Comedian Jim Gaffigan recently announced that he will be distributing a low-cost, DRM-free version of his latest comedy special after being inspired by fellow comedian, Louis C.K. We’ve talked about C.K.’s experiment before; after self-producing and distributing his special, “Live at the Beacon Theater,” C.K. sold his show online for the low price of $5. Continue reading
Redbox Gives Netflix a Run for its Money
Ah, Redbox. You’ve probably seen their ubiquitous red kiosks somewhere in your neighborhood before. The company has been around since 2002, and I remember trusting Redbox to provide off-the-wall and nearly unheard-of movies. Recently, though, I began to notice a change in the offerings, which included bigger blockbusters and more recent releases. When did that happen?
Weekly Digital News Roundup: Feb 6 – 10
New Yahoo CEO to Reduce Emphasis on Ads
- Scott Thompson is faced with the difficult task of making Yahoo relevant again. It looks like the company’s new CEO has a plan: he wants to turn away from advertising and focus on earning revenue from fees and commissions.
- Thompson announced last month that, as part of his emphasis on non-ad revenue sources, he plans on exploiting the data Yahoo has collected on the hundreds of millions of people that visit its websites each month. According to people familiar with the matter, Thompson is also evaluating whether to continue buying ad-tech companies to compete with Google.
- Yahoo’s roots are in advertising, but in this instance, Thompson’s background could be working to his advtange. Prior to becoming the company’s latest CEO, Thompson was previously president of Paypal, Inc., and came into the position without any prior online ad experience. Could this be the fresh perspective Yahoo needs?