I’m predicting tomorrow I’ll be too busy for any sort of Friday Review so, here it is on a Thursday. Enjoy!

Selling out: Remember those Netflix set-top boxes I mentioned the other week? Well, they’ve sold out of the entire supply. The maker of the device, Roku, says they “will need about two weeks to fulfill current orders and eight weeks to begin fulfilling new ones.” No word on how many boxes this equates to but its clear that the demand is there. Consumer’s are scrambling for the latest gadget that brings them faster more convenient access to entertainment.

More movies online: You’ve been able to enjoy plenty of Fox and MGM movies on Hulu.com but now you’ll be able to enjoy some Disney full-length movies starting this summer. The movies will be available “for one week after they are broadcast on ABC’s Wonderful World of Disney.” Much like the options on several Hulu.com movies the Disney versions will feature one single ad before the beginning and then proceed commercial free. Disney, who normally safeguards its library extremely well, will be streaming such family hits as ‘Freaky Friday,’ ‘Peter Pan,’ and ‘Finding Nemo.’ I know I won’t be watching these on the ole teevee so I’m happy to see some Disney movies coming to a computer near me.

PBS goes commercial: The internet is changing the world of PBS. The not-for-profit television network is joining the rest of the broadcast world at Hulu. Shows like ‘Nova,’ and ‘Scientific American Frontiers’ are going to begin streaming soon. These programs will be pre-empted by 30-second spots and Hulu will be splitting the revenue with PBS. “We do not allow interruption of our programs” said Andrew Russel, the senior vice president who runs PBS Ventures. Russel also said that “by exploring digital distribution with the programs that the network does have right to, it hoped to build the case to show that producers should let it distribute their shows online.” The only show on PBS I watch is Rick Steve’s so, until that shows up online I’ll stick to the other shows on Hulu.

145,000 people: That’s the number of people who accessed the “World News” page on ABCNews.com which is the page that links to the webcast, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.  This is in stark contrast to the 7.8 million page views tha ABCNews.com received. The 15-minute webcast includes “clips from the television broadcast as well as stories about technology and pop culture.” My guess is that people come to ABCNews.com for news articles, if they want to watch a video of the days news they’ll either turn on their tv or they’ll turn their browser to thedailyshow.com and get their news and entertainment all at once.

iWhat?: Yeah, we’ve been pretty busy around here which explains our lack of coverage regarding the new iPhone. I’m sure Jason T. will post something sooner or later.. but really, we all knew it was coming and we are all now going to buy one right? I know I am, I’m taking half of my stimulus check and paying down debt and the rest of it will go to a shiny new iPhone. Thanks IRS, you’re the best!

I’m at 5 hours already: Solutions Research Group is claiming that by 2013 the average American will spend 8 hours in front of a video-based screen. That’s up just 2 hours from the current average. The number was a mere 4.6 hours in 1996. It certainly isn’t from better programming on teevee.


Permalink  Trackback