Cynopsis: DIGITAL
04.12.13

Good morning. It’s Friday, April 12, 2013, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

Netflix has inked an expanded multi-year licensing deal with Hasbro, under which the SVOD provider will become the exclusive US home to five Hasbro Studios kids shows in total: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, Transformers Prime, Transformer Rescue Bots, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters, and Littlest Pet Shop. New seasons of the shows will be available for streaming on Netflix one month after the finale airs on The Hub Network. Specifically, this expanded agreement adds Kaijudo, which is already available on Netflix Instant, and Littlest Pet Shop, which will arrive on the service in the summer, to Netflix and Hasbro’s existing licensing pact.

Turner and Funny Or Die, in collaboration with HTC, have created a short comedy sketch starring James Van Der Beek (Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23) to promote the new HTC One smartphone. The branded short, poking fun at dating shows, features the HTC One competing against other phones for the hand of a bachelorette. Other contestants include “Rotary Phone,” “90s Phone,” and “Flip Phone.” The sketch debuts online today on Funny Or Die’s website. Beginning next week, it will receive a multiplatform rollout across Turner’s television and digital properties, including TBS, truTV, Adult Swim, and TeamCoco.com. The short will also be distributed to theaters nationwide via a deal with in-cinema programming and ad company NCM Media Networks.

Motor Trend’s YouTube channel has topped one million subscribers. A member of YouTube’s original programming initiative, Source Interlink Media, the company behind the Motor Trend brand, says the channel has grown its audience by more than 600% since it switched to developing and offering original, episodic programming last February. Ten shows are currently in development, with more on the docket for later this year, including special programs tied to the automotive brand’s high-profile events like Motor Trend Car of the Year and Hot Rod Drag Week. Overall, Source Interlink says it plans to stream more than 60 hours of original programming on the channel this year, which would be a 50% increase over 2012.

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Accelerated Media has launched a Companion Ad/App Network (CAN) that lets content providers monetize their existing connected TV and/or mobile apps by delivering different types of ad content. Accelerated Media builds second-screen apps for broadcasters and content providers, allowing users to access to additional information and content related to the show they’re watching. The platform gives content providers the ability to place video or interactive banner ads in the app, as well as deliver coupons, social media features, and e-commerce options. This platform can be integrated into existing second-screen apps, or, as mentioned above, Accelerated Media can tap its team of developers to create a new app for content providers.

The IAB and MMA have jointly issued the finalized Mobile Phone Creative Guidelines. Supplementing MMA’s Universal Mobile Ad Package and aligning with IAB’s existing Display Advertising Guidelines, the new set of standards cover both mobile web and in-app inventory, and include specs for basic and rich media units. In addition, the guidelines address factors such as different data connections, carrier plans, and the impact of reduced processing power of mobile devices.

Adobe‘s latest Digital Index report on online video and ad consumption finds that the number of authentications for TV Everywhere services in the US increased 12-fold in 2012, when compared to 2011.Adobe credits an array of live sporting events in 2012 as driving TV Everywhere adoption. This is not difficult to believe, considering how much effort NBC put into offering multiplatform access to the London Olympics, and how much work Turner did with March Madness Live even last year. Other findings from the report include:

• 89.6% of video consumption is still taking on desktop computers, though mobile video starts did increase from 3% in 2011 to 10.4% in 2012.
• Facebook users are more than twice as likely to comment, share, or like a video than non-video content.
• Mid-roll ads featured the highest completion rates in 2012 (nearly 90%). Post-roll ads generated three times the click-through rate of pre- and mid-rolls. Pre-rolls still remain king though, with 83% of overall ad impressions for content that’s longer than two minutes.

Worldwide PC shipments fell 13.9% to 76.3 million units in Q1 2013, according to new data from IDC, which calls it the worst quarter since the company began tracking quarterly PC shipments in 1994. Breaking it down by region, news in the US wasn’t much better. Q1 2013 PC shipments in the US fell 12.7% year-over-year and 18.3% quarter-over-quarter, to 14.2 million units. This is the lowest level of shipments since Q1 2006. (If anyone is wondering, IDC’s definition of PCs include computers from Apple, which “fared better” than the overall US market but still witnessed a 7.5% year-over-year decline in Q1 shipments.)

Starz has launched a new second-screen iPad app for its upcoming original series, Da Vinci’s Demons. The companion app, titled Citizens of Florence, will allow users to choose a character type (artist, banker, etc.) and explore the city of Florence, the setting of the show. Along the way, users will be able to unlock exclusive video content, including videos of Da Vinci’s inventions, scene pulls, interviews with series creator David S. Goyer, and deleted scenes. Other content includes 360-degree views of Da Vinci’s inventions, 24 panoramic environments and locations, and one new mini-game for each of the eight episodes. The app is synchronized to each episode of the show, and will work regardless of whether the viewer is watching the show live, on-demand, via Starz Play, or on a DVD or Blu-ray. The companion content will also be manually downloadable, allowing viewers who wish to sit back and enjoy the show the ability to do so.

Fandango has appointed Sandro Corsaro to the newly created position of VP/Content and Creative. He will oversee strategies and operations related to content development and creative executions across Fandango’s online and mobile properties. He will also be in charge of the visual design, editorial, content, and original video teams at the NBCUniversal company. Corsaro will report to Fandango President, Paul Yanover.

Peter Land has been named SVP/Corporate Communications at AOL, company CEO Tim Armstrong announced via a blog post yesterday. In his new role, Land will develop and manage AOL’s global external and internal corporate communications strategies, and work with AOL brands to drive their respective communications efforts. Land comes to AOL from PepsiCo, where he most recently oversaw global media strategy, financial communications, and issues management. Based in NY, he will report to Armstrong.

Jeff Nash will be Deputy Managing Editor/Enterprise, a newly created position, for CNBC Digital. Starting Monday, April 15, Nash will oversee the management and development of the division’s editorial team, as well as the original reporting and content produced for the CNBC Digital portfolio, which includes CNBC.com and CNBC’s mobile apps and websites.

Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer at GroupM Worldwide, and Jon Miller, Co-Founder of Fuel Media Capital, have been named Non-Executive Directors of BBC Global News, which operates the 24-hour BBC World News channel and BBC.com/News.

Eugene Becker has joined big data solutions provider eXelate as its new SVP/Product Management. He will be responsible for global product management and the development of eXelate’s data and analytics products for agencies, marketers, and ad/marketing platforms.

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The Disney Junior Appisodes app turns Disney Junior shows into interactive experiences by embedding activities that require kids to touch, swipe, tilt, and shake their device, as well as “talk” to the characters, directly into episodes (hence the name, “appisode”). A new expanded version of the app, which is available for iOS devices, offers access to two new appisodes, “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse — Mickey and Donald Have a Farm” and “Jake and the Never Land Pirates,” both of which are available for $4.99. The app is also offering “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally,” the first appisode produced by Disney/ABC Television’s Digital Media team, for free.

“We are allowing kids to move the narrative of their favorite show forward by interacting with the characters, giving them the opportunity to take an active role in the story,” said Lauren DeVillier, VP/Digital Media for Disney Channels Worldwide, in a statement. “And from a content perspective, it gives our shows a whole new life on another platform.”

Personally, while I am way outside of the demographic this app is meant for (ages 2-7), there’s no denying this is very cool.

Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Editor for Cynopsis Digital
04.12.13

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