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How much could Hulu charge? Prices emerge

February 4th, 2010, 11:06 am by

hulu.comSpotted: For those who want to watch all their favorite TV shows online for free, here are a few headlines that could affect that dream:

► Hulu.com will probably begin charging consumers for premium content but when? The Wall Street Journal reports nothing has been decided. Read: “Disney: “No Decisions Have Been Made” on Hulu Premium.”

► An analyst with Forrester Research believes Hulu will offer two prices: $4.99 for an ad-free Hulu or $14.99 a month for the full season and TV archive, reports USA Today. Currently, Hulu offers only the most recent five episodes of TV shows. Read: Free video site Hulu explores premium pricing.

► Good Morning America, Nightline, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer and other news shows are now available on Hulu.com, reports Broadcasting & Cable. Read: “ABC News Added To Hulu.”

► Another reason why Hulu may soon not be as free as it is today? NBC owns 32 percent of the free TV site, and NBC will soon be acquired by Comcast Corp. Comcast, in turn, is working with Time Warner Cable on a “TV Everywhere” effort to offer certain TV shows only to existing cable customers. Read: “NBC Officially Owns 32 Percent of Hulu (Until Comcast Acquires It).”

► At least the free TV shows on NBC.com will continue to be available to all consumers — not just paying cable customers, reports Broadcasting & Cable. This detail was noted during the U.S. House committee hearing on Comcast’s pending acquisition of NBC. Comcast promised that NBC.com’s content, which offers full episodes of its top shows, will still be available to all consumers.

► One man tells his story of giving up cable TV for two years in favor of Hulu and other free online TV only to return to cable this month. The main reason? His girlfriend needed access to fashion TV. Read: “Why I Caved, Bought Cable TV, And Gave Up On My ‘Hulu Household.’”

► Slate’s The Big Money has a guy who writes about Hulu and related trends at the Hulucination blog.

More recent Web TV news:

For more on TV services, see the following links:

* Time Warner Cable
* Cox Cable
* Verizon FiOS
* AT&T U-verse		 * DirecTV
* Dish Network
* Web TV
* All TV

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 10 Comments »

Even Comcast is losing cable TV customers

February 3rd, 2010, 9:29 am by

ComcastComcast Corp.’s services aren’t available in Orange County but what is happening to the Philadelphia cable TV provider offers insight into where cable TV is going.

Comcast, which released its 2009 financials this morning, remains the nation’s largest cable TV company in the nation with 23.6 million video subscribers.

Like Time Warner Cable, Comcast is losing video customers. The results are in for 2009 and last year, the company lost 623,000 video customers, or about 2.6 percent. Fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, lost 199,000 video customers. See the chart below.

But also like Time Warner, the company gained digital video customers — adding 410,000 during the fourth quarter and 1,411,000 for the year. It also gained high-speed Internet, telephone and bundled customers.

Comcast Corp.       Customers         New (net)        
    Year 2008   Year 2009   Growth     4Q 2009     2009
Video customers   24,182   23,559   (2.6%)     (199)     (623)
High-Speed Internet Customers   14,929   15,930   6.7%     247     1,002  
Voice Customers   6,473   7,622   17.8%     243     1,149  
Combined Video, HSI and Voice Customers   45,584   47,112   3.4%     290     1,528  
Digital Video Customers   17,004   18,415   8.3%     410     1,411  
Total Revenue Generating Units   62,588   65,527   4.7%     701     2,939  

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

TV, mobile stories I couldn’t get to this week

December 18th, 2009, 3:27 pm by

File this in the stuff I just couldn’t get to but thought was interesting for readers:

Here’s what I spent my time on this week:

Have a good weekend!

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Cable’s Comcast buys NBC, will TV prices go up?

December 3rd, 2009, 7:34 am by

Comcast buys NBCIt finally happened. A cable TV company bought NBC. Comcast Corp.’s acquisition of the network from the General Electric Company has been talked about for months so this isn’t a surprise. The deal could take 18 months to get approved by regulators.

So, what does it mean to viewers in Orange County where there is no Comcast? (The two cable TV providers here are Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications. O.C. also has Verizon FiOS TV, AT&T U-verse and, of course, Dish Network and DirecTV.)

It could mean great things, like more online TV viewing choices! But it also could mean higher prices.

Remember why our cable bills keep going up? Time Warner Cable blames rising carriage fees, or the price it must pay a TV network to carry the channels. Some of the highest prices charged to paid-TV providers are from the parent of ABC: Disney. Prices for Disney-owned ESPN, for example, are up to $4 per cable customer. Time Warner has said that the bulk of its prices are from these fees.

NBC owns a ton of channels, including USA, Bravo, SyFy, CNBC, MSNBC, the NBC network and Universal Studios.

Comcast itself owns a bunch too, including Versus, the Golf Channel, E Entertainment, the Style Network, G4, and FEARnet.

With the deal, Comcast gains more channels that could affect TV bills everywhere. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • | 15 Comments »

Cable TV bills will go up if Fox, CBS get their way

October 28th, 2009, 7:57 am by

Cable TV The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Fox TV parent News Corp. and CBS Corp. are demanding that cable providers pay a monthly fee for the broadcast TV station.

News Corp. wants $1 per customer per month from Time Warner Cable Inc, reports the WSJ.  Traditionally, cable TV providers haven’t paid paid cash fees from over-the-air broadcast networks.

If News Corp. gets its way, that’s a minimum of $12 added to a customers bill. The Wall Street Journal didn’t report how much CBS is seeking.

The broadcasters say they need more money as advertising slumps and cable companies, like Time Warner and Comcast, start their new adventures in offering the same TV shows online (see earlier story on “Time Warner plans to offer popular shows online — to paying customers).

Time Warner Cable @GadgetressGot a question for Time Warner Cable? Here’s your chance to get it answered. Click HERE

News Corp’s contract with Time Warner expires at the end of the year, which means if a new contract isn’t signed, Fox could be pulled from Time Warner. This is definitely not unheard of. Remember last Christmas? Viacom, which owns Comedy Central and Nickalodeon, demanded more money per user from Time Warner. The battle over what is known as carriage fees grew so critical that Viacom ran a scrolling message below most programs telling fans to call their cable provider and demand to keep the channel. The two resolved the fee issue just hours before the New Year (see ““).

Read the Wall Street Journal story: Broadcasters Seek Cable-TV Fees

More TV news:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 49 Comments »

More NFL football heading to Verizon FiOS

September 2nd, 2009, 12:05 pm by

New NFL RedZone channel coming Sept. 13, 2009.UPDATE: Added pricing for Dish customers. See below.

So, the National Football League offers full coverage exclusively to DirecTV users. But other TV providers are taking advantage of a simplified option that launches in two weeks, the NFL RedZone.

Verizon today became the latest to offer FiOS TV subscribers the NFL RedZone, a premium sports channel that features some in-depth football content “that will bring fans every touchdown of every game on Sunday afternoons,” says the NFL.

Comcast and Dish Network have previously said they would offer the new channel, too.

The new channel officially launches Sept. 13. Read up on it at redzonetv.nfl.com.

Verizon plans to charge $49.99 for the entire season. Customers can order it two ways:  Turn to the channel and subscribe via the remote control, or call Verizon. No special deals or promotions are expected, so if you want it, pay up.

UPDATE: For Dish customers who want to view the NFL RedZone, Dish charges $5.99 per month as part of its multi-sport package, which can be added on to any Classic Silver 200 or above programming package, says the company. Customers can call 1-800-333-DISH to add the channel. Dish is also taking any customer question via Twitter at @dishnetwork.

More sports TV news:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Comcast interested in Time Warner, Viacom?

August 17th, 2009, 7:44 am by

ComcastNoted: The Web is buzzing after a Reuters report speculated that cable provider Comcast Corp. wants to buy a media company with its extra cash — some $3.9 billion as of June 30. Time Warner (owner of HBO, Warner Bros.) and Viacom (owner of MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount) are the two names floating around. But there appears to be no interest in its major competitor, Time Warner Cable.

How likely is this? Well, Comcast is the same company that offered what some termed an audacious $54 billion bid for Walt Disney Co. in 2004. Disney said something like “Are you kidding?” and flicked the cable TV company away.

The Reuters story is from the investor’s view. Investors fear it because, “With Comcast, the concern for acquisition risk doesn’t have to be logical,” said Collins Stewart analyst Thomas Eagan.

Time Warner is working with Comcast to develop the “TV Everywhere” service, which would let cable subscribers watch the same movies and TV shows online that they get on TV.  Comcast plans to announce trials nationwide really soon. No word on Time Warner’s testing grounds or whether Orange County will be included.

Comcast, which once offered TV service in Fullerton and Buena Park, no longer operates in Orange County. Like Time Warner Cable, Comcast has been losing customers — it lost 2.7 percent during its last quarter compared to a year ago. However, in the same period, Comcast still made making money. Its sales grew 4.6 percent.

Recent TV news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 4 Comments »

Time Warner plans to offer popular shows online — to paying customers

June 24th, 2009, 8:49 am by

Time Warner Inc. plans to open up some of its TV shows to cable customers online in an effort unlike that of Hulu.com, the popular Web site to watch TV shows and movies for free. Time Warner’s trial, which begins next month, targets Comcast Corp. customers.

Called TV Everywhere, the service would offer Comcast customers access to Time Warner networks, such as TNT and TBS, online. This is Time Warner, the media empire by the way, and not Time Warner Cable, which spun off from Time Warner earlier this year. Time Warner also said more trials are planned with other TV services, which presumably means TV Everywhere could someday come to the two cable services here in Orange County.

TV Everywhere, which Time Warner’s CEO Jeff Bewkes has been talking about for months, is a way TV networks can offer paying customers TV shows online. Bewkes didn’t  want to just give popular TV shows away for free online, as is the case with Hulu, which is ad supported.
For now, viewers who are paid TV subscribers of Comcast will be the only ones who can tune in to TV Everywhere.

This morning’s announcement was that the two have developed a plan to distribute TV content online. They want a “consumer-friendly, pro-competitive and non-exclusive” service, according to a statement from both companies. Some of the rules:

  • Video subscribers can watch programming from their favorite TV networks online for no additional charge.
  • Video subscribers can access this content using any broadband connection.
  • Programmers should make their best and highest-rated programming available online.
  • Both networks and video distributors should provide high-quality, consumer-friendly sites for viewing broadband content with easy authentication.
  • A new process should be created to measure ratings for online viewing. The goal should be to extend the current viewer measurement system to include advertiser ratings for TV content viewed on all platforms.
  • TV Everywhere is open and non-exclusive; cable, satellite or telco video distributors can enter into similar agreements with other programmers.

Comcast, which is not available here in Orange County, plans to begin with a trial of its “On Demand Online” service next month with 5,000 customers. Comcast TV customers will be able to access TNT shows like “The Closer” and “Saving Grace,” plus TBS’ “Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns” and “My Boys.” Viewers can tune in at Comcast.net, Fancast.com and soon on TNT.tv and TBS.com. 

Time Warner, which also owns the HBO and Warner Bros. Entertainment networks,  plans to announce more trials with other TV services in the future.

More on the web:

More TV news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

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