One week after opening itself up to public consumption, Joost has announced a new content partnership with UK-based news service ITN. The partnership will see ITN providing short news, sports, business and weather reports on Joost, in addition to the creation of a web-only film news show called Movie Buff.
See more at NewTeeVee.com.
NBC Universal president Jeff Zucker spoke last week about NBC’s new content distribution models and the need for improved piracy prevention on the technological side. In a prepared speech at an anti-piracy summit in Washington D.C. last week, Zucker said that NBC no longer relies on TV alone, releasing episodes for free on NBC.com, for sale on Amazon.com, or streaming soon on Hulu.com. Zucker believes it is the ISPs’ responsibility to reduce traffic “by keeping copyright-infringing content off the networks.” Filtering is also important on video sharing sites and portals like Yahoo and Google, and Zucker added that NBC has already had many conversations with such companies.
See more at Broadcasting & Cable.
BoingBoing TV, the recently launched video show from the uber-popular blog of the same name, announced last week that it will soon be offering in-flight episodes on Virgin America flights. The show, which is produced by web studio DECA, will be available on Virgin America free and on-demand.
See more at NewTeeVee.com.
Social TV download aggregator Tape it Off the Internet (TIOTI) is launching its site to the public today, after months in private beta. The site lets users track their TV viewing habits by “bookmarking” shows and keeping tabs on them, checking off episodes they’ve seen. If you missed a show, TIOTI directs you toward sites where you can find it, including torrent sites like Mininova and The Pirate Bay as well as official network domains. As users can edit these links like a wiki, more and more should eventually float up. TIOTI also acts as a social network of sorts, connecting users through common interests.
See more at NewTeeVee.com.
After months in private beta, Joost is opening its doors to the public today, promising improvements to its client’s navigation system, search and open API for third-party widgets. Joost currently sees around 50,000 downloaders per week and hopes to reach two to three million users by the end of 2007. Although Joost hopes its open API will draw talented developers, currently most of the useful widgets are made in-house. One such widget allows for synchronized watching, and according to CEO Mike Volpi’s interview with NewTeeVee, lets you “send a poke and say I’m at minute 12, so we can start at exactly the same moment.”
See more at NewTeeVee.com.
BitGravity, a highly-touted content delivery network startup out of Burlingame, CA, officially launches its network and website today. The company is able to stream high volume video and audio files or deliver large software downloads with nearly zero buffering and lag time. Although only officially launching today, BitGravity has already worked with some high-profile partners, powering Revision3’s multitude of high def video shows with much success. According to an interview with TechCrunch, CEO Perry Wu says the company has some ambitious plans, including streaming live events for big networks and possibly 360 degree views of concerts and sporting events.
See more at TechCrunch.com.
CBS is taking a new approach to releasing its content online, cutting it up into web-friendly video snacks. The TV network launched last week CBS EyeLab, a digital production studio that will repurpose content from CBS’s popular shows and distribute it online. According to the Wall Street Journal, EyeLab employs six video editors who will use show content to create highlight reels of sorts. One such clip is a “montage of high-five scenes from How I Met Your Mother set to Strauss's The Blue Danube waltz."
See more at The Wall Street Journal.
P2P TV service Joost announced last week an exclusive partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB) to make on-demand game broadcasts and highlights from this year’s MLB postseason available for free as part of the service. Unfortunately, MLB’s TV network deals in the US and Japan will prevent those countries’ Joost users from watching online, and the game broadcasts will only be available in the rest of the world. Games will appear on Joost within 24 hours of their initial airing.
See more at NewTeeVee.com.
Director Wes Anderson’s latest film, The Darjeeling Limited, is using a unique promotional strategy – releasing a 13-minute short film for free online. The short, called The Hotel Chevalier, will be premiered at select Apple stores in the US and released Wednesday for free in Apple’s iTunes Store. “Chevalier” is sure to garner “Darjeeling” some excellent publicity, as it happens to include co-star Natalie Portman’s first ever nude scene. The Darjeeling Limited hits theaters October 5.
See more at CinemaTech.
Daily web-based news show Rocketboom has wrapped up a publishing deal with Blip.tv. It is unclear whether the show will continue to be distributed on other video sharing sites, because henceforth Blip.tv will power video on the Rocketboom.com site. Blip.tv will also help sell advertising, beginning with a sponsorship by Comedy Central’s “The Sarah Silverman Show” which will include QuickTime-based video overlay ads in upcoming episodes.
See more at NewTeeVee.com.
