CYNOPSISDIGITAL
04.18.16

Good morning. It’s Monday April 18, 2016, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

SSP: Short for supply-side platform, and also sometimes referred to as a ‘sell-side platform.’ An SSP is a technology platform that enables web publishers to manage their advertising space inventory, fill it with ads, and receive revenue. Online publishers use SSPs to sell display, video, and mobile ads in an automated fashion. SSPs are a sort of flip-side to DSPs (demand-side platforms), which are used by marketers and ad-buyers.

 
Since last year, Verizon has gone out of its way to target TV audiences, with a specific eye to the changing ways in which younger viewers are consuming content. The go90 streaming service was the prime example, but it appears the telco now has its sights set on more than just mobile video. Variety reports that Verizon is planning to launch a next-gen TV service in at least one Fios market later in 2016. The new device will incorporate elements of OnCue, the Internet TV service that Intel developed before selling it to Verizon two years ago. The new platform, a “video set-top box” (according to an FCC filing), will offer both pay-TV services and access to online video services, according to Variety’s sources. Verizon declined to comment on Variety’s report.
 
Apple and Google may be fierce rivals, but that doesn’t mean they can’t emulate each other from time to time. According to Bloomberg, Apple has hired a secret team of about 100 employees to explore making changes to the App Store. Among the ideas being considered is the creation of a new paid search tool, similar to Google AdWords. Companies would pay to have their app shown at the top of a search result related to what a customer is seeking. (A search for “disco” might produce a music app, for instance.)  For Google, paid search has generated billions of dollars in revenue.
 
Sling TV, the Internet TV service from Dish Network, certainly isn’t keeping its ambitions to a minimum. Not too long after Sling launched a new service that can carry three streams at once, Zatz Not Funny has reported that Sling has developed another nifty new innovation: a TV tuner box that can pick up free over-the-air broadcast signals and stream them to devices on which the Sling app is installed. Called AirTV, Zatz reports that the device was developed by Echostar, Dish’s hardware-focused sister company. The device, according to the report, is mostly based on existing Slingbox hardware. Sling TV hasn’t commented on the story. Sling has yet to lock down all of the broadcast partners it’s wanted to, most notably Disney and ESPN. AirTV could make for a more complete offering without tacking on a hire price.
 
Back in February, the FCC voted 3-2 to move forward on a proposal to break open the set-top box market, allowing third-party manufacturers like Apple and Google to create their own set-top boxes that could receive satellite or cable TV programming. Predictably, the Apples and Googles of the world offered strong support, while cablers were opposed. Well, it looks like the FCC’s position just got a powerful new backer: President Barack Obama. His administration has strongly endorsed the plan. Key lobbyists and spokespeople representing the pay-TV industry have vowed to continue fighting the proposals.

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Horace and Pete, we hardly new ye. In an email to his subscribers, Louis C.K. confirmed that his web series, which he loosed upon the world through his website with no marketing or prior announcement, has seen its last episode. By some metrics – namely, the fact that it garnered immense praise from fans and critics – the series was a success. By others – namely, the fact that it lost a bunch of money – it, well, wasn’t. C.K. has submitted the series for Emmy consideration in the drama category. 
 
 

 
Videa, a Cox Media Group-backed supply-side platform, announced that it has expanded its programmatic sales solutions to several new partners. The platform, which specializes in bringing data-driven sales and automation to broadcast TV, has reached agreements with the TV station groups Raycom and the E.W. Scripps Company, the demand side platforms TubeMogul, The Trade Desk, and VideoAmp, and the media tech company 4C. So for SSPs working in programmatic TV, what are the biggest challenges? “The two biggest are the availability of inventory to reach critical scale, and mutual adoption from buyers and sellers,” Brett Adamczyk, Videa’s VP of Business Development and Strategy, told Cynopsis Dgital. “Both sides are much more willing to learn and understand the benefits programmatic can bring to the sales process.  The pace at which broadcasters are embracing programmatic has changed significantly over the last 18 months, and it is becoming a much more viable option. However, there is still work to do to put the proper guidelines and rules in place throughout the ecosystem to make programmatic a fully viable sales channel.”
 
 

 
In a new licensing agreement, Comcast has added content from PlanesTrains+Automobiles, the OTT travel network from PTA Networks. The programming is available via Xfinity TV, the X1 cloud DVR, legacy set-tops with on-demand capabilities, the Watchable broadband platform, and Comcast’s apps and websites.

The TV station group Gray Television has acquired a $3 million stake in the OTT platform Syncbak. Syncbak which, is used by numerous broadcasters and Internet video providers, is perhaps best known for powering All Access, CBS’s subscription video service.
 
The video technology platform Kaltura announced that it has partnered with Harmonic, a provider of video delivery infrastructure. Kaltura has integrated Harmonic’s VOS™ 360 cloud media processing service with its own OTT video platform. The companies say that the new platform enables OTT services to quickly launch ‘Live to OTT,’ as well as VOD and time-shifted services.
 
Kaltura also recently announced that it would be powering VOOT, Viacom18’s newly launched digital VOD service in India. So what are the challenges of powering an OTT service in India? “Bandwidth in India is fairly limited, with the average being around 500 Kbps [kilobits per second]. To solve this, we created new renditions that are extremely small but still maintain a solid quality,” Iddo Shai, Kaltura’s Director of Product Marketing of Kaltura, told Cynopsis Digital. And just how important is the Indian OTT market? “By 2019, the Indian online video ad market will be a multi-billion industry,” Shai continued. “Viacom18 wants to make sure it will be in a good position to capitalize on that. Before Voot, their content was dispersed across multiple destination sites as well as YouTube…By having Voot, they can assume control over their content, maximize its value by not splitting the revenue it with 3rd party platforms, as well as having the launch pad to experiment with new content and business models in the future: live delivery, subscription services, pay-per view and more.”
 
 

YouTube could be in for some massive growth over the next few years. In a new report, UBS stock analyst Eric Sherdian predicts that YouTube will grow at 21% for the next four years, and will have generated $27.4 billion in revenue in 2020. (By comparison, Facebook’s revenue estimates for 2016 are at $25.6 billion.) The stock analysis company Amigo Bulls had YouTube’s revenue for 2015 pegged at $8.5 billion, which, by Google’s enviable standards, is actually a small-ish portion of overall revenue. But if Sheridan is right, YouTube will soon be more central to Google’s business. Unfortunately, Google doesn’t release official revenue numbers for YouTube.
 
 

The MDC Media Partners agency Assembly announced a new hire. Sarah Power will serve as Chief Strategy and Research Officer, a newly created position. In the role, Power will help to oversee the agency’s strategic direction across its client roster, driving the use of data and information. Most recently, Power worked as Chief Strategy Officer at the communications network Initiative.
 
Not surprisingly, The Weather Company has been expanding its tech- and data-centric efforts since being acquired by IBM earlier this year. Personnel is an important part of those efforts, and to that end, TWC has hired a new Head of Data Science. Michael Ferrari will lead TWC’s data science efforts across its advertising products, which include LocationFX, WeatherFX, and AudienceFX. Ferrari, who in the past has worked in research and risk management at The Coca-Cola Company, boasts an extensive history in data, weather, and energy science. He also currently serves as an Affiliate Scientist for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and as a member of the Board on Global Strategies for the American Meteorological Societies.
 
 

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