AllThingsD » Sam Schechner

EU Regulators Weigh New Google Crackdown

Sam Schechner — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:30:51 +0000

Privacy regulators from France and other European Union countries have proposed a coordinated crackdown before summer on Google Inc.’s privacy practices, escalating European efforts to reshape how global companies treat user data.

France’s privacy watchdog said Monday it and an unspecified number of other European regulators want to coordinate a “repressive action” against Google, after the company had failed to give “precise and effective” answers to a warning that all 27 EU national regulators issued in October. The full group of privacy regulators, known as the Article 29 group, is scheduled to vote on the proposal at the end of February.

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Alcatel Chief Is Out as Turnaround Stalls

Sam Schechner and Dana Cimilluca — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:00:18 +0000

Burning cash and reeling from cutthroat competition, Alcatel-Lucent SA said Thursday that its chief executive will step down after a transition period to find a successor.

Some directors have been frustrated with Ben Verwaayen’s slow progress in turning around the telecommunications equipment maker, one person close to the board said. Another person said the decision was mutual and that Mr. Verwaayen had managed to stabilize the company. The company is searching for a replacement, and Mr. Verwaayen plans to stay on until one is found, Alcatel-Lucent said.

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French Government, ISPs Want Google, Others to Invest in Infrastructure

Sam Schechner — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:30:20 +0000

The French government is studying ways to push large Web companies to pay local Internet providers more for the bandwidth being used, a minister said Monday, in a sign of how European countries are intensifying efforts to wring revenue out of largely American businesses such as Google Inc.

Fleur Pellerin, France’s technology minister, said the government is looking at how existing telecommunication regulations could be harnessed to ensure Web giants help pay to roll out and maintain high-speed networks.

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Apple's TV Vision: Sharing, Full On-Demand, Icons

Jessica E. Vascellaro and Sam Schechner — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:50:24 +0000

Apple Inc.’s vision for a new television set-top box includes features designed to simplify accessing and viewing programming and erase the distinction between live and on-demand content, people briefed on Apple’s plans said.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company proposes giving viewers the ability to start any show at any time through a digital-video recorder that would store TV shows on the Internet. Viewers even could start a show minutes after it has begun. Time Warner Cable Inc. offers a limited version of this feature called Start Over.

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Alcatel to Slash Jobs After Loss

Sam Schechner — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:45:57 +0000

Alcatel-Lucent SA shares slumped to new lows Thursday after the company burned through half a billion euros ($607.9 million) of cash in the second quarter of 2012 and announced a new cost-cutting plan to cope with its woes.

The company posted a net loss of €254 million , after a net profit of €43 million a year earlier, as revenue fell 7.1 percent to €3.55 billion, with steep declines in wireless spending in North America and Western Europe.

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Google Settles Lawsuits Brought by French Authors and Publishers

Sam Schechner — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:30:14 +0000

Google Inc.’s effort to digitize the world’s books inched forward Monday, as the search giant said it had struck deals with French authors and publishers that end six years of litigation and open the way to sell out-of-print French books online.

As part of the deal, a French author association that had been suing Google for copyright infringement said it had agreed to withdraw its lawsuit, the last such pending suit in France after other publishers withdrew theirs last year.

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Online Video Turns Up Heat

Suzanne Vranica and Sam Schechner — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:13:38 +0000

Though television may be losing viewers to online video, it has been holding on to advertisers. But with online-video outlets this week making their most organized push yet for ad dollars, that may be starting to change.

Early expectations are that TV networks will win an increase in total ad commitments for the fall season in the coming weeks of negotiations with advertisers known as the upfront. Yet, some big marketers, including General Motors Co. GM -2.71% and Samsung Electronic Co.’s mobile arm, say they are planning to shift some of their TV budgets to the Web.

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The New Cable-TV Guy: Intel

Sam Schechner and Don Clark — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:13 +0000

Intel Corp. is developing an Internet-based TV service that it hopes to sell to U.S. consumers, a strategic shift for the chip maker that makes it the latest technology company to look at a foray in the pay-TV business.

The Silicon Valley company has for several months been pitching media companies on a plan to create a “virtual cable operator,” which would offer their U.S. TV channels nationwide over the Internet in a bundle similar to subscriptions sold by cable- and satellite-TV operators, according to people familiar with the effort. Intel wouldn’t provide Internet access, which subscribers would obtain separately.

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Plans for "TV Everywhere" Bog Down in Tangled Pacts

Sam Schechner and Shalini Ramachandran — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:00:31 +0000

It was dubbed “TV Everywhere.” But for many TV viewers, it has had trouble going anywhere.

Nearly three years after Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. kicked off a drive to make cable programming available online for cable subscribers, the idea of TV Everywhere remains mired in technical holdups, slow deal-making and disputes over who will control TV customers in the future.

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Comcast Is Launching a Netflix Competitor

Sam Schechner — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:40:08 +0000

Comcast Corp. is taking aim at Netflix Inc., unveiling its own streaming-video service that will give existing Comcast video customers a similar selection of old TV shows and movies over the Web.

The Philadelphia-based cable operator said Tuesday that the new service would be called Xfinity Streampix, and will be bundled with certain tiers of Comcast video service, and available for $4.99 per month to other Comcast video customers. By contrast, Netflix’s streaming-video service costs $7.99 per month.

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Weather Channel Hires Digital-Ad Expert as CEO

Suzanne Vranica and Sam Schechner — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:21:25 +0000

The owners of the Weather Channel abruptly replaced the company’s chief executive, Mike Kelly, naming a digital advertising veteran in his place.

Weather Channel Cos., owned jointly by private-equity firms Blackstone Group LP, Bain Capital and Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal, appointed David Kenny as chairman and chief executive. Most recently president of digital-technology company Akamai Technologies Inc., Mr. Kenny, 50 years old, previously had a long career in the ad business.

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Hulu to Create More Original Shows

Sam Schechner and Christopher S. Stewart — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:26:39 +0000

Online video site Hulu LLC is increasing its output of original shows, the latest in an escalation of TV-like programs being made directly for the Internet, further blurring the lines between the Web and TV.

Hulu said Sunday that it will roll out two new shows between now and summer, while bringing back a third it debuted last year. The new shows include a half-hour scripted comedy about a dysfunctional Senate campaign, dubbed “Battleground,” beginning in February, and a travelogue show from director Richard Linklater.

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Apple Plots Its TV Assault

Jessica E. Vascellaro and Sam Schechner — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 01:06:12 +0000

Apple Inc. is moving forward with its assault on television, following up on the ambitions of its late co-founder, Steve Jobs.

In recent weeks, Apple executives have discussed their vision for the future of TV with media executives at several large companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple is also working on its own television that relies on wireless streaming technology to access shows, movies and other content, according to people briefed on the project.

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Dish in Talks for Internet TV

Sam Schechner and Matt Jarzemsky — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:22:12 +0000

Dish Network Corp. has approached several media companies about the possibility of licensing their TV channels for use on a new pay-TV service to be delivered over the Internet, rather than over Dish’s satellite system, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen has raised the idea with multiple media companies as part of a broader effort to control rising programming costs. The programming wouldn’t include sports channels in its most-basic tier of service, according to the people familiar with the discussions. Sports channels are among the most expensive for cable and satellite operators to carry.

In part, offering channels over the Internet could give Dish more flexibility to exclude channels whose existing contracts with Dish mandate that they appear on the satellite company’s most-widely distributed tiers of service.

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Google Ponders Pay-TV Business

Sam Schechner and Amir Efrati — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:05:07 +0000

Internet giant Google Inc. is considering a plan to offer paid cable-TV services to consumers, a move that could unleash a new wave of competition within the traditional TV business.

Google has looked at ways to expand a previously announced project to build a high-speed Internet service in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., adding video and phone service in a mirror of offerings from cable and telecom companies, according to people briefed on its plans. As a result, Google has discussed distributing major TV channels from companies like Walt Disney Co., Time Warner Inc. and Discovery Communications Inc. as part of the video service, though the discussions were exploratory and no final decisions have been made.

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CNN, HLN to Stream on Web

Sam Schechner — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:22:00 +0000

Time Warner Inc. is increasing the number of TV channels and programs it pipes over the Internet to people who have conventional pay-TV subscriptions, as the television business faces growing competition from Web-video services.

Starting Monday, the New York media giant plans to make live simulcasts of its CNN and HLN cable-news channels available on the Web to people who subscribe to participating TV distributors, including Comcast Corp., Dish Network Corp., and Verizon Communications Inc.

Subscribers can sign in to watch on CNN’s website or on Apple Inc. devices like the iPad. The simulcasts—which will mirror everything shown on TV, including ads—will be made available on other mobile devices in coming months, CNN said.

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Head of MTV Networks Resigns

Sam Schechner and Lauren E. Schuker — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:35:23 +0000

Viacom Inc. said Thursday Judy McGrath is resigning from her post as chief executive of its MTV Networks unit, giving the company’s top executives more direct control of some of its biggest assets.

Ms. McGrath, who began her MTV career 30 years ago as a copywriter in its promotions department, and has been CEO since 2004, will step down immediately. The company will not name a successor.

People close to Viacom and Ms. McGrath, 58 years old, say that she chose to resign and wasn’t forced out. As recently as last week, she had not decided whether to leave, one of those people said.

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Starz to Delay Some Content On Netflix

Sam Schechner and Nick Wingfield — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:07:49 +0000

Pay-TV channel Starz plans to delay the availability of new TV shows and movies to Netflix Inc., adding to the list of media companies that have signaled plans to keep new content away from the growing online-video giant.
Starz, owned by Liberty Media Corp., said that, beginning April 1, new episodes of its original shows, like the forthcoming “Camelot,” will be delayed 90 days before being available on Netflix and a handful of other Internet services to which it licenses content. Starz added that exclusive first-run movies on the channel will “later follow suit.”
The shift comes as Netflix is generating increased anxiety in the entertainment business for its growing heft. Some networks and cable operators fear Netflix, with 20 million subscribers, could siphon away their customers, particularly with its new video streaming service.

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Web Shows Get Ambitious

Sam Schechner — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:30:58 +0000

Technology and media companies are racing to create Internet-video hits closer to the scale of traditional TV, as consumers start to watch more video on Internet-connected televisions and tablet computers.

Netflix Inc. on Friday made the most expensive entry in the gold rush, saying it had cut a deal to produce a new drama starring Oscar winner Kevin Spacey on its Internet service. But companies like Yahoo Inc., AOL Inc. and Hulu LLC are also ramping up their efforts to secure original Web productions, investing more dollars in Web shows.

Hulu, an Internet venture focused on distributing traditional TV shows, recently hired a former movie executive to develop more original programs, according to people familiar with the matter. Next up on Hulu’s slate: “The Confession,” an action thriller in five- to seven-minute episodes that stars former “24″ star Kiefer Sutherland. It is scheduled to premiere March 28.

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Hulu Plans to Shrink Its Board

Sam Schechner and Jessica E. Vascellaro — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:00:21 +0000

Hulu LLC is planning to shrink its board, according to people familiar with the matter, shaking up the Web-video venture’s governance as it hashes out its future within the media business.

As part of the shift, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger and News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey may give up their board seats, the people said, potentially distancing the two men from day-to-day decision-making at the Web-video joint venture.

The move to a smaller board is an attempt to streamline operational decision-making within the venture, one of the people familiar with the plans said. Hulu’s board until recently has included 12 members, according to a list on its website, including three each from three media companies that have at times differed on strategic direction. It remains unclear how many people would remain on the board under the plan being discussed.

Hulu declined to comment. A spokesman for Disney and a spokeswoman for News Corp. also declined to comment.
Hulu is jointly owned by News Corp., NBCUniversal, Disney, Providence Equity Partners and Hulu employees. News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal (and All Things Digital).

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Hulu Mulls More Pay Plans, Not an IPO

Jessica E. Vascellaro and Sam Schechner — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:04:14 +0000

Online video site Hulu LLC has taken off the table the idea of going public, at least for now, and may consider other financing options, people familiar with the matter said.

Hulu also is mulling new subscription plans that could broaden its pay-video offerings beyond the recently introduced Hulu Plus.
Hulu’s management had been looking at an IPO as a way to raise cash, in part to license additional to content from a wider array of media companies. The company has decided not to proceed with the idea right now and may pursue other options for capital instead, the people familiar with the matter said. Those could include Hulu’s existing owners putting in more money, one of these people said.

The people familiar with the matter said that Hulu’s lack of long-term rights to its owners’ online-video programming was one reason the board and Hulu’s management have decided not to proceed with an IPO.

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Comcast Tests Combo Internet-Cable Device

Jessica E. Vascellaro and Sam Schechner — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:00:34 +0000

Comcast Corp. is testing a new service that knits together television and the Internet, as the U.S. cable giant goes after rivals that threaten to undermine its business.

Under the new system, which is being tested in Augusta, Ga., content flows through a set-top box that combines features of the Web with those of a digital-video recorder, according to people familiar with the matter.

Users can watch and search a smattering of Web video through their televisions and search across live, on-demand and recorded programming.

The service, known to participants as “Spectrum” and internally as “Xcalibur,” doesn’t let participants freely browse the Web, though they do have some basic connections to social networks to comment on television shows, the people familiar with the matter said.

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No Longer Tiny, Netflix Gets Respect—and Creates Fear

Nick Wingfield and Sam Schechner — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:00:27 +0000

After years as a bit player in entertainment, Netflix Inc. is being eyed for a new role by Hollywood: industry hulk.
The Silicon Valley company has successfully expanded its mail-order DVD rental service to delivering video online. Meantime, the rise of Internet-connected TVs and disc players means that Netflix’s electronically streamed movies and TV shows are reaching living rooms, not just computers.

All that poses a potential threat to the traditional way consumers watch movies and TV: cable, phone and satellite systems.
Netflix had 16.9 million subscribers at the end of September, up 52 percent from a year earlier.

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Online TV Streams Come Under Fire

Jessica E. Vascellaro and Sam Schechner — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:00:55 +0000

In the latest cat-and-mouse game between media companies and technology start-ups threatening to undermine their businesses, the big networks are intensifying their fight to stop Internet services that stream TV stations online.

Owners of the major broadcast-television networks are suing in federal court two start-up companies that stream broadcast TV stations online without their consent, arguing the start-ups are infringing on their copyrights. A judge in New York has scheduled a hearing Monday on the networks’ request for a temporary restraining order against FilmOn.com Inc., while another case against Ivi Inc. could be heard in coming weeks.

Ivi and FilmOn, which grab free over-the-air broadcast signals and convert them to online streams, are claiming their right to distribute the networks under a provision in the U.S. Copyright Act. Seattle-based Ivi is also arguing that Ivi isn’t governed by a separate communications statute that requires cable and satellite companies to negotiate licenses with content owners before transmitting their networks.

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Fox Joins Competitors in Blocking Google TV

Sam Schechner — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:00:12 +0000

Fox Broadcasting said Thursday it has started blocking video on its website from playing on Google Inc.’s new TV service–joining its major competitors ABC, CBS and NBC.

The move by Fox comes four weeks after ABC, CBS and NBC blocked their programming from Google TV amid uncertainty over how television companies will make money as more video content is distributed over the Web.

Google declined to comment. When ABC, CBS and NBC first blocked their videos from its service, a spokeswoman said in a statement: “Google TV enables access to all the Web content you already get today on your phone and PC, but it is ultimately the content owners’ choice to restrict their fans from accessing their content on the platform.”

Fox, like the Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp.

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