What Happened in Streaming Media in 2015?
Sources: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/US-Adults-Spend-55-Hours-with-Video-Co… http://www.statista.com/chart/3852/us-music-industry-revenues/ http://www.statista.com/chartoftheday/Streaming/ https://www.sandvine.com/trends/global-internet-phenomena/ http://www.leichtmanresearch.com/press/120315release.html http://www.statista.com/chartoftheday/Streaming/ https://www.ncta.com/positions/future-of-TV https://www.stateoftheinternet.com/downloads/pdfs/2015-q3-state-of-the-…
Top 6 TV Moments of 2015
From artistic and powerful storytelling to inspiring characters, fictious and real, television pretty much covered it all this year. As 2015 comes to a close, we’d like to look back at some of the news and entertainment moments that grabbed our attention. Here are a few of our favorites: THE WALKING DEAD SEASON FIVE FINALE Last Spring, the season final of The Walking Dead drew 15.8 million viewers. with all 16 episodes of the season ranking in the top 50 telecasts across all of television in a beloved and hard-to-attract demographic, adults in the 18-49 age range. TV by the Numbers cited this
The Second Screen Brings Us Back to the Communal Days of Television
Humans crave companionship, and one of the most popular physical representations of this can be seen through the act of watching television. In the early days of television, the television set was the communal spot for family and friends to gather and share in an entertainment experience. While this still happens, especially on big game nights or for premieres for shows like Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, the advent of viewer personalization services like DVRS, video on demand and TV Everywhere brought on more flexibility and choices for people to find their own content specific to their
What Makes for a Good Gaming Experience?
Not into the gaming scene? Seems like there’s never been a better time to find out what all the hype is about. Gaming isn’t what it used to be. Thinking back to 15, 20 years ago, gamers were usually stereotyped as kids who were glued to their Sega or Nintendo boxes. Fast forward time, and the shift from console-based gaming to online gaming, largely due to developments in broadband capabilities, has opened up a myriad of opportunities in the multiplayer gaming world and led to some serious changes in the audience demographic. But what can these advancements in the market be attributed to? Avid
Cable Looks to Make a Splash at Golden Globes, SAG Awards
Cable came out strong this week as two major accolade-awarding organizations in the television industry, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, released the list of shows and actors competing for honors in early 2016. The Golden Globes nominations included 27 for cable. HBO and Starz scored the most for cable shows, earning seven and six nominations, respectively. HBO’s Game of Thrones returns for recognition in the drama series category, and Starz’s Outlander snatched a spot in this area as well. Showtime’s The Affair, which won last year, was not nominated this year, but Maura
Saying Goodbye to the Integration Ban
The old adage that it is harder to eliminate rules than pass new ones largely stands the test of time, but Friday, December 4 will mark an important victory for consumers and innovation when a FCC rule called the Integration Ban will be sunset. Why Friday? Because that was the date established during last year’s reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2014, also known as STELAR. The Integration Ban was an unnecessary technology mandate from the late 1990’s that cost billions of dollars with no real consumer benefit. We’d like to take a moment to recognize how
Why Holiday Movies Thrive on Cable
The Los Angeles Times recently came out with an article on the rise of holiday programming popularity on cable networks, particularly the made-for-TV holiday movies. Citing Nielsen sources from last year, the Timesreports that Hallmark’s ratings doubled during the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, while the small UP TV network saw a 74 percent rise in ratings. Though TV Everywhere and apps have opened the doors for us to watch anything we want while on the go or on any device, there’s something about the holiday season that makes the classic era of television gatherings come alive
Apps are Already Revolutionizing TV
Not so long ago, if I wanted to watch my favorite TV show (it was Battlestar Galactica, for the record) I had to make sure I was home in time to catch it live on SyFy. And if I missed it, I had to cross my fingers that there would be a re-run before the next episode began. For a serial show like Battlestar, skipping an episode was a serious problem. Missing a big plot point threw the whole narrative off and with no way to get back on course, I had to piece together what I missed through a mix of spoiler sites and friends. And then one day, I didn’t have to do that anymore. DVR’s became
Why Apps, not New Tech Mandates, Will Make for a Better TV Experience
Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the launch of the all-new app-based Apple TV, “The future of TV is apps.” We couldn’t agree more. To date, 56 million pay-TV provider apps have been downloaded onto iOS and Android devices alone, and there are an estimated 460 million IP enabled devices currently in the marketplace that support pay-TV apps. Silicon Valley and television viewers love TV on apps because they’re easy to use, easy to improve, and easy to authenticate. And anyone who regularly watches TV via an app knows they get better every day. Which is why it’s so puzzling that there continues to be a
For Kids and Media Use, How Much is Too Much?
Kids today are often more digitally connected than their parents. We see teenagers taking selfies and immediately posting to their social media accounts, or middle school students using a language app on their phones for Spanish class. But how much media time are kids logging these days, and are they making smart choices with their connectivity time? Common Sense Media recently released The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Teens and Tweens, a new study quantifying children’s media use. The numbers are predictably big: teens use media about nine hours a day, tweens around six hours. But it’s