10 euros next year after 80 cents to 90 cents in 2012.

United Internet, a German provider of phone and Internet services, will probably boost revenue by at least 15 percent next year after targeting about 15 percent in 2012, the CEO said in a press conference today. The loss from starting new business areas such as do-it-yourself homepages and the expansion into new countries will be lower in 2013 after marketing costs again limit earnings growth this year, he said.

At 15 percent growth a year, revenue in 2013 would be 2.77 billion euros, according to Bloomberg calculations. That exceeds an average analyst estimate of 2.37 billion euros in a Bloomberg survey.

Revenue rose 9.8 percent last year to 2.09 billion euros, the Montabaur-based company said in a statement late yesterday. The 2012 sales target, which would amount to about 2.4 billion euros, compares with an average analyst estimate of 2.24 billion euros in a Bloomberg survey.

The company is expanding its offering of applications such as homepages, e-shops and to-do lists to more markets, including Italy. The company also offers access services such as mobile and broadband connections.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 2 percent to 364.8 million euros as profit was held back by smartphone subsidies to win customers, product development expenses and spending to add business abroad, United Internet said.

United Internet fell 0.4 percent to 13.99 euros as of 3:55 p.m. in Frankfurt trading.

Continued here:
United Internet Forecasts 2012 Sales Growth of 15% on Expansion Spending

NEW YORK, March 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Global Internet Protocol Television Services Market 20112015

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0795130/Global-Internet-Protocol-Television-Services-Market-20112015.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Television_Broadcasting

TechNavio's analysts forecast the Global Internet Protocol Television Services market to grow at a CAGR of 22.2 percent over the period 20112015. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is IPTV services acting as a revenue channel for telecom operators amidst falling average revenue per user. The Global Internet Protocol Television Services market has also been witnessing high customization of IPTV Services and a shift towards triple-play services. However, content availability and the high cost of IPTV services could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

TechNavio's report, Global Internet Protocol Television Services Market 20112015, has been prepared based on an in-depth analysis of the market with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the Americas, and the EMEA and APAC regions; it also covers the Internet Protocol Television Services market landscape and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.

Key vendors dominating this market space include China Telecom, iliad Free, Verizon, AT&T, France Telecom, and Deutsche Telekom.

Key questions answered in this report:

What will the market size be in 2014 and at what rate will it grow?

What key trends is this market subject to?

What is driving this market?

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Global Internet Protocol Television Services Market 2011-2015

via Know Your Meme

By Helen A.S. Popkin

Almost two years ago, the feminist writer Irin Carmon wrote an insightful piece for Jezebel titled "The Daily Show's Woman Problem." She soon paid a price.

For having the audacity to call out liberal Shibboleth Jon Stewart about The Daily Shows Mad Men-era gender hiring practices, Carmon became the target of an all-out Internet flame war. As often is the case with these things, the ad hominem attacks went way beyond her theme or even her writing ability, and straight to her viability as a human life form breathing precious air. You know how the Interwebz do.

So when Carmon notes that Internet flame wars arent necessarily a bad thing, you can bet shes given it some thought.

Some writers drop flame bait, others just constantly "troll." Either way, there's a deliberate pushing of buttons for the purpose of causing outrage and attracting attention. Though construed as useless, time-consuming and distracting, in the not-so-humble opinions of many, this behavior can also be a force for good, Carmon argues.

First and foremost, they sometimes open up a space for a conversation that might not have occurred otherwise.

In Carmon's Daily Show piece, she noted that the Comedy Central showcase has a nearly all-male, on-air staff. With the exception of Samantha Bee, the then-recent hire of Olivia Munn was the first new female correspondent in seven years. As fiercely liberal and sharp-eyed an observer as Jon Stewart can be, getting women on the air may be his major blind spot, she wrote.

At South by Southwest Interactive, Carmon led a panel extolling the virtues of Internet rage, while noting the downsides. Titled Curing a Rage Headache: Internet Drama & Activism, Carmon and other media members, each of whom has been involved in their own popcorn-passing drama in virtual space, discussed how the attention generated by thousands of angry, irrational and completely engaged Internet users posting vicious comments can lead not just to indigestion, but also to positive change.

I am tired of watching racism, sexism, patriarchism and religious bigotry going unchecked, Carmon said. Then she brought up Rush Limbaugh.

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Internet flame wars serve the good of humanity