Netflix still dominates streaming space, but Amazon, Hulu making small gains

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Netflix dominates the streaming media world, but Hulu and Amazon have been making small gains in viewership, according to new data released this morning by the NPD Group market research firm. Looking at the TV category, which accounts for 80 percent of streaming media, Netflix holds a strong grip on the market through Q1 of… Read More…

Amazon axes Zombieland, keeps Alpha House and Betas for original comedy shows

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The geeks are in and the zombies are out.  That’s what Amazon has reportedly decided for the first rounds of cuts of its original comedy TV content. About a month ago, Amazon’s TV production leg made pilot episodes for eight comedy shows available on Prime and asked the public to pick its favorites. Zombieland writer-producer Rhett Reese… Read More…

Are you really paying for that paid content? A confession and scorecard

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Paying for online content was a funny idea back when Napster was a hero and no one had heard the word “paywall.” Now it seems that’s changed. Almost without noticing, I’ve gone from avoiding any paid online content to subscribing to quite a bit of it. Whether I’m actually paying for that access is another… Read More…

Tech Moves: Opscode hires former Likewise CEO Barry Crist; Hulu changes; etc.

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Barry Crist, the former CEO of Likewise, has joined Opscode as vice president of enterprise. He will report to CEO Mitch Hill, and assist in the adoption of the company’s Chef, Hosted Chef and Private Chef products. He most recently served as an executive-in-residence at Ignition Partners, the Bellevue venture capital firm that is an… Read More…

Amazon inks deal with Sony to stream FX shows ‘Justified,’ and ‘The Shield’

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Another day, another streaming deal for Amazon. The Seattle online giant just signed a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment for the rights to exclusively stream the popular FX show “Justified,” as well as the nonexclusive rights for “The Shield.” Episodes will be available online for Amazon Prime subscribers and others can watch episodes for $1.99 each…. Read More…

Revamped Nielsen ratings may include Xbox video viewing

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Big changes could be coming soon to Nielsen’s TV rating system to include video viewing statistics from devices like the Xbox, PlayStation and iPad. According to sources who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, a committee of TV network and advertising reps have plans to change the rating system to include data from streaming devices that… Read More…

Leaving Hulu: CEO Jason Kilar, CTO Richard Tom

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Two top Hulu executives with roots in the Seattle region are leaving the online video powerhouse. Hulu CEO Jason Kilar plans to depart this quarter, and Richard Tom, Hulu’s CTO, will leave around the same time, Kilar announced in a post this afternoon on Hulu’s corporate blog. Kilar isn’t talking about the reasons for his… Read More…

Hulu’s revenue up 65 percent to $695M in 2012, doubles paid subscribers to 3 million

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Based on the numbers, things are going very well at Hulu. The streaming video company released its 2012 results today and this year, the company will post $695 million in revenue, up 65 percent from last year. Hulu now has three million paying Hulu Plus subscribers and the number of Hulu Plus subscribers has more than… Read More…

Watch TV with two screens: Hulu Plus available for Wii U

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Hulu Plus is now available on the new Nintendo Wii U console and it introduces a new way to watch TV and movies. The difference is the utilization of the Wii U’s GamePad controller. Users can now enjoy a dual-screen watching experience, with the GamePad serving as an information hub for the episode or movie… Read More…

Netflix CEO: Amazon Prime video a ‘confusing mess’

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It looks like Jeff Bezos & Co. have finally gotten Reed Hastings’ attention, or at least gotten Hastings to show that he’s feeling the competitive heat. The Netflix CEO previously made a habit of downplaying the competition from Amazon.com in the online video market, saying as recently as July that his company had yet to… Read More…

Amazon Prime adds ‘West Wing’ and ‘Fringe’ in exclusive streaming deal

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Amazon has struck a deal with Warner Bros. to bring West Wing and Fringe to its Amazon Prime Instant Video service before its rivals get the TV shows — the latest step its effort to boost the streaming features of its Amazon Prime subscription service. The company, competing against services such as Hulu and Netflix,… Read More…

Finally: Amazon video app comes to Microsoft’s Xbox 360

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Amazon and Microsoft just announced the first native Amazon Instant Video app for Microsoft’s Xbox 360, making it possible to watch videos from the Amazon service on the Microsoft console without a cumbersome workaround. The app is particularly good news for anyone who already has a $79/year Amazon Prime service and a $60/year Xbox Live… Read More…

A first: Amazon tops Hulu in U.S. online video viewers

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New rankings for the U.S. online video market, released by comScore Networks this morning, come with a surprise: Amazon.com has surpassed Hulu in April with more than 30 million unique viewers in the U.S. We’ve been digging back through comScore’s archive, and it’s the first time that Amazon has topped Hulu by that measure. It’s… Read More…

From Facebook to Zynga: A guide to the tech giants establishing Seattle outposts

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Another day, another tech giant sets up shop in Seattle. Perhaps no story over the past 24 months has shaped the technology community in Seattle as much as the arrival of the powerhouses of tech. Drawn to the region by a stable of anchor tenants like Amazon.com, Expedia and Microsoft and enticed by top-notch computer… Read More…

Ticketmaster opens Seattle office led by Amazon vets

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Technology companies continue to arrive on the shores of Seattle, attracted by the region’s top-notch software talent. The latest example is Ticketmaster, which announced today that it has opened a new engineering center in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood. “We have the most challenging eCommerce environment on the planet and our Seattle team will be instrumental… Read More…

Netflix gains subscribers, tracks Amazon “carefully”

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“Given Amazon’s size and ambitions, we continue to track their progress carefully as well.” With that brief statement, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acknowledged one of the online streaming video service’s perceived competitors in its quarterly letter to shareholders as part of today’s first quarter 2012 earnings report: Amazon Prime Instant Video. Overall, Netflix came in… Read More…

Q&A: Hulu CTO Richard Tom on the future of television

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It’s rather stunning to think that Hulu was just a germ of an idea five years ago. Obviously, the entertainment industry has experienced a tectonic shift of epic proportions in that time. Backed by the likes of NBC Universal, News Corporation and The Walt Disney Company, Hulu has very quickly become one of the most… Read More…

Live from the GeekWire Summit

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[The program will start around 1:30 p.m.] We’ve lined up some great speakers this afternoon for the GeekWire Summit in Seattle — including conversations with online collaboration pioneer Ray Ozzie and Hulu technology chief Richard Tom, plus panels featuring executives and engineers from Facebook, T-Mobile USA, Rhapsody, Swype, Z2Live, the University of Washington and more…. Read More…

New evidence of Amazon’s ambitions to make original TV

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From Hulu to Netflix, it seems that every online video service is getting into original television these days, and new signs emerged overnight that Amazon.com is no different. Fortune reports that it spotted a LinkedIn profile for an Amazon executive named Joe Lewis, a veteran of 20th Century Fox and Comedy Central who listed his… Read More…