Read the original story on: The Verge
Marriott is reportedly testing a new TV service that finally brings hotel room TVs into the 2010s by adding support for popular OTT services. The national hotel chain will soon let guests log into their personal Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora accounts, as opposed to paying extra to view its on-demand movies.
Read original story on: The Verge
Today Twitch announced Twitch Music Library, a free-to-use soundtrack selection for its over 50 million monthly active users. The library currently consists of songs whose copyrights are cleared for use on live streams or in archived video, including some Twitch favorites from Skrillex and Steve Aoki’s record labels. As part of Twitch’s long-running expansion from video games to music, the new service also provides a direct solution to Twitch’s crackdown on unlicensed music streaming last year.
Read original story on: NPR
At last night’s 72nd Golden Globe Awards, Amazon Prime claimed their first-ever victories at any major award show, as their new original series Transparent collected awards for Best TV Comedy Series, as well as Best Actor in a Comedy for its lead Jeffery Tambor.
Such big wins for Amazon mark the first time a streaming service other than Netflix (which also scored a big win with Kevin Spacey winning Best Actor in a Drama for House of Cards) has beaten traditional TV players, signaling the continuing diversification of the OTT TV market. At the end of the day, consumer don’t really care which distribution channel they are using, as long as they are enjoying the quality content.
Learn more about the newly launched Sling TV from DISH and how it is advancing the OTT TV market.
Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter @ipglab for more CES coverage throughout the whole week.
Read original story on: TechCrunch
CBS CEO Leslie Moonves took the stage at MediaLink’s “Brand Matters” keynote at CES 2015 to discuss the company’s newfound fondness for streaming. “I don’t care where you watch our shows”, remarked the CBS executive, “we just want it to be counted and be paid appropriately”.
Moonves also addressed CBS All Access, the network’s new OTT service, noting that he was hesitant at first but eventually turned his mind around. He acknowledged that technology is changing the way businesses interact with audiences, but also stressed that content quality should always remain the first priority.
The past year saw monumental growth for the over-the-top (OTT) market, as more brands and content providers jumped in this flourishing market. You can read our extensively researched white paper to learn about the OTT revolution happening in our living room.
Meanwhile, everything you do online is duly noted as part of your personal big data. Check out our joint study with 140 Proof on how and why people manage social profiles across multiple platforms.
Read original story on: The Verge
Back in October, HBO announced plans to soon launch a “standalone, over-the-top” HBO Go subscription, and now some surprising new details are emerging. HBO is reportedly aiming for an April 2015 launch, just in time for the new season of Game of Thrones. This makes perfect sense, considering the HBO flagship series is the most pirated show in the world.
Moreover, HBO has opted not to build the standalone OTT service in-house, but instead will use external technology from MLB Advanced Media, which already provides white-label streaming technology for clients like WWE Network. As long as they can build a platform capable of handling the huge streaming volume brought in by the quality content, the audience couldn’t care less who is delivering the content.
Read original story on: VentureBeat
It’s only Tuesday, but Amazon has already unveiled a trifecta of new services with one-hour delivery in NYC, 4K Streaming for Amazon Instant, and a new price-negotiation feature.
Read original story on: LA Times
According to a new report from Nielsen, people aged 55+ are spending 55% more time watching video on computers and smartphones daily in the most recent quarter, compared with the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, traditional TV viewing among that demographic didn’t change, so don’t be surprised to see your grandma watching NCIS on her iPhone 5 when you visit her this holiday season.
