A mere two years ago, discussions around the concept of 4K and Ultra HD was couched as a futuristic possibility. Now at the world’s largest gathering of broadcasters and content producers, MipTV, 4K is treated as variously a threat, opportunity and evolution for the industry at large.
This year’s National Association of Broadcasters Show is underway in Las Vegas promising to deliver a week of intense discussions over disruptive formats such as Ultra High Definition and where investment should sit.
Netflix has gone to bat fighting for stronger net neutrality rules and in turn shedding light on the reasons behind the deal with Comcast.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings stated in a blog post, “ to ensure the Internet remains humanity's most important platform for progress, net neutrality must be defended and strengthened… (ISPs) must provide sufficient access to their network without charge."
The screen, music and technology cultural festival known as SxSW was heavy on the future of TV in all its emerging forms this year.
The concept of TV Everywhere was bemoaned as not living up to its name by John Skipper, president of ESPN, Inc. and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks.
The 2014 Oscars took a few steps into the digital age that were perhaps a little late to the podium and they produced mixed results. In an Academy Award first, the Oscar telecast was streamed live in real time, however the streaming from the key broadcaster ABC was plagued by technical glitches. For the Oscars, ABC partnered with eight cable operators, the largest being Comcast, in eight markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Fresno, Ca.
Generation Y’s appetite for streaming media is driving subscription content to new levels of consumption, according to fresh audience research from Mintel. According to the report, nearly half of all online adults (46%) in the US watched video content in the previous month using a subscription video account, while 71% of all 18-34s were viewing online in the same period. Mintel forecasts that total sales will reach over US$16.7 billion by 2018 as consumers shift away from physical discs and seek out more unique content.
