Times used to be, the only kids on the block offering online video services were Netflix and Hulu. But slowly, ever so slowly, the smell of money to be made has been luring competitors like Amazon and Youtube and now, AT&T. The telecommunications company announced a new $500 million deal to start its own online video venture. [More]
online video
DOJ Reportedly Investigating Cable Companies For Squashing Online Competition
By 6.13.12
The Justice Department is reportedly engaged in an anti-trust investigation into many areas where the cable TV industry might be acting inappropriately to try and quell competition from online video. Many consumers want to pick and choose what they watch, using services like Hulu and Netflix, whereas cable companies would like them to continue to pay for bundles of TV channels, even some they might not watch. [More]
Netflix: Restricting Streams To One Per Account Was A Glitch
By 9.6.11
Netflix continued its recent tightening and price-raising by making it so there can only be one streaming video feed per account. UPDATE: Netflix has clarified and said that all accounts can support at least two concurrent streams. The users who saw/heard that they could only have one stream were experiencing a glitch which Netflix is fixing. [More]
Would You Pay $3 To Watch Rebecca Black's 'Friday' On YouTube?
By 6.17.11
Well, it’s Friday, so it’s time for my usual ritual: rocking out to Rebecca Black’s “Friday” video and hoping that no one catches me in the act. Except….wait a minute! Where did the video go? YouTube copyright claim?! It turns out that the video has been pulled from YouTube by Miss Black and her family since the vanity record label that produced the song and video has been trying to cash in on the inexplicable song’s inexplicable success. The last straw came when the label tried to charge users a $2.99 YouTube rental fee to view the clip. Which leads to the important consumer question: is there any music video that you would pay three bucks to watch? [More]
Hulu Will Start Charging For Content Soon
By 10.23.09
As board member Jon Miller forecasted a few months ago, streaming video powerhouse Hulu plans to start charging for content soon. Subscription-based? Pay per use? Nobody knows. What we do know is that the Consumerist community wasn’t fond of the idea back in June. [Entertainment Weekly]
Cable Providers Stream Shows Online, Require Subscriber Authentication
By 6.26.09
How are cable providers reacting to the threat posed by online streaming of shows? Forget bandwidth caps for now—how about online access to cable programs, limited to cable subscribers?
