An Ignoble Experiment

eBook: TV Everywhere Gets Personal

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is reportedly readying Babble, a cross-platform application that combines the company's multiple messaging and chat options into a single service.

Citing multiple sources with knowledge of Google's plans, Geek.com reports Babble will collect services including Google Talk, Google+ Messenger, Hangout and Drive Chat. The app will integrate signature features of each service, enabling users to share photos in chat windows a la Google+ Messenger or start Hangout conversations with anyone in their contacts list. "Moving forward, the individual services will all be pushed onto the single platform, and you'll be able to use the same chat window across all of Google's products with the same features available everywhere," the report states.

Insiders say Google is building Babble from the ground up and will offer native apps for its Android mobile operating system and its Chrome desktop OS. Additional reports indicate Google will also offer Babble across the rival Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS and BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) mobile platforms. The exact timetable for Babble's release is unknown, although Geek.com reports Google will officially announce the effort during its annual I/O developer conference in May. Google has not commented on the reports.

Babble would not only challenge Apple's iMessage (which transmits more than 2 billion messages per day between iOS devices) and BlackBerry Messenger (used by three out of every four BlackBerry device owners, corresponding to roughly 60 million active users worldwide) but also conventional operator messaging offerings and fast-growing over-the-top options like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) Messenger, WhatsApp and Viber. While Babble would be a late arrival to the battlefield, the overwhelming popularity of Google services and Android's smartphone market dominance would establish the app as a serious threat from the outset.

For more:
- read this Geek.com article
- read this Gizmodo article

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FierceCable discusses the latest technologies TV networks and content owners use to drive increased ratings and revenue from various video devices. Download for free today.

2. Report: ABC building live streaming TV app, Hulu's future in doubt

By Jason Ankeny

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3. Electronic Arts CEO Riccitiello steps down, shoulders blame for missteps

Walt Disney Company-owned broadcast network ABC is at work on a live streaming application enabling cable and satellite subscribers to view both national and local programming via smartphones and tablets, The New York Times reports.

Citing sources briefed on the project, the report states the ABC app--expected to launch later this year--resembles Disney's existing Watch live-streaming and on-demand video apps featuring content from the entertainment giant's ESPN and Disney Channel properties. The Watch ABC app also could extend ads that run on the network to the mobile channel. The app faces several hurdles, however: Some contracts between the network and its content partners predate the advent of mobile video streaming--moreover, ABC must also assuage the concerns of its local affiliates, and the company is already in talks with stations to explore including them in the app.

An ABC spokesperson declined to comment.

With the launch of the Watch app, ABC would become the first of the four major U.S. broadcast networks to stream live content directly to mobile devices. Last week, rival CBS rolled out its CBS App for Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone and iPad, promising users full episodes of the Tiffany Network's primetime, daytime and late-night programs but in some cases not making content available on mobile until eight days after an episode's initial broadcast.

The development of Watch ABC calls into question the future of Hulu, the online streaming video site co-owned by Disney, News Corp. and silent partner Comcast. The New York Times reports Comcast and News Corp. are deliberating what direction to take with Hulu, which has lost most of its original executive backers at NBC and Fox and will soon lose founding CEO Jason Kilar, who is stepping down this month; Kilar recently wrote a message to Hulu staffers stating "Disney and News Corporation are currently finalizing their forward-looking plans with Hulu, and the senior team has been working closely with them in that process. Once the plans are finalized, a permanent decision will be made regarding the CEO position."

Insiders say Disney is mulling a plan to buy out Comcast and News Corp.--others contend News Corp. is exploring its own deal to buy out Disney and Comcast, and it is also possible that a third party could purchase Hulu outright. All three companies also could retain their stakes and revamp the Hulu business; sources day Disney remains bullish on Hulu's original free, ad-supported model, while News Corp. is more supportive of the Hulu Plus monthly subscription service.

Sources add that regardless of the outcome, Hulu's owners appear most interested in maintaining their existing relationships with cable and satellite providers. ABC Watch, which would require viewers to log into the app prove they are paying subscribers, fits squarely within that mindset.

For more:
- read this New York Times article

Read more about: Hulu
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By Jason Ankeny

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4. Zynga, OMGPOP prepping 'Draw Something' sequel

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has resigned after six years at the gaming giant's helm, accepting blame for recent financial missteps that have sent its stock tumbling.

John Riccitiello

"My decision to leave EA is really all about my accountability for the shortcomings in our financial results this year," Riccitiello said in a resignation letter posted to the EA Website. "It currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued to the Street, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago. And for that, I am 100 percent accountable."

Riccitiello will exit his post and leave EA's board on March 30, two months after the company reported third-quarter fiscal 2013 net revenues of $922 million, down from $1.06 billion a year ago; net losses narrowed to $45 million, compared with $205 million in the year-ago quarter. "The revenue shortfall was a result primarily of a miss with our Medal of Honor title and stronger-than-expected sector headwinds for console packaged goods," Riccitiello said at that time.

Reuters reports EA's market value has fallen by close to two-thirds since Riccitiello assumed the CEO mantle in April 2007. News of Riccitiello's resignation sent EA stock up nearly 3 percent in after-hours trading.

Larry Probst, EA's chairman and former chief executive, will run the company until a new CEO is found. "The Board will immediately initiate a search and both internal and external candidates will be considered for the CEO position," Probst said.

Mike Hickey, an analyst at National Alliance Capital Markets, told Reuters that Riccitiello's exit did not come as a surprise, stating the CEO has had "a track record of mis-executions." Sterne Agee Analyst Arvind Bhatia added "The stock that has underperformed encapsulates all of the issues. And this most recent quarter was the straw that broke the camel's back."

Despite EA's struggles in the console segment, the company has made significant strides in mobile gaming: Its mobile titles and services, including handhelds, generated approximately $100 million in revenue during the quarter ending Dec. 31, an 18 percent year-over-year increase. The Simpsons: Tapped Out, a freemium Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS title first introduced in early 2012, generated more than $23 million in revenues during the final three months of last year alone.

"Personally, I think we've never been in a better position as a company," Riccitiello wrote in his farewell letter. "You have made enormous progress in improving product quality. You are now generating more revenue on fewer titles by making EA's games better and bigger. You've navigated a rapidly transforming industry to create a digital business that is now approximately $1.5 billion and growing fast... You are number one in the fastest growing segment, mobile, with incredible games like The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Real Racing 3, Bejeweled, Scrabble and Plants v. Zombies."

Last month, EA shifted the Real Racing franchise from premium to freemium with the launch of the series' third installment, available for iOS and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android. Nick Earl, general manager of the publisher's All Play label, said freemium is now EA's "default model," explaining "We looked at it closely, and the market was demanding games with this model. It's an opportunity to get it in front of far more people." Real Racing 3 has since topped Apple's Free Apps chart in 90 different countries. According to EA, gamers have spent more than 14 million hours behind the virtual wheel, completing more than 25 million races per day.

For more:
- read this Reuters article
- read this Verge article
- read this Wall Street Journal article

Read more about: Chutes & Ladders, Real Racing 3
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By Jason Ankeny

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5. Skype for Windows Phone 8 update restores People Hub, adds HD video

Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is readying a sequel to Draw Something, the mobile social game it acquired along with creator OMGPOP for about $180 million in March 2012.

Television personality Ryan Seacrest (the producer of a proposed Draw Something TV game show) first leaked the existence of Draw Something 2 Monday on Twitter; in response, Zynga Vice President and OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter tweeted "So excited to confirm Draw Something 2 is coming soon [with] new ways to draw and connect."

Draw Something, available for Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android, challenges gamers to guess what word their opponent is sketching. TechCrunch reports the sequel will introduce new social features enabling players to keep and show off their drawings, instead of allowing their efforts to vanish within the gameplay experience. Sources say Zynga hopes skilled illustrators will accumulate fan followings, further improving the overall stickiness of the user experience.

Draw Something first launched in early 2012, shattering 50 million downloads within its first two months of availability. Consumer interest cooled dramatically following Zynga's takeover, however: Last fall, the company wrote off about half of OMGPOP's purchase price, and in its most recent quarter, Zynga CFO Mark Vranesh said that spending on in-game enhancements and add-ons has dropped. TechCrunch notes that between 10 million and 20 million users still play Draw Something every month. As of the fourth quarter of 2012, Zynga reported having 298 million monthly average users in all, including 72 million mobile users.

Draw Something 2 represents Zynga's first-ever sequel targeted exclusively for mobile devices. Its track record on follow-ups is mixed: FarmVille 2 was a success, but CityVille 2 and Mafia Wars 2 were disappointments.

For more:
- read this TechCrunch article
- read this Business Insider article

Read more about: OMGPOP, Mobile Gaming
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By Jason Ankeny

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