OTT + SVOD
World of Wonder is launching its own SVOD service. The production company is best known for shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Million Dollar Listing franchise. The new service, called WOW Presents Plus, features more than 15 hours of content from World of Wonder’s library of movies, shows, and live events. It’ll also feature new original series. WOW Presents Plus will feature LGBTQ-themed programming, as well as documentaries, and programming focused on pop culture. The service, priced at $3.99 monthly or $39.99 per year, is ad-free.
PROGRAMMING
Gandalf and Frodo may be heading to Amazon Video. Variety reports that Amazon Studios has been in early conversations with Warner Bros. Television and J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate, with the goal of landing a series adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. And according to the report, CEO Jeff Bezos has taken an unusual step: He himself has reportedly been actively involved in the negotiations. At the moment, no agreement has been reached – but Amazon has reportedly emerged as the frontrunner to land the property.
Twitter inked a new streaming deal with PeopleTV, the Time Inc.-owned streaming service focused on lifestyle content. The service, which is free and ad-supported, launched as the People/Entertainment Weekly Network in 2016 before announcing a name change this past September. Starting November 20, PeopleTV’s content will be available to view on Twitter through the @PeopleTV handle. Advertisers will be able to run sponsorships and promotions across both Twitter and PeopleTV’s OTT platform. Twitter and Time Inc. told the Wall Street Journal that they will share advertising revenue from ads that are sold on Twitter. The companies didn’t disclose the exact breakdown of the revenue split.
Netflix has partnered with Brazilian production company Prodigo Films. The companies will produce Coisa Mais Linda (‘So beautiful’), a period romance series set during Rio de Janeiro Bossa Nova movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The project represents a deepening push from Netflix into the Latin and South American markets: It’s the company’s fourth original Brazilian series.
RESEARCH
There are a whole lot of choices when it comes to TV programming these days – too many for some people. In a survey conducted last month, Hub Entertainment Research asked U.S. consumers aged 16-74 whether “there are so many TV programs to choose from that it’s hard to know where to start.” 49% of respondents said they agreed, either somewhat or strongly. That’s up from 42% when Hub asked the question in 2014. Only 19% of respondents disagreed that there are too many shows to choose from. Also notable: 73% of respondents responded affirmatively to the statement “more of my total TV time is spent watching shows I really like.” 73% may sound like a lot, but it’s actually a drop from 2014, when the number was 81%.
MEASURING UP…
SHAREABLEE SOCIAL TV RATINGS: Top U.S. Streaming Shows Overall by Engagement for the week of October 30-November5, 2017
Program, Total Actions (000), Total Content, Actions per Post (000), Fans/Followers (000)
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 (10/30/17 – 11/05/17)
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 Entertainment vertical, based on the engagement metric for the week ending November 5
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Nick DiCarlo has left Samsung. The decision to leave appears to have been his own. The tech industry vet had spent ten years at the company, most recently serving as VP of Immersive Products Strategy and Product Marketing for Samsung Electronics America. He was a key figure behind the launch of the Gear VR headset. Samsung confirmed to Variety that Shoneel Kolhatkar, Senior Director of Product Marketing, will now lead the company’s immersive products division.
App startup TV Time has named Carol Hanley as Chief Revenue Officer. She most recently served as CRO at Deluxe Entertainment Services Group; she’s also held positions at Nielsen and Arbitron. The hire comes as TV Time undertakes a major restructuring. The company, previously known as Whipclip, used to specialize in letting users share short clips of TV shows online. That service failed to catch on. In its current incarnation, the app lets users track their favorite TV shows across numerous services, and connect with other TV fans.
Oath, the recently-formed Verizon that combines AOL and Yahoo, announced a new advisory board – and it’s loaded with famous people. Tennis star Serena Williams is the board’s Chairwoman. Seattle Sehawks quartberback Russell Silson, supermodel Karlie Kloss, rapper Chuck D, and a number of other celebs count themselves as members of the board as well. “As we look toward the future of Oath, it is critical for us to have the best minds, best talent, and best connectors in the world advising us on being globally competitive,” said Oath CEO Tim Armstrong in a new statement.
TRIVIA
Our Last Trivia Question: Who directed the Netflix original horror comedy film The Babysitter? Answer McG. Kudos to Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/CA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, and Lorrie Shilling/CA
iQiyi is of the most popular streaming entertainment platforms in China. It’s owned by a major web services company – which one? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)
