Hulu Redesigns Apple TV App ‘From The Ground Up’.

Disney already distributes similar live streaming and on-demand apps, known as “Watch” apps, for ESPN and the Disney Channel. Special hurdles exist, however, for the ABC app, in part because of contracts between the network and the companies that produce some of its shows that were written before mobile phone video streaming was even possible. Other complexities involve ABC’s local stations, which might — if not courted properly — feel threatened by an app.

But ABC, seeing shifts in consumer behavior, is pressing forward. It has started to talk with stations about how to include them in the live streaming app. Illustrating the difficult contractual issues, ABC offhandedly first mentioned a forthcoming Watch ABC app in a news release nine months ago, when it signed a deal with Comcast to make several Watch Disney apps available to Comcast subscribers.

via ABC Works on an App for Live Streaming Shows to Mobile Devices – NYTimes.com.

Samsung is indeed working on a smart watch, the company’s Executive Vice President of Mobile told Bloomberg in an interview today. “We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them,,” Hee told the publication in no uncertain terms, adding that between itself and Apple, the “issue here is who will first commercialize it so consumers can use it meaningfully.”

via Samsung Confirms It Will Build A Smart Watch As Speculation About Apple’s iWatch Continues | TechCrunch.

Every time we connect another one of our household appliances to the Internet, we’re going to be generating another set of data about our lives and storing it some company’s servers. That data can be incredibly useful to us, but it creates yet another digital trail of personal details that could become vulnerable to court subpoenas, law enforcement requests (with or without a warrant) or hackers.

Okay, so maybe you don’t care if somebody else knows what’s in your WiFi-connected refrigerator. But what about your bedroom?

via Smart Homes: Our Next Digital Privacy Nightmare – ReadWrite.

Verizon only wants to pay for the TV channels its viewers are watching.

YouTube Steams Ahead with New Series from Simon Cowell and Reddit.

NBC claimed that their live streaming of the summer games actually helped prime time viewership, which leads me to believe that they considered (are considering?) the stream to be complement to the over-produced TV broadcasts, rather than an alternative.

2014 should be the year NBC treats its online stream as an equal. In August, Michael Humphrey, writing for Forbes, made that case:

But NBC should change, faster. Because maybe in two years, maybe in four, but definitely sometime, there is going to be an American TV Spring — when a great majority of viewers realize they could have more — that will make #NBCfail look like a cocktail party. It’s not just about perception and reputation. It’s about building experiences that get around NBC’s coverage or just simply giving up on the concept. Because, yes, the Olympics are very compelling. But not if we have to watch them through a keyhole. Some will try to blast the door open (Twitter protests), some will break in through a window (pirate streams) but some will just walk away from most of it.

Some other notes, via Eric Fisher: NBC’s broadcast will begin on Thursday, February 6, 2014, a night before the opening ceremonies. All US hockey games – men’s and women’s – will air on TV live.

Amazon locks down ‘Downton Abbey’ exclusively for Prime Instant Video | The Verge.

A little feather in Amazon’s cap:

Amazon and Netflix continue to elevate their battle for subscription streaming video supremacy. Just a day after Netflix premiered its original show House of Cards, Amazon has announced that it has struck a deal with PBS to exclusively carry the US subscription streaming rights to the incredibly popular show Downton Abbey. Season three will be released exclusively on Prime Instant Video on June 18th, and while seasons one and two are currently available on other services, later this year they’ll only be found on Prime Instant Video. Season four — and season five, if produced — will also be exclusive as part of the agreement. The show will still be available on DVD and from non-subscription services like iTunes.

Not sure Downton Abbey is the show to target for exclusive rights, since we can safely assume that its viewing audience skews a bit older and probably won’t be cutting cords anytime soon… but, it’s a nice win for Amazon. They recently lost their exclusive rights to the West Wing (just days after I dropped $80 on a Prime membership so I could watch Aaron Sorkin’s zaniness at work… ). Replacing it with another smart, critically acclaimed show won’t hurt.

So, Netflix’s decision to ask investors to pony up more money for (among other things) new original content –  days before the release of its first big series premiere, House of Cards — definitely qualifies as one of those decisions. (I say this because there’s a possibility that people won’t like the show. Sure, early reviewers had glowing things to say about it, but they don’t always speak for the general viewing audience.)

In a letter to investors today, Hastings asked investors to finance $400 million (PDF), which the company intends to use for refinance existing notes ($225 million) and other “general corporate purposes.” But, AllThingsD‘s Peter Kafka points out that the vague-ish “purposes” for the remaining amount will go toward producing new original content, according to statements Hastings made in the Q4 2012 letter to shareholders last week.

Hastings has made it clear that this is Netflix’s future, for better or worse. House of Cards, debuting today, will give us a good indication if the world is ready for it.

via Danny Sullivan

Fragmented to… very fragmented?

Danny Sullivan, writing for CNET, about how difficult – confusing – your digital content library is.

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