The Coldplay concert now live from Madrid (4:00 p.m. EDT today), is part of a series of major live concert series streamed on Vevo and sponsored by American Express. To understand the value of the unique live programming and the opportunity it provides to American Express, we spoke with Scott Reich who is head of original programming at Vevo. We originally published [...]

NEW YORK/SAN JOSE (via Telepresence) Cisco's high-end video conferencing platform for big companies and institutions, with endpoints costing $300K or more, now has a low-priced solution for small businesses. Endpoints can be as low as $5,000 with monthly network costs of under $100. While the Telepresence system has been closed to users with the devices, it will soon be opened to participants [...]

As the technology of news creation, distribution and consumption is quickly changing, publishers have the opportunity to connect with new audiences through original content creation, site design, search and discovery. These topics will be explored in a ninety-minute Webcast on Tuesday, October 26 from 2:00 to 3:30 EDT Our participants will be:Ann Derry, Editorial Director, Video and Television, The New York [...]

With consumption quickly rising on mobile devices, Ooyala has released a specific "player experience" for Android devices. While the vast majority of mobile viewer engagement is on the iPad, it is increasing on Android devices, says Bismarck Lepe, President of Products for the big video services company, in this interview with Beet.TV. This is the second of two video interviews we did with Lepe [...]

Brands like Zappos, who are using rough and authentic user-generated video are finding traction on Facebook, where slick production does not necessarily work, says Dan Reich, Dirctor of Account Manager at Buddy Media. Buddy Media is the fast-growing company that builds a Facebook presence for a number of big brands.  We spoke with Reich last week at the Ooyala video conference [...]

Slickly produced product videos of the North Face gear drives traffic and helps communicate the value and supports the premium price point of the company's line, says Shay Miles, digital marketing manager for the North Face. We spoke with her last week at the Ooyala video seminar where she was a speaker.  In this video, we have used some of the [...]

Mid-roll video ads have the highest completion rate of in-stream units, finds VINDICO, the New York-based online video ad management platform. In a study of millions of video impressions for consumer and packaged goods ads, the company found completion rates about ten percent greater for mid-roll compared to pre-roll. We spoke with company president Matt Timothy about the value and opportunities around [...]

The immensely popular Weather Channel App for the iPad re-launched its App today. We spoke with the network's digital chief Cameron Clayton about the new App and we have a demo of what a three-dimensional rendering of the earth looks like.  Other cool features to see include a changing screen tableau based on local conditions. Here is the company's news release.   Andy Plesser

More and more publishers are using Facebook as a content distribution point. They are finding high engagement and now can understand performance and the demographics, says Ooyala's President of Products Bismarck Lepe in this interview with Beet.TV. The Mountain View-based video services company launched its analytics engine for Facebook last week. We caught up with him today in Manattan at the company's [...]

Social media buzz can translate into higher ratings for a TV show, according to a report from NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company. The research firm found that for the 18 to 34 age group, a 9% increase in social buzz volume correlates to a 1% increase in TV ratings. This week's New Media Minute looks at how broadcast and cable networks [...]

AOL's StudioNow, the unit that makes large numbers of informational videos for businesses, will expand its operations in an alliance with SundaySky. SundaySky has created a software solution which allows companies to create videos somewhat automatically, using templates which integrate various media elements into a short video. We reported on the company earlier the year and interviewed the founder and CTO Yaniv Axen.  [...]

Subscribers to Verizon FiOS can now use an Andriod App which allows them to watch programming saved  on their Flex View library, functions as a remote control and is a tool to access the telco's new Home Monitoring and Control service, Verizon announced today. The company will be releasing an Apple iOS App later this year. The Flex View product has been [...]

Taboola, the video recommendation platform which generates related thumbnail images on the pages of major news sites, including Bloomberg, CNN, Gannett and The New York Times, now has agreements with Reuters and the Washington Post. The company provides its service to publishers for free in exchange for the placement of text ads sprinkled among the thumbnails. Recently, the company has been [...]

Tremor Video, the biggest independent video ad network, has released a pre-roll unit which can expand to cover a majority  of the screen when activated by a viewer. Its first implementation of the new unit is for the DreamWorks “Real Steel” motion picture. Pricing is based on Cost Pre Engagment (CPE) so advertisers pay for impressions when viewers engage with the units, [...]

Starting out three years ago with a Webcam in their bedroom in Kingsport, Tennessee, uploading quick beauty tips to YouTube, Elle Fowler, 23, and sister Blair, 18, have created a massive following, have big brand deals and have moved to LA where they are mobbed by teenage girls at malls. Their YouTube channel has had 289 million views and has 1.6 [...]

As consumption of media fragments moves increasingly to digital, big brands are looking to their agencies for ways to associate with hard-to-reach audiences. Agencies in turn are working with content creators to build original campaigns. Not television commercials, but series and long form content with a brand message aimed at specific audiences. Such an alliance has been forged between Digitas, the big [...]

Vinod Khosla has closed a new venture fund of $1.1 billion, one of biggest funds created this year.  The firm, Kholsa Ventures, will allocate about half the investment capital in "clean tech" companies and the other half to tech, including mobile, reports Pui Wi Tam in the Wall Street Journal. In the fall of 2008 on the MIT campus, we interviewed Kholsa [...]

SAY Media, the San Francisco-based digital media company/advertising network, will be doing "a lot of acquisitions" in the coming year, says Troy Young president, in this interview with Beet.TV The company's most recent acquisition was the August purchase of home remodeling site Remodelista.  He says they are looking for media properties which are "leading" in their space. Young says that the SAY Media [...]

What's hot in interactive TV, social TV and new media? While traveling in Tokyo last week, I received some interesting tips from venture capitalist Habib Kairouz of Rho Ventures, best known for backing iVillage, on the top three trends he is tracking in these areas. I put them together in a New Media Minute, shot from the streets of Tokyo. Daisy Whitney Editor's [...]

SAN BRUNO, Calif -- As YouTube expands its education offering beyond what is mostly college-level classes, it is encouraging secondary and primary grade school teachers to make and share videos through the YouTube Teacher's Channel. The new channel provides teachers with instructions on how to make and upload videos and how to incorporate existing videos in their classroom instruction. The teacher's channel launched [...]