Category Archives: Digital ET

Digital ET

New E-Book Services Borrow a Page From Netflix

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If you’re a voracious reader, you know that keeping up with your habit can get expensive, whether you’re buying physical books or e-books. The public library makes for a good alternative, but sometimes there’s a waiting list for a title. And if you’re looking for a digital version to borrow, your options are limited. But what if you could instantly access an unlimited number of books right on your smartphone or tablet every month, for about the price of a paperback?
That’s the sales pitch for two new e-book subscription services I’ve been testing, called Oyster and Scribd. Frequently described as a “Netflix for e-books,” these services allow you to read as many books as you want for a monthly fee. Oyster costs $9.95 per month, and Scribd is $8.99 per month.

More at allthingsd

Digital ET, Online video

Will the Next ‘Golden Age of Television’ Take Place Online?

Netflix, Amazon and Hulu enter the content sphere with a key advantage, according to Werbach: data

In an industry first, the Netflix-only series “House of Cards” scored nine nominations — and three wins (for directing, casting and cinematography) — at the recent prime time Emmy awards. Netflix also scored nominations for a Netflix-only season of the sitcom “Arrested Development,” which previously aired on the Fox network.

While “House of Cards” was shut out of the acting categories it was nominated in, the Netflix original series is prominent in the company’s strategy to transition from purely a distribution engine for movies, television and other content to a creator of its own programming. And Netflix has plenty of company — fellow distributors Hulu, Amazon.com and YouTube are also developing their own slate of programs. According to Wharton experts, the Internet and the power of data analytics are creating new opportunities for companies to define their audience and target programming to viewers’ likes and dislikes more closely than ever before.

Meanwhile, Amazon last April released the pilot episodes for 14 new shows and asked for feedback from viewers to decide which would be given full series orders. Critical reaction to the pilots was mixed, but Amazon green-lit “Alpha House,” a political buddy comedy starring John Goodman; “Betas,” a show set at a Silicon Valley start-up; and three children’s programs. Like its submission process for the Kindle, Amazon accepts scripts from anyone, and then pays writers $10,000 if a project is chosen. If a developed script becomes a full-fledged series, the creator gets $55,000 and up to 5% of Amazon’s net receipts from licensing, royalties and bonuses.

More at Knowledge@Wharton

Digital ET, Etc., Online video

Netflix Is Coming After Your Cable Box

Netflix has found a surprising ally as it tries to boost its subscriber base: cable operators. Firms that stand to be disrupted by Netflix’s distribution model are now working out deals to make the streaming service directly available through their own boxes.

Earlier this month Netflix inked a deal with U.K.-based Virgin Media to bring the streaming service to the cable operator’s 1.7 million subscribers who have TiVo set-top boxes. A similar deal was announced last week in Sweden with Com Hem, which is the country’s largest cable provider with almost 1.8 million subscribers.

While both deals still require viewers to purchase a Netflix subscription, they open the door for an increased cooperation between traditional cable operators and Internet-based streaming services. Users will now be able to seamlessly switch between watching cable and viewing content on demand via Netflix within the set-top-box interface. Currently, users typically have to switch between a cable box and other Netflix-enabled devices, like Roku gadgets or video-game consoles.

Read more at TIME: http://business.time.com/2013/10/01/netflix-is-coming-after-your-cable-box/