08/18/17: YouTube TV now available in half of U.S. homes

Good morning. It’s Friday August 18, 2017 and this is your your first early morning Digital briefing!

TODAY’S CODEBREAKER

Unique-User/Device ID: A unique-user/device ID (or UDID) is an identifier assigned to a device or user that lasts until the account is deleted or the device is reset. For instance, Apple and Google both create advertising-specific device IDs for phones and tablets that run iOS and Android (respectively).

JUST IN…

Reddit is finally adding video support. The discussion site has rolled out a new feature that lets users directly upload clips to its website and mobile apps. Reddit had been testing the video upload feature in the weeks before its wider launch, letting about 200 communities make use of it. Redditors can now upload videos that are up to 15 minutes long, as long as the files are one gigabyte in size or less. At launch, Reddit won’t be attaching ad inventory to the videos – but that could change. “That is something we will evaluate going forward,” Reddit Video Product Manager Emon Motamedi told Variety.

We’ve seen this movie before: In an internal memo obtained by the media, millennial news site Mic announced that it would be laying off 25 of its staffers – mostly from its news and editorial department. The moves come as part of a broader reorganization of the company, which will see a greater focus on video content. (In a different memo, circulated last week, Mic conveyed plans to “integrat[e] our written and video journalism, [and] to continue our leadership in pioneering new forms of visual journalism.”) If this all sounds familiar, it’s because several other digital media companies, including MTV News and Mashable, have recently taken similar steps.

Nielsen is diving into competitive gaming. The measurement giant announced the launch of Nielsen Esports, a new division within Nielsen Entertainment. The unit will spearhead global research related to eSports audiences and sponsorship valuation. It’ll also offer consulting services. Nielsen has set up a new eSports advisory board in support of the new division, with representatives from numerous sports organizations and media companies (ESPN, Twitch, and FIFA, just to name a few). Nielsen Esports will be headed up by Stephen Master, Nielsen Sports North America’s Managing Director, and Nicole Pike, VP of Nielsen Games.

It’s not hard to see why Nielsen is launching an eSports unit: In 2017 alone, global eSports revenue is projected to increase 41% to $696 million. That includes a 50% growth in global audience, which is slated to hit 191 million. To learn how to leverage opportunities in eSports, register for the Cynopsis Esports Master Class on September 15.

ADVERTISING

Big news in digital advertising: Facebook is no longer tethering its digital ad sales to the Newsfeed. Marketers and agencies can now undertake ad-spends that are specifically designated toward in-stream placement on Facebook pages, and/or toward the Facebook Audience Network (Facebook’s network of third-party apps and publishers). Previously, in-stream ads were only available as part of a bigger package that would include Newsfeed ads. The looser rules give publishers a greater degree of control over where their TV-style ads will appear; it’s safe to say that Facebook is hoping the policy change will pull more ad dollars onto the platform, and away from television.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

“The Cynopsis Kids !magination Awards is

a who’s who of everyone you’ve known – or would like to know – in the kids industry. The event itself is a first rate, lively production with a friendly vibe that feels like part revival meeting and part college reunion.”

Join us for The 6^th Annual Cynopsis Kids !magination Awards Breakfast

Tuesday, September 19 | The Yale Club | NYC

Check out our finalists and reserve your seat today !

OTT + SVOD

YouTube TV, Google’s OTT-based TV service, is now available in 14 new U.S. markets, including, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Boston. With the expansion, YouTube says the service is now available in about 50% of U.S. homes. In other news, the service is adding two new channels to its lineup: Newsy, the digital news service from E.W. Scripps, and the Tennis Channel. Boston subscribers will also gain access to NESN, the regional sports net best known for covering the Red Sox. The service will still cost $35 per month.

Sports-heavy OTT TV service fuboTV now offers CBS content. That includes access to local CBS stations in select markets, as well as Pop, CBS Sports Network, and CBSN. It also includes nationwide access to on-demand CBS shows, and access to CBS’s TV Everywhere apps.

Turner is moving to launch an OTT sports platform. The company announced a three-year multi-platform agreement with the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. Starting with the 2018–19 season, Turner will hold the exclusive U.S. presentation rights to over 340 soccer matches. In addition to airing many of those matches on its linear channels, Turner says it will launch a new stand-alone sports streaming service, with UEFA soccer standing as the central attraction. The service will debut in 2018, timed to the start of the UEFA agreement.

Multi-platform network Vibrant TV has been added as a charter TV network for the upcoming VIDGO streaming service. VIDGO is expected to launch this fall.

PROGRAMMING

Twitter’s latest live-streaming sports deal is with NASCAR. The league will use the social platform to live-stream in-car camera feeds for all ten of its NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs races this year. The streams will be accessible through NASCAR’s official Twitter handle, and at nascar.twitter.com. The new deal gets underway with the September 17 race at Chicagoland Speedway. The NASCAR pact is only the latest entry in Twitter’s push to load its platform with live content; in Q2 alone, Twitter live-streamed 625 events.

RESEARCH

Cord-cutting isn’t slowing down. Linear pay-TV services lost 976,000 customers in Q2, according to research company SNL Kagan. All told, SNL Kagan says that traditional cable, satellite and telco MVPD services have lost 1.8 million users this year. There are 96.1 million pay-TV homes in the U.S., the firm says. The SNL Kagan tally doesn’t include numbers for virtual MVPD services – though the research firm added that AT&T’s DirecTV Now and Dish Network’s Sling TV no have about 1.9 million subscribers between them. The SNL Kagan numbers were first reported by Multichannel News.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

YouTube added some new firepower. The company has hired Angela Courtin, formerly the Chief Marketing Officer of Fox Broadcasting, and Jon Wax, formerly the scripted programming chief for WGN America and Tribune Studios. Wax will oversee drama, scripted, and current programming for the YouTube Red streaming service. Courtin, meanwhile, will serve as Global Head of YouTube TV & Originals Marketing. Courtin will report to Jodi Ropert, YouTube’s subscription marketing chief, while Wax will report to Susanne Daniels, YouTube’s Global Head of Original Content.

TRIVIA

Actress Michaela Watkins stars on which Hulu series? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)

Our Last Trivia Question: Laura Linney’s first television credit came in a made-for-TV movie about the American civil war. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, it aired on ABC in 1993. What was it called? Answer: Class of ’61. Kudos to David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA, Lorrie Shilling/CA, Andrew Bellamy-Producers Guild of America/NY, and Jeffrey Wank-BGM/CA

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Cynopsis Esports Master Class – Reserve your space, while you can!

Friday, Sept 15 | Barclays Center | BKLYN

Cynopsis is partnering with ESL to provide you with the ultimate esports experience, including:

A high-level look at the opportunities and challenges in the esports industry, an information-packed event with experts in the esports space AND a VIP/behind-the-scenes tour of ESL One with a pass to the weekend esports tournament.

Space is limited – Register by 8/30

DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT

At Cynopsis’s Measurement & Data Conference, Media Rating Council CEO George Ivie talked about his organization’s efforts in cross-media measurement. Check out the exclusive interview 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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