On Promoting Diversity, A+E Networks Walks the Walk
The Walter Kaitz Foundation Fundraising Dinner is the annual gathering of media and entertainment leaders dedicated to recognizing women and multi-ethnic contributions to the cable industry. Now in its 33rd year, the dinner recognizes organizations that have achieved significant milestones in promoting diversity in their workforce and their programming. This year, A+E Networks and the National Association of Independent Latino Producers (NALIP) are the dinner honorees, with NALIP taking the diversity advocate award and A+ E receiving the diversity champion award. Earlier this month, we learned
Moving Forward on "Ditching the Box" not "Unbundling the App"
Yesterday, NCTA submitted a 30+ page filing (plus over one thousand pages of supporting technical specs) that provides additional information requested by the FCC about the open standard-based apps proposal presented several weeks ago by a group of independent programmers, NCTA and pay TV companies. This information supplements our prior efforts, both within the Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee (DSTAC) and through briefings requested by the Commission, to explain how the HTML5 standard works and why reliance on an ”apps approach” offers a more productive path forward than the
NALIP: Bringing Latino Content Creators to the Forefront
It’s coming close to that time of year when key players across the media and entertainment world will gather for the 33rd annual Walter Kaitz Foundation dinner, the most prestigious fundraising event in the cable industry. Every year the foundation recognizes organizations that demonstrate an unwavering commitment to diversity. This year, the honors go to the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP)and A + E Networks. In anticipation of the event, we caught up with Axel Caballero, the executive director of NALIP, to find out how the diversity advocate honoree is helping
Emmy Noms Day Another Big One for Cable Programs
The 68th Primetime Emmy nominations were just announced and cable programming is once again sitting pretty, taking over half (41 out of 72) of the nominations in the top 12 categories. The always competitive drama categories were again lead by cable hits, taking five of the seven noms for Best Drama. Cable also has a good number of nods in the comedy categories, including Best Comedy Series nominations for HBO’s Silicon Valley and Veep. This year’s nominations reinforce the trend of the world’s top writers, directors and actors moving to cable and producing cinema-quality programing that
HTML5: Just Another Technology We Never Notice
The best innovations are the ones we immediately take for granted. Things like Wi-Fi and HD are incredible the first time we experience them and once we realize they work really well, they fade into the background. A great streaming video app is like this, too; astounding one second, to-be-expected the next. But the reality is these technologies are amazing feats of engineering. And in the case of TV apps, are made possible by an even more hidden piece of incredible tech that is essentially unknown to the non-developer community, HTML5. HTML, or Hyper Text Markup Language, is the standard
Do We Need to Formally Re-Define News for the Digital Era?
Like it has done in almost every aspect of our lives, technology has undoubtedly changed the way we get our news and how we engage with news. Pew’s most recent State of the Media report revealed that 65 percent of people receive their news about the presidential election from digital sources, and more people are learning about it through social media than ever before. But the delivery of news isn’t the only thing that’s changed. The types of news content produced for those platforms has also evolved as online news aggregators, satirical and alternative news sites, memes, and viral videos took
For Millennials, Watching TV Means Something Totally Different
Every Sunday night, my group of friends gathers together, brings snacks, and gets cozy to watch Game of Thrones as it airs. This marks one of the few times in the week that any of us will watch live TV, save for some episodes of Broad City or the news. According to the latest Nielsen Total Audience Report, this is the norm for younger audiences. Viewers age 18-34 watch the smallest amount of live TV, a mere 29 percent of their total media diet, compared to 35 percent for 35-49 year olds, and a whopping 53 percent for audiences age 50 and older. When looking at the total time spent per week
Copa America Breaks Records, Proving Our Love of Both Soccer and Streaming TV
The 2016 Copa America Centenario tournament, a soccer tournament held in 10 different cities across the United States this past month, drew in a record-breaking number of TV viewers. This, the 100th anniversary of the world’s oldest international soccer tournament, took place for the first time outside of South America. For a country long known to lag behind many others in its intensity of soccer fandom, this engagement over several different platforms for both Spanish and English programmers was impressive and indicative of both how we watch sports and how Americans are increasingly falling
MTV’s Transgender Awareness Week Initiative Is ‘Television Done Right’
Every year a cable programmer, operator or affiliate is recognized with the Golden Beacon award, the highest honor in cable communications, for its role in producing a communications or public affairs initiative that has left a mark on audiences or effected change in some way. Hosted by the Association of Cable Communicators and judged by peers within the cable industry, the Beacon Awards serve as good reminders of the large influence that cable operators and programmers have on audiences–and their ability to shape perceptions and mobilize change simply by sharing inspiring stories across
Internet Trends Report Shows Streaming Dominates Internet Traffic
Sandvine, a provider of broadband network solutions, just released its latest Global Internet Phenomena Report. Unsurprisingly, Internet usage and access is on the rise. Overall, streaming audio and video account for a whopping 71 percent of all downstream evening traffic in North America. Sandvine suggests this will reach 80 percent by 2020. What accounts for most of that traffic? According to Sandvine, Netflix streaming accounts for 35.2 percent of all downstream traffic. The slight surprise is that this is a downward trend from six months ago when Netflix accounted for 37 percent. In all