TODAY’S CODEBREAKER

PII (Personally Identifiable Information): PII (short for Personally Identifiable Information) is any data that can be directly connected to a consumer and reveal who they are. Ad-tech companies and other platforms often take pains to make sure they avoid sharing PII from users. 
 

JUST IN… 

Facebook announced that its quarterly revenue rose to $9.3 billion in Q2 of 2017, a 45% increase over 2016’s second quarter. And earnings per share came in at $1.32, up 78 cents from a year ago. Facebook bested Wall Street’s projections on both counts; analysts had projected $9.2 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $1.12. Perhaps most impressively, Facebook’s net profit came in at $3.9 billion, a 71 percent increase over the $2.3 billion dollars in profit that Facebook saw in Q2 of 2016. Growth appears is slowing in a couple of areas, however: Facebook’s 45% year-over-year revenue increase was a drop from Q’s 49% increase; in fact, revenue growth has been steadily decelerating every quarter since last year. Facebook has previously warned investors that this was inevitable: The company is simply running out of space to place ads in users’ News Feeds. Facebook’s user growth also slowed; while the company finally cleared the 2 billion-user milestone, it only increased its user base by 3.4%; that’s down from 4.3% in Q1. On the whole, Wall Street liked what it saw; Facebook’s shares rose by 1.35% in after-hours trading.  

In other Facebook news, the social giant is about to get a whole lot less tight-lipped when it comes to its original content plans. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to roll out its new standalone video tab – and its first new shows – in mid-August. Facebook has reportedly been asking its content partners to turn in the first episodes of their spotlight shows. First, Facebook will unveil short-form, comparatively inexpensive shows; it’s also funding more expensive, TV-style shows, which are slated to launch a bit later. Both scripted and unscripted content will be included in the mix. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Facebook had originally planned to launch the new content last month, and it’s still possible that further delays could push the roll-out back further.

Within, the VR studio co-founded by former Google exec Aaron Koblin and music video director Chris Milk, just pulled in $40 million in Series B funding. Temasek and Emerson Collective led the investment round. WPP, Macro Ventures, and a few existing investors (including 21st Century Fox) also contributed. The company has raised $56.6 million to date.    

APPS + DEVICES

The Fullscreen streaming service has debuted Watch party, a new co-viewing feature. Watch Party lets users invite other Fullscreen subscribers to watch content in tandem, following along on a different tablet or device. At the same time, viewers are able to chat together in a lower window. This is becoming something of a trend: Vevo unveiled a co-viewing feature in March that, interestingly enough, is also called Watch Party; Tumblr launched the co-viewing app Cabana in April; and Uptime, YouTube’s co-viewing app, exited the beta phase last month.

BBC America has launched a TV everywhere app for Roku players and integrated Roku TVs. The app, which requires users to authenticate with pay-TV credentials, offers access to shows such as Doctor Who, Orphan Black, and Killing Eve. The app’s debut comes just days before the July 30 premiere of Top Gear America; you can rest assured that’s not a coincidence.

RESEARCH 

Roku is sitting out in front of other connected TV device-makers, according to a new study from eMarketer. According to the research firm, 38.9 million Americans will use a Roku device at least once in 2017; that’s an estimated 19% increase over last year. Google’s Chromecast, meanwhile, is projected to come in at second this year with 36.9 million users. Amazon’s Fire TV is projected to come in third with 35.8 million. As for Apple TV, eMarketer says the device will place a distant fourth with only 21.3 million users. Put in terms of market share, eMarketer estimates that Roku will capture 23% of U.S. connected TV users this year, followed by Chromecast (22.%), Amazon Fire TV (21.3%), and Apple TV (12.7%).

MEASURING UP

SHAREABLEE SOCIAL TV RATINGS: Top 10 U.S. Primetime and Streaming Shows for July 17 – July 23. Based on Shareablee’s Video Power Index (VPI), which combines viewing, consumer interactions and audience scale across all active platforms, and includes the video performance of primetime and streaming shows.
 

Source: Shareablee Inc. The total actions metric includes the total volume of post-level likes, shares, favorites, retweets and comments across social platforms.

Tweet of the week: @toomuchFinesse: That scene with Grey Worm is too touching  #GameofThrones7 HE CANT DIE OK?!

Canvs, the emotion analytics company, analyzed tweets about TV and streaming programming from July 19-25 using Twitter data from Nielsen. Insights from the 1,677,360 tweets expressing a specific Emotional Reaction (ER) include:

– During the season 4 premiere of VH1’s Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood, viewers couldn’t stop commenting about Keyshia Cole’s beauty.

– Fans were touched to the point of tears while watching Game of Thrones on HBO during a powerful love scene between Grey Worm, leader of the Unsullied, and Missandei, handmaiden to Daenerys.

– Congratulatory messages for Jordan Spieth poured in as he won the 2017 British Open Championship, which was broadcast on NBC and Golf Channel, and simulcast online.

– People were psyched for the kick-off of Discovery’s Shark Week, and excited in particular about the race between Michael Phelps and a great white shark on Sunday night (although plenty of viewers later expressed disappointment at the CGI shark simulation).

– Canes

EXECUTIVE MOVES 

Bonnie Pan didn’t stay unemployed for long. The digital media vet served as President of Endemol Beyond USA – Endemol Shine North America’s digital studio division – until last month, when the unit was shuttered. Now she’s landed at Gen Z-oriented digital media company Awesomeness, where she’ll serve as Head of Network for the companies AwesomenessTV channels. In the newly created role, Pan will oversee programming and strategy for editorial and video content across AwesomenessTV’s social video platforms, YouTube channel, and other owned-and operated platforms. That includes the yet-to-launch Awesomeness News, which the company announced back in May. 

Ad-buying specialist Centro has promoted Matt Miller to EVP of Finance. He’ll now oversee the company’s financial, IT, real estate, and legal operations. Miller has been with Centro for the past five years, previously serving as VP of Financial Planning & Analysis.

TRIVIA 

Claire Foy is making a habit of playing British royals. The English actress, who currently plays a young Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix’s The Crown, played a 16th figure in the 2015 miniseries Wolf Hall. Who did she play? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)

Our Last Trivia Question: Comedian Tig Notaro co-created the Amazon original series One Mississippi. The other co-creator is an Oscar-winning writer and producer; who is it? Answer: Diablo Cody. Kudos to Andy Pittman-TAMU/TX, Louis Lewow-Lewow Media Group/GA, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/NY, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, and Lorrie Shilling