Media

Sports leagues are making hundreds of millions in digital revenue from paid content, ads and other revenue streams, according to a new report from eMarketer.

Storify, the social media curation tool, was used by the Weather Channel during Hurricane Irene, says Cameron Clayton, EVP for Digital, in this interview with Beet.TV.

While the the sale of downloadable entertainment has been the largely the province of the Apple, media companies will create their own "media stacks" to sell content directly to consumers, says Chris Van Noy, Chief Media and Entertainment Strategist at Akamai.

Having decided as to "go it alone," and not be part of Hulu, CBS has seen dramatic growth of its business in an "open, non-exclusive approach" to syndication with deals with AOL, Yahoo, MSN and Comcast, explains Ken Lagana, SVP of Sales at CBS Interactive.

Erick Schonfeld, co-editor of TechCrunch has been named editor by AOL, taking over the reins from founder Michael Arrington.

Hulu is investing heavily in original and exclusive programming, such as "LXD," "A Day in the Life," and "The Morning After," said Kevin McGurn, VP Ad Sales at Hulu, while speaking at a Beet.TV Online Video Leadership webcast in New York last month.  

In a significant publishing acquisition, Google has acquired Zagat, the Internet giant announced today.

Journal Register Company, one of the of nation’s leading local news and information companies, announced today the creation of Digital First Media Inc. Digital First Media will manage both Journal Register Company and MediaNews Group Inc.

Yahoo is reading the launch of eight web original shows this October, reports Andrew Wallenstein in Variety.  The shows are women-oriented.

OneScreen, the Costa Mesa-based online video platform company, is expanding its syndication services with a big win with Meredith Publishing.

NBC News, which has registered success in creating microsites around specific shows, including the Today Show, will be expanding the number of microsites, says Vivian Schiller, Chief Digital Officer, in this interview with New York Times reporter Brian Stelter on stage at the Beet.TV Leadership webcast.

In its annual ranking of the 50 best Websites, our friends and neighbors over Big Think have placed first in the news and information category, and number 16 in the overall ranking.

Though Equity, the big online syndicator of premium video content, has raised $25 million in new funding, the company has announced.

"I really like to see a lot of small media companies like Andy's just take the diversity that is really encouraging and move it into the next era of journalism," Kara Swisher, co-executive editor of All Things Digital, tells Alison Kitchens of the American Journalism Review in a feature story on Beet.TV.

Some brands are still unaware of what constitutes premium content online, and will often think first of YouTube and Hulu for online video advertising, even though those sites are still more centered on user-generated content and TV programming, respectively.

Internet-connected TVs with built-in apps are poised to grow 36% over the next five years. That growth will be fueled in part by demand for built-in apps for Netflix, YouTube and others, said research firm In-Stat.

CNN iReport, the five-year-old platform for citizen journalists to upload and share photos and videos, will become something of a "social network for news" with its imminent redesign, says Lila King, Participation Director of CNN Digital, in this interview with Beet.TV.

Vimeo, the big video sharing site, known mostly for its global popularity as the video player of choice for the creative community, is launching today a commercial service for small businesses.

On Tuesday (August 2), hundreds of citizen reporters around the world will attend Meetups organized by CNN to mark the fifth year anniversary of its iReport.

Vimeo, the video sharing site of choice for many independent content creators, has reached 50 million users worldwide up from 30 million a year ago.