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Online Video Piracy Is Fading Away, Thanks To Netflix (NFLX, AMZN)

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Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Remember the threat of digital video piracy, the scourge of Hollywood?

A new report suggests that it's dropping fast, thanks to licensed streaming services, chiefly Netflix.

Netflix utterly dominates online-video traffic, according to a new study by Sandvine, accounting for 33 percent of peak traffic in North America. Amazon, its closest rival, has only 1.8 percent, and Hulu has 1.4 percent.

The real alternative to Netflix is BitTorrent, a popular file-sharing protocol through which users upload and download copies of movies and TV shows. Because it's a technology for file sharing rather than a centralized service or piece of software, BitTorrent has proven very hard for movie studios to shut down.

But BitTorrent is down to 12 percent of all traffic in North America. It's easy to see why: With Netflix's wide selection, relatively low monthly price compared to cable-TV subscriptions, and speed of delivery, few people opt to wrestle with the complexity and delay of file downloads.

In Europe, BitTorrent is at 16 percent of traffic, and in Asia, where video services are less available, it's 36 percent.

By 2015, Sandvine CEO Dave Caputo forecasts that peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic will drop below 10 percent of network use.

It's not a given that BitTorrent use indicates illegal downloading of a video file—some game developers use it to distribute legal copies of their software, for example—but it is heavily used for video downloads.

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FORMER TV EXEC: Here's The Incredibly Stupid Way Cable Companies Are Screwing Up Their Businesses

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Remote Control

I moderated a panel on the future of television this afternoon.

I'm a big believer in the future of video-based storytelling (a.k.a., TV), but I think the TV industry as it currently exists is headed for trouble. Why? Because consumer TV viewing habits are changing. And, eventually, when consumer habits change enough, the money follows.

The TV execs I interviewed did a good job of defending themselves. And I was reminded, as I often am when I interact with the television industry, that there is so much money in television that the industry will be able to withstand a lot of change before times actually get tough.

But the most interesting part of the afternoon came after the panel, in the lobby, when I was talking with a couple of former TV executives about how viewership habits have changed.

Unprompted, one of the execs suddenly launched into a tirade about the idiocy of the cable companies when it came to preserving one very simple part of the traditional TV viewing experience.

The exec was bemoaning the absurd complexity of TVs these days--the "HDMI ports" and "signals" and "sources" and other bewildering features that consumers have to figure out how to use before they can even begin to watch television. In the old days, the exec said, there was one button--the "on" button.  You sat down and turned the TV "on." And then you did the thing that made television such a wonderfully simple consumer experience (and the most-used medium in the history of man):

You flipped through the channels until you found something you wanted to watch.

That was the very essence of television, the executive said.

But now the cable companies have screwed up that whole channel-flipping experience.

How?

By installing a DVR in every cable box that makes channel-flipping slow and annoying.

You can't flip through channels anymore, the executive howled.

You have to use the guide.

And because you have to use the guide, the cable companies have opened themselves up to disruption by the dozens of other companies that provide some sort of "guide" with which to view video content. Like Apple, for one. Or Netflix. Or Amazon. Or Google. Or satellite TV companies. Or any number of other providers of video-based storytelling "content" that can be viewed on the TV screen but have nothing to do with the traditional television experience.

These companies are creating a big threat to the traditional TV industry, whose economics are protected by the traditional TV distribution model (cable companies and networks). Once viewers begin to focus on shows, instead of on networks, the traditional model becomes exposed.

By forcing consumers to use guides, the executive argued, the cable companies are breaking consumer habits. When you break consumers' habits, you invite the consumers to go learn new ones. And in the case of video-content viewing, those new habits may not be as wildly profitable for the cable companies as the old habits.

And besides, the executive concluded, the slow channel-switching is a horrible user experience.

This wasn't a dime-a-dozen former TV executive, by the way. This is an exec who understands the American media consumer better than just about anyone I've ever met. And he has a point.

The first time I used a DVR, I was struck by the annoyance of having to wait until the machine had recorded a bit of the program to actually see the program (because the DVR actually shows you the recorded version of the channel you're watching--at least that's how it was explained to me). It would have been a much better experience, it seemed, to just show you the live feed and then start recording in the background.

But all DVRs I've ever used have had this lag problem. I've gotten used to it now. But the former exec is right--I don't flip channels much anymore.

SEE ALSO: Don't Mean To Be Alarmist, But The TV Business May Be Starting To Collapse

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14-Year-Old 'Modern Family' Star Removed From Home After Alleged Parental Abuse

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Ariel Winter Modern Family

Actress Ariel Winter, the 14-year-old actress who plays Alex Dunphy on "Modern Family," has been removed from her family's home after allegations that she was being physically and emotionally abused by her mother, Crystal Workman.

After a guardianship hearing on October 3rd, "a judge determined the allegations that Ariel was being physically and emotionally abused by her mother were serious enough that the judge placed Ariel in a temporary guardianship with her older sister Shanelle Workman," reports TMZ, adding that the actress' mother must also stay at least 100 yards away from her daughter.

But Workman denies any allegations of abuse, telling People magazine, "It's all untrue, it's all untrue."

According to court papers filed in Los Angeles, Winter claims her mother subjected her to "ongoing physical abuse (slapping, hitting, pushing) and emotional abuse (vile name-calling, personal insults about minor and minor's weight, attempts to 'sexualize' minor, deprivation of food, etc.) for an extended period of time."

Workman denies the allegations, telling People, "I have my doctor's letter that my daughter's never been abused. … I have stylists' letters that she's never been abused."

But TMZ has also learned that a similar situation occurred nearly 20 years ago when Ariel's sister, Shanelle, was removed from her mother's care by the Department of Children and Family Services following similar abuse allegations.

Shanelle was reportedly in foster care for two years and never went back to live with her mother.

Ariel is currently in Shanelle's care until the next hearing on November 20.

SEE ALSO: Tour the L.A. home where former child star Michael Jackson spent the last 4 months of his life >

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Fox News Is Killing The Republican Party

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bill o'reilly

For me there was no doubt about the high point of Wednesday morning's election coverage. At about four o’clock I flicked over to Fox to see how the good folks there were managing their grief. I was greeted by what – even by Fox standards – was an amazing sight. Karl Rove had become embroiled in a heated debate with his own network about their decision to call Ohio and the Presidency for Barack Obama. It was too early, he said. There were still lots of votes to be counted. They had to be right, not first.

Not wishing to miss the opportunity for some fantastic television – even at their own expense – anchor Megan Kelly was dispatched to confront her network’s own decision desk. The startled analysts, who bore the excited but nervous demeanour of elves who'd been visited by their Snow Queen, assured Kelly that the call had been correct, and Ohio had indeed been held by the President. Rove, grudgingly, was forced to back down.

For students of modern US political history, this represented the closing of a circle. It was Rove’s successful effort to get Fox to reverse their call of Florida for Al Gore in 2000 that in many people’s eyes won George Bush the Presidency. Had the networks stuck with their original predictions, the recount saga would have been conducted against the backdrop of a narrow lead for Gore rather than for Bush, potentially with a very different outcome.

But watching Rove vainly raging against the dying of the light cemented for me a view that’s been forming throughout this campaign. Fox News, widely perceived to be one of the Republican party’s greatest assets, has actually become a liability to it.

To describe Fox as a polarising broadcaster would be to give understatement a manly bear-hug. For Democrats and the liberal Left it is effectively an extension of the GOP press office, prosecuting a vicious and biased campaign against their candidates and values. For Republicans and the Right it provides a vital balance against the liberal prejudices of the Main Stream Media. But whatever the perceptions, Fox – to my mind – proved to be an albatross around the neck of Mitt Romney throughout this campaign.

I first noticed it over the whole Benghazi saga. Day after day Fox would breathlessly unleash yet another leaked cable, or internal State Department memo, exposing failures in the protection of Ambassador Stevens, his staff and his embassy. And I ignored them; firstly because there were so many ”revelations”, secondly because they were clearly being pushed as part of a wider political agenda and thirdly, because they were from Fox. And Fox, in my eyes, is synonymous with poor and partial journalism.

But in retrospect, some of what Fox was publishing was actually – in journalistic terms – solid material. Setting aside the crazy conspiracy theories, it was clear that concerns had been raised about security at the embassy compound. There were legitimate questions to be asked about the nature of the military response once the attack was under way. But these weren’t being asked – to any significant degree – by other media outlets. And they weren’t being asked – in part – because the story was being driven by Fox.

If I were one of Obama’s press officers I would have been offering up a silent prayer of thanks that Fox was devoting so much time and energy to the Benghazi story. Because that provided the Democrats with their best way of keeping the issue compartmentalised. “You’re a serious outlet,” I would have told any journalists following up “You don’t honestly want to be seen to be picking up and running with something Fox is peddling do you?” And I’d have been right. They wouldn’t.

Fox, because of the nature of their political coverage, has become ghettoised in the eyes of the rest of the media. And as a result, it makes it much harder for Republican strategists to generate legs for stories or issues that Fox is leading with.

There is a second issue as well, which is that Fox has almost become the ultimate negative fact-check against Republicans. Obviously it was very, very rare for Fox to be overtly critical of Romney and his campaign. But when they were, the effect was hugely magnified.

When Fox’s news anchor Chris Wallace asked Romney political director Rich Beeson if his ads about Jeep production being shifted to China had been a “mistake”, Beeson quickly changed the subject. But the damage had already been done. The fact that “even Fox” was now questioning the truth of the ad was immediately held up by the Obama campaign – and other media outlets – as definitive proof the adverts were false and blowing back on Romney.

This has happened before. In 2008, Joseph Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Ohio, confronted Obama about his tax policy during an election walkabout. Wurzelbacher became an immediate media sensation, and overnight was drafted in as a surrogate for the McCain camp, pushing the image of Obama as someone out of touch with ordinary America. But then Wurzelbacher overreached himself, and started venturing onto issues like foreign policy. Fox anchor Shepherd Smith – who enjoys a reputation for independence – finally snapped, and took Wurzelbacher to task for a comment he had made about how “a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel”. Concluding the interview Smith looked directly at the camera and said “Man, it just gets frightening sometimes.” Again, the fact that it was Fox that had challenged Wurzelbacher became the story, and brought a premature end to Joe the Plumber’s burgeoning media career.

There is also one other significant way in which Fox works against those it seeks to serve. In effect, it provides a false comfort zone for conservative politicians and their supporters.

As we saw with Benghazi, rather than try to penetrate mainstream media outlets, there was a clear tendency for Romney advisers to do easy "hand-offs" to Fox on issues they wanted up and running. It reminded me of when we in the Labour Party used to just drop our best material in the laps of the Mirror; they would run it big, and we’d think we were talking to the whole country. In fact, we were talking almost entirely to our own supporters.

Similarly, there were times in the campaign when I saw Karl Rove on Fox make quite a mature and compelling argument about how – despite the evidence of the polls – Romney was well placed to win. But then a few hours later I’d see Dick Morris making the same arguments in his cartoonish way. And as soon as I saw Dick Morris peddling the line, I knew for certain Rove was bluffing.

Perhaps most damaging of all was the way Fox prevented Romney and the Republicans from properly stress-testing their arguments. Time and again, a Romney surrogate would be taken apart on an issue like their economic policy or stance on abortion. But an hour later they’d be back in the Fox studio, being lobbed softballs and given a soft ride. And it lulled them and their campaign into thinking the earlier car-crash had been an aberration, just one more example of the venality of the MSM.

Obviously Fox is influential. They reach a wide audience, and are a major, well-resourced and professionally run national broadcast outlet. But I’m not so sure they’re as damaging to Democrats as Democrats fear, or as helpful to Republicans as Republicans like to think.

And as the GOP begins the process of sifting through the wreckage of its latest election defeat, it needs to learn a lesson. Just because you’re winning around Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, it doesn’t mean you’re winning around America.

Now check out the celebrities that are helping Democrats destroy the GOP > 

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Michael Bay Wants Mark Wahlberg To Star In 'Transformers 4,' Thanks To Internet Rumors—Here's Today's Buzz

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  • Mark Wahlberg Director Michael Bay is considering Mark Wahlberg for the lead in "Transformers 4," writing on his website after internet rumors on the casting: "I had such a great time working with Mark on Pain and Gain, and he gave such a great performance – well let’s say that very internet chatter gave me some ideas. We are at the inception of our story process right now on T4. Let’s say some ideas are gaining traction with me and my writer – so I’m here to say thanks internet chatter."
  • Meanwhile, Mariah Carey released a song for President Obama called "Bring It On Home." Listen below:

    

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Angry Birds Star Wars Is Awesome

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angry birds

Angry Birds. Star Wars. The very thought of these two global entertainment brands coming together was controversial when first announced, with plenty of critics suggesting the Star Wars brand was somehow being sullied by the association with a mobile game series that didn't exist five years ago.

It was as if these critics hadn't watched The Phantom Menace, or had blocked out the vision of Darth Vader and Yoda plugging PC World and Vodafone in TV ads. If anything, an association with Angry Birds in 2012 is a step up for Star Wars, given its recent history.

That said, scepticism about such a partnership is understandable: when the world's biggest entertainment brand ever meets the most popular brand of the mobile apps era, the danger is compromise: a game so hemmed in by brand guidelines that it forgets to be fun.

The alternative, though, is a game that recaptures the thrill several generations of children felt when watching those first three Star Wars films, playing with the toys, or roaring round the garden pretending to be the Millennium Falcon.

Can Angry Birds Star Wars sidestep the compromise and deliver the thrills? Yes it can. This is a treat for Star Wars fans and Angry Birds fans alike.

The game will be available today (8 November) for iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices, as well as Mac, PC and Windows 8 (which I'm assuming means tablets running Microsoft's new OS too, like the Surface).

Gameplay-wise, it's a mix of all the previous Angry Birds games to date, including the basic bird-slinging action of the first three games in the series, and the gravity-ruled planetary action of Angry Birds Space.

It's essentially a Best Of compilation of Angry Birds so far, but with the Star Wars universe wrapped around it, starting with the TIE Fighters on the intro screen. Yes, with the proper sound.

The initial Angry Birds Star Wars download includes 80 levels split equally between two worlds: Tatooine and the Death Star.

A further 40 levels are available in a third world, Dagobah, if you choose to buy it for an in-app purchase of £1.49, but the game also teases an upcoming free update with a fourth world, Hoth. There is also a set of bonus levels starring C-3PO and R2-D2 birds to unlock.

The gameplay is familiar Angry Birds - catapult birds to destroy all the pigs on a level, earning one, two or three stars depending how well you do it.

Within the worlds, you segue smoothly between levels offering the two flavours of Angry Birds (Space and non-Space). For example, the Death Star world starts you in Space, then moves inside, then back out again for a final Death Star trench run.

There are a number of other Star Wars additions. For example, a few levels into Tatooine, the red bird gets a light sabre, which you swing to destructive effect at any point during his flight by tapping the screen. He even has Luke Skywalker hair.

Meanwhile, the yellow bird now shoots lasers - complete with authentic Star Wars sound effects - the black bird can use The Force to send objects shooting off with a tap, and there's a heavy Chewbacca bird to barrel through obstacles.

The pigs? They dress as stormtroopers, Darth Vader and even get to hop in Tie-Fighters and fire lasers of their own.

All this is more than just for show: it moves the Angry Birds gameplay on a notch, particularly when lasers are involved. Think thwacking laser beams with the light sabre in mid-air to hit hard-to-reach pigs, or dislodging laser-firing enemies so they end up shooting their own side.

Rovio has also reworked its Mighty Eagle power-up: it's now the Mighty Falcon. When triggered, a Millennium Falcon flies onto the screen and lets loose with its lasers to (hopefully) reduce to dust a level that you've been struggling with.

You have a finite number of Mighty Falcons to use, although Angry Birds Star Wars is pretty generous dishing more out as you progress through the game. You can also pay for them, though: from £1.49 for 20 through to £13.99 for 200.

Charging for power-ups can be controversial, but Rovio handles its IAP well. I manage to progress through all 80 of the game's preloaded levels without needing to buy any Mighty Falcons (and I did use a few). If £1.49 for another 40 levels seems steep, you can choose to wait for the free Hoth update instead.

There's a good 5-6 hours gameplay to be had working your way through the Tatooine, Death Star and Dagobah worlds by completing the levels with one, two or three stars.

Then there are a fair few more hours in store if you go back to nail three stars on every level, as a lot of Angry Birds fans like to do. The iOS version builds in Apple's Game Center to compare friends' scores and in-game achievements.

Angry Birds has been an app store phenomenon since fairly early in its life, and to some extent its popularity since has been self-fulfilling: it was at the top of the charts, so millions, then tens of millions, then hundreds of millions of people downloaded it.

That's not the whole story though. Angry Birds Star Wars is a timely reminder that the series' billion-plus downloads is also down to strong word-of-mouth recommendations of a game that's accessible and addictive.

It's also a reminder that developer Rovio continues to put a lot of effort and craft into Angry Birds as a game, rather than just a brand to be milked.

So yes, there are new Angry Birds Star Wars plush toys and heaven knows how many other bits of merchandise, but the game is also an imaginative evolution of the core bird-slinging mechanic, just as Angry Birds Space was before it. Little touches - the new weapons - really do make a difference.

Angry Birds Star Wars is the best Angry Birds game yet, and the best Star Wars spin-off in a long time. It's going to be big, and deservedly so.

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

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'Innocence Of Muslims' Filmmaker Is Heading To Federal Prison

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nakoula innocence of muslims

The man responsible for an anti-Muslim film that was once blamed for terrorist attacks is going to be spending a year behind bars.

Mark Bassely Youssef, who's known by a myriad of aliases, was arrested in September on charges of probation violation.

He was convicted in 2010 of bank fraud and was ordered not to own or use devices with access to the Internet, a condition prosecutors believe he violated when he uploaded his movie to the Internet.

Youssef admitted in open court Wednesday that he had violated his probation and was immediately sentenced to one year in federal prison, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Youssef is also facing a lawsuit from from actress Cindy Lee Garcia who starred in his film but says she had no idea she was making an anti-Muslim movie.

"The one thing he wanted me to tell all of you is President Obama may have gotten Osama bin Laden, but he didn't kill the ideology," Youssef's lawyers told reporters after the sentencing.

DON'T MISS: Victims Are Finally Getting A Chance To Confront The Man Who Shot A Congresswoman >

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There's A Bidding War For A TriBeCa Apartment Inside The Building Where Jay-Z And Beyonce Live

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After a slight price cut, buyers are finally interested in a loft apartment in the TriBeCa building that Jay-Z and Beyonce live, according to the New York Post.

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom pad was originally listed for $3.495 million. But now that it's been slashed to $2.9 million, the apartment has received multiple bids from prospective buyers.

The condo, inside 195 Hudson Street, spans 2,293 square feet, has 12-foot ceilings, a raised living room, and two office nooks.

Jay-Z moved into the building in 2004, when he bought an 8,300-square-foot apartment for $6.85 million.

May the best bidder win.

tribeca apartment in jay-z's building

 

tribeca apartment in jay-z's building

 

tribeca apartment in jay-z's building

 

tribeca apartment in jay-z's building

 

tribeca apartment in jay-z's building

 

DON'T MISS: A TriBeCa Penthouse With Striking Views Is On Sale For $16.5 Million

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Tony Stark's Car From 'The Avengers' Is Worth $10 Million

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honda acura avengers concept car

Among the many impressive and ridiculous custom cars on display at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show last week was one movie-goers might have recognized.

Acura, Honda's luxury brand, had a big presence in "The Avengers;" many of the characters appeared driving various models.

The most impressive of the lot came at the end of the film, when Tony Stark hopped behind the wheel of a concept roadster Acura created for the occasion.

To draw some attention at SEMA, Acura brought a model of the car, and came up with some specs and a sticker price to go with.

Stark's car is powered by "Palladium," gets 234 mpg in the city, and costs more than $10 million with extras, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Just don't expect to see it on the road.

SEE MORE: Outrageous Custom Cars, Trucks, And Motorcycles Descended On Las Vegas Last Week

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Here's What You Missed At The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

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victoria secret fashion show 2012, armory, bi, dng, lingerie, models, cute, attractive, hot, beautiful, sexy, underwear, model

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show just taped, and this year's was one of the most elaborate ever.

The show started with a circus theme, complete with acrobats, a sword-swallower and a man on stilts. Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Bruno Mars performed.

Despite the huge production, the focus was on the 40 gorgeous models who walked the runway.

Adriana Lima sizzled in red, while Alessandra Ambrosio looked amazing just months after giving birth.

Other favorites like Erin Heatherton, Doutzen Kroes and Karlie Kloss also walked.

The show airs on CBS December 4.

The big night, Victoria's Secret's Fashion Show for 2012.



At the Armory on Lexington between 26th St. and 24th St. a Nor'easter struck Manhattan earlier on the day of show time. But that didn't stop people from showing up.



Security was tight.



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A Circus Performer Was Seriously Injured At The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

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contortion, bending, victoria secret fashion show 2012, armory, bi, dng

Yesterday I went to the taping of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

It's an epic production that gets more elaborate with each passing year. Everyone can watch the show when it airs December 4.

But there were a few things that happened during the show that probably won't make it to the heavily-edited television special.

The show tapes twice so the network can take the best parts and create a flawless finished product.

Here are a few:

  • The show's "Circus" opener included acrobats, a sword-swallower and a man on stilts. One of the men was doing tricks with a hoop and appeared to hit his head. He made a face when it happened, but thinking he was joking, many people in the audience laughed. But then he started bleeding profusely and ran off the stage.
  • Rihanna was wearing a long, flowing cape and tripped slightly during her performance of "Diamonds In The Sky." But like a true professional, she played it off and even managed to walk backwards in the difficult ensemble.
  • When Justin Bieber got onstage, he got more screams than the other performers, Rihanna and Bruno Mars, even though the audience was composed of adults. Women continued to scream throughout his set.
  • Many women in the audience wore sequined cocktail dresses, but because of the nasty nor'easter in New York, also wore boots instead of heels.
  • Adriana Lima began dancing with Rihanna during the closer on the runway.
  • Bieber performed an acoustic version of "As Long As You Love Me" when the crew rushed to set up for the next portion of the show.
  • It may not be clear on TV, but the light fixtures in the audience changed for each section of the show. There were lanterns for the "Angels In Bloom" portion and silver stars for the "screen sirens" part.  
  • At the end of the show, all of the models stormed the stage. Huge, star-shaped balloons poured down from the ceiling, which the models kicked into the audience. Many audience members kept the balloons.

If you want even more from the show, you can check out our photos from the big event.

DON'T MISS: 18 Years In The Evolution Of The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show >

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I've Always Thought Cable Companies Would Be Fine When TV Collapsed, But They May Actually Be Screwed...

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cell phone tower

As I've often explained recently, I'm worried about the future of the TV business.

Viewer habits are changing, and none of the changes favor the participants who are currently coining money in traditional TV--namely, networks and pay-TV providers like cable companies.

But I've always assumed that, in the end, the cable companies would be fine.

Why?

Because the big threat to traditional TV is Internet-based video distribution--the ability of consumers to download or stream TV and movie content over the Internet instead of going through the traditional cable, satellite, or telco gateways. Those gateways are worth hundreds of billions of dollars to the TV industry, and the Internet is now eroding their value. But in order for consumers to take advantage of Internet-based video delivery, they need Internet access. And in addition to providing the traditional TV gateway, cable companies are also the dominant provider of home-based Internet access.

The bullish story for the cable companies has been that cable profits will continue to transition from traditional TV to broadband Internet access and "Triple Play" telephone service. Providing broadband internet access is extremely profitable for cable companies, so this story made sense. Since laying last-mile fiber is extraordinarily expensive and cable companies are only one of two providers with a widespread footprint of wired households (telcos being the other), cable seemed safe. The cable companies would just gradually increase the cost of broadband Internet access to offset the erosion of the TV profits.

But now that whole premise seems fundamentally threatened.

Why?

Because wireless Internet access is getting pretty darn fast.

Have you used a smartphone with LTE-speed access?

It's blazingly fast.

As a moderator at a media conference observed yesterday, LTE is often faster than his home-based Internet access, which is provided by Time Warner Cable. The speed and reliability of cable access, the moderator went on, also continues to get worse and worse.

Even using only 3G access, I have often had to switch over to wireless when my home-based Internet access (also provided by Time Warner Cable) gets slow. The 3G isn't as fast as cable when the cable is working right, but it's perfectly acceptable.  LTE-based access would be an adequate replacement for cable for many users, at least for normal Internet usage.

Yes, HD movies and other super-huge applications benefit from the peak download speeds provided by cable. But those download speeds often vary wildly. And most of the HD video that we watch in our household, at least, is either buffered or downloaded in advance. So it's a question of how many HD movies you really need to download, and how fast you need those downloads to be, not whether or not you want to watch HD video.

And, yes, the issue is not just speed but capacity. If a household that watches seven hours of HD TV a day switched over to wireless, the wireless company would either have to charge huge amounts for that data throughput or, in an "all-you-can-eat" plan, lose a boatload of money.  But wireless costs will continue to come down. And not all households watch seven hours of HD video a day.

Right now, wireless access subscriptions are generally device-based. The industry hasn't put a lot of effort into packaging and marketing LTE as a replacement for cable access in the home. But if the industry ever does lean into that, it's easy to imagine LTE grabbing market share away from households that hate cable companies (many) and don't care about traditional pay-TV service. This will become especially true if cable companies keep raising prices for greater speeds and data levels.

In the coming years, moreover, wireless access will only get faster, and the options for accessing TV content via the Internet will only improve. So what might seem like a sacrifice now--unplugging your house from cable--may soon become a common and viable choice.

If that happens, the cable companies are screwed.

brian roberts desk tbiThe cost of installing and maintaining a hard wire to each neighborhood and house vastly exceeds the cost of installing nearby wireless towers. If and when wireless performance, packaging, and marketing reaches the point where wireless is a perfectly reasonable choice, the cable companies simply will not be able to compete on price.

And there's another very important reason why wireless companies are in a great position to utterly destroy the cable industry:

The Internet is mobile and ubiquitous.

The idea that any of us should have to maintain separate data subscriptions for our homes, our phones, our offices, and our tablets or laptops is absurd.

We access the same Internet content from everywhere--wherever we happen to be.

So there is no reason at all (other than status quo) for us to have to pay two, three, or four companies separate Internet access fees.  And there's also no reason at all why we should have to pay separate subscriptions for every device.

Since we use the Internet everywhere, the wired cable-telco duopoly in the household is a liability for the incumbents in the race to provide a single subscription, not an asset.

For cable and wired telco companies to provide a single-subscription for global Internet access, they would have to also build out vast wireless infrastructure.

For wireless companies to provide this single data subscription, meanwhile, they will just have to make their existing infrastructure faster and more ubiquitous.

The bottom line...

From a high level, the Internet has put several massive and wildly profitable industries on a collision course. The collision is happening slowly, but it's happening. And just as the gradual collision of tectonic plates causes vast upheaval, the collision of the tech, telecom, cable, wireless, and media industries is eventually going to demolish the status quo.

When it comes to figuring out which type of company has the obvious advantage when it comes to providing ubiquitous mobile Internet access, you don't have to think very hard:

The answer is "wireless companies."

So if the single-wireless-subscription ever becomes reality, the traditional cable and telecom companies really will be screwed.

SEE ALSO: Don't Mean To Be Alarmist, But The TV Business May Be Starting To Collapse

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UK's Channel 4 Removed The Word 'Gay' From 'The Simpsons'

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The Simpsons

In a self-admittedly "overly cautious" move, British network "Channel 4" removed the word "gay" from a 1994 "Simpsons" re-run that aired around 1pm last Sunday.

The word "gay," said in an episode titled "Homer Loves Flanders," was "deemed not suitable for a daytime audience," reports The Telegraph.

In the episode, Homer Simpson goes to a football game with his God-fearing neighbor Ned Flanders but is initially embarrassed to be seen with him. After the pair bond over food, Homer yells: "I want everyone to know that this is Ned Flanders ... my friend!"

Homer's workmates Lenny and Carl overhear him and Lenny says: "What d'he say?"

Originally, Carl replies: "I dunno. Somethin' about being gay."

But on Sunday, Carl's response was left off and the episode quickly cut to commercial break after Lenny speaks.

Channel 4 said that all "Simpsons" episodes airing before 6pm are checked by its compliance department for any unsuitable content and in this instance, the compliance checker had been overly-cautious.

Channel 4 released a statement, explaining the "error in editing" (via The Independent):

"We always carefully consider the context in which language is used in our programming. However in this instance the episode was edited in error as neither the word nor the context was unsuitable. Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator says there is no evidence to conclude that the word "gay" is necessarily and automatically intended to be, or is, offensive."

But the network further explained that the term is viewed as offensive when used in a context that "results in a negative portrayal of homosexual men and women"—such as when Radio 1 host Chris Moyles was accused of being homophobic after he disliked a phone ringtone, saying “I don’t want that one, it’s gay.”

The BBC defended Moyles, arguing that the word "gay" is acknowledged as a second usage in the Oxford English Dictionary to mean “socially inappropriate, or disapproved of and lame."

Broadcasters, such as Channel 4, are told to restrict the usage of “gay” in this kind of negative context when children are likely to be watching, as it could contribute to bullying—hence "The Simpsons" weekend lunch-hour omission.

Watch the entire half-hour episode in question below, sped up to be five-minutes-long:

SEE ALSO: 14-year-old 'Modern Family' star removed from home after alleged parental abuse >

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Joe Biden Makes A Top Secret Cameo On 'Parks And Recreation'

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joe biden pointing aviators

Following his recent re-election as vice president, Joe Biden can now add another job title to his resumé: actor.

Biden is set to appear in the November 15 episode of NBC's "Parks and Recreation."

Amy Poehler's character in the show, Leslie Knope, has a longstanding celebrity crush on the Veep, saying that her dream man would have "the brain of George Clooney and the body of Joe Biden."

According to the New York Times, the sitcom had to keep Biden's appearance under strict secrecy until after the election. If word of the cameo got out, the show may have been forced to include an appearance by Paul Ryan as well so as not to support one candidate over another.

“It was all very byzantine and complicated,” Executive Producer Michael Schur told The Times. “There seem to be all kinds of specific rules, which I never fully understood. But we decided to err on the side of caution.”

The Biden-scene was filmed back in July in the V.P.'s ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The crew was in D.C. filming the season's opener, which aired in September.

Biden, who has said he is a fan of the show, was excited to be asked for an appearance.

“When they floated it by him, he thought it was a great idea and was excited about it,” Schur said. “Then it was all about his schedule.”

Schur also said the Veep was great to work with.

“The vice president was amazing. He improvised a couple of things that we ended up using,” he said.

While we have to wait another week to see Biden on primetime, NBC has released a preview of the scene to hold fans over in the mean time.

Check it our here:

NBC has also compiled a video of the sitcom's previous references to Leslie Knope's crush on the V.P. Check it out here:


SEE ALSO: Here's who celebrities voted for on election day >

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Mogul In The Making: Inside Lauren Conrad's L.A. Office

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Lauren Conrad

It’s fair to say that Lauren Conrad is one smart cookie.

She’s managed to do the unthinkable: parlay reality TV fame and tabloid headlines into a bona fide empire, complete with two clothing lines (Paper Crown and LC Lauren Conrad for Kohl’s), a beauty book, a website, and a second fictional book series under her belt. Through it all, Conrad has also managed to stay true to the core sensibilities that made her so popular when she first burst onto the scene in MTV’s “Laguna Beach”—she’s approachable, no nonsense, and possesses a kind of self-awareness and sophistication that seems beyond her 26 years. She really does seem like the kind of chic, down-to-earth gal you’d want for a friend.

So how does the budding mogul get it all done? Conrad let us spend an afternoon in her offices to get an inside look at her process. The Paper Crown offices, as it happens, are located in the low-key college town of Westwood, Los Angeles, and upon entry, there’s no mistaking that it’s Conrad’s place. The decor is flirty, chic, and includes an array of countless design sketches, mood boards, ladylike trinkets, and racks of clothing.

Inside Lauren Conrad's L.A. office where she designs her clothing lines at Stylecaster >

Everything in Conrad's office telegraphs her brand of youthful sophistication—take, for example, the soft pink walls and glittery leather that bears the company's name.



Conrad's more than a designer and a beauty maven—she's also an author! Here, two of her books sit in her office.



The name "Paper Crown" has a rather sentimental story, according to Conrad. "When I used to go to my grandma's house, I would put on dress-up clothes," she says. "We had construction paper there, and we would make crowns. I love the idea of creating your own glamour out of something that was pretty simple."



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What Victoria's Secret Feeds Its Supermodels Backstage

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erin heatherton

Some Victoria's Secret models have openly talked about their extreme diets leading up to the show.

Other models, like Miranda Kerr insisted they weren't dieting to prepare.

But at the taping yesterday, models had a feast to choose from backstage. 

"The hearty lunch menu consisted of tomato bisque soup, pasta, salad, roast beef with creamy horseradish sauce, stuffed chicken, ice cream, cookies and chocolate-covered strawberries," reported Karyn Monget at Women's Wear Daily.

The models don't have much time to eat before the show, though. They spend hours in hair and make-up in the time leading up to the show.

Because Adriana Lima doesn't consume liquids for 12 hours before the show, we doubt she was eating much.

But backstage at the show last year, we did see her eat a piece of chicken.

DON'T MISS: Here's What You Missed At The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show >

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Charlie Sheen Allegedly Threatened To Murder His Associate With A Shotgun

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charlie sheen

First, Charlie Sheen accidentally shot his then-girlfriend Kelly Preston in 1990, and then in 2009, he threatened his wife Brooke Mueller with a knife to her throat after a Christmas Eve fight in Colorado.

Now, a man who claims to be a former associate of Sheen's has filed a report with the LAPD claiming the "Anger Management" star threatened to shoot him to death with a Super 90 semi-automatic shotgun, reports TMZ.

According to the report filed on October 18, the man claims he is deathly afraid that Charlie will murder him after the two had a recent falling out.

Sheen reportedly sent a text message to a mutual friend, stating: "I'll blow his head off with my Super 90."

But a source close to Sheen tells TMZ the accuser is "a dishonorably discharged military person with multiple probation violations who is trying to shake him down for money."

The case is currently under investigation.

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The Unstoppable Kardashians Are About To Go Global

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Kardashians

Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian have been expanding their brand all over America, so much so that they're firmly embedded in American pop culture.

That means that they've become relevant abroad as well. So now, the Kardashians have committed to going global.

Back in August, they announced that they're expanding the Kardashian Kollection— the trio's fashion business — to 13 countries around the planet, including important Asian markets.

Yesterday, the Kardashians took a big step toward their worldwide conquest by officially launching the Kardashian Kollection in the U.K. to much fanfare. The line will be in 200 Dorothy Perkins stores across the country.

And the Kardashians seem fully committed to the endeavor. In fact, they're surprisingly involved in the process.

WWD spoke with Bruno Schiavi, the Kardashians' partner in the U.K.:

“The girls are very hands-on. I have an office in L.A., where the girls are based, one in Australia and one in China. We meet at the beginning of the season and talk about what they have seen on the catwalks, the trends, and they’ll bring tears from magazines and show the things that inspire them. Then it’s designing and fittings. They are involved in every step. We have a fitting here in London tomorrow and we’ll Skype Khloé in for the meeting. We have a rule — if we have two yeses and just one no, it’s in.”

Next up, you'll be seeing the collection in Bahrain, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand and the UAE.

NOW SEE: Here's What You Missed At The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show >

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SOURCE: Diane Sawyer Was Not Drunk During Election Coverage -- She Was 'Overworked'

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Since election night, speculation spurred on Twitter and Facebookled many to believe Diane Sawyer may have had a few drinks before her on-air ABC coverage of the event.

A person close to ABC tells us that this is bunk.

The Twitter buzz about the anchorwoman hitting the bottle is absurd, the source says, attributing her odd behavior mostly to a lack of sleep due to a jam-packed schedule, and to being a workaholic.

"It's someone who was overworked because they do care so much about trying to put on quality coverage for the viewer and I think that it's a symptom of her being a workaholic, not as many on Twitter defined to imply an alcoholic. That's just crazy." 

Over the past 48 hours Sawyer's been working a "tenuous" schedule, making it extremely difficult for the anchorman to have time for a drink, the source says.

For example, yesterday Sawyer made an appearance on 'The View', was in the office all day prepping for both 'World News' and election coverage, was rehearsing in studio, according to our source. 

For election coverage, the ABC source says Sawyer was on set 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. leading up to "World News" at 6:30 p.m. and was there until 2:30 a.m. before heading home.

We're told Tuesday night's seven-hour continuous election coverage is what's to blame for Sawyer's loopy behavior.

"I think not getting enough sleep played some role in that. She'd probably say that's a fair assessment as well. The fact that it is a marathon and that she should have spent a little more time sleeping and a little less time cramming the night before."

If you still don't buy the exhaustion excuse, there were reporters from both The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter in the control room that night who later reported on the blackout ABC News headquarters experienced near the 11 o'clock hour. 

"Had there been any issue with Diane they would have known, and that would have been a big part in their story," says our source.

In addition, we were told there were not any alcoholic beverages present in the newsroom election night.

Our ABC source adds that it's not new that Sawyer will often spend much more time trying to report, read up on news, and study instead of sleep. 

According to them, this is the first time Sawyer's headed election coverage for the network, and though she has operated on little sleep previously for "Good Morning America," a lack of sleep may have ultimately affected her Wednesday evening. 

Just because you can normally survive on four to five hours sleep … on a day like today [election day] you probably needed the extra two or three hours.

Sawyer didn't directly respond to the many tweets asking whether she was under the influence. Instead, she sent out one message acknowledging the influx:

diane sawyer tweet

 "She does have a good sense of humor about this kind of stuff," said our source. "Some of the things people were saying were kind of nasty, and the fact that she can laugh it off I think is a testament to her being above it all."

Tweets about Sawyer ranged from concern to direct accusations of on-air drunkenness even inspiring a feed @DrunkDianeSawyer.

diane sawyer tweetsthe daily caller diane sawyer tweet

As we pointed out yesterday, this isn't the first time this has occurred. Sawyer exhibited similar strange behavior during President Obama's 2009 inauguration. 

The Twitter discussions have also resurfaced an old video of Sawyer drinking wine and taking pills during a commercial break for "Primetime" :

You can check out a few clips of her actions during the election below:

Here's Sawyer getting overly giggly while introducing Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel and asking Jake Tapper about the reasoning behind the question mark removal from the Obama Forward campaign poster.

And, here she is at another point referring to the president as Barack O'Rama.

SEE ALSO: Everyone is talking about Diane Sawyer's strange on-air election coverage >

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CHART OF THE DAY: Pay TV May Not Be Dead, But It's Dead In The Water

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Some people think the pay TV business is on its deathbed. These numbers from Bernstein Research’s Craig Moffett, via Peter Kafka, don't hurt that argument.

As you can see, subscriber growth has been just about flat for the last two years. This is good news because it means people aren't ditching pay TV in droves. But it's bad news because it means the industry is stuck.

chart of the day, pay tv net additions, total yoy subscribers growth, nov 2012

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