Sling.com review: Hulu with a Sling box
November 13, 2008
I gave the sling.com beta a run today and found a site that, while not differentiated from many other Hulu ride-alongs, has the potential to break out from the pack. I’ll admit, I’m not a Sling box fanatic (I never seem to meet mere users, just fanatics) but more of an Orb user.
The summary review is this: it’s Hulu with a connection to your Sling box. For Sling box users it makes sense to have sling.com as their main Web entertainment site. For others, I the advantage over just using Hulu did not jump out.
That said, I would imagine Sling.com already knows this and either 1) they would be happy with the growing base of Sling box users; or 2) they have more tricks up their sleeve. I’m sure the rumor mill will let us know soon enough.
(disclosure: the writer works with a large Web video company)
PlayOn puts Web TV back on the TV
September 29, 2008
What do people really want? Not TV on the Web, but TV on demand. The Web is just the only place to get it. Sure, Hulu’s grown in popularity. But ask the average person why they watch it so much versus television and you’ll likely get the answer “because I can only find that content on demand on Hulu.”
One day it’s quite likely you’ll hook a set top box to your TV (or just plug the cable card in) and be able to watch a Hulu-like ranges of shows on demand (with similar advertising). That day can now be tested with PlayOn.
With Netflix Deal, XBox Prepares to Own Your TV
July 15, 2008
This week’s announcement that XBox would stream movies from Netflix was a significant step in Microsoft’s bid to own the digital living subscription and, potentially, marketing dollars. In the Netflix deal, Microsoft got more than a movie partner, they got a brand. For consumers that have trouble seeing the XBox as a movie box, the Netflix association should help quite a bit.
The Video Pie will Grow 25% by 2013
June 18, 2008
Forrester Research’s Jame McQuivey published a report confirming the video pie continues to grow with consumers going from 4 to 5 hours per day of video consumption. How can we possibly have more time to watch video? Simple, says McQuivey, OmniVideo.
The video viewing pie grows
June 13, 2008
Ipsos Insight came out with some data showing shifting habits in where people watch video. There’s no shock here in terms of TV having less of the video pie and other platforms growing. Nevertheless, even TV may win in the end as Web video gets delivered to the television. There are a few important things to note in terms of how the overall pie is growing and how habits are becoming more segmented.
Why Can’t PC and TV Video Viewing Get Along?
February 1, 2008
TV Week reported that Solutions Research Group found that 20% of Internet users watched a TV show online each week compared to 14% who watched a TV show on video-on-demand. The conclusion? TV online must be leaving TV video-on-demand in the dust implying that we’ll all be watching through our computers. Whoa. Not so simple. We will, but only because our TVs will have PC like capabilities with Internet connections (yes, IPTV). Read more
In-Video Web Advertising is the Future of Television Advertising
January 27, 2008
Strategic communications programs are best executed using a variety of tools that allow for specific targeting in terms of editorial, context and audience. However, this is still a huge challenge when trying to communicate key messages via television advertising. TV ads can still be too broad as compared to other communications tools (e.g., search engines, direct mail etc). However, if online video is any indication of the future of television, the day is near when television ads are used for highly targeted communications. Read more
