PlayLater, a program which allows consumers to save most premium online video programming to their PC, has launched today from PlayOn. The software is designed only for the PC and is provided on a subscription basis of $4.99 per month.  The software has been in Beta over the past two months. We spoke with PlayOn CEO Jeff Lawrence about the new offering [...]

Click-through rates for ads on connected TVs are in the 10 to 17% range to date, a healthy number, according to new data shared by entertainment discovery service and technology provider Rovi. In addition, the number of impressions, as well as engagement and time spent with ads on connected TVs is rising each week, Rovi told the New Media Minute. Advertising [...]

comScore, which first broke out metrics around the top 50 YouTube partner channels for the month of July, is publishing analytics for all YouTube partner channels, which is many thousands, says Dan Piech, Product Manager, in this interview with Beet.TV. These August data numbers will be published later this week, a comScore spokeswoman tells us. Andy Plesser

Having decided as to "go it alone," and not be part of Hulu, CBS has seen dramatic growth of its business in an "open, non-exclusive approach" to syndication with deals with AOL, Yahoo, MSN and Comcast, explains Ken Lagana, SVP of Sales at CBS Interactive. He was a speaker at last month's Beet.TV Online video leadership event about online advertising. Andy Plesser

A common GRP for TV and online video could be a boon to online video, said Dave Campanelli, SVP and director of National Broadcast at Horizon Media, while speaking at a Beet.TV Online Video Leadership webcast in New York last month.   "It would be much easier to include digital video on a buy if we had GRPs," he said. "We [...]

Watch live streaming video from beet_tv at livestream.com The economic and creative process surrounding original Web programming will be explored in 90-minute Webcast from the AOL Studio in Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 20 at 11:00 a.m PDT. Participants include: Yuri Baranovsky, Actor, Writer, ProducerRoss Glick, Co-Founder, IndelibleBrandon Laatsch, Cinematographer, StuntsGabe Lewis, Head of Original Video, AOL Taryn O’Neill, Actor, Writer, [...]

Erick Schonfeld, co-editor of TechCrunch has been named editor by AOL, taking over the reins from founder Michael Arrington. Earlier this year, we spoke with Erick about the evolution of TechCrunch TV and the expansion of programming from the AOL Studio in New York.  We have republished that interview today. Congrats to Erick on his new gig.  Andy Plesser

Hulu is investing heavily in original and exclusive programming, such as "LXD," "A Day in the Life," and "The Morning After," said Kevin McGurn, VP Ad Sales at Hulu, while speaking at a Beet.TV Online Video Leadership webcast in New York last month.   "We have quite a few in the development queue moving forward. We are happy with what we [...]

Tremor Video, the industry's biggest online video advertising network, has raised an additional $37 million in funding, the company announced this morning. Ad Age first reported the news. New York-based Tremor has expanded considerably through the acquisition of ScanScout and mobile video ad network Transpera.  The company has also expanded its core operations to include an analytics solution called Video Hub.  In May, [...]

Meporter, an application for local news gathering, which is being used by Forbes and other news organizations, just launched an Android App.  Since the company launched earlier this year, the App was only available for the iPhone. In May, when the company launched at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York, we interviewed founder and CEO Andy Leff.  We have republished that video today. Andy [...]

AMSTERDAM/SAN FRANCISCO - HTML 5 is essentially a "video tag," says Ashley Still, Director of Video Operations at Adobe Systems, in this interview with Beet.TV She says that while Adobe supports the implementation of HTML 5, it is just a "piece of the puzzle" which does not address issues around analytics, engagement, content protection and scale. We spoke with her at the [...]

Shows with loyal viewership have the highest completion rates for viewing pre-roll ads, said Mike Hudack, CEO of blip.tv, while speaking at a Beet.TV Online Video Leadership webcast in New York last month. As viewers watch more episodes of a show, their tolerance for ads rises. Loyal fans usually have a 100% completion rate for viewing pre-rolls, Hudack said. As a [...]

AMSTERMDAM/SAN FRANCISCO - Adobe says it has agreements in place with the top ten U.S. cable/telco operators for its Pass product.  The product allows content owners like CNN and Fox to distribute cable programming to digital devices of cable subscribers. In this video interview, Ashley Still, Adobe's Diretor of Video Solutions, says that the agreements in the U.S. mean that its technology [...]

ESPN operates its multiplatform programming strategy according to a "best available screen at the moment" approach, said Tim Connolly, VP for digital distribution at Disney/ESPN, while speaking at a Beet.TV Online Video Leadership webcast in New York last month. That means consumers are most apt to watch sports programming on the best and biggest screen they have at any given moment [...]

AMSTERDAM/SAN FRANCISCO - At the big IBC show in Amsterdam, Adobe announced the introduction of Flash Media Server 4.5, a platform for publishers to deliver Flash content to Apple iOS devices, including the iPad and iPhone. In this pre-event conversation with Ashley Still, we get an update on the new server along with other news, including the new DRM solution for [...]

ESPN is slated to roll out ads in October in live programming it carries on digital platforms such as tablets, mobile phones and computers, said Tim Connolly, VP for digital distribution at Disney/ESPN, while speaking at a Beet.TV Online Video Leadership webcast in New York last month. He added that ESPN will be able to charge a higher CPM for those [...]

Watch live streaming video from beet_tv at livestream.com       Live from the AOL Studio in New York on Tuesday, September 27 at 2:00 p.m., tune-in to the next Beet.TV Leadership event, a ninety-minute Webcast with top Web personalities, senior media and advertising agency executives for an exploration of the strategies around branded entertainment for the Web. Topics discussed will include what goes into [...]

Interactive ads for Lincoln on AT&T U-Verse are engaging visitors up to 15 minutes and driving "tens of thousands" of leads, says Christopher Monteferrante, VP of Media Sales at U-Verse. We spoke with him about the opportunities for marketers around IPTV.  Monteferrante was a panelist at the Beet.TV Video Leadership webcast on August 23. Andy Plesser

AMSTERDAM/SAN FRANCISCO -- Adobe has expanded its lineup of programmers using its Adobe Pass TV authentication tools to verify whether consumers can watch online content from pay TV operators to include Fox, Scripps, Hulu, AMC Networks and others, Adobe said at the international trade show IBC. Those new content providers are in addition to early users of Viacom and Turner, said [...]

In a significant publishing acquisition, Google has acquired Zagat, the Internet giant announced today. Last year, Beet.TV sat down with co-founder Nina Zagat for this overview on the evolution of the guide as an original "crowd sourcing" endeavor. We have republished it today. Andy Plesser