The landmark vote regarding net neutrality that took place at the Federal Communications Commission this past week affects everyone who is tied to the Internet in some way. What's most pressing in this blog is the impact on video content creators and their viewers, and the passage of the Open Internet Order may have the potential to both benefit and hinder those parties.

Make no mistake about it; this is the sort of legislation for which net neutrality advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have been pushing. Analysis at the EFF notes that the bill will reclassify Internet service providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act. That reclassification will ensure that ISPs are not allowed to charge for special content on their networks, create so-called "fast lanes" for individuals or companies, or block or throttle content or the speed at which consumers receive content.

Content creators: that means you should expect your videos to reach the public in a manner which is fair and unhindered by the opinions or political stance of an ISP. Viewers: will continue to have access to all your favorite videos on websites and set-top devices such as YouTube, Roku, and those platforms which use Zype as their underlying content management system.

Everyone, however, may have to watch out for a secondary effect of the common carrier mandate. Ars Technica explains that the Open Internet Order will likely give the FCC jurisdiction over agreements between "edge providers" and ISPs in the same way that it will have jurisdiction over ISP/consumer relationships. Edge providers are those companies which provide applications and content over the Internet; the largest edge providers are the major sites that consumers may visit such as Google or Netflix, and those sites can benefit from special arrangements with ISPs because it helps get content to consumers more quickly.

If the FCC was to enforce common carrier status and claim that ISPs are indeed offering a service to edge providers, the Internet as a whole could witness a significant slowdown when it comes to content available at the major providers we have come to know well. Ars expected that the rules in the bill could have received some last minute changes to lessen the impact such a law would have on those special arrangements. Of course, it is also possible that the FCC would show some leniency with respect for the overall good of major content providers and consumers -- the base on which this order should have been founded. It is hard to tell, at this point, exactly how things have played out. The full text of the order has not yet been made public, the L.A. Times says, and it could take weeks or months before the FCC releases the details.

Even with that shadow of doubt looming in the distance, there is a lot of good news surrounding the vote. The Internet has a chance, at least, to continue to operate with a sense of fairness about it so that all content is seen as equal in the eyes of the law. Here at Zype, we know that access to content is paramount. This looks to be a huge win for everyone involved.

Images courtesy of Backbone Campaign and Enzo Varriale via Flickr here and here.

FCC Passes Open Internet Order

In the latest news which should come as no surprise to readers of this blog, research from Verizon, Forrester, and Ooyala confirm that, within the generation of Millennials, traditional television is on the way out while online streaming has replaced that loss outright.

Let's first take a look at the research from Verizon as summed up in a recent blog post at InPlayer. The Verizon researchers, in their study "Millennials and Entertainment, Final Report, March 2014," found that Millennials are prone to binge-watching and that they want access to their favorite programs at a moment's notice. Those favorite programs come courtesy of video programming distributors and set-top boxes -- á la Roku or Chromecast, Hulu or Netflix. And don't forget up-and-comers like Zype.

To be more specific, the details of the Verizon study are such that its researchers surveyed 800 Millennials of ages 16-34 and 200 non-Millennials of ages 35-64 and stated, "On Demand is being replaced by Real Time. Millennials want to access all the content they desire without speed and quality being affected."

That used to be a lot to ask for, but the 44 percent of Millennials who want current shows and episodes, 41 percent who "value a high quality viewing experience" with minimal interruptions, and 37 percent who want fewer steps between content selection and content viewing are getting what they want. Online services make it possible for the seemingly impossible of 10 years ago to become mainstream and overtake television which once was king of the living room. It is king no more.

InPlayer digs even further. It cites Forrester when it claims that only 46 percent of Millennials watch linear television with some regularity. The bulk of video viewers flock to the online arena, and surprisingly enough, they are using their small screens to get there. Ooyala says Millennials are now more likely to view their high-quality favorite shows, with no pauses, on their laptops or mobile devices. Even when they may catch a show on television, they are probably also accessing similar content on their phones, tablets, or laptops at the same time. The percentage of video plays on mobile -- versus all other platforms -- has risen almost consistently from quarter to quarter since August 2011 through at least the second quarter of 2014. There appears to be no separating this generation from the small screens they grew up with and have come to love.

What this means for businesses is that their content must be optimized for mobile more than any other device. In the present day, however, there are still many non-Millennials who want to get their content the old fashioned way -- they are three times more likely to not have watched content online, reports Verizon -- so content providers must optimize their video channels to meet the demands of all sizes of screens. Even with that burden of responsibility, though, services such as Zype control the future of streaming by bringing content together into a nice, neat package for viewers of many ages to absorb.

Millennials Prefer Online Content, Smaller Screens

Hospitality management is all about giving travelers what they want. In this age, what people want is access to a high speed Internet connection so they can get their work done and maybe catch up on a few of their favorite television series'.

Of course, that play won't take place your work is done. Right? When it comes time to relax, though, what if it didn't take a mobile phone or laptop to get those favorite shows in front of you? At select Marriott International locations, all it may take is the remote to your in-room hotel television set.

This is fair warning not to get too antsy just yet, but the latest news regarding Marriot is that the hotel chain is experimenting with providing Netflix, Pandora, and Hulu in their hotel rooms. For now, the L.A. Times reports, the experiment is only taking place at eight hotels, and Marriott is reportedly tight-lipped about how it will use the feedback from this test to better address its guests wants and needs. Well, sometimes Netflix is a need.

Experts associated with this type of benefits marketing could allow the hotel chain to increase its revenue by making the Internet-based services only available for an extra charge or only part of a rewards program. For now, the ultimate implementation of these services is inconclusive. That doesn't mean, however, that there aren't some things to ponder.

One of the glaring exceptions to Marriott's test is the exclusion of Amazon Instant Video. According to Readwrite, the growing online video portal, which has a series that just grabbed an award at the Golden Globes, is missing from the Marriott lineup. Although it may have the chops to take in some industry awards, it may also lack the freshness that at least one of its seasoned competitors presents. That competitor is Hulu, and part of its appeal is the up-to-date episodes that mark its overall cast of shows. Hulu Plus members have access to the newest episodes of many of their favorites such as South Park and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Netflix supplements that content with an array of travelers' favorite movies and series. Not only can Amazon not yet stand up to those two rivals on its own, it's in direct conflict with NBC Universal which is part-owner of Hulu and has a content agreement with Netflix. In that sense, because of their shared relationship with NBC, it is unsurprising that both Hulu and Netflix appear alongside one another. As Readwrite puts it, Amazon is just the odd man out.

What other content providers can take away from this situation is the notion that fresh content can tip the scales in one's favor. Even without the leverage that NBC offers, the fact that Hulu has some of the latest content in broadcasting makes it a gem of which other businesses -- Marriott -- can take advantage. The latest content brings in viewers, and viewers bring in the potential for monetization. When Marriott brings rewards programs into the equation, it will have capitalized on the freshness of Hulu's content.

For any business, that freshness is key. That is what Zype can offer with its ability to bring content into a central location. Viewers of any brand's latest creations want them here and now, and Zype can bring focus to from multiple websites, Youtube and Hulu channels, or syndicated content into a single pane of glass. Taken alone, Hulu and Netflix are powerhouses in the digital media arena. Placed together, Marriott can draw in travelers who want their content now and can receive it easily from the pane of glass that is, literally, their hotel television sets.

Instant Access to Newest Content Drives Marriott Video Experiment

Last week, I was super proud of one of our most amazing customers, Shout Factory TV.  They had an awesome idea - let's make classic and cult TV and film accessible to everyone on the Internet with a cordcutter friendly new service.

Everyone at Zype is excited to be a part of this launch.  Shout Factory was able to leverage our distribution service aggregation technology, syncing videos from Hulu, YouTube, and their own library, to build an amazing direct-to-viewer service.

Check out Shout Factory TV today. I'll be catching up with the Weird Al show and Twilight Zone - what will you be watching?

ShoutFactory TV Launches with Zype

Snapchat has long been known for its "limited time" content that users can share and view for only a matter of seconds. Its Stories function extended that deadline to 24 hours, but even the base format of sharing images and videos is not always what news media looks for when trying to market its content. The new Discovery function, released only this past week, attempts to bring businesses into the fold by giving a select few their own space within the popular content sharing app.

Discovery is the result of Snapchat's partnership with CNN, The Food Network, ESPN, Comedy Central, and a number of other news sources. It's a page within the app -- users, just swipe once to the left from the home page -- that contains a handful of bubbles which link viewers to content that updates itself every 24 hours. The Snapchat blog says Stories are familiar because they give users a beginning, middle, and end to their news and that each edition of Discover is refreshed every day "because what's news today is history tomorrow."

This is a definite look at news as not exactly a passing fancy but more of a present-focused ideal. Snapchat appears to want things fresh. Quick. New. Always changing.

Discover will give them, their users, and their news partners exactly that. Even advertisers are keen on the platform because, as Digiday notes, they can get ads for cheaper through those news partners than Snapchat itself since Snapchat reportedly lets news publishers sell their own ads to brands.

VideoInk says more partners are joining the team, so one could argue that the platform is appealing to a wide range of publishers. Yet, Digiday also notes the marked absence of BuzzFeed and the New York Times. Speculation regarding their absence leads more to Snapchat's inability to make a deal rather than the desirability of Discover. Still, Snapchat is said to be pushing for more music with Warner Music Group -- though Discover was unable to land Spotify or Vevo.

This aggregation of news appears useful for the Spotify dedicated. Similarly, businesses wishing to bring together their own content can look to Zype to get all their own media under a single roof. Whether it's in a Vessel, webpage, or an app, this trend of content conglomeration is present and unflinching.

Snapchat Discovery Brings News Together but Briefly

The set top box is eating the cable box: Quickly building branded OTT channels

Almost every new TV minted has built in set top box capabilities, from Roku to SmartTV, and every new digital consumer born is growing up in a world where access to content is unlimited and not determined by aggregators or device. The convenience, choice, and ease of use of the set top box poses a unique challenge for content owners and creators of all stripes. How do they quickly deliver branded channels to stake their claim in this new ecosystem?

Vote for Zype Panel @ Internet Week NY

Zype's CEO on DEW Webinar: Optimizing OTT Distribution

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Zype's CEO on DEW Webinar: Optimizing OTT Distribution

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FCC Passes Open Internet Order

Millennials Prefer Online Content, Smaller Screens

Instant Access to Newest Content Drives Marriott Video Experiment

ShoutFactory TV Launches with Zype

Snapchat Discovery Brings News Together but Briefly

Vote for Zype Panel @ Internet Week NY

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