Interactive TV News Round-Up (V): WSJ, YouTube, Chase Carey, Warner Bros, Sky Deutschland

Due to the large volume of news generated by the recent 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and other factors, we are covering stories in this issue in round-up/summary format. We anticipate that it will take us several more days to process all the news from the show: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us.

•  The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday launched its WSJ Live service (see the article published on itvt.com, September 13th) as a YouTube channel, under the auspices of YouTube's original channels initiative (note: for more on the latter, see the article published on itvt.com, January 31st). "In conjunction with the launch, the channel will showcase 'Off Duty,' a daily lifestyle show debuting today based on the eponymous section of WSJ Weekend, the Journal's Saturday paper," the Journal states in its press materials. "Hosted by Wall Street Journal reporter Wendy Bounds, 'Off Duty' will bring to life many of its namesake's features, as well as other culture coverage from the Journal--from food to fashion, music and movies, travel to tech. The show will air each business day at 6:00PM ET on WSJ.com and WSJ Live, the Journal's interactive video application, followed immediately by on-demand availability on YouTube and additional channels. Live episodes begin Monday, February 6...The exclusive launch sponsor for The Wall Street Journal's YouTube channel is OppenheimerFunds...Wall Street Journal video includes multiple shows, news updates, reporting from the field, exclusive interviews and special events coverage. YouTube is the latest distribution channel for WSJ Live, which currently features up to four hours of live programming per business day as well as on-demand video via the iPad, Internet-televisions and set-top boxes. 'Off Duty' joins 'Digits,' 'Lunch Break,' 'Mean Street,' 'Markets Hub,' 'Opinion Journal' and the 'News Hub,' as well as an extensive archive of clips showcasing news and reporting from the more than 2,000 journalists across the Journal and Dow Jones. In addition to YouTube, the WSJ Live app is available via Apple TV, Google TV and Roku, as well as Boxee, Etisalat, Hulu, Panasonic's Viera Connect-enabled HDTV's, Samsung 2011 Smart TV's, Sony Internet TV, Vizio Internet Apps HDTV's, and the Yahoo! Connected TV platform. The WSJ Live app for iPad has been downloaded more than 160,000 times since launch in September 2011."
• In related news: Chase Carey, president, COO and deputy chairman of the Wall Street Journal's parent company, News Corp., appears to be somewhat ambivalent about YouTube's original channels initiative, despite his company's participation in it: "I struggled when I first looked at it," he told attendees of Tuesday's Dive into Media conference. "Written on a piece of paper, [I thought] this will never make a dime. One hundred channels fragmented, spread across the world--it's not going to add up." However, he added, "I don't think we can get hung up on forcing ourselves to have business plans for things that are unknown." Carey also used the conference to criticize the pay-TV industry's implementation of the "TV Everywhere" programming strategy: "I'd say authentication is a pretty poor execution to date," he said. "The process is way too difficult, way too unfriendly." He subsequently referred to the TV Everywhere user experience as "a pain in the neck." Variety's Andrew Wallenstein has more.
• Warner Bros. International Television Distribution and Sky Deutschland announced a new multiplatform distribution deal Wednesday. "The three-year agreement between Sky and the number-one film distributor in Germany includes the SVOD rights (exclusively for all new releases during the license period of the first pay window) and the exclusive pay-TV rights for all Warner films across all distribution channels, including satellite, cable, IPTV, Internet, and mobile during the license period," the companies state in their press materials. "Film fans can now look forward to cinema hits like 'J. Edgar,' 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,' the new Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration 'Dark Shadows,' which will be presented on Sky in 3D, 'The Dark Knight Rises' as well as...successful German local productions like 'Kokowaeaeh' and 'Maennerherzen und die ganz ganz grosse Liebe.' In addition, all this content will also be available through the latest innovations for Sky customers: Through Sky Anytime, Sky Film customers can watch their favorite films on-demand, whenever they choose--uncut, uninterrupted by ads, a year before they are available anywhere else on TV, and at no additional cost. In addition, with Sky Go, customers have an even greater flexibility, giving them access to hundreds of top films, on-demand and on the go, on the Web, iPad and more to come."