Real-Warner Bros. Webcast dispute called "war".
Published:
17 November 1999 y., Wednesday
RealNetworks has lost a high-profile Hollywood deal after becoming embroiled in a bitter dispute with Warner Bros. over Webcast branding, sources say, opening the door to rival Microsoft in the process. RealNetworks, by far the leader in streaming video and audio on the Web, had been in negotiations with Warner Bros. to Webcast the Drew Carey Show simultaneously with an airing of the TV program on ABC. The two companies had also discussed the use of RealNetworks technology and distribution channels for Metallica_s "S&M" album. Warner representatives said those talks collapsed, leading the company to turn to Microsoft_s streaming technologies instead. Details of the dispute were not disclosed, but studio executives said they involved brash demands by RealNetworks to promote its brand. The loss of the deal to archrival Microsoft is a clear blow to RealNetworks, particularly as industry figures show that the software giant may be gaining ground in the digital media market. Moreover, the fallout with a major Hollywood studio could bode ill for future deals in an industry that is infamous for exacting revenge. "We_re totally at war with RealNetworks," one Warner executive declared. While the Seattle company_s RealPlayer is used in most live Internet music and video broadcasts, Warner Bros. will give its business to Microsoft_s Windows Media player, at least in this instance. Warner, a subsidiary of Time Warner, refused to disclose the terms of its deal, saying only that Microsoft--in contrast to RealNetworks--"knows how to value content." The move indicates that some media executives are growing frustrated with RealNetworks_ ability to use its huge installed base of 88 million customers in negotiating online distribution deals. The company has built one of the most popular sites on the Web by aggregating content from some of the largest media organizations.
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The European Commission has approved, under EC Treaty state aid rules, an amendment to a Lithuanian scheme allowing aid to be granted of up to €500 000 per company, initially approved on 8 June 2009.
more »
As agreed by the President of the European Commission and the President of the Russian Federation during the last EU-Russia Summit in Khabarovsk, the EU and Russia have strengthened the current dispositions under the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue to prevent and manage potential energy crises, with an enhanced Early Warning Mechanism.
more »
The European Union has today presented to the World Trade Organization the trade facilitation projects it has financed between 2006 and 2008.
more »
The European Commission has authorised, under the EC Treaty’s rules on state aid, a planned state guarantee by Romania to enable Ford Romania SA to access a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
more »
The economic crisis has left many countries with budget deficits well over the 3% limit. The commission is proposing deadlines for reducing the gaps.
more »
Statistics Lithuania informs that in October 2009, against September, prices for consumer goods and services went down by 0.4 per cent.
more »
Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Šarūnas Adomavičius took part in bilateral political consultations with representatives from foreign affairs, commerce and transport ministries of the People’s Republic of China.
more »
Under the budgetary surveillance powers conferred by the EU Treaty, the European Commission today proposed to the Council to set 2013 as the deadline for the correction of the budget deficits in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Portugal.
more »
A joint partnership between the World Bank, the Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Ministry of Environment was launched in Moldova’s capital in the late days of October.
more »
World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick today joins senior officials from the Government of Singapore to launch a new global urban strategy that will guide Bank advisory services and financing in the sector over the next decade.
more »