Video -- Sorenson Media's 2012 Commitment to Our Customers

Here is our (Sorenson Media's) commitment to our great customers for 2012 (in my words):
CEO New Year Message

Must See LG Video Ad -- Clever Indeed ...

It's CES Time -- Happy New Year!

CES -- the annual tech/digital media rite of passage -- begins this week. Are you excited yet? Are you an MG Siegler -- or more of a Jordan Crook? (Both, by the way, are TechCrunchers ...).

Once again, I will participate in the madness -- most likely Wednesday and Thursday. I believe this marks my 10th anniversary of consecutive attendance -- and starting off the New Year with a bang (essentially going from 0 to 60 overnight!).

See you there.

Comcast's & Disney's New Content Pact -- What It Means to Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix & Others

Big news yesterday on the online live/linear television front -- Comcast and Disney just brokered an unprecedented 10-year deal for Comcast to carry ABC, ESPN and other Disney owned channels to all Comcast subscribers anywhere -- including online via their smart phones, tablets, etc. In other words, essentially anywhere. This is an important (and likely incredibly expensive) win for Comcast's TV Everywhere initiative -- a closed environment available only behind the pay firewall for Comcast subscribers (in other words, live/linear ABC and ESPN channels will not be available for "free" over-the-top via services like Hulu.

So, what does this mean for Apple's iTV ambitions? Google's living room ambitions? Amazon's Kindle Fire and Prime ambitions? Netflix, Vudu and a host of others? Does this Comcast/Disney deal mean that live channels of television programming from the major networks -- such as the critical ESPN channels -- will never be available by these other non-cable service providers? Does this mean that the tech giants of today are now frozen out for at least 10 years?

Absolutely not!

So long as these tech titans (such as Apple) act in the same manner as Comcast, then they too will have the privilege of providing those critical television programming channels to their customers. How can they do that? By paying big, big, big -- that's how -- just like Comcast has done with Disney. And, by requiring their customers to act like cable customers -- in other words, by requiring customers who want that premium television programming to pay for it via programming packages accessible only to those who subscribe. In other words, the new Comcast/Disney deal simply means that Apple, Google, Amazon and the others will simply need to act like virtual cable companies -- something that I have long believed is inevitable in any event.

Make no mistake. Although the Disney deal is an important "win" for Comcast, cord cutting from traditional cable providers like Comcast will continue to accelerate ....

Cable Cord Cutting Happening Now In a Big Way -- Here is the Data to Prove It

Well, the inevitable cutting of the cable cord by consumers is already happening now in a big way -- contrary to the entrenched parties -- according to leading global analyst firm Deloitte. In Deloitte's new study, "State of the Media Democracy," some of the juicy highlights include:

-- 9% of those surveyed have already cut the cord of their cable companies to provide them with premium video programming

-- 11% more are considering cutting the cord right now

-- 15% indicate they will be watching premium online video (motion pictures and TV) from online sources in the near-term

-- 42% have already streamed a movie from online services (as compared to 28% in 2009)

-- 14% now consider streaming movies to their computer or television as their favorite way to watch a movie (as compared to 4% in 2009)

-- only 19% have NOT viewed a movie from any source (including rental) over the past 6 months (as compared to 37% back in 2007) -- in other words GREATER DISTRIBUTION OPTIONS DOES LEAD TO GREATER CONSUMPTION! (Content owners, take note!)

-- 42% own smartphones (as compared with 25% in 2009)

-- 52% are considering purchasing smartphones now (compared with 40% in 2010).

My Interview About Cloud Workflows at Streaming Media West

Just published -- my interview at the Streaming Media West conference in LA this past November. We had just launched Squeeze 8, and I primarily discuss the Cloud -- and my strong feeling that the majority of video workflows will gravitate to Cloud-based solutions within the next 3 years.

Your Personal Memories -- Safe For 100 Years ... Then What?

The holidays are over. Time for a fresh start. Time to get back to business.

Your mental recall of the past few weeks of holiday festivities may be fading, but your digital memories -- your still photos and videos -- are fresh, fresh, fresh. At least they are for now ...

But, how about later?

During the holidays, I read a profile piece on personal archiving software company Evernote -- click here to read it from Gigaom. In it, Evernote's CEO, Phil Libin, underscores his persistent theme that he wants Evernote to be a "100 year company." At first blush, 100 years sounds downright audacious. But, think about it. And, think about 100 years in the specific context of archiving. Is 100 years really enough?

Okay, let's say that Evernote -- and other personal memory companies (photo sharing sites, etc.) -- can hold your personal memories for 100 years. What happens after that? Remember, our family and friend digital photos and videos are perhaps our most precious possessions. Once we entrust them to Evernote and other companies, do we really believe that they will safeguard those precious forever? While we all fully understand our own mortality, do we really believe that Evernote and others of their personal archiving ilk are immortal? Or, are we simply resigned to the fact that our memories will be meaningful -- really meaningful -- for about 100 years; but our family and friends essentially won't "matter" after several generations and after 100 years?

Yes, you can save your digital memories on your internal and external hard drives. But, those crash. Yes, you can save them onto discs. But, those ultimately are not lasting and also become obsolete. And, of course, the "Cloud" sounds great -- until your user names and passwords are forgotten after ... gulp .... you have checked out or after your service provider rides off into the sunset (taking your digital memories with them ...). This IS a stark reality. After all, one of the largest keeper of memories -- Flip (which seemingly was in the "safe" hands of Cisco!) -- shocked its millions of users (who trusted them) last year when they announced they will be completely shutting down the service at the end of 2013. All digital memories in FlipShare (the companion service to the Flip cam) will simply be gone, baby, gone!

At the end of the day, maybe the best course is the tried and true course -- the proverbial box of photos (hard copies). Yes, those fade away too -- but, at least we have proof that they can last over 100 years ....