Live Sports Streaming - Insufficient evidence to entice the Streaming providers
By ockel
Over the weekend NFL, in association with Yahoo, provided free streaming of an NFL game. Admittedly it was the Buffalo Bills (season record 3-3) against the Jackonsville Jaguars (1-5) playing in London at 9:30am ET on a Sunday morning but it was live and free to a global audience.
It was pronounced a success by the NFL with 15.2 million unique users viewing the game with around 5 million of those from outside the US. However this means that only the same number of US viewers watched the game as they did for the an earlier season Sunday morning game shown on broadcast television. And that US viewership of almost 10 million for the live stream compares with regular daytime and primetime audiences of between 10 million and 25 million for games.
Over 460 million minutes of video was consumed. An impressive number until put into context. Thats only slightly more than 30 minutes of video per unique user in a game that runs 195 minutes. So on average viewers saw less than one playing quarter of the game. And recall that this game was made available for free to all viewers anywhere in the world. Should an organisation attempt to monetise this in a pay-per-view basis you could bet your bottom dollar that audiences and viewership could only go down.
CNN's Money confirmed an average viewership of 2.36m viewers per minute. That is paltry compared to the primetime audiences which average between that 10 million to 20 million viewers per minute. Given the nature of the NFL and its ability to place advertising during breaks in play its hard to imagine that a global brand wouldnt try to use such breaks for promotion – but with an audience of only 2.36 million in any given minute its hard to see reach and value for the advertising community.
In its home market its difficult to see internet streaming being of sufficient value to introduce another bidder for highly-sought-after rights in competition to the well-sliced broadcasting pie. At least for the forseeable future.
TVNZ reveals list of OnDemand fast-tracked shows
By Mark Wasley
TVNZ can now confirm the list of shows that will premiere and soon be available on TVNZ OnDemand. They will be available express from the United States, within 48 hours of airing in the US.
New look TVNZ Ondemand launched
The new look TVNZ Ondemand has launched!
How do you watch TV? [POLL]
By Capt H. M. Murdock
Do you keep to the straight and narrow, or do you download shows or use software to watch content, such as TV shows or sports that aren't strictly licensed for you to access? Continue reading »
VPN Guide
By Throng
Why should I use a VPN
VPN's, or Virtual Private Networks, hide your identity on the internet. When it comes to viewing content online, VPN's enable you to specify the location you'd like the websites and online services you want to view, think you are. This enables you to easily, and legally, bypass the geographic restrictions imposed by some services.
There are plenty of relatively cheap VPN services available. Here are a few we have used successfully.
Hide My Ass
IPV 125×125 (set 3)
Overplay
OVP 125X125 (set 4)
Pure VPN
Another nail in the coffin of TV as we know it
distribution models
Edinburgh Television Festival
James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture
In my other life as a forensic computer specialist for the GCSB, I get to see that the majority of people now download movies and TV programmes from the Internet. It shows there is a growing need for audiences to watch what they want to watch and when they want to watch it.
And although this doesn't have national security implications, it does indicate the growing pressure on traditional broadcast channels to adapt.
In the US, House of Cards is having a tilt at a new distribution model: The whole show is released at the same time. Viewers can choose to watch one episode at a time, or gorge themselves with back to back marathons.
Its main star, Kevin Spacey, explains their journey
Double Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey has challenged TV channels to give "control" to their audiences or risk losing them at his address at the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival.