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TBS will broadcast eSports in 2016
From 2016 TBS won't just show Conan and Big Bang Theory re-runs, as the channel has revealed that it's launching its own eSports league. Turner Broadcasting has signed a deal to broadcast bouts of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, which'll air on Friday nights for 20 weeks of the year. At this early stage, details are thin on the ground, except to say that qualifying rounds for the main events will be streamed online. Successful teams will then be handed a ticket to TBS HQ in Atlanta where the live show will be recorded.
NVIDIA's GeForce game sharing feature is available in beta
NVIDIA's GeForce Experience Share has been released in early access beta, giving PC gamers the ability to invite friends to take over a game or play cooperatively. Via an in-game overlay menu, players can use the "Shadowplay" option to continuously capture a stream, then broadcast it to Twitch, other players, or YouTube as an upload. NVIDIA said that the feature can save the last 5 to 20 minutes of game play at up to 4K (3,840 x 2,160) with very little performance hit. Players can also send a live game stream to Twitch via the "broadcast" feature.
Rdio adds free live radio stations to its streaming library
Apple Music has Beats1, and now Rdio has live radio, too. Rdio announced today that in addition to its library of 35 million songs and curated stations, it's tacking on live broadcast radio with access to "nearly 500 stations." You can browse the full list here, but for starters you can expect 93.9 The Beat in Indianapolis, 95.5 KLOS in LA, 95.5 NASH Icon in Nashville, NASH FM 94.7 in New York and KFOG in San Francisco thanks to Cumulus Radio. Westwood One is also chipping in, which means you'll be able to listen to 24/7 sports talk and game coverage of events like NCAA March Madness. What's more, there will be on-demand access to those talk shows (The Jim Rome Show, The Doug Gottlieb Show and others) in what we'd surmise is a podcast-like repository. You'll be able to stream your local favorites and stations broadcasting in other cities, too.
Test run paves the way for over-the-air 4K TV
You may not have to pony up for a streaming video service (or any service, for that matter) to get 4K video on your TV in the future. GatesAir, LG and Zenith have started field-testing Futurecast, a system that promises to drag over-the-air TV into the modern era. Thanks to HEVC video compression as well as boosts to overall throughput, the technology can stuff both 4K and two mobile broadcasts into a relatively small 6MHz frequency range. With enough bandwidth, you'd only need a set of rabbit ears to watch at least a few basic channels in Ultra HD.
ESPN's X Games to use GoPro footage during live broadcasts
ESPN is never afraid to experiment with new technologies. Earlier this year, it used drones to capture footage of athletes as they performed during the winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado. That recorded content, however, was limited to being used for replays or post-show highlights, if at all. But, over the past few months, ESPN has been working with GoPro to bring a new, real-time camera angle to its broadcast of this year's summer X Games, scheduled to take place in Austin, Texas from June 4th to June 7th. For the first time ever, the sports network will be using video from GoPros in live broadcasts of the event, giving viewers at home a first-person look at the action while it happens.
Re/code: Apple wants local stations on its web TV service
Earlier this week, folks in the know claimed that Apple's HDTV project had been junked after more than a decade of development. Now, however, Re/code is reporting that the company is still working on an online TV service for its devices, but wants to beat its rivals by being the first to offer live video from local broadcasters. Naturally, a push for regional content means having to deal with the hundreds of affiliates that operate across the country. So, instead of just shaking hands on a contract with ABC, Apple's got to get lawyers out to every station from Arizona's KNXV-TV to Wyoming's WAOW.
The first live VR broadcast brought the beach to my backyard
On Saturday morning in Ann Arbor, Michigan, it was about 30 degrees outside, but I was in my backyard enjoying a 75-degree day at the beach. That's only possible because I was testing out the first attempt at streaming virtual reality from one place to another -- in this case from Laguna Beach, California, to a Samsung Gear VR headset strapped to my head. Thanks to technology from the folks at NextVR, I could see and hear everything in 3D as though I was actually there, looking around in a virtual reality environment while on the phone with co-founder David Cole. NextVR's demo reel takes viewers to a prerecorded NBA game, beach scene or Coldplay concert, but until now, no one outside of its labs has actually used the technology to visit another place via a live feed. A couple of years ago, we talked to the company about its plans to distribute live video in a virtual reality environment and today that dream came true.
Steam's answer to Twitch game streaming is now live
Valve is now letting its millions of Steam users stream their games to the world. Steam Broadcasting, the company's answer to the wildly popular Twitch, was announced back in December and has been included in beta clients since, but today Valve has added the feature to the regular Steam app. Broadcasting and watching gaming is pretty simple. If you know someone's Steam ID, you only need browse to their profile and click "Watch Game." This'll send a request through to the player's Steam client, and if they accept it'll start streaming immediately. You can change the privacy settings to, say, keep streaming totally public, limit it to friends or make it invite-only. Public streams are discoverable through the Broadcast option under the Community tab.
Twitch focuses on music as it grows beyond gaming
It turns out that the Steve Aoki concert on Twitch was just the beginning of something much, much bigger. The company has announced that more music broadcasts are coming to the streaming service by way of its new "music" category. The new section is in beta, but it'll allow anyone who's creating, performing and presenting original songs to do so live on the internet. What's more, "certain established artists and labels" will have the option to host listening parties and broadcast what Twitch calls large-scale events (think festival performances) if its curators deem them a good fit. The streaming juggernaut is also teaming with BeatPort and SFX Entertainment for festival broadcasts and DJ/producer interviews, as well.
GoPro deal brings action cameras to live TV
Action cameras like the GoPro Hero line are great for immersing you in sports and other thrilling events, but there's a catch -- TV broadcasters can't easily use them live, which means you're either left watching a not-so-reliable internet stream or waiting for video released after the fact. Thankfully, you won't have to deal with these compromises quite so often this year. GoPro is teaming up with Vislink to craft a wearable wireless transmitter that athletes and others can wear to show their adventures on live TV. You won't get more details until the spring, but you'll see it in action at the Winter X Games in Aspen, some AMA Monster Energy Supercross races and other thrill-a-minute sports events in the near future. One thing's already certain: you won't always have to settle for old-school broadcast camera footage for much longer. [Image credit: Mark, Fang & Ming Bourne, Flickr]
Steam infiltrates Twitch territory with Steam Broadcasting [Update: Twitch reaction]
Steam Broadcasting allows players to stream their live gameplay to friends, strangers and any Steam user between, without any third-party programs required. To stream a game, simply start playing. Players are able to keep their gameplay private, too. The first time a friend requests to watch your live game, you'll see the broadcast privacy settings, with choices to allow friends to watch, request to watch, receive invites to watch, or to allow anyone to watch your games. Choosing "Anyone can watch my games" makes your stream appear on that game's Hub. "You'll receive a toast when a friend either requests to watch or starts watching your game," the Steam Broadcasting FAQ reads. "At any time you can see a list of viewers from the Steam overlay broadcast box, or if you're watching your own broadcast, from the top of the chat." There's no option to record broadcasts on Steam yet. Those in the Steam Client Beta can try out Steam Broadcasting right now.
CoD: Advanced Warfare gets 6 million viewers on Twitch in first week [Update]
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is apparently as fun to watch as it is to play, given that players spent 5.4 million hours watching Twitch streams of the game in its first week. That figure came from Variety, which noted that over 75,000 broadcasters streamed gameplay footage of Advanced Warfare on Twitch, resulting in more than 26 million views by six million people across all videos during the week. As Twitch confirmed via Twitter, Advanced Warfare became the most streamed console game on Twitch of the year "based on launch week comparisons." The latest Call of Duty dethroned Destiny, which saw five million unique viewers during its introductory week in September. The streaming platform, which was acquired by Amazon for nearly $1 billion in August, has in fact seen better weeks: After inking a three-year deal to become the Electronic Entertainment Expo's official streaming partner in March, 12 million viewers tuned in to Twitch during E3 2014 in June. Update: As a point of clarification, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was the console game with the biggest launch week of the year on Twitch based on the number of streamers, but has not been confirmed as the most streamed game of the year on the platform. We've updated the article and headline to reflect this. [Image: Activision]
Broadcasters want phones to come with a 'hybrid' radio format
You may think that radio is dying in an era when on-demand music streaming is nearly ubiquitous, but some of the world's biggest broadcasters (unsurprisingly) disagree. The BBC, Clear Channel, HD Radio's Ibiquity and a handful of others are researching a "hybrid" radio format that would give smartphone users the advantages of reliable, low-intensity digital or FM radio with the interactivity and "enhancements" of internet streaming. In theory, this would keep your costs down and your battery life up without giving up the creature comforts of modern technology.
PSA: Twitch chat links are phishing for Steam logins
Some Twitch users are experiencing a number of phishing attempts within the video game broadcast service's chat windows. Twitch's support team on Twitter advised that viewers avoid clicking the "csgoprize" link that may appear in stream chats, as it is "a phishing attempt to install malware and compromise your Steam account." Twitch did not disclose how widespread the issue is. The support team said it will "work to block that link," but that variants of the phishing attempt may sprout up in the future. It added that "in general, you should be wary of any links in chat." As for ways broadcasters can prevent further issues, they can enable a "Block Hyperlinks" option within Twitch's Channels and Videos settings to prevent viewers from adding their corrupt links to their stream's chat. [Image: Twitch]
Loud TV commercials will get quieter starting next June
Binging on Mad Men via Netflix or Blu-ray has a few advantages over watching the show when it broadcasts. Namely, not having to sit through commercials that jump higher in volume than anything heard in the halls of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. As spotted by The Hill, the FCC is hoping to change that last bit with an update to 2011's Commercial Advertisement Litigation Mitigation (CALM) Act; the outfit recently ruled for further volume-fluctuation restrictions for certain TV ads. Starting June 4th next year, an improved loudness measurement algorithm will be implemented that should make watching TV a bit more pleasant. How? It won't count the silent parts of an ad that can offset the commercial's average volume measurement, thus bringing the overall audio level down -- something that apparently hasn't been done before. We can't imagine that Harry Crane would be pleased by any of this. [Image credit: Associated Press]
'Halo Channel' digital network announced [UPDATE: Trailer added!]
Microsoft announced the Halo Channel during its Gamescom 2014 press event today. The channel is a digital network dedicated to original content centered around the first-person shooter series for Windows and Xbox One. The Halo Channel will host gameplay streams powered by Twitch, and also offers support for connected second-screen devices, such as tablets. Similar to the Xbox 360's Halo Waypoint channel, players will be able to launch games from the network, which also organizes multiplayer data, videos, player rewards and social networking tools. [Image: Microsoft]
Justin.tv shuts down as Twitch goes all-in on video game broadcasting
Twitch shut down Justin.tv this week, putting an end to the streaming platform's seven-year run, as the company is now focusing its resources on Twitch. Videos on Justin.tv are no longer available to view, and those with active premium pro accounts should receive an email about getting refunded. The shift in focus has been in the works for months, as the company formerly known as Justin.tv changed its corporate name to Twitch in February, the same time Twitch achieved one million active monthly broadcasters. Those with Justin.tv accounts that would like to move over to Twitch need to fill out a form on Twitch's site, though all requests must be received by September 5. However, Justin.tv broadcasters' videos are lost forever; VOD and video archiving support were removed on June 15.
Fox withdraws its $80 billion offer to buy Time Warner
By now, it's no secret that 21st Century Fox made a multi-billion dollar pass at Time Warner, only to get unceremoniously shot down by TW's head honchos. Both companies mostly kept mum after the New York Times first broke the story, but now things have come to a head: Fox has conceded defeat and officially withdrew its $80 billion offer. Had the deal gone through, the resulting content titan would've had with enormous sway over the media world -- it would have been in control of HBO, Turner's TV channels (minus CNN, which would've been spun off), Fox's broadcast network, Fox News, and two big-name film studios. Rupert Murdoch clearly saw the benefits of a mash-up, so why back off now?
Aereo asks users to fight back against Supreme Court ruling
With a new Supreme Court ruling on the books, things are looking awfully grim for Aereo and all those tiny, cloud-friendly antennas it controls. That's why CEO Chet Kanojia has temporarily turned off the television streaming service, and that's why he's asking for help. The beleaguered startup sent out an open letter encouraging all of us to email, tweet, and otherwise petition our land's leaders to defend the right to use a "modern antenna located in the cloud" to watch all that free over-the-air content. "Today, I'm asking you to raise your hands and make your voices heard," Kanojia wrote. "Tell your lawmakers how disappointed you are that the nation's highest court issued a decision that could deny you the right to use the antenna of your choice to access live over-the-air broadcast television."
Twitch schedules its E3 broadcasts
Video game streaming platform Twitch signed a three-year deal in March to be the official streaming partner of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). While we'll have wall-to-wall coverage of next week's avalanche of announcements and other gaming goodies, those looking to watch live broadcasts of gaming's biggest annual event should check out Twitch's now-available broadcast schedule, found after the break. Twitch will kick off its coverage on the morning of Monday, June 9 with Microsoft's media briefing at 9:30 am PT (12:30 pm ET), later showing EA's press conference at 1:00 pm PT (4:00 pm ET). Following EA's "post show" is the reveal of a new game from Bethesda at 2:30 pm PT (5:30 pm ET). "Conference day" continues Monday with Ubisoft at 3:00 pm PT (6:00 pm ET) and Sony at 6:00 p.m. PT (9:00 pm ET). Nintendo's livestream-only E3 event leads the way on Tuesday, June 10 at 9:00 am PT (12:00 pm ET), followed by a handful of as-yet-unannounced game streams throughout the day from publishers like Deep Silver, Ubisoft, Microsoft Studios and Nintendo. Tuesday concludes with Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. invitational tournament at 4:00 pm PT (7:00 pm ET). Wednesday, June 11 and Thursday, June 12 include other unannounced games from Microsoft Studios, Square Enix, EA, Warner Bros., Crytek, Nintendo, Sony, Tecmo Koei and Ubisoft, with Twitch's final E3 stream, 2K's Evolve tournament, set for Thursday at 4:00 pm PT (7:00 pm ET).
