SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 27 — YouTube is coming to mobile phones — or, to be more precise, a small slice of YouTube is coming to some Verizon Wireless phones.
While its explosively popular Web site is free, YouTube’s phone-based version will require a $15-a-month subscription to a Verizon Wireless service called VCast. And instead of choosing what to watch from a vast library of clips, VCast users will be limited to an unspecified number of videos selected and approved by the companies.
Still, the deal, which the companies plan to announce on Tuesday, marks the mobile-phone debut of YouTube, the video-sharing service owned by Google that many say is already changing the media landscape.
“Everybody carries a phone with them, but they may not have a computer,” said Steve Chen, chief technology officer and a co-founder of YouTube. People can “take the phone out of their pocket while waiting for the bus” and watch a video, he added.
Verizon Wireless and YouTube said the service would be available early next month. The companies would not discuss the financial terms of their deal but said Verizon would have the exclusive rights to distribute YouTube videos on mobile phones “for a limited period of time.”
“This marquee partnership is the first of many,” said Kelly Liang, senior director of business development for YouTube. Ms. Liang said the company planned to introduce other such deals within the coming year.
YouTube said its editors would select short videos from its library for the Verizon Wireless service. Verizon Wireless said it would vet the videos to make sure they met the company’s editorial and taste guidelines.
“We’ll select content that has the broadest appeal and the highest entertainment value,” Ms. Liang said.
One question is whether the limited selection of videos on the service will undermine the basic appeal of YouTube, which has grown popular in part because users decide what they want to watch.
But Allen Weiner, a Web publishing analyst with the consulting firm Gartner Inc., said he believed that the short bursts of escapism provided by YouTube would translate well to the mobile phone. That said, Mr. Weiner said he did not believe the deal alone would be enough of a selling point to attract new customers to Verizon.
“It’s not going to be a driver” of new subscribers, Mr. Weiner said. “But it will give people who are considering the video service component something to think about.”
11.28.2006
TiVo to Insert Ads At End of Programs
TiVo Inc. announced a new service that will let marketers place ads at the end of recorded programs and track how many people watch them.
The company, which makes digital video recorders, said Tuesday it would insert the ads after a television show has played, when there is nothing left to fast-forward, offering a way for advertisers to reach audiences who record shows and are more likely to skip through traditional commercials.
Tivo, based in Alviso, Calif., said the new ad scheme, dubbed "Program Placement," will allow advertisers to purchase ads against specific shows, the way they do on traditional television. Companies that have already signed up for ads include Burger King Corp., General Motors Corp. and MasterCard Inc., TiVo said.
With the growth in popularity of DVRs, advertisers and television networks have become increasingly worried that most viewers skip through commercials. TiVo said it will give marketers in the new program access to its audience measurement data, so they'll be able to track how many viewers play the ads at the end of the program.
In other news, on Monday a federal judge in Texas rejected the request of EchoStar Communications Corp. for a new trial in its patent dispute with TiVo, which won an $89.6 million jury verdict earlier this year.
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit gave EchoStar the go-ahead to continue providing its digital video recorder service while the appeal is pending. The court had said EchoStar showed it had a chance to win and would be hurt if it was forced to shut down the service during the appeal.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Folsom said EchoStar failed to raise any new legal issues that would justify a new trial. In April, a jury determined that EchoStar violated a TiVo patent for technology that lets users record one TV program while watching another.
EchoStar spokeswoman Kathie Gonzalez said the ruling is another step in a lengthy legal process -- and the next step will be a federal appeals court in Washington D.C., that specializes in patent law.
The company, which makes digital video recorders, said Tuesday it would insert the ads after a television show has played, when there is nothing left to fast-forward, offering a way for advertisers to reach audiences who record shows and are more likely to skip through traditional commercials.
Tivo, based in Alviso, Calif., said the new ad scheme, dubbed "Program Placement," will allow advertisers to purchase ads against specific shows, the way they do on traditional television. Companies that have already signed up for ads include Burger King Corp., General Motors Corp. and MasterCard Inc., TiVo said.
With the growth in popularity of DVRs, advertisers and television networks have become increasingly worried that most viewers skip through commercials. TiVo said it will give marketers in the new program access to its audience measurement data, so they'll be able to track how many viewers play the ads at the end of the program.
In other news, on Monday a federal judge in Texas rejected the request of EchoStar Communications Corp. for a new trial in its patent dispute with TiVo, which won an $89.6 million jury verdict earlier this year.
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit gave EchoStar the go-ahead to continue providing its digital video recorder service while the appeal is pending. The court had said EchoStar showed it had a chance to win and would be hurt if it was forced to shut down the service during the appeal.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Folsom said EchoStar failed to raise any new legal issues that would justify a new trial. In April, a jury determined that EchoStar violated a TiVo patent for technology that lets users record one TV program while watching another.
EchoStar spokeswoman Kathie Gonzalez said the ruling is another step in a lengthy legal process -- and the next step will be a federal appeals court in Washington D.C., that specializes in patent law.
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