Depending on who you are, Netflix’s new product could be considered either a really awesome idea or just an unnecessary gimmick (or maybe both at the same time). The streaming service has introduced socks which will pause your Netflix shows if you happen to fall asleep while binge-watching. Yes, for real.
On a page dedicated to the socks, the streaming video provider tells subscribers they’ll never have to worry about binging themselves to sleep, “only to wake up two seasons later wondering what happened.” The Netflix socks use a motion sensor based on actigraphy technology, which detects long periods of stillness or limited movement. When the sensor believes you’ve fallen asleep, a red light will blink in the sock’s cuff before it pauses your show; a small movement will prevent the pause from happening.
Netflix’s socks are available in patterns representing five of the service’s original shows, including House of Cards, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Orange Is the New Black, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
The only drawback to Netflix’s socks is the streaming service doesn’t actually sell them. Instead, tech-savvy, DIY-loving subscribers will have to make the socks with Netflix’s guidance. Netflix provides the sock’s knitting patterns, codes, and assembly instructions on its “Make It” page, but subscribers will have to purchase all the materials, put together the electronics, code the sensor, and knit the socks all on their own. For the determined Netflix user, the streaming service has also provided help on how to create a sensor that will work from under a blanket or determine your heart rate (which slows down when you sleep).
Netflix’s socks appear to be a part of a new effort on the SVOD’s part to create “the ultimate Netflix experience.” The streaming provider invites subscribers to submit more clever ideas for improved viewing experiences on its “Make It” page. We look forward to seeing what other unique creations Netflix subscribers come up with.
Typically, Amazon has been more conservative in terms of the number of series it green-lights out of its pilot presentations, but in its latest round, only one of its six pilots–a western called Edge–has not yet received the green light. The others will all go to series, and their combined presence will dramatically increase the size of Amazon’s original content library.
Four of the five series Amazon picked up returned an average rating of at least four stars out of five from viewers. Good Girls Revolt, which follows a group of female researchers in 1969, and Z, which stars Christina Ricci as Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, received the most acclaim from viewers. Highston, about a boy and his imaginary friends, and One Mississippi, which is loosely based off the life of comedienne Tig Notaro, followed closely behind. Political dramedy Patriot received an average rating of 3.9. Edge received the worst reception among the six pilots, which lends credence to the idea that Amazon is actually listening to the feedback it gets from its viewers.
No release dates have been announced for any of the five upcoming series, though they will join returning titles like Man in the High Castle, Mad Dogs, and Red Oaks as well as several programs for children. Clearly, Amazon is committed to a huge amount of growth in its original video department; it will need to crank out high-quality television if it hopes to keep up with Netflix.
Americans certainly love using Facebook and YouTube on their phones. Nielsen just released data confirming the apps from these video powerhouses were the two most-used smartphone apps in the U.S. from January to October of 2015.
Facebook’s main social app landed the top spot on Nielsen’s most-used apps in 2015, with nearly 127 million unique users per month. This figure is an 8% increase year-over-year; in 2014, Facebook’s app was also in the top spot, clocking in at 118 million monthly unique users from January to October. The Facebook Messenger app, which was ranked #7 last year, rose four whole positions thanks to a whopping 31% yearly increase in usage. Messenger now boasts roughly 96 million monthly uniques.
As for YouTube, Google’s online video site continues to holds a firm place in the top few spots on Nielsen’s most-used app chart. In 2014, YouTube’s app actually held the third place position with around 88 million uniques. This year, the video app stole the #2 position (previously held by Google Search) with 97 million unique monthly visitors, a 5% increase year-over-year. The remainder of the apps on Nielsen’s 2015 list hail from Google (Search, Play, Maps, and Gmail), Facebook (Instagram), and Apple (Maps and Music).
Netflix’s app has reached a milestone to be proud of, as well. For the first time ever, the streaming service’s app landed in the ninth spot on App Annie’s 2015 chart for top-grossing apps worldwide in the Apple App Store. Netflix’s app wasn’t previously on the top-grossing list because users weren’t able to subscribe to the Netflix service through its iOS app until September 2015.
You can check out more of Nielsen’s digital findings for 2015 by visiting the company’s blog.
Vine has a new way to help users discover content and Viners they might want to follow. The six-second video-capture app has launched a personalized channel feature with suggestions catered to users’ preferences.
The new personalized channel, dubbed “For You,” will use Vine’s algorithms to determine which videos a user might like to watch. Vine didn’t disclose how this algorithm works, but “For You” could possibly select content based on a user’s past video views, followed users, favorited videos, and more. A user will see his or her custom channel with recommended videos at the top of the app with a note saying “Vines we think you’ll love.” The user can then tap the “For You” channel section to discover new content (as well as other users) Vine believes matches that user’s interests.
“Our home feeds on Vine are filled with posts from the accounts we follow across comedy, music, sports and more,” wrote Luis Tandalla, a Vine API Engineer, in a company blog post. “The world of entertainment on Vine extends far beyond our home feeds. There’s a ton of great content created by accounts you may not follow, and we’re bringing those posts to you.”
Vine’s new channel feature comes at a time when the video platform is becoming less popular with brands. Tubular Labs discovered only 4% of all the branded digital videos published by 40 major brands in the last three months ended up on Vine. While the stat isn’t necessarily great news for Vine, the platform still has plenty of content to highlight via the new suggested channel feature. For example, Michelle Obama recently used Vine to make public service announcements for her “Better Make Room” higher education campaign.
Tandalla said the “For You” personalized channel feature is rolling out to iOS users first, and will soon be available for Android users, as well.
Amazon Studios has found another original series that’s become a hit with audiences. The Man in the High Castle will get a second season thanks to positive responses from Prime subscribers and critics alike.
Amazon originally announced The Man in the High Castle back in November 2014 during its fifth pilot season. The first episode of the alt-history show became Amazon’s most-watched pilot to date, and so the digital studio branch of the e-commerce giant ordered a full season in February 2015. The official trailer for The Man in the High Castledropped exclusively at Comic-Con International in July before the first season premiered on Amazon Prime in November.
No official release date has been announced for The Man in the High Castle season two as of yet, but Amazon believes the new episodes should be available at some point in 2016.
Fullscreen is cooking up some big developments within its product division, and it has now hired a trio of executives who will allow it to bolster its offerings. It has named Martin Keely as the General Manager of its upcoming streaming video on-demand (SVOD) service, tapped Randy Ahn as its SVP of Product Strategy, and hired Trent Good as its SVP of Design.
Keely, Ahn, and Good all have significant experience within the online video world. Keely comes from MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), where he spent 14 years. Ahn was a product exec at Microsoft’s ill-fated Xbox Entertainment Studios, which was shut down in July 2014 (though its issues were most attributed to its content side rather than its product side). Good has lots of experience in the SVOD world, having worked for both Netflix and Hulu.
“Martin, Randy and Trent are among the best in the business,” said Fullscreen Founder and CEO George Strompolos in a press release. “Each bring years of expertise and a spirit of innovation that will impact global audiences through Fullscreen’s product experiences.”
When it comes to Fullscreen’s SVOD service, which will house the company’s selection of original programs alongside other content, Keely’s experience in particular is a good sign. The MLBAM player is famously reliable within digital media circles; beyond baseball games, it is also used to stream March Madness, WWE events, HBO programs, and much more. Therefore, we have high hopes for tech side of Fullscreen’s upcoming service–though the company has still offered no concrete information about when that service will arrive.
Hulu’s library of original programming is a little less awesome now. The streaming video platform has canceled The Awesomes, an animated superhero comedy co-created by Seth Meyers, after three seasons.
The Awesomes was one of Hulu’s first ever original series. It was teased at back-to-back Newfronts presentations, and it was presented as a big part of Hulu’s plan to move beyond licensed TV shows and films and into a new space where it could fully match up with competitors like Hulu and Netflix. With those big expectations hanging over it, The Awesomes premiered in 2013, and it was…decent. It didn’t exactly revolutionize the TV industry, but it did pick up a large enough audience to last for three seasons.
Variety, which first reported the news of The Awesomes’ cancellation, reached out to Hulu, but representatives for the streaming platform declined to comment.
By cancelling The Awesomes, Hulu is following a similar pattern to both Amazon and Hulu. Amazon’s first original series, Alpha House, lasted just two seasons before it got the axe. Netflix’s maiden voyage into the world of originals, Lillyhammer, managed to pick up a third season before its own cancellation. All three of these series were greeted with similar reception, with critics finding them to be good-but-not-great viewers experiences. At the same time, they established their respective distributing platforms as legitimate players in the TV industry and opened the doors for more successful series.
This is particularly true for Hulu. It didn’t get a ton of accolades for The Awesomes, but its new shows have fared much better. Through Casual, it just received its first Golden Globes nomination. Though it ended up getting cancelled, The Awesomes ended up serving as a very important stepping stone for Hulu.
Hulu’s library of original programming is a little less awesome now. The streaming video platform has canceled The Awesomes, an animated superhero comedy co-created by Seth Meyers, after three seasons.
The Awesomes was one of Hulu’s first ever original series. It was teased at back-to-back Newfronts presentations, and it was presented as a big part of Hulu’s plan to move beyond licensed TV shows and films and into a new space where it could fully match up with competitors like Hulu and Netflix. With those big expectations hanging over it, The Awesomes premiered in 2013, and it was…decent. It didn’t exactly revolutionize the TV industry, but it did pick up a large enough audience to last for three seasons.
Variety, which first reported the news of The Awesomes’ cancellation, reached out to Hulu, but representatives for the streaming platform declined to comment.
By cancelling The Awesomes, Hulu is following a similar pattern to both Amazon and Hulu. Amazon’s first original series, Alpha House, lasted just two seasons before it got the axe. Netflix’s maiden voyage into the world of originals, Lillyhammer, managed to pick up a third season before its own cancellation. All three of these series were greeted with similar reception, with critics finding them to be good-but-not-great viewers experiences. At the same time, they established their respective distributing platforms as legitimate players in the TV industry and opened the doors for more successful series.
This is particularly true for Hulu. It didn’t get a ton of accolades for The Awesomes, but its new shows have fared much better. Through Casual, it just received its first Golden Globes nomination. Though it ended up getting cancelled, The Awesomes ended up serving as a very important stepping stone for Hulu.
Plus, it hasn’t exactly gone away forever. You can still watch all of its episodes with a Hulu subscription.
Plus, it hasn’t exactly gone away forever. You can still watch all of its episodes with a Hulu subscription.
Those 13-million-or-so aggregate fans and followers are rabid, too. Propelled by the sheer social power of the DoF Bruh Bruhs (that’s the name Erakat has given to his followers aka “The Best Family On YouTube”), his FouseyTube channel beat out Smosh, Rooster Teeth, Rhett & Link’s Good Mythical Morning and a short-list of the most popular channels on YouTube to take home the trophy for Streamy Awards Audience Choice Show of the Year. Below is his acceptance speech. The uninitiated should watch. Between the confident swagger, charming smile, candid story of his perennial struggle with a number of personal vulnerabilities, and inspirational message, it’s incredibly easy to see Erakat’s appeal:
The awards, accolades, and more-than-adoring fans are all impressive accomplishments. But what’s perhaps a more extraordinary feat is what Erakat did on November 24, 2015. That’s when he took a break.
In a 14-minute vlog, Erakat explains how during the holiday season he always feels in need of a breather. He generally just goes AWOL, but this year he wanted to make it more formal and let his fans know he was in need of some downtime before he would be back full-force in the not-so-distant future. Check it out:
A photo posted by Yousef Saleh Erakat ™ (@fouseytube2) on
To be clear, this is something you don’t do. If YouTube was Fight Club, the first, second, third, fourth, and every rule would be, “YOU DO NOT TAKE A BREAK FROM YOUTUBE!” Prominent online video superstars have described in depth how consistency has been key to their success. ShayCarl built a sizable family-friendly online video empire off of his multi-year daily vlogging schedule. Phil DeFranco more times than not takes his editor Matt Homeyer on trips in order to stay up to speed with a multiple-times-a-week upload schedule. And YouTube’s Creator Handbook cannot emphasize enough the importance of a dependable and persistent posting plan in growing and maintaining an audience, encouraging creators to bank videos to post during periods of time when they know they’ll be pre-occupied with other business endeavors or life at large.
In a chart of the attributes that make up modern day social media success, consistency, awareness, and relevancy are almost all concentric circles in the same Venn Diagram. Erakat knows this. In his “Goodbye, For Now. 🙂” video he talks about how when he asked people if he should take a break, their response was, “No…You’re doing this! You’re doing that! The views! The money!” The concern is real.
During Erakat’s break, his DoseOfFousey channel has averaged roughly 306,000 views per day. That’s down from an average of roughly 815,000 views per day during the month prior. But what’s more potentially devastating than a 60% decrease in views is the threat of losing touch with your audience. Because when you’re a YouTube star, you’re the face, the brand, and the primary distribution point of your stardom. If you’re not providing any output, if you’re not posting videos, Tweeting, FaceBooking, Instagramming, and Snapping, then there’s no way to keep your star burning. There’s no way to get the views, comments, shares, and likes you need to maintain and/or grow your audience.
At least there wasn’t, until Victorious built an app for that. The creator-facing startup that’s constructed bespoke mobile applications for some of YouTube’s biggest stars launched Erakat’s DOSEofFOUSEYon November 20, 2015. It was an instant hit. Within hours of its release it peaked at the #3 spot on Apple’s iOS Entertainment charts and to date has been home to more than 11 million fan engagements. But more than all that activity, the application provided Erakat with a respite from the usual YouTube and social media grind. It was a location full of superfans who he knew had his back that he felt comfortable interacting with in a closed environment while he was on a break from his greater social media accounts.
So, yes, to be explicit Erakat didn’t go completely analog on his break and shuffle off all fan interactions. While he was committing a cardinal sin of social media in not posting to any of his accounts, he did interact with the tight community on his app, providing them with the occasional casual photo or simple text messages with random thoughts or motivational messages. But even if Erakat had stepped away from all digital interaction, his fans would’ve kept up the momentum for him.
“The quantity and quality of fan engagements we see in Victorious-powered communities aren’t happening on any other platform and the Dose of Fousey app is no exception,” explained Victorious CEO and Founder, Sam Rogoway. That’s because Victorious’ applications are constructed in such a way where the social media star isn’t the only one who’s able to post. Erakat is certainly the focus of his application, but there are also thousands of fans – some of which have grown to have sizable four-and-five-figure in-app audiences of their own – posting their own original FouseyTube-related and non-related content. The experience feels like an old school message board reimagined for an impassioned and mobile generation.
“Rather than all of the content being driven by the creators themselves, in our communities fan-generated content represents 95% of content consumed,” said Rogoway. “Fousey fans have come together to share everything from personal stories to inspiring videos and funny anecdotes in an environment that is positive and supportive – it’s a great example of how passionate fans can inspire each other and thereby scale a creator’s brand through community.”
But for Erakat’s hardcore fans in his in-app community, it was like he never really left. They were still with him during his absence. They provided support and encouragement while interacting on their own with like-minded members of the community in some new kind of inner circle because Erakat spoke to them when he wasn’t speaking to anyone else.
“I stepped away from my main channels for a couple of weeks to better balance my time and give full attention to some projects that will be announced shortly,” Erakat told Tubefilter. “I was still able to find opportunities to stay connected to bruh bruhs through my app and can’t believe how engaged they are even when I pause on pushing out as much content as usual. I think the loyal community that follows me is the same at every outlet and they will be pumped to hear what’s been going on behind the curtain! 2016 will be CRAZY!”
Erakat’s three-week social media vacation impacted his view count, but the effects could’ve been far more severe. And, by way of his application and the community within it, his break may have actually had the unexpected effect of intensifying the devotion of his hardcore fans and bringing them all closer together.
The holiday season is a wonderful time for giving to those in need, and that’s precisely what Ellen DeGeneres and mobile entertainment studio Seriously plan to do. The talk show host and developer of the hit mobile game Best Fiends teamed up to launch the in-game “Race Against Slime 2” mobile charity race on December 19, 2015.
For the “Race Against Slime 2” competition, more than 20 digital stars and YouTube creators will separate into seven teams to compete in the game Best Fiends, which features slimy Slugs as enemies. Seriously will then donate to the charities of the influencers’ choosing, including charity:water, Malaria No More, and Oceana. Participating social celebrities include PewDiePie, Markiplier, Hayes Grier, and Rebecca Black. Each creator will release a video on their respective channels about the “Race Against Slime 2” race, their team, and the charity they’re playing for.
Fans are encouraged to participate in the charity drive and help their favorite team raise money (and win) by playing Best Fiends and donating their defeated enemy Slugs in the game’s limited edition Holiday levels. If players and teams donate at least 100 million Slugs by the end of the competition on December 23, DeGeneres has announced she will generously match the donations from Seriously, for a total of up to $250,000. The winning team of digital influencers will be announced on December 24 via the official Ellen DeGeneres Show Twitter account.
“What’s exciting about this year’s ‘Race Against Slime’ is that it brings to life a fun and social aspect of the mobile game while also giving back this holiday season,” said Andrew Stalbow, Seriously’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, in a release. “The race will be fully integrated into the Best Fiends game, allowing fans to directly participate in the competition for the charity of their choice.”
This is the second year Seriously has run the ‘Race Against Slime’ competition. Last year, the mobile game studio donated $50,000 to various charities thanks to the participation of YouTube stars’ fans. Seriously has also teamed up with PewDiePie in the past for a Valentine’s Day Best Fiends competition, where a team of two would compete to level up their characters the most by the end of the competition. The gamer with the least leveled-up character had to take out the other team member for dinner.
You can learn more about the “Race Against Slime 2” competition by visiting bestfiends.com/race.
YouTube’s biggest tentpole events tend to be centered around holidays, but the online video community loves a good movie from time to time as well. Blockbusters tend to draw thousands of video responses, and with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is arguably the most-hyped movie of the past decade, that trend ascended to another level. It seems as if everyone made a Star Wars video leading up to the release of The Force Awakens; here are seven of our favorites.
7. “The Star Wars Recap Song” By The Warp Zone
Some people, believe it or not, have not seen the original Star Wars trilogy. For those eternal holdouts, The Warp Zone has provided a perfect remedy. If you want to get a refresher course on the three Star Wars movies that matter, but you don’t want to sit through six hours of sci-fi, The Warp Zone’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire“-style music video offers up a breezy recap. It’s great for fans of the series, too.
6. “Star Wars In 99 Seconds” by Paint
For a quicker, punchier recap, we turn to Jon Cozart of the Paintchannel, who gave the Star Wars saga the same treatment he gave Harry Potter. This video is great, but it loses some points for ordering the series I, II, III, IV, V, VI. Come on, Jon. We all know the proper order is IV, V, II, III, VI (Episode I never existed.)
5. “Deadpool Vs. Boba Fett” by Epic Rap Battles of History
ERB took a brief break from its mid-season hiatus to pit the original trilogy’s badass bounty hunter against one of Marvel’s coolest heroes. It’s not the most relevant Star Wars video, and it totally messes up the ERB Boba Fett canon, but I give it bonus points for working in a “Boba Fetty Wap” reference.
4. “Ultimate Star Wars Medley” by Player Piano
The return of Star Wars also marked the return of Player Piano, which released its first new video in months. As with the series’ other videos, Player Piano‘s Star Wars medley is the complete package: It features wonderful set design, fun costumes, and, of course, Sonya Belousova‘s out-of-this-world musicianship.
3. “Star Wars: A Bad Lip Reading” by Bad Lip Reading
A new Bad Lip Readingvideo is always a treat; in order to celebrate the new Star Wars movie, the anonymous BLR creator gave us three fresh dubs, one for each movie in the original trilogy. And yes, they’re all just as hilarious as the other entries in the BLR oeuvre. It’s a Christmas miracle.
2. “Star Wars Early Screening Prank” by Rooster Teeth
Rooster Teeth employee Blaine Gibsonloves Star Wars, and with the new movie right around the corner, his colleagues at the Austin-based studio decided to have a little fun. They created a fake Star Wars movie based around Gibson’s impressions of the film’s characters, and then screened that movie for Gibson at a fake early screening. He thought he was seeing The Force Awakens before it came out–the truth was much more embarrassing. The prank is just a little bit cruel, but man, they got him good.
1. “Everything Wrong With Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” by CinemaSins
Leading up to The Force Awakens, the CinemaSins channel took the entire series to task. It enlisted Kevin Smith for its Episode IV video, and Smith followed through by providing some of his best Star Wars criticism since Clerks.
The centerpiece of CinemaSins’ Star Wars coverage, however, is its epic takedown of the infamous piece of crap that is The Phantom Menace. In an epic, two-part video that spans more than 26 minutes of criticism, the CinemaSins team details all of the errors, inconsistencies, and instances of bad writing within the 1999 Star Wars reboot. The final tally: 1,220 sins. Mr. Plinkett would be proud.
Do you have a favorite Star Wars video we didn’t include? Let us know in the comments and check out previous Countdowns here.
Most online video fans know Sara Maria Forsberg (aka SAARA or Smoukahontas) from her linguistic ramblings in the 2014 video “What Languages Sound Like To Foreigners.” The clip has pulled in over 15 million views to date on YouTube alone. But now Forsberg will be remembered for another notable achievement: developing a new alien language for the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Forsberg was approached by Lucasfilm a month after her languages video went viral. The 21-year-old Finnish YouTuber told Variety the offer didn’t seem real at first, until she received the paperwork and confidentiality agreement. That latter document is the reason no one’s known about Forsberg’s project until now. Since April 2014, the singer and YouTube star hasn’t been allowed to discuss her participation in the upcoming Star Wars film, a situation which she described as “horrible.”
“It would have been nice when promoting your new career, to tell people, ‘Hey, I worked on the Star Wars movie,’ but I had to just humbly wait,” said Forsberg. “Now that I can talk about it, it feels amazing.”
Working from a partial script, Forsberg got to work on creating the alien language to be spoken aloud in The Force Awakens. The Star Wars team asked Forsberg to listen to Euro-Asian languages, so the video creator brushed up on the sounds of Gujarati and Hindi. Forsberg, who’s fluent in English, Finnish, and Swedish, also said she went to YouTube to listen to languages she didn’t know.
Since the singer didn’t want the alien language to “sound like complete nonsense,” Forsberg made sure to create words and a structure to make it seem real. After a month of work, the YouTuber sent the language’s audio files to the Star Wars dialect coaches, who then taught the actors how to pronounce Forsberg’s new tongue (which still doesn’t have an official name).
Forsberg wasn’t able to visit The Force Awakens set, but she did attend the film’s official premiere on December 14 in Hollywood. “I felt like I had finally accomplished something concrete, and to see my name in the credits was incredible,” explained Forsberg. “When the director [J.J. Abrams] thanked me on stage, it felt really good to be Sara Forsberg.”
Forsberg is quite willing to work on any language needs for future Star Wars films, as well. “We’ve formed a relationship with Lucasfilm, and should there be more Star Wars films I would be thrilled to expand on this language,” the Finnish YouTuber said. “Maybe in the future I’ll be able to fine-tune it so it will even be teachable.”
The TV pilot will feature the same sort of chattiness and candor that viewers can find in the 80 episodes of Throwing Shade available on the Funny Or Die website. “This is Throwing Shade,” explain Gibson and Safi in the beginning of each episode, “where ‘feminasty’ Erin Gibson and homosexual Bryan Safi take a look at the headlines in politics and pop culture and treat them with much less respect than they deserve. Can you handle it?”
The Throwing Shade pilot could fit into TV Land’s expanding lineup. The Viacom-owned channel, best known for airing classic sitcoms, got into originals about five years ago. “We are huge fans of the podcast,” said Keith Cox, EVP of development and original programming at TV Land, in a statement reported by Variety. “Erin and Bryan’s talent and chemistry are undeniable, and with Charlie Siskel on board, we have an even more amazing team. Their unique perspectives belong on TV.”
This will not be Funny or Die’s first partnership with a Viacom network. It also produces @midnight, a late-night game show that airs on Comedy Central.
