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Monday February 1, 2021

YouTube’s short video feature, Shorts, has 3.5 billion daily views in India, where the TikTok rival is being beta tested. Shorts will be part of the YouTube app, with videos no longer than 15 seconds.

Users can now move their chat history, including videos and documents, from other apps to encrypted messaging app Telegram. Telegram users can also control their digital footprint by not only exporting their chats, but deleting messages they send and receive for both sides. The messaging service gained over 100 million new users in January amid concerns over privacy.

Walmart has a new name – rebranding from Walmart Media Group to Walmart Connect – and a new vision for its media business, with the goal of becoming one of the top ten advertising platforms in the US over five hears. “We’ve built a substantial business that can serve clients in a way no one else can – as a closed loop omnichannel media company,” said Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer, Walmart. “By expanding our offerings we’re creating measurable value for our partners and customers alike in our ecosystem and beyond.” The company is focusing on three strategic areas:
* Growing offerings across Walmart’s digital properties. Walmart Connect is utilizing the reach of its native digital properties to offer holistic campaigns including search and display media, across the digital shopper experience.
* Introducing innovative in-store experiences, including new omni capabilities that allow advertisers to reach the customers that shop Walmart’s physical stores. The retailer is now offering media activations on in-store TV walls and self-checkout screens.
* Expanding offsite media opportunities, at scale. Walmart Connect will be leveraging its first-party shopper data to drive media performance for sellers outside of Walmart’s proprietary sites. Walmart announced a partnership with The Trade Desk to launch a first-of-its-kind demand-side platform for suppliers and their media and ad agencies in time for the 2021 holiday season.

Digitas and Weber Shandwick are the first ad agencies to join the Global Video Measurement Alliance, a coalition of companies that agree to a consistent approach to social media measurement using a standard-time, de-duplicated standard based on Tubular Audience Ratings. BBC Studios and WildBrain Spark have also come aboard, joining companies including Vice, GroupNine, Viacom, Discovery and Ellen Digital Network. “As media companies and brands alike navigate media disruption and seek younger audiences, we’re able to provide uniform metrics by which transparent comparison and performance evaluation can lead to increased investment and scale within digital video which is particularly popular with young adults – especially adults 18-34,” said Neil Patil, Chief Commercial Officer at Tubular Labs.

Facebook reported 4Q20 revenue of $28.1 billion with net profit of $11.2 billion, beating analyst forecasts. A move from consumer demand towards products and away from services “provided a tailwind to our advertising business in the second half of 2020 given our strength in product verticals sold via online commerce and our lower exposure to service verticals like travel,” said the company, which nevertheless warned, “Looking forward, a moderation or reversal in one or both of these trends could serve as a headwind to our advertising revenue growth.”

Apple also beat analyst estimates for 4Q20, with total revenue of $111.4 billion, up 21% from 4Q19. Sales of the iPhone in what CEO Tim Cook called a “historic” holiday season totaled $65.6 billion, versus a projected $59.8 billion.

Lotame, provider of data enrichment solutions, reported 117.07% growth in US third-party data sales from 2Q20 to 3Q20. When looking at Q1 vs Q3, third-party data in the US had 76.24% growth. “The revenue growth shows that the shade and accusations of third-party data’s demise are false,” said Alexandra Theriault, Chief Customer Officer at Lotame. “Instead, third-party data thrives as a necessary complement to first-party data that simply doesn’t scale.” The most popular US audience segments that were purchased in Q3 2020 included In-market for computers and electronics; B2B C-suite; Hispanics or Spanish speakers; declared parents; and parents of teenagers. “The top five segments align with how consumer’s lives were changing in the U.S. during Q3,” said Theriault. “With COVID surging, marketers pivoted to reach folks settling into a new routine of working at home and juggling childcare.”

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement released a study identifying best practices for integration of set top box and smart TV data, designed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Smart TV and STB data and identify best practices for combining them at the household level. The research was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 findings included:
* General application of data beyond TV currency: At this time, virtually all applications of Set Top Box and Smart TV ACR are geared for attribution, measurement, optimization and campaign management versus the creation of new audience measurement currency.
* Sample size versus representativeness: Some providers and processors in the analysis make data available from the matched portion of their data sets without modeling the remaining consumers. The rationale offered for this approach is that matched sample sizes are sufficiently large and representative to assess results, but the study found this assumes that demographics account for viewing differences between matched sample and unmatched sample.
* TV data processing, while not standardized across data providers and third-party firms, is far more systematized within individual organizations versus 3-5 years ago. Procedures for data ingestion, integration and formatting are in place as well as are editing rules.
The study was conducted for CIMM by Pre-Meditated Media and Janus Strategy and Insights.

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Cuebiq, focused on mobility intelligence and consumer insights, is joining The Trinity Challenge, a coalition of partners promoting the use of data and analytics to identify, generate, and reward insights that contribute to the goal of a world better prepared for health emergencies. Cuebiq will build upon its existing Data For Good program and partner with The Trinity Challenge’s Members to work on integrating geospatial data into decision-making during health emergencies. “At the heart of Cuebiq is our commitment to innovation and enhancing the quality of life across the globe, which is why we created our ‘Data for Good’ program,” said Antonio Tomarchio, founder and CEO, Cuebiq. “Joining The Trinity Challenge allows us to continue these efforts.”

Synacor announced its work with health and fitness platform Openfit, which is now using Cloud ID identity management to authenticate TELUS subscriptions. “TELUS subscribers can now gain access to entirely new app experiences beyond what’s covered in their existing subscription while an additional revenue stream is unlocked for Openfit,” said Synacor SVP Dana Golden. “Our latest work represents Cloud ID’s ability to enhance app distribution and signups via service providers and further extends our customer base as more digital media companies seek new avenues into the home.”

LiveX has purchased Panasonic’s KAIROS IT/IP live production platform. The production and broadcast company will use the platform to automate its new 4K broadcast streaming studio and expand the company’s remote capabilities for future productions. “Remote broadcasting has been a part of our business for the last four years, so it’s really in our DNA to have remote production capabilities,” said Corey Behnke, co-founder and producer and at LiveX. “Panasonic’s KAIROS platform was the first system we saw where everything works together in tandem and provides us with the ability to remotely control everything from anywhere in the world.”

Add Google to the list of companies suspending certain political donations. Google first paused donations after the January 6 attack at the US Capitol; following a review of its contribution policies, the company said it “will not be making any contributions this cycle to any member of Congress who voted against certification of the election results.” The move follows similar decisions by Marriott, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and others.

NBCUniversal and Twitter inked a multi-year agreement bringing NBCUniversal’s digital content to Twitter. “With this strategic partnership, NBCUniversal’s leading video content meets Twitter’s worldwide reach, empowering marketers to connect with global audiences,” said Krishan Bhatia, President & Chief Business Officer, NBCUniversal. “The growth in digital viewing has been nothing short of explosive in recent years and together with Twitter, we’re helping our partners engage audiences in a brand-safe way—and shape key conversations as they unfold.”

Tegna is expanding VERIFY to help combat disinformation. Since 2015, Tegna stations’ VERIFY reporting has helped viewers distinguish between true and false information. The VERIFY team, with help from questions submitted by viewers, tracks the spread of stories or claims that need verification or clarification. This year, VERIFY will grow into a standalone national brand through the launch of dedicated digital products and expand its franchise to non-TEGNA social media platforms. Jonathan Forsythe has been named managing editor responsible for leading VERIFY’s editorial growth across all platforms.

Comscore announced a new cross-screen measurement system, “Movies Everywhere,” offering daily sales reports across release windows and platforms. Granular and advanced audience data will be connected across box office, transactional on demand video, OTT rentals and streaming views. With the business of movies in transition, the product is “an essential part in the creation of strategic initiatives and the decision-making process of companies across the entire entertainment ecosystem,” said Comscore.

Twitter permanently suspended Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, for promoting conspiracy theories about voter fraud in the 2020 elections. Lindell’s Twitter account had over 412,000 followers.

Google shared information on the progress it has made on the path to replace third-party cookies with viable privacy first alternatives for online advertisers. In a blog post, Chetna Bindra, Group Product Manager, User Trust and Privacy at Google, said Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) proposes a new way for businesses to reach people with relevant content and ads by clustering large groups of people with similar interests. The approach hides individuals “in the crowd” and uses on-device processing to keep a person’s web history private on the browser. “Results indicate that when it comes to generating interest-based audiences, FLoC can provide an effective replacement signal for third-party cookies,” wrote Bindra. “Our tests of FLoC to reach in-market and affinity Google Audiences show that advertisers can expect to see at least 95% of the conversions per dollar spent when compared to cookie-based advertising.”

Video ad platform Unruly has launched a suite of self-service tools that enable publishers to package, price and sell their programmatic inventory. Via a new self-service platform, UnrulyX CTRL, media owners and app developers can set up programmatic deals across their connected TV, video and banner inventory via deal IDs. An intuitive user interface gives publishers access to online packaging tools, real-time insights to help maximize inventory value and enhanced reporting for increased transparency. “Publishers are increasingly looking for greater control and transparency – a trend that has become more prevalent in these uncertain times and the heightened anxiety caused by the global pandemic,” said Chief Strategy Officer Kenneth Suh.

STREAMING

Global nonfiction streaming platform Documentary+ launched Thursday, as a home for feature-length and short documentary films. Documentary+ is a joint venture between nonfiction studio XTR and the late Tony Hsieh. “There has never been a more exciting time for nonfiction – we’re seeing visionary new directors emerge and streaming has given documentary films wide new global audiences,” said Bryn Mooser, co-founder of Documentary+ and CEO of XTR. “The COVID pandemic created this great digital acceleration and we are building Documentary+ to be a key cornerstone in the future of the industry.”

The average viewer in North America uses about seven different video services, according to TiVo’s Video Trends Report. Other findings include:
* 79% of survey respondents said that they would rather use free, ad-supported streaming than subscribe to another paid service.
* 25% of respondents ADDED at least one new video subscription as a result of COVID-19, while 15% of respondents canceled at least one video subscription as a result of COVID-19.
* 83% of survey respondents said viewing local content was important (a 10% increase since 2019), and 74% of broadband-only subscribers indicated viewing local content was important to them (a 12% YOY increase)TV commercials/ads remain the most popular medium by which people learn about new shows and movies.
* 98% of respondents said they feel recommendations from their subscription streaming services are “sometimes” or “always” relevant.

HF Productions is launching a new streaming platform on February 17. FILMPIXS, now in soft launch, primarily features short films, in addition to international feature documentaries. The platform will be available worldwide, via a monthly/annual subscription model.

Free streaming network DistroTV, launched in 2019, announced it is now home to over 150 live streaming channels. “As an emerging FAST network and one of the few remaining independent streaming services, our mission remains to cultivate content that covers a broad range of diverse topics,” said Navdeep Saini, founder and CEO of DistroTV parent, DistroScale.

A survey from J.D. Power taken in December found that 81% of households said they subscribed to Netflix, down from 85% in April, and Amazon Prime Video dipped to 65% from 66%. Seeing increases were Hulu (from 48% to 56%); Disney Plus (from 37% to 47%); YouTube (from 17% to 20%); HBO/HBO Max (from 13% to 22%); and Apple TV (from 10% to 14%). Peacock, which didn’t launch nationally until July, accounted for 18% of subs in December.

BroadwayHD, the streaming service for live theater, will become home to the works of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Nine titles will debut on the service this month, with additional productions set to arrive on BroadwayHD in February and March.

Entercom announced the launch of “BetQL Audio Network.” The network, which follows the company’s recent acquisition of sports data and iGaming affiliate platform QL Gaming Group, will feature sports gambling programming across Entercom’s portfolio of sports stations, as well as the RADIO.COM app and digital platform.

MAVTV Motorsports is continuing on the road to global expansion with Samsung TV Plus in the UK. The channel recently launched in Australia.

Content monetization platform VlogBox and animation studio Sprout Studios struck a strategic partnership to distribute and monetize Sprout Studios animations on Connected TV markets, starting with Roku. One of the main goals is to design a children’s entertainment portal on Roky. NuNy TV, which features music and video playlists for workouts.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

OTT.X has promoted Eric Hanson to EVP. Hanson joined the trade association in 2018.

TikTok tapped LeToya Bacon to lead its Global Business Marketing/B2B internal communications. Most recently, Bacon was the Director of Communications and Public Relations for BET Network

Ged Tarpey was named Managing Director of Global Media & Entertainment at Twitter. Tarpey has been with the company since 2012.

Ntooitive added four people to its technology team: Tony Dawson, GM of Technology; Don McCoole, VP of Sales Engineering; Jon Denton, VP of Sales, and Phil Turner, Senior Director of Small and Midsize Business.