Lagardere Active meets YouTube

An interesting partnership was announced at the 2010 MIPTV between Lagardere and YouTube for the international distribution of online videos, ranging from short programs to fictions and documentaries.

Turning the group's traditional media brands (ie Elle) into truly multimedia cash machines... this 3-year agreement is vintage Didier Quillot, who already boosted digital revenues to 7.5% of Lagardere's total turnover.

YouTube / Google promotes its own key features : advertising and DRM, with the IDfication of each content and the total control of diffusion for each region. Of course, this is pure streaming and no download is allowed.

Both partners will share advertising revenues, and the enduser will access new contents for free :
. short in-house programs (caranddriver.com, elle.fr, europe.fr...) : 7,000 by summer 2010, 15,000 by EOY. Distribution : 45% for the French market
. long programs (Lagardere Entertainment) : 315 hours by summer 2010, 600 by EOY. Distribution : 80% France 20% International
. TV programs and cartoons from Lagardere channels, including TV archives. Distribution : 100% for a French audience.

mot-bile 2010

SlingPlayer Mobile - placeshifting or shoplifting ?

Sling Media Inc exhibited its recently released SlingPlayer Mobile in Cannes*. For $29.9 per month, you will be able to turn your Windows Mobile device into a remote home TV, "remote home" meaning you can zap on the go through any channel you've subscribed to at home (local channels, pay TV, pay per view...).
SlingPlayer Mobile is marketed as an extension of the Slingbox device, which "placeshifts" your set top box anywhere you bring it and works on Wi-Fi or 3G.
Instead of "placeshifting", cablecos and cellcos would rather talk about "shoplifting" or "boxjacking" : teleporting Spock is good entertainment but teleporting access is bad for business.
Well... slings are supposed to send things that hurt over the air. The problem is the said things are not supposed to fly on their own. Sling Media Inc seems to have made a perfect shot through a loophole and could prove to be as sustainable as TiVo**. Time will tell whether it was pure blind luck or the beginning of something.

* at MIPTV featuring Milia : 3GSM moved to Barcelona but many cellcos keep roaming the center's alleys
** not so sure : TiVo hosts more value than this smart remote control, TiVo already proved to be legal, and even TiVo is not untouchable yet.