June 19 - 12:35pm EDT   Verizon today officially expanded its V CAST Mobile TV network to include key larger California cities. The FLO TV-based digital broadcasts are now available in San Francisco as well as Fresno and Sacramento further south. Channel selection should remain the same and provides a mix of both live and pre-recorded content from both kids' channels like NickToons and more mature content from CBS, Fox, NBC and others. [full story]

May 28 - 1:55pm EDT   NBC's CEO Jeff Zucker has shed more light on the network's negotiations with Apple over iTunes content, according to an interview with Kara Swisher at the All Things Digital conference. The relationship between the two companies has been shaky at best, with disagreements over the iTunes pricing policies. [full story]

May 13 - 2:15pm EDT   VUDU today signaled a partial change in direction with word that it will start offering ad-supported music and video through its service. Once limited to renting as well as selling movies and TV shows, the company is tapping Brightcove to provide ads for a free Sony music video service. It also plans to expand this to include other services but hasn't set out its plans to date, including whether or not it may extend this to TV and other long-form content. [full story]

May 5 - 10:35am EDT   As previewed at CTIA, Quickplay today took its PrimeTime2Go mobile TV live for BlackBerry smartphones. The subscription service gives owners unlimited access to TV shows from multiple networks, including ABC, NBC and SciFi, and relies on a relatively transparent system to provide the videos; chosen episodes are downloaded in the background whenever the phone is on a Wi-Fi connection. Owners can also follow seasons and receive new episodes as soon as they're made available. [full story]

April 20 - 12:10pm EDT   The ATSC group and its partners are using the launch of the NAB broadcasting expo today to outline the early launch plans for ATSC Mobile DTV, the first free over-the-air TV standard meant for portable devices in the US. Washington, DC will be the first city to get coverage and will be supported by 5 stations owned by CBS, Fox, Ion, NBC and PBS when service starts sometime in the late summer. About 39 percent of the US will be covered by the end of 2009 and should include major cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco and several others. [full story]

April 9 - 1:00pm EDT   Sony has confirmed this week's earlier rumors that it is engaged in talks with YouTube on posting full-length movies on the free video service site, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. If the deal goes through, it would see the first major US studio to do so on a large scale, and the full-length films would be offered for viewing for free, likely supported by ad sales in the stream. [full story]

March 27 - 2:00pm EDT   Multiple sources speaking with paidContent today claim that Disney is in "serious" talks with Hulu to bring TV shows to the web service. The media giant would bring over at least ABC's TV programming, such as Lost, and would potentially involve the Disney Channel and other networks that aren't heavily dependent on cable and satellite TV. In return, Disney would get an equity stake in the primarily NBC- and Fox-run venture. [full story]

March 4 - 4:40pm EST   A new device and matching service from a startup could offer serious competition in online video to larger rivals like Apple and Netflix. ZillionTV's self-titled service will give users a core networking device, known as the Z-bar, that would have no local video storage of its own and would instead stream movies and TV shows online. Rather than following the similarly network-based Roku's model of tying in existing services, however, ZillionTV will offer its own service and let users either buy or rent per title as well as download free, ad-subsidized versions. Viewers will also choose their preferences for ads to provide more relevant content. [full story]

February 20 - 2:50pm EST   Two US cable providers are looking to put their TV programming online in a bid to preserve their business, sources have reportedly told the Wall Street Journal. Comcast and Time Warner Cable are believed to have been in ongoing talks with content providers, such as NBC and Viacom, for a deal that would let subscribers to cable TV packages stream "much" of their available shows online on the web. The selection would be "well beyond" what free online services like Hulu offer. [full story]

December 29 - 3:05pm EST   A new video-sharing website may be in the works, as the four major music labels -- Universal, Warner, EMI and Sony BMG -- are in preliminary talks for creating their own web portal, according to a weekend Financial Times report. Early last week, news came of the four labels planning to band together to create a site devoted to music videos and related content. More recently word has leaked of the three options the labels are considering, due to unhappiness with the ad revenue derived from the Google-owned YouTube. Under consideration is a premium service on YouTube, a totally new site, or a partnership with Hulu, the film and TV site jointly owned by News Corp. and ... [full story]

October 16 - 9:55am EDT   Apple has announced that all four of the major basic-cable TV networks -- ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC -- are now selling shows at the iTunes Store. During the initial launch of HD programming on iTunes, most content was limited to NBC. ABC material in HD now includes the likes of Lost, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives; CBS shows include various versions of CSI, plus NCIS and Numb3rs. [full story]

September 19 - 12:00pm EDT   Over 1 million downloads of NBC programming have been made at the iTunes Store since September 9th, according to Apple. The return of the TV network to the US iTunes storefront was announced during Steve Jobs' keynote address that day, and followed months of absence due to a dispute over variable pricing. Apple relented for the sake of the UK iTunes Store, however, and a limited form of variable pricing is now in effect in the US, with HD shows costing a dollar extra and back-catalog episodes costing a dollar less. The scheme is not exclusive to NBC. [full story]

September 11 - 4:20pm EDT   Apple did not make any concessions to NBC in order to get the network back on iTunes, says Apple's vice president for the iTunes Store. Eddy Cue refutes claims from NBC digital head JB Perrette, who on Tuesday suggested that Apple tailored its new pricing specifically to lure NBC. "Frankly, ever since we dropped our relationship with Apple last fall, they have made a gradual progression culminating in [Tuesday's announcement]," Perrette added. [full story]

September 9 - 3:55pm EDT   Both NBC and Apple have made concessions in the former's return to the US iTunes Store, observers note. The first of these may be variable pricing, such as a higher cost for HD versions of TV shows. Apple is charging $2.99 per HD episode, instead of the standard rate of $1.99; it is not known if this was the result of pressure from NBC however, as Apple has long charged $1 more for HD movie rentals on an Apple TV. What is known is that back-catalog shows -- such as Miami Vice and The A-Team -- are being priced at 99 cents, whereas Apple's original deal with NBC would have called for the regular rate. [full story]

September 9 - 1:40pm EDT   Apple has announced the release of iTunes 8, the latest version of its music software for Macs and PCs. Features in the new software include "Genius" playlists, which automatically match songs thought to go together. iTunes can also recommend tracks to buy via a sidebar, and recommendations will be based on anonymous uploads of user data, meant to gradually improve the accuracy of what shoppers are offered in the future. [full story]