A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM HEARST

HEARST ANYSCREEN
A Higher Standard in OTT

Reach your audience, anytime, anywhere, on any screen. Hearst Anyscreen offers a targeted OTT platform that provides a single, centralized access point to the streaming TV marketplace.

With a unique focus on quality, Hearst Anyscreen delivers premium “living room experience” television that is served primarily on Connected TVs.

Google is aiming to draw younger users to its search engine with a more visual experience. Instead of links, Google searches will return imagery and videos – including content from TikTok and YouTube. Shopping searches will include 3D imagery, and Google Maps will offer an “Immersive View” and an update to its “Live View” feature. Google Maps will also feature “Neighborhood Vibes,” enabling users to get a feel for places in an area.

Twitter is rolling out two new updates. The immersive media viewer now expands videos to full screen with a single click, and a new video carousel within the Explore tab will show videos the app thinks users will be interested in.

New UK sanctions prompted Apple to pull apps owned by Russian tech company VK from its App Store. Apple also canceled developer accounts tied to the apps.

Snapchat is getting into the spirit of Halloween with a series of 12 Spotlight Challenges starting today, October 3. Spotlight users can share #CostumeFails, #HalloweenDecorations, #FallFavorites and #HalloweenPredictions. Prize pool: $100,000.

Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company, announced a hiring freeze, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg set forth plans to reorganize teams and reduce headcount for the first time in the company’s history. He told employees last week during a Q&A session: “I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilized by now, but from what we’re seeing it doesn’t yet seem like it has, so we want to plan somewhat conservatively,”

Walmart is launching two new immersive experiences in the metaverse platform, Roblox. Called Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play, the spaces offer interactive content and entertainment for customers. Walmart Land will bring fashion, style, beauty and entertainment items to the global Roblox community, while Walmart’s Universe of Play offers a virtual toy destination. ”We’re showing up in a big way – creating community, content, entertainment and games through the launch of Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play,” said William White, CMO, Walmart US. “Roblox is one of the fastest growing and largest platforms in the metaverse, and we know our customers are spending loads of time there. So, we’re focusing on creating new and innovative experiences that excite them.”

A proposal from the Federal Communication Commission should get a big thumbs up from consumers – the FCC is calling for wireless carriers to block texts from numbers that are invalid or unallocated. “Scam text messaging has become a growing threat to consumers’ wallets and privacy,” said FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. “More can be done to address this problem and today we’re starting an effort to take a serious, comprehensive, and fresh look at our policies for fighting unwanted robotexts.”

Asked if they were familiar with interactive live video features, 83% of Gen Z consumers said yes, in a survey by Agora. Asked to identify the types of mobile apps that typically deliver interactive live video features:
· 75% said entertainment apps, like YouTube and TikTok
· 74% said social media apps, like Facebook and Instagram
· 51% said communication apps, like FaceTime and WhatsApp
· 50% said gaming apps, like Twitch and Discord
“To no one’s surprise, entertainment and social media are leading the way on interactive live video features,” said Tony Zhao, Co-founder and CEO of Agora. “They have mainstreamed interactivity in live streaming, with Gen Z now expecting it across all live video experiences.”

Although the growth of smart TVs as a proportion of all homes is slowing down as the device reaches mainstream adoption, smart TVs as a proportion of all TV continues to grow, according to data from Hub Intel. Three in four TV homes report having a smart TV, and 57% of all TV sets are smart TVs – which Hub says is setting up a battle among the major platforms. Among smart TV owner who are using their sets to stream, Samsung’s Tizen is the leading OS/platform (56%), followed by sets with Roku’s OS/platform built in. “The competition between smart TV/connected TV (CTV) platforms will be fought over the ‘4 D’s of CTV’: Discovery, Decision, Delivery, and Data,” notes David C. Tice, Hub Senior Consultant. “Who will best address the needs of the consumer, the content provider, and marketers? It will be a real battle royale.”

Netflix is taking a deeper dive into gaming. In addition to its recent acquisition of three games studios, the streamer is building its own internal game development studio. Based in Helsinki, Finland, the new studio will be headed by Marko Lastikka, the co-founder and former GM of the Zygna Helsinki game development studio. “This is another step in our vision to build a world-class games studio that will bring a variety of delightful and deeply engaging original games — with no ads and no in-app purchases — to our hundreds of millions of members around the world,” said Netflix VP of Game Studios Amir Rahimi in a blog post.

It’s curtains for Google videogame streaming service Stadia. After three years of struggle, Stadia VP/GM, Phil Harrison said in a blog post the service “hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected.” Players will be able to access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM HEARST

HEARST ANYSCREEN
A Higher Standard in OTT

Reach your audience, anytime, anywhere, on any screen. Hearst Anyscreen offers a targeted OTT platform that provides a single, centralized access point to the streaming TV marketplace.

With a unique focus on quality, Hearst Anyscreen delivers premium “living room experience” television that is served primarily on Connected TVs.

ADVERTISING

Advanced advertising company OpenAP has struck deals for its identity graph, Open ID, with programmatic supply side platforms FreeWheel, Magnite and Xandr’s Monetize SSP. The agreement enables advertisers to see unified campaign cross-platform results, including deduplicated reach and cross-platform frequency of their media buys, across the sell-side platforms. “The growth of cross-screen viewing will only continue to accelerate, and agency buying teams need to be able to view the performance of a campaign in totality – regardless of how they bought or where the video was consumed,” said Chris LoRusso, Chief Business Officer of OpenAP. “Our sellside partners have invested heavily in automating buying channels, and by extending the reach of OpenID to programmatic, we’re breaking down the silos that exist between linear and digital and buying teams and are making it easy and simple for an advertiser to maximize their spend across the entire premium video footprint.” GroupM is the first agency that will build deals on OpenID audiences.

FreeWheel and Comscore announced a partnership that expands the CTV contextual targeting capabilities available through FreeWheel’s demand-side platform, Beeswax. Media buyers using the Beeswax platform now have access to Comscore’s Predictive Audiences and CTV brand protection offering. “Comscore has the technology, profile data, and scale that Beeswax clients need to target their audiences within relevant content on premium CTV inventory,” said Soo Jin Oh, Chief Strategy Officer, FreeWheel. “And, with these capabilities built directly into the Beeswax platform, it’s now easier than ever for buyers to connect with their desired audiences in a brand safe environment.”

Video API and infrastructure platform Zype and TripleLift announced an integration that allows joint customers using Zype’s Playout 2.0 to leverage TripleLift’s In-Show solutions to provide unique, non-disruptive, integrated ad experiences within the CTV environment. Ad placements allow content owners to reduce the number of ad breaks without decreasing revenue per stream, while also ensuring a brand-safe environment for advertisers alongside contextually relevant content.

Hyper-local OOH ad company PMD Media has rebranded as WNDW. “We are re-branding to WNDW to acknowledge that storefront advertising offers a higher degree of engagement and authenticity than most any other form of advertising,” said Dean Stallone, Founder and CEO, WNDW. “Much like storefront windows themselves, these street-level ads are an expression of the small business owner, who plays a critical role in defining the character of a neighborhood.”

Ad organizations are taking issue with the FTC’s proposed updated guidance regarding testimonials, including redefining endorsement to include tags on social media. “Tags should not automatically be considered endorsements,” wrote the Association of National Advertisers said in a letter. “The FTC should retain the idea that there needs to be an advertiser sponsoring the message in order for there to be an endorsement.”

STREAMING

Over the last year, Spotify surpassed Apple as the top podcast listening platform. YouTube and Apple tie for second, according to the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group blog. Other insights include:
· Podcast listeners spend six hours a day with audio, +43% more time than the average American.
· The median age of the podcast audience holds at 34 despite massive audience growth. The podcast audience is twelve years younger than the median age of AM/FM radio listeners and 26 years younger than linear television where audiences have a median age of 60.
· The majority of listening (67%) still occurs at home (67%).
· Podcasts have opportunities for growth in markets 51+ where they are underrepresented. Nielsen Scarborough’s Podcast Recontact Study finds podcast listeners are overrepresented in the top ten markets (+18%) and underrepresented in DMAs 51+ (-23%).

FMC (Family Movie Classics) has launched in select Comcast/Xfinity markets, adding over 5 million subscribers to the family-friendly network. “This launch with Comcast is an important step forward for FMC,” said Drew Sumrall, President and CEO of FETV and FMC. “The future is very bright for this network.”

Allen Media Group’s Local Now has partnered with Hearst Television’s Very Local digital service, expanding Local Now’s footprint with 27 premium news channels. The 27 FAST channels are a part of Hearst Television’s locally-focused digital brand, serving 26 US media markets spanning 39 states.

DAZN announced a formal agreement to acquire the ELEVEN Group’s global sports media businesses, including ELEVEN Sports and Team Whistle. The transaction builds out DAZN’s global platform in two additional European markets, Portugal and Belgium, where ELEVEN Sports has a strong presence, as well as offering further access in Taiwan and other Southeast Asian markets. Team Whistle will enable DAZN to reach younger audiences, and diversify and expand its fan engagement capabilities.

Cynopsis Team