06/14/17: Verizon completes acquisition of Yahoo's core assets

Good morning. It’s Wednesday June 14, 2017 and this is your your first early morning Digital briefing!

TODAY’S CODEBREAKER

Front-End Development: Front-end development is the process of creating the visual front-end of an app or website. Front-end developers create features that are viewable to users – features such as images, content, navigation, and internal links.

TOP NEWS

It’s finally done. Verizon has officially completed its $4.48 billion purchase of Yahoo’s core internet business. The sale comes almost a year after Verizon and Yahoo initially agreed on the acquisition. The deal was almost derailed earlier this year, after revelations that Yahoo had been the victim of massive data breaches on more than one occasion. (Verizon ultimately settled for a $350 million reduction in Yahoo’s acquisition price.) CEO Marissa Mayer has resigned from the company. Tim Armstrong, previously the CEO of AOL, will now serve as CEO of Oath, a newly-created organization made up of Yahoo and AOL’s tech and media brands. Armstrong confirmed that the company plans to lay off about 2,100 of Yahoo and AOL’s roughly 14,000 staff-members – about 15% of workers all told. As previously announced, what remains of Yahoo Inc. – including a 15% equity stake in Alibaba and a 36% stake in Yahoo Japan – will now be a new company called Altaba Inc. Thomas McInerney, a former CFO of IAC, will serve as CEO of Altaba.

This is a big deal. YouTube has reached a multi-year deal with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Under the agreement, YouTube and ASCAP will institute new data-sharing practices. Google has often been at odds with artists and record labels in the past; YouTube is a haven for pirated music, which means less revenue for the music industry. The new data-sharing deal aims to better identify instances in which ASCAP members’ music appeared on YouTube, creating a fairer royalty-payment system in the process.

NBC News has launched Left Field, a new unit devoted to social video. Left Field is geared toward viewers who get news from social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. To start, the unit has 10 full-time staffers, as well as some part-time employees. Matt Danzico, formerly of BBC News, is heading up the team.

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ADVERTISING

Snapchat is out with some new ad tools. As first reported by Adweek, the app has opened the door for both big-dollar advertisers and small businesses to buy and create ads directly on Snapchat’s website, with no minimum spend. Snap Inc. has also launched its Certified Partners Program, which will allow third-party agencies to get Snapchat-qualified before lending support and training to marketers.

PROGRAMMING + CONTENT ACQUISITIONS

Twitter’s live video content has been heavy on sports and news, but it looks like there’s more to the company’s strategy. After HBO canceled Game of Thrones digital after-show After the Thrones, from Bill Simmons, Twitter announced that it will host a new talk series following episodes of GOT’s upcoming seventh season. The after-show, which will feature commentary and recaps, comes from The Ringer, the sports and culture site founded by Simmons. Called Talk the Thrones, the series will be available through The Ringer’s Twitter and Periscope accounts. Game of Thrones’ new season debuts on July 16.

Looks like Facebook is starting its push into TV-like original video content. The social giant has greenlit Last State Standing, an unscripted competition series in which contestants will compete for a $500,000 price. The series comes from A. Smith and Co., the production company behind American Ninja Warrior. And, as first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Facebook is in talks to revive Loosely Exactly Nicole, the Nicole Byer-starring comedy series that MTV canceled last year. (The show only lasted for one season.) Facebook hasn’t commented on the reports. The company is prepared to pay as much as $250,000 per episode for original video series, Reuters reported last month.

Last month, Las Vegas startup Poker Central launched PokerGo, an SVOD service devoted to major poker events such as the World Series of Poker. Now the service has partnered with digital media producer Believe Entertainment Group to create and produce a short-form comedy series. Called Poker Nights, the show will debut later this summer. The six-episode series will star SNL alum Chris Parnell.

CYNOPSIS KIDS IMAGINATION AWARDS

Tomorrow is the final deadline for entries to the Cynopsis Kids Imagination Awards. Last year’s finalists included Amazon Kids, Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Food Network, PBS Kids and more. Now’s the time to spotlight the innovations you and your colleagues have made in the children’s media space. Join in on the fun and enter today.

PLATFORMS, APPS + DEVICES

NPR‘s NPR One app is now available for latest-generation Apple TVs. Featuring podcasts, news, and live-streamed content, the app launched for mobile devices about three years ago.

RESEARCH

OpenSlate Engagement Data for the People & Blogs vertical, based on the engagement metric for the week ending June 11.
Channel (Engagement) / Monthly Views / Total Subs / SlateScore
Jake Paul  (9.8) / 269,600,489 / 6,293,303 / 709
shane (9.8) / 82,429,824 / 9,653,591 / 802
MrMrSnB2 (9.8) / 43,666,560 / 4,093,005 / 732
RomanAtwoodVlogs (9.7) / 153,623,127 / 12,584,421 / 735
FaZe Apex (9.6) /  25,068,035 / 4,445,755 /  735
Joey Graceffa (9.5) / 34,154,781 /  7,723,664 / 779
Mo Vlogs (9.5) / 58,869,342 / 3,595,913 / 707
LosPolinesios (9.4) /  72,678,350 / 6,431,852 / 688
CaseyNeistat (9.3) / 55,424,525 /  7,336,791 / 735
FaZe Adapt (9.2) / 29,170,742 / 3,888,306 / 694
Source: The Engagement metric is one of OpenSlate’s component scores, and is a measure of a producer’s ability to evoke meaningful interaction with their audience. It is calculated on a scale of 1-10 with higher being better. The OpenSlateEngagement score uses a subset of the data incorporated in the SlateScore to perform a set of unique calculations. It factors in views, comments, likes, and more.

The ListenFirst Television Interest (TVI) Rating (TM) is a standardized measurement of the most buzzed-about TV programs on linear TV and streaming services. A complement to ListenFirst’s other syndicated data products (such as the ListenFirstDigital Audience Rating – TV), the metrics included in the rating capture organic actions that are largely unaffected by paid media. Programs that surface on the TVI leaderboards are the most hashtagged on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Tumblr, as well as most searched for on Wikipedia (used as a proxy for organic search volume).

All Series (6/5/17 – 6/11/17)

Streaming Series (6/5/17 – 6/11/17)

Source: ListenFirst. The TVI Rating aggregates metrics that measure organically generated activity by fans of the TV show. The metric includes total volume of official hashtag mentions on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Tumblr, along with Wikipedia page views (as a proxy for organic search volume) for a show as a percentage of the total volume of the same activities for all shows.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Tastemade just nabbed an NBCUniversal exec. Andrew Saunders will serve as Head of Global Brand Strategy for the food-oriented digital media company, overseeing development and strategy for the company’s creative marketing efforts. Saunders previously served as NCBU’s VP of Content Innovation and Creative, a role he took on in 2014. In that capacity, he oversaw creative for many of company’s marketing initiatives and ad partnerships.

TRIVIA

Our Last Trivia Question: Which Baywatch star was just designated by The Hollywood Reporter as the #3 most popular actor/actress on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus? Answer: Zac Efron. Kudos to Jennifer Ryan-Villanova University/PA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, and Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA.

Follow-up: Who was at number one on The Hollywood Reporter’s list? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

The Deadline is 2 WEEKS away!

Being a “Rising Star” means being part of something bigger; there’s a talented, driven group of people who are excited about the “what’s next.”

– Haley Schilling, Associate, Digital at IFC

Join us for the 2017 Cynopsis Rising Star Awards as we honor the future leaders of the media industry and celebrate ‘what’s next.’

Nominate Today

DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT

Microsoft and Sony have very different visions when it comes to the future of virtual reality. From the Wall Street Journal, learn more here.

David Teich
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