ADVERTISING
Facebook is hitting “fake news” outlets where it hurts. The social giant says it will no longer allow publishers to advertise on its network if they’re found to be proliferating phony news content. “Now, if a Page repeatedly shares stories that have been marked as false by third-party fact-checkers, they will no longer be able to buy ads on Facebook,” wrote Facebook execs Satwik Shukla and Tessa Lyons in a new blog post. According to the post, if a Page stops sharing fake news, it might have its advertising privileges reinstated eventually.
Google has been working on some new features for Chrome. The team behind the web browser has been testing a setting that will allow Chrome users to mute and unmute websites directly from the “info bubble” on the page. “This will give you more control about which website is allowed to throw sound at you automatically,” wrote Google’s Francois Beaufort in a new post. The update would make it easier for users to silence video ads. A similar product is already active in the experimental Chrome Canary browser, where users can turn off features such as Camera, Flash, pop-ups, and Microphone. The ability to mute and unmute website will be added to the mix for Canary users soon.
As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Google has been issuing refunds to hundred of ad buyers whose ads likely met with fraudulent traffic. (Such traffic tends to be generated by malware or automated bots.) Reportedly, the refunds only account for about 7% to 10% of the original spends; the rest of the money has already gone to various middlemen and site owners. The refunds mostly related to video ads, according to the report.
PROGRAMMING
Whistle Sports has partnered with NFL International on a new sports competition series. The series will pit soccer players such as Victor Lindelöf against NFL stars such as JJ Watt. Contestants will compete in a series of challenges relating to both European and American football. The series, called Game Recognize Game, will consist of four episodes, all of them running across Whistle Sports’s Facebook and YouTube channels. Related content will also be available via the NFL’s social channels, while teams and players will promote the series across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The series debuts later this week.
OTT + SVOD
Hulu’s live TV service made a big new addition, reaching a deal to carry the CW. The pact will give subscribers access to both primetime CW shows and local programming. Hulu’s live TV product, which debuted back in May, already had agreements in place with the other four broadcast nets – though, at least to start, ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC content will only stream in certain U.S. regions. The CW is jointly owned by Warner Bros. and CBS Corp. CBS also happens to be the only one of the big four broadcasters that doesn’t count itself as a co-owner of Hulu.
VIRTUAL + AUGMENTED REALITY
Looks like all the high-end VR headsets are getting price cuts this summer. First it was the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive; now it’s the PlayStation VR’s turn. Sony will charge $399 for a bundle that includes the headset and the PlayStation Camera. For a bundle that includes the headset, the camera, two PlayStation Move controllers, and the PlayStation VR Worlds game, the price will be $449. It’s a $50 price reduction in both cases. Sony says the new prices will take effect next month.
MEASURING UP
SHAREABLEE SOCIAL TV RATINGS: Top U.S. Streaming Shows Overall by Engagement for the week of August 21-August 27, 2017
Program, Total Actions (000), Total Content, Actions per Post (000), Fans/Followers (000)
Source: Shareablee Inc. The total actions metric includes the total volume of post-level likes, shares, favorites, retweets and comments. Total content includes all posts, tweets and media posted by each TV property across all platforms. Actions per post metric notes the average e number of actions garnered by each property. Total fans/followers includes Facebook and Twitter and Instagram followers.
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 ListenFirst Digital 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 (8/21/17 – 8/27/17)
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.
OpenSlate Engagement Data for the Beauty & Style vertical, based on the engagement metric for the week ending August 27.
Channel (Engagement) / Monthly Views / Total Subs / SlateScore
Yuya (9.0) / 67,301,430 / 17,363,405 / 766
Cute Girls Hairstyles (9.0) / 3,553,860 / 1,415,173 / 597
Patry Jordan (9.0) / 11,043,720 / 3,664,641 / 672
Bethany Mota (9.0) / 3,324,690 / 1,164,127 / 585
NiinaSecrets (9.0) / 2,845,710 / 792,922 / 575
Slikhaar TV (9.0) / 7,002,480 / 838,19 / 581
Kayley Melissa (8.0) / 5,947,770 / 1,546,212 / 573
Fleur DeForce (8.0) / 2,758,920 / 606,954 / 616
whatthechic (8.0) / 6,424,080 / 612,409 / 569
Michelle Phan (8.0) / 2,684,730 / 448,275 / 556
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.
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Comcast confirmed that it has promoted Matt Strauss to EVP of Xfinity Services. He’ll now head up the cable division’s internet, residential video, home and voice services. Strauss had most recently served as Comcast’s VP and GM of Video and Entertainment Services.
TRIVIA
Julie Klausner, creator and co-star of Hulu’s Difficult People, wrote a young adult novel, which was published in 2013. What is it called? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)
Our Last Trivia Question: Which Naomi Watts-starring Netflix series was recently canceled after one season? Answer: Gypsy. Kudos to Andy Pittman-TAMU/TX, Frank Hamilton-Tennis Channel/NY, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/CA, Matt Harold-Sublime Skinz/NY, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA, Lorrie Shilling/CA, Vanessa Fimbres-NBCUniversal/NY, Anjali Desai-Departure Films/CA, Christina Barsi, Bill Graff-beIN Sports/FL, Todd Koerner-emerge Media/Matt Dana-The CW/CA, Maria Shuckahosee-Audible/CA, Aaron Paquette-Screen Engine/ASI/TX, Laura Annick-Licensing Animal, Inc./CA, and Bruce Trotter-CoxReps/CA
