Free data on Sunday and digital pirates

Much has been written over the last week about Telstra’s network outage for about three hours on Tuesday, which caused great consternation amongst its customer base. Some even took the opportunity to lambast the network, which has been for so long branded as Australia’s best and most reliable mobile network, especially in light of previous… Continue reading Free data on Sunday and digital pirates

Netflix is coming

After months of speculation and hot on the heels of StreamCo’s announcement of its SVOD service Stan, Netflix Inc. has confirmed that it will launch in Australia and New Zealand in March 2015. The much anticipated service is now only months away. Netflix has almost become the default word in Australia for ‘SVOD’ services and… Continue reading Netflix is coming

Is Stan the man?

Stan. coming soon – this is the message that greets visitors to www.stan.com.au, the new subscription video on demand (SVOD) service from StreamCo (Nine Entertainment Co’s and Fairfax Media’s new streaming JV). While pricing details have yet to be announced, what we do know is that Stan will offer users unlimited access to thousands of hours of entertainment, with… Continue reading Is Stan the man?

Brandis and Turnbull tackle digital piracy

The Australian Government has today released its Online Copyright Infringement discussion paper (the Paper) as a first step in developing a new framework to help protect Australia’s copyright industries, which according to the Paper, employs 900,000 people and generates more than $90 billion for the economy, including $7 billion in exports. The Paper, released by Senator George Brandis QC (Attorney-General… Continue reading Brandis and Turnbull tackle digital piracy

Streaming services in Australia – are there lessons to be learnt from the sale of Hulu Japan?

US-based online streaming service Hulu announced in February that it had sold its Japanese service (which launched three years ago) to Nippon Television Network Corporation (Nippon TV). Under the terms of the deal, Nippon TV assumes control of the day-to-day operations of the business and its management (when the deal completes). Nippon TV is the leading… Continue reading Streaming services in Australia – are there lessons to be learnt from the sale of Hulu Japan?

Piracy continues to be a major problem

As 2013 draws to a close, TorrentFreak has published their annual list of the most-pirated TV-shows. Unsurprisingly top of the list was HBO’s Game of Thrones, closely trailed by Breaking Bad (which aired its final season ever this year). According to TorrentFreak: the estimated download numbers are per single episode of the most downloaded TV-shows worldwide (per… Continue reading Piracy continues to be a major problem

Netflix’s historic win

Netflix’s House of Cards is an Emmy award winner. The made-for-internet hit drama scored a win at the 65th Annual Emmy Awards picking up the gong for Best Directing in a Drama Series. This is an historic occasion as it is the first time a Netflix web-only drama series has won an Emmy award. While commercial… Continue reading Netflix’s historic win

Its Hulu’s time to shine Down Under

FrostGlobal reported earlier this month that Hulu’s shareholders 21st Century Fox, NBCU and the Walt Disney Company had decided to take Hulu off-the-market and inject US$750 million of new capital into the company.  At the time of the announcement, Disney’s Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger, said: “Hulu has emerged as one of the most consumer… Continue reading Its Hulu’s time to shine Down Under

Hulu is no longer for sale

US media giants 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal and The Walt Disney Company have announced that their online catch-up TV service Hulu is no longer for sale.  The announcement follows a sales process that was rumoured to have attracted bids from Yahoo, Direct TV and Time Warner Cable, amongst others. 21st Century Fox, NBCU and Disney have… Continue reading Hulu is no longer for sale

The battle against piracy continues

Torrent Freak has reported that the season finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones set a new piracy record. This will not be good news to content owners as digital piracy continues to threaten their business models. The statistics are astounding.  Torrent Freak reported that 171,572 people were active on a single active torrent downloading the episode;… Continue reading The battle against piracy continues