Blog articles from 02/2010

The cross-platform app market just got smaller…and yet bigger at the same time. This week Pocketgear announced its acquisition of Handango, a leading competitor in the direct to consumer, cross-platform app market. The acquisition and merger of the two will bring the unified company into closer competitive range with the market leader Apple App Store. It will also serve to make the company a more appetizing choice for mobile carriers and device manufacturers preferring to outsource app...

For anyone following the Health Care Reform Summit yesterday (25 February, 2010), consensus may not be a word that comes readily to mind. However, despite the diversity of concepts and ideas expressed at the gathering there was one that did not meet with debate from either party, i.e., the need for better overall healthcare coordination. Throughout the debate, on both sides of the table, as theories over what could or should be done to improve the American Healthcare system were being...

There's interesting news today about more pay-TV provider approaches to convergence solutions. * Qwest has apparently made an investment in ZillionTV. ZillionTV is aiming to deliver 15,000 movies, TV shows and other video selections by the time it launches, and has distribution agreements with several studios including Walt Disney Co., 20th Century Fox Television, NBC Universal, Sony and Warner Bros. * Cablevision is launching a PC-to-TV solution that will allow consumers to...

Interesting news from Telecom Italia that they are going to deploy a hybrid set-top box (reported to be an Intel-based box supplied by Amino) that will receive broadcast DTT channels and online video. With all of the hand-wringing going on about cord-cutting here in the U.S., I think the threat is far more serious in Europe, where free DTT service is already a barrier to growth for both IPTV and cable operators. We've heard from European operators that the hybrid set-top box...

In the traditional value chain for media, consumers have paid monthly or a la carte to aggregators or distributors. The advent of digital media gave rise to a new relationship, where the consumer and the content owner were connected directly, often bypassing those traditional content gatekeepers. But even the content owners can lose out on this arrangement since it is still an open question on how to monetize over-the-top (OTT) media. In Europe in particular, consumers are downloading...

With signs of increased social networking ad spend in 2010 along with a solid user base; it’s no surprise Twitter is positioning itself to ‘cash in’ with its soon-to-be launched ad platform . And it’s time…because advertisers are waiting. Based on Parks Associates survey of top-level media decision-makers, Advertising Outlook: Shifting Dollars, social network advertising will experience a boost in 2010; – 76% state increased ad budgets while 56% project an 11% or more...

Parks Associates is supporting the IPTV World Forum from March 23-25 in London. Stuart Sikes , President, Parks Associates will be hosting the Analyst Breakfast Briefing, "Service Providers and the Digital Home: The Role of Networks, Value-added Services, and Customer Support" on March 25 preceding the keynote presentation. As broadband and pay television service providers embrace home networking, they face both opportunities and challenges. The home network –...

Parks Associates research indicates U.S. premium video rentals and downloads will grow to $8.4 billion in 2014 After abandoning its initial online video plans in late 2007, Walmart has returned to this market with the announced acquisition of VUDU on February 22. With Best Buy working with Roxio Cinema Now, will Walmart leverage the VUDU acquisition to develop its own branded connected CE products? Walmart is re-entering the OTT (over-the-top) market at an opportune time. Parks...