TDG Opinions

Four Predictions for 2012 Colin Dixon, Senior Partner, Advisory (Adapted from OTT Monitor published 12/22/11) Prediction #1: Netflix will return to growth in Q1 2012. Reason: Consumers will be unwrapping a lot of connected devices with super screens this...

We have all had them, to one degree or another; those days when we ponder, seriously, whether the pendulum has swung for, or against us. For Andy Rendich, today was one of “those days”. According to Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, Andy, who has been working on the DVD by mail service for 12 years and leading it for the last 4 , was the soon-to-be CEO of Qwikster....

UltraViolet, http://tdg.bz/pyIQ4J the long-in-coming and much discussed video-centric "digital rights locker" cloud service, will see the first launch next week of a supported content title. Warner Brothers will release Green Lantern on UV-enabled Blu-ray October 14, with other major studio UV Blu-ray titles to follow. Ultraviolet, backed by DECE (a consortium of five of the Big Six film studios plus retailers, CE makers, cable operators, and tech companies), aspires to usher in an era of easy pay once/play anywhere for consumer purchases of video content via physical media, streaming, and download. The website notes "UltraViolet is the online digital library that frees you to choose how and where you want to enjoy your movies and TV shows." There is even a menu pick labeled "Total Freedom." Supported devices include the full range of consumer media platforms including PCs, set top boxes, game consoles, Blu-ray players, smart TVs, smart phones, and tablets. But the reality of UltraViolet seems somewhat removed from these promises. While it may be unfair to expect a new digital service to deliver on all of its promises from day one, there are enough devils in the details to make consumer acceptance of UltraViolet platform a challenging proposition. ...

It is our hope that, if only for a moment, Reed Hastings and the executive staff at Netflix pause for a moment. If honest, they will discover a large number of their dedicated fans unwilling to follow them into this new service scheme. ...

This week Nielsen released The Social Media Report Q3 2011 (interesting report on social and worth a look). The report says U.S. Internet users spent 53.5 billion minutes on Facebook in May 2011, making it the number one web site. This factoid got a great deal of press attention, as Facebook is a popular subject and 53.5 billion is a pretty big number. ...

Here's my new word of the day: tetrachromacy, which refers to the ability to see four color spectrums, including ultraviolet. It's a level of sight humans do not possess. Need proof? Just look at the floor of IBC. ...

In early August, Turner Networks quietly launched authenticated TV Everywhere-style video services on the website for Adult Swim (Cartoon Network's late night block of programming aimed at 18-34s). The service is called Adult Swim Gold. It was indeed a quiet launch, with no press releases and no trade press (at least that I can find). I'm pegging the launch date as August 2nd based on posts from a fan site and in the Adult Swim fan forums. This is I believe the first launch of authenticated on-demand programming by an advertising supported TV network where the playout occurs on the network's own website, as opposed to the site of a MVPD such as Comcast's Xfinity.com. (Fox Networks launch of a similar model occurred August 15.) Cartoon Network also has launched an authenticated full-episode viewer, but despite some serious Googling I can't establish when it launched. So what’s going on with all these announcements? ...