APPS + PLATFORMS
Twitter may be best known as a micro-blogging platform, but plenty of users like to compose longer-form threads. Now life is getting a little easier for them. Twitter will now let users compose a number of tweets as a single thread, then publish them together simultaneously. Followers will first see the thread in a collapsed format; clicking on a “show this thread” label will let them see all the tweets at once. Twitter has been catering to its wordier writers lately: About a month ago, the platform expanded the character limit for individual tweets from 140 to 280.
Hulu unveiled some new web app features for the beta version of its Live TV service. Along with improved search capabilities, the service’s web app now features a picture-in-picture mode: Users will be able to continue watching a show while browsing for other content. In addition, the platform added a new feature called My Stuff, which grants users algorithm-free control of what’s added and removed from their watchlist.
OTT + SVOD
DramaFever, the Warner Bros.-owned SVOD service that specializes in Korean entertainment, has signed on as a channel partner with VRV. VRV, a streaming video platform that aggregates other services, already featured services such as Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Nerdist, and CuriosityStream.
VIRTUAL + AUGMENTED REALITY
After previewing its AR Studio in May, Facebook is finally giving the platform a wide rollout. Developers will now be able to build augmented reality filters for Facebook’s camera app. Facebook had previously partnered with certain developers to create AR filters – for instance, one that lets users become “The Night King” from HBO’S Game of Thrones. The company also just announced that developers will soon be able to create “World Lenses” – a new feature that will let smartphone users add virtual objects to real-world environments. With the new features, Facebook appears to be taking direct aim at Snapchat: It was the younger company, after all, that pioneered the use of AR filters within a social messaging environment. Indeed, Snapchat even has a “World Lenses” feature of its own, which launched in April.
Google, too, is rolling out some new AR features. The company’s new “AR Stickers” – available to anyone with a Pixel smartphone – allow users to insert virtual objects into Pixel-recorded videos. The feature is driven by Google’s ARCore framework for augmented reality, which the company rolled out in August. (While ARCore products are limited to Pixel phones for the time being, a wider rollout is expected early next year.) In time for the December 15 premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Stormtroopers and other Star Wars-themed stickers are among the options for users. Users can project the menacing masked soldiers onto locales ranging from living rooms to subways. To see what that looks like, take a look at the Short Form Spotlight section.
PROGRAMMING
Louis C.K.’s widely-reported sexual misconduct may have torpedoed the theatrical release of his latest film, but it looks like people can still see the movie if they really want to. Called I Love You Daddy, the film just leaked to the Pirate Bay, an infamous piracy website. The leak was first reported by TorrentFreak. The pirated copy of the film seems to have come from an awards-season screener that was distributed by The Orchard, the film’s would-be distribution company.
MEASURING UP
The Julius Influencer Ranking, from influencer marketing platform Julius, is based on an influencer’s Average Engagement (the daily sum of engagements over the past 60 days) on an individual social platform or overall social presence. Below, check out the Top 10 Home Designer Influencers from October to November.
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 (12/4/17 – 12/10/17)
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.
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Music streamer Pandora has named a new Chief Marketing Officer. The CMO role goes to Aimée Lapic. Lapic has spent the past 13 years at Gap Inc., where she most recently served as both CMO of Banana Republic and GM of BananaRepublic.com. According to a release, Lapic will lead Pandora’s digital, social, and mobile marketing initiatives. She’ll oversee market positioning, consumer brand strategy, and performance-based and partnership marketing.
Apple named two new business affairs execs – Hulu’s Philip Matthys and Legendary Entertainment’s Jennifer Wang Grazier. The hires were first reported by Variety. Matthys, who started at the company last month, serves as Head of Business Affairs for Worldwide Video. Wang Grazier will also join the Worldwide Video Group, reporting to Matthys, starting in January.
Video monetization platform Rumble has named Miguel Monteverde as its new Chief Operating Officer. A former Discovery Communications SVP and AOL Video GM, Monteverde most recently served as a principal at Green Mountain Advisors, a consulting firm he founded this year. He’ll now oversee Rumble’s day-to-day operations, securing and managing the company’s media partnerships.
TRIVIA
Our Last Trivia Question: Nick Castle, who directed The Last Starfighter, is perhaps best known for being the first actor to play a legendary horror villain. (You wouldn’t recognize him, of course – he wore a mask the whole time.) Who was the villain? Answer: Halloween’s Michael Myers. Kudos to Andy Pittman-TAMU/TX, John Alleva-NBCUniversal/NY, Patrick McOwen-Comcast Spotlight/PA, Alejandro Sacasa-Albavision/FL, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, Ray Cannella/NJ, and Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/CA
Spike Lee recently adapted one of his films into a Netflix series of the same name. What’s the film/show? (Email trivia@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)
