United Leeds Endeavours Learns Streaming Takes Over at Lovefilm.com

For the first time ever streaming services have overtaken Dvd-only packages for Lovefilm.com. United Leeds Endeavours looks at why streaming is becoming so popular.

Lovefilm.com announced this week that their streaming-only service has become their most sought-after service with their customers. Streaming services are relatively new to the Amazon-owned company but have become increasingly popular. Direct sales and marketing company United Leeds Endeavours works with major clients in the entertainment industry and they have watched with interest as streaming services are becoming more and more popular. Why do they think this is?

The streaming service is by far the most convenient service with 10s of thousands of films available at your fingertips.  A representative for United Leeds Endeavours said, “We believe that it is incredibly popular among young people who are internet savvy, perhaps students who might not have a television in their halls of residence or those who like to watch films as they travel on their laptops or iPads.”

The DVD service is clearly very popular as well, with no late fees and delivered straight to your door. It has seen traditional DVD rental shops such as Blockbusters really struggle. Lovefilm.com has seen new competition in the form of American company Netflix, who offer a streaming only service.

Do United Leeds Endeavours think that Netflix will become more popular. “We still feel that Lovefilm.com has the edge because for those who like to have the hard DVD they still have that option. The online catalogue for both companies still isn’t as extensive as what Lovefilm.com offer on DVD.” Lovefilm.com also has other attractive offers such as video game rental. According to Lovefilm.com this has been incredibly popular with parents of teenage children who must have the latest game but quickly get bored of it. They can keep it as long as they want, then send it back without spending £50.

Finally United Leeds Endeavours feels that the streaming phenomenon comes down to the rise of internet televisions. “More and more people are switching over to televisions where they can link up their services like Lovefilm.com as well as traditional on demand services like BBC iPlayer and 4od.” The internet televisions are still pretty expensive but United Leeds Endeavours fully expects them to become as normal as flat-screen television in the family home over the next 12 months.

Do United Leeds Endeavours think that Lovefilm.com will switch over entirely to streaming services? “As long as DVDs are still in use we’re pretty sure that the company will offer them as an option. They have the selection, the variety of films, and the variety of services. People want choice and we think that Lovefilm.com really offers that.”

United Leeds Endeavours takes on the Leeds Half-Marathon

On Sunday 13^th May 2012 many fitness fans in Leeds will be taking part in the Leeds Half-Marathon in support of Jane Tomlinson's For All Events. The charity run will be starting and finishing on Park Row situated right outside the offices of United Leeds Endeavours.

Established by the late Jane Tomlinson CBE to stand as her fundraising legacy, following her death from cancer in 2007, Run For All was launched as a not-for-profit organisation to act as a fundraising vehicle for charities across the country big and small.

Before her death, Jane raised £1.85 million for children’s and cancer charities through a series of physical challenges including the Ride Across America.

A spokesperson for United Leeds Endeavours has said  

"The mentality of any sporting individual whether it be a professional footballer, rugby player or just someone with a keen interest in keeping fit is always a great quality. 

We all know keeping up with a fitness regime can be difficult especially after a long day at the office, but the feeling of satisfaction you get after a good work out. Several members of the team at United Leeds Endeavours are taking part in the run and the rest will be cheering everyone on from the office windows. It's going to be a fantastic occasion for a really great cause." 

If anyone still wishes to take part in this fantastic event visit the For All Events website to register

http://www.forallevents.co.uk/run-for-all/events/half-marathon/

United Leeds Endeavours wishes everyone taking part the best of luck

United Leeds Endeavours on the Rise of On-Line Streaming

After 3 years of complicated negotiations BBC iPlayer has launched on the Xbox 360 games console. United Leeds Endeavours looks at the streaming service revolution.

United Leeds Endeavours is a direct sales and marketing firm that specialises in the entertainment industry so they know better than many that the growth of on-line streaming services has been exponential over recent years. They were therefore delighted to hear that Xbox 360 has finally been able to add BBC iPlayer to the list of streaming services that it offers directly through the console.

The process has been a protracted one because Microsoft, who creates the Xbox, wanted to charge for all the content that is offered through its Xbox Live platform. United Leeds Endeavours feels that the BBC was right to hold out for a free service.

How has online, on-demand streaming grown over the past few years? The number of major online streaming services is rising year on year, YouTube now offers their service through many devices along with the country’s leading film DVD rental and streaming service LoveFilm.com. 4od is also another major player in the field. BBC iPlayer is now available on 450 platforms including Virgin Media, BT Vision, Freesat, Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation as well as the majority of tablets such as the iPad.

The general manager for the BBC’s Programmes and On-Demand section, Daniel Danker, said “Xbox is hugely successful in the UK. Given the BBC’s goal to reach its entire audience, I’m particularly excited that the BBC will be bringing iPlayer to all Xbox users at no extra cost as part of Xbox Live’s free membership.”

United Leeds Endeavours believes that the most exciting aspect of the arrival is that because the Xbox 360 has the Kinect motion-controller, for the first time users will be able to navigate the BBC iPlayer using hand gestures and voice commands. The company believes that this is a giant leap forwards in what on-line streaming has to offer.

A spokesperson for United Leeds Endeavours said, “With companies like LoveFilm.com now holding a majority share of the market, video rental stores are becoming a thing of the past. Increasingly we’re going to see the disappearance of stores like Blockbusters and I think we’re going to see a total switch-over to postal DVD services for those who still want the hard disk, or online streaming as internet-ready TV’s becoming increasingly popular. This is going to be one of the biggest changes for the entertainment industry in decades.”

A Beginners Guide to March Madness from United Leeds Endeavours

At United Leeds Endeavours there are some serious fans of American Sports. They’ve put together a beginners guide to March Madness and reveal their predictions for the final four.

United Leeds Endeavours has an unusual interest in American sports for an English company. The direct sales and marketing company offers everyone on this side of the pond a quick guide to the basketball competition which will dominate American news over the next few weeks.

Firstly, what is March Madness? It refers to the NCAA Men’s Division Basketball Championship. This is a single-elimination university basketball tournament which is held each spring in America. It features 68 university basketball teams. It was started in 1939 and is known informally as March Madness as it’s held mostly in March. The teams selected include the champions from 31 division 1 conferences which receive automatic entry. Then 37 more teams are awarded ‘at-large’ places and are selected by the NCAA selection committee. The tournament takes place over 3 weekends at pre-selected neutral sites around America.

So now you know what it’s all about, who is in the running for success? Like United Leeds Endeavours, all around America offices, businesses and celebrities put together their brackets which include their predictions of how far each of the teams will go and who will be the eventual winner. Famously the US president also has his picks televised on national TV. President Obama filled out his bracket the other day and his final 4 consisted of Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky and Villanova. His bracket saw Kansas beat Kentucky in the final.

What do United Leeds Endeavours think of his bracket? “We think his predictions are pretty safe picks with no underdogs included at all. The team here at United Leeds Endeavours think that that Kentucky and North Carolina will meet in the final this year. Kentucky is the overall number one seed and their ranking is justified, they’ve got a long heritage of success in March Madness and we think that they will be the overall victors. We also think that Vanderbilt will be the surprise underdog to go far in the competition this year.”

Why all the interest in March Madness at United Leeds Endeavours. “We feel that the tournament is a great metaphor for business. March Madness is intense and it requires great preparation and stamina to play so many games in such a short period of time. In business you don’t always get time for a rest and you’ve got to learn to prepare well and trust your team around you. The skills are so transferable. We’re also competitive people and we can’t wait to find out who has won our office bracket!”

United Leeds Endeavours Backs Boris Johnson as he Urges Whitehall to Spend to Recover.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has called on the Chancellor to put in place a series of measures to aid recovery. United Leeds Endeavours investigates the Mayor’s suggestions.

Mr. Johnson has been outspoken in his criticism that the government has not done enough to help the recovery of the country. Today he has once more urged to Chancellor to offer a national insurance holiday to create jobs, investment in infrastructure and a crack down on stamp duty avoidance in the budget.

United Leeds Endeavours has seen the difficulty faced by individuals and businesses in the financial crisis and are as keen as anyone to look for solutions to improve the situation. A representative of the company said, “Boris Johnson has been accused of being too cosy with the City but at United Leeds Endeavours we believe that he is actually pretty fair in his praise and criticism. Whilst there have obviously been errors made by the financial sector, that doesn’t mean that all bankers are criminals and Mr. Johnson has been outspoken in pointing this out.”

United Leeds Endeavours listened this morning as Mr. Johnson told the Andrew Marr show, “I would much rather we stop focusing so much on bashing people and start looking at what we can do to help people into work. That’s what I mean about national insurance, supporting infrastructure – those are the things that are going to drive jobs and growth over the next 10 years.”

Mr. Johnson is currently battling Labour rival Ken Livingston for re-election to the London Mayor role but United Leeds Endeavours is impressed that he doesn’t seem to be changing his stance to simply gain popularity. He has always been a vehement critic of tax avoidance and he cemented his stance on the problem this morning. He said that the scheme of selling properties through offshore companies to avoid stamp duty was “a scandal”.

He wrote in a piece for the Daily Telegraph today that the Government could raise £1 billion by outlawing a scheme where the wealthy are dodging the tax levy by treating their houses as a company. This means that instead of paying stamp duty at five per cent, they buy shares in the company, which results in them being taxed at only 0.5 per cent.

The representative of United Leeds Endeavours finished, “According to recent analysis, one property in twenty in London is now owned offshore. That is a shocking statistic and Mr. Johnson is correct, it’s a fairly easy way of raising a huge amount of money. At United Leeds Endeavours we’ve been impressed by Mr. Johnson’s no nonsense approach to the financial crisis, he makes sensible, realistic suggestions that the government would do well to take notice of.”