08/14/23: Cynopsis Media Tech Update

Monday August 14, 2023

“It’s time to move on,” posted Mark Zuckerberg on Threads on Sunday, responding to X owner Elon Musk’s chatter about a cage fight between the tech titans. “Elon won’t confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead.” Should Musk get serious about an official event, “he knows how to reach me,” said Zuckerberg, a practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. “I’m going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously.”

Zoom has updated its terms of service to say it won’t use any customer content in training artificial intelligence models. Previously, Zoom’s TOS said it didn’t use customer content for training AI “without consent.” Now, “Zoom does not use any of your audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments or other communications-like Customer Content (such as poll results, whiteboard and reactions) to train Zoom or third-party artificial intelligence models,” said the company in a blog post.

Zoom is also requiring employees to head back to the office. “We believe that a structured hybrid approach — meaning employees that live near an office need to be on site two days a week to interact with their teams — is most effective for Zoom,” said Colleen Rodriguez, Zoom’s head of global PR. The plan will roll out in August and September. “We’ll continue to leverage the entire Zoom platform to keep our employees and dispersed teams connected and working efficiently,” added Rodriguez. Zoom follows tech companies Google, Apple and X in shepherding workers back to the office.

Google has made RCS (Rich Communication Services) conversations in Messages by Google end-to-end encrypted, including group chats, keeping them private between users and the people they’re messaging. RCS is now enabled by default for new and existing users, unless they’ve previously turned RCS off in Settings. RCS is intended to replace SMS.

Google also offered an early look at Project IDX, a browser-based development experience built on Google Cloud and powered by Codey, a foundational AI model trained on code and built on PaLM 2. “At the heart of Project IDX is our conviction that you should be able to develop from anywhere, on any device, with the full fidelity of local development,” said a post on the company’s website. “Every Project IDX workspace has the full capabilities of a Linux-based VM, paired with the universal access that comes with being hosted in the cloud, in a datacenter near you.”

OpenAI is expanding custom instructions to all ChatGPT users. Introduced in July as a beta for ChatGPT Plus subscribers, custom instructions offers users the chance to add certain preferences and requirements for AI chatbot responses.

WeAre8, a “free from hate” social media app focused on sustainability, is rolling out in the US. “Two billion of us are living in a world of social technology that connects us, but also isolates us, fuels the mental health crisis and climate crisis and undermines democracy at a time when people and society need to come together to support each other and our precious planet,” said Sue Fennessy, founder of Standard Media Index and developer of the app. “Society and our planet need technology that serves us and I am excited for the United States being ‘united’ in a new social home that is built on community, purpose and love.” The app has already been released in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

OpenWeb, the community engagement platform, announced a strategic partnership with Betches Media, the humor platform for women. Through the partnership, OpenWeb’s community engagement tools will enable Betches to offer user registrations and build community loyalty on the heels of its recent website relaunch.

X MARKS THE SPOT

X has been fined $350,000 for delaying its compliance with a court order to hand over records related to Donald Trump’s Twitter account. Twitter was prohibited from disclosing the existence of the order, which the company argued was a violation of the First Amendment and the Stored Communications Act. Said the judge, “The district court found that there were ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ that disclosing the warrant to former President Trump ‘would seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation’ by giving him an opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior, [or] notify confederates.”

Shortly after X drew criticism for delayed payments for its Ads Revenue Sharing program, which was expanded to eligible creators globally at the end of July, the company reduced the eligibility threshold for the program. Now, verified creators need to have generated 5 million impressions in the previous three months, versus 15 million.

X is working to lure back advertisers with expanded advertising capabilities focused on brand safety. In a blog post, the company said the expansion will give a “new level of control” to advertisers, expanding pre-bid brand safety and suitability, introducing sensitivity settings and “bolstering blocklists for advertisers.”

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MEASUREMENT

Nexxen has partnered with attention technology company Lumen Research to deliver Lumen’s first omnichannel Attention Measurement solution to advertisers across CTV, online video and display. The global partnership augments the launch of Nexxen’s full Attention Measurement offering, which spans the lifecycle of an advertiser’s campaign, from creative testing to media curation to real-time measurement and optimization, through Nexxen’s end-to-end platform.

GfK and Meta have partnered to provide brand lift campaign measurement solutions. GfK’s Campaign Amplifier allows marketers to measure how their campaigns on Facebook and Instagram affect the attitudes and perceptions of their brands, and how these compare to TV and other digital channels.

ADVERTISING

The linear TV Upfront market was down 5% versus last year, with broadcast and cable primetime commitments falling to $19.12 billion for the 2023-2024 TV season, according to Media Dynamics. Broadcast TV fell 3%, to $9.59 billion, while cable was down 7%, to $9.52 billion. Streaming platforms on TV network-owned companies saw a 31% increase, however, putting total ad commitments for primetime on the plus side, up 3% to $27.14 billion. “What we are witnessing is both forms of TV content access — linear and streaming — coming together in the thinking of major national TV advertisers and their time buyers,” said Ed Papizan, President of Media Dynamics. “TV is no longer thought of as being simply a combination of broadcast TV and cable….Streaming has come of age, with sufficient scale to be considered a third alternative, which is why the FAST and AVOD services scored sizable ad revenue gains despite their high CPMs. It’s all TV now.”

Connatix has integrated with Google’s Display & Video 360, enabling advertisers using Display & Video 360 to opt-in to directly access Connatix’s premium video supply. “This integration will give our customers access to an even wider audience and help them deliver more efficient video campaigns to achieve their advertising goals and take their budgets further,” said Jenn Chen, President and Chief Revenue Officer at Connatix. “The growth of our relationship with Display & Video 360 bolsters our commitment to creating a direct path between advertisers and publishers to drive successful, high-impact video advertising at scale.”

STREAMING

Freeloaders may be frozen out of Disney’s streaming content, as the company seeks to convert password sharers to paid subscribers. “We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing,” said CEO Bob Iger during Disney’s quarterly earnings call. “Later this year, we will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms on our sharing policies, and we will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024.” Disney also announced price hikes for standalone tiers of Disney+, ESPN and Hulu effective October 12, along with a discounted Disney+/Hulu ad-free bundle.

Fubo cut its 2Q23 loss to $49.9 million from $116.1 million a year ago, and revenue rose 41% to $312.7 million. The streamer counted 1.167 million North American subscribers, up 23% from a year ago, but down from 1.285 million at the end of last quarter. “With an improving ad sales backdrop, we remain on track to achieve our 2025 positive free cash flow target,” said CEO David Gandler.

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Job of the day

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
FETV
NYC
Represent FETV & FMC to media community via ongoing communications & relationship building. Maintain & develop strong working relationships w/both agencies & internal departments in support of sales efforts. Work w/sales management, pricing & planning to achieve quarterly revenue goals. 5+ yrs media sales exp. preferably in cable TV- agency exp. +. Full info HERE

SENIOR DESIGNER, MOTION GRAPHICS & DIGITAL >>
REELZ/ALBUQUERQUE, NM: Strong graphic design foundation including – typography, color, composition & concepts & stays up to date with motion design trends & visual effects. Expert level experience w/After Effects, Photoshop & Illustrator is req. Knowledge of InDesign & 3D design software is a +. Exp. in greenscreen keying, tracking & rotoscoping techniques are also a +. Full info HERE

BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS AND DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE >>
HEARST MEDIA PRODUCTION GROUP/CHARLOTTE, NC: Proactively identify, research, and develop new opportunities for our family-friendly programming blocks on ABC, CBS, NBC, The CW, Telemundo, & other media & digital/social outlets. Support creation and present strategic, cross-media concepts to multiple stakeholder groups that meet our client’s business objectives. 8 + yrs of business dev. exp. Full info HERE

SENIOR MANAGER, AD SALES MARKETING
NEXSTAR MEDIA GROUP, INC.
NYC
Manage the pre-sale client facing pitch process and post-sale activation of cross-platform television, streaming, digital & social media integrated marketing programs. Write & create compelling sales presentations, one-sheets & cross-platform sponsorship opportunities. 5+ yrs exp. with ad sales marketing, integrated marketing, brand advertising. Full info HERE

DIRECTOR, MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
NEXSTAR MEDIA GROUP, INC.
NYC or LOS ANGELES
Manage messaging, vision and strategy in the marketplace and internally. Responsible for helping to build, execute and enhance ad sales brand reputation and to raise awareness of the organization both internally and externally. 10+ years’ related media experience and experience with an ad sales organization. Full info HERE

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR >>
BIG FISH ENTERTAINMENT/NYC/NJ: Coordinating onboarding for all new hires.
Administering the benefits and payroll changes for employees accurately.
Maintaining an efficient filing system—paper and electronic, for employee and company records related to their job functions. Building a successful bridge between management and employees. 7 yrs entertainment exp. preferred. Full Info HERE

DIRECTOR, MEDIA SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS >>
PBS DISTRIBUTION/ARLINGTON VA, Hybrid: Oversee media systems operations, including daily operations as well as development and implementation of overall media supply chain. Work with external vendors and internal stakeholders on design and implementation of hardware and software solutions for media systems. 7+ yrs of work exp. in the areas of television, media, or consumer products. Full info HERE

TV/VIDEO SPONSORSHIP-PRODUCT INTEGRATION SALES REPRESENTATIVE >>
GAME ON MEDIA SOLUTIONS/Remote: Game On Media Solutions is looking for an independent business development oriented sponsorship sales representative. Focus will be on TV/Streaming project opportunities for brands that include product integration and placement. This is an Independent Contractor performance compensated opening. Attractive fees can be earned for closed deals. Full info HERE

BRAND ASSISTANT >>
THE LEDE COMPANY/NYC: Full-service communication, strategy, and social impact consulting firm, specializing in corporate, brand, entertainment, and nonprofit sectors, is seeking a Brand Assistant to join the Brand team in our New York office. The Assistant will play an integral role in supporting accounts for a wide variety of Fashion, Beauty, CPG and Lifestyle clients. Full info HERE

TALENT ASSISTANT >>
THE LEDE COMPANY/LA: Full-service strategy, communications and social impact consulting firm, specializing in corporate, entertainment and nonprofit sectors. We are looking for a Talent Assistant to a Talent Publicist in Los Angeles. We are seeking enthusiastic candidates who can work in a fast-paced environment, are driven & have strong communication and writing skills. Full info HERE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER FOR NATIONAL POLITICAL SHOW >>
BAHAKEL COMMUNICATIONS/CHARLOTTE NC: Develop and oversee the production of a daily or weekly national political show that covers the most important political news and events of the day. Develop and execute strategies to increase the show’s audience and engagement. At least 5 years of experience as an executive producer for a political show or similar program. Full info HERE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF NEWS/ENTERTAINMENT >>
BAHAKEL COMMUNICATIONS/CHARLOTTE NC: Oversee all editorial and entertainment content, news production and presentation. Responsible for day-to-day operations of the show: producing, writing, and guiding creative. Develop content for the News @ TEN, plan, assign and create production schedules. 7 years of experience as executive producer or show producer. Network experience preferred. Full info HERE

SR. DIRECTOR, PRODUCT MANAGEMENT >>
SHOUT! FACTORY/LOS ANGELES: P&L responsibility, ownership over all aspects of a project, standalone releases or a licensed library of titles. Works w/production, publicity, creative services, distribution/sales, digital, finance, legal, acquisitions & licensors to best position the project for success. 7+ yrs of exp. in marketing, business development, or product management. Full info HERE

SALES OPERATIONS MANAGER >>
SHOUT! FACTORY/LOS ANGELES: Prepare accurate reports using data from internal & external sources for sales planning & analysis. Communicate w/our distributor on a regular basis with an understanding of their systems & deadlines. Announce release date, pricing confirmation & metadata for staff & distributor. 3+Yrs exp. in Sales Planning & Analysis/Finance Administration. Full info HERE

SENIOR CONTENT PRODUCER
INTERACTIVE ONE
NYC
Oversee video/creative production team thru ideation, production planning, crew/talent hiring, & budget/project management. Shepherd campaigns from development, pre-production, & production thru editing & delivery. Help w/shoots as well as postproduction team. 5+ yrs exp. spanning editorial, design, advertising agency, film, branded entertainment. Full info HERE

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
INTERACTIVE ONE
NYC
Respond to both RFPs and direct-to-client assignments from brands and agencies. Examine client brief and lead ideation or adapt pre-existing creative. Identify innovative storytelling and emerging video formats. Minimum of 7 yrs exp. producing compelling video, television and digital media content across multiple channels and platforms. Full info HERE

AD SALES PLANNER >>
SINCLAIR BROADCASTING GROUP/NYC, Hybrid: Responsible for creating, analyzing & communicating sales proposals to the Sales team for presentation to advertising agencies and/or clients. Collaborate w/all media platforms & departments to create proposals, execute campaigns, manage stewardship & pacing of linear & digital deals. Point of contact post sale & provide excellent client services. Full info HERE

DIRECTOR, PRODUCTION LIFETIME/LMN MARKETING PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
A+E NETWORKS
Remote
Lead campaign planning & production oversight, ensuring best-in-class creative. Direct Campaign Planning rollouts & ensure production readiness of marketing initiatives. Oversee production on high-end graphics/design/editorial projects. 7+ yrs working in a fast-paced, highly collaborative team, with relevant work exp. in production management. Full info HERE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER >>
NEWSMAX MEDIA INC/NYC: Determine best news stories for the program and create daily rundown. Work with show host in program preparation and execution. Identify compelling news stories. Delegate responsibilities as appropriate to producers, associate producers, and casting producers. 3+ years executive producing experience or overseeing newscast production. Full info HERE

STAGE MANAGER >>
NEWSMAX MEDIA INC/WASHINGTON DC: Works with Production management to maintains cast and crew lists and manages local rehearsal and show calendar. Oversee daily technical run-throughs directly prior to shows. Willing and able to work shifts between 12noon to 11pm and occasional Weekends and some longer hours during election and special events. Full info HERE

BROADCAST ENGINEER >>
NEWSMAX MEDIA INC/WASHINGTON DC: Troubleshooting, repair, and preventative maintenance of television broadcast equipment, computers, and broadcast computer networks in a 24x7x365 environment. Serve as E.I.C. during live and taped shows. Electrical Engineering, or other technical degree preferred. 5+ yrs as broadcast engineer, or equivalent knowledge. 5+ yrs in live TV production. Full info HERE

PRODUCER >>
NEWSMAX MEDIA INC/NEW YORK: Generate story ideas through research of news reports, social media, websites & contacts. Strong understanding of Newsmax brand & talent. Identify impactful news stories that result in provocative, compelling television. Delegate responsibilities as appropriate to associate producers, assignment editors & video editors. Bachelor’s degree preferred. Full info HERE

AD SALES COORDINATOR, DIRECT RESPONSE
TV ONE
NYC, Hybrid, Remote
Work with account executives & sales planners utilizing internal computer system to fulfill sales orders through the execution of client schedules. Serve as the primary point of contact for ad agencies & TV One to resolve discrepancies, confirm schedule changes & distribute post & pre-logs. Bachelor’s degree or 2 yrs of exp. in advertising sales. Full info HERE

MANAGER OF ENTERPRISE CONTENT, WTKR
SCRIPPS NETWORKS
NORFOLK, VA
Collaborates w/other newsroom managers to leverage the Scripps content strategy as the foundation for market-specific local content strategy. Leading a team of people to regularly & reliably produce targeted enterprise & investigative stories of impact & importance to our community. 3 yrs of exp. in digital media, journalism, broadcast preferred. Full info HERE

SR. DIRECTOR, DIGITAL PLATFORMS AND PARTNERSHIPS
TV ONE
SILVER SPRING MD, NYC, Hybrid Remote
Develop, cultivate, and socialize vision, mission, and strategy for Digital Business, Programming Visibility, Content Creation and Content Partnerships & Data Governance. Lead and facilitate cross-functional and cross-company project teams. 12 yrs in the media & emerging platform landscape with building digital platforms and vMVPD growth strategy. Full info HERE

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