06/22/17: Virgin Mobile teams with Apple to lure new customers

Good morning. It’s Thursday June 22, 2017 and this is your your first early morning Digital briefing!

TODAY’S CODEBREAKER

Ad load: This term refers to the number of ads that are shown to users in a news feed or stream, vs. non-ads content. It’s a vibrant discussion in the media world at the moment, since a higher ad load normally translates into more revenue but can turn off viewers.

JUST IN

Virgin Mobile hopes to change the dynamics of the U.S. mobile phone market by connecting with Apple phone users. Virgin will give people with an iPhone one year of unlimited talk, text and data for just $1 if they purchased their phone from either the Apple Store or the company’s website. Meanwhile, Virgin Mobile will stop selling Android phones.

Streaming sports service fuboTV has notched a big programming deal with CBS Corp. to carry the CBS network and other sports and entertainment channels. Included in the deal, which will be available on demand as well as through fuboTV’s entry-level “Fubo Premier” bundle, are CBS Sports Network, SHOWTIME, The CW, Pop and CBSN.

DEALS

WPP Group keeps ramping up its content and production investments. The latest is a $6.5 million stake in Mic Network, a news outlet that caters to Millennials. WPP also has invested in Russell Simmons’ All Def Digital, Refinery29, Uproxx Media Group and Mitú. Separately, Unilever says that along with WPP it will invest $15 million in mobile creative management platform Celtra.

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Nominate your company for the 2017 Best Places to Work in Media. Whether you make the winners list or not, you’ll receive a full Engagement Report featuring critical insights into your organization (a $5,000 value). Nominations are due on Friday, June 23 so start today!

APPS

As ride-hailing app Uber CEO Travis Kalanick departs the company under shareholder pressure, Uber has finally unveiled an in-app gratuity enabling driver tips. It represents a pretty big U-turn for company, which also will now provide compensation for drivers for trips cancelled more than two minutes after booking, new insurance plans, and better pay for transporting teenage passengers.

SOCIAL MEDIA

BET is ramping up its digital and social offerings surrounding the BET AWARDS 2017, which airs live on Sunday evening June 25. Among other activities, viewers who upload an original, one-minute video using hashtags #BETAwardsGloUp and #contest are eligible to win a custom dress designed by celebrity designer Thai Nguyen.

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has fallen six spots to No. 10 in Glassdoor’s list of Highest-Rated CEOs for 2017. He was No. 4 last year. The good news for Zuckerberg is that he is one of only four CEOs to crack the Glassdoor list for five consecutive years. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is ranked No. 38 but for the company Square, not Twitter.

Twitter’s Periscope is giving users another way to express support for their favorite live streamers: they can help pay them. Users can buy a virtual gift product called Super Hearts, with some of the revenue going to the streamers. Super Heart givers are incentivized to give because they will be listed in order of their generosity.

RESEARCH

Standard Media Index reports that national TV ad spending rose 2% in May from a year go, with broadcast networks posting a 1% increase compared to 2% for cable networks. Cable news revenues climbed by 17%, with MSNBC up by 43%.

The University of Oxford’s Computational Propaganda Research Project is out with an exhaustive look at how various players manipulate public thinking with propaganda, disinformation and fake news on social media platforms – and a lot of it is through bots. In Russia, the researchers discovered 45% of all Twitter activity is carefully managed by automated accounts, many of them apparently under the control of government organs. Twitter discussion in Poland is controlled by a small group of highly active right-wing and nationalist accounts powered by bots, according to the research.

Seven out of 10 early consumer adopters of virtual reality technology expect to see its biggest impact on media, education, work social interaction, travel and retail, according to Ericsson. Lack of mobility, bulky headsets and network lag are hurdles the technology needs to overcome. Ericsson surveyed 9,200 consumers in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the UK and the US.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Players’ Tribune, the sports site launched by former New York Yankee Derek Jeter, has its first CEO in the person of Jeff Levick, whose most recent affiliation is with investment group Greyrock. Before that he headed up revenue at Spotify for five years.

TRIVIA

Our Last Trivia Question: Narcos co-star Pedro Pescal played a character in the fourth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Which one? Kudos to Brian Lozynski-Turner Broadcasting/NY, Dan Quitério-Understood/NY, Daniel M. Rak-WME | IMG/NY, Luke Watson-Essential TV/NY, John Carlo-SBGTV/NY, Gabrielle Fredrick-National Geographic/DC, Kayla Baines-PR Newswire/MD, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/CA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA, Gayathri Jayakumar-THREE/NY, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, Lorrie Shilling/CA, Sarah Gaspar-Sony Pictures Home Entertainment/CA.

This YouTube star who plays in the band We The Kings holds a Guinness World Record for posting a daily, uninterrupted video about his life for more than eight years. (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)

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We’re looking for the most innovative executives in digital media who excel in digital content, marketing, advertising, social media, and online content to take their place on Cynopsis Digital’s “It List.”

In addition to receiving this esteemed award, finalists will be honored at our annual awards event, November 10 in NYC. Nominations received from now until August 1 qualify for our lowest rate, so don’t wait…

Nominate yourself or others today !

DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT

Ever watch two electric typewriters duke it out on wheels? Neither have we. But Japanese Sumo digital robots might be the next best thing. This compilation might seem weird at first, but it’s actually kind of mesmerizing. Check it out here.

David Teich
Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Diane K Schwartz Senior Vice President Media Communications Group	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina \| 203-218-6480 VP, Sales	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak \| 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

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JOB OPENING: SUPERVISING PRODUCER/PRODUCERS/NYC: Exp producing live video in high-pressure environment, searching for trending topics in real time, scripting, booking, overseeing mult segments in hour-long show. News/current events focused role. Short-term in NYC kicking off early July. Email resumes HERE (6/29)

JOB OPENING: VP PRODUCTION/Bounce/ATL: Sprvse all operational aspects of orig prod; draft prod plans & scheds; oversee MMB budgets throughout prod. Oversee all audit req’s; provide notes on prod concepts Min 7 yrs TV prod req’d; advance knwlg of Movie Magic Budgeting & Scheduling. Email resume to [email protected] (6/29)

JOB OPENING: DEVELOPMENT REALITY TV EXEC: LA-based reality producer seeking dev exec. Must have 2-3 years reality development, casting or agency experience, strong written and verbal communication skills, and understanding of network brands. Send resume and references to [email protected] (6/28)

JOB OPENING: COOR., CONS MKTG & ADV/Showtime/NYC: Assist team in development and execution of mktg campaigns for SHO Series/Docs/Events. 1-2 yrs con mktg and/or ad agency exp req. Passion for TV & digital a must. Apply HERE (6/24)

JOB OPENING: MGR, PROGRAMMING RESEARCH/IFC TV/NY: 5+ yrs TV rsrch exp. Prod in-depth aud analyses to help IFC create the most compelling scheduling & promo strategy. Identify effective platforms/prgrms for promo placement (incl cross-ntwrk barter), leveraging ratings, demographic, etc. Full info/apply HERE (6/24)

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JOB OPENING: RESEARCH ANALYST/MUSIC CHOICE/NYC: Resp for day-to-day ad sales research support, generate and distribute audience usage data via Nielsen/ComScore as well as custom ad-hoc audience reports and ad effectiveness studies. BA degree, minimum 3 yrs applicable experience. Direct Job Post: HERE (6/23)

JOB OPENING: DIRECT RESPONSE AD SALES ASSISTANT/Crown Media Family Networks/NY: Provide sales support to the Director, Direct Response and Direct Response Team. Process media buys/revisions, sending pre and post logs, and updating account info. BS req. Apply HERE (6/23)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: MARKETING INTERNSHIP/Long Is City: For established fine art shipping co. to work on mktg initiative; mng mktg lists/ database contacts. Knowledge of e-mail blasts, MS off, CRM programs. Stipend for commuting + lunch. Skills must inc: Photo Shop & PP. Cvr/res: HERE (6/28)