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Disney on Thursday finally unveiled how it will compete in the streaming video business now ruled by Netflix. The Mouse House gave media types and investors a first look at Disney+ — its “family friendly” video streaming service — at its annual investors’ day on Thursday. It will start Nov. 12 and cost subscribers $6.99 a month The company’s foray into streaming has been a top priority for Disney boss Bob Iger as Disney+ is being launched into a saturated market dominated by Netflix and Amazon. Tech giant Apple has also announced plans to launch its own streaming service later this year. “Deciding how to navigate this was not easy for us,” said Iger, who spoke on stage at Disney’s Burbank, Calif., headquarters. Calling it an “exciting and challenging time” for Disney, Iger said the service will be built around five Disney properties: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, LucasFilm and assets it acquired from Twenty-First Century Fox, like National Geographic. It will be the only place to stream Disney’s biggest movies after they’ve run in theaters. It will include original content, too. Via New York Post
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April 9, 2019Spotify and Apple have been at odds over the last year or two over different issues related to the iPhone, Apple Watch and unfair practices by Apple. Those issues aside Apple has been trying to rev up their services and offerings with Apple Music by partnering with cell phone carriers and offering their large user base of Apple Echo system users 3 to 6 months of free Apple Music. While Apple has been doing their thing trying to get new users, Spotify has been approaching user growth by offering deals like discounts to college and university students. Offering ad-supported Hulu for free to Spotify Premium members. Spotify offers a family plan or a couple’s plan and now is offering a Google puck with Spotify. One thing I have noticed about Spotify is they are trying everything to keep their growth going. Spotify, unlike Apple, is seeing their growth with the millennium crowed which is the same market Hulu is seeing their growth so it would make sense for a strategic partnership to get members. The only thing I find upsetting about the Spotify Hulu partnership is the lack of Hulu support for premium plans for users with a Family Plan or Couples Plan. While I think this could be a market that might help Hulu since they offer family plans as well, I am surprised nothing has come of this from either Spotify or Hulu.
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January 28, 2019While online video services and original series go hand and hand on the internet these days there are still differences in the way online services are handled by different services. To start out with is release schedules are different depending on the service you are using to start with networks like HBO, CBS, FX and others with a channel release shows on a weekly schedule since they air the shows on the network then offer them on demand afterward online. Service like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and Amazon Prime that offer online original content with no network have options for how they can release content. Netflix chooses to release all content at once so people can watch all episodes at their leisure or watch the entire series all at once. Netflix is the service that coined the term binge watching. Amazon Prime tapes pilots of shows then release them for free to everyone to vote on. Then the series that win the voting get released exclusively on Amazon Prime and Amazon Prime Video. Amazon has a little advantage here while many people get the service because they have prime some 7 million people subscribe just for the video streaming service itself. YouTube does a similar thing like Amazon Prime they release the entire series all at once but only the first episode is free on YouTube the rest of the series is available only if you subscribe to YouTube Premium (YouTube Red). YouTube has a little advantage over other services since YouTube Premium offers music, commercial-free YouTube viewing and better YouTube viewing experience on mobile. Users who subscribe to YouTube Premium get more than just series which is a large reason why they are getting lots of new YouTube Premium subscribers. Hulu is kind of doing its own thing releasing originals...
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August 20, 2017GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) is Netflix’s new hit series starring Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin. The show centers around an out of work actress Ruth played by Alison Brie living in Los Angeles in the ’80s. Betty Gilpin plays Debbie an out of work soap actress. Debbie and Ruth are ex-friends forced to work together to headline a wrestling show with 10 other women and a washed-up director of “B” movies who tries to lead a group of women to fame. The series debuted all 10 episodes on June 23, 2017, on Netflix and was renewed for a second season on August 10, 2017, via Twitter. GLOW is definitely a hit Netflix Original Series. The question many people have asked would GLOW have done better on another streaming service. I think the logical choice for me personally for a show like this would have been WWE Network. If your subscribing to the WWE Network your obviously a wrestling fan which fits this shows premise. Hulu was a possible choice since Hulu does host past episodes of WWE Raw, Smackdown and NXT. I think the issue with Hulu is they are still stuck in the old way of thinking releasing one episode a week. When you watch GLOW, it had a very Netflix binge watch feeling to it with the ending of each episode not having a huge cliffhanger like a typical weekly show does on Hulu. The one network I think that could have possibly had this series was HBO. Due to some of the adult topics and content in the GLOW series I could not see Hulu (owned by Disney) picking up this series. HBO even with their style of releasing an episode a week has an audience that I think has the proper demographic on that Sunday 9 o’clock...
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November 13, 2012Have you been looking for a device that supports Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, HBO GO, Vudu, Pandora and Facebook in one device look no further with the Roku. The Roku which was designed as a Netflix player by Netgear has slowly taken on a life of its own with a lot of new great features and channels. The Roku delivers HD video with surround sound, comes with a great remote control, and you can play at least a few casual games on it. The product has a channel for almost any app you can think of and has an on demand feature for about any channel you can think of giving this device the edge. With a very easy setup and simple to use interface making this product ideal for anyone who wants to steam media from any content provider. No monthly fees except for subscription based services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, exc) makes this product a onetime investment without reoccurring fees. The Roku comes in a wired or wireless version depending on your preference and can hookup to any wireless setup very easily buy just typing in your wireless password. The Roku is always adding new features recently was added to allow owners of Roku boxes to search for TV and movies available on Netflix, Amazon Instant, Vudu, Hulu Plus, Crackle, and HBO Go via one simple interface. The Roku Search channel will be rolling out to supported players (Roku LT, Roku HD and Roku 2 boxes) over the week and sits right next to the settings menu on Roku’s home screen. Roku has recently released the Streaming Stick. One of the most interesting home theater products at CES 2012, packing an entire streaming-video box into what looks like an oversized USB dongle. Roku Streaming Stick sells for $99. That’s...