The idea that online video watching would be complementary to regular TV viewing has fallen by the wayside lately, as viewers seem to be watching more web videos at longer lengths. Even through the depths of the current recession, online video advertising was still growing at double digits. But it’s…

Some of the stories people are talking about this morning:»  Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) TV (or perhaps Apple’s iTV) may just revolutionize TV consumption by truly connecting the computer, mobile and the set top box once and for all, predicts the founder of Digg. [Kevin Rose] »  In order to get…

Is the iPad a mobile device? The question is no longer just a philosophical one, rather, it is now an important business issue facing content owners and developers—thanks in large part to Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), which has begun requiring that all applications work across the iPhone, iPod and iPad. This…

Some of the stories people are talking about this morning:»  Nick Denton is planning a major overhaul of the Gawker sites, starting with Deadspin. But instead of the usual blog-based redesign—more white space is in right now—Denton is modelling the new look on TV. [MediaMemo] »  As Hulu prepares for…

Cameron Death has been promoted to SVP/GM, NBC Universal Digital Studio. The studio, which Death has managed as a VP since its inception two years ago, creates original digital content for the company’s advertisers and distributes it across the various digital, cable and network platforms of NBC Universal (NYSE: GE).…

Discovery Communications (NSDQ: DISCA) will increase the funding for the Oprah Winfrey Network to $198 million from its previous promise of $100 million, the company said in an 8-K filing. The funding will be in the form of a revolving loan, but Discovery isn’t sure if it will provide that…

Cox Communications is allying with TiVo: The big cable company says it will bring its On Demand movie service, which provides subscribers with hundreds of movies they can watch, to TiVo’s Premiere DVR, which debuted in March. The two companies say the Premiere will be the “first retail product to…

With this morning’s announcement of an estimated $1 billion streaming movie deal between Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) and Epix in the minds of analysts on the Disney (NYSE: DIS) Q2 earnings call, CEO Bob Iger says that he is looking to find a model for offering premium DVD rentals, while taking…

Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) and Epix have made their “multi-year” movie streaming deal official and to be sure, the threat is more towards other pay TV channels than the dwindling DVD sales that the movie studios have sought to protect. Epix has subscription pay TV rights to new releases and movies…

One of the visions of tomorrow’s connected world is that people will be able to call up the TV show they missed from the night before and watch it while on their way to work from their phone. AT&T (NYSE: T) gets pretty close to this futuristic scenario with the…

Vevo and MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) are having difficulty coming to an agreement over whether Vevo can sell advertising around the Viacom network’s online music player, according to interviews with sources in both camps. As a result, UMG, one of the founding partners of Vevo, has pulled its artists’ videos…

Some of the stories people are talking about this morning:»  A Jack Griffin-led Time Inc. (NYSE: TWX) would include the same emphasis he put on marketing services at Meredith (NYSE: MDP), but on a larger scale. [Mediaweek] »  CNN may be suffering in the ratings, but under Jon Klein, president…

Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) has been trialing a new service for several months now that lets digital cable and broadband subscribers see content on their computers on their TVs with minimal effort. During the company’s earnings call Thursday, executives wouldn’t say much more about that, only that “[they] find that it…

Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) didn’t do as well as analysts had predicted, but it did manage to avoid the struggles that its rivals had in attracting more video subscribers. At the same time, the Newsday segment was mixed. Newsday revenues were down 9.7 percent—pulled down by 12 percent decline in newspaper…

		EPS*	Rev. vs Q209	Net Inc. vs Q209
Cablevision	Release		5.8%	30%

* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA) posted slightly better-than-expected results in Q2, as company watchers continued to wonder about Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s bid to take to the company private and the counteroffers. Meanwhile, digital revenues continued to improve, but the total publishing segment was pulled down by print and other woes.

		EPS*	Rev. vs Q209	Net Inc. vs Q209
Playboy	Release	N/A	10%	37.9%

* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) showed the true benefits of having the dual revenue streams of advertising and cable, as its networks division, which includes its MTV Networks, saw dollars rise 6.4 percent and profit gain 14 percent. Still the effects of the recession couldn’t be ignored on the revenue front overall,…

		EPS*	Rev. vs Q209	Net Inc. vs Q209
Viacom	Release		0.1%	5220%

* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

Early agreements from Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) and Redbox to delay renting new titles until 28 days after they are first available for purchase in stores is already having positive results for Time (NYSE: TWX) Warner’s film segment, said CEO and chairman Jeff Bewkes. He said that Time Warner was able…

Some of the stories people are talking about this morning:»  CBS (NYSE: CBS) and Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) have struck a major, comprehensive 10-year carriage agreement, that will prevent the sort of showdowns that threatens viewers’ programming with increasing frequency these days.  [CBS press release] »  Retrans fees have put some…

Just in time for the season finale of the Real Housewives of New York City-spinoff, Bethenny Getting Married?, Bravo is introducing an iPad app that it hopes will have users promoting the show as it airs. The iPad app features the NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) cable channel’s “Talk Bubble,” which…