Amazon Prime members could soon be getting more bang for their buck when it comes to entertainment, as the e-commerce giant is rumored to be in talks with major sports leagues and television networks to offer live-streaming of sporting events. [More]
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People Waste A Lot Of Time Picking What Videos To Stream; Still Prefer It To Live TV
By 11.3.16
Once upon a time, we wandered the aisles of the local video, unable to make up our mind about which movie to rent. It was a waste of time, but it was usually better than whatever was airing on TV that night. Now the technology has changed, but we still spend an awful lot of time trying to find something that isn’t live TV.
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Netflix May Let Users Download Videos For Offline Viewing, But Probably Not You
By 11.2.16
While competitors like Amazon Prime, Google Play, and iTunes allow users to download videos for offline viewing, Netflix has yet to offer this option. Netflix is now considering the idea, but probably not for its millions of customers in the U.S. [More]
Walmart Launches Free Streaming Movie Platform — But Don’t Expect New Releases
By 10.19.16
Users of Walmart’s streaming video service, Vudu, have been able to pay for TV shows and movies for years. Now, the retailer has launched a companion service that will provide customers with free streaming videos — if you don’t mind commercial interruptions and movies that are a few years old. [More]
Amazon’s Discount Music Streaming Service For Echo Reportedly Coming Soon
By 10.7.16
Your Amazon Echo speaker could be singing a new tune by the end of the month, as reports suggest Amazon’s long-rumored discounted streaming music service is set to launch in the next few weeks. [More]
People Aren’t Watching Live TV As Much, But They’re Still Watching A Lot Of TV
By 9.27.16
In case you hadn’t noticed, Americans watch TV a bit differently today than they did 50 years ago. But just even though many people aren’t sitting down to view programs live as they air — or even soon after on a DVR — they’re still getting their fill of TV content. [More]
AT&T CEO Says DirecTV Standalone Streaming Service Will Launch By End Of 2016
By 9.21.16
Six months ago, AT&T announced it would launch DirecTV Now, a standalone streaming service to compete with PlayStation Vue and Dish’s Sling TV. Aside from a handful of content partnership announcements, details about DirecTV Now continue to be scarce, but at least we have a timeframe for its launch. [More]
Netflix Launches Its Own Speed Test Website
By 5.19.16
There are dozens of websites that can determine the download speeds of your current Internet connection. Starting this week, there’s another, this time from Netflix. [More]
Netflix Introduces Data Usage Controls For Mobile Users
By 5.5.16
A month after admitting that it was deliberately broadcasting lower-resolution video to AT&T and Verizon wireless users, Netflix has introduced a new tool that will let users around the world choose how much of their data plan they want to blow through binge-watching House of Cards.
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RIAA Head: We’ll Never Have A Fair Deal With YouTube Under Current Copyright Law
By 4.11.16
Streaming video is the best medium for the delivery of music videos, but it’s also a great medium for posting pirated music videos and entire albums. That’s why the Recording Industry Association of America, record labels’ trade group, wants more money from YouTube for music videos that users watch. The problem, the group’s head explains, is that rampant piracy makes it impossible to negotiate with YouTube’s owner, Google. [More]
Yahoo To Stream One MLB Game Each Day For The Season
By 4.5.16
At this point, there’s no shortage of options for baseball fans to stream at least some MLB games for a fee, from MLB.tv subscriptions to the league’s agreement with Fox Sports to allow regional networks to live-stream games in-market. Now there’s another (free) player in the game as Yahoo announced it will stream 180 games this year. [More]
Verizon Ends FiOS Streaming Apps For Xbox And Smart TVs March 31
By 3.21.16
While the Federal Communications Commission has okayed maybe going ahead with creating a market for non-proprietary cable boxes, Verizon FiOS customers who have been using their Xbox consoles or smart TVs to access a subset of channels instead of renting extra cable boxes for each television set in their home are about to be disappointed, as Verizon is ending these apps. [More]
Amazon Prime Bringing Back ‘Doctor Who’ With Exclusive U.S. Streaming Deal
By 3.21.16
Doctor Who fans who have been grieving since the show disappeared from the streaming arena, rejoice: Amazon says it’s bringing the popular BBC time-traveling series back to Prime as the show’s exclusive U.S. streaming partner. [More]
NFL In Talks With Facebook, Other Tech Giants For Thursday Night Football Streaming Rights
By 3.9.16
Instead of having to divide your attention between side-eyeing your third cousin’s 30,000th essential oils post and watching the big game, you could pay attention to both simultaneously. [More]
Spotify Introducing Streaming Videos On Its Mobile Apps
By 1.25.16
You may be familiar with Spotify, a streaming music service that offers commercial-free listening for a monthly subscription price, as well as a free version that comes with ads. The streaming platform is now branching out with the debut of music content on its mobile apps this week. [More]
A Whole Bunch Of Christmas Movies You Can Stream Instead Of Talking To Your Family
By 12.23.15
The presents have all been unwrapped, the egg nog has done its job and you’re ready to stop talking to everyone who’s been getting on your nerves all day. Here’s to hoping you’ve got access to a streaming subscription service, and your father-in-law finally figured out where he put the piece of paper with the WiFi password on it. [More]
Netflix Dropping Its “One-Size-Fits-All” Streaming Algorithm
By 12.14.15
The shows you watch and the shows your five-year-old niece watch probably differ: she might prefer short 30-minute animated cartoons about an exploring adolescent, and you might go for something with more action or political backstabbing. While you both deserve to have a high quality product streaming on your screen, Netflix announced today that it might have found a better way to make sure that still happens, while using less data. [More]
Apple Music Managed To Keep 6.5 Million Paying Customers So Far
By 10.20.15
It probably won’t surprise you to learn that millions of trial Apple Music users decided to cancel their service instead of keeping their accounts and paying 10 bucks a month. However, Apple reports that six and a half million users decided to keep the service. Or forgot to cancel their accounts before billing started, but from Apple’s point of view, those customers’ money is just as good. [More]
