Online Video Stats

Nielsen, as well as a number of other companies, measure the number of streams viewed on online video destinations every month.

October was no exception, although the figures were more interesting than usual. mainly because while the top two of YouTube and Hulu remained the same, there were some big changes after that. And it could be the start of a trend set to get stronger over the next few months/years.

YouTube Beats All-Comers

First, the non-surprise. YouTube topped the Nielsen chart for streams in the United States by a huge margin. The Google-owned site racked up 6,632,964,000 streams and 105,923,000 viewers.

Hulu ranked second as it has for a goods few months now. The site managed 632,662,000 streams and 13,472,000 viewers, which though impressive enough isn’t even a tenth of the numbers YouTube can boast.

Facebook Jumps To Third

Then the surprise hits. Facebook has jumped from number 10 to number three in the space of a single month. The social networking site racked up 217,765,000 streams and 31,594,000 viewers – the latter being more than double the number enjoyed by Hulu.

According to CNET, Nielsen Vice President of Media Analytics Jon Gibs, said in a statement:

“Facebook’s rapid growth in online video during the last year illustrates the site’s evolution from simply a communications focused tool to a media portal.”

“Social networking sites are evolving from a venue for catching up with friends to a platform for personal expression, allowing consumers to share their experiences in the full variety of content formats available online.”

Conclusions

This is a potentially pivotal moment for Facebook as it could (and only could) signal a new trend where YouTube is being abandoned in favor for the social networking site.

Facebook has millions of users worldwide who want to share videos with their friends and family and the system Facebook has built-in provides everything they need to do so.

While I can’t see Facebook ever catching YouTube for sheer number of streams every month, Hulu is certainly catchable.

Citizen Journalists

There was a time when news coverage was strictly professional, delivered by paid reporters, photographers, and cameramen. And then everything changed with digital cameras and video cameras standard on cellphones.

Now, any Tom, Dick, or Harry can be a citizen journalist, reporting the news as it happens in front of them. Twitter and social networks are an important facet of this trend, as is online video and in particular YouTube.

YouTube Direct

Google has this week unveiled YouTube Direct, which is designed to be a meeting place for citizen journalists and the news media organizations increasingly using this amateur footage as the basis, or to embellish, news stories.

YouTube Direct is an API tweak that allows news organizations to set up a virtual assignment desk. Requests for video can be placed on the site, and citizen journalists who want to see their footage reach a bigger audience can respond.

At that point, editors from the news organization can vet the videos sent in and pick the ones most suitable. The Washington Post, ABC News, Huffington Post, Politico, the San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR are already testing out the product.

Conclusions

This is good news for Google as it helps smooth over the search giant’s relationship with the news media. It’s also good news for the news media organizations as they get access to up-to-date amateur footage which won’t cost them a penny.

However, I can’t quite see what’s in it for the citizen journalists themselves. Apart from the five minutes of fame achieved by their video footage being picked up by major news channel or Web site, there’s little reason to participate in this.

[Via TechNewsWorld]

Live Streaming Video

Live streaming video services allow anyone to stream what they want over the Internet to anyone who is interested in watching. The only real rules are regarding the content, with no copyright-infringements or criminal offenses allowed.

There are already a number of well-established companies offering ordinary people the chance to host their own online television show, with Stickam, Ustream, Livestream, and Justin.tv all popular and all user-friendly to varying degrees.

TinyChat

However, TinyChat hopes to compete alongside these established companies with its new TinyChat.tv service.

TinyChat is a startup which has managed to gain a foothold in the live video chat sector over recent months. It’s popular even at this early stage of its life, mainly because it’s ultra-simple to use, with no sign in or technical knowhow required.

TinyChat.tv is, however, a different proposition.

TinyChat.tv

The basic interface of TinyChat.tv is very similar to that of the regular TinyChat. But room owners can customize their rooms and decide whether to force users to sign in using a Twitter or Facebook login.

The main advantage TinyChat.tv has over its competitors is the multi-participant shows. The main disadvantage is how long (relatively speaking) it takes to set up a room and start broadcasting.

Pro members paying the $9.95 asking price can set passwords for private rooms and stream in higher quality video. The service could and should be improved immensely by developers using the free API (Application Programming Interface).

Conclusions

I’m not sure we actually need another live steaming service but then TinyChat.tv is offering something slightly different than the rest. At this moment in time it cannot hope to compete with its long-established competitors but I wouldn’t bet against it managing to do so in a short space of time.

[Via ReadWriteWeb]

BBC iPlayer

The BBC iPlayer has shone like a beacon since its full launch almost two years ago in December 2007. The catch-up TV service lead the way not only in the U.K. but around the world, with Hulu being its big-name opposite in the U.S.

Rather than rest on its laurels, the BBC carried on improving the service despite already providing millions of streams to viewers. The current iteration of the iPlayer service is more user-friendly and easy-to-use than any Web application or online video site.

RTS Judges’ Award

Last week saw the iPlayer praised to the highest degree when the BBC won the Judges’ Award at the 2009 Royal Television Society Innovation Awards. Jeff Henry, chair of the awards, said:

“There have been great British innovations – the steam engine, the gas turbine, radio waves, jet engines and arguably video games. Even the inventors of Viagra. But seriously, the role of honour of great British innovation now has a proud new addition,”

“For all the hard work, commitment and belief shown by the BBC and its staff, with particular recognition of Anthony Rose’s contribution, the RTS Innovation Awards proudly presents the Judges Award to the BBC iPlayer, proving that it is not just a gift for Christmas, but for life.”

Being placed alongside such great inventions as the steam engine and radio waves is pretty unbelievable. But the iPlayer may well prove to be as innovative and important as those inventions in years to come for what it represents – a world where online television is the norm rather than niche.

IPlayer Wii Channel

The BBC topped off an already great week by unveiling its plans to launch a dedicated channel on the Nintendo Wii games console. The service has been available on the console for a while through the Web browser, but a dedicated channel should be much more accessible and user-friendly.

All Wii owners in the U.K. with a Broadband connection will be able to use the Wii iPlayer. From Nov. 18, the BBC iPlayer can be downloaded for free from the console’s online shop.

Conclusions

The iPlayer is a fantastic service that continues to improve and be added to more devices in order to gain viewers. And the RTS award for innovation is wholly deserved.

The only thing that the BBC now needs to do is launch the iPlayer internationally. Whether that’ll ever happen, and whether if it did it would be free, are questions that I personally cannot answer. But I can hope.

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Torrent Sites

What are torrent sites used for? Many of you would have answered that it’s pretty much all pirated content being shared via torrents. And while there is a lot of copyrighted material being shared illegally on them, there is also much that is legal and copyright-free.

There are very few companies and organizations who have taken advantage of the technology as a way to distribute content thus far. But VODO is one of these, allowing and encouraging filmmakers to use torrent sites to seed their features and get them out there being watched.

NRK and Blank

In January 2008 we looked at how the Norwegian broadcaster NRK was utilizing torrent sites to distribute a show called Nordkalotten 365. The experiment worked, with multi-platform distribution making the show a success outside of its native Norway.

Earlier this year we saw filmmaker Rick L. Winters and his company Annodam Productions choose to distribute Blank via torrent sites at the same time as releasing it on DVD. Donations were asked for but not mandatory.

VODO

VODO, a British organization which endeavors to help budding content creators find an audience, is taking a similar approach. It releases features on torrent sites such as Mininova, The Pirate Bay, isoHunt, Miro, and Vuze and lets the rest fall into place.

VODO requests a donation (VODO stands or VOluntary DOnations) if you download a feature from a torrent site. There’s also the option to subscribe to the site itself in order to gain access to more films and fund new projects which will end up being made available for free on torrent sites.

VODO’s founder is Jamie King, who enjoys a certain amount of notoriety for his pro-piracy Steal This Film documentaries. Us Now and In Guantanamo are the two features currently being promoted via torrent sites.

Conclusions

This kind of effort isn’t going to either interest or affect Hollywood but independent filmmakers are a whole other kettle of fish. And VODO, along with NRK, Annodam, and the like are proving that torrent sites aren’t the bid, bad wolves they’ve been painted as.

Tech Dirt said it best with its reason for why VODO is such a good idea, suggesting it’s because it helps “filmmakers who recognize that obscurity is a much bigger threat to their efforts than piracy.”

[Via NewTeeVee]

From Free To Paid

There is more television and movie content to watch for free on the Web now than ever before. Hulu in the States, BBC iPlayer in the U.K., and YouTube and all the rest worldwide, the Internet is now awash with programming.

Interestingly enough, both Hulu and the iPlayer are thought to be looking at paid options in the future. But this is, if anything, a sign that the business is getting serious and offering an alternative to the traditional cable and television networks.

Monthly iTunes Subscription

According to Media Memo, Apple is now eyeing a monthly subscription plan which would see a variety of television programming available for people willing to pay $30 per month for the privilege.

$30 a month is not a cheap option but compared to the cable subscriptions in the States of almost $100 per month it can be considered an absolute bargain.

iTunes Buffet

Apple currently offers individual downloads of television episodes. Pilots and premieres are often free but new seasons of successful shows can cost upwards of $35, with episodes delivered as they air on television.

This new plan, if it actually happens, would offer a kind of buffet of iTunes offerings for a set price. Rather than downloading and owning digital copies of the shows, users would be streaming them to watch on demand when they want to.

Cable Catastrophe?

The key for Apple is getting content providers on board. Disney is being mentioned as the first network likely to sign up but one network isn’t going to be enough to tempt people to pay the asking price.

Also, any venture such as this would be sure to harm cable providers and they are unlikely to take kindly to the networks giving up their content in this way.

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Epix Coming Soon

June saw a new venture announced by the name of Epix. It’s a premium movie channel from Lionsgate, MGM, and Paramount which will be available to watch on cable and, if you are a Verizon FiOS subscriber, on the Web as well.

At the time I described it as a Hulu for movies but that was slightly over the top. It is only available to U.S. residents, the same as Hulu, but it’s a different animal altogether by virtue of being inextricably linked in with a cable subscription. Something which Hulu is not, although even Hulu could soon start charging for selected content.

What Epix Isn’t

Epix is the TV and movies industries trying to move with the times a little. Just a few years ago, the idea of offering streaming movies over the Web would have been anathema to the studios, but they are at least now experimenting with the format.

However, as previously reported, Epix is just one small cog in a very large wheel, and on it’s own won’t achieve anything. What’s really needed is an integrated online movie store with content from all available sources, and that’s the only way the movie industry will avoid going the way of the music industry.

What Epix Is

However, we are left with Epix in its current format, and it’s not a bad start to the move to offering Hollywood content over the Web. Epix has launched today, and a limited number of free three-day weekend passes are being handed out from now until Thanksgiving at EpixHD.com/invite.

While Epix on the Web is currently limited to FiOS subscribers, other Internet and cable providers are in talks.

According to ReadWriteWeb, EpixHD is totally Flash-based to avoid the need for any downloads or plug-ins being installed. Video quality is reported as exceptional, with fast connections receiving video at 720p HD.

There are currently 300 movies available on the site, including recent releases such as Iron Man, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Indiana Jones and The Temple of The Crystal Skull.

Conclusions

It’ll be interesting to see how many people take up the free weekend pass offer and then how many of those choose to use the service in the long term. To truly succeed, Pix needs to sign up more Internet and cable providers but for now I’m certainly jealous of FiOS subscribers.

Roku and Netflix

Roku started out relying on Netflix’ ‘Watch Instantly’ streaming service as the be all and end all of its content offering to buyers of the $99 box. But since launching in May 2008, other content channels have been added, including Amazon Video-on-Demand and MLB TV.

Netflix soon moved on to a host of other set-top boxes and devices, including the Xbox 360, Internet-enabled televisions, and hybrid Blu-ray players. And it’s now adding a new one to its line-up in the shape of the Playstation 3.

Netflix On PS3

Netflix announced it would soon be available on the PS3 console the day after I speculated as much. The news comes right on the back of the company’s latest earnings report where more platforms were promised and a move into international territories was also teased for the future.

Netflix has until now had an exclusive deal with Microsoft but the move to the PS3 brings that to an abrupt end. From November, PS3 owners with a Netflix subscription will be able to stream Netflix’ ‘Watch Instantly’ through their Sony console.

Roku Line-Up Increased

Roku, meanwhile, is busy trying to persuade more people to buy a Roku box.

It’s introducing two new boxes in an effort to increase its potential demographic. According to CNET, the current box will be renamed the Roku HD Player, with the Roku HD XR Player priced at $130 boasting a faster Wi-Fi connection and a USB port. For those on a budget, the Roku SD Player, with no HDMI option, will retail for just $80.

Roku is also launching the ‘Roku Channel Store’ next month which will see more of both free and paid-for options available. According to Ars Technica, these will include Revision3, TWiT TV, Mediafly, Motionbox, and blip.tv.

Conclusions

Netflix surely cannot fail with its roll-out to other devices, and the PS3 is a great one with its huge installed user-base. While Roku seems to finally be getting its act together after a slow start, with a wider range of boxes to suit all tastes and budgets, and a new channel line-up.

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Netflix Of The Past

When Netflix formed in 1997 as a DVD by mail company in the United States, the Internet wasn’t the behemoth it is now, and online video was a concept rather than an actual living, breathing part of the Web.

Streaming video therefore wasn’t part of the plan for the company at that point. However, it introduced ‘Watch Instantly’ as part of its subscription service a few years ago and hasn’t looked back since.

Streaming Over DVD

Although DVD by mail is still Netflix’s main business, the ‘Watch Instantly’ feature is an increasingly important and popular part of it.

In the Q3 earnings report, CEO Reed Hastings revealed that 42 of subscribers have streamed at least 15 minutes of content from Netflix in the last three months. Which is a phenomenal result.

This followed a pronouncement earlier this month that DVD will only be the “primary delivery format” at the company for the next two years. While it wasn’t stated whether the move would be to Blu-ray or streaming, these results would suggest the latter is more likely.

International Plans

Netflix is currently a U.S.-only operation, but that looks like it could be changing in the very near future. As part of the earnings call, Hastings said:

“We’re looking to the second half of 2010 to make our streaming offering international. The plan is to start small in one market, prove out our model, and expand into other countries.”

This would be a streaming-only option, with hastings suggesting that postal systems abroad make that part of its business impossible. No country was mentioned as being first on the list but one with a high broadband take-up would be the most logical.

Hastings implied that a streaming-only subscription option wouldn’t be coming to the States anytime soon, which somewhat goes against what he said in February of this year.

Netflix Of The Future

Netflix’s ‘Watch Instantly’ is already available on a number of devices, including hybrid Blu-ray players, the Roku box, and the Xbox 360. But more are likely to follow, with the PS3 and Wii surely top of the list.

So the Netflix of the future is likely to be as much about streaming content as it is about physical media, available in countries other than the States, and a well-known component on a range of Internet-enabled devices.

This is a company going places in more ways than one.

Free Hulu

Hulu is currently the free home of premium online video content in the United States. The fact it’s only available in the U.S. is annoying for those of us outside the country but there is at least hope of an international roll-out to come.

The problem is that it doesn’t look as though Hulu will be completely free for much longer. In fact, if the people in charge have their way, which they undoubtedly will seeing as they are indeed in charge, Hulu could be charging by 2010, which is just over two months away.

Hulu To Charge?

There has been speculation about this move occurring for several months but it all came to a head during September. First, News Corps. chairman Rupert Murdoch suggested a paid Hulu was being looked at. And NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker backed him up.

Then a few days later it was suggested that Hulu was already running an internal beta test of how the system could work. No details were forthcoming but the process seemed to already be in motion.

Chase Carey Speaks

And now comes word from News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey who, according to Broadcasting & Cable, opened the OnScreen Summit with his views on the matter.

He said:

“It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online. I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”

When questioned on a possible timeline Hulu to start charging, he stated that while one wasn’t yet in place, that he fully expected it to occur during 2010.

How Bad Will It Be?

What Carey isn’t saying is Hulu will disappear behind a paywall. In fact, he’s dead set against that idea. But it’s clear that everyone involved with Hulu is now looking at how to bring in more dollars than what they are already getting from advertising.

Whether Hulu users end up being asked to pay for specially-created content or whether certain sections of content will be hidden behind paywalls isn’t yet clear. But I’d suggest the fact that Hulu users will end up being asked to pay for content is now set in stone. Unfortunately.