OTT + SVOD
Virtual MVPD services like DirecTV Now and YouTube TV added about 900,000 subscribers in Q3 of 2017, according to a new projection from Deutsche Bank analyst Matthew Niknam. Niknam noted that, with five of the top seven publicly-traded pay-TV companies now having reported their Q3 numbers, cord-cutting for the quarter sits at about 632,000.
CYNOPSIS DIGITAL AWARDS
Today is the last day to register for our Digital Awards Luncheon being held on Friday, November 10 at ThreeSixty in TriBeca NY. Hosted by Oliver Trevena along with guest presenters Cathy Kelley (WWE), The Gregory Brothers, and Randy Rainbow, the event will announce the winners of the Model D Awards and highlight the Digital “It list” honorees. Check out the finalists/honorees and register before midnight tonight: http://www.cynopsisdigitalawards.com/
CYNOPSIS MEDIA SURVEY
Along with our friends at Situation Interactive, we’re inviting you to participate in a survey about today’s digital media landscape. As a thank you for your time – you’ll be entered to win 2 tickets to a performance of Hamilton on Broadway in NYC on 12/2/17. The deadline to complete is November 4, so take it today: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XHLZ2VP
ADVERTISING
The push to bring-digital style ads to linear programming continues to ramp up. Fox Sports will air nine 6-second spots – a format popularized by YouTube – during its Thanksgiving broadcast of an NFL game between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. Fox Networks Group first started testing the 6-second format this during this summer’s Teen Choice Awards. Fox isn’t the only one; AMC recently started attaching 6-second ads to new episodes of The Walking Dead.
APPS + PLATFORMS
Google’s YouTube is bringing its live TV service to TV screens. The company announced that YouTube TV apps will soon be available for the Xbox One and Xbox One S, the Nvidia Shield streaming device, and smart TV’s that come equipped the Android TV platform. The new apps will roll out in the coming days. In addition, Google says that it ultimately aims to bring YouTube TV to smart TV’s from Samsung, Sony, and LG, as well as the Apple TV streaming box.
YouTube TV may be debuting on a number of new platforms, but it won’t be coming to Amazon devices anytime soon: The e-commerce giant’s platforms were notably absent from YouTube’s announcement. As Recode points out, Google and Amazon aren’t on the best of terms. The companies’ relationship reached a new level of frostiness about two years ago, when Amazon decided to stop selling Google’s Chromecast streaming device.
Amazon is moving a number of its entertainment-related divisions to Culver Studios, the famed Hollywood production space that’s been used by the likes of Cecil B. DeMille and David O. Selznick. Amazon Studios, Amazon Video, IMDB, and Amazon’s global advertising group are all making the move. The divisions will occupy over 280,000 square feet worth of space.
VIRTUAL + AUGMENTED REALITY
Universal Music Group announced a new partnership with the VR entertainment company Within. Under the deal, Within will help to develop virtual reality experiences featuring UMG artists. The companies say they will collaborate on a number of immersive experiences, which will be distributed through the Within app. According to a release, UMG and Within will also work together to promote and market new songs.
RESEARCH
According to a new study from Digital TV Research, video piracy is getting more costly. The research firm projects that, by 2022, the U.S. will suffer $11.6 billion in lost revenue due to video piracy. That’s up from $9 billion in 2016. And the U.S. isn’t alone. For instance, Digital TV Research estimates that China will lose $9.8 billion due to piracy by 2022 – up from $5.5 billion last year.
MEASURING UP…
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 (10/23/17 – 10/29/17)
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 People & Blogs vertical, based on the engagement metric for the week ending October 29
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Eric Vespe is headed to Rooster Teeth, the digital media company owned by Fullscreen Media. The longtime entertainment journalist, who previously served as a reporter for Ain’t It Cool News, will serve as Senior Entertainment News Writer for The Know, a Rooster Teeth YouTube property focused on gaming news and geek culture. At Ain’t It Cool News, Vespe was known as Quint. He left the site in September.
TRIVIA
Before appearing in Netflix’s Stranger Things, the young actor Caleb McLaughlin held a role in which Broadway musical? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)
Our Last Trivia Question: About a year ago, Warner Bros. gained full control of a digital media company with a heavy focus on gaming and fandom. What was the company? Answer: Machinima. Kudos to Andy Pittman-TAMU/TX, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, Lorrie Shilling/CA, Tom Moore/Kalt Productions/CA, and Suzie Wilhelm-InterMedia Advertising/CA
