News Roundup
By | July 22, 2011
Apple Eyeing Hulu. Apple may be making a bid for Hulu, Bloomberg reports. Hulu is offering a five-year extension of program rights and two years of exclusive access. The price of the deal could reach $2 billion. Other companies reported to be courting the online service are Yahoo Inc. and AT&T Inc., while Microsoft dropped out of the running earlier this week. By the end of August, Hulu’s subs will exceed 1 million.
YouTube Airs Festivals. The AP reports that YouTube will stream two live music festivals—Lollapalooza in early August and Austin City Limits in mid-September—with sponsors Dell and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. The Google-owned company has streamed other festivals before, including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands and Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, along with other live content, such as the British royal wedding in April. On the latter’s success: Susan Wojcicki, SVP of advertising for Google said on the company’s Q2 2011 earnings conference call July 14 that the wedding’s broadcast generated approximately 100 million views. And, with that kind of attention, there’s “a huge opportunity to monetize video as more users come online, and more content lines are being uploaded on YouTube.” But Adweek reports that no creation of original content is planned. The company would rather partner with content providers to deliver webcasts than create original programming.
Google+ Growth. The LA Times reports Google+ now has 20 million users (that’s double the numbers Google CEO Larry Page gave in Google’s Q2 earnings call), according to research date from ComScore.
Verizon’s Answer to AT&T. After AT&T reported a 202,000 Q2 gain in U-verse TV subs, Verizon has announced. it’s added 184,000 FiOS TV users in the second quarter, bringing the total number of pay TV subs to 3.8 million. Total FiOS broadband subs are at 4.5 million, after the addition of 189,000 new users at Q2’s close. More from the The Hollywood Reporter here.