News

Video transcoding leader RipCode has raised $12.5 million in funding in a round led by Granite Ventures and including existing investors Hunt Ventures, El Dorado Ventures, Vesbridge Partners, and ATA Ventures.

Dallas-based RipCode sells video transcoding appliances as well as services around them for both video on demand and streaming. Every video site needs transcoding because raw videos arrive in all sorts of formats and need to be converted into all sorts of other formats to be viewed online and on different devices.

RipCode had previously raised a $10.5 million second round of funding in August 2007. It said in a release it would use the newest round of funding for sales, marketing, and product development.

The company recently scored a deal to power MySpace’s mobile video. It faces new competition from the likes of Encoding.com, which offers on-demand pay-as-you-go encoding.

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Bush League.tv, the dude-centric web series/blog launched by Deca in May of last year, was shut down in December. Deca CEO Michael Wayne confirmed the site was shuttered in a phone conversation this afternoon. Though the Bush League site is still up, it has not been updated since Dec. 18.

It’s not much of a surprise as the writing was on the wall for Bush League practically since its inception. The web is not short on programming for guys, and Bush League didn’t have any special hook that made it stand out in the crowd. (NewTeeVee contributor Steve Bryant referred to the group producing it as “charming ass-hats.”). Even Deca CEO Michael Wayne indicated that Bush League was not long for this world back in October, when he told ClickZ:

“The producers who pitched it were very talented, but the idea could have been more focused,” said Wayne. “After it launched, instead of standing out of the crowd it became one of a thousand sites targeted to young men.”

The golden age of web series has run head on into the economic realities, with a number of them getting the axe over the past year. Yahoo deep-sixed The 9, Revision3 canceled the shows Internet Superstar, Pixel Perfect and PopSiren, and CBS stopped making new episodes of Moblogic.

Are any of your favorite shows suddenly AWOL? Drop us a line and let us know.

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One way to think about online video is to consider how big a chunk it takes out of our daily lives. The amount of time U.S. Internet users spend watching video is up an impressive 40 percent year over year. Watchers tuned in for 273.1 minutes of online video in the month of November 2008, up from 195 minutes in November 2007, according to comScore.

That’s not the only measure that went up. The number of videos viewed increased 34 percent, to 12.7 billion videos, up from 9.5 billion last November. But the number of video viewers is not growing quite as fast; it was up 6 percent, to 146 million from 138 million. Still, that’s stayed fairly constant since last year at about three-quarters of total U.S. Internet users (which is not in itself a fast-growing category).

In terms of where we’re watching, YouTube is clearly at the top of the heap — accounting for 98 percent of Google’s 40.3 percent market share — but other players have shifted on and off the top 10. There’s Hulu, of course; it’s at No. 6. Turner Network also made its way onto the list, while Break and ABC.com dropped off.

Earlier, there was some kerfuffle over whether Hulu had seen a significant post-election drop in video traffic, though I think Chris did a good job demystifying how that was a matter of understanding comScore’s various metrics. Hulu had only a small drop if you look at the numbers specific to video streams.

comScore competitor Nielsen also recently released its November U.S. video stats, though most figures are smaller due to methodology differences over things like counting plays of embedded videos.

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In a set of stories this weekend, Multichannel News looked at some “age old” problems with predicting how age affects online video consumption: Younger viewers watch online video now, but it’s not certain what they’ll do when they get older. And as today’s older viewers incorporate more online video into their habits, networks are realizing the potential to marry multiplatform distribution with new advertising strategies.

A few interesting factoids from the stories:

• Sounds like older men have diversified their live streaming habits — fewer webcams, more news. The average age of a CNN.com live stream viewer is 47.7, with usage up 300 percent in the last year, and a record 5 million election day streams.
• Is Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” single-handedly driving up video consumption stats? Comcast found younger viewers watch music videos for unexpectedly long periods of time, because they’re watching it over and over while they teach themselves the dance moves.
• Web distribution doesn’t just boost audiences for younger-skewing broadcasters like the Cartoon Network. Discovery.com boosted traffic 53 percent to 5.4 million in October using premieres of new series; meanwhile a Showtime exec is quoted saying free content initiatives are silly.

Also, see our other recent coverage of age trends in media consumption:

• Deloitte Study: Millennials, Mobile and More
• Young People Watch More TV on the Web
• DVR Users Younger, Shifting Half Their Programs

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Roku announced today that it will be adding Amazon’s Video On Demand streaming service to its set-top box as the company moves beyond just being the Netflix player. The new Amaz-oku service will be available “beginning in early 2009.”

From the press release:

Amazon Video On Demand and the Roku Player will enable customers to:

• Access and add to their virtual library of purchases via Amazon Video On Demand’s Your Video Library, and re‐watch them anytime on the Roku Player or online with a PC, MAC or other compatible device.
• Watch new release movies the same day that they are released on DVD. Hit titles such as “The Dark Knight,” “Hancock,” “Pineapple Express”, “Tropic Thunder” and hundreds more that are not currently available on the Roku Player.
• Enjoy instant playback, no downloading, no waiting and no subscription fee.
• Browse Amazon.com’s huge selection of over 40,000 movies and TV shows for rent or purchase.
• Enjoy Amazon Video On Demand’s high‐quality video through its use of the advanced h.264 codec and an automatic bandwidth detection feature that seamlessly plays back the best quality file at either 300, 600, 900 or 1200 kbps.
• Easily setup their Roku Player using its built‐in Wi‐Fi connection and begin watching videos within minutes.
• Connect their Roku Player to any television set using HDMI, Component Video, Composite Video, S‐Video, Stereo Audio or Optical Audio connections.

This means that Roku users can enjoy both new releases a la carte through Amazon (rental prices range from $0.99 to $3.99), and watch older, library content through their Netflix subscription — all for just $99. And since Roku said last year that it was opening up its box and streaming video from other “big name” providers, you can bet your bippy more content partnerships are on the way.

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From HDTV to 3-D TV; big TV manufacturers like Panasonic, Samsung and Texas Instruments are rolling out 3D-capable sets at CES this week. (The LA Times)

Consumers to Cut Back on High-Tech Product Purchases; Forrester Research survey finds 51 percent of respondents saying they will spend less on tech this year, though 44 percent haven’t changed their minds about buying a new TV set. (The Wall Street Journal)

TheWB.com Attracting 250K Unique Viewers a Month; 62 percent of current visitors to the site are female, Sorority Forever has generated 7.3 million plays. (The New York Times)

Ambrella Unveils New System-on-a-Chip for Hybrid Cameras; the new A5 platform is designed for capturing HD video, mobile video and high-res stills. (EE Times)

DTV Switch Winners and Losers; roundup of impacts of the upcoming switch says winners include TV makers and retailers, losers include the networks and the environment. (MediaWeek)

Battlestar Galactica Via Facebook; TV series retold through a series of updates on the social network. (io9)

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We’re not even a full week into the new year and a dominant story for 2009 is already starting to take shape: newteevee on your oldteevee set.

Intel and Adobe announced today that they are collaborating to bring Flash to the Intel CE 3100 Media Processor, a move the two companies say would provide a better, more seamless web video viewing experience on your HDTV. The new Flash-enabled chips are set to roll out before the middle of the year and will be found in CE 3100-based cable set-top boxes, Blu-ray disc players, digital TVs and other AV devices.

Watching web video on your TV set isn’t anything new. Set-top boxes like TiVo and the Apple TV have been offering web video options for a while, but recently we’ve begun to see where it’s heading. YouTube HD streams on an HDTV look pretty sweet, and Netflix, which is already streaming content (some of it in HD) to a host of set-top boxes, will soon be streaming content directly to LG televisions with no external box required.

And it’s not just the web video content that’ll be showing up on oldteevee. Intel is also working with Yahoo to widgetize TV sets, offering weather updates, ticker symbols, Flickr integration and more.

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American Pie's 'Stifler' Co-Anchors Heavy.com Sports Show
Marketing Vox News - 2 minutes ago
And in 2006, Amanda Congdon — ex-host of video blog Rocketboom — made her network TV debut on Disney's ABC News Now, a 24-hour digital channel for ABC. ...

Radar Online
Dark Side Of Doogie On DVD
Radar Online, NY - 1 hour ago
Dr. Horrible, from Buffy brainiac Joss Whedon, is a recap of Dr. Horrible's troubled week via a video blog. The series has been called the "best TV show of ...

'Being Erica' has online video blog
Telegraph-Journal, Canada - 5 hours ago
* Being Erica is a new Canadian dramedy about a well educated but underachieving woman (Erin Karpluk) who, with the help of a mysterious therapist (Michael ...

Netflix announced today that its streaming service will be embedded directly into broadband-enabled LG HDTVs coming out this spring. This marks the first time that streaming Netflix content to a television set won’t require an external box like the Roku.

While LG is the first television partner for Netflix it isn’t the first manufacturer to offer broadband-connected TVs. Panasonic’s Viera TVs have YouTube video capabilities and Amazon’s Video on Demand streaming service is available on Sony Bravia Internet Link sets.

Now imagine when all those TVs start offering all those video services (and more!). You could watch new release content through a la carte rental, courtesy of Amazon; library titles through your Netflix subscription; and your favorite web video through YouTube — all with the push of a button on your remote (I pity the UI designers tasked with making all that content navigable and searchable).

As Om noted over at GigaOM, this ain’t great news for burgeoning set-top box makers. Broadband-connected TVs don’t spell immediate doom for set-top box manufacturers like Roku and Apple TV (people still have to adopt these new types of sets) — but the writing has got to be on the wall. And as I wrote earlier, the wildcard in this scenario is cable and telcos. They stand to lose big if you trade in your pricey subscription to watch video delivered over the web. Will bandwidth caps and metered access rain on this new TV-set parade?

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Local Chef releases 100th episode of “Cooking Coarse”, daily ...
Carolina Newswire (press release), NC - 11 hours ago
Cary, NC – Chef Todd Mohr, founder of Savor Hospitality and The Cooking School, today announced Cooking Coarse, his daily video blog (vlog), ...

Jonas Brothers, Britney, Miley and more 2009 New Year’s Resolutions
Examiner.com - Jan 4, 2009
Selena Gomez resolves in a video blog, “To be a better friend and work hard in school.” Cameron Diaz, 36,"I have always had the same New Year resolutions: ...

Jonas Brothers, Britney, Miley and more 2009 New Year’s Resolutions
Examiner.com - 1 hour ago
Selena Gomez resolves in a video blog, “To be a better friend and work hard in school.” Cameron Diaz, 36,"I have always had the same New Year resolutions: ...

Israel armed with internet savvy
The National, United Arab Emirates - Jan 3, 2009
The channel also features a daily video blog – a vlog – in which army spokesmen justify the attacks on Gaza and the dozens of civilian deaths, ...

Israel armed with internet savvy
The National, United Arab Emirates - 17 hours ago
The channel also features a daily video blog – a vlog – in which army spokesmen justify the attacks on Gaza and the dozens of civilian deaths, ...

MacWorld Expo is going down starting Monday in San Francisco, and Apple fans have been speculating about new products for months. Will there be a new Mac Mini? An iPhone Nano? Or maybe even an Apple Netbook ? Answers to all these question will be given in the coming days, and our friends of The Apple Blog will be there to cover it in depth. Meanwhile, there’s still some time left to imagine what kind of Newteevee gadgets we would like to see announced.

Let’s face it: We’re probably not going to see anything too unexpected from Apple a the event. Steve Jobs just won’t leave it up to his minions to announce any revolutionary new product or service, and with him most likely not showing up we have to brace ourselves for a bunch of unspectacular upgrades. So why not dream big and come up with some stuff we would really like to see in our living rooms?

Here are five announcements we would love to hear from Apple:

A Mac Mini with two display ports. This rumor has been simmering on the Apple blogs for a while now, and it would be a great boon for everyone thinking about a dual-use box that could feed your flat panel TV as well as a plain old LCD computer screen. Likelihood of this going to happen: It actually could, according to Appleinsider.com. Apple is supposedly going to use its new Mini DisplayPort for a revamped Mac Mini, but could also keep a Mini DVI connector to allow the use of a second display. Of course, Apple isn’t really know for smooth transitions from old to new interfaces, so we don’t hold our breath.

An Apple TV Deluxe with built-in TV tuner. Apple could use the digital TV transition to enter the DVR market with a bang and market the Apple TV as the all-problems-solved box. Free digital HD TV? Check. Time shifting? Check. Premium content on demand? Check. Home networking? Check. A design that makes your Tivo blush? Check mate. Likelihood of this going to happen: Unfortunately, zero. Apple has never shown any interest in supporting traditional media distribution methods. Case in point: iPods could offer FM radio for practically no extra costs, but Apple prefers its customers to use the iTunes store.

An Apple TV App Store. Yeah, we get it. Apple wants to control its Apple TV platform and is going to sabotage unauthorized outside developments like Boxee until the end of time. But how about opening up the box just a bit, and in turn creating a whole new revenue stream? How about bringing social networking, online gaming, news tickers and maybe even a Joost app to the big screen? Likelihood of this going to happen: Not this time around, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple is already working on something like this.

BitTorrent support for iTunes podcasts. Video podcasts are eating up more and more bandwidth, and podcasters don’t exactly have much money to spare in times like these. Adding a simple BitTorrent client to iTunes would go a long way towards guaranteeing that great shows will stay online even if corporate giants like AOL stop to sponsor podcasters with terabytes of free bandwidth. Apple could even limit the client to a company-run tracker to make sure that iTunes doesn’t become the latest toy of the Pirate Bay crowd. Likelihood of this going to happen: None. Never. Ever.

Watch.me: Online video sharing. The MobileMe gallery is nice for photo storage and sharing, but what about videos? Apple could attract lots of new users to its cloud service by offering the ability to easily share videos with your contacts through Macs, PCs, iPhones and Apple TVs. It could even integrate some iMovie-like features into an online video editor to allow users to create video playlists and simple mash-ups. Likelihood of this going to happen: Sure, why not? Apple has been a little too dependent on YouTube for user-generated online video in the past, which must bug the hell out of Steve Jobs. Also, Computerworld blogger Seth Weintraub just wrote that he heard about plans to revamp iMovie as a cloud app. I guess that means MobileMe fans can keep their fingers crossed.

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TheCoffeeWire.com, the Coffee World Delivered with Online Video
PR-USA.net (press release), Bulgaria - Jan 3, 2009
At TheCoffeeWire.com, Brent will be presenting information in a video blog format. The videos will be approximately 10 minutes each in length and will cover ...

TheCoffeeWire.com, the Coffee World Delivered with Online Video
PR-USA.net (press release), Bulgaria - 4 hours ago
At TheCoffeeWire.com, Brent will be presenting information in a video blog format. The videos will be approximately 10 minutes each in length and will cover ...

Santa has been really nice to social networking websites this holiday season. Whether it was more broadband connections or simply bad weather, many popular web services saw a nice bump in their traffic this holiday season. In US, YouTube accounted for about 1.35% of total US traffic on December 24, though the traffic skidded there after to 1.16% on December 31. Nevertheless, on the new year’s eve, the traffic was up 33% from 2007.

YouTube in particular did well in the United Kingdom, according to Hitwise, a research firm that tracks traffic flows to various websites.

Video site YouTube received more UK Internet traffic than Microsoft Windows Live Mail (Hotmail) for the first time during Christmas week 2008. For the week ending 27/12/08, YouTube accounted for 2.13% of all UK Internet visits compared to 2.11% for Live Mail. During the same week, YouTube was the third most visited website in the UK behind Google UK and Facebook, while Live Mail ranked fourth.

Hitwise also sent us Hulu’s performance for December 2008. The site is up 18,000% compared to last December. Hulu officially launched in March 2008 and has grown in popularity, though it lags YouTube quite considerably.

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