Just when you think the final story has been written about Netflix — the story begins again.

The high-flying video subscription service, largely credited with driving Blockbuster into bankruptcy, has had business issues of its own in the past year. Now it's looking to a new partner — cable operators — who traditionally view streaming in general, and Netflix in particular, as the enemy.Continue reading...

"Anyone has access and the audience defines the popularity," said YouTube Trends manager Kevin Allocca, explaining the secret sauce that goes into viral videos. Find out more in Allocca's talk, above, during the Youth portion of the TED2012 conference this week in Long Beach, CA, which ranged from Rebecca Black's Friday to Justin Bieber to cats watching cats watching the 65 million-viewed Nyan Cat phenom. 

America's online video portals — AOL, Google and YouTube, Hulu, Microsoft Advertising including MSN, and Yahoo! — are once again locking arms to muscle in on the U.S. TV upfront marketplace by touting their web video programming in a collaborative series of presentations orchestrated by Digitas.

The brands are taking turns in a roundrobin pitch to ad agencies, media buyers and brand marketers during the fourth annual Digital Content NewFronts, taking place in New York over two weeks, from April 19th to May 2nd.

The objective: woo a bigger slice of marketing dollars from TV to their respective online video and digital content hubs.Continue reading...

Verizon is joining forces with Coinstar, the parent company of 35,400-kiosk movie rental service, Redbox, in a bid to grab a piece of the streaming video market away from Netflix, Hulu and Amazon — not to mention Facebook and YouTube.

The still-to-be-named Verizon/Redbox joint venture — a hybrid video download and streaming service offering rental of DVDs, Blu-ray titles and video games — is scheduled to launch in the third quarter. Verizon takes 65% of the limited liability company and Coinstar, 35%. 

Verizon will handle digital streaming and video downloads on demand, and Redbox will handle physical kiosk-disc distribution. The multi-platform service will leverage Verizon’s suite of video-enabled devices already delivered via FiOs for phones, tablets, smart TVs, PC’s and consoles.Continue reading...

“Netflix will be sold by Easter,” Porter Bibb, managing partner at Mediatech Capital Partners, told Bloomberg News. "I am hearing very serious rumblings from inside Verizon that they are very serious about either Netflix or something similar."

A deal with Verizon would put sorely needed cash in Netflix’s pocket as international expansion is on hold while the company staggers to regain profitability, reeling from a disastrous 2011, which saw a number of mishaps for the video rental/streaming brand.

After hiking subscription rates 60% in July, a customer revolt led to an ill-fated attempt at restructuring their DVD and streaming plans with the planned (then abandoned) launch of Qwikster, which sent nearly one million subscribers into exile; so they un-restructured but still lost close to 800,000 customers.Continue reading...

As fans obsess over Justin Bieber's new haircut and Christmas single, the Canadian pop star has quietly set another record. The video for said holiday single — Mistletoe, above — has been averaging more than one million views on YouTube per day since hitting the web on October 18th. According to YouTube's trendspotting blog, the word "Mistletoe" was one of its top rising searches globally over the past 30 days.

He also now boasts more than 2 billion YouTube views, a record he set on Sunday when his channel (a partnership with Vevo) crossed the 2 billion view threshold. Lady Gaga may have beat him to 1 billion views a year ago, but he has now beat her YouTube/Vevo channel (now at 1.85 billion views) to 2 billion views. Her collective YouTube footprint, where she maintains a Vevo channel and an 'official' channel, passed the 2 billion mark last month.

As for the single that made Bieber's name, Baby holds the record for the most-viewed music video of 2010 "and still averages hundreds of thousands of views per day" in 2011, according to YouTube.

As YouTube seeks more original content, the video search giant and Hollywood are officially hooking up as Google offers $100 million plus to dozens of creative partners for new “channels” featuring original content and programming from big name brands, personal or corporate.

The raison d’être is simple: professionally produced videos by powerhouse brands are catnip to viewers and advertisers, who can be charged a premium over the hodge-podge of user-generated content that sells at a lower price.

The launch lineup of what will become more than 100 original channels will feature celebs such as Madonna, Jay-Z, Amy Poehler, and Ashton Kutcher; Deepak Chopra's The Chopra Well; The Comedy Shaq Network, featuring urban comedy presented by retired NBA star Shaquille O'Neal; and, given the popularity of TED Talks, TEDEducation: “audio from incredible teachers vivified by some of the world's best animators.” 

Brands launching channels under YouTube's new content push include Red Bull, already strong in the content creation game; Lance Armstrong's Livestrong brand; WWE; Vice media; and branded entertainment from Ben Silverman's Electus venture with Barry Diller's IAC.Continue reading...

The stock of Netflix has dropped nearly in half and thousands of subscribers have jumped ship since the company that essentially put video stores out of business announced that it would have a price increase two months ago.

On Sunday night, CEO Reed Hastings posted a mea culpa blog post and video (above) that stated "I messed up," adding, "It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming, and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology."

Prices are returning to to what they were. Instead, the company’s DVD-by-mail service is going to be spun off and called Qwikster, which Hastings said wouldn't change the 12-year-old DVD service other than to create a distinct brand and website, Qwikster.com.

The Qwikster news comes as Facebook, where Hastings is a board member, is getting ready to announce a new media platform, according to the New York Times, which "will allow people to easily share their favorite music, television shows and movies, effectively making the basic profile page a primary entertainment hub."Continue reading...