Well, that was fast: A day after Sprint stirred up the ire of customers with its new “All-In” unlimited plan that stuck users with 3G speeds for streaming video, the company has now reversed course. [More]
streaming video
Hulu Will Sell Showtime’s Standalone Streaming Service For $9
By 6.23.15
The folks at CBS have already shown they are willing to try something new with the upcoming launch of the standalone Showtime streaming service, making it available through Sony’s PlayStation Vue live-TV platform in addition to being sold through iTunes and Roku. Today, the company announced another partnership that will sell Showtime through Hulu at a discounted rate. [More]
Hulu Playing Nice With Broadcasters In Battle To Beat Netflix
By 6.17.15
For years, Hulu has lingered in the shadow of Netflix, and has had some trouble convincing consumers to pay $8/month for access to shows that still have commercials in them, when neither Netflix nor Amazon Prime insert ad breaks into their videos. But the service has recently begun playing nice with the very networks that have an ownership stake in the company in order to win access to better content. [More]
PlayStation Vue Will Sell (Sort Of) A La Carte Pay-TV Channels; Launches In L.A., San Francisco
By 6.15.15
Sony’s PlayStation Vue streaming pay-TV service launched earlier this year in three markets and while it offers up competition for traditional cable and satellite providers, the bundles weren’t that different from what we’ve been getting for decades. Tonight, the company announced vague plans to offer more customizable pay-TV options through Vue starting later this year. [More]
Cord-Cutters Rejoice: Standalone Showtime To Launch In July For $11/Month
By 6.3.15
CBS is finally making good on its promise to launch a standalone, Internet-only version of Showtime so that fans of shows like Homeland and Penny Dreadful (and people who want to re-experience the hilarious death spiral of Dexter’s final season) won’t need a basic cable subscription. [More]
Hulu Scores Deal For Streaming Rights To Every Single Episode Of ‘Seinfeld’
By 4.29.15
One of the best things about hanging on to that TV cord? Flipping through the channels with the knowledge that at some point, likely very soon, you’ll land on an episode of Seinfeld. Cord-cutters can get in on that feeling now as well, as a report says Hulu has signed a deal to snag reruns of Seinfeld. [More]
HBO Now Accounted For Almost 1% Of Internet Video Traffic On Sunday Night
By 4.15.15
HBO’s standalone streaming service HBO Now is only a week old but a look at traffic numbers for its first big-event night give hope that it might be finding traction with consumers. [More]
HBO Now, Sling Endure Game Of Thrones Premiere; HBO Go Has Problems
By 4.13.15
Only days after HBO launched its standalone HBO Now streaming service — and Sling TV began making HBO available as a live stream for its users — both new offerings were put to the test with Sunday night season premiere of Silicon Valley (and a few people who watched Game of Thrones). In the end, HBO Now came through without a crash, while Sling’s live stream showed improvement. But HBO Go, the streaming service that’s been around for five years, seemed to have the most problems. [More]
HBO Now: Our Initial Hands-On Thoughts
By 4.7.15
Earlier today, HBO finally released its HBO Now standalone streaming service, and because we’d be remiss in not trying the service out for you, we gave it a shot. [More]
Netflix Announces First Slate Of “Recommended” TVs
By 4.7.15
At International CES in January, Netflix revealed that it was going to begin evaluating web-connected TV sets to determine which ones were the best for accessing Netflix’s videos. Today, the company unveiled its first slate TVs that will carry its “Recommended” badge of distinction. [More]
Roku Boxes Will Let You Know When It’s Cheaper To Stream New Movies
By 4.6.15
If you’re willing to wait out the initial on-demand release of a new movie, you’ll likely be rewarded with a price drop. But it can be annoying to remember to check to see whether it still costs $6.99 to rent that video. The folks at Roku are hoping that a new price-tracking feature will ease that particular pain. [More]
Sling TV’s Final Four Faltering Raises Concerns About Launch Of HBO Now
By 4.6.15
Even though Dish’s Sling TV streaming service had two full months of active, national usage under its belt — and even though the company says it expected high demand during the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament — some Sling users were left staring at error messages instead of watching the end of Kentucky’s almost-perfect season. And with HBO expected to launch both its standalone streaming HBO Now service and live access via Sling this week, there’s cause for concern. [More]
Court Rules That Hulu Didn’t Know It Was Sharing Personal User Info With Facebook
By 4.2.15
Earlier this week, a federal court in California dismissed a nearly 4-year-old class-action lawsuit against Hulu that alleged the streaming video service illegally shared personal user information with Facebook. [More]
New MLB Commissioner Hopes For In-Market Streaming Of Games This Season
By 4.2.15
As demonstrated by the ongoing SportsNet L.A. debacle in Los Angeles, the shift of most in-market Major League Baseball games from broadcast TV to basic cable has resulted in lots of local fans being unable to watch their favorite teams. And this divide is likely going to expand as younger consumers cut the cable cord or choose to never get cable TV to begin with. New MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says that reaching these fans is a high priority of his. [More]
Sling TV Users Getting HBO Access For $15/Month In Time For Game Of Thrones
By 4.1.15
UPDATE: Sling has confirmed that it will offer HBO (both live and on-demand) to users for an additional $15/month. [More]
6 Things To Think About Before Paying $50-$70/Month For PlayStation Vue
By 3.18.15
After months of limited testing without a price tag, Sony’s PlayStation Vue live TV streaming service launched today in only a few markets with packages ranging from $50/month to $70/month. Since I live in Philadelphia, one of the launch cities, I was able to get my hands on Vue to determine how it stacks up against basic cable and Dish’s recently debuted Sling TV service. [More]
Cablevision Will Also Offer HBO Now Streaming Service
By 3.16.15
A week after HBO announced that its long-awaited HBO Now standalone streaming service would launch in April as an Apple exclusive, the folks at Cablevision say they will also be offering HBO Now for its Optimum Online broadband customers who want HBO but don’t want basic cable. [More]
TiVo Gets Approval From Bankruptcy Court Judge To Buy Some Aereo Assets
By 3.13.15
If Aereo wasn’t dead already, the announcement from TiVo that it’s successfully snagged the former streaming service’s trademarks and customer lists will certainly send any hopes that the company could resurrect itself six feet into the ground. After an assets auction last month where companies picked over Aereo’s bones, TiVo says a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has approved its purchase of those assets. [More]
