If you’re an Optimum TV customer, you may have noticed a new warning crawling across the bottom of your screen in the last few days: They may lose access to several big-name channels, including ESPN and ABC, because of an ongoing contract dispute between Optimum parent company and Disney. [More]
abc
ABC Relaunches Online Streaming Service With Mobile-Friendly Short-Format Shows
By 7.13.16
For years now, TV networks have used their online presence to promote their series with extra digital content, like deleted clips, and behind-the-scenes glimpses. ABC is now expanding on that tactic by creating seven original shows that will only be available on its website or one of its mobile or connected TV apps. [More]
Patients At NYC Hospitals Will No Longer Become Accidental Reality TV Stars
By 8.13.15
We don’t know about you, but the last thing we want when we go to the hospital is for anyone — not even our loved ones — to shoot video of us. We certainly wouldn’t want to find out that we’re being filmed without our permission by a crew for some cruddy reality TV show. And after one such show actually broadcast the secretly recorded death of a patient in a New York City hospital, it looks like patients in NYC may not have to worry about being caught on camera at your worst. [More]
Aereo Settles $99 Million Copyright Claims With CBS, FOX, ABC For $950K
By 4.21.15
Even though poor little Aereo — the once-promising live TV streaming service — was gutted by a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling has already been picked apart in bankruptcy auctions, it still had to face the copyright infringement claims from the broadcasters who alleged Aereo was stealing their signals. What remains of Aereo has now agreed to pay about a penny on the dollar to resolve the nearly $100 million in claims. [More]
Broadcasters Get Court To Stop Consumers From Seeing How Much Cable Companies Pay For Content
By 11.14.14
The FCC is currently mulling over whether to give its stamp of approval to two huge mergers — Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV — and is intending to make information available to third parties about the deals that that these pay-TV giants make with broadcasters. But even though you and every other cable subscriber wants to know exactly how much Comcast pays for access to channels like ESPN, MTV, and the major networks, the broadcasters want that info kept under lock and key — and they’ve asked the court to stop it from possibly going public. [More]
You Could Buy 5 Tricked-Out Teslas For the Price Of One Sunday Night Football Ad
By 9.25.14
Are you thinking about advertising your business on prime-time network TV? It might be a good investment, but for the price of just a single ad on one show, you could treat yourself to a very expensive, maxed-out electric vehicle. [More]
Broadcasters Using Aereo Ruling To Try To Shut Down Dish’s Streaming Service
By 6.30.14
The fallout from last week’s Supreme Court ruling against streaming video startup Aereo continues, with broadcasters arguing that the SCOTUS decision bolsters their legal efforts to shut down Dish Network’s Dish Anywhere service. [More]
Dish Network’s Internet TV Service Could Be Available This Summer
By 4.23.14
While a number of companies have been contemplating the launch of an Internet-only pay-TV service, it looks like Dish may be the first U.S. provider to do so, as reports say the satellite company is looking to start offering this stand-alone service as soon as this coming summer. [More]
Dish & Disney Jump Into Bed Together With Deal That Limits DVR Ad Skipping On ABC Shows
By 3.4.14
While broadcasters have been grumbling over and fighting against Dish Network’s ad-skipping DVR in court, at least one company is getting awfully cozy with Dish. Walt Disney Co. signed a long-term deal with Dish to curtail the use of Hopper for ABC shows, the two companies confirmed last night. [More]
Utah Court Issues Injunction To Stop Aereo Service
By 2.19.14
After a string of minor victories, Streaming video service Aereo, which is being sued by network broadcasters in numerous courts around the country, was dealt its first legal loss today with a federal court in Utah siding with broadcasters and issuing an injunction against Aereo from operating in the region. [More]
Cablevision: Broadcasters’ Attack On Aereo Doing More Damage Than Good
By 12.12.13
As you probably know, the broadcast networks have all been filing lawsuits against streaming video startup Aereo, which takes freely available over-the-air feeds and makes them available online to paying customers. While you’d expect a large cable operator like Cablevision to stand behind the networks in this fight, a new paper from the company expresses concern that the broadcasters are going too far and, if successful, may call into question the legality of all cloud-based technology. [More]
Hulu Looking To Partner Up With Cable, Wireless Providers
By 11.13.13
In a move that could stem the tide of cord-cutting while also broadening Hulu’s subscriber base, the streaming video service is reportedly in talks with Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and others to bring Hulu to cable customers through their set-top boxes. [More]
DirecTV, TWC, Charter Mulling Over Aereo-Like Services
By 10.28.13
While Aereo — the online service that transmits over-the-air network feeds to subscribers’ computers and mobile devices — is slugging it out with broadcasters in court, the operators of several cable and satellite services are reportedly looking to launch similar products of their own, setting the stage for an all-new TV war. [More]
Dish Customers, Prepare For Potential ESPN (And ABC, Disney) Blackout
By 9.30.13 — Updated: 10.1.13
UPDATE: As expected, the two parties reached an 11th hour agreement to extend the talks past the Monday deadline. No details were provided about when an actual deal would need to be reached in order to avoid the blackout. [More]
No Sale For Hulu… For Now
By 7.12.13
In recent months, there have been numerous rumors that companies like Yahoo, DirecTV, and AT&T were interested in buying video-streaming service Hulu, which is currently owned by the unholy trinity of FOX, NBC, and Disney. But today, the trio of owners confirmed they are staying put and will actually pump some more of their own money into the business. [More]
Networks To FCC: No One’s Watching Our Shows, So Stop Being So Uptight About Decency Standards
By 6.21.13
Remember the days when basic cable was considered a joke and all the real shows were on the broadcast networks? Back in those days, it sort of made sense that the FCC might care about things like bad language, nudity (and supposedly violence, though that never really seemed to be an issue) on network TV. But now, with the majority of viewers spending their TV-watching time glued to basic cable shows featuring loudmouthed, obnoxious, hateful, “real” people shouting at each other in between commercials, the networks are asking the FCC to lighten the heck up. [More]
ABC To Begin Streaming Its Entire Broadcast Schedule Online (But You’ll Still Need To Have Cable)
By 5.13.13
Starting tomorrow, people in New York City and Philadelphia with iOS devices will be able to access ABC’s entire network schedule live online, as the broadcaster tests out a new cloud-based service intended to compete with Aereo and others. [More]
Dish Tweaks Ad-Skipping DVR Service To Be More Broadcaster-Friendly
By 7.27.12
Back when Dish Network first released its AutoHop ad-skipping DVR feature, the service automatically recorded prime-time network broadcasts so that viewers could watch all their favorite NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox shows at a later date without having to fast-forward through commercial breaks. But now that Dish has been sued by those same broadcasters, AutoHop is slightly less “auto.” [More]
