Judging from the jump Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) just reported in subscribers, the fact that the service is no longer carrying new releases from major studios including Universal Studios, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX) until they have been on sale in stores for 28 days hasn’t bothered customers…

By Jemima Kiss: A new cross-industry video initiative announced yesterday in the US aims to help improve interoperability between different retailers. UltraViolet is being adopted by more than 60 consumer electronics firms and entertainment firms including Toshiba, Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures, Paramount and Netflix.

The connected-TV space is about to unleash whole new opportunities for video content owners to distribute and profit from their content. In one of the latest examples, Panasonic is adding a third-party movie vendor, AceTrax, to VieraCast, the connected-TV interface on its TVs and Blu-ray players, in Europe.

Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) has been accruing streaming rights steadily but until now has been unable to crack the pay window. A new deal with Relativity Media changes that, giving the video subscription service exclusive access during a window that has been dominated by HBO, Showtime and Starz. During the window…

»  MySpace (NSDQ: NWS) is looking to restructure its search ad partnership with Google (NSDQ: GOOG) by including Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) as the social net tries to find a way to compensate for traffic declines, which has hampered its ability to meet the benchmarks laid out…

My Hulu Plus preview code hasn’t arrived yet but I’ve been able to sample the subscription service via the iPad app. Turns out the “free gallery” on the iPad includes pilot episodes for Parenthood, Ugly Betty, Spaced, the documentary Super Size Me and a dozen or so other shows and…

Hulu’s long-anticipated Hulu Plus launches today in preview mode, promising deeper access to most of the video portal’s current broadcast shows and a library of back seasons—in some cases, like Arrested Development, full runs—in exchange for $9.99 a month. To start, that will buy access across PCs and Macs; some…

Viacom’s Paramount Home Entertainment will provide Redbox with its new releases on the same day they go on sale, under a long-term agreement. Paramount is joining Sony (NYSE: SNE), Lions Gate, and Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS)—all of which let Redbox rent their new DVDs on the same day they go…

Someone finally cares enough for Divx. Sonic Solutions, the digital media solutions firm and owner of CinemaNow online movie service, has announced its intent to buy DivX (NSDQ: DIVX), the long outlier in the digital video codec space. Sonic will pay $3.75 in cash and 0.514 of its own shares…

Disney’s new Facebook application, Tickets Together, represents the company’s latest attempt to bridge e-commerce and social media promotion. The first test of the ticketing app is for the much hyped Toy Story 3. Although the animated film doesn’t open for another two-and-a-half weeks, Facebook members who download the app to…

It’s not called Hulu mobile, but it probably should be. Fox’s Mobile Group has launched a mobile beta application that provides free access to full-length TV shows on your phone. The strangely named application is called Bitbop, and quietly became available in beta as recently as today, a spokesperson confirmed.…

Best Buy’s long-awaited entry to the online video download market is here. Best Buy said last June that under an agreement with Sonic Solutions’ CinemaNow movie service it would make movies and TV shows available for download and rent through BestBuy.com, as well as various devices it sells. The company…

While Blockbuster could benefit from the closure of rival video rental chain Movie Gallery, it got no relief in Q1, as the company swung to a $65.4 million net loss from a $27 million profit the year before. It’s clear that more nimble rivals like Netflix’s mail-order and download business…

		EPS*	Rev. vs Q109	Net Inc. vs Q109
BBI	Release		13%	336%

* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) posted healthy gains this past quarter, and the company cited box office successes such as Alice In Wonderland and the acquisition of Marvel, which has the number one film at the box office with Iron Man 2, as the reasons for the growth. In…

		EPS*	Rev. vs Q109	Net Inc. vs Q109
DIS	Release		6%	12%

* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

A Federal Communications Commission rule change has granted two big wishes to the Hollywood film studios on Friday. Rejecting pleas from cinema operators, the FCC’s Media Bureau issued a waiver allowing movie studios to deliver first run theatrical releases via video-on-demand systems, The Wrap reported. On top of that, the…

Avatar didn’t bring home the Oscar for best picture but it helped News Corp (NYSE: NWS) to a win for its FYQ3—revenue up nearly 19 percent to $8.8 billion and a profit of $839 million. The cable networks also gave a big assist, including the best quarter ever for Fox…

		EPS*	Rev. vs Q0109	Net Inc. vs Q0109
NWS	Release		18.9%	N/A

* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

A milestone in the transition to alternate video rental models: Movie Gallery, the second largest video rental chain in the U.S., is closing all of its shops. The WSJ says the company will shut down the locations over the next several months; no comment from Movie Gallery yet. The move…

It took a couple of extra months but Fox and Universal have agreed to roughly the same deal with DVD rental kiosk company Redbox as Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX) did in February. Both studios will now provide Redbox with “improved economic terms,” as well as additional access to Blu-ray titles,…

YouTube’s video rental store—which started out with five Sundance Film Festival titles in January—now has “hundreds” of movies, TV shows and documentaries in its catalog, most of which are available to watch for between 99 cents and $3.99. ReadWriteWeb noted the under-the-radar expansion today, and YouTube tells us that so…