When people think about ditching their cable or satellite subscriptions in favor of one of the growing number of internet-connected set-top boxes, one of things that gives them pause is the idea of losing access to live TV. Now Boxee, one of the companies encouraging TV watchers to cut the…

In the summer of 2009, I found myself invited to a small party in an old bourgeois apartment with breathtaking views of the Champ-de-Mars and Eiffel Tower. The gathering was meant to be an informal discussion among media people about Nicolas Sarkozy’s push for the HADOPI anti-piracy bill. The risk…

While some operators in some countries (like the U.S. and Japan) have already celebrated birthdays for their LTE services, 4G in the UK hasn’t even been born yet. But now at least it looks like we might have a due date. UK regulator Ofcom today set out new proposals for…

Tom Hanks. Louis C.K. Lisa Kudrow. Kevin Spacey. David Fincher. Bill Maher. Jennifer Lopez. Judy Greer. Steven Van Zandt. Morgan Spurlock. Ed Begley, Jr. Heidi Klum. What do these Hollywood A-Listers (or near A-Listers) and other stars all have in common? They’re all involved in original online video projects which…

CES, currently in full swing in Las Vegas, promises to bring out another wave of Android tablets, to add to the 40+ that were on the market before the week even started (if you don’t count e-readers built on the platform; if you do, it’s more like 50). Sound flooded?…

Struggling satellite TV carrier Dish Network (NSDQ: DISH) christened what it called a company “relaunch” with a new digital video recorder that can record 2,000 hours of content and record up to six shows in once. If that doesn’t cover your time-shifting needs, and your last name isn’t Duggar, you…

Yesterday’s press release from Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA), announcing a comprehensive new ten-year distribution agreement covering over 70 different services is a testament to the idea that improved access to programming is key to maintaining the appeal of the traditional multichannel pay-TV business model.

It’s trite but in this case quite true: Cablevision’s loss is Charter’s gain. Tom Rutledge, the deft cable operator who abruptly left Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) late last week, will head St. Louis-based Charter (NSDQ: CHTR)—opting to run his own shop rather than continue the delicate balancing act of running the…

With the growth of over-the-top services that let users access the video they want over the internet (and often, for free), those companies offering pay-TV have to look for more bells and whistles to keep fickle consumers interested in their services. The latest offerings in this area come from France…

When baseball great Albert Pujols signed a staggering 10-year, $254 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last week, he became over-the-top’s (OTT) new best friend. That’s right, everyone including Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX), Hulu, YouTube (NSDQ: GOOG) and Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN), plus countless online-only content producers, should have…

Last week, Verizon announced a $3.6 billion deal to buy wireless spectrum from cable operators and resell their pay-TV services. This week, Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, started to lay out how that deal will impact other services operated and sold by the carrier: it looks like it will not continue…

A big move for Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) today, and something of a seismic shift for the cable industry as it moves away from its fixation on offering its own wireless services to complement their broadband, TV and phone offerings: Verizon has agreed on a deal to pay $3.6 billion…

Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR) will live to fight on thanks to a cash infusion from its good buddy (or frustrated spouse, depending on how you see things) Sprint (NYSE: S), which has agreed to spend as much as $1.6 billion in payments to use Clearwire’s WiMax network over the next several…

We’ve seen some significant strides for LTE in the past year—with some big names like Verizon and AT&T (NYSE: T) getting behind the fast mobile broadband technology and rolling it out for the masses. The latest reports on what Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is cooking up could be another boost: Apple…

Consumers in Europe may be feeling the smarting bite of the economic winter settling in around us, but when it comes to internet and mobile usage, there is some small relief coming: a series of legal actions point to host of new rights for private individuals. UK regulator Ofcom has…

Some of the stories people are talking about this morning:»  Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Siemens to Cut 17,000 Jobs (WSJ; Press release) »  James Murdoch quits the boards of Sun and Times (London Evening Standard) »  Why Might A Publisher Pull Its E-Books From Libraries? (paidContent) »  Lovefilm Gets Its Defence…

We’ve observed a lot of western companies looking to cash in on the explosive growth of China’s mobile population by taking their products into the country. Now here’s an example of a Chinese giant looking shop its own mobile services abroad: the internet portal Tencent is now distributing its QQ…

Away from the Eurozone crisis, France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy has come up with one way to raise more funds in his country for one struggling media sector: taxing another one that appears to be doing alright. And in a speech to other European politicians, he said he also wanted to…

As online video’s growth shows no sign of slowing down, broadband video ad network BrightRoll has raised a $30 million third round to extend its ad exchange and mobile offerings, two areas that are still small, but also rapidly attracting more marketer activity. Separately, YuMe, a video ad network that…