:: LNR Journalism ::

Ted Sarandos: Launching Netflix in the UK

Ray Snoddy says, there is good news for Ted Sarandos, because "60% of the people in the UK have heard of Netflix. There is bad news as well: about 5% last month actually used the service."

Guardian :: Chief content officer and vice-president of content at Netflix talks to Ray Snoddy about launching the company in the UK market. He concedes that there are many battles ahead for in this emerging market, and laughs off accusations of a landgrab in the UK territory.

Watch the Q&A session here www.guardian.co.uk

25pc drop could confirm Hastings' 3Q fears: Olympics streaming saps Netflix traffic

Variety :: It turns out Netflix may not have been paranoid after all about the threat posed by the Olympics to its streaming business. Streaming activity for the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company dropped 25% in the U.S. on Sunday from "normal levels," according to research from Procera Networks, a technology provider for broadband networks.

A report by Andrew Wallenstein, www.variety.com

Senate amendment could finally bring Netflix into Facebook Timeline

VentureBeat :: Despite being the country’s largest streaming movie service, Netflix is noticeably absent from Facebook’s Timeline feature due to a 1988 law that forbids video rental services from sharing a customer’s rental history. The law, Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), was initially created for the purpose of concealing physical media rentals, but congress has refused to say if digital video rentals also fall under the law’s jurisdiction.

A report by venturebeat.com

Consumers catching up with smart TV apps

MediaPost :: While desired apps for new smart TV come from the most popular online destinations, such as Netflix, YouTube and Facebook, many consumers are still not familiar about the functions of these new TV sets.

A report by Wayne Friedman, www.mediapost.com

Netflix's lost year: The inside story of the price-hike train wreck

CNET :: One year ago tomorrow, CEO Reed Hastings took the first of a series of missteps that angered customers and nearly derailed his company. Current and former employees disclose what went wrong.

Continue to read Greg Sandoval, news.cnet.com

Netflix just became cable’s biggest TV network

GigaOM :: Netflix subscribers watched more than one billion hours of video in June, according to the company’s CEO Reed Hastings. That means that U.S. subscribers watched around 80 minutes of Netflix per day last month, which makes the service more popular than any traditional U.S. cable network, estimated BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield.

Continue to read Janko Roettgers, gigaom.com

China close to a government backed Netflix-like video subscription site

Tech In Asia :: A deal between state-backed China Movie Channel and Jiaflix will bring a Netflix-like video subscription service to consumers in China later this year. The paid-for movie streaming will be coming to the China Movie Channel’s already established web subsidiary M1905.com – which was started in 2004 and claims to have more than 3 million registered users – in Q4 of this year, and promises “the best that Hollywood has to offer to viewers in China.”

Reported by - Continue to read Steven Millward, www.techinasia.com

Netflix shut out again as Amazon's Lovefilm signs with Fox

paidContent :: More bad news for Netflix’s U.K. operation: Amazon-owned rival Lovefilm has signed another one of those pesky exclusive content deals, this time with Twentieth Century Fox. This comes less than a month after Lovefilm signed up Universal, also on a multi-year basis.

Continue to read David Meyer, paidcontent.org

Nintendo unveils content strategy for upcoming Wii U console

Marketing magazine :: Nintendo is partnering with content companies including Netflix to deliver a new entertainment strategy that will take advantage of the second-screen capabilities of its upcoming Wii U console.

Continue to read Matthew Chapman, marketingmagazine.co.uk

Hulu will air 3 original series including one from Kevin Smith

Business Insider :: Hulu is adding 10 more TV shows to its lineup this summer, including three new series, in an effort to beef up its original programming and be more competitive against Netflix.

Continue to read Seth Fiegerman, www.businessinsider.com