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People Spend More Time with Netflix Than Having Sex or Eating !

Staff — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 17:27:37 +0000

Just how important has the streaming service become in peoples lives? According to a new research study conducted by The Diffusion Group, time spent watching Netflix has surpassed, eating, reading and even sex. The study finds people using the streaming service on average ninety minutes per day, with sex for two minutes and eating at seventy.

The two other activities that ranked higher were sleeping and working, coming in ranked at number four, Netflix is just behind all other leisure activities and far ahead of the twenty five minutes we spent on childcare. Not exactly sure what happens when you factor in watching and eating together or watching in the bedroom, but clearly its taken a lead in what people are doing with their viewing time.

Between 2012 and 2015, the use of Netflix streaming increased from 38% of US adult broadband users to 50%. If Netflix is cutting into the use of legacy pay-TV services, as some argue, it’s not obvious, as it declined only minimally, from 87% to 84%.

You can find a summary of the report at exstreamist.com

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Amazon Fires A Shot Across The Bow Of Netflix

Staff — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 18:11:44 +0000

With the recent update to Amazon’s mobile video apps— now renamed “Amazon Video”, users now have an option for offline playback on both iOS and Android devices.

Now Prime subscribers can download the service’s streaming titles for viewing, taking one of the biggest inconveniences of streaming services and removing it from the equation.

This feature now affords Amazon users a level of flexibility that that Netfilx can’t and won’t match. The downloading feature could be viewed as a shot across the bow of Netflix, which last year emphatically stated that it would never add offline playback.

Why Netflix has maintained such a hardline stance has been a little unclear, and no doubt are varied. One clear difference is Netflix’s own infrastructure has been designed around the concept of streaming, rather than widespread downloads. Amazon, on the other hand, already has infrastructure in place for downloading.

With the option to download, if you’re in the middle of binging Transparent and need to jump on a plane, you won’t have to go without; you’ll be able to download a number of episodes and take it with you.

For now only a subset of Prime Video titles will be available for offline playback, including Amazon’s original shows, Transparent and Bosch, and programs coming from the exclusive licensing agreements with NBCUniversal (Hannibal), CBS (Under the Dome), and Fox (24).

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Here Are Four from across the Pond Worth Binging On

Staff — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 15:01:43 +0000

If you enjoyed Boardwalk Empire, take a look Peaky Blinders. A British historical crime drama, starring Cillian Murphy, as a gangster operating in Birmingham, England, during the aftermath of World War I. It started airing on the BBC in 2013 has 12 episodes available on Netflix, with a third season commissioned.

The Wrong Mans is a BBC Television comedy drama series, co-produced by Hulu. It premiered on BBC 2 in September 2013 and in the United States 2013. Considered a critical and ratings success, it was co-created and written by Gavin & Stacey alumni James Corden and Mathew Baynton as an attempt to combine the situation comedy format with the intricate plotting and storytelling tropes of an action-adventure series. There are 10 episodes available on Hulu.

Please Like Me an Australian television comedy drama, starring Josh Thomas, explores real issues with humorous tones can also be found in the United States, on Pivot. The show has attracted praise from critics and has garnered three awards and numerous nominations. The third season will begin on October 2015. The series premiered in February 2013 on ABC2 in Australia and 16 episodes can be found Amazon.

The Fall, starring Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan, is a British BBC and Irish (RTE) crime drama, filmed and set in Northern Ireland. Anderson is Stella Gibson, the Metropolitan Police superintendent tasked with reviewing murder investigations that have remained active for longer than 28 days. When it becomes apparent a serial killer is on the loose, local detectives must work with Stella to find and capture Paul Spector, played by Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Gray) as the seductive serial killer terrorizing independent young women in Belfast. The series now in its second season has 10 episodes available on Netflix.

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Sarandos Says – Who Needs Advertising When You Have a Great Interface?

Staff — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:57:03 +0000

Netflix chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, sat down with TV Insider and covered off on subjects from Adam Sandler to their upcoming expansion plans. One of the subjects he shed some light on, was how Netflix markets their content and why we almost never see a Netflix tv commercial?

“A lot of the heavy lifting of getting audiences to the show is done with the user interface. We can launch a lot of these shows without spending any marketing. We can use the merchandising to draw the audience in. Marketing spends we do mostly to attract subscribers to join Netflix. The actual viewing of shows, the user interface is driving almost all of that. So marketing is good to plant a seed in the culture, awards season spending, so we see it a lot different in New York and LA.”

Read the whole interview

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Handy Netflix Tips You’ll Want To Know !!

Staff — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 17:35:48 +0000

Here are some handy tricks to help get the most out of your Netflix account.

Ever Wonder How to find Netflix’s Original Programming? It’s as easy as logging in and typing “Netflix” into the search bar. This will collate all of the Netflix original content in one easy-to-browse page.

Want to quickly browse by genre? Clicking the row names on the homepage in your browser, you will bring up a full gallery of TV shows and films from within a specific genre.

It’s simple to delete titles from your viewing history. Open your Netflix account settings and select “Viewing Activity”, you can see all the shows you have recently watched and delete accordingly.

Need to change video quality? Adjust the streaming rate with great ease through Netflix’s secret menu., Remember its a secret, so very quietly. By pressing Shift+Alt+Left Click on a PC or Shift+Option+Click on a Mac. Alternatively, you can change the streaming rate in your Netflix account settings, “Manage Video Quality” and selecting from one of the three options available.

Got a 4k Tv and want to find 4K content? Just type “4K” into the search bar at the top of the homepage.

Traveling abroad and want to watch Netflix overseas? Your account should work if the country is a Netflix-enabled nation. With the added bonus , you will have access to all the titles available from the region you are accessing your account.

Lastly shopping for a new ISP ? Curious which ISP’s serve up the fastest speeds for a better streaming experience? Check out the Netflix monthly updated ISP Speed Index,

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Is The Face of Streaming Content Getting a Makeover in October?

Staff — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 16:46:40 +0000

In October, the FCC will be voting on a proposal that could change the way streaming content firms are viewed. The pending vote will help decide if the content firms and streaming video should go into the same regulatory category as Comcast, Dish Network and Cox.

As FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, explains, by making it easier to obtain valuable TV programming for the Web it will help online video providers become stronger competitors to cable and satellite firms

That viewpoint is not necessary shared by the big content providers, Amazon.com, Inc. , Microsoft and Apple Inc.

Last week, lobbyists for Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon met with several senior FCC officials to express their concerns with the plan.

Under the plan, streaming companies would be able to use the FCC’s program access rules to ensure TV networks offer the licensing of their programs. That would allow Apple, for instance, to bring ABC, NBC and Comedy Central to the bargaining table for their programs.

“This is a classic example of a solution in search of a problem. Our concern is that the entire space is in the nascent stage, and we’re still tinkering with existing business models to respond to consumer demands,” said Gregory Barnes, general counsel of the Digital Media Association, a lobbying group that represents the tech firms. “We don’t know where the sweet spot is yet, and our fear is that if you regulate a subset of the industry, it will eliminate our ability to experiment in the future.”

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Hulu Add’s Original Comedy to Streaming Mix

Staff — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 20:24:11 +0000

So far in war of original streaming programing the major winners have been Netflix and Amazon. Together they have scooped up the majority of viewers and most of the awards and left Hulu and others far off in the distance.

Now Hulu jumps in with an original comedy, Difficult People, staring Julie Klauser and Billy Eichner, of Funny Or Die‘s Billy on the Street fame. The show features the pair as aspiring comedians, forced to work other jobs while pursuing their dreams. He’s an awful waiter, while she recaps and brutalizes TV programs, while failing to grasp why that might hurt her chances of landing a more satisfying day job. “I’m so funny when I write mean things about TV shows,” she says early on. “How come nobody’s hired me to write for one?”

Variety’s Brian Lowry writes:

“TV has reveled in such self-absorbed characters, but these two are so perfectly loathsome and oblivious to the feelings of others, it’s almost hard not to root for them. Consider it a half-hour that proves bad company, TV-wise, can be good fun.”

It airs starting on August 5

Click to Watch The Trailer

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Car Geeks Might Want to Consider a Subscription to Amazon Prime

Staff — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 21:15:46 +0000

In a recently signed three-year deal, Amazon has signed former top gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond to a new motoring show.

The show will go into production shortly and is scheduled for launch in 2016.

At its peak, Top Gear was the most watched factual program in the world, with a global audience of around 350 million people a year.

It appears that Amazon has beat out Netflix to gain hold of this high value property.

“Customers told us they wanted to see the team back on screen, and we are excited to make that happen,” said Jay Marine, vice president of Amazon Prime Video in Europe.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon won the global rights to the series, meaning it will appear on Prime video in the US, UK, Austria, and Germany. Countries without Amazon Prime may still be able to watch the show, though, with the WSJ noting that Amazon will be able to license the rights to the show to broadcasters or streaming services in other territories.

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NETFILX SET TO LAUNCH TWO NEW ORIGINAL SERIES IN AUGUST

Staff — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 18:11:32 +0000

Netflix is breaking new ground with its launch of its first Spanish-language original series, Club de Cuervos, about a brother and sister running their newly-inherited soccer team.

The story begins when the patriarch of a prominent family dies and his heirs battle to determine who will gain control of his beloved soccer team: The Cuervos of Nuevo Toledo. Then egos, tempers and soccer balls fly as the director, producers and star of Nosotros los Nobles reunite to bring this even crazier family to life. The release date is set for August 7

Click here to view a trailer

Also set for a release later in the month is Narcos, which tells the true story of Colombian drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar who ran the The Medellin cartel – one of the most violent, ruthless and wealthy criminal organization in the history of modern crime. It tells the story of the DEA and Columbian Government’s battle against the Medellin cartel in the 1980’s. The Netflix Original Series, starring Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, and Pedro Pascal, premieres August 28, 2015.

Here is a link to the trailer:

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Trying to Keep Up Hulu Considers Ad-Free Option

Staff — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 01:24:08 +0000

By Dow Jones Newswire

Hulu is exploring plans to add an advertising-free option to its service, according to people familiar with the matter, as the streaming video provider tries to become a stronger rival to Netflix Inc.

Such a move would be a significant shift in strategy for Hulu, which up to now has required users to sit through ad breaks during programming, even if they are paying $7.99 a month for its premium subscription service.

Rivals Netflix and Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Instant Video, meanwhile, have highlighted the fact that they don’t show ads as a key selling point to consumers.

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