TVGuide.com launched “DVR” functionality allowing users to select their favorite TV shows, organize them in one location, and watch them online at their convenience. “My TVGuide.com DVR” also provides notifications that users have new episodes of their favorite shows to watch.

The number of U.S. broadband households watching premium online content, including movies and TV shows via the Internet, doubled in the last year, according to Broadband, Communications, and Entertainment Bundles, a new study from Parks Associates. Currently over 25 million U.S. broadband households regularly watch full-length TV shows online, while over 20 million watch movies online.

Brightcove was recognized as a leader by Forrester Research in its report, The Forrester Wave: U.S. Online Video Platforms, Q4 2009, which was published today. Brightcove was among the select companies that Forrester invited to participate in its Wave report, and the company received top scores across all of the major evaluation categories.

Akamai and iStreamPlanet announce they have been selected to work with Microsoft to provide an integrated, end-to-end solution to deliver live and on-demand video online for NBC during the network’s coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, February 12-28. The solution will leverage Microsoft IIS Smooth Streaming to deliver an uninterrupted, high-quality streaming experience to online audiences via Microsoft Silverlight-based media players.

comScore released September 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, showing that more than 168 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month. Online video viewing continued to reach record levels in September with nearly 26 billion videos viewed during the month, as Google Sites accounted for more than 40 percent of videos viewed online by Americans.

blinkx announces blinkx Music, a new tool for finding and watching music videos online. Offering music videos of every genre, from Rap to Country to Classical, and featuring a huge and varied constellation of artists, blinkx Music enables users to find their favorite music videos all through a single online gateway. From old favorites like U2, to rising stars on the scene like Lady Gaga, blinkx Music has indexed over 33,000 hours of music video from over 10,000 artists to become the most comprehensive source on the Web.

Ooyala and PLYmedia are working to provide quick, professional, closed caption and language subtitles for online video. This new service, available via Ooyala's Backlot video management platform -- and provided through PLYmedia's SubPLY service, makes video accessible to the hearing impaired and enables greater search engine visibility with the conversion of audio content to trackable text.

Samsung and Blockbuster announce the immediate availability of Blockbuster's vast and growing library of premium digital entertainment for rent or purchase on select 2009 Samsung HDTVs, Blu-ray Players and Blu-ray integrated Home Theater Systems.

Specific models featuring the new BLOCKBUSTER On Demand service include Samsung Series 650 and above LCD and Plasma HDTVs and Series 7000 and above LED HDTVs. The service is also available on Samsung BD-P1600, BD-P3600 and BD-P4600 Blu-ray players, as well as select Samsung Blu-ray integrated Home Theater Systems (HT-BD1250, HT-BD3252, HT-BD7200 and HT-BD8200) via firmware upgrade.

Endavo Media signes a multi-year, white-label platform licensing deal with Etisalat. Under the agreement, Etisalat will install Endavo’s Internet TV Platform to support the roll-out of an IP-based over-the-top video delivery infrastructure over its own Internet and wireless networks. Etisalat will market its video services to broadcasters and content producers across 18 countries, including all of the Middle East and part of North Africa. The licensing deal expands the growing relationship between the Internet TV provider and the global telecom company.

Digital Rapids is working with YouTube to integrate support for Content ID, YouTube’s content identification and management system, directly into Digital Rapids’ award-winning range of media production and repurposing systems.

Digital Rapids’ encoding and transcoding systems are used by leading media organizations to transform live, tape and file-based video and audio content into the formats required for viewing on multiple platforms including broadcast, cable and satellite television; IPTV; the Web; mobile phones and personal media players.

KIT digital and The Associated Press have signed a new deal to manage and deliver video content globally. The agreement inaugurates a new contractual phase in a highly successful ten-year alliance between AP and KIT digital, deepening technology integration and enhancing service provision for AP's clients around the world.

The new agreement, which builds upon and extends existing license and service agreements between AP and KIT digital, was executed in the context of ongoing discussions between the companies regarding potential collaboration in emerging IP video areas, including IPTV enabled television and high-bandwidth mobile networks.

thePlatform has been selected to manage and publish online video for the Big Ten Network. Specifically, thePlatform will provide centralized back-end management support for two major video initiatives, one aimed at serving international audiences outside the U.S. and Canada, and the other serving domestic sports fans.

Akamai Technologies announces the Akamai HD Network, its next generation video delivery offering and the first platform to deliver HD video online to viewers using Adobe Flash technology, Microsoft Silverlight, and to the iPhone, at broadcast-level audience scale. The Akamai HD Network is the only solution that supports live and on-demand HD streaming with a highly-personalized and interactive online experience that matches and complements HD television.

YouTube and Warner Music Group announce an agreement to distribute on YouTube the library of music videos from WMG's world-renowned roster of artists as well as behind-the-scenes footage, artist interviews, original programming and other special content. In a first-of-its-kind arrangement, YouTube users will be able to incorporate music from WMG's recorded music catalog into the videos they create and upload onto YouTube.

comScore releases August 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, showing that 161 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month, the largest audience ever recorded. Online video reached another all-time high in August with more than 25 billion videos viewed during the month, with Google Sites accounting for more than 10 billion.