YouTube says it's in talks to stream NHL, NBA games, NHL says it isn't

By Richard Lawler posted Feb 23rd 2011 3:17PM Currently, sports is one of the main things that's tough to stay connected to if you choose not to subscribe to traditional linear pay-TV service like cable or satellite, so it's no surprise there was much ado over Gautam Anand, Google Director of Content Partnerships for Asia Pacific, saying the company is negotiating to broadcast NHL and NBA games on YouTube. However, the key words in Bloomberg's report of the statement are "for Asia Pacific," and while the NHL flat out denied any discussions, the NBA merely noted it was "pleased that YouTube recognizes the value of live sports." YouTube already airs games from the Indian Cricket Premier League, and PaidContent's Staci Kramer has learned talks centered around the possibility of airing NBA games -- but only in Asia. It's doubtful, if not ludicrous, to think TNT or ABC/ESPN would let hoop games escape from cable to the internet like free agents to South Beach and while leagues could see potential in new international broadcast models, don't expect to see things changing in the US anytime soon.

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OpenFeint Sees 187% Spike In Downloads Of iOS Games Over Christmas Holiday

The holiday season traditionally sees a spike in mobile app downloads as users receive new devices and have more free time to interact with their phones. Today mobile social gaming platform OpenFeint is reporting that it added over 450,000 new users on Christmas day, which is a 184% spike over its daily average and the largest single day in its history in terms of new users. And the network added nearly 1.4 million new users in the four days around the holiday, including Christmas.

OpenFeint users downloaded more than 5 million OpenFeint enabled games during the 4-day stretch, with Android downloads growing by 73% and iOS downloads up by 187%. And it appears that activity is up from the same period last year; the network added 88% more users than a year ago.

So what contributed to this growth? OpenFeint’s cross-platform approach to its social gaming platform, first launching on the iPhone and iPad and more recently adding Android game developers to its rapidly growing community, definitely is helping set the gaming platform apart.

The company recently took a $8 million investment from Intel Capital and Chinese gaming company The9, as OpenFeint looks to expand beyond the iOS and Android platforms.

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