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

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?

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

Is a Freeview catch up service next?

Frost Global has long highlighted the need for an Australian Hulu and Netflix, but to date there has been no firm commitment from either company about commencing Australian operations. This has left Australian consumers with silo catch-up services, that is catch-up content only accessible through each free-to-air network’s online catch-up services (save for services such… Continue reading Is a Freeview catch up service next?

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

Aussie TV needs Hulu to stop pirates

The digital content distribution market in Australia is hopefully about to become a lot more interesting. According to a report by Asher Moses in Fairfax Newspapers, the US online catch-up TV service Hulu is preparing to launch in Australia with or without the support of Seven, Nine and Ten. This is good news for content owners… Continue reading Aussie TV needs Hulu to stop pirates

“Content is not just king, it is the emperor” – 2010 Review

News Corporation boss Rupert Murdoch said earlier this year that “content is not just king, it is the emperor of all things electronic. Clever technology is merely an empty vessel without any great content.”