#p2ptv

[mpeltola]

Waiting for web television - in vain?

A couple of years ago I had great expectations for Joost, to which I had just gotten a beta invite from our guest lecturer on European television business at Helsinki University. The P2P internet tv service created by Skype men Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis had a user-friendly interface and visual appeal, but the content never catched up to the hype. A handful of documentaries, music videos and Bridezillas episodes was pretty much all they had to offer.

I logged in recently to see if there had been any developments, only to find the same stuff + some retro cartoons. Sure it's fun to watch He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, but an appetite for nostalgia isn't enough of a reason to keep using the service. Apparently, Joost has had all sorts of economic and managerial troubles, and the project is now on hold. In addition, it is now a website as opposed to the previous format you had to download. I don't know if there's a wider selection of programming available in other areas, such as the U.S., but at least in Europe Joost's overall performance has been pretty lame.

I would really like to see something like Hulu launched on this side of the Atlantic soon. How come there isn't already a commercial-supported service like Spotify for film and television? I suppose the distribution rights are a major issue in most cases, but the business model and technology are already available - so what's the haps, where's our video streaming services? 

In Finland, we currently have three online video services that feature some of the programming available on tv: YLE Areena by the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE (public), Katsomo by MTV3 (commercial) and Ruutu.fi by Nelonen (commercial). While I appreciate these services, it's kind of crazy that in this tiny, peripheral market area we have three different online video sites, two of which are after the same advertising revenue (YLE is state-owned and funded through television and liscence fees). I'm not wise enough to propose any kind of solution here, I'm just hoping they'll all join forces one fine day.      

[mpeltola]

I'll have an invite to Voddler, s'il vous plaît

Just the other day I was wondering why there isn't a Spotify for movies and tv programs. Well, little did I know - there is! Voddler was founded in 2005, and its VOD online streaming service has been up and running since last year. Currently Voddler has approximately 500,000 registered users in Sweden, and its planning on branching out to Denmark, Norway and Finland this year.

Here's some info and a demo:

Voddler was founded 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden. Its mission is to provide high quality home entertainment on-demand, collaborating with some of the biggest companies in the entertainment business. Voddler is easy to use, legal and accessible around the clock - with high image and sound quality.

Voddler launched its movie service in the Swedish market in October 2009. In Voddler members are offered free advertising-financed film, and even rental film, more than 90 percent of Voddlers titles are free. The number Voddler members passed in January 400 000, and in January was more than 1 million films streamed out to our users.

Voddler currently has agreements with Paramount, Disney, Miramax Films, Columbia, Dreamworks, Touchstone Pictures, MGM, Nonstop Entertainment, Noble Entertainment, Scanbox, Pan Vision, Sony Pictures Television, TVF, Film Factory, Atlantic, Sandrew Metronome and Warner Bros.

All you need is an internet connection, computer and an invite to Voddler to enjoy movies and tv-series whenever you want.

Looks good to me. Can't help but wait for an invite and admire our Western neighbor... first Spotify, now this. They always seem to be a few steps ahead, those cunning Swedes...