09/27/17: Report: Baidu-owned streaming giant iQIYI may soon go public

Good morning. It’s Wednesday September 27, 2017 and this is your your first early morning Digital briefing!

TODAY’S CODEBREAKER

Growth Hacking: The phrase growth hacking refers to a process of rapid experimentation across marketing channels and product development, with the goal of identifying the most efficient ways to grow a business. Growth hacking specialists often employ multiple digital strategies, such as email marketing, SEO, and viral content distribution.

JUST IN…

Under a new multi-year pact with the NFL, Facebook will host three new highlight shows. NFL Media will produce the content, using footage from its NFL Films production arm. The league will distribute the shows to U.S. users through Watch, Facebook’s recently-launched platform for longer-form video content. Internationally, the content will be available on the shows’ individual pages. The three shows are NFL Game Recaps, which will provide game highlights; Sound FX, featuring on-the-field chatter; and NFL Turning Point, an analysis of important plays.

Bloomberg reports that iQIYI, the streaming service owned by Chinese search giant Baidu, may be destined for an IPO. Baidu is reportedly considering a U.S. share listing for the streaming platform; it could come as soon as next year. According to Bloomberg, Baidu would seek a valuation for iQIYI between $8 billion and $10 billion. That may be a lot of money, but it still pales in comparison to Netflix, which is currently rated at about $80 billion.

One of America’s most storied film studios is upping its digital game. A slew of new original video series will debut this week on LightWorkers.com, a site created by MGM’s Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey. (The site builds on LightWorkers Media, the pair’s production company.) It’s the first major digital venture to take place under Burnett since he became President of MGM’s Television and Digital Group in late 2015. Downey spoke with Cynopsis about the new initiative. “We’re launching with almost 500 pieces of original content and if you were to find a thread that connects all of them it would be that it supports family, that it’s about kindness, compassion, it’s invitational,” she said. “We have a wide range of videos on everything from ‘do it yourself,’ or programs for little kids. We’re speaking to the millennial moms.” One video series Downey launched for LightWorkers.com, 37 Seconds of Good News, has already pulled in 21 million views.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Harnessing the Power of the New Hispanic Demo

Cynopsis Latest Webinar: Thursday, October 12

TV consumption among U.S. Hispanics is undergoing a major shift in both what’s being watched, and where. Crafting programming that gains a foothold with this growing and influential group, representing 18% of the country’s population (with buying power reaching $1.4 trillion annually last year with U.S.-born and foreign-born Hispanics).

Sponsored by: El Rey Network

ADVERTISING

YouTube has launched a new ad tool. Called Director Mix, the offering lets advertisers make thousands of different iterations of a single video ad in order to target different audiences. The video giant will make use of technology that lets marketers upload a number of different ad components, ranging from backgrounds to voiceovers. In another update, YouTube will now grant advertisers data from additional Google platforms, including Google Maps and Google Play. YouTube opened Google search data to advertisers back in January.

OTT + SVOD

Comcast rolled out its new skinny bundle for broadband-only customers. The package starts at $18 a month for a tier of select local broadcast networks. A beta version is now available in a limited number of areas, though Comcast hasn’t said exactly where. The new service, called Xfinity Instant TV, is expected to roll out nationally over the next two weeks.

VIRTUAL + AUGMENTED REALITY

AMC Entertainment just made a sizable investment in VR. The theater owner has poured $10 million into Dreamscape Immersive, an LA-based VR startup. And AMC has committed an additional $10 million to finance new Dreamscape productions. Under the deal, AMC and Dreamscape will jointly open six VR centers in North American and the U.K.

APPS + PLATFORMS

Looks like Twitter is doubling its 140-character tweet limit. The company announced that it’s been testing 280-charcter tweets. “Our research shows us that the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people tweeting in English,” the company wrote in a blog post. Twitter says it will expand the character limit for all languages that are “impacted by cramming.” (I.e., any language where character limits force users to condense their writing; only Japanese, Chinese and Korean users wouldn’t see a change.) The company says it will collect data on the new character limit’s initial rollout before expanding it to all users.

Plex has begun integrated news videos into its media center app. Plex users on select devices can now watch videos from CBS, CNN, Tribune Media, and almost 200 other publishers. The videos are available to Apple TV, Roku, and Android TV users, as well as on iOS and Android mobile devices. The new curated news videos come nine months after Plex acquired Watchup, a video news startup.

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

Vimeo is jumping on the live video bandwagon. The IAC-owned video-sharing platform has reached a deal to acquire Livestream, a live-video broadcasting provider. At the same time, Vimeo is now launching Vimeo Live, a new native live-streaming offering. The financial terms of the Livestream acquisition weren’t disclosed.

Pocket.watch, a multiplatform startup focused on children’s media, has partnered with Ryan Toys Review, YouTube’s most-viewed U.S. channel. The channel, which features a six-year-old boy who unboxes and plays with toys, is only the second YouTube channel ink a long-term deal with Pocket.watch. (Pocket.watch’s first such deal was with HobbyKidsTV, another channel focused on toy reviews. In addition, the startup has a deal in place with SNL’s Kenan Thompson, who will help develop and produce a live-action sketch comedy for the company.) Under the pact with Ryan Toys Review, Pocket.watch will grant the family that runs the channel an equity stake in the company. The company is also planning new offshoots for the channel, including apps, books, premium original content, licensing, and merchandising.

PROGRAMMING

Star Trek: Discovery appears to be having the effect CBS intended – for the moment, anyway. According to the app-analytics firm Sensor Tower, downloads of CBS All Access skyrocketed on Sunday, when the new Star Trek series premiered exclusively on the service. Compared with the previous two Sundays, the downloads amounted to a 64% increase.

MEASURING UP

OpenSlate Engagement Data for the Health & Fitness vertical, based on the engagement metric for the week ending September 24
Channel (Engagement) / Monthly Views / Total Subs / SlateScore
Tibo InShape (9.3) / 34,441,110 / 2,616,684 / 699
Barbara Heidenreich (8.5) / 11,666,220 / 3,112,383 / 650
yeguadalaperla (8.5) / 4,948,800 / 767,116 / 546
freshstep (8.4) / 1,742,460 / 336,138 / 559
BBCEarth (8.4) / 3,335,940 / 378,266 / 557
chrispoole20 (8.4) / 3,268,080 / 511,732 / 546
simonscat (8.3) / 1,844,310 / 390,115 / 543
Animal Aid Unlimited (8.3) / 1,246,770 / 198,008 / 546
turbo231 (8.3) / 2,166,540 / 911,200 / 574
denmortube (8.3) / 2,117,460 / 689,163 / 550
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.

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).

Streaming Series (9/18/17 – 9/24/17)

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.

TRIVIA

Ashton Kutcher stars in which Netflix series? (Email trivia@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)

Our Last Trivia Question: Netflix is home to only two original talk shows. What are they? Answer: Chelsea and Bill Nye Saves the World. Kudos to Andy Pittman-TAMU/TX, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, and Lorrie Shilling CA

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Save the Date

Cynopsis Digital’s Model D & “It List” Awards

November 10 | ThreeSixty | New York City

The Cynopsis Model D Awards brings together innovators and creators at the forefront of online video, elevating the industry with their contributions to branded content, technology, ad campaigns and original content. We’ll also be celebrating our honorees who will be named to the Cynopsis Digital “It List” , recognizing digital media’s movers and shakers.

“It List” Honorees and Model D Finalists will be announced soon – Stay tuned!

DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT

In a new video, the Wall Street Journal dives into the best hidden tricks for the iOS 11 operating system. 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

CYNOPSISJOBS – For More jobs, please visit Cynopsis.com

JOB OPENING: SCHEDULING COORDINATOR/GSN/Santa Monica: Dist prog. Schedule grids, Monthly VOD planners, artwork & folder structures, coord. & maintaining schedule & databases & admin duties; online rsrch. Excellent attention to details; Knwldg of Excel & all Microsoft applications; College deg req; Send Res/CL: HERE (10/4)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/WMAQ TV/Chicago: Dynamic Account Executive to join the Local Sales team. Own, manage, and develop relationships with clients, agencies and advertisers through day-day interaction. Min 5 yrs exp sales and/or mktg roles. Full info/apply HERE (10/4)

JOB OPENING: VP CONTENT/FlyQuest/LA: Out of the box thinker who thinks strategically and sets directions aligned to company’s strategy, applying external perspective to meet business needs. 8+ yrs’ exp working in a content strategy & editorial function, pref in the gaming, digital or ent space. Full info/apply HERE (10/4)

JOB OPENING: SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR/FlyQuest/LA: Execute SM strategy ensuring goals are met by team and content is continuously optimized for key aud segments. Min 6 yrs of exp in custom social media content creation, digital Exp w/pd search & pd social a must. Full info/apply HERE (10/4)

JOB OPENING: DIR CONTENT PRODUCTION/NYC/Eko: Pioneer of interactive serial video entertainment. Manage creative dev and prod for all scripted interactive series. Define processes and manage team to achieve goals. More details http://bit.ly/2fLBlhq. Resume to [email protected] (10/3)

JOB OPENING: NEWS DIRECTOR/KUVN 23/Dallas: Forward thinking, creative and exp’d candidate to lead news operation in fast-paced media mkt. High level of news judgment, journalistic integrity & people mngmnt skills. Digital knwldg a must. 10yrs exp facets of TV news prod, writing, editing, camera ops & reporting. Full info/apply HERE (10/3)

JOB OPENING: AD SALES ASSISTANT/GSN/NY: Deal maintenance, traffic, mtg. prep., and admin duties; Excellent math skills; Knowledge of gen media terms; Strong knowledge of Microsoft programs incl. Excel, PP, MS Word and Outlook is req.; College deg req; Send Res and CL to [email protected] (10/3)

JOB OPENING: CFO/NYC Production Co: Direct financial planning & analysis. Corporate & production operating review, forecast & budgets. Manage systems, provide leadership & expertise to accounting dept. Must understand fast paced TV prod. 10+ yrs exp. Resume/cover & for full info: HERE (10/3)

JOB OPENING: SENIOR JAVA SCRIPT ENGINEER/Fox News Channel/NYC: Lead dvlpmnt of high traffic JavaScript apps and implement front end user design defining behavior of visual element. Develop new software applications from concept to finish. 3+ year of expert level JavaScript dvlpmnt. Full info/apply HERE (9/30)

JOB OPENING: DIR, DIGITAL ANALYTICS/A+E Networks/NY: Oversee reporting & analysis for A+E Networks’ portfolio, drive growth in Digital business by delivering recommendations that influence content, prod. & distribution strategy across the organization. Full Info/Apply HERE (9/30)

JOB OPENING: SALES ASSOCIATE PROGRAM/NBCU/NYC: Accelerated development exp for early-career sales professionals. This highly competitive program identifies outstanding aspiring media sales professionals who bring diverse backgrounds to the org. Min 1-5 yrs exp work exp, sales related pref’d. Full info: HERE (9/30)

JOB OPENING: SALES PLANNER, AD SALES/Outdoor Channel/CHI: 2 yrs exp. sales asst or media plan’r/buyer. Resp for dvlpmnt/fulfillment of integrated media plans, all platforms. Monitor/steward accounts, support Account Execs w/mktg, rsrch projects. Solid understanding of media math. Wide Orit exp a +. Full info/apply HERE (9/30)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL ACCOUNT MANAGER/FOX/Chicago: Ownership of post-sale client relationship. Responsible for creation of all proposals/media plans. 2-5 years’ operating in an Agency- Account Management role. Digital Advertising experience preferred. Full info/apply HERE (9/29)

JOB OPENING: MANAGER, S 7 ALES OPERATIONS/NBCU NBC Owned Stations/NYC: Responsible for managing various systems, tools and processes to support traffic, sales, research, finance & mktg users across our division. 2+ yrs at a station, similar sales operations function, or a related vendor role. Full info/apply HERE (9/29)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL SPECIALIST/NYRA/NYC: Act as primary web editor for daily updates. Maint both NYRA.com & BelmontStakes.com. Asst Social Media team w/mngmnt of social media channels. BA deg & 2-4 yrs work exp req’d. Exp w/CMS Sys, SEO, SEM, basic HTML, Photoshop, InDesign & Illustrator. Full info/apply HERE (9/29)