Video content deals are big business

Digital video content, such as the expanded agreement announced early Tuesday between Disney and Apple for more iTunes content, brings more money to content producers than the 50-50 split record labels get for downloading a 99-cent song, according to Nielsen data quoted by MediaDailyNews. Citing the growing number of distribution deals for video content, the report says that the economics of on-demand deals are closer to the DVD business, shortening the time customers must wait for on-demand video content and accelerating the return for content producers: "There is no evidence that program downloading has led to any loss of viewership for those shows that run on Walt Disney's broadcast or cable channels. In fact, ratings have risen somewhat on ABC since the time of the deal." Apple reportedly gives up around $1.36 per episode to Walt Disney for right to distribute the company's content via its iTunes Music Store, while newer deals for more extensive likely even more lucrative--perhaps as much as a 70-30 split in favor of the content owner from the $1.99 per episode price for commercial-free programming.

World's first video iPod film festival

The Flux today announced the opening of the Flux iPod Film Festival, an online film festival and competition of content formatted for the iPod. Visitors to the website can download films for playback on computers or video iPods, then vote for a favorite video. Prizes will be awarded in three categories: best indie/student short, best amateur/family clip, and best music video. Submissions must be less than ten minutes and properly formatted for the iPod. R Cubed Productions will offer conversion services to properly format films for iPod playback for a small fee. The festival submission deadline is January 25th.

Tool for adding synchronized lyrics to songs

Script Software today announced an open invitation to all musicians and music publishers to begin adding synchronized lyrics to every song they create, using iStar Composer. The software embeds synchronized lyrics into any song, which can display sequentially in iTunes as well as on iPod displays. Star Composer can be used to edit and display lyrics, opera, plays, musicals, karaoke, and more. "It won't be long before downloadable music will be judged not just on the song's quality but also on what is included, such as synchronized lyrics or other multimedia," said Julian Miller, CEO of Script Software. iStar Composer is $30, and requires Mac OS X 10.4, as well as QuickTime 7.0.3.

Starz debuts PDA video download service

On the heels of several landmark video distribution deals on iTunes, Starz Entertainment Group today said it would launch a movie download service that allows consumers to view full-length studio films, concerts and TV shows on portable devices powered by Microsoft, locking out Mac and most iTunes users. Starz' Vongo, available for a monthly subscription of $10, will eventually include more than 1,000 movies, short films and other programs, which will be available at the same time they are offered on the Starz premium movie cable channel (about five to six months after they are released on DVD). According to the AP, the service will allow users to download as many films as they want each month to up to three devices, including Windows-based computers and portable devices running Microsoft's Portable Media Center software. The company will also offer a smaller number of early release films for pay-per-view fee of $4 as well as a live, streaming video feed of the Starz TV channel.