television shows

Sony has started testing a new online marketplace to buy games, movies, and television shows.

The Sony Entertainment Network Store popped up on the Web today and was discovered by Eurogamer. For now, the marketplace appears to only be available to customers outside the U.S. When folks go to the site and choose a country and language, a U.S. option is not available.

Sony has not formally announced the marketplace, but in a comment on a blog posted to the EU PlayStation site, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe blog manager Fred Dutton said the company is "testing a … Read more

Hulu Plus users who pay $8 per month for the service would expect to have the latest selection of television shows. But that might not be the case in every situation.

Peter Kafka over at All Things Digital today reported that Hulu Plus users are not able to watch the latest episode of "Shark Tank" on ABC. Those who access the free Hulu.com or ABC's own Web site, however, can watch the show -- which stars Mark Cuban and chronicles the investments venture capitalists are willing to make as entrepreneurs pitch them ideas -- without any … Read more

International Apple TV owners are complaining that they have been blocked from Hulu Plus.

According to The Next Web, which has obtained images of an error message displayed when users try to stream a show or film from Hulu Plus, those with an Apple TV and U.S. iTunes account are able to browse Hulu's selection of titles. Upon choosing one of those titles, however, a "Geo Restriction" pops up, telling them they cannot access the particular video.

"We're sorry. Currently our video library can only be streamed within the United States," the message … Read more

Netflix ended an exceedingly difficult 2011 by announcing a big number.

The company said earlier today that during the fourth quarter of 2011, more than 2 billion hours of television shows and movies were streamed by users across 45 countries.

Unknown, however, is how that compares to prior quarters. "We haven't made that comparison but suffice it to say 2 billion hours is a big number and a high mark," a company spokesman said.

In October, Sandvine reported that Netflix accounted for nearly one-third of peak downstream traffic in the U.S., making it a bigger bandwidth … Read more

As 2011 draws to a close, Apple has once again decided to take a look back at some of the top content on iTunes this year.

Dubbed iTunes Rewind, the roundup lists, among other content, the top-selling movies, apps, books, and music during the year, as well as Apple staff's top picks in each category.

Apple doesn't provide sales figures in Rewind, and it's worth noting that its lists are based solely on iTunes sales. But it still provides solid insight into what we were interested in this year.

Read on to find out which shows, movies, … Read more

Netflix has updated its tablet application, but so far, it's only available to Android device owners.

The update delivers a new interface that Netflix says should help users more easily discover the content they want to watch. The application's layout includes clips of programs or movies users recently watched, which can be tapped to start playback. In addition, listings of top picks and content from the Instant Queue are visible under those videos.

Thanks to the new layout, the refreshed Netflix app now displays "twice as many movies and TV shows as before," the company's … Read more

For those who aren't Hulu Plus premium subscribers, the Hulu Plus app for Android offers only a tiny taste of the popular Web site's video catalog. A link on the Home screen leads to all of the free content (which is not much), while pretty much every other link eventually leads you to a premium member log-in screen.

Meanwhile, for paying Hulu Plus subscribers, the experience is quite a bit different. The app opens up to a dashboard with all of your basic functions: TV, Movies, Queue, History, Search, and More. The More icon leads to Favorites and … Read more

Netflix is planning to expand the availability of its streaming service to the U.K. and Ireland in early 2012, the company announced today.

Consumers who access Netflix will be able to stream both movies and television shows from the service, though the company has stopped short of providing information on its library. Netflix has also not commented on which devices will support its streaming service in those countries, but it did assure customers that it will be available on computers, mobile devices, and products that connect to their televisions.

Netflix's plans to expand to the U.K. and … Read more

Amazon's Prime Instant Video streaming service is growing again, thanks to a deal the e-commerce giant has struck with Public Broadcasting Service.

According to Amazon, over 1,000 episodes from PBS' popular shows, including "Nova," "Masterpiece," and "Antiques Roadshow," will be available to the service's users. In addition, Ken Burns documentaries "The Civil War," "Baseball," and others will also come to the streaming service. Folks who watch PBS' news programs, "Frontline" and "Washington Week," will be able to watch the latest episodes the day … Read more