Hollywood has had enough of the sharp consumer shift toward renting movies through Netflix. Desperate to raise home entertainment profits, studios want people to start buying movies outright again, either digitally or on little silver discs.

On Monday, Netflix reported losing more than 800,000 subscribers since the company announced a 60% price increase, which went into effect in September. If you’re one of these Netflix customers who couldn’t seem to rationalize the hike, you’re probably exploring other options.

A few years ago, our only option was to drive to the nearest Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, only to be subjected to ironclad late fees and out-of-stock titles. Now, with a multitude of popular online streaming services, our favorite movies and TV shows are just one click away. From Amazon Instant Prime to Blockbuster On Demand and VUDU, more and more companies are providing viable streaming alternatives.

Luckily, most of these sites offer free trials without any obligation to sign up.

Click here to take a closer look at six alternatives to Netflix.

Canada’s telecommunications regulator has rebuffed calls from broadcasters to regulate online video services such as Netflix.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications released a report Wednesday detailing the results of fact-finding launched in May about mobile and internet media services, also known as “over-the-top” (OTT) services.

“Stakeholders calling for the imposition of regulatory obligations on OTT providers demonstrated that consumer adoption of OTT services is real and growing,” the CRTC said.

The report noted that Netflix, which streams movies and TV episodes over the internet to TVs and other devices for a monthly fee, had reached 800,000 Canadian subscribers in less than a year and was projected to have a million subscribers by the third quarter of 2011.

However, the CRTC said stakeholders “did not submit evidence of harm to the traditional broadcast system” and there is no clear evidence that Canadians are reducing or cancelling their television subscriptions.

“Online and mobile programming appears to be complementary to the content offered by the traditional broadcasting system,” the commission said.

The regulator added that licensing online services could lead to unintended consequences, such as discouraging innovation or impairing the ability of Canadian media companies to compete globally.

Some of the other findings of the report were that:

• The tools are not yet available to accurately measure consumer consumption of online and mobile programming.
• Canadian creators are producing innovative content for online and mobile platforms and Canadian broadcasters and distributors are launching online and mobile programming services.
• Some services such as Netflix have established viable business models and are competing in the marketplace for programming rights and viewers.
• Internet and wireless networks may have trouble expanding their capacity to support increasing consumption of media content. Some submissions also noted that internet bandwidth caps could limit adoption of over-the-top services.

Yahoo! was in online video, then they were out, then they were in and then out…and now, starting in about a month’s time, they’re all in again? It would seem so. Aside from being named in the Hulu bidding of late, they are also apparently shopping around a whole set of original online video content (says Variety). So it seems that the zig-zaggy path of Yahoo! and online video is once again on a positive vector.

Wow, I just totally had some deja vu, like I had already written this article. Well I probably wrote something similar what with Yahoo’s historical flip-flopping take on online video.

Anyway, this time round, they’ve rounded up some star power in the likes of Morgan Spurlock, Niecy Nash and Judy Greer. Honestly, I only know of Spurlock.

Yahoo! is putting some twists into their initiative this time as well. They have stated that they are aiming at women, will market the ‘first run’ times slots of the shows (much like TV does) and will not be generating branded content as much as it will be ad-powered or have some small integration with specific sponsors.

The October lineup of shows is designed to hit upon the sites most popular topics, including things like relationships, cooking and staying fit. They are aiming to tie together their network of information websites and partner sites to this new content and in turn push consumers toward other video content on those same sites. So it’s like a synergistic endeavor to trap viewers inside the Yahoo! network and generate page views as well as help them discover further information and content of interest to them.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s wrong…I think it’s brilliant! Tangle web visitors up in your own sticky web, drive more page views, video views, display ad impressions and time on site? Yeah, I absolutely can see where they are going with that and it’s a model that many of us should probably be adopting.

This is an excerpt. Click here to read the full article.

Apple has axed its TV rental program within iTunes.

The company introduced the ability to rent certain episodes of television programs for $0.99 each last September, in conjunction with the rejiggered Apple TV.

AllThingsD quotes an Apple spokesman as saying, “iTunes customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows.”

Earlier this month, Apple added TV shows to its iCloud for iTunes offering. This gives users the ability to re-download purchased TV content on their iOS devices, Mac and PC computers and to stream via the Apple TV. This ends up negating the need for rentals in the first place.

News Corp. and Disney were the only two players to jump on the iTunes TV rental bandwagon, and we’re not surprised that the concept failed to gain traction.

This is an excerpt. Click here to read the full article. 

Media companies are starting to cash in on Internet video. But that new money could be coming at a cost as fewer young people watch traditional television.

That battle between the old and new ways of watching TV is putting networks and studios in a tricky position—balancing a new, growing online market for shows with a traditional market that is facing new threats and still accounts for the lion’s share of revenues.

Declines among younger viewers accelerated this TV season—a shift in an industry that has registered growth for decades. At any given time of day, about 11.5 million people between 18 and 34 years old watched TV on traditional sets between last September and the end of last month, down 2% from a year earlier and 3.4% from two seasons ago, according to Nielsen Co. Networks are able to charge advertisers a premium for viewers in the age group, which also is a barometer for future viewing habits.

New digital-streaming deals with companies like Netflix Inc. meanwhile pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into big media companies this spring, and media executives say they are teeing up more such deals.

The changes come as a war brews over which companies will profit by piping video to consumers. Netflix, Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. and other technology companies are muscling into living rooms with new ways to watch video. Cable operators and other traditional distributors are fighting back, rushing to give their subscribers access to shows on such new devices as tablets and Internet-connected TV sets—and trying to restrict the amount of free TV available on the Web.

Whether that war is already taking a toll is subject to debate. The number of households that pay for TV service shrank by 458,000 households, to about 100.1 million in the second quarter, according to estimates released Friday by media researcher SNL Kagan. Cable and satellite companies blame the decline on the weak economy, not on Web video. But some people in the industry say that the growing availability of video from the Internet is having a small effect as well.

The outcome of the fight between old-line distributors and new online ones could determine whether a new generation will sign up for cable-TV service in the same numbers as their parents—and whether TV channels will continue to be supported by more than $30 billion a year from consumers’ monthly bills.

Web streaming from companies such as Netflix is starting to have a real impact on earnings at traditional media companies. Viacom Inc., whose networks include MTV and Comedy Central, and CBS Corp. each added at least $60 million in pretax profit from new digital-streaming deals in the quarter through June, while Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal added roughly $80 million, according to analysts’ estimates.

The new deals account for roughly 6% of Viacom’s reported operating income in the quarter, more than 8% at CBS and nearly 3% at Comcast—although those particular deals will account for less in future quarters because much of the revenue is booked when the deals begin.

“I think it’s a means of growing the business,” Chief Executive Robert Iger of Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC, told analysts last week.

But Mr. Iger and his counterparts also say they are being careful to protect their core businesses by selling mostly older shows to Netflix and other online distributors, not the new ones that the networks count on to bring in ad revenue. CBS, for instance, says it has licensed only 7% of the content in its library, and no current shows.

This is an excerpt from Sam Schechner’s article in the Wall Street Journal. Log in or subscribe for the full article here.

One thing that has characterized these developments is that they haven’t involved many actual, reviewable new series. (One exception was the Kiefer Sutherland vehicle “The Confession” on Hulu, which didn’t cause much of a stir but may be turned into a feature film anyway.)

The notion — driven by the success of Netflix and the rapid convergence of television and Internet technology — that there’s serious money on the horizon in streaming video has led to this latest excitement about Web series and a new interest in the crazy quilt of video sites that carry them. But for the most part there’s still a disconnect between the money and the creators, who range from D.I.Y. independents to successful but largely anonymous production companies.

Excerpt from an article in the New York Times. Click here for the full feature.

If you guessed Netflix, you win. In the eyes of Canada’s telecommunications authority, the CRTC, Netflix, which allows viewers to stream video content via their computers, Blu-ray players or game consoles, isn’t considered a “broadcaster.” But some industry groups think it should be.

Part of being a broadcaster in Canada means that you’re obliged to support Canadian programming. It’s right there in the Canadian Broadcasting Act: “each element of the Canadian broadcasting system shall contribute in an appropriate manner to the creation and presentation of Canadian programming.”

Practically speaking, this means that Canadian broadcasters are required to give a percentage of their annual revenues to organizations like the Canadian Media Fund, which helps pay for new Canadian content. Basically, if you want to run a TV station, you need to help pay for Canadian TV programming. Broadcasters have to do this.

But here’s the thing: the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission doesn’t consider online video streaming services like Netflix to be broadcasters, so they can distribute movies and TV shows without the same requirement to help fund new Canadian productions.

Excerpt from Dan Misener’s article on CBC.ca. Click here to read the full article.

“The way children consume content is changing rapidly,” explained Pat Ellingson, Creative Head Children’s Media at TVO. “Traditional television continues to be a powerful draw. We are not decreasing our focus on providing a unique broadcast offering. However, the tastes and wants of the “kid” audience are changing and web-based entertainment is part of this change. Our research shows that kids 2-11 years old and their parents are spending more and more time online. We wanted to stay ahead of the curve and not just keep up with what others are doing but anticipate what kids will need and be there first.

Read the full article at nextMEDIA-source.

“After the media financing doldrums of 2009, this money and leap of faith towards digital audiences couldn’t come at a better time,” said FanTrust president Catherine Warren. FanTrust provides funding strategy and business development for companies interested in this opportunity and other multiplatform financing. “This is a boost for next-gen producers as well as traditional TV producers looking for ways to finance novel digital video formats. Our entertainment clients need funders willing to take new risks and help them serve new fans.”

The IPF is inviting proposals for online drama series at its application deadline of March 31, 2010. Regulations for applicants will be minimal in order to encourage maximum innovation and experimentation. Projects must be webcast on Canadian-owned websites as a “first window” to ensure more Canadian content for Canadian portals. Some of these projects may serve as pilots for traditional television drama, while others may develop their own dedicated online communities and audiences.

As the sources of financing for web video without a broadcast license are very limited, the IPF support is intended to stimulate the growth of new forms of content. This unique contribution to independent producers will help them to explore the potential for high quality, story driven drama with new and innovative narrative forms. “Our ultimate goal is innovation,” said IPF Executive Director Andra Sheffer. “We want to be there as part of the scene – not replace TV, just add to the mix.”

As a leading supporter of Canadian drama, the IPF will experiment in partnership with web content developers to determine how good story-telling translates to other platforms. “We will help develop best practices to take advantage of the opportunities that the digital platforms provide for new production styles, processes, formats and business models,” said Charles Ohayon, Chair of the Board of the IPF.

The Independent Production Fund was established in 1991 and has invested over $50M in 229 television drama series and over 300 professional development projects.

View the application guidelines

View the IPF news release