Author: Jon Russell

Entertainment & Media News

Google makes $550M strategic investment in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com

Google has been increasing its presence in China in recent times, and today it has continued that push by agreeing to a strategic partnership with e-commerce firm JD.com which will see Google purchase $550 million of shares in the Chinese firm. Google has made investments in China, released products there and opened up offices that…
Entertainment & Media News

This AR guppy feeds on the spectrum of human emotion

Indiecade always offers a nice respite from the wall of undulating human flesh and heat that is the rest of the E3 show floor. The loose confederation of independent developers often produces compelling and bizarre gaming experiences outside of the big studio system. TendAR is the most compelling example of this out of this year’s…
Entertainment & Media News

Sony E3 2018: The Six Biggest Announcements

/.c-breadcrumbs Sony’s E3 2018 Showcase ran deep rather than wide, with in-depth looks at a few highly anticipated games and only a small dose of surprises. Missed the press conference? We’ve got the highlights here. “The Last of Us Part 2” Gets New Trailer and Gameplay We didn’t get a glimpse of Joel, but it…
Marketing tips

6 techniques to grow your audience on your video streaming platform or your VOD website

If you have a streaming platform or a VOD site, you will need to attract (qualified) traffic that you can convert into clients (or SVOD subscribers). Conversion is a very important issue that we’ll see another time. For now, let’s focus on 6 different techniques to grow your audience and give visibility to your streaming…
Entertainment & Media News

VoD growing in France & Germany, but penetration still lags

VoD growing in France & Germany, but penetration still lags June 6, 2018 Despite the abiding appeal of traditional linear TV, cinema, radio and offline games, many Internet users in France and Germany now devote a major part of their time to online entertainment. “Digital video viewing has grown steadily in France and Germany, but…
VOd, SVOD, TVOD
News

OKAST & Flamefy rated top 10% startup by rating agency Earlymetrics !

At OKAST & FlameFy, we have decided to evaluate our company by experts in start-up rating: Early Metrics. This agency assesses company’s growth potential using over 50 criteria based on 3 pillars: founders and management, project and technology, ecosystem and market. All these criteria are analysed in detail: the company’s balance sheets, interview with members…
Entertainment & Media News

Facebook no longer most popular online platform among US teens, says Pew

Facebook is no longer the most popular online platform among US teens, with more now claiming to use YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, according to the Pew Research Centre. The ‘Teens, Social Media and Technology 2018’ report said that a shift in teens’ social media use is just one example of how the technology landscape for…
Entertainment & Media News

Hotstar Leads India OTT Streaming Market, Google Heads Music Category (EXCLUSIVE)

/.c-breadcrumbs /.l-article__header /.c-featured-media Hotstar remains India’s most popular OTT video streaming platform, according to data from mobile advertising and Internet service provider Jana. Hotstar is controlled by 21st Century Fox and operates on the freemium model, offering VoD users some content free of charge, and some paid for by annual subscription. Jana’s report uses app…
Marketing tips

GDRP : all the change for your VoD platform

The 2018 GDRP has finally arrived and will be in place on May 25. This new regulation aims to make companies and their subcontractors responsible for the use, prevention and protection of personal data. As a VOD platform or streaming site owner, you are subject to this legislation, since you collect and use data from…
Entertainment & Media News

YouTeam is a marketplace for offshore developer talent

While software is said to be eating the world, software developers and other technical talent remains in short supply. Not only is this seeing major tech companies compete hard to hire the best engineers, but it has also meant a rise in the use of remote working freelancers or turning to offshore agencies. The problem…
Entertainment & Media News

Une étude du CSA et du CNC sur la SVOD qui manque d’envergure

Business : Le CSA et le CNC ont profité du Festival pour publier une étude sur le marché de la SVOD en France. Le rapport comptabilise 100 pages et se décompose en 3 parties principales : l’analyse du marché français, la stratégie des services de SVOD et les perspectives d’évolution du marché. Cette étude s’appuie…
Entertainment & Media News

Cannes Opener ‘Everybody Knows’ Goes to Focus Features

Focus Features kicked off the Cannes 2018 market by acquiring opening night Competition entry “Everybody Knows,” starring Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. The solid Spanish-language melodrama from Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi played well Tuesday night to mixed response from critics. UTA and Memento fielded multiple bids for the film — which did not go to…
Entertainment & Media News

Google’s VR180 cameras get their own app that live streams to YouTube

Just ahead of Google’s big developer conference next week, Google I/O, the company has quietly rolled out a new mobile app for its VR180 point-and-shoot cameras, allowing users to set up their device, view and manage clips, and upload photo and video content to Google Photos and YouTube. At CES in January, Google had shown…
Entertainment & Media News

Inside Alibaba and Tencent’s Plan for World Media Domination

/.c-breadcrumbs /.l-article__header /.c-featured-media These days in China you can book a dental appointment, hail a taxi or borrow a shared bike via internet giant Tencent. Through Alibaba, you can buy Macy’s merchandise, Armani beauty products and, by year’s end, Ford cars from vending machines. China’s two tech leaders have brilliantly converted their strengths — in…
Entertainment & Media News

Apple rassure avec plus de 52 millions d’iPhone vendus au premier trimestre

Apple rassure avec plus de 52 millions d’iPhone vendus au premier trimestre Chiffres : Contre toute attente, Apple a battu les prévisions des analystes pour son premier trimestre, en affichant un chiffre d’affaires en hausse de 16% et des ventes d’iPhone supérieures aux attentes. Dans un contexte de doutes sur le positionnement très (trop ?)…
Entertainment & Media News

Westworld Renewed For Season 3 At HBO

Westworld is unlike anything else on TV, and the first season was as confusing and confounding as it was compelling. The hiatus between Seasons 1 and 2 lasted for more than a year, but Westworld finally returned to the airwaves in April. Season 2 is going strong, and HBO has some good news for fans…
Entertainment & Media News

Netflix to raise $1.9 billion in debt

Netflix has priced a bond offering of US$1.9 billion, which it plans to use for “general corporate purposes” – including content acquisitions, production and development. The senior note offering was upped from US$1.5 billion, which was initially announced yesterday. The sale for the revised amount expected to close on April 26, 2018. The notes will…
Marketing tips

Increase conversion on your VOD platform with free trial

If you have created a subscription offer (SVOD) for your video content, you know how difficult it is to find an audience. But it is even more difficult, once you have started to grow, to keep them on the long term and convert them into loyal customers. One solution to break this conversion barrier is to offer…
Entertainment & Media News

Analyst: Top 10 pay-TV operators to lose $20bn

Analyst: Top 10 pay-TV operators to lose $20bn April 23, 2018 Despite adding 84 million subscribers between 2017 and 2023, subscription and PPV revenues for the world’s top 517 pay-TV operators will fall by $18 billion (€14.67bn) to $183 billion, according to analyst firm Digital TV Research. From the total, 29 pay-TV operators earned more…
Entertainment & Media News

Netflix Could Start Buying Movie Theaters to Help Films Gain a Boost in Oscar Race — Report

Netflix has made a strong effort to land Oscar nominations since debuting its first original feature, “Beasts of No Nation,” in 2015. The next step in the streaming giant’s plan to secure film awards could be to buy and own movie theaters. A new report from the Los Angeles Times says Netflix is considering buying theaters…
Entertainment & Media News

Dailymotion OTT app arrives on Amazon Fire products

  Vivendi’s leading European online video service Dailymotion has expanded its distribution, bringing premium publisher partnerships to Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. Effective immediately, the introduction of Dailymotion to Amazon’s smart TV product is the latest in a series of over-the-top (OTT) video integrations that include Apple TV, Android TV and XBox One….
Entertainment & Media News

Cannes: Nicolas Cage’s ‘Mandy’ and Gaspar Noe’s ‘Climax’ Lead 2018 Directors’ Fortnight Lineup

Nicolas Cage is heading to Cannes. The festival’s parallel sidebar Directors’ Fortnight has announced the 17 features that will screen this year, and the group includes world premieres from international favorites like Gaspar Noe’ and Ciro Guerra, plus acclaimed titles like “Mandy” and “Leave No Trace” that first wowed audiences at Sundance earlier this year. Read…
Entertainment & Media News

Stream or silver screen: Netflix pulls plug on Cannes, is Hollywood next?

Tilda Swinton in the Netflix film Okja, directed by Bong Joon-ho. Audiences booed the Netflix logo when it was shown at the Cannes film festival in 2017. Photograph: Kimberly French/Jae Hyuk Lee Netflix’s decision to pull out of the Cannes film festival highlights the tension between streaming companies and the cinema industry over how movies…
Cannes, festival, selection
Entertainment & Media News

The official selection for Cannes 2018

Main Competition Everybody Knows by Asghar Farhadi En Guerre Stéphane Brizé Dogman by Matteo Garrone Le Livre D’Image by Jean-Luc Godard Sorry Angel by Christophe Honoré Asako I & II by Ryusuke Hamaguchi Girls of the Sun by Eva Husson Ash is Purest White by Jia Zhangke Shoplifters by Hirokazu Koreeda Capernaum by Nadine Labaki Burning by Lee Chang-dong Blackkklansman by Spike Lee Under the Silver Lake…