Download full seasons of popular TV shows for $5

In an effort to push its new-ish Video On Demand service, Amazon is offering cheap deals on full seasons of popular TV shows. For example, you can get the first three seasons of Battlestar Galactica for just 5 bucks each. Also in the bargain bin: House (four seasons' worth), Heroes (seasons 1 and 2), The Office, and, if you're really hard up for entertainment, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Saved By the Bell.

Amazon Video On Demand lets you stream shows and movies right in your browser (Mac or PC), no download required.

[via News.com]

Where to watch free horror movies online

In the spirit of Halloween, Yahoo Tech has rounded up some websites where you can watch scary movies online.

Above poster is from the old scary movie collection of Embarq. More recent horror flicks can be found on Hulu (Amitiyville2,Ghosbusters), Joost (Christine, The Blob) and Dyers.org put together a list of 85+ free Halloween movies you can watch on Netflix on demand, like Silence of the Lambs.

Barack Obama: American Stories, American Solutions

Barack Obama's campaign aired a special 30 minute program in which Obama addressed the nation about his plan for the country and the issues that are at stake in this election. In case you missed any part of it, or if you want to watch it again or share with your friends, you can watch the full program above.

Online Videos -- And Our Attention Spans -- Get Longer

The conventional wisdom is that people on computers have the attention span to watch only very short video clips, writes Bits Blog. But it’s clear that getting network programming on their own schedule makes it increasingly worthwhile for some viewers to watch full episodes on their computers.

... All things being equal, it is easier to relax and watch video for a long time sitting on your couch than at your desk. And bringing Internet video to living room televisions, as Blip and some other sites are doing, sharply increases how much people watch.

“... Viewing time triples, quadruples, quintuples, when people are watching in a lean-back environment with a remote control and an HDTV,” Mike Hudack of Blip-tv said.

This may be true for US viewers, but in Europe we spend hours in front of online video (US TV series) because we don't have the option to watch them on TV. And I apologize for sounding like a broken record.

Full article in Bits Blog.

Netflix and TiVo to Partner on Movies

Two of the scrappiest bantamweights in Silicon Valley, Netflix and TiVo, are expected to announce a long-awaited partnership on Thursday, reports The New York Times.

Netflix will place its Watch Instantly streaming-movie service on TiVo’s HD-compatible set-top boxes, furthering the technology industry’s goal of sending television shows and movies over the Internet — instead of over traditional cable and satellite networks — to ordinary TVs.

... Netflix and TiVo said they would begin testing the service on Thursday and expected to make it available to all owners of TiVo set-top boxes in December. There will be no extra charge for TiVo subscribers who also have one of Netflix’s unlimited subscription plans

Tech CEOs use YouTube to encourage voting

Technology CEOs and other business leaders are taking to YouTube to encourage their employees to tear themselves away from their desks for an hour on November 4 to go vote. News.comreports.

VoteHour.org, launched by Google, features about two dozen 40-second clips from the likes of eBay CEO John Donahoe, Intel CEO Paul Otellini, Seagate Technology CEO Bill Watkins, and Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse. Executives from other sectors who made videos for the site include Borders CEO George Jones and Cintas CEO Scott Farmer. There are also about two dozen more written endorsements of the "vote hour" from executives on the site.

New York

Blogging may slow down for a couple of days. On my way to New York.

What's Hot on Hulu

Another insightful article on Hulu today, this time from USA Today - with some interesting facts about what's hot(est).

Hulu's library includes more than 1,000 TV shows and 400 movies, but "Homer Simpson" and "Family Guy" helped put the service on the map.

"Family Guy" is Hulu's most viewed show. No. 2 is another Fox show, one that no longer airs and never saw Nielsen TV rating success: "Arrested Development".

In third place is FX's cult favorite," It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", and then two series from NBC -" The Office" and "Saturday Night Live".

Shows generally appear on Hulu a few hours after their network appearance, although this week the "30 Rock" season premiere has been online ahead of Thursday night's showing.

Web Site’s Formula for Success: TV Content With Fewer Ads

“Thumbs up” and “thumbs down” ratings for commercials. Choose-your-own-advertisement options before shows begin. Interactive games during advertising breaks. The New York Times reports.

In the last year these online advertising innovations have been popularized by Hulu, the online video Web site that will celebrate its first anniversary on Wednesday. For all that has been written about Hulu’s easy-to-use, aesthetically pleasing interface, the advertising experience is equally important.

In the place of the long commercial pods that TV viewers have become accustomed to, only one ad is shown during each segment break on Hulu. Fewer ads make the ones on the site more memorable, Hulu executives say, allowing the site to charge higher prices for the ad units.

While Hulu was not the first site to serve up full-length television shows or create new advertising units, it now dominates the emerging market for ad-supported TV and movie streaming. It emerged in public beta form one year ago with 10 advertisers, made its official debut in March, and now counts more than 100 sponsors, from General Motors to Old Spice.

... The half-hour comedies that are so popular on Hulu — “Family Guy” from Fox and “The Office” from NBC — have an average of eight minutes of commercial time on TV. On Hulu, where the sitcoms are especially popular, each show averages about two minutes of ads.

... In a glimpse of the future of ad feedback, Hulu users are encouraged to click buttons indicating whether they like or dislike each ad they see.

Read full article.

Sopranos Wine

According to Reuters, HBO's The Sopranos- who's final episode was last June - has sparked an unusual spinoff, a line of Italian wines that will be launched in the United States this fall.

Sopranos Wines are being produced under a licensing agreement between the TV network HBO and New-York based Vesuvio Import Company. The wines will be distributed by Duggan's Distillers Products Corp.

It's not the series' first overlap into wine. Actress Lorraine Bracco, who played Dr. Jennifer Melfi in the series, launched Bracco Wines in 2006.

Wine labels from The Luxist.

People in the Middle For Obama

Oscar-winning director Errol Morris has launched a late-in-the-game ad campaign for Barack Obama, called "People in the Middle for Obama," that's designed to sway undecided voters the Democrat's way.

[via AdFreak]

The Hollywood Reporter Box Office Numbers Via SMS

THR is launching a mobile box office product this week that will send weekend box office estimates via text message. [via mocoNews.net]

Pulling from Nielsen data, the publication will push official studio box office tallies to users that sign up for the mobile alerts with a short code. The top five movies from each week will be sent on Sunday morning while more detailed data will also be sent to newsletter subscribers.

"Mad Men" creator plans to be "part of this show forever"

We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief, Matthew Weiner will not be leaving the show. He told Alan Sepinwall as much:

"There's no crisis," Matthew Weiner says of the contract talks, in this really long interview that delves into Season 2 and last night's season finale.

"I have every intention of being part of this show forever. I love doing it and I love the experience and I love working with everybody I work with. But I feel like I just ran a marathon and I need to have some Gatorade. Obviously, I know Don and I know where the pieces are, but -- it's a horrible thing to admit -- I will have to go from the high I have of just completing this to going, 'Oh my god I'm going to fail.'

In terms of the content of what's there, I have a lot to lean on. I have my genre, I have the history, and I have the ages of these people. I know now that I can tell a completely new story than last year. The central conflict of this year was Don and Betty's marriage. Hopefully, if I can figure it out, there will be something new."

[via TV Tattle]

Related: - 'Mad Men' Stars Have No Contracts

Another "Mad Men" sketch on SNL

Saturday Night Live has just posted another "Mad Men" sketch online: "Tow A-Holes at An Ad Agency in The 1960s".

£1,000 fines for TV licence dodgers who watch online

The TV Licensing Authority today launched a crackdown on people watching programmes on mobile phones and computers at the same time as they are broadcast.

It said many people wrongly believe they did not need a TV licence if they did not own a television. The TVLA pledged to track down offenders and warned they face a £1,000 fine.

"There is a clear rise in the number of people watching TV channels via other means, and we need to make them aware of the rules," said a TVLA spokesman. "Many TV channels are now broadcast live over the internet. If you're watching programmes on a computer or laptop as they are broadcast, then you need a TV licence. ...You will need a licence to watch any channel live online".

The Most Watched TV Shows Are Not The Most Talked About Online

Measuring viewer “engagement” on TV is simple. You count how many people tune into a given show. It stands to reason that the most popular shows would also be the most popular ones on social networks. But that is not exactly the case.
TechCrunch

"Gray’s Anatomy" ranked No. 8 in social network interactions versus No. 1 on broadcast TV. "Desperate Housewives", No. 2 on TV, doesn’t even rank on social networks, possibly because people don’t like to talk about their guilty pleasures.

More surprising is that "The Office" doesn’t rank in the social network list either, but "Criminal Minds" does (at No. 2).

Click here for full article and charts.

Hatin' Palin

Daniel Henninger from the WSJ discusses the "cheap shots" taken at Sarah Palin and highlights some problems with the political system. (Oct. 23)

Sony Ericsson YouTube Phone

You are now able to shoot a video with your mobile phone and then - click, click, click - upload your latest exploits to YouTube. The IHT reports.

The new Sony Ericsson W595 selling in Italy by 3 Italia is the first cameraphone to offer a YouTube uploader function.

After uploading a video, the user receives a text message with the Internet address where the video can be accessed. There is also a key with the YouTube logo that links directly to the site's vast array of videos.

TV Networks Criticized for Blocking Election Videos on YouTube

Despite having signed off on User Generated Content (UGC) principles, which endorse fair use of copyrighted content in protected free speech, several networks have sent takedown requests to YouTube over politically-themed videos that use short clips from copyrighted broadcasts. Switched reports.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) earlier this week sent letters not only to YouTube, but also the networks involved: Fox, NBC, CBN, and CBS. The open letter to the networks requests that they stop sending takedown requests based on short news clips used in election-themed videos.

Fred von Lohmann (senior intellectual property attorney at the EFF) said,"The videos at issue include clips of news footage that last only a few seconds, used as part of constitutionally-protected political speech. This is not piracy, but fair use, no different from what Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show do every night."

Read full article.

Don Draper on SNL

« Don Draper's Guide to Picking up Women » on Saturday Night Live. You too, can be like Don Draper...

YouTube Enables Deep Linking Within Videos

YouTube will now allow you to send users to a specific point in a video by appending a short tag to the end of a video’s URL. To specify a point, append a tag to the end of your video link with the following syntax: “#t=1m45s”.

As another nice touch, YouTube will also automatically detect when someone mentions a time in a video comment and add a hyperlink to that point in the video.

[TechCrunch via Techmeme]

Bush Endorsement on SNL

Pres. Bush endorses McCain and Palin on Saturday Night Live.

'Song for Sarah' for mrs. Palin

Vlad and Boris on YouTube with a 'Song for Sarah' for mrs. Palin.

[via metro]

Sarah Palin 'SNL' Online Videos Soon to Eclipse TV

Among the Top ‘Most Popular’ Shorts on Hulu.com, Vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's appearance was very good for “Saturday Night Live,” bringing the show its best ratings in 14 years.

But the number of people who have watched the clips on the web is closing fast, and will soon surpass the 15 million that watched on TV, if it hasn't already.

[Adage via Techmeme]

Pumpkins for Obama

Spotted on Memphis Flyer, "Yes We Carve", pumpkins for Obama. A collection of Americans (and beyond) showing Obama support in a fun, positive, October appropriate way.

Princeton YouTube channel

Princeton University has expanded its online video presence with the creation of the Princeton YouTube channel.

The Princeton channel on the popular online video sharing website features content highlighting academic research, the University's groundbreaking financial aid program, student-made works and other topics. Videos are added to the Princeton channel by the University's Office of Communications.

[via Princeton University]

Screen Actors Guild slams "Stealth" Ads

The Screen Actors Guild called this week for the FCC to tighten its rules on sponsorship identification for "imbedded" advertising, including disclosures on programs that include product placement. [via Broadcasting & Cable]

... SAG said the current rules are ineffective and that "subtle and devious" product placement has taken its toll on actors as well as show creators and the audience. SAG calls it a form or "forced endorsement," adding that "actors often have little to no latitude to resist participating in an instance of produce integration, almost always without compensation.

Flatscreen TVs turn up the heat on climate

Our new-found love for flat-screen TVs could come back to haunt us, according to New Scientist.

Earlier this year, researchers warned that the growing popularity of this technology was releasing increasing amounts of a powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Now, researchers say levels of the gas are four times as high as previously estimated, and warn they are rising "quasi-exponentially".

Google reads brain waves to measure ads on YouTube

According to ZDNet, Google, along with MediaVest are releasing information about ad quality determined by reading brain waves and psychological responses to ads on video content.

Yaakov Kimelfeld of MediaVest and Leah Spalding of Google presented in a webinar this morning to share these results. The goal was to measure the impact of YouTube overlay advertisements on attention levels, emotional engagement, and other psychological metrics.

They came to three conclusions when it comes to InVideo overlay advertisements:

1. InVideo overlay ads are compelling
2. InVideo overlay ads add to user experience
3. InVideo overlay ads improve positive brand response

TV Cozies

Spotted on Popgadget via Geek Sugar, Martha Stewart TV Cozies. To help you log off.