TEL AVIV -- Interlude, the Israel and New York-based startup created by Israeli rock musician Yoni Bloch, has produced an interactive video platform that turns viewers into co-directors by offering choices throughout the video that shape the way it plays out. Viewers click within the video player to make choices and create their own experience in real time. The company’s clients include Microsoft, [...]

Howcast, the four-year-old 'how-to' video producer and distributor, has redesigned its site. organized around topics, with related video served up on its pages. We spoke with Jason Liebman, cofounder and CEO about the new interface and growth of the site which he says has 15,000 video which have been watched one billion times. Andy Plesser  

Online video is more measured than most other mediums, but it's not necessarily more transparent, says Kelly McEttrick, Director of Platform Strategy for at VideoHub, during an interview with Beet.TV. We caught up with her at the OMMA Video conference this week in New York for a discussion on transparency in video media buying. "Data transparency is needed for the right type [...]

More than one-third of U.S. homes have at least one TV connected to the Internet, and as that figure rises advertising innovations experts are grappling with how to move brands into the new medium, says Rex Harris, Innovations Supervisor at SMGx, a unit of Starcom MediaVest, in an interview with Beet.TV. We caught up with him at the AppNation conference in [...]

BOSTON (via Skype Video) - The Boston Globe, which has been producing and streaming video clips for over five years, has launched it first regular live show.  The subject is sports and the 20-minute program is hosted by columnist Christopher Gasper.  It streams Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at noon.  It is also available on demand. Earlier this week we spoke with Caleb [...]

TEL AVIV – Israel-based video start-up Magisto is simplifying video editing with a platform that analyzes and edits video automatically. In this video interview, Magisto CEO Oren Boiman discusses the difficulties of video editing and why today more than ever there is a need for an easier solution. Boiman explains that he experienced the difficulty of video editing firsthand when his daughter [...]

Simulmedia, the New York-based company lead by Dave Morgan, recently raised $6 million in new funding and is on its way to building a system to effectively deliver targeted advertising to TV users, using a Web-like solution, says Morgan in this inteview with Beet.TV We spoke with him yesterday at the OMMA Video conference. Andy Plesser

As the advertising industry sizes-up the value of branded Web video, the nascent medium provides "residual value," something not found in television advertising, explains John McCarus, SVP of Brand Content at Digitas in this inteview with Beet.TV Unlike television where ad buys which stop and start, branded videos created for the Web live-on, providing continuing value to a brand, he explains. In [...]

The costs for content delivery network services (CDN), which have been in steep decline since 2009, have finally leveled off says Dan Rayburn, an industry analyst with Frost & Sullivan and EVP of StreamingMedia.com Citing his survey of 800 companies who buy CDN services, he says pricing this year will be down just 15-20% while demand will grow by about 60%.  [...]

YouTube's new original content initiative is likely to bring an increase in CPMs for programmers and the site, says John Evershed, CEO of animated programmer Mondo Media and a YouTube partner, during an interview with Beet.TV in Manhattan at the Streaming Media East conference.  YouTube is starting to sell the programming in its new content initiative at a premium, which could improve CPMs, Evershed [...]

Nearly two-thirds of media-savvy U.S. consumers say they used an Internet-connected device for at least a few minutes the last time they watched TV, underscoring that TV viewers are multitasking on other screens, according to Anna Bager, VP and GM, Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Beet.TV caught up with Bager outside the AppNation conference in Soho [...]

LONDON (via Skype Video) -- The Associated Press, a leading provider of video news for broadcast and online media, has upgraded its news gathering and distribution and will be offering broadcast and online clients news video in HD beginning May 30, says the AP's Mark Davies, Deputy Director of International Video in the AP's London bureau, in this Skype Video [...]

Stephen Colbert's on-air routine taking Wheat Thins and its advertising memo to task in a branded sponsorship earlier this year was deliberate, says Amanda Richman, President of Digital at MediaVest, in interview with Beet.TV We caught up with her at the Ad Age Social TV conference last week to discuss the Colbert-Kraft Food sponsorship.  She says that it generated mega buzz [...]

Presented by Topics to be explored will include the changing shape of video journalism; the opportunities and challenges in reaching new audiences through search and discovery; the promise of live news via the Internet; new technologies for distribution and effective monetization strategies. The program will be comprised of a series of one-on-one conversations as well as small panels.  The sessions will [...]

PRESENTED BY     Please join a small group of leading digital news executives for a discussion about online video news distribution, monetization and discovery.  The MSNBC.com Digital Cafe, Monday, June 4, 30 Rockefeller Plaza (upstairs from NBC Store, S.E. corner of buildling) 5:00-7:00 p.m.  Guests welcomed at 5:00. with session from 5:30 to 6:30, followed by networking recception. with: Dan Calarusso, Head of Global Programming, Reuters Rahul [...]

Although a vast majority of professionally produced video is watch on a PC or Mac, the Xbox has emerged as the second most widely used viewing platform, besting the iPad, iPhone and Android devices, according to video advertising technology firm FreeWheel in an industry report. For an update on Xbox 360 and its rapid growth, we spoke last month with Microsoft's [...]

TEL AVIV – Social video is booming, with apps like Viddy and SocialCam taking Facebook by storm.  More people are sharing videos online than ever, but Oren Boiman, the CEO of Israel-based automatic video editing start-up Magisto says that, "social video is not just about being able to share videos with your friends." In this video interview, Boiman talks about Magisto’s [...]

Video-on-demand advertising can drive higher levels of engagement for consumers, says Keith Kryszczun, senior VP of ad sales for advanced advertising technology firm BlackArrow during a Beet.TV live show at the National Association of Broadcasters' Show in Las Vegas. BlackArrow analyzed the effectiveness of VOD ads in a detailed study this past fall revealing that VOD users are comfortable with ads, can handle longer ad [...]

To grow digital advertising, online video providers would be wise to standardize metrics along the lines of TV, says Jason Dimberg, Yahoo's senior director of video programming and operations during a Beet.TV live show at the National Association of Broadcasters' Show in Las Vegas. "We have to bring volume to the table to hard sell with advertisers and marketers and agencies on shifting [to [...]

The amount of social activity surrounding prime-time TV has nearly tripled year over year, said Mark Ghuneim, CEO of social TV tracking service Trendrr.tv. We spoke with him earlier this week at the Ad Age Social TV conference about Trendrr.TV's latest findings in social TV. "It's explosive and happening naturally with consumers," he says in this video interview of the 194% growth in [...]