NEWFRONT UPDATES
At its NewFront event, Turner showcased digital properties Great Big Story, Bleacher Report, and CNN. (Yes, CNN definitely counts as a digital property now.) The event was very light on news, but CNN chief Jeff Zucker did take the time to tease his network’s upcoming digital venture with YouTuber Casey Neistat. Zucker announced that the project will debut this summer. In a quick interview with Zucker, Neistat himself revealed some details about the project. For one, it’ll have a presence on both YouTube and Facebook. Neistat also said that the project will have more of a news focus than he’d originally planned. In other news, Zucker announced that Great Big Story – a CNN-backed video brand focused on unscripted, docu-style storytelling – has launched a new video experience that’s available on Apple News. And Great Big Story says that, within the coming months, it will launch Great Big Cuentos, a new brand aimed at Hispanic-Americans. “Turner is a legacy media company, but they’re a legacy media company with an incredible bevy of digital properties,” said David Spiegel, Great Big Story’s SVP of Sales & Brand Strategy, in an on-site conversation with Cynopsis Digital. “The three you’re looking at today already have the legs to stand on their own. Turner isn’t a company that’s only just now converting to digital.”
At its NewFront event in midtown Manhattan, Time Inc. announced its slate of new programming and products. Perhaps the most significant of those is The Sports Illustrated Network, a new streaming channel set to launch this fall. The Sports Illustrated Network will feature original docs, analysis from well-known SI reporters, fantasy sports, swimsuit content, and live event programming. It’s only the company’s second major OTT platform, following the People/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN), which launched last year. Speaking of which, the company announced that PEN will expand People Now, its daily digital talk show featuring celebrity guests, to run twice daily instead of just once. (A second half-hour installment will run in the afternoon, on top of the morning edition.) The company also announced EW Reunites, a new video series for PEN. The series will bring together cast-members from classic TV shows and movies like Back to the Future and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. From the Time brand, the company announced Firsts, an interview series focusing on trailblazing women. Essence announced a number of unscripted shows as well, including Essence Now, a live talk show geared toward black women. Essence Now will stream on Twitter. Essence also announced The Boss Lady Project, a series in which successful women figure as mentors to young African-American girls. Time Inc. also announced three new female-oriented social video brands, all of which will debut later in the year: The Barrel, The Pretty, and ReMade. Unspoken at the presentation: The company spent the past several months considering acquisition proposals, most notably from Meredith. But Time Inc.’s board recently decided that the company should pursue its own strategic plan. And as the company’s NewFront event made clear, expanded digital business looks set to figure prominently in that plan.
ADVERTISING
Looks like we’re not quite done with Time Inc. Viant, the ad tech company that Time Inc. acquired early last year, announced that it now offers self-serve programmatic capabilities. The new product comes as a result of an integration with Adelphic, the mobile ad tech company that Viant acquired this year.
This is pretty significant. A consortium of ad tech companies – AppNexus, LiveRamp, MediaMath, Rocket Fuel, Index Exchange, OpenX, and LiveIntent – has partnered on a new targeted advertising initiative. The group aims to make more ad targeting technologies available through a wider array of channels, offering members access to a new cross-platform targeting framework. “[T]here is a definite market need for a unique identifier that is neutral, and that can deliver the value that advertisers and agencies want without relying solely on Facebook and Google,” said Tim Cadogan, OpenX’s CEO, in an email to Real-Time Daily.
PLATFORMS, APPS + DEVICES
Twitter ’s sprawling live video efforts would make a whole lot less sense without connected TV capabilities. That’s why, over the last few months, the company has rolled out apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Xbox One. Roku streaming boxes and Roku TVs have now jointed the list. To start, Twitter’s TV app will be available only to Roku users in the U.S.
Epix has launched Epix Cast, a new feature that lets users cast Epix content from Android or iOS devices to connected TV devices. At launch, the app is compatible with Google’s Chromecast, Sony connected Blu-ray players, and a variety of smart TV models. The company says that Samsung Smart TVs, Roku devices, Amazon’s Fire TV, TiVo, and Xbox will join the list in the coming weeks.
CYNOPSIS KIDS !MAGINATION AWARDS
Cynopsis’s expert panel of judges will be examining the very best in children’s and family multiplatform content and marketing, plus the outstanding executives in children’s entertainment, for the 6th Annual Cynopsis Kids !magination Awards. Enter before June 8th to avoid late entry fees.
Last month, Amazon greenlit a series about Manhattan housewife who discovers a talent for stand-up comedy. (The pilot debuted in March.) What’s the show called? (Email trivia@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, and state.)
Our Last Trivia Question: Who preceded Susan Wojcicki as CEO of YouTube? Answer: Salar Kamangar. Kudos to Andy Pittman-TAMU/TX, Louis Lewow-Lewow Media Group/GA, Jasmine Howard-Yahoo/NY, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, and Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA
