This weeks round up of OTT Video news, deals, launches and products from the team at Faultline.
Netflix’s content catalog has shrunk by almost a third in size over the past two and a half years, according to AllFlicks – a website which compiles a list of Netflix’s varying offerings around the world. AllFlicks says that in the US, Netflix offered 6,494 movies and 1,609 TV shows in 2014, but this has now dropped to 4,335 movies and 1,197 TV shows – a reduction of 2,571 titles. This shows Netflix is looking towards quality not quantity as the SVoD service invests heavily into Netflix originals.
European streaming site Magine TV has signed a content distribution agreement with SPI International/FilmBox to sub-license SPI’s channels to local distributors across Magine TV’s footprint – Sweden, Germany, the UK, and most recently Thailand, through cable network CTH. Magine TV’s CEO, Ambuj Goyal, said the company plans to expand its platform to third-party content providers in 20 countries by the end of this year.
A screen streaming service has emerged from Zoo Digital this week – the first one we have heard of, called ZOOscreen, designed to stream screeners to the homes of TV and movie judges. ZOOscreen is powered and protected by ZOOcloud, which the company claims is revolutionary. The security is not exactly explained but we are assured that it involves unique user names and passwords, maximum view counts, two-factor authentication, blocking of concurrent log-ins, forensic watermarking, encrypted streaming and DRM, among the security features. The final step in the OTT equation is for millions of people to view a movie over a season.
UK operator EE, owned by BT, has become the first TV service in the country to allow subscribers to record programs to their mobile devices to watch in the absence of an internet connection. With the new feature added to EE TV, launched in 2014, users can choose content from EE’s 70 free-to-view channels to record. EE says the new ‘Recordings To Go’ feature is designed to “set new standards”.
Video and audio quality analytics firm Video Clarity has launched Multiplayer, an application which automatically selects sequences for side-by-side playback in multiple video formats on as many as 8 screens simultaneously. The Multiplayer app is optional for new and existing Video Clarity ClearView 4K systems, and can play up to 8 HD sequences or 1 4K sequence in ClearView 4K systems with 2 quad HD-SDI interfaces. This allows users to analyze video resolutions and bit rates on video quality.
Media services provider Premiere Digital has upgraded its Baton product from Interra Systems – an automated, file-based QC solution to optimize quality control operations. Using this system, Premiere Digital can address OTT delivery methods as well as traditional broadcast projects, with the automated process allowing for detection and correction of issues.
Norigin Media announced a contract deal with an anonymous national TV provider in Poland, to launch a Hybrid Apps product for an OTT TV service. Norigin Media says its Hybrid Apps use the benefits of HTML5 as well as the core native components within every device. The product supports iOS, Android, Windows Phones, Smart TVs, Xbox, and web browsers.
Berlin-based audio streaming service SoundCloud has launched its music subscription service this week. SoundCloud Go costs $9.99 per month, following a free 30-day trial, and gives subscribers access to full albums from major labels and indie artists without ads, in a catalog of 125 million tracks. SoundCloud has also added offline listening capabilities in an effort to compete with Spotify, but says it differs because it mixes mainstream content with uploads from unsigned bands, DJs, and podcasters.
Nintendo’s first smartphone app, Miitomo, will launch in the US on March 31st, and is likely to include several European markets too. In Miitomo, users can create and personalize Miis (the animated avatars from Nintendo Wii consoles) which then interact with other Miis in a virtual online community. Gaming fans are fairly disappointed that Nintendo’s first smartphone app isn’t a Mario game.
US cable and satellite pay TV network Starz will undergo a rebranding and a reprogramming of its Encore channels as of April 5th. Starz says this will create a unified look and feel, and strengthen its product offerings.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has revealed its new 4K UHD movie streaming service, Ultra, will launch on April 4th 2016 on Sony 4K UHD TVs with Android TV in the US. Content will come from the Sony Pictures Store and will cost as much as $30 for a single movie purchase, many of which Sony says include HDR.
Defy Media, a digital producer and programmer in the US, found that over 40% of 13-34 year olds watch video while at school or at work, according to findings from its annual Acumen Report. The majority of respondents consume video on smartphones, with 76%, compared to 66% on laptop or desktop. YouTube came out on top again at 67%, Netflix at 51%, with social media sources (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Tumblr) at 48% – with social media seeing a big rise in video plays. TV falls to almost half that of YouTube, with only 36%.
Facebook-owned photo sharing app Instagram has announced it will be extending the length of videos posted to its platform from 15 to 60 seconds. Product Manager Jeff Kanter said, “one of the things we’ve heard from creators is just how much going longer than 15 seconds would help them tell their stories.”
TV transmission tech provider Enensys announced it is moving its DTT network architecture and standards experience to the world of ATSC 3.0, when it will unveil new products at NAB 2016. Enensys says ATSC 3.0 represents a big step for digital TV with additional capabilities such as UHD and HDR. Its initial products, the Route server, the ATSC 3.0 Scheduler, and ATSC 3.0 Modulator, will sit between encoding and transmission to enable broadcasters to deliver live streams directly from an encoder while managing ATSC 3.0 parameters. Also this week, the Bootstrap component of ATSC 3.0 was upgraded to its finalized standard (see separate story).