Today's Top Stories Hulu's auction may face some hurdles, according to a report in TheWrap. Bidders are said to be unhappy with "onerous" demands placed on the potential transaction by Hulu's owners News Corp. (NYSE: NWSA) and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS). "You'd have to be an idiot to accept the content licensing agreement they are proposing," a person with knowledge of the negotiations told TheWrap. Meanwhile, DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) is still said to be the front runner at the auction. It reportedly has a leg up on some of the other bidders because of its longstanding content licensing partnerships with the media companies that own Hulu. Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is also a part-owner of Hulu but cannot participate in major decisions about the site because of conditions placed on it when the federal government approved Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal. This is the second time Hulu's owners have entertained bids on the site. Last time, they pulled back after bids came in too low. This time, the bids are reportedly even lower, leading some to guess Hulu's owners may take on a new equity partner rather than sell the company outright. For more:
- TheWrap had this story
- Quartz had this story Related articles:
Hulu auction draws in AT&T as speculation mounts about license sale
Bids for Hulu said to top $1B
Hulu auction yields several bidders but no buyer Read more about: Hulu
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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer will run the company's Interactive Entertainment Business now that Zynga has hired former Xbox chief Don Mattrick as its CEO. In an e-mail to Microsoft employees, Ballmer said Mattrick's team will report directly to Ballmer and remain focused on getting the Xbox One ready for the holiday season this year. Mattrick leaves Microsoft weeks after the company announced plans for its new Xbox One console--a device it hopes can bring together games, music and live TV. And the departure was announced days before Microsoft had planned to reveal a management restructuring, according to a report in Fast Company. That report also pegged Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer as Mattrick's long-term successor. Mattrick was responsible for bringing streaming video applications from Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and others to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, the Fast Company article said. His departure leaves a gap in Microsoft's senior management. "What Don understands that nobody else at the executive level at Microsoft does is how to paint a vision," Evan Hirsch, an industry consultant who has worked with Mattrick, told Fast Company. For more:
- read Zynga's press release
- read Ballmer's e-mail to Microsoft employees
- Fast Company had this story Related articles:
Ouya game console lacks Amazon, Netflix Hulu support
Microsoft's Xbox One makes play for living room Read more about: MSFT, Xbox One
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Episodes of Fox's TV show "New Girl" are now available on Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) after the companies reached a multi-year exclusive deal. "We know our members love comedies and that they'll enjoy watching all the current and future episodes of 'New Girl' whenever and wherever they want," Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, said in a press release. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Season One episodes of the show became available to watch instantly on Netflix Monday, while other seasons will be added in the future. The show was recently renewed for a third season on the Fox broadcast network. Netflix also recently ordered a second season of its new original comedy "Orange Is the New Black." That show's first season is set to appear in Netflix's library next week. For more:
- read Netflix's press release
- Bloomberg had this story Related articles:
Amazon lags behind Netflix and Hulu in popular content, analysts say
Netflix highlights 'family' programming Read more about: Netflix
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Online video distributor Sky Angel should not be allowed to subpoena documents and depose witnesses to investigate whether C-SPAN's board conspired to restrict access to C-SPAN programming, attorneys for the cable industry-backed public affairs network said in a brief filed with a federal court. Sky Angel had sued C-SPAN on antitrust grounds, arguing that its board of cable operator executives had illegally ordered the network to drop Sky Angel as a distributor. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but said Sky Angel could re-file if it could bring more evidence of wrongdoing forward. But rules of procedure bar parties such as Sky Angel from conducting such investigations through the courts, C-SPAN's attorneys said. Without a pending complaint, a plaintiff cannot conduct discovery, they argued. "None of the very limited exceptions to this rule--for example, where a key witness is on his or her death bed and may not survive until the regular discovery period--apply to this case," they said. Sky Angel has failed for years to get the courts and Federal Communications Commission to acknowledge it as a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) with the same rights and obligations as cable operators and satellite providers. This antitrust litigation against C-SPAN marks its latest strategy to gain access to traditional cable programming. For more:
- read C-SPAN's brief here (.pdf) Related articles:
Sky Angel - C-SPAN antitrust suit dismissed
FCC program access rules expire Read more about: C-Span
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Technical details of Aereo's online video service submitted to a federal court in New York could be read by the public this week even though they were marked "highly confidential." The details had been redacted, or blacked out, from documents Aereo filed with the court this week. But the redactions were ineffective. Broadcasters sued Aereo last year, claiming the company's service violates their copyright by providing online access to local TV station signals. Aereo has argued its technology assigns each subscriber a unique over-the-air antenna and DVR and is therefore allowed under the same court decision that let Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) introduce a remote-storage DVR. In some documents filed this week--including a transcript of a deposition of expert witness John Volakis--the sensitive text could be clearly read through the black bars that typically block unauthorized readers from seeing confidential information. In other cases, such as a declaration of Aereo's CEO Chet Kanojia, text could be copied and pasted from the documents and easily read in a word processor. Such redactions are commonly applied to documents filed with courts and government agencies when they contain competitively sensitive information. It's unclear just how sensitive the information meant to be redacted is. Some of the material is already public. For instance, Kanojia's declaration, originally filed May 18, 2012, describes Aereo's lack of non-broadcast programming. "Aereo will offer certain non-broadcast content providers the opportunity to make their
programming available to Aereo members. Aereo has entered into two test agreements with such providers," the declaration said at the time. Aereo now offers subscribers the ability to sign up for Bloomberg TV, a non-broadcast programming supplier. Other documents more explicitly describe how Aereo delivers a broadcast signal to subscribers. The documents at issue came after District Court Judge Alison Nathan ordered the parties to refile batches of sensitive material that had been improperly labeled and redacted. In an order dated June 24, Nathan reminded the parties to take more care with their confidential submissions. "The Court admonishes the parties that continued failure to comply with Rule 4A or any other Rule, may result in a party being sanctioned or being found in violation of the parties' protective order," Nathan wrote. FierceOnlineVideo alerted lawyers of both parties to the issue with the redactions, but neither immediately responded to our request for a comment. A spokeswoman for Aereo declined to comment. Related articles:
Congress eyes online video ponders parity in the marketplace
Aereo tweaks subscriptions, seeks dismissal of copyright litigation Read more about: courts
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